Over the course of the last decade, beginning with the 3DS and Wii U era, Nintendo has finally gotten into the game of offering new content post launch. And while stuff like the modern Mario sports games may spur your opinion on Nintendo with DLC, truth be told they have offered some of the finest quality DLC we’ve seen in the modern gaming landscape. Here are four big first party games (besides Smash and Mario Kart obviously) that I feel do paid DLC incredibly well in no particular order.
**1. [Xenoblade Chronicles 2](https://youtu.be/6kMHFFpZfX0):** Probably the single best season pass Nintendo has ever put out, and it just goes to show which of their development subsidiaries is truly superior to the rest. Xenoblade 2’s expansion pass includes new Blades and Blade quests, new costumes, a new Challenge Mode with its own unique set of rewards, and most important an entire prequel campaign in Torna: The Golden Country. I spent over 110 hours in the base game and just under 20 hours in Torna, and the latter was everything I wanted Breath of the Wild’s story DLC to be. And that gut punch of an ending hoo boy.
**2. [Pokemon Sword and Shield](https://youtu.be/bKD_nASppNk):** The Pokemon Company is finally embracing a more modern content delivery. Goodbye third versions, direct sequels and expanded re-releases, and hello paid DLC! Okay to be real for a sec, the launch period of this game was rough, but to many people this DLC actually saved the game for them. I never played the games myself to form a definitive opinion on them, but that’s the general vibe I got from the reception.
**3. [Fire Emblem Awakening](https://youtu.be/8kTawTYxWlc):** This was supposed to be Fire Emblem’s last gasp before dying a slow and painful death…. but thankfully it wasn’t. And with its unprecedented success came large amounts of paid DLC maps. There are maps for farming experience and money, maps for obtaining rare weapons and classes, maps for recruiting legacy FE characters into your party, and finally story focused maps that expand on the world of the base game. What I especially like about these DLC maps is that they don’t necessarily detract from the main adventure like how Fates and Echoes did. You can just pick and choose which ones you want to get; you didn’t need to buy it all. I mean I did because of course.
**4. [Mario Golf World Tour](https://youtu.be/dm2K7lkZxqI):** This is one that I especially want to call attention to, as it is way more important to the history of Nintendo’s DLC practices than you may realize. Mario Golf World Tour’s DLC lineup is hugely important because it was the very first time Nintendo had ever done a season pass…. ever. This actually scared quite a lot of people back in early 2014, as Nintendo and season passes didn’t really have any history with each other, but it did get people talking about potential DLC for the upcoming Mario Kart 8 and Smash 4. As for the DLC itself, it was actually fantastic! It added 4 new characters, 6 new golf courses, tons of Mii costumes, and over 100 extra challenges for the in-game challenge mode. It’s all great stuff. What happened Camelot?
by Asad_Farooqui
43 Comments
Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion. I love the way you navigate the different metro routes for levels looking for the “thangs”. The difficulty factor was upped to the perfect level, and I love the lore introduced by the DLC.
Pokémon SW/Sh being that high is pretty generous. The Isle Of Armour is really boring, Crown Tundra is definitely better but it’s not good enough to carry it to #2.
Octo Expansion definitely deserves to be on this. Would also just add Smash in general for the hype it creates.
First Mario + Rabbids DK expansion and Wargroove (not exclusive) had a great co-op DLC that I played with my son.
Mario Kart 8
Octo Expansion goated
Xenoblade 2, smash and happy home paradise are like the top 3.
Splatoon 2, Smash 4/Ultimate (mainly Ult tho), and Mario Kart 8 come to mind
I think Breath of the Wild’s DLC was fantastic!!! It did exactly what I want from my DLC. It added more campaign story so you can continue the main story. It also added items to the game as masks/armor that you can hunt down. All in all THIS is what I want from my DLC. Not extra skins or the same items I have just different colors or some kind of pass.
Current Golf game needs DLC bad.
Just a note for the FE Awakening DLC stuff. If anyone in this thread is thinking about buying the game and the DLC make sure to do so before March 2023, this is when the 3DS eshop turns off new purchases – So if you are thinking you want it, make sure to prioritize it over games on the Switch or you might miss the chance.
*I’ve never played the game myself to form a definitive opinion, but that’s the general vibe I got from the reception.”*
Mhmm, as someone who’s played the SwSh, it felt like a very undercooked game, a product with bare minimum effort put in. The content revealed within it’s respective DLC feels like it should’ve been in the full game from the very beginning.
DLC that feels like it created from the very beginning to sell a solution for a lacking game shouldn’t be given the grandest of praises, imo.
Completely disagree with your take on fire emblem dlc there. Awakening was their first crack at it, and I think they improved from there. The Awakening dlc has an intense difficulty curve and some maps require skills from previous dlc to stand a chance at completing. Plus you use your own units and team with chance of failure.
I much prefer the maps in Fates and Echoes where you work with a set team of units for the extra story content. When they give you what to work with the balance is much better. Also the Three Houses dlc was pretty great too but that’s almost like apples and oranges.
BOTW dlc was pretty good, Smash DLC is always fun, Splatoon 2 DLC is top notch, MK8 dlc is also really fun imo, Xenoblade DLC is up there with the best DLC of all time
Smash Ultimate while the Pass was ongoing because of the hype. Doesn’t mean the deal isn’t worth it now
I feel like smash is really polarizing. Because I think they’re fine for like, the cosmetics and the character prices don’t seem too bad but it adds up pretty quick and you can almost spend double on the game if you get all the characters and get some of the bigger Mii costumes.
What dlc is good from awakening?
Octo Expansion was such a good refresher
I’m not sure anything can really top the Mario Kart 8 DLC from the Wii U era. It was an absolutely steal and effectively doubled the amount of content in the game. A lot of the levels were absolutely great as well. I can’t speak for the latest DLC since I haven’t played it, but it seems like a great deal.
You already mentioned my favorites, so I’m just gonna add New Super Luigi U to that list.
None of that horse armor dlc, here we’re talking full-on proper games that were sold as add ons.
Smash 4 through to Ultimate was a lot of fun. Mario Kart 8 for Wii U had great DLC too.
I think out of all the Nintendo games I play (or have played) those are the only cases where I was really blown away by their DLC. I never played enough of Splatoon 2 or Age of Calamity to say anything about their DLC. The Animal Crossing DLC was fun at first but gets repetitive imo, the new MK8 DLC is a good deal for a bunch of bargain bin tracks but isn’t anything crazy, and I think I got some of the DLC for the original Hyrule Warriors for Wii U but I don’t even remember it.
Mario Kart 8 and Deluxe
Octo Expansion gave splatoon 2 a proper story mode, and helped improve splatoon 3’s story mode by a ton.
Octo Expansion
I would say booster course pass if the tracks were up to Wii U quality, but they aren’t, so I’d say the Wii U MK8 DLC
I think the BOTW DLC has gotten too much hate as well
I loved the splatoon 2 octo expansion due to the challenging but fun level design which was way better than the main story mode, both Mario kart 8 had cheap and extremely good and high quality dlc tracks and characters, 8deluxe’s dlc is literally giving us a new games worth of tracks and the smash bros fighter pass which was super hype whenever a new challenger was going to be released and it got me into favourite series, Persona.
Pokemon Sword and Shield DLC actually makes it a finished game which is nice. It’s by far the strongest part of the game.
Splatoon 2’s Octo Expansion is truly remarkable. The campaigns for Splatoon 1, 2 and even 3 are pretty good, don’t get me wrong, but pretty “safe”. Octo Expansion goes out of Splatoon’s comfort zone in level design, complexity, music and even story. For once, Splatoon’s story is actually **about something**. And boy, is it interesting.
The music is some of the best in a series with already incredible music, it’s got great unlocks, great challenge, great worldbuilding and just such a great vibe to it. The story is an allegory for relations between countries (specifically the US and Japan) post-war, specifically those of the generation born next and how they can heal the scars between cultures, bonding over things like media (in the game it’s music but it’s a metaphor for video games).
Expertly written, perfectly delivered and the finale is *still* the best moment in the series (though Splatoon 3’s ending comes close). If you haven’t, *play it now*. I’m only sad that there’s little reason to buy Splatoon 2 now that 3 is out.
Monster Hunter: Rise
They have Sunbreak, the paid post-game DLC that adds an entirely new campaign and free content upgrades that they are still rolling out.
Mario Kart 8 DX, Breath of the Wild, Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion, Xenoblade Torna, Smash Ultimate, and of course, OF COURSE, the Nintendo costumes in Bayonetta 2.
God season passes are the worst
Super Smash Bros Ultimate has so much love and Care put into it’s DLC Fighters unlike anything else I have seen.
Tbf I loved the Sword and Shield DLC more then the main game lol
Captain toad
Mario Kart 8’s on Wii U, easily
Xenoblade dlcs are always worth it.
Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion was absolutely the most fleshed out and content heavy DLC i’ve ever seen in a Nintendo game. Tons of new lore, new playable character, 80+ extremely creative and unique stages, god tier story/finale, perfect difficulty, it had everything.
Super Mario Party… oh wait…
Im pretttyyyy sure the answer is Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and it’s not even close. 20 bucks to literally double the game’s content. And the amount of content already in the game was literally Mario kart 8 + all of its DLC. So for $80 you’re getting what is essentially 2 full games + 2 DLC packs per game. If you haven’t bought MK8 Deluxe yet it is literally THE most valuable on the market when looking at amount of game / dollar spent.
Even though it’s not fully out yet. The Mario Kart 8 Deluxe course pack is incredible, effectively doubling the size of the game when it’s all said and done
I wouldn’t count the Sword/Shield DLC in this at all personally. Yes the DLC was good (Probably better than the entire main game honestly), but the base game is incredibly lacking in content, so you’re basically paying an extra $30 for post-game content that should’ve been there at launch, for free.
“And this is where I’d put my Mario Party Superstars DLC… IF I HAD SOME!!”
Smash Bros Ultimate.
All of Nintendo’s paid DLC offerings have been fantastic and of great value IMO.
It’s only when Nintendo does “Free DLC/Updates” that it’s usually downright abysmal..
Mario kart and smash bros are the two obvious ones for me.
Fire emblem was a massive standout. The dlc added a lot to awakening, and three houses too.
I would discount sword/shield dlc entirely because the base games were so bad. I don’t think it’s fair to praise dlc when it should have been in the base game already.