Donkey Kong Bananza Direct details story, abilities, transformations, co-op play, collectibles, and more

Metnut said:
This looks so good makes me think Nintendo should've delayed the Switch 2 launch so that this came out on day 1.
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Having an exclusive every month is to maintain a constant boost in hardware sales and to have a presence in the media non stop… Worked amazingly well for the Switch 1.
 
I'd been let down by a lot of Nintendo's Switch 1 games, but I'm loving Mario Kart World and this looks even better. Switch 2 is off to a good start.
 
I was really holding off on buying a Switch 2 till a killer title I really really wanted showed up......was expecting something from Monolith Soft to make me pull the trigger........but my FOMO is already attacking me.
Can I justify a Switch 2 for 2 games......should I just hold the money and upgrade my PC at the years end?



Woe is me!
 
I know this is a new game thread and I don't want to derail but I don't know if anyone else has noticed that none of the first party nintendo games are really pushing the hardware? At least in terms of the feeling of speed and fluidity. Something just really feels off and slow? I feel like I'm witnessing wii u 2.
 
same vibe

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Ralph was obviously inspired by DK anyway, so it feels full circle here
 
I wonder if David Wise or Grant Kirkhope is doing any of the music. It kinda sounds more like it's being handled by Shiho Fujii and Naoto Kubo, even though they're using tunes from DKC and DK64.
 
Rran said:
I don't recognize that top screenshot. I'm guessing it's fan art or something because everyone knows there's only one Wreck-It Ralph movie.
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I haven't actually seen the sequel either, I instantly ignored it after seeing the trailers (particularly that princesses scene; not a chance I'd pay to watch content made by a braindead 20-something year old "feminist" disney writer who lives on tumblr lol) and don't even have a clue what it contains.

That just happened to be the first image that popped up of the two of them in a comparable pose.
 
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olninty said:
I know this is a new game thread and I don't want to derail but I don't know if anyone else has noticed that none of the first party nintendo games are really pushing the hardware? At least in terms of the feeling of speed and fluidity. Something just really feels off and slow? I feel like I'm witnessing wii u 2.
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Yeah, I feel the same about games like Mario Kart World or Donkey Kong, they seem like they were developed for Switch 1 then ported and enhanced for Switch 2.
 
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Josemayuste said:
Yeah, I feel the same about games like Mario Kart World or Donkey Kong, they seem like they were developed for Switch 1 then ported and enhanced for Switch 2.
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We already know that this is (sorta) true of Mario Kart World: it began development as a Switch title, but the developers couldn't execute their vision on that hardware without significant compromises, so they moved development over to the Switch 2.

Wouldn't be surprised if that happened with Bananza too, given that we've had rumors about parts of the Odyssey team working on a 3D Donkey Kong for a number of years now.

We actually may not have seen a single major first party title that began development with the Switch 2 in mind yet. (Obviously Metroid Prime 4 also was originally an OG Switch game, lol.)
 
Black_Stride said:
I was really holding off on buying a Switch 2 till a killer title I really really wanted showed up......was expecting something from Monolith Soft to make me pull the trigger........but my FOMO is already attacking me.
Can I justify a Switch 2 for 2 games......should I just hold the money and upgrade my PC at the years end?



Woe is me!
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Fuck that. Get the Switch 2 mate! Although I would say personally I'd upgrade my PC if I were you since its my main platform
 
naguanatak said:
I'm really curious if Monolith Soft is going to blow us away or if we think 'yeah, slightly better than before'. I see both as possible.
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Yeah, Monolith's next project and 3D Mario are probably going to be our first glimpses at Nintendo's actual ambitions for this hardware (since 3D Zelda is probably like 3 or 4 years away). Very curious to see how they contrast with this first wave of titles.
 
blacktout said:
We actually may not have seen a single major first party title that began development with the Switch 2 in mind yet.
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The confirmations from Nintendo alone are telling enough, but neither of these games are even using mesh shaders which this thing fully supports. Just like with the PS5, their next gen starts the year after launch.
 
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They held a lot from those previous treehouse live broadcasts and this was a pretty impressive direct that hyped me up for it way beyond I already was.
And I was thinking about the delay after launch, it's actually the correct thing to do business wise as by 17th July the install base world wide will be built up and the majority will be eager for a new game, if this had been at launch it wouldn't have done the numbers out the gate it will with the 17th July date
My wallet cried when they showed the new amiibo..
this truly looked like a Nintendo "next gen" title as completely impossible to realise or achieve on switch 1. Although it has that Mario odyssey vibe about it this game looks like it was built from the ground up around the destruct ability and grabbing massive pieces of rock etc…
I wonder if this was always a DK title or if it started out as perhaps a Bowser title.. I feel Nintendo aren't ready to go that route yet… the only other real Nintendo character that could work with the mechanic would maybe at a stretch be wario?
But he doesn't have the pull of a character commercially like DK
Anyway whatever its roots I cannot wait :)
 
olninty said:
I know this is a new game thread and I don't want to derail but I don't know if anyone else has noticed that none of the first party nintendo games are really pushing the hardware? At least in terms of the feeling of speed and fluidity. Something just really feels off and slow? I feel like I'm witnessing wii u 2.
Click to expand...
Nope, it's you
 
blacktout said:
We already know that this is (sorta) true of Mario Kart World: it began development as a Switch title, but the developers couldn't execute their vision on that hardware without significant compromises, so they moved development over to the Switch 2.

Wouldn't be surprised if that happened with Bananza too, given that we've had rumors about parts of the Odyssey team working on a 3D Donkey Kong for a number of years now.

We actually may not have seen a single major first party title that began development with the Switch 2 in mind yet. (Obviously Metroid Prime 4 also was originally an OG Switch game, lol.)
Click to expand...
I think bowsers story was the clear indication that they were well over their limit with what switch 1 could achieve, with the destructive environments I cannot see the internal teams ever planned this as a switch 1 title. They said they were working on the switch 2 version of Mario kart world since 2020 or something..bowsers fury was 2021, I would assume the team after that perhaps began the DK title?
 
krumble said:
I think bowsers story was the clear indication that they were well over their limit with what switch 1 could achieve, with the destructive environments I cannot see the internal teams ever planned this as a switch 1 title. They said they were working on the switch 2 version of Mario kart world since 2020 or something..bowsers fury was 2021, I would assume the team after that perhaps began the DK title?
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It's hard to say, because all we have are rumors and speculation, and we won't know anything for sure until we see the credits for Bananza, but it seems like possibly the Odyssey team split in two after that game released, and one of those teams started work on a project (Odyssey DLC?) which evolved into DKB while the other made Bowser's Fury and is now working on a 3D Mario title for the Switch 2.
 
Game looked phenomenal. The first real killer app for me.
Metroid is great but cross generation. I enjoy Mario Kart thoroughly but it's "just" Mario kart.

This DK looks really special
 
Just finished watching the Direct. I wasn't really interested in this prior, but I think I'm sold on the game. When it was first shown, the level assets reminded me a lot of Odyssey and it has a lot more in common than that. The amount of variety shown off his impressive. I'm still wondering how much the destruction aspects will come into play for the level design beyond hiding collectables, but they did show some challenge areas that incorporates that well. And speaking of collectables, I do wish Nintendo would have been more creative with signposting hidden items in the world rather than sonar which is just a reskinned Batman x-ray vision. The only negative I've seen so far is some of the creature designs (think it was a boss) are kind of garish and the unlockable costumes are kind of ugly too.
 
There is kind of a Lost World or Journey to the Center of the Earth feel to the game. It plays off the worlds within worlds idea.
 
  • Cooperative Play – By sharing a Joy-Con 2 controller, you and a friend can control Donkey Kong and Pauline separately in local cooperative play. Unleash Pauline's vocal blasts using the Joy-Con 2 controller's mouse functionality! You can also use GameShare1 to share the game and play in cooperative play with another player locally even if they don't have the game themselves and use GameChat to invite friends online to join you via voice or video chat.
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GUAU!!!
 
It absolutely looks fantastic and a lot of fun. Gameplay seems endless and making all other of those "AAAA" titles look like a joke.
 
The fact that you can co-op using switch one is pretty amazing. I wonder if more games will do that.
 
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