2018 was a weird year for Switch. While it was still good, many owners felt like it was a step back from the bombastic launch year of 2017. The games we got were good, but aside from Ultimate, nothing Nintendo put out this year felt like a must own. This year for the Switch was mostly Wii U ports, third party games, and smaller titles/niche projects like Labo. The biggest disappointment some had, was that it didn't feel like Nintendo had fully combined their handheld and console resources. After all, the 3DS still had a few more games released this year, and the comparative lack of handheld franchises and more experimental titles was a bit underwhelming.
That looks like it'll change come next year. 2019 is looking to be the year the Switch really starts feeling like an evolution of Nintendo handhelds. Many 3DS series and games associated with handhelds like Pokemon and Animal Crossing are on their way next year, this time developed with console sensibilities in mind. Third party support is looking to go full steam ahead with more multiplatform titles releasing in a closer time frame to the other versions, plus an increase in more unique exclusives like Town, Ninjala, and Daemon X Machina.
Perhaps what I'm most excited for, if it happens, is an increase in more experimental games from Nintendo. For the most part, many of Nintendo's Switch games were planned prior to the console's launch, with the bulk of them being in 2017. 2018 had more games, but not as many interesting ones, and a lack of digital games like Snipperclips though is a bit disappointing this year. I fully expect this to change next year, as I think we'll see a bigger influx of new IP and niche titles along the lines of ARMS and Labo.
The biggest thing about the Switch next year, is that it won't just feel like a Nintendo handheld, but it'll feel even better than that. Don't get me wrong, systems like the GBA and DS had great libraries with strong third party support, but many times it felt like the games were always lesser or more custom versions of what was on consoles. Sure CoD being on DS was great, but only because it was a custom made version completely separate from the full version. Switch is different. It's modern hardware and console nature means it no longer needs spin-offs or alternative versions made from scratch, and it can instead get the full version of many PS4 and Xbox One titles (abiet scaled back) with ease. Plus, because games on Switch are designed to work in both home and mobile scenarios, that also means there's less of a need to develop separate games for handheld style, and home console style as games can now work just as well on both, which frees up time to allow for a more varied and interesting software library.
If you thought 2017 was great, IMO, Switch is just getting started.
