It came as a surprise to many when Nintendo announced that their next smartphone game would not be related to any of their long-standing series. Instead, this latest game is Dragalia Lost, an action role-playing game.
The game is being co-developed with Japanese developer Cygames. Nintendo has a small stake in Cygames, so the co-development makes sense. We don’t know the exact release date, yet. Although, a summer release has been suggested.
The game itself has a definite anime style, which might not be to everyone’s tastes. We also don’t know whether the game will be free-to-play or a paid release.
We’ll have to wait for more information.
Other Nintendo mobile games
This will mark the first new game Nintendo has released in a new franchise on smartphones. Previously, we have seen established franchises such as Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp make the transition to our phones. These have been a mixture of paid and free-to-play releases, so we will have to wait and see what Nintendo plan to do with Dragalia Lost.
Each of these franchises transitioned to smartphones excellently. They kept the core of what made them fantastic console releases but made them simple enough to be enjoyed on phones. However, they all contained microtransaction in one form or another so it is likely that Dragalia Lost will as well.
Each game Nintendo has released on smartphones has seen remarkable success. When Super Mario Run was released, it became a fast-selling game on all of the major mobile app stores. It took the core of a Mario game and turned it into an addictive and challenging mobile game. Hopefully, this same mindset has been put into the action role-playing genre with Dragalia Lost.
Mario Kart Tour
Nintendo has announced that there will be a Mario Kart game coming to smartphones titled - Mario Kart Tour. However, it looks like we will have to wait until after Dragalia Lost is released before seeing this latest Mario Kart game. Although, it does still look like it will see a 2018 release.
We don’t have a lot of information about Dragalia Lost yet, but that is sure to change in the coming months.
Nintendo doesn’t release or put their name on games they don’t believe in, so Dragalia Lost could turn into a sleeper hit for mobile phones this year. It seems unlikely that it would only release on certain types of phone. However, Nintendo has released their games on iOS before Android and other devices, so Dragalia Lost may follow the same pattern.
