E3 2016 Day 3 Summary: Nintendo

Day 3 saw Nintendo start their E3 offerings with everyone eagerly awaiting to see the new Zelda in action.

Going into this E3 everyone knew Nintendo were taking a very different and low-key approach to the event. Nintendo confirmed their E3 show floor would be dedicated to The Legend of Zelda Wii U; with it being the only title playable. It was also confirmed there would be no special E3 Nintendo Direct this year and instead Nintendo would be focusing on special Treehouse livestreams. So how did this approach go down?

Surprisingly well in fact. Nintendo’s decision may have seen a bizarre and to some may have been seen as a surrender flag, especially in terms of the Wii U, but by focusing almost solely on the new Legend of Zelda, Nintendo delivered on quality not quantity.

I really want to wax lyrical about all the meat and trimmings of the new Zelda game, sub titled The Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild (unsure on that name but it’s quite appropriate), however I’m going to be doing an in-depth E3 preview on it so I will focus more on Nintendo’s overall showing, how Zelda was demonstrated and how well it went down.

By dedicating their show floor to Zelda:BOTW Nintendo had created a Hyrulian themed space for E3 attendees to experience the new game and wow what a space it was. Ok so I admit maybe it was not as expansive and striking as I had hoped/expected but then I may have overestimated the floor space demonstrators get at E3 but that being said the Zelda themed show floor was very cool. From the moblin sitting upon a watchtower to the fire pit complete with cooking pot and artificial food, it really gave the space an identity as well as helping absorb attendees into the world of Zelda:BOTW.

The show floor wasn’t the only area where we got to see Zelda:BOTW in action as naturally Nintendo dedicated a lot of their Treehouse livestream to it. Before I get onto the livestreams I will make a disclaimer, I did not manage to watch much of the livestreams mainly because they were so long and my time is limited, and trying to provide a comprehensive E3 coverage as best as I can, time and other priorities permitting, I had to make a few “cuts”. Needless to say I kept in the loop with most of Nintendo’s comings and goings at E3 so I feel I have enough ammo to offer an opinion (ramble over).

Nintendo’s livestream kicked off, after a sombre and touching tribute to the victims of the Orlando shooting by Reggie Fils-Aime, with Reggie introduced Zelda:BOTW (although we did not know its name at this point) hinting at a “new format” for the series. The trailer kicked off with a woman serenely saying “Open your eyes” (many believe this voice could be that of Zelda) before a peaceful montage of the new Hyrule plays out, detailing several, diverse locations. The instrumental music accompanying this opening segment had a Studio Ghibli feel, never a bad thing. It was not a dynamic start but it was a bold one. We eventually see Link running off a cliff gliding above the land below. I’m not going to go into specific detail on what was shown, leaving that to my in-depth preview, but the trailer did an excellent job of immersing us into the new game and introducing us, all be it briefly and suggestively, to new features in the game.

Nintendo then teasingly moved over to talk about Pokemon Sun & Moon, god dammit give us more Zelda! Mind you that trailer was arguably a clever way of grabbing our focus and wetting our appetite for things to come. And although The Legend of Zelda is a massive franchise for Nintendo just showing that at E3 would have been an unwise move and Reggie did promise that they would be dedicating the rest of the livestream to Zelda.

So what to say about Pokemon Sun & Moon. The game does look bright and colourful utilising the tropical island setting of Alola. I was impressed with the animations of the Pokemon during battles too. Having not played a Pokemon game since HeartGold I felt that series had evolved sufficiently from the footage shown of Sun & Moon. With these livestreams however there was generally a lot of talk and that’s fine, it creates a more personal and intimate approach to demonstrating games and gives viewers a deeper insight into the relative game. But if you are, like me pressed for time, and just after the core details and footage then they can become somewhat tedious.

The footage shown did re-emphasise the visual charm and appeal of Sun & Moon. Incidentally the trainer in the demonstration was using Popplio so crew you internet seal clown haters! but to be honest I felt like what was shown was not that captivating. Certainly if you are a massive pokefan I’m sure the in-depth look at the game was enjoyable and they did show off some cool things. One neat feature introduced was a hint telling players they are approaching a trainer battle, useful when you want to avoid a fight. Also shown off was Battle Royal; a new multiplayer mode where players fight in a four player free-for-all. The end of the battle is signified when one of the combatants loses all their Pokemon, and the winner is determined by combining the number of Pokemon they have defeated and the number of Pokemon they have left. It’s an interesting mode that adds another tactical edge to battling.

Battle Royal is a new multiplayer mode which pits four players against one another (Screenshot source: IGN)

Nintendo then turned back their attentions to Zelda for the rest of the day and provided viewers with lots of interesting Zelda:BOTW gameplay. Again not going to go into detail here but when I first heard Nintendo were going so in-depth this E3 with their coverage of Zelda I was worried. See I enjoy the sense of discovery that is synonymous with Zelda games, exploring Hyrule and finding out secrets by myself is one of the main allures of the franchise. Well my worries appeared to be dumfounded.

The Legend of Zelda:BOW is a new breed of Zelda one that throws out some of the old conventions of the series and introduces new ones. I get why Nintendo wanted to show so much of the game now, they wanted to prove they can still innovate, that they are not afraid of taking risks and most importantly they were that confident in their product that they knew the reaction would be overwhelming positive. There was so much coverage of the game it’s hard to watch it all and thats fine because it gives me plenty to read up on and watch about the game until its launch next year.

Zelda:BOTW & Pokemon Sun & Moon were not the only games shown by Nintendo. With a hole host of 3DS games demonstrated during the 2nd day of Nintendo’s livestream. Monster Hunter Generations, BoxBoxBoy, Yo-kai Watch 2, Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of The Forgotten Past & Rhythm Heaven Megamix all received some “airtime” as well as debut’s for Ever Oasis and Mario Party Star Rush. The Wii U was not completely ignored either as Paper Mario: Color Splash was shown. Again I haven’t had time to watch all the demonstrations in full but a few of the titles previously mentioned caught my attention.

BoxBoxBoy is a sequel to BoxBoy, a simple but addictive puzzle where you are a box who uses boxes to solve puzzles and progress through levels. It resembles a platformer but plays more as puzzle game and the sequels main addition is you can now create “two” sets of boxes. This addition will no doubt create more complex puzzles. I never played the original but this simple yet addictive premise is right up my street.

Yo-Kai Watch 2 also interested me thanks to its charming and fun introduction trailer. Now I haven’t played the first one but know its fondly though of especially in Japan. Yo-Kai Watch has drawn comparisons with Pokemon but that comparison is largely based on collecting different creatures. The “creatures” (apparently they are not creatures) seem to have distinct, unique personalities. The world of Yo-Kai isn’t one I’m too familiar with but that may change thanks to its enjoyable E3 showing.

One pleasant surprise was a demonstration of Pokemon Go, which featured a number of developers and field testers, including Mr.Miyamoto. There was some footage shown of capturing a Pokemon, it was surreal moment seeing a Rattata right in front of your eyes (well on your phone anyway). Miyamoto revealed Pokemon Go Plus, an accessory that connects via bluetooth to your phone that tells you what is happening in Pokemon Go without you having to constantly look at your phone. Niantic said they wanted people to look at their surroundings not at their phone. There was little footage during this segment to talk about and it was mainly discussion, too much for me to try break all down! Still I’m excited for Pokemon Go as this is surely going to be one of Nintendo’s definitive mobile experiences.

I would say on the whole Nintendo’s E3 was relatively successful certainly in terms of amazing gamers with the latest Legend of Zelda. Their livestream approach was a bit of a mixed bag, a convoluted approach that although offered a more in-depth and personal method of demonstrating games became somewhat tedious in places and sometimes dampened the effect of what was being shown. I have found it hard to summarise Nintendo’s E3 showing because of this but it’s clear anyone who is a fan of Nintendo still have much to look forward to between now and the launch of the NX.

What did you make of Nintendo’s E3? Did you like their approach this year? Are you looking forward to Zelda:BOTW? All thoughts and comments welcome. Stay tuned here at The Gaming Bear for more E3 coverage. Thanks for reading, have fun and play games.