Nintendo Direct, September 4, 2019: Information and Reactions

Leaks meant there were a lot of known details coming into this Direct: a beloved modern FPS, an unfairly maligned FPS, two Ubisoft sequels, and a possible Smash Bros. newcomer. And, well, all of them came true. But those leaks didn’t change the fact that this forty minute Nintendo Direct was still filled with surprises big and small. There were great looking ports, surprising new games, and some fascinating collaborations between Nintendo and other people and studios. Plus, the sudden release of Banjo & Kazooie gave us a long video about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate afterwards where.

General Information

Overwatch, the 2016 co-op shooter which had been repeatedly leaked a week prior. However, it lacks both cross-platform play and an actual physical release (thankfully, the eShop version is 12.1 GB, a mere fraction of the game as it currently exists on other platforms). Releases October 15.
New Luigi’s Mansion 3 levels include Tomb Suites, Dance Hall, and the Spectral Catch. A new mode is ScarePark, a local party mode that pits four-person Luigi and Gooigi teams. Releases October 31.
Super Kirby Clash, a free-to-play Kirby co-op game with local, wireless, and online play. Releases today!
The Trials of Mana remake releases April 24, 2020
Return of the Obra Dinn, the Lucas Pope time-bending investigation game, is coming to Switch. Releases “fall 2019.”
Little Town Hero, Game Freak’s long in the making RPG, has you play as a young villager who protects a town over a period of time through “ideas” and working with the townsfolk. Soundtrack almost entirely by UNDERTALE’s Toby Fox, with arrangements by Hitomi Sato (Pokémon Black & Pokémon White).
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s DLC Fighter Pack #3, with Banjo & Kazooie, releases today! In addition, Fighter Pack #4 will feature the vaguely leaked Fatal Fury, King of Fighters, and general SNK mascot Terry Bogard, release date “November.” Finally, fighters beyond the first Fighter’s Pass are in development. More details included in a separate stream, released immediately afterwards, hosted by director Masahiro Sakurai; information on that below.
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening will allow players to customize and match Chamber Dungeons to Zelda amiibo for sharing. Releases September 20.
Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition will include free cosmetic and item DLC. Releases September 27.
Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE, the Wii U Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei crossover, is being ported to Switch. The Nintendo Switch version includes a new song, storylines, and the Fire Emblem character Tiki. Releases January 17, 2020.
Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise, a sequel to Wolfman’s favorite Twin Peaks ripoff, is coming out! Takes place in both 2019 Boston and 2005 NOLA, with two characters (one of whom is the last game’s protagonist) interacting through time. Releases 2020. In addition, Deadly Premonition, now titled Deadly Premonition Origins, releases on Switch today!
Divinity: Original Sin II – Definitive Edition is available today!
DOOM 64 is being ported to Switch, as per earlier leaks. Releases November 22.
Rogue Company, a new shooter series from Hi-Rez, releases in 2020.
Three new features in Pokémon Sword & Pokémon Shield: significantly more complex clothing customization; Pokémon Camp, a new mechanic that might be replacing systems like Poké Pelago and which has wireless play; and a curry on rice cooking system based on your berries. There are also two new Pokémon:
- Polteageist, a Ghost-type haunted teapot Pokémon
- Cramorant, Water / Flying-type whose unique ability, Gulp Missile, lets it eat and attack with fish when it uses Surf or Dive.
Nintendo Switch Online will now be getting a selection of SNES games, including some that hadn’t been included in the SNES Classic. The expected online co-op and rewind systems are also included. Launches tomorrow with twenty games, and a SNES Switch controller will be sold as a separate offer. The initial games are:
- BRAWL BROTHERS
- Breath of Fire
- Demon’s Crest
- F-ZERO
- Joe & Mac 2: Lost in the Tropics
- Kirby’s Dream Course
- Kirby’s Dream Land 3
- Pilotwings
- Star Fox
- Stunt Race FX
- Super E.D.F. EARTH DEFENSE FORCE
- Super Ghouls’n Ghosts
- Super Mario Kart
- Super Mario World
- Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
- Super Metroid
- Super Puyo Puyo 2
- Super Soccer
- Super Tennis
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Tetris 99 will be getting a free update, Tetris 99 Invictus, though it’s restricted to top-level players. The game will get more icons and daily missions; winning them earns currency for getting bonus custom themes (some of which is Nintendo related). The second wave of paid DLC includes a 2P Share battle. Releases tomorrow, and a package version of the game releases September 6.
New Mario & Sonic at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games events include a 100 meter dash, rugby, surfing, a series of retro 2D bonus games, and a story mode where Mario, Sonic, Bowser, and Eggman get trapped in the Tokyo Games from 1964.
Damon ex Machina has another new demo available later today, with data able to be moved to the full game. Full game includes online play.
Star Wars: Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast, the classic 2002 action game, releases September 24.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition releases October 15.
Assassin’s Creed: the Rebel Collection includes Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and Assassin’s Creed Rogue, along with their respective DLC. Releases December 6 as a Switch exclusive.
Dauntless, a free to play online co-op gam, releases some point in 2019.
Game footage montage includes Just Dance 2020 (November 5), GRID Autosport (September 19), Farming Simulator 20 (December 3), Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (September 20), NBA 2K20 (September 6), Call of Cthulhu (October 8), The Outer Worlds (“coming soon”), Devil May Cry 2 (September 19), Vampyr (October 29)
Animal Crossing: New Horizons has a phone app for crafting, and the nature of the deserted island lets you place extensive furniture outside. Tommy & Timmy’s business helps with recycling, and alongside Bells there’s a currency for performing certain actions and activities. You can also turn flowers into a garland and fashion weeds into an umbrella, while food now helps give you energy. Classic Animal Crossing activities are also available, and up to four local players can live on the same island; up to eight online players can come at the same time.
Xenoblade Chronicles will be getting a Switch port as Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition. Releases some point in 2020.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Newcomers: Banjo & Kazooie. While the animations were all redesigned to more adequately match the Smash gameplay, the vast majority of their moves are taken directly from the game: Talon Trot, Claw Swipe, Rat-a-tat Rap, Breegull Bash, Beak Barge, Feathery Flap, Bill Drill, and others. In addition, Banjo & Kazooie enter stages from a large Jiggie logo, and the victory jingle is a remix of the classic Jiggie collection theme. Even Nuts & Bolts is referenced with one taunt.
- Neutral special: Egg Firing. If you hold down the button it turns into Breegull Blaster, but holding down the button to autofire weakens their power. Shielding or crouching gets you out of it.
- Side special: Wonderwing. Has priority over virtually everything else and is a recovery option, but it spends from a pool of five Gold Feathers – which only replenish after being K.O.’d. Will weaken if it hits a shield, and it doesn’t defend against grabs.
- Up special: Shock Spring Jump: The spring pad can do damage and be thrown, and doesn’t send you into a helpless state or remove your second jump. Vertical distance is dependent on how long you hold the button.
- Down special: Rear Egg: Fires a grenade egg backwards, which acts as an item while moving in an unpredictable way.
- Final Smash: The Mighty Jinjonator. Has a strong vertical range.
Stage: Spiral Mountain. After a rotation icon appears, the stage spins and alters the terrain, something entirely unique from the rest of the series. Cameos – who Sakurai repeatedly describes as “poor souls” or “sad souls” – include Gruntilda (in her original form), Bottles, Mumbo Jumbo, Tooty (who only appears at the bottom of the mountain and is barely perceptible), the original Jinjos, and Buzzbombs.
Compared to other DLC franchises in both this and Smash For, music was extensively arranged so the “country” style of the music would tonally fit more. All ten tracks, seven of which are arrangements and bolded:
- “Main Theme – Banjo-Kazooie.” Arranged by Grant Kirkhope, the first westerner to work on Smash music
- “Spiral Mountain”
- “Mumbo’s Mountain”
- “Treasure Trove Cove”
- “Freezeezy Peak”
- “Gobi’s Valley”
- “Mad Monster Mansion”
- “Vs. Klungo”
- “Vs. Mr. Patch”
- “Vs. Lord Woo Fak Fak”
New Mii Fighter costumes: Goemon (Mystical Ninja), Proto Man and Zero (previously seen in Smash For), Team Rocket (Brawler) – the first Pokémon costumes in the series – and Sans (UNDERTALE). An apparently very popular request, purchasing Sans also gives you the music track “Megalovania.” The arrangement was made by Toby Fox, who has played Smash at Sakurai’s house and is now the second westerner to work on music in Smash.
Banjo comes with the 5.0 update, along with the almost certainly final new game mode: Home-Run Contest. The mode now features Sandbag being fired into outer space
Now, players who download Mii Fighters off Smash World can change their moves. However, this won’t apply to Mii Fighters uploaded before the 5.0 update.
The Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Snake amiibo release September 20.
Video was recorded only two days after recording Hero’s presentation. Sakurai’s also changed his personal style for controlling multiple characters at once. He spent time extensively discussing the history and details of the Banjo games, Nintendo’s relationships with Microsoft and Rare, the Japanese and English names of certain moves, and plugging the Xbox ports of Banjo-Kazooie.
Regarding DLC fighters made after the Fighter’s Pass, Sakurai talked about the “finish line” sliding further and him reaching his limit, but also the excitement of working with more characters and game worlds. He also stressed the unlikelihood of reaching a roster of this size again, and that to an extent it may have bolstered the appeal of including even more characters to Ultimate.

Videos:

Reactions:

So the thing is that while this was a great Direct, it was a great Direct in a particularly, wonderfully demented way. I’d spend time talking about the games here, but there’s nothing I could really say that’d reflect the experience of watching this. I’d be happy about a cool game like Overwatch or the Xenoblade port I’ll probably not purchase, before some crazy, out there announcement – Obra Dinn, the Tokyo Mirage Sessions port – blew me away. Like, did we even know there was a Deadly Premonition sequel? [quick note: judging by a Google search, no] That’s everything I could have wanted! The Smash information exemplified this; it just kept jumping between Mister “Get Serious!” to “more fighters are coming after the Fighter’s Pass!” to “let’s listen to Sakurai calmly discuss video game history for a while” to “wait, a SANS COSTUME?” to “wait, now official Game Freak composer Toby Fox HUNG OUT AT SAKURAI’S HOUSE?” I feel like I’m generally pretty positive with these all the time, maybe because I don’t like to keep sky-high expectations, but this felt distinctly surreal.

And, wait, Vampyr got confirmed?

So I hosted our live reaction to the Direct and in the description I put “Will Shin Megami Tensei V ever be seen again?” I was instead hit with Tokyo Mirage Sessions Switch. That game was always a slap in the face to fans of the series, expecting something more inline with the mainline series from the original reveal trailer which literally scrolled all the mainline protagonists from SMT. The Switch port opened up some old wounds, and I wish I could enjoy it, but I’ve played it once before and didn’t. Also they announced Devil May Cry 2 for the Switch. Didn’t think Capcom would ever sell Devil May Cry 2 on its own ever again, let alone for $20. That was something.

As a Smash fan? That was AMAZING. More characters beyond the Fighter’s pPass? Sans Mii costume PLUS song? All the SNK love that went into Terry’s trailer?

Perfection.

As a Nintendo fan? It was, well, pretty good. I feel like it missed that one “wow” moment I want from a Nintendo Direct. Don’t get me wrong, there was some cool stuff. Overwatch, the SNES online library, and Doom 64 SHOULD have been big moments… but they were all leaked. Xenoblade Definitive Edition is one I am really looking forward to. Not all games need remakes or remasters…but that game did. The textures on the original are rough, and looked dated even when the game originally came out on the Wii. It was a good game to end on, but I felt like we still needed at least one “one more thing.”