Nintendo's often gone its own way when it comes to doing its business, but as Microsoft and Sony rolled out their latest hardware at the tail-end of 2020 it felt at times as if the company had vanished entirely, a paper-thin release schedule in the all-important months leading up to Christmas making the Switch feel at times like the forgotten console.
In 2021, that's surely about to change, and after a period of relative silence - understandable, of course, given the global circumstances and the pressures they've placed on developers - Nintendo is set for its most significant year since the launch of the Switch back in 2017. Looking at the release schedule as it stands, skeletal and incomplete, you might not ascertain as much - with the likes of Bravely Default 2 and Persona 5 Strikers, those first few months are double-A all the way - but then you get to the tail-end of March and the release of Monster Hunter Rise, perhaps the most significant new release on Switch in an age.
After the record-breaking success of Monster Hunter World, Rise feels like a homecoming of sorts, returning to Nintendo's stable equipped with a new set of tricks learned on its blockbuster outing while it punches up the quirkiness that once made the series' name. Running on Capcom's RE Engine - a first for the series, as well as for the Switch - it promises to look absolutely sublime. And, of course, there's that sneaking suspicion it could look even better with the help of some new hardware.