Issue #220
· February 21, 2021
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What a state?  Issue 220 — February 21, 2021  Hello, here's issue #220 of Switch Weekly, with your update on all things Nintendo. Big issue today! (In fact some email clients may chop off the full thing, so be sure to hit that Read More button if you see it) Nintendo Direct.... now there's a name I haven't heard in a while. Yup, some 500+ days after the last 'proper' Direct presentation we finally got one this week. It was a long one too, coming in at 50 minutes. I'm sure most of you have already seen it, but the biggest news was undoubtedly Splatoon 3 — no one saw that coming. One of the more dissapointing aspects of the Direct was word from Eiji Aonuma that they nothing to share regarding Breath of the Wild 2. This is kinda surprising to me, as I imagine even a 20 second trailer would have satiated folks. Instead, we got word that Skyward Sword would be coming to Switch as a $60 HD rerelease. I don’t have any opinion of this late-Wii era release, having never played it, but despite plenty of critical praise, and some smart ideas, the Twitterati seems to have concluded that it’s something of a stinker. I can’t speak to how fair of an assessment this is, but that’s the way things often go - over time a collective consensus tends to grow, and ultimately sticks. I think a lot of the dissapointment regarding no update on Breath of the Wild 2, also carried over to the Skyward Sword announcement — it was revealed as something of a consolation prize. Yeah, BotW 2 ain't ready, so here's this.... Anyway, I’m sure a large number of Nintendo fans will still pick it up — the obsequious bunch that we are 😉. Next week is a busy one, with over 30 games hitting the eShop, including a new Ghosts 'n Goblins and Bravely Default II. The full list is below as usual. Finally, some big news from me: The fourth annual State of Switch survey has just launched! I tell subscribers (you) about this first, so please do go and take a look and tell me what you think about the Nintendo Switch, its library of games....and just how many times you've experienced Joy-Con drift. If you're new around here, it's an annual survey I run that thousands of Nintendo fans fill out. The full results will be shared once the survey has closed and I've gone through all the findings — it's quite the undertaking, so it often takes me a few weeks to pull everything together. If you're curious you can read last year's write-up here. 🎮 Currently Playing — Super Mario 3D World, Glyph, Super Metroid ▶ Nintendo Direct - February 17 2021 — Loads of announcements in this. If you haven't watched it, the highlights are this: Fall Guys on Switch (yay), New Smash DLC characters, a new Mario Golf game, a new game from Square Enix that's similar to Octopath Traveller, Splatoon 3, and so much more. Here's a written round-up from Eurogamer if you'd rather read what's coming. We did a little watch-along on the Switch Weekly Discord and played Bingo — if you want to join the Discord, just hit reply to this email and I can send an invite over to you. 😊 Nintendo // YouTube The State of Switch Survey 2021 — My annual, independent survey looking at all things Switch returns for a fourth year. It seeks to paint a picture of the current state of the Nintendo Switch platform. Last year saw over 10,000 responses. Please do grab a drink and take a few minutes to fill it out. ❤️ Switch Weekly Happy 35th Birthday Zelda, one of gaming’s greatest series Chris Scullion // VGC PODCAST A talk with Reggie Fils-Aimé — A great conversation that's well worth a listen. Reggie touches upon growing up in New York, the future of E3, his thoughts on streaming, representation in the industry, and how he made his decision to leave Nintendo. There's a video version here too. Danny Peña // Gamertag Radio REVIEW Persona 5 Strikers — I shared the Vooks review of this in last week's issue, but as the game is actually out this week here's another take on it, which adds that this is "much more than a mere spin-off"adding that this mash-up is "the perfect excuse to spend more time with those beloved characters". Jhonatan Carneiro // Switch Player The big Diablo 2 Resurrected interview — Yup, Blizzard announced a remaster of much loved classic Diablo 2 at BlizzCon, and it's coming to the Switch. Tap through to see the reveal trailer, and an interview with some of the team behind this 'resurrection'. Wesley Yin-Poole // Eurogamer PREVIEW Ghosts 'n Goblins: Resurrection is going to hurt you, a lot Tom Massey // Nintendo Life REVIEW Thomas Was Alone — A "thought-provoking concept" that's "a delight" — the author notes it has held up well since its original 2013 release. Roland Ingram // Nintendo Life Ranking The Legend of Zelda games — Do you agree with the order here? Keza MacDonald // The Guardian Skyward Sword needs more than control tweaks to live up to Zelda’s best Alex Donaldson // VG247 Want the best Zelda experience? You'll need a Wii U Phil Hayton // GameByte REVIEW Cathedral— Described as "a perfectly competent example" of the Metroidvania genre; it's just that the Switch is somewhat over-saturated with them. Matt S // Digitally Downloaded REVIEW #Drive Greg Hicks // Finger Guns Nintendo's new Concierge Service gives surprisingly great game recommendations — Rebekah got an appointment and gave Nintendo's new video help service a try. This is a good read on what you can expect. Rebekah Valentine // IGN Bowser's Fury shouldn't be the future of 3D Mario - at least not yet — Yep, Fury is neat, but Abram argues there are "flaws to iron out first". Abram Buehner // CBR Leave the same-old to Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo should keep going after the weird Alex Calvin // VGC The argument against general Directs Joshua Robin // Nintendo World Report Was the Wii U criminally underrated? Chirag Pattni // Nintendo Enthusiast
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