This post is about the new Zelda, Pokemon Sun and Moon, and Mass Effect: Andromeda. I don’t have a PS4 or Xbox One and don’t really plan on purchasing either one so I haven’t followed their respective E3 news. I do have a Wii U and 3DS (and PC), and I’m very much a Nintendo guy. Always have been, probably always will be.

I’m very excited for the new Zelda; it’s like Zelda meets Skyrim. I’ve played around 130 hours of Skyrim over the past five years and played most of the Zelda games at least once through (Ocarina of Time several times). Two of my favorite games/franchises in one? Yes, please! The art style is interesting: it’s like Skyward Sword’s water colors taken a bit further. It looks pretty nice, but I would have preferred something like the Zelda tech demo at E3 2011. Actually, the more I think about the art style, the more I realize that it fits the game. A more realistic art style may have limited the scope of the game. A more stylistic art style allows the Wii U to do more (more enemies on screen, wide open spaces with little to no load times, etc.). It seems like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wind takes place after the kingdom of Hyrule has declined and lies sort of in ruin. I wonder which of the three timelines this game is set? My guess is that it’s set after Twilight Princess in the same timeline.

Nintendo has some great coverage of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wind on their E3 page. It looks like there is a temperature system in the game, kind of like Metroid Fusion. In cold areas, you need to either eat things that give you cold resistance or wear heavy clothing. I’m assuming there will be areas where the opposite is true. Interesting idea. The Wolf Link Amiibo from Twilight Princess HD can be used in the Wii U version of the game (no info on NX, yet) to bring in Wolf Link as a companion character. He’ll help you defeat enemies and hunt wild boar. He’ll have the number of hearts you had at the end of the cave in TP HD. If Wolf Link is defeated, you have to wait 24 real-world hours to be able to use him again. I think that’s a little silly especially since the AI is not too intelligent. There will also be three other Amiibo for use with the game: archer link, horse rider Link, and Guardian. They’re quite detailed; they look really nice! The functionality of the three new Amiibo wasn’t detailed. I’m choosing not to watch the “Shrine of Trials” gameplay videos because I want to be surprised when I play the game for myself in 2017.

I’m also really excited for Pokemon Sun and Moon and I can’t wait to pick up my copy on November 18, 2016! Just from seeing the three starters, I’m going to choose Rowlet because it’s grass AND flying, a series first. I love the changes they’ve made to the battle interface. Now it shows you the in-battle stat modifications of each Pokemon and has an easy way to check the move descriptions (L+A on the selected move or tap the i symbol). Sun and Moon are set in a Hawaii-like region called Alola which I’m excited to see. There are four main islands to explore. Also, I’m always in awe of the translators present at these events; I’d love to be so fluent in two languages that I could translate on the fly.

Now if I’m excited for Zelda and Pokemon, I’m super, super, super excited for Mass Effect Andromeda!! I watched the trailer four-five times the night it came out and I got tons of chills each time through and became teary-eyed the last time I watched it that night. Mass Effect is my favorite video game franchise ever. I’ve played each game multiple times as both Maleshep and Femshep with different romances and choices. It’s just so good!! I still get chills when I watch the trailer (below). Andromeda will be awesome!