The big [Nintendo Switch presentation](https://youtu.be/JsiRY521Nis) was broadcasted almost five whole years ago, where we got a good look at the system, its features, and most importantly the games. Let’s run through the list of games and my raw first impressions on them now that they’re all released.
**1. 1-2-Switch:** Never bought it, and based on what everyone’s been telling me I’m not missing out on much. Should’ve been Super Mario Party and it should’ve been a free pack-in title. One of the worst games of 2017 without question.
**2. ARMS:** Man this game has had a rough life. It looked like a promising new IP, but upon release many people felt the core gameplay got stale rather quickly. You also couldn’t map your buttons at launch, which was mind boggling. By the time patches came through, it was too little too late. I only got to try the game when an ARMS character was first teased for Smash in March 2020, and I thought it was alright if forgettable. Will plan to buy it during the New Year’s sale going on at the time of writing. At least we got Twintelle.
**3. Splatoon 2:** This game was pretty much set up for success. I was with Splatoon since the Wii U and that install base did wonders. It steamrolled ARMS completely when it came out and continued to get new content well into 2018, including a paid DLC expansion that’s actually worth buying! Rock on, Splatoon.
**4. Super Mario Odyssey:** A gem of a Mario game when it came out. Pure joy incarnate, and such a breath of fresh air after 3D Land and 3D World. But nowadays I don’t hear much talk about it. Here’s hoping something happens in 2022. The New Donk City festival is still one of the most defining gaming moments of the 2010s.
**5. Xenoblade Chronicles 2:** I actually had to scramble to finish the first one before diving into this one, and I’m glad I did. It’s a gorgeous, funny, and emotional ride with a good amount of fanservice (and mild gacha mechanics) but was nonetheless a wonderful way to cap off 2017. And like Splatoon 2, it also got an expansion pass that was actually worth a damn. The Torna battle theme is so good I’m not sure I can actually finish the game because I’m vibing too much lol.
**6. Fire Emblem Warriors:** Never played, and by extension I never touched a musou game until Age of Calamity which I still haven’t completed. Like ARMS, this game got absolutely steamrolled in the public consciousness, being released so close to Mario Odyssey. There was also a lot of discourse over the roster, which was primarily pulling from three games: Awakening, Fates, and Shadow Dragon, which not even the obligatory musou DLC expansion pass could address. Here’s hoping Intelligent Systems and Koei Tecmo will try this again in the future, maybe an Age of Calamity style game for Three Houses.
**7. Shin Megami Tensei V:** Has it really been five years since this was first announced? Damn. This was supposed to celebrate the franchise’s 25th anniversary, but Atlus took their sweet time getting it out there. I got it in December but have yet to open the box and put in the cartridge.
**8. Octopath Traveler:** I’m so glad this game did well, because we are getting even more HD 2D games with more to be announced this year. This should be the standard for pixel art visuals in my opinion. I’m sure the game itself is fine, if not an absolute grind. I know Dunkey’s not a fan at least.
**9. Skyrim:** Never played and have no interest in doing so.
**10. Travis Strikes Again:** See #9.
**11. Breath of the Wild:** What can I say that hasn’t been said already? All I’ll say I’m glad the song they played in that trailer made it into Smash. Also I found Zelda’s Japanese VA irritating in that trailer, and the trailer itself made the story more epic than it actually was. Still my second favorite Zelda though.
Three other notable Switch games announced not at the show floor were Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Sonic Mania, and Ultra Street Fighter 2, the former two I’ve owned for years while the latter I completely forgot about until researching for this post.