Nintendo's portables are always successful, with the exception of the Virtual Boy, but who knew the Switch would have been this great for them. It's only been three and half years and already this system is shaping up to be one of Nintendo's best consoles of all time. That said, amongst all of the games currently out, there are still some stragglers.
This article will take a look back at 2017 and 2018 to suss out the games people may have forgotten about and speculate what could have happened to them. Are they canceled? Will they be out soon? What's the deal? Let's do some investigating and find out.
10 Super Meat Boy Forever
Super Meat Boy Forever was first teased 2014 as a mobile only sequel. After that the project seemingly went cold until it resurfaced again in 2017, with various consoles in mind.
The website says it will come out in 2019 while the Steam page says 2021. The point is the date is irrelevant as nobody knows when and if this game will ship. For some context, the first game launched in 2010.
9 Bayonetta 3
Another game that vanished after the debut was Bayonetta 3. This was teased at the 2017 Game Awards with a CG trailer showcasing Bayonetta dancing without any game context before the title appeared.
Since this announcement, no information has come forward. There hasn’t even been one screenshot. However, PlatinumGames has put out plenty of games since that time including another Switch exclusive, Astral Chain.
8 Metroid Prime 4
Prior to Bayonetta 3, the world was shocked at E3 2017 when Nintendo teased Metroid Prime 4. It was also just with a title but that was good enough for some fans.
It was not known them nor is it known now who was working on it. The rumors say that it was Bandai Namco’s Singapore studio. Eventually in 2019, Nintendo announced the project was restarted so that Retro Studios could work on it instead. If that’s the case then this game isn’t coming out anytime soon.
7 Shin Megami Tensei V
At the January 2017 Switch reveal event, Atlus teased Shin Megami Tensei V. Like the previous couple entries, this was done with a teaser including no gameplay.
There have been some screenshots although what’s out there could also just be concept art. No real gameplay trailer has been seen. For some context, Shin Megami Tensei IV was a 3DS exclusive that launched in 2013. Even with that game’s sequel, fans have been itching for the next main entry for awhile now.
6 The Good Life
After things went south for his game with Microsoft, D4, Hidetaka Suehiro, or Swery65, or just Swery, left Access Games to pursue his own ambitions.
He created White Owls and launched a fundraising campaign to get his first game, The Good Life, off the ground. This was in 2017. Since then Swery has put out The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories and is about to release a sequel to Deadly Premonition. These were colorations while The Good Life seems more like a personal project.
5 Boyfriend Dungeon
As of right now this bizarre game will be a console exclusive on Switch at launch alongside its PC release. It was announced in 2017. Basically it’s a dungeon crawling RPG with dating elements.
The female protagonist can date anthropomorphic weapons that embody the roles of beefy bros. Be nice to them and their weapon forms will become stronger. It’s almost the reverse scenario of Thousand Arms on PS1.
4 The Last Campfire
Hello Games really made an impact this generation when they announced No Man’s Sky with Sony. After not keeping up with promises when it finally launched, the current version in 2020 is more along the lines of what players expected it to be.
The point is that game was an ambitious idea. At the Game Awards in 2018, they announced their next project, The Last Campfire which presumably is a more toned down, smaller experience. That sounds like the right call to make.
3 Samurai Gunn 2
The original Samurai Gunn launched in 2013 for PCs. It was also supposed to get console editions but they still aren’t here.
Instead, a sequel was announced in 2018 to have simultaneous PC and console releases with the Switch being the lead platform. This 2D multiplayer game is a lot like TowerFall Ascension and Nidhogg. The original is not the deepest fighting like game, but it is beloved.
2 Eastward
Eastward was another indie game announced in 2018. This action RPG looks like it plays like the Secret of Mana and looks like a Ghibli film crossed with EarthBound with just a pinch of The Last of Us.
Pixel art is not a rare commodity in indie games, but that doesn’t mean projects like this still can’t astound the eyes. There have been a few trailers since, but no date has been given yet.
1 Windjammers 2
Windjammers first hit arcades in 1994. It would not resurface until a few years ago when Giant Bomb, among other outlets, rediscovered it and brought it back into the limelight.
This prompted a port to consoles in 2017. Then, in 2018, a sequel was announced making it the biggest gap between game releases on this list. Imagine waiting twenty-six years for a sequel. That’s only a guess as it isn’t known when the game will be out but the point is still strong.