AlthoughNintendo Switch Sportsis only about a month away, there’s still plenty of potential details that Nintendo hasn’t showed off. For instance, players don’t know the extent to which they can control each playable Sportsmate’s appearance. These new avatars look like solid blank canvasses with a lot of potentially malleable details, but for the moment, there’s a lot left to learn about them. It’s also hard to say how closely players can engage with the setting ofNintendo Switch Sports.The heir toWii Sportsapparently takes place in Spocco Square, a sports complex filled with buildings that house all kinds of competitive events.
Nintendo recently sharedsome screenshots of Spocco Square, and these pictures make theNintendo Switch Sportshome base look really impressive. Each building looks beautifully detailed, and the various NPCs hanging out in each building make them seem alive. This level of detail creates the perfect opportunity to add a free-roam mode toNintendo Switch Sportswhere players simply walk around Spocco Square, get to know the other local athletes, and discover all kinds of useful things. PreviousWii Sportsgames may limited the player’s ability to explore, butNintendo Switch Sportsdoesn’t have to do the same.
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The Potential in Exploring Spocco Square
Nintendo Switch Sportsisn’t the first game in theWii Sportsfamily to have a unique setting.Wii Sports Resortfeatured Wuhu Island, the heart of a resort archipelago that featured all 15 of the game’s sports categories. While players usually only saw parts of Wuhu Island while playing certain games, the Island Flyover mode ofWii Sports Resort’s Air Sportsallowed players to view the wonderfully detailed island from above and discover several secrets. Still, flying over the island on a plane meant that a certain amount of distance between players and the island was inevitable.Wii Sports Resort’s details could’ve been appreciated better with an additional Hiking option that encouraged careful exploration.
Spocco Square provides Nintendo with an opportunity to let players explore on foot, and there’s plenty that players could get out of that experience. For instance, players could get the opportunity to meet NPC athletes who provide strategy tips onNintendo Switch Sports' various game modes and even tease sports that Nintendo willadd toNintendo Switch Sportslater. Players might also get the chance to find exclusive clothing items and other cosmetics while walking around Spocco Square. Walking around this athletic park would be an immersive experience in its own right, but there’s plenty of mechanical benefits to be had.
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Nintendo Switch Sports Has New Ideas
There may be hope that players can explore in this way.According toNintendo Switch Sportsplaytesters, players can get jobs in the game, which could very well involve physically looking for work in Spocco Square or walking around the square while doing work tasks.Nintendo Switch Sportsalso reportedly features restaurants and clothing stores, both of which could be in-game locations, rather than simply menus that players interact with. These features, alongside free-form exploration, would certainly make Spocco Square feel like a real community.
So far,Nintendo Switch Sportsseems like it has quite a few new ideas built in, which is a good thing. Even thoughWii Sportsis a classic franchise,Nintendo Switch Sportswouldn’t have been nearly as interesting if it just rehashed all of its predecessor’s ideas. Nintendo needed to innovate to revive this franchise, and between new sports and cosmetic options, Nintendo has innovated pretty well so far. Hopefully there’s plenty of other features thatNintendo Switch Sportshasn’t showed off yet, though. Surprising and useful features like manual exploration will help push the boundaries of Nintendo sports games while contributing more ideas to any possible future games.
