Upcoming 2022 Nintendo Games: The Best Year Ever For Fans?

"Pokemon" has been a dominant force in the video game industry for years, and the newest entry in the franchise, "Pokemon Legends: Arceus," sees the developers tackling a bold new approach, complete with a near open world, an early time period in the "Pokemon" world that fans have never seen before, and some new variants to boot. Fans grew even more hyped when "Pokemon Legends: Arceus" released a creepy horror-themed trailer that seemed to signal a total shift in tone for the franchise.

Apart from the new setting, "Pokemon Legends: Arceus" also includes a number of interesting gameplay changes, including crafting, observing wild Pokemon behaviors and brand new attack styles. As noted by iMore, all of the new twists have hyped up fans of the series, and "Arcues" is looking like a solid follow-up to 2020's much-anticipated (but slightly underwhelming) remasters, "Pokemon Brilliant Diamond" and "Shining Pearl."

• Release Date: Jan. 28, 2022

• Available On: Nintendo Switch

• Genre: Adventure, Action RPG

• Game Modes: Single-player

Square Enix's "Triangle Strategy" is a bold new turn-based RPG that puts players in control of a group of warriors as they try to navigate a story that reacts and evolves with every decision players make. Featuring a beautiful art style, the game sees battles play out over multi-tiered arenas, each of which feature environmental elements that players can to use to their advantage. Alongside flanking, height advantages, and a variety of different unit types, the combat in "Triangle Strategy" pushes players to think their strategies out carefully, as one key decision can spell victory or defeat.

Interested players got a chance to check out a demo of "Triangle Strategy" soon after its announcement, and their feedback influencing numerous changes to the game before release (per GamesRadar). Overall, however, the demo was very well received among strategy fans. CBR compared "Triangle Strategy" to the popular "Fire Emblem" series for its emphasis on characters, challenging combat, and the engaging narrative hinted at in the demo, so RPG fans have a lot to look forward to.

• Release Date: March 4, 2022

• Available On: Nintendo Switch

• Genre: RPG, Turn-based strategy, Adventure

• Game Modes: Single-player only

Arriving at some point in Summer 2022, "Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak" is the hotly anticipated expansion to one of the best RPGs of 2021. "Sunbreak" will give players more of the monster-slaying action that they know and love, as well as new monsters, locations, missions, and equipment for players to craft. The expansion will also expand on the mythology of the "Monster Hunter" series in exciting ways, offering new story threads for players to follow. There is a lot of pressure on "Sunbreak" to perform well after the massive critical success of the "Iceborne" expansion for its predecessor, "Monster Hunter World."

Fans of the "Monster Hunter" series are accustomed to spending dozens of hours on a single entry in the franchise, and an expansion like "Sunbreak" offers an opportunity to craft even more advanced gear and learn new strategies for Wyvern-wrangling. Fans of the series are extremely excited for the new expansion, but it also offers an incentive for newcomers to join the fun — although they may want to tag along with an experienced friend or consult a guide to help them along their way.

• Release Date: Summer 2022

• Available On: Nintendo Switch, PC

• Genre: Action RPG, Action, Adventure

• Game Modes: Single-player, Online multiplayer

Another surprise success for Nintendo was the release of "Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle" which combined the world of Nintendo's Super Mario with Ubisoft's Rabbids to create what The Verge called a "unique" take on the turn-based strategy genre. The upcoming sequel, "Sparks of Hope," again sees players taking control of classic "Super Mario" characters and Rabbids cosplaying as them in turn-based battles. However, it features a new approach to combat that frees it from the strict tile-based structure of the first title.

Fans of "Super Mario Galaxy" will be excited to see that "Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope" also takes the series to the stars; its intergalactic campaign sees players jump to a variety of planets, each of which contain recognizable aspects of both series, as well as entirely new bosses, enemies, and locations. Be sure to keep an eye out for easter eggs while you dive into a sequel to one of the best modern "Super Mario" games.

• Release Date: TBA 2022

• Available On: Nintendo Switch

• Genre: Adventure, Turn-based, Tactical RPG

• Game Modes: Single-player only

A revival of the cult classic kart racing game "Chocobo Racing" — itself a spinoff of the massively popular "Final Fantasy" series — is coming to the Nintendo Switch in the form of "Chocobo GP." 

According to Siliconera, "Chocobo GP" will feature a minimum of 20 race-able characters from throughout the franchise, each with their own unique ability. During races, players can pick up "Magicites" to help them out, which act similar to the item boxes in Nintendo's very own "Mario Kart" series. The game's trailer has also shown previews of some of the tracks that will be included, but it's unclear just how many will be available at launch.

"Chocobo GP" also includes full online and local multiplayer, making it a great title to pick up to race against friends, no matter if they are on the other side of the globe or seated on your living room couch. With "Mario Kart 8" still gaining in popularity every year,  "Chocobo GP" could be the breath of fresh air that fans of kart racing games have been looking for.

• Release Date: TBA 2022

• Available On: Nintendo Switch

• Genre: Racing

• Game Modes: Single-player, Online and local multiplayer

"Hollow Knight: Silksong" is a beautiful indie Metroidvania that started as an expansion to the extremely successful original "Hollow Knight" before growing into a full-fledged sequel. Fans have waited for any news on the game for quite a while, as its narrative and mechanics seem to promise quite the bold new adventure. Not only will "Silksong" bring a number of big changes to the original's combat, but it also features a different player character, Hornet, who has to adventure through a vast kingdom to protect Hallownest from dark forces.

The new character brings with her different abilities for players to master, forcing fans to adapt to Hornet's unique playstyle both in and out of combat. Like most Metroidvanias, players should expect intense boss battles, exploring Hallownest to memorize its geography, and plenty of puzzles and platforming challenges. The developers have described Hornet's new combat mechanics as more acrobatic in nature, so players will likely be expected to nimbly weave between enemies. For Metroidvania fans really looking for a challenge, "Hollow Knight: Silksong" will also introduce a Silk Soul mode, which unlocks after completing the game for the first time and offers hardcore players an entirely new challenge.

Thanks to a number of leaks (per GamesRadar), fans are pretty positive that Hornet will be making her debut at some point in 2022.

• Release Date: TBA 2022

• Available On: Nintendo Switch, PC, iOS

• Genre: Adventure, Action, Metroidvania

• Game Modes: Single-player only

The road to "Metroid Prime 4" has been a precarious one. The series has not received a new entry since 2007, and the new sequel's development process was completely rebooted following its reveal at E3 in 2017. This particular development has left many fans worried, with some afraid that Nintendo might just cancel "Metroid Prime 4" entirely, especially since the company has said little to nothing specific about the game at all. The "Metroid" fanbase has a particular sweet spot for the "Prime" subseries, which redefined what its games could look like, moving the action from a traditional 2D Metroidvania design to a first-person shooter perspective.

Thankfully, it does seem unlikely that Nintendo will completely abandon the project at this point. A recent earnings report from Nintendo showed  thatthe company was still not confident about when it will be released, but the length of time from the reboot of its development indicates that it shouldn't be too much longer. Even if the game doesn't quite make it to release in 2022, Nintendo the immense success of "Metroid Dread" earlier this year (per GameRant) has hopefully illustrated to the company just how much demand there is for new releases in the series.

• Release Date: TBA – Possibly 2022

• Available On: Nintendo Switch

• Genre: First-person shooter, Adventure

• Game Modes: Single-player only