I'll keep this (relatively, for me) short.
My kids and I have been playing Mario Kart World on the Switch 2. It's really well done, free roam is fun (but limited), and the controls, smoothness, graphics, etc. are REALLY well done. It's lacking in many features (ghosts racing, competitive free roam trials, tracks, items, etc.) and I hope many of the gaps will be filled in over the coming years. It's feeling a bit played out already.
BUT... I've also recently introduced Double Dash (Gamecube) and Mario Kart Wii to the kids. They got a kick out of wii motion controls and double dash's gimmicks, but even with a retrotink, playing it on a big flatscreen TV is just not ideal.
So I sailed the high seas for some ROMs (to games I already own), installed the Dolphin emulator, and installed some 4K texture packs. My PC is ok... i7-4790 processor (10+ years old) and a 3080.
Double Dash, a game from 23 years ago now looks almost as good as Mario Kart World (you can easily find Youtube videos). It's staggeringly good. The controls and speed -- better than World, imho. The performance is fantastic.
If you took the base Double Dash or Wii game and compared to World, you would say we've come incredibly far. But, with a little upscaling, some new textures, etc., it's clear that we really haven't.
I get that Nintendo games are not known for pushing the envelope, but I think this is just one good example of how ... empty ... modern AAA gaming is.
I think honesty the opposite will happen. I would expect a non linear Metroid in the next 5-6 years. I agree on the lack of diversity in their IPs, part of me thinks they are being too risk adverse to their detriment, and part of me wonders if it’s because there’s not enough good talent available to make consistent good games like the golden age, everything has expanded to the point where a lot of good talent are working on minor games that can sell well and we don’t have a lot of AAA companies willing to juggle that much premium talent across multiple IPs.
The only way they are going to make another good Metroid is if they listen to any of the criticism the last one got.
I get that, but look what they did with a few other IPs to reinvigorate them when they were lackluster, I have faith they care enough about the IPs to cater to the fan base still. They completely reformatted DK and did two distinctively different releases within a few years to regain trust in the community. Same with Mario too. If Nintendo doesn’t listen to fans I’ll be worried, but they have at least a decent track record compared to most AAA titles.