Nintendo likes their fall Directs. And today they brought some goodes with them. The biggest is probably the formal announcements or follow-ups to a few projects that were shall we say… somewhat nebulous. But there were also some requisite updates on games that were already out, substantial news about a change to Nintendo Switch Online, and – with an update on the Super Mario movie – one of the few times a Direct covered a fully non-gaming major project.
News
- Monster Hunter: Rise: Sunbreak, a “massive” expansion for Monster Hunter: Rise, announced. Features multiple new features and quests. Releases Summer 2022
- Mario Party Superstars will feature old boards Woody Woods, Yoshi’s Tropical Island, and Horror Land, as well as the minigame-only and online Mt. Minigames (which has seven courses)
- Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars, a card game RPG partially by Yoko Taro, combines different types of video game and tabletop role-playing. Release October 28
- Disco Elysium – The Final Cut, previously announced for Switch but never shown, releases digitally on October 12 (with preorders available now). A physical version is planned for 2022
- The Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity Expansion Pass Wave 2 will feature new playable characters, such as the King of Hyrule
- Chocobo GP, a new Chocobo-themed Final Fantasy racing spinoff, features characters like Gilgamesh. Releases “2022”
- The Final Mr. Sakurai Presents video for the last Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC newcomer will air on October 5
- Kirby and the Forgotten Land, the very first 3D platformer in the series, puts Kirby in a somewhat post-apocalyptic urban and island setting. Releases “spring 2022”
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons will, after months of speculation since its release, finally feature the bar The Roost “and more” in November. An Animal Crossing Direct will highlight this update in October
- Mario Golf: Super Rush will add Koopa Troopa, Ninja, and two additional courses. The update is today
- Disney Magical World 2: Enchanted Edition is getting a remaster “this holiday”
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, the classic Bioware RPG, release November 11
- Dying Light 2 Stay Human is coming to Switch as a Cloud-only version. Releases alongside a free demo February 4, 2022
- Dying Light: Platinum Edition announced for Switch. Releases October 19; pre-orders are now available
- Triangle Strategy (no longer “Project Triangle Strategy,” as with its predecessor Octopath Traveler) has been adjusted and changed from input from players of the demo. Changes affect the difficulty setting, load times, camera control, graphics, and an ability to review previous dialogue. Releases March 4, 2022
- Metroid Dread features abilities new and old, a chained-up Kraid boss fight, and at least some limited voice acting.
- Shadowrun Trilogy, a collection of Shadowrun games, releases “next year”
- Castlevania Advance Collection, previously leaked from various ratings boards, combines Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance, Aria of Sorrow, and Dracula X. Features rewind, quicksave, a gallery, and all regional versions of the games. Released today!
- ActRaiser Renaissance, a remake of the classic god game / action-platformer, features new stages and bosses, the option to switch between the old and new soundtrack. Released today!
- Deltarune Chapter 2, recently released on Steam, releases on Switch as Deltarune Chapter 1 & 2 as an update to Deltarune Chapter 1. Released today!
- Highlights real: Hot Wheels Unleashed (September 30, 2021), Surviving the Aftermath (“holiday 2021”), Shin Megami Tensei V (November 11, digital pre-orders now available), Wreckfest (“fall 2021”), Arcade Archives Pac-Man and Arcade Archives Xevious (today), Rune Factory 5 (March 22, 2022)
- Shigeru Miyamoto provided an release date on the theatrical Illumination Mario movie: holiday 2022, with December 21 in North America specifically
- Voice actors: Chris Pratt (oh, nooooo…) as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, Charlie Day (yay!) as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key (yay!!!) as Toad, Seth Rogan (eh…) as Donkey Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson (yay!!) as Kamek, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike, and Charles Martinet in “surprising cameos”
- Splatoon 3‘s new weapons include Spider-Man / Hookshot-esque wall swinging and a small mech suit. The story mode seems to involve the Octarian army, the remains of the Easter Islands, the series’ first snow setting and, most dramatically, the “return of the Mammalians.” Its setting is Splatsville, the “City of Chaos” (an aftereffect of Splatoon 2’s final “main” Splatfest) surrounded by the wastelands of probably long dead France
- Bayonetta 3, unmentioned since its 2017 announcement, is formally shown off. Features Bayonetta (complete with a new hairstyle) fighting large monsters distinct from either the angels or demons of the prior game and new transformations. Releases in “2022”
Nintendo Switch Online will be receiving Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, a new, higher membership plan with exclusive content – streaming games from two additional platforms: Nintendo 64 and SEGA Genesis
- Initial Nintendo 64 games: Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Yoshi’s Story, Dr. Mario 64, WinBack: Covert Operation (?!?), Star Fox 64, Sin & Punishment, Mario Kart 64, Mario Tennis
- Later releases include The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, F-Zero X, Mario Golf, Pokémon Snap, Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, Paper Mario, Banjo-Kazooie (?!?)
- Nintendo 64 multiplayer games have full multiplayer retained for local play, as well as online play
- Initial SEGA Genesis games: Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Castlevania: Bloodlines, Contra Hard Corps, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, Ecco the Dolphin, Golden Axe, Gunstar Heroes, Musha, Phantasy Star IV, Ristar, Shining Force, Shinobi III, Streets of Rage, Strider
- The new plan releases in October, along with the ability to change membership tiers
- Nintendo will also be releasing wireless Nintendo 64 and Genesis controllers, something which had been leaked vaguely days ago
Videos:
Wolfman’s Soapbox: “What?” That was probably the thing I kept thinking as I watched this. And maybe that was the context – I was two and a half hours late and fairly tired – but yeah, that kept happening. And what’s weird is that a lot of this stuff wasn’t really surprising. Nintendo accidentally leaked Kirby this morning (and, much more vaguely, Bayonetta 3), scuttlebutt about the update to Nintendo Switch Online has been going on seemingly for months, and I did expect Nintendo to show the final Smash character on their own time. But I kept feeling it.
Maybe it was the details. Sure, there’s a new tier to NSO (about which I feel mostly mixed, not entirely negative or positive), but getting Banjo-Kazooie, the best Rare game? That was a bit of a shock. But WinBack!? What? Sure, we’d heard HAL had wanted to upend Kirby, which has been getting stagnant for years, but a 3D, Mario 3D World style game with the NieR: Automata desiccated mall? Hot damn. But then there were the straight surprises: an ActRaiser remake, the Genesis games (which had been leaked, but I missed them), and my man Ninji in a Mario Golf game that I may never actually play. And, well, that movie cast that’s… well, okay, Chris Pratt sucks, but other than him it’s insanely stacked!
It wasn’t all this. A decent number of these announcements were for stuff that had been in the wind for a while: Disco Elysium (which is great, by the by), Bayonetta (which looks good!), and the inevitability of Triangle Strategy losing the “Project.” But the Direct was good about providing surprises of different levels, kinda, and ways. And that’s what I’m looking for a lot of the time.
So that was fun! I had a good time. But I’m-a go and get back to watching Doom Patrol.
AShadowLink: Why was Shin Megami Tensei V in a sizzle-reel in the western Direct? The Japanese Direct had a full trailer. Oh well, I guess I’m getting Ocarina of Time.
- Treasure Collected: The Social Satire of Pikmin - April 24, 2024
- Indie World April 17, 2024: Information and Reactions - April 17, 2024
- Gun Metal Gaming Chapter 3: Second Acts in Gaming Lives - March 30, 2024
This was overall a pleasent but unsurprising for the most part presentation, the unsurprising bit comes mainly from the leaks beforehand, although I did admittedly miss the listing for the 3D Kirby game (along with Bayonetta 3) so that was a nice surprise for me.
It was great seeing Yoko Taro’s new game in full, I’m normally not a card game player but I do like seeing gorgeous card artwork and I’m sure this VoC will have lots of them. I also can’t wait to see the ‘dark plot twits’ Taro will bring.
I wonder if the story in HW: AoC DLC wave 2 will add a “prober” additional ending to the main story? Nah just hopeful thinking on my part.
It is cool seeing the Chocobo Racing sequel, depending on reviews and full roster I may get it, but honestly Chocobo GP makes me want more for a Mario Kart 9, and a new F-Zero game for that matter.
I kinda half-expected that the SSBU final DLC fighter wouldn’t be shown in this Direct but I still went a little ‘aww man’ when it was confirmed that we see them in two weeks. Its understandable however.
As for who it could be, I don’t wanna speculate anymore (atleast not in the open), lately I have reconsidered for various reasons on the possibility of certain fan favorites not making it in while some others may make it in.
Kirby atFL looks amazing, it also gave me vibes of the cancelled 3D Kirby game (because of the prominent use of skyscrapers).
Metroid Dread and Splatoon 3 both look good as ever, can’t wait to play them.
Remake of ActRaiser (finaly someone at Square Enix remembers ActRaiser exists), Deltarune chapter 2, and same-sex marriage in Rune Factory 5 are all good things.
As for the confirmed voice cast in the Mario movie I have mixed feelings towards it like most people; Platt is a….”interesting” choice to say the least, I don’t know much about Taylor-Joy’s voice acting experiences (or anything else beyond her role in Queen’s Gambit, in which she was excellent), and I’m unsure how to feel about Rogan. The rest are fine I guess (the idea of Black as Bowser sounds pretty funny to me tbh).
While Nintendo could have choosen worse 3D animation studios then Illumination, the latter’s work is not exactly something I hold in high standards and the only movie of theirs I genuinely like was Sing (mainly because of talking animals and the songs) and I don’t expect the Mario movie to become a new favorite but in the end I wanna hold judgement until I heard and seen it all in action.
I must say the expected drama that arose from the confirmed cast is hilarious. Atleast Martinet is involved in the movie in some form rather then not be in it at all (which wouldn’t be right).
Finaly the first real look at Bayonetta 3. Bayo’s hairstyle, clearly a callback to her child version in the first game, is stunning. The sword striking character at the end gave me Vergil vibes, should be interesting.
As AshadowLink mentioned, the JP Direct had a full trailer for SMT V, here is the link.
I meant to write Pratt instead of Platt, sorry.
“Kirby and the Forgotten Land, the very first 3D platformer in the series””
Kirby 64: “Am I a joke to you”