Summer is rapidly approaching the video game industry, and with it a host of new game releases and announcements are on their way. Nintendo Switch owners have had a very solid year thus far, receiving excellent ports and exclusives like Kirby and the Forgotten Land and 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. The rest of the year is looking stacked for Nintendo-published titles, with many trailers coming out recently to inform fans of what to expect in the coming months. Mario Strikers: Battle League, Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, and Splatoon 3 all look like great additions to any Switch owner's library.
That's not all that Nintendo has to offer this year either. There will likely be a number of Nintendo announcements made during the E3 season detailing the last few months of 2022 and the first few of 2023. There is also a particular date that JRPG fans with a Switch will want to pay attention to. July 29, 2022, will see the release of two hotly anticipated titles in different storied RPG franchises. The upcoming Digimon strategy RPG, titled Digimon Survive, will finally release after years of delays. The much-anticipated Xenoblade Chronicles 3 will also come out that day, exciting many fans who weren't sure when the next installment would be revealed. Despite these games coming out at the end of the month, they still make July worth looking forward to for Switch users.
Digimon Survive's Release is a Big Deal
It's hard to understate how long the wait for a new console Digimon game has felt. The Digimon Story and Digimon World subseries have seemingly paused to wait on Digimon Survive's launch, and that launch kept slipping further away. The game, which now seems to be holding a firm mid-2022 release date, was originally intended to come out in late 2019. Digimon fans finally seeing Survive play out on their televisions or handheld Switch devices will feel like a dragged-out chapter in the Digimon franchise has finally come to a close.
The game has a lot on offer besides its infamous release schedule. Digimon Survive will be a visual novel with survival elements combined with a turn-based strategy RPG. Players take the role of a teenager leading a group of other teens and Digimon in scrounging for resources. The game will allegedly be one of the darker Digimon tales and allow for moral choices that will affect how the game plays out. Battles take place on an isometric grid similar to Final Fantasy Tactics and will incorporate the series' standard temporary Digivolution (though with major changes) alongside a wide variety of allies and enemies. It may not be a revolutionary title, but it is fairly experimental and will hopefully be worth the wait.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Will Be a Treat for Any JRPG Fan
While Digimon Survive is releasing on a wider variety of platforms, it will have stiff competition on the Switch thanks to Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Their JRPG demographics likely have a fair amount of crossover, though both games’ probable lengths should encourage owners to switch between the two to avoid burnout. After the new Future Connected content added in Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, Xenoblade 3's follow-up was a matter of when, not if. The game came out of nowhere during the February 2022 Nintendo Direct, and it surprised fans again by moving its release date from September to July. No one expected it so soon, but they can't complain.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 brings back characters and concepts used elsewhere in the series. Even Xenoblade Chronicles X is getting some love with the new Ouroboros system, allowing certain characters to fuse into giant mecha forms. The game will play out like a modernized take on the active time battle system, somewhat similar to Final Fantasy 12 but with more emphasis placed on positioning and party synergy. It builds upon the systems present in past games, though fans are hoping it will be more streamlined than Xenoblade 2. Even with all the gameplay and story trailers so far, it feels like Xenoblade 3 holds countless mysteries in its open world. Exploring it and Digimon Survive’s many scenarios should keep Switch owners preoccupied for the rest of the summer.
Digimon Survive will be released on July 29 for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.