Ho, ho, ho-ly crap, Christmas is right around the corner! And with the holiday season coming to a close, we say goodbye to the nightmare year that is 2017, which was actually one of the best years for gaming we have ever seen. It sure is a good time to own a gaming PC, or a PS4, or an Xbox One; but forget that noise, it is a great time to own a Switch and a 3DS because Nintendo sure took us on a wild ride this year! (Dare I say it’s cool to be a Nintendo fanboy again?) Our bodies just weren’t ready for the success the Switch saw in such a short time and it is incredible the 3DS is still viable…almost seven years later…so let’s take a look at what our friends, family, Italian plumbers, etc. are hopefully getting us for Christmas this year.
Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo Switch)
We’re starting off with the OG himself, Mario, who has stolen the spotlight once again with the best Super Mario installment since Super Mario Galaxy 2. He’s not spending too much time in outer space this time around though, but rather flying around on a top hat-shaped airship through various “Kingdoms” such as a desert, a city, and The Land Before Time, chasing after – you guessed it – Bowser who has kidnapped – right you are, again – Princess Peach. Bowser isn’t taking it slow anymore, he’s trying to wife Peach up in this story and you (as Mario) are speaking now and not forever holding your peace because that’s your woman!
The level design in Odyssey takes you back to Super Mario 64 basics with 3D, free-roam worlds and the game-play (think Super Mario Sunshine) is familiar too yet totally refined with the addition of Cappy, your trusty sidekick atop your head whom can be thrown at enemies like Koopas and freakin’ dinosaurs to shadow control them. You also collect Power Moons in additions to coins to purchase additional outfits so you can dress up like a chef or take Mario’s shirt off – in 1080p.
If the ability to play as topless Mario isn’t convincing enough, the game is Nintendo’s fastest-selling Super Mario game ever and it has received near perfect or absolutely perfect reviews by every respectable critic, because it damn well deserves it. Super Mario Odyssey is simply a must-have for every Nintendo Switch owner, and truthfully a sole reason alone to get your hands on a Switch!
Metroid: Samus Returns (Nintendo 3DS)
Let’s slow it down a bit now by bringing up a special lady/bounty hunter who seemed to be forgotten: Samus Aran. Remember Metroid II: Return of Samus? We back to that, but with improved graphics and now you have more controls such as firing at any angle and countering melee attacks. The game also introduces Aeion abilities which allow Samus to do new stuff like scanning the area for hidden items or routes as well as old stuff like Power Bombs.
Samus Returns isn’t so much a remake as it is a “re-imagining” of Metroid II and a solid one at that. Plus, after the garbage that was Metroid Prime: Federation Forces (and Metroid: Other M, to be honest), this installment is essential for Metroid fans. And it won Best Handheld Game at The Game Awards this year so if you’re into platform shooters, or just itching for something new to play on your 3DS, then voilà.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Nintendo Switch)
If you never played or even heard of the Xenoblade Chronicles series, fear not because this JRPG might still be for you! You play as a warrior named Rex who wield a sword that is also alive, her name is Pyra. Y’all are searching for a place called Elysium which can serve as the ultimate paradise for humanity because civilizations are currently living on the backs of a bunch of ginormous beings called Titans – no, not the ones from Attack on Titan (that would be terrifying). Also, although it is technically a sequel, the world is new and so are the characters and the story-line can be understood without having played Xenoblade Chronicles or Xenonblade Chronicles X.
The game plays like your typical open-world, action role-playing game (think Final Fantasy, or Kingdom Hearts even), the graphics are pretty stunning for what the Switch is capable of and the music will slay you, beautifully. It has been well-received by critics too; this is the JRPG to get if you were looking for one on this console, hands down.
Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon (Nintendo 3DS)
Here we are again, with another Pokémon. The second installments of the seventh generation of the main series titles Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon are quite similar to its predecessors yet different enough to give you a fresh – or at least fresh enough – experience this time around. The game revolves around Necrozma, who is up to no good thanks to those pesky Ultra Wormholes, and introduces a new group called the Ultra Recon Squad as well as a familiar group called Team Rainbow Rocket. There’s also a few new Pokémon to catch and locations to explore.
Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon were reviewed positively and are definitely solid purchases if you missed out on Sun and Moon, but seriously who on Earth – Pokémon fan or not – missed out on those!? Therefore, it comes down to how much you love this franchise and how long you want to wait for the next, genuinely new main series title to drop…which, truth be told, is gonna be awhile. Besides, it’s Pokémon; it’s always fun.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo Switch)
We’ll end on a high note here, perhaps the highest of notes Nintendo has ever hit: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I feel like just mentioning this game, which won multiple Game of the Year awards this year, is enough…but I’ll go on, I suppose.
In Breath of the Wild, Link embarks on an adventure like never before after waking up from a hundred-year snooze to the sound of Zelda’s sweet voice to find out Ganon has unleashed evil upon Hyrule once again. However, this isn’t your ordinary Zelda; no sirree, this Zelda features an open-world environment for the first time ever, insanely complicated physics, breath-of the wild taking graphics that push the Switch’s limits, and Zelda talks!
Link’s core mission is to reclaim these gigantic metal animals called Divine Beasts located in each of the four corners of the map and then take on Calamity Ganon in the center Hyrule Castle. You use your Sheikah Slate (the poor man’s Switch) abilities to create bombs, control metal objects, freeze water, stop time AND take pictures – all of which helps you along your adventure…yes, even the camera app. There are also shrines (mini-dungeons) to clear which serve as warp points on the way, and they reward you with Spirit Orbs for upgrading your heart count or stamina limit. However, there are just so many side quests to complete, towers to para-glide off of, areas to explore, special armors to craft, unique weapons to find, meals to cook, friends to make, mini-bosses to pummel and Koroks to play hide and seek with that you will forget a monster like Ganon even exists!
I, and everyone who has played Breath of the Wild, can’t recommend this game enough. It is worth getting a Switch for, even over Odyssey (but, like, why not both?), although if you own a Wii U you should know there is a Wii U version – which I played through myself before getting a Switch and it’s just fine. And, Breath of the Wild recently received two pieces of downloadable content available to purchase, so it’s still relevant…even though it has been all the rage since release. Well, what are you waiting for? Zelda needs you!
Honorable Mention:
Splatoon 2 (Nintendo Switch)
I wanted to give a quick shout out to Splatoon 2 because although it’s quite similar to its predecessor, Splatoon, it is still a solid game. The best parts about Splatoon are present in Splatoon 2 with the addition of a way better single-player campaign. There’s new weapons as well as a new type of weapon, dual-wield pistols, and a new co-op mode.
It basically is just Splatoon on the Switch but if you haven’t played Splatoon, this is a solid purchase as long as you enjoy shooters (think Overwatch I guess) and know what you’re getting into – which is playing multiplayer matches over and over and over with breaks in between to upgrade your weapons and gear. However, it’s the only shooter and one of the better multiplayer experiences on the Switch, for now…
Anyways, as always, let us know which of these games you have played, are playing or might be playing soon! And, Happy Holidays!
P.S. We at PokéJungle sincerely hope you didn’t wait this long to get your Christmas shopping done, but we hope this list gave you a a good idea.
I’ve been wanting to pick up Metroid: Samus Returns since it came out but never got around to it. I’m sure it’ll be among the first games I get post-Christmas. I may also get Xenoblade Chronicles 2 if the special edition is still available by then, but I doubt I’d be able to sink too much time into a game like that.
It’s really annoying playing games like Xenoblade because there’s so much content but so little time ;-;
IMO as a continuation of a franchise, USUM doesn’t deserve to be on here but as an individual, it does. I just wish it was our first impression of Alola and not our second.
Haven’t been able to play any of the other games but the fact Nintendo is doing so well makes me happy. And 2018 looks promising as well! But 2019 is where it’s at if that’s when we get Bayo 3 and PokéSwitch :p
How you about to put USUM on the list but then have splatoon as just an honorable mention because it was too similar to its predecessor? Pretty sure they put more work into making splatoon 2 a new game than Gamefreak did with USUM. But hey, opinions.
Gee, I wonder why the Pokémon site out Pokémon on their list…
Also tbf USUM never advertised itself as a sequel whilst Sploon2 obviously did
Splatoon 2 probably could’ve innovated more, but I don’t really know any shooters that innovate too much between games. The story though I will admit is weak, but I didn’t buy it for the story where as I did for pokemon -shrug-
> Buying a third version for the story
> acting as if you could be anything but disappointed :p
I guess you meant the campaign as a whole tho :p
Honestly they hyped big changes and we got almost nothing. I partly blame myself tho
Yee seeing Metroid here makes me really happy that the franchise hasn’t been forgotten. But really, this was such a great year for Nintendo in general that it’s going to be very hard for the next year to top it :0
Getting Mario Odyssey and the Honorable Mention 3 days from now!
I really wanna talk about all the games I played this year but I haven’t played Persona 5 or Hollowknight yet
I really’d like to play Persona 5, but I guess the only way that could happen would if a Switch port came out
You could also wait for the future Shin Megami Tensei game for the Switch is *practically* the same
but I’m about to play Hollowknight cuz it’s 9$ on Steam YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
well after Life is Strange Episode 3
I missed you deers so much!
My stupid wireless extender kept messing up the cached website of this site, so i couldn’t get to you guys without being redirected…
I had to flush my whole cache just to get back to here, but now i am back~
Happy to see you back! And also I’ve seen few ”Oh Deer” T-Shirts and Sweaters in the last few months lol
Are you in your winter form now?
Why is Magearna so good in OU?
Great moves, great ability, and an amazing defense typing :p
Yep. Also great stats.
Also great design.
I love Magearna so much ^w^
I don’t see how your love makes Magdalena so good in OU. If it does, please spread that love to Pokémon in lower tiers so they can ascend as well and hate some that got to Ubers so they could return to OU. That is all I ask for Christmas. Please and thank you.
Magdalena?
Cupcake in spanish
I know, weird typo
And a popular Polish name
I have never even typed the word down before, so yea it is weird.
#BringAegislashFromUbersDownToOU
I never used it until now, but the amount of work it does in battle is insane.
Lets batttttle
Annoying ability
stupid Shift Gear and overly powerful stats
Yet another battery anxiety day, normally my phone is really good with battery usage but it dropped a whole 10% over twenty minutes and I wasn’t even exerting it, just YouTube and an occasional safari flip
I just wish I could lombotomize the part of my brain that gets so worked up over it or that my devices wouldn’t lose power as quickly
So
there
are
many
comments
about
your
dog’s
ugly
tiger
that
stands
Fangoriously
with
Testicles
in
Helsinki
cats
and
Tbh all this chain shows how bored we are lol
This chain was supposed to be a comment but there was something wrong with Disqus, as a chain was started I decided to try to continue it.
Well I said a “savage” comment to an athlete today… it was enough that I feel guilty for saying it XD
Are you going to share said comment or
Mayybeee
I asked who the kid with the highest grade was (mainly cause I want to dethrone them). One kid commented on how he should be my competition (considering he was #1 in a stock market simulator game called market watch the teacher made us play) I responded with a simple
“Colleges don’t look at marketwatch, do they”
That’s honestly quite tepid tbh 😡
Shush I’m an unpopular shy boi and he was an athlete
You’re lucky he didn’t do what would happen at my school. Punch you in the face (My school is real violent, we had 20 fights by the this time last school year)
Oh my school is like that, they just couldn’t where I was
So…was an issue with posting the comment. What I meant to say was that Pokémon Go AR+ has been launched. I tried using it but the Pokémon wouldn’t come out of the grass no matter how many times I tapped it. Could someone check if they are having the same problem or if it is working fine for them?
Iphone 5
Thank you for making me aware of your inability to check this.
Anytime dawg
I had a cute idea for a XMas pokemon drawing, but I’ve been struggling to draw Aloshrew’s head so f*cking much
Break it down into simple shapes my dude :0
It’s not too hard
The ears are the only slight difficulty
Why are the React icon names in Turkish?
They aren’t?
They are.
Well for you but it’s not a general problem. Maybe the site thinks you are Turkish.
Well I fixed it with a swift and bashful refreshing.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f28aa84c9b987fac8b34000ef1ddc9277989c41c4232c01e96b995e715271f07.gif
Why are you typing in English?
(I don’t even see the react faces but that may be because I am using a mobile).
Sometimes they change languages, there was even one time they were in italian
Huh.
The only one of these I have is Ultra Sun, though I want to play all of them alot.
Okie never mind, just fixed it, I had to refresh. I don’t know if it automatically changes depending on what you like or where you’re from but wow was that weird.
How ironic, they use a picture of Mario in his coat in a frigid Shiveria when they’re talking about “Hottest games”.
I really love the new life is strange episode but the delivery on Chloe’s lines is so off sometimes. She’s fine but she really is no Ashly Burch
Wouldn’t it be awesome if they actually had the Divine Beasts as karts for Mario Kart 9/Switch? It’d be amazing to see them use special abilities in certain area (ie., Medoh opening his wings while flying, Ruta using its trunk to get air or as a motor, Naboris legs moving while on land, Rumania shaking its tail while on climbs.
What’s the best ability and nature for Luxray? I’m not sure I want to wait until Gen 4 remakes to breed a shiny one.
If you’re using it in game, Adamant with Intimidate
If you’re using it for comp, Adamant with Guts or Intimidate depending on item. Flame Orb for Guts, Band for Intimidate. Depends on whether you want to be on a timer or forced into one move.
Hm, thanks, it’ll be competitive. I will probably do the opposite gender for Gen 4 remakes as they have differences.
Does anyone else find that listening to music with the same vibe as the thing you’re writing/drawing really helps make you flow better as you’re working?
I generally prefer silence if I’m writing as it’s easier to concentrate.
What sort of stuff do you write?:0
Only stuff if someone asks for fakemon ideas really. I should probably do more creative writing tbh.
That’s the power of music for you :p
Totally. If I’m listening to something sad then I usually work a little slower and more thoughtfully and a lot of the time those drawings don’t work out at all
If I’m working on a piece that takes more time I’ll usually turn on a podcast or a longer album. It keeps me working and busy
In my class right behind me sits a girl that draws like really frickin good, like really really good (she draws mostly diffrent cute girls). One time our art teacher told us to draw owls and this girl was never satisfied with her drawing even tho it was great and everyone told her that it was great. When I asked her what she finds good, she anwsered “a lot of other people’s drawings on Deviantart”. I don’t really know why I wanted to share this, it just semeed weird for me.
I think comparing yourself to others can be helpful and spur you on to try and progress your own skills. If you do it too much however it can have the opposite adverse effect.
Sounds like you got, Buttered up…
But is this the same girl you’ve talked of before? I remember you talking of a Girl who was into Pokémon and art once before
Yeah, it’s her. I think I know her a little more now and… she seems kinda weird. I’m not sure if I could be friends with her really.
Why not? Sounds like she just has self confidence issues.
It’s not that, it’s just her personality as a whole. Sometimes she’s kinda mean, tho maybe not on purpose. I mean, when I was talking to her about pokemon, it was okay. But Idk really…
Hmm tough decision maybe you could be mild friends with her (You have so small talk, but not much else)
Yeah I think that’s the closest I could/want to get to her
And it’s good to have those
I could say I only have like 8 friends that aren’t like that
We are all on a spectrum of weirdness, you shouldn’t let that bar you from possibilities of new relationships and expierences.
That’s not the kind of weird I meant
I can speak as an artist I’m never fully satisfied with my work. It’s really easy to look at other’s work and feel like my work doesn’t compare. At the same time, it keeps me from getting complacent and it keeps me improving
Oh what the heck I just heard something very absurd on the news
“The US will stop funding countries who don’t vote with them in the UN”
Do we really need to cause strife with other countries?
No. But Trump does.
Barely formed Fakemon idea:
Name: Driftuff (corruption of drift off meaning to fall asleep)
Classification: The sleep inducing Pokemon
Type: Psychic/Fighting.
Ability: (not sure on name) A sleep version of Poison Touch.
Description: “This Pokemon has great natural fighting skills and yearns to teach others, however it has the inane habit of expelling a sleep inducing aura as it does so, leading to it becoming disheartened as others fall asleep during its’ lessons.”
Sounds cool tbh
Reminds me a bit of Komala in lore
Hm, I wonder how it would interact with Komala. Since Komala is always asleep but can still do things as if it were awake.
I have something similar
Monkii and Woofukong
Fighting/Psychic Baboon martial artists/Shaolin Monks
Monkii try their best to harness their emotions to achieve a meditative state but get annoyed by distractions
Woofukong willingly fight with their eyes closed to perfectly fight with senses but if they open them all the sights will overwhelm their bodies and fly into a rage
It’s not that similar tbh. Driftuff has a face covered in long white hair and pronounced long white eyebrows. It has a long beard if male or a natural ponytail if female. Males have dark red fur covering their bodies which resembles a karate gi, the females have purple fur resembling a kimono, both have black under-shirt like fur. They are probably Baboon size but that’s about as monkey-like as they are. They have long black tails that act like belts around their waists, the females is wider like a sash. They are meant to look kind of like old martial arts masters.
Mine are covered in long drapey orange fur like a monk gi and white hair and hot pink skin
And on their tail they have golden spheres
I’m gonna go back to more US while still wallowing in the fact that Hau completely destroyed my team with one Pokémon 🙁
Anyone got a spare Purple Nectar I can have? I want Sensu style, but am only on Ula’Ula