Some may have thought of this year as a down year for Nintendo. They came out with a number of ports for the Nintendo Switch from the Wii U, and although they were good, they lacked original titles. That all changed at the end of the year though. Torna: The Golden Country, which was a DLC add-on for Xenoblade Chronicles 2, was also released as a standalone game. Octopath Traveler was one of the best games of the year. Super Mario Party is the ultimate party game for the Switch and should have launched with the system. Mario Tennis was a fun multiplayer game. Smash Bros. Ultimate is the greatest fighting game of all-time. Pokemon Let’s Go! is a bit light, but it’s still a wonderful game.
Putting this into perspective, Sony only released Spider-Man, God of War, Shadow of the Colossus, Detroit: Become Human, and MLB: The Show first-party wise. Microsoft released Forza Horizon 4, Sea of Thieves, and State of Decay 2. Both Sony and Nintendo had amazing first-party showings comparatively, but Microsoft, unfortunately, did not (I fully expect this to change next year.) Of all these games only one Microsoft game could be considered a GOTY contender while Nintendo and Sony have at least two apiece, depending on what kind of games you like to play (I love RPGs).
Octopath Traveler is one of the best RPGs to come out in years, aside from Xenoblade Chronicles 2. It’s very much old school and it’s turn-based, which is wonderful and opens up so many options strategy-wise. The sprites are charming, the music is incredible, and the story is incredible. Torna: The Golden Country improves on almost every aspect with regards to Xenoblade Chronicles 2. It’s great as a standalone game and makes the original so much more powerful. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the greatest fighting game of all-time. I can’t get enough of it. The only problem is that it would be pointless to make another entry in the franchise because this is the ultimate version of Smash (they better include Rex, for realz.) Pokemon Let’s Go! is casual, but it’s a lot of fun. The compatibility with Pokemon Go! is a nice touch as well. Super Mario Party is what 1-2 Switch should have been. All in all, Nintendo had a wonderful year, regardless of all the ports.
Speaking of ports, the ones Nintendo did release were great. Hyrule Warriors is a ton of fun, Bayonetta 1 and 2 are two of the best action games to grace any console, and Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze is one of the best platformers of all-time (and very difficult!). Toad’s Treasure Tracker is a wonderful puzzle game. Nintendo just needs to release Xenoblade X to be quite frank.
Many thought this year was a down year for Nintendo, but in retrospect, it wasn’t. They had a really good year; the thing is is that last year was so good with both Mario and Zelda that it was impossible to follow that up with anything that would satisfy diehard fans. That’s okay though. Compare their first-party lineup with Sony. Compare it to Microsoft’s. Nintendo had an incredible year and no one can say otherwise.