By Luca Newton
Everyone and their mothers are predicting what Nintendo will be showing at E3 2021 - However, I'd like to know what Monolith Soft have cooking..
Monolith Soft are one of Nintendo's largest assets, especially in recent times - in many ways you may not even know. They helped on Breath of Wild, Splatoon 2, and even, Animal Crossing: New Horizons. In addition, they have their own IP, most popular of which is Xenoblade Chronicles. Because of their large impact on Nintendo's games at large, I wanted to discuss a multitude of possibilities.
Firstly And Most Likely; Breath of the Wild 2..
We, of course, already know that a sequel to BOTW is in the works, and Monolith are indeed going to be helping out again, just like in the first game. It's unanimously agreed that the sequel to Breath of the Wild will have a showcase at E3 2021, and I definitely agree. So whatever happens, this, at the very least, will be something Monolith has to show. The reason I even bring this up, is because I think there will be another game from Monolith shown at this year's E3 besides just BOTW2 - yet I've seen many people say that it isn't likely because of their work on Zelda. However, Monolith is a bigger studio than you'd think. They have multiple teams on different projects. There is one team that helps out on games such as BOTW2, one focusing on Xenoblade, and a few other undefined ones.
I believe, like many others, Nintendo will release a lot of information about BOTW2 at this year's E3, displaying how this film can even stand on its own compared to the first, maybe even succeeding the first game. It's assumed that Monolith's main contribution will be the world design, so seeing what the world will be like now is gonna be interesting. I really hope it isn't the same map with very little change because that takes a lot of the magic of the first game away honestly. I hope they invest in stuff like underwater, sky or caves to make Hyrule feel different, but ideally we'd get an entirely different part of Hyrule we've never explored.
How About A Deluxe Port?..
Additionally, one of the most likely options for what Monolith could show off in addition to BOTW2, could be a deluxe port of Xenoblade Chronicles X. One of the remaining unique Wii U games not to be ported, which people actually want. Xenoblade X is separate from the numbered entries, with its gameplay type being very different, as well as its art-style and soundtrack. Instead of focusing on story, with an anime-esque art-style, Xenoblade X has a much more realistic art style, while still keeping a bit of an anime flair. Xenoblade X is also a massive open world game, seamless just like BOTW. There are many sidequests, and in this game you can even recruit party members optionally through side missions. X in general is a completely different style of game to numbered entries of Xenoblade, based on all I've heard, and I am very eager to play it, I just hope it comes to Switch finally, as it's incredibly ambitious.
It's always been questionable why it's taking this long to get ported, but it took until this year for 3D World to be ported, so I don't think timing is an issue. I'd say the biggest hit to the chances was when Monolith were asked if they were going to port X, they said they couldn't fund it even though they wanted to make it. However, I believe the relative success of Xenoblade in the last few years, and Monolith's consistent help with other games, Nintendo could have funded a port easily. X didn't sell the best on the Wii U, but I believe more now than ever, it would sell a lot better on the Switch with the mix of a more successful console, and more people aware of Xenoblade. I can see a port like Xenoblade Chronicles X being snuck in the middle of a Nintendo E3 Direct. I'd say look out for it, I'm not sure if it will actually happen, but it is a real possibility.
The Next Entry In The Xenoblade Series?..
Onto a less likely option - it's always a possibility that Xenoblade Chronicles 3, could be revealed at this year's E3. With a release for 2022 most likely, but just as any game it's always a possibility. The question is really why do I bring this up as a possibility? Well, firstly I personally really want it, so I'm always going to bring it up even if it's wildly unlikely - and it is always a possibility. Xenoblade is a series that Nintendo are clearly invested into. It's not in Nintendo's big leagues (and probably never will), but when it comes to Nintendo's vast IP sea, they are active with Xenoblade, which shows that it does matter to them. If Nintendo don't care for a series, they just ghost it for decades, or have very rare releases. Xenoblade started as a series exclusively in Japan and Europe, which only came to America due to fan campaigns - and that was only 2010. Over a single decade, Xenoblade got Xenoblade X, Xenoblade 2, Xenoblade 2 DLC: Torna Expansion, a remaster of the first game, and two characters in Smash.
Well, ok.. so Nintendo care for Xenoblade. So what? They care for Mario, but I'm not here saying Mario Odyssey 2 will be at E3 because of that. There has to be a realistic reason to think why THIS E3 would be the one with a third Xenoblade game. Well, based on patterns, Monolith have released these games at inconsistent amounts of time. The first game came out in 2010, and X was 5 years later. Xenoblade 2 was 2 years after X, with Torna, the DLC, coming a year later. It has been 4 years since Xenoblade 2, and 3 since Torna. It's safe to assume that a team at Monolith has been working on the next Xenoblade since 2018 at the latest, which gives 3 years of development if it releases this year. More likely, 4 years with a 2022 release date gives Monolith plenty of time. We also know that the composer of the Xenoblade games has been working on a soundtrack too. We'll just to have see what happens at E3, but I think that Xenoblade 3 is somewhat of a possibility.
First Look At A New IP?..
This is the most likely option, and honestly I partly expect this at this year's E3. Monolith have been working on what is presumably a brand new IP for a while now. We got concept art in August 2017, and haven't heard a word of it since. If the game even still exists, I feel it has to be time to show it finally? I mean, it's been 4 years since we saw the concept art, and it's presumably been worked on under a different studio since then. I believe that E3 is the best time to show it too. I don't know why, but new IPs seems to be common among Nintendo's presentations - I mean, they opened E3 2018 with Daemon X Machina. And with the credentials of the developers of this new IP, showing the world a premiere of this new IP at the start of their presentation would make a lot of sense. Of course, later in works too, but I'm personally imagining the start.
Some might not even not know about the new IP as it's not been talked about much by official sources, but when Monolith were hiring back in 2017, they spilled the tea on a new project they were working on, including concept art and a description of the game's intentions. It is supposedly a very ambitious, open world action RPG, inspired by medieval and western aesthetics. From the concepts alone, I can personally tell it will blow us all way. I am absolutely ecstatic about it, but I just want to see footage from it, and a title, and a potential release date too. I think it's decently likely that it'll be at E3 this year. More than anything else mentioned at least.
Other than those, there isn't much else I'd say is likely in any way. I really do think Monolith's new IP will be shown off at E3, along with BOTW2 - but a XCX port or XC3 could be there instead. What do you think?
Thanks for reading.
Comments