Pokémon Winds & Waves Give Me Hope for Another Open-World Nintendo Series

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I was thrilled when the trailer for Pokémon Winds and Waves was released during the February 2026 Pokémon Presents. As a lifelong Pokémon fan, I’ve stuck with the series even though it hasn’t been as strong lately. It feels a lot like Star Wars – a franchise that was once great but has declined so much that you watch with a mix of hope and dread, wishing someone would revitalize it. Pokémon has always been special to me, and I’ve always believed Game Freak would eventually deliver a truly great game on consoles, seeing the earlier titles as experiments before finding the right formula.

It’s hard to say for sure if Pokémon Winds and Waves, the first game exclusive to the new Switch 2, will be a truly groundbreaking title. But I was really impressed by the trailer! I even caught myself excitedly pumping my fist in the air – it felt like a scene from an 80s teen movie. What really got me thinking, though, was the game’s improved and detailed art style. If the Switch 2 can do this for Pokémon, I think it will make the Xenoblade Chronicles series look absolutely incredible.

The Switch 2 Is Finally Showing Its Worth

I used to be pretty pessimistic about the Nintendo Switch 2. For a long time, it didn’t seem like a worthwhile upgrade, even after it came out, and the announced games weren’t very exciting either. It’s tough to get excited about a new console when you don’t know what it can really do. While seeing Cyberpunk 2077 run on it was cool, PC handhelds have been capable of that for a while. What the Switch 2 really needed was to show how its increased power could improve Nintendo’s own games, making them look at least as good as games from the previous console generation.

Luckily, Pokémon Winds and Waves demonstrates exactly that potential. While it’s not the most visually impressive game, and its world-building choices are a bit risky, it’s clearly several steps ahead of Scarlet and Violet on the original Switch. In fact, Pokémon would be an ideal game for Nintendo to showcase the Switch 2’s power. It’s not because Pokémon will look the best, but because it traditionally hasn’t been as visually polished as other Nintendo games. This makes it a useful benchmark for predicting how games like Zelda and Xenoblade will appear. If Pokémon looks reasonably good on the Switch 2, we can be confident that those other titles will look fantastic.

That’s why I was so excited to see the trailer for Pokémon Winds and Waves. I’m a big Pokémon fan, despite its flaws, and it’s good to see that the developers seem to have a slightly bigger budget. I really want the Pokémon games to look fantastic, and it feels like that’s finally happening. Seeing the improved graphics in Pokémon on the Switch 2 also makes me hopeful that Monolith Soft’s next game, likely a Xenoblade Chronicles title, will be truly beautiful. After all, Monolith Soft is the studio best equipped to really showcase what Nintendo’s new console can do and deliver an experience that surpasses anything else available.

The Next Xenoblade Will Look Amazing

Monolith Soft is uniquely positioned to create Nintendo’s next truly exceptional game. This isn’t just based on my personal love for their titles, but on their consistently impressive technical skills, which allow them to deliver experiences that surpass anything else on Nintendo consoles. Their game, Xenoblade Chronicles, was a massive RPG for the Wii and a standout visually. Xenoblade Chronicles X was incredibly ambitious – almost too large to fit on a Wii U disc! Even compressed, it became not only a huge open-world game for the platform, but one of the largest open-world games ever created.

Even though Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has some resolution issues that a new Switch version could fix, it’s still a beautiful game and the most visually impressive on the Nintendo Switch. Its sequel, XBC3, features incredible landscapes that, while not as large as those in Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom, are much more detailed and feel more alive. It makes you wonder what Monolith Soft could achieve with the power of PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, or PC. Just like Game Freak surprised everyone with Beast of Reincarnation, I think Monolith Soft could create games with the same visual quality as Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

It’s not just about graphics, though. The Switch 2’s upgraded hardware will allow for richer, more detailed game worlds and better simulations, which would be fantastic for a new game from Monolith Soft. I’m really excited because, for the first time, it feels like the creative possibilities are limitless. The Xenoblade Chronicles series has always been limited not by its gameplay or story, but by the Switch’s technical capabilities. We could especially see this in Xenoblade Chronicles 2, where Monolith Soft’s vision clearly exceeded what the original Switch could handle. Now that we’ve seen what the Switch 2 can do, even with a game like Pokémon Winds and Waves, I’m optimistic that those limitations are a thing of the past. Hopefully, we’ll finally see Monolith Soft’s full creative potential realized with the visual quality and depth it has always deserved.

Wondering if the upcoming Switch 2 will be powerful enough to run Monolith Soft’s next game? Share your thoughts and discuss it with other fans in the ComicBook Forum!

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2026-04-01 16:15