Square made a RPG in the vein of Final Fantasy for the Super Nintendo back in 1996 called Super Mario RPG. It was a great game. From there the RPG series of Mario split and took divergent paths. Intelligent systems made the Paper Mario series and AlphaDream developed the Mario & Luigi series. Both series have RPG elements but contain battles that are dependent on button mashing at the right time which is a feature that isn’t normally associated with RPGs. The Paper Mario series even took a detour once and had an entry that was more your typical Mario platformer with Super Paper Mario. However, AlphaDream’s newest entry to the Mario & Luigi series brings Paper Mario along for the ride. Paper Mario will join Mario & Luigi in their battles against the armies of Bowser and Paper Bowser. This game will also support the new Amiibo Cards Nintendo launched recently. The Mario & Luigi series of RPGs have been quirky and humorous and a lot of fun. I’m really looking forward to this one I just wish it wasn’t coming out at the same time as FF Explorers.
I’m also looking forward to the HD remake of Twilight Princess for the Wii U. This game was fantastic and I can’t wait to see how it looks on the Wii U. The same team, Avalanche, which did the Windwaker HD remake is working on this one and they did a wonderful job on Windwaker so I hope they will do the same for Twilight Princess. In more Zelda news the game I’m most looking forward to in 2016 is the new Zelda. It doesn’t have an official title yet and to be honest I wouldn’t be surprised if this is another game that slides into 2017. This could even end up being on the NX and not the Wii U. That said the promise of a Zelda with the open world of an Elder Scrolls title is like a dream come true for me.
On the non software side of things, and the number one reason I think 2016 could be the year of Nintendo, is the upcoming release of the Nintendo NX. At this point we aren’t even entirely sure what the NX is going to be. The three biggest theories are that it is either, a handheld, a dedicated home console, or a hybrid of the two. I’m hoping that it is a hybrid of the two.
The console portion should be more powerful than the PS4 and the XBox One so Nintendo will at least be keeping up with the Joneses. The controllers could also double the mobile unit. Imagine a controller that is primarily a touch screen, similar to what the current Wii U has. But instead of being tethered to the base you can take it anywhere with you. I assume it will be ergonomically different than the current Wii U controller and Nintendo has patent requests pending that look similar to a PS 4 controller that has a visual display across the entire surface of the controller with two small holes on either side where the thumb sticks go through the actual screen that support that assumption. Will any of this end up being what the NX actually is? Hard to say but it is fun to speculate about.
So that’s it. Those are my biggest items I’m looking forward to in 2016. Beyond those listed if you are a fan of JRPGs you are in luck. There are at least 10 good ones that are going to make their way stateside this year. Fire Emblem Fates, Dragon Warrior VII, and Dragon Warrior VIII, and Bravely Second are due out for the 3DS and there are more due out for the Playstation 4 and PC. If you like MMOs and you like RPGs 2016 is shaping up to be highly entertaining.
