Nintendo Switch: Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, Hogwarts Legacy… the most anticipated games of 2023

Game News Nintendo Switch: Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, Hogwarts Legacy… the most anticipated games of 2023

Switch players have been waiting a very long time for Persona 5 Royal (and finally got it!), but the previous installment of the franchise signed Atlus also had more than its place on the Nintendo console! And that’s good: just like Persona 3 Portable which will also be released on the same date, the excellent Persona 4 Golden arrives on Switch at the beginning of the year, and will be another essential J-RPG on the machine! Only downside: for the moment, no physical version seems announced, but that does not make you sulk for all that this great classic released on playstation2 in 2008, here back in its best version, the one revisited on PSVita in 2012.

• Release date: January 19, 2023

One of Nintendo’s strong licenses will be back to start the year! First “homemade” Switch exclusive since Pokémon Scarlet/Purple, the new episode of Fire Emblem will of course be a tactical-RPG in the vein of the canonical episodes of the series, as was Fire Emblem: Three Houses, its predecessor released in July 2019. This 100% new component, developed as usual by Intelligent Systems, takes place on the continent of Elyos, divided between five nations. The avatar you play there will wake up from a millennial slumber and its objective will be to protect the world from the return of Sombron, the fallen dragon. This is undoubtedly a title highly anticipated by many Switch owners and RPG fans!

• Release date: January 20, 2023

It’s definitely one of the most anticipated games of 2023, and Avalanche Software (under the Portkey Games label) is under a lot of pressure…and maybe even more when it comes to the Switch version of the game! This adaptation of the Harry Potter universe, in the form of an action-RPG where you will play your own wizard created from scratch during his schooling at Hogwarts, is an ambitious title expected for February 2023, and also supposed to be released on Nintendo’s hybrid console. However, it will be released on a different date from the other versions, namely July 25, no doubt the time for the development team to refine this version which is very intriguing, especially since it should be released in cartridge and not in the cloud.

• Release date: July 25, 2023 (on other media, the date of the Switch version has not yet been communicated)

Kirby celebrated its 30th birthday with great fanfare this year, including a great new episode that was popular with gamers, and another title has been announced for early 2023! Entitled Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe, it’s actually a remake of Kirby’s Adventure Wii, released in 2011 on… Wii, of course. This new title is effectively a throwback to the cute and colorful 2D platformer in all its glory like HAL Laboratory has the secret. Of course, this remake will bring a graphic facelift in high definition, but will also offer new content, with the addition of a new power and a new mini-game. An ideal family title to start the year on Switch!

• Release date: February 24, 2023

Long-awaited sequel to the excellent Octopath Traveler which delighted many old-school RPG fans in 2018, Octopath Traveler II intends to continue in the same vein. In this “2D-HD” role-playing game, still edited by Square-Enixyou will find 8 new travelers with very distinct talents and motivations, whom you will embody through their journey in the world of Solistia. This second part aims to consolidate all the gameplay (and artistic direction) achievements that made the success of the first episode, and will undoubtedly be one of the most anticipated titles for many Switch players at the start of the year, especially side of J-RPGs.

• Release date: February 24, 2023

You will easily agree: it is not even worth asking what is the most anticipated title of 2023 on the Nintendo side. In 2019, Nintendo announced at E3 the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, one of the most acclaimed video games of all time. Since a highly anticipated second trailer at E3 2021, Nintendo has been distilling snippets of content concerning this sequel, the title of which has finally been known since last September. Even if we still know very little about its game mechanics and its scenario, it is obvious that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is THE most anticipated Nintendo Switch game to come… if not the game most anticipated video of 2023? Indeed, a Grand Theft Auto VI should really be announced for this same year so that there is a competitor in terms of enthusiasm!

• Release date: May 12, 2023

Officially, according to the announcement made at E3 2022, the long-awaited title developed by Team Cherry is supposed to be released no later than one year after the conference of Microsoft where its day one availability in the Game Pass was formalized. So that’s supposed to mean that the Hollow Knight sequel is due out no later than June 12, 2023, but it’s unclear if this information pertains to the Switch version of the game as well. The latter having however been unveiled for the first time by Nintendo, to the point of having initially believed in an exclusivity (at least temporary), it seems likely that Hollow Knight: Silksong will appear simultaneously on several media, Switch included, and this during the first half of 2023!

• Release date: June 12, 2023 at the latest

Unveiled at the last E3, this independent game developed by All Possible Futures was the favorite of many players during the always highly anticipated conference of the famous publisher Devolver Digital. This action-adventure game alternates between a 3D environment and another in 2D, in the pages of a children’s book. Its daring artistic direction, mixed with the diversity of its gameplay mechanics which seem to follow one another with great coherence, has seduced many players who are eagerly awaiting the final release date of this very promising title, to come on all media (including the Switch) in 2023.

This new iteration of the Minecraft license, after the immense success of the original title and a certain Minecraft Dungeons, this time consists of an action-strategy game, to be released on all platforms including the Switch. Announced at E3 2021, this new title Mojang should delight many fans of the famous franchise, whose famous cubic style does not betray its charm. If it doesn’t have a precise release date yet, we shouldn’t wait too long before we have news of Minecraft Legends, scheduled for 2023 and which could, perhaps, show up in the next Nintendo Direct for give news!

The oldest game on this list was originally announced in September 2015, when only the Wii U was available on Nintendo’s home console side (the Switch was still called “NX” at the time). Even better, its legendary producer Shigeru Miyamoto declared that its development was almost finished. We actually had to wait 6 years to hear about it again, during the very last Nintendo Direct to date, the famous creator of the license intervening to confirm its release on Switch in 2023. If we have no idea of ​​its release window yet, it has a good chance of being confirmed at the beginning of the year, and this 4th iteration is among the most anticipated Nintendo exclusives of the year.

Well, we’re cheating a bit for once. Announced at E3 2021 for an initial release in December of the same year, this remake of the first two Advance Wars originally released on gameboy advance had been postponed to April 8, 2022. Alas, a month before its release, the Russian invasion in Ukraine led to its postponement to an indefinite date. Bad luck for this decidedly cursed series with the news: the first episode, which appeared in the United States the day before the World Trade Center attacks, was never released in Japan. The game being however finished, we still expect to see Nintendo publish it on the sly, via a “shadowdrop” type announcement (namely announcing its availability in dematerialized form in the wake of a publication, without any teasing prior). Even if it is not announced for 2023, it could well happen at any time.

• Release date: unknown

There, we start to downright cheat: officially, the event title of HoYoverse was indeed announced on Switch, and this even before the first publication of the game in September 2020. This version was then confirmed for 2022, but as you you will understand, this promise did not materialize. One of the most cult titles of recent years seems truly made for Nintendo’s hybrid console, which is just waiting for it… but we still don’t really know if this version is still planned. We still hope to finally see Genshin Impact arrive on Switch in 2023, hence its presence in this selection.

• Release date: unknown

What if we really cheated in the end? unveiled at E3 2017, the biggest Arlesian of the Switch lives above all its development restarted from scratch at the beginning of 2019, and Nintendo has never again officially communicated on this Metroid Prime 4 clearly announced too early. If we have absolutely no certainty about the possible release of the game in 2023, it is however not improbable: the manufacturer tends to reveal, in its Nintendo Direct, games to come within 6 to 9 months most of the time. What if Metroid Prime 4 made its big comeback in the one expected at the start of the year? Admit that this would clearly make it one of the most anticipated console titles for the coming year!

• Release date: unknown

And you, what are your biggest expectations on Nintendo Switch for the year 2023? Please let us know in the comments!