Nintendo Direct September 13, 2022 – Information and Reactions

It’s September, baby! Nintendo always and / or usually has a Nintendo Direct around this time. They’re exciting and big, but there was perhaps a bit extra attention this time. See, while Nintendo really did have a very substantial set of marketing campaigns this summer, their traditional summer Direct was “just” a Micro Direct. A Micro Direct that was still pretty big and full of good game news (and charmingly bad Persona advertising), but one that was still focused entirely on Nintendo’s third party partners. Between that and Pokémon Sword & Shield going for bite-sized trailers instead of more substantial infodumps, the reserve of Big N executives looking into a camera to talk about dumb animal characters was at a dangerous low.

Lo and behold, though, a big ole’ forty minute that goes on for way longer than forty minutes-style Nintendo Direct. We had Fire Emblem and Zelda and Mario and some really cool, unexpected drops. We got some leaks validated, others postponed, and some games that really shocked us. It was big, it was loud, and it was surprisingly full of farming games. Here’s every bit of relevant news:

After months of leaks, Fire Emblem Engage announced. It stars a human dragon having awoken after a thousand-year sleep to fight his own version of the Fell Dragon. A major feature involves summon past Fire Emblem characters like Lyn, Marth, and Cecilia as attacks (which was, according to some leaks, part of the game’s premise as an ultimately delayed anniversary title). Releases January 20
- Will be sold alongside the Fire Emblem Engage Divine Edition, which features an art book
2021 co-op indie darling It Takes Two announced. Features local, wireless, and online play. Releases November 4, with pre-orders now available
A port of 2008’s Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse announced. Releases “early 2023”
Xenoblade Chronicles 3’s Expansion Pack Wave 2 features a new hero, Ino, and Challenge Battles that have silly swimsuit outfits as rewards. Releases October 13
Announced last year, 3D platformer Spongebob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake features seven worlds and the show’s original voice cast. Releases “next year”
Fitness Boxing: Fist of the North Star, a supremely and beautifully odd choice for game / anime crossover, announced. Releases March 2023
Oddballers, a party game by Ubisoft, releases “early next year”
Tunic, the celebrated wordless, isometric Zelda-like from March, announced for Switch. Releases September 27, with pre-orders now available
Updates on the previously announced Front Mission remakes:
- FRONT MISSION 1st Remake launches this November
- FRONT MISSION 2nd Remake launches “next year.” Both games feature additional mechanics, moves, and terrain effects
- A remake of Front Mission 3 announced, with no release date given
STORY OF SEASONS: A Wonderful Life announced. Features character aging as families grow and time passes. Releases “summer 2023”
Splatoon 3 is having its first official Splatfest. Its theme is what you would bring to a deserted island: Gear, Grub, or Fun. Runs from September 23 (5:00 PM PT) to September 25 (5:00 PM PT)
Surprisingly given the company’s longer hype cycles, Octopath Traveler II, the next iteration and first sequel of Square Enix’s HD-2D games, announced. Like the previous game, it’s about a collection of eight characters from disparate backgrounds—Hikari, Agnea, Partitio, Osvald, Throné, Temenos, Ochette, and Castti—going on an intertwining adventure. Now, characters have unique actions for day and night. Releases February 24
Fae Farm, a farm simulation and RPG by Dauntless developer Phoenix Labs, announced. Features local and online multiplayer. Releases as a Switch exclusive “spring 2023”
Theatrhythm Final Bar Line, a sequel to the Final Fantasy crossover rhythm game, announced as a 35th anniversary game. Features 385 songs, online battle, co-op, and the second-silliest title for a Square Enix game in this Direct. Releases February 16
- Following the original game, which had extensive paid DLC, 90 paid DLC songs from NieR, Octopath Traveler, Live a Live, “and more” will be sold after the game’s launch
- More songs are also gated behind the Digital Deluxe Edition and Premium Digital Deluxe Edition. Both have 27 songs and access to DLC Season Pass 1; the Premium version also has access to “all DLC Season Passes”
After being highlighted in a Ubisoft video, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope was shown off. Alongside the base game (which is still coming out October 20), a Gold Edition comes with bonus content and the Season Pass pre-purchased
Rune Factory 3 Special, an expanded port of Rune Factory 3 announced. Features an extra mode “to spend more quality time with your in-game spouse” alongside improved graphics from the original 2009 game. Releases “early 2023”
- Additionally, a new Rune Factory installment is in development
New Nintendo 64 games for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack: Pilotwings 64, Mario Party 1, and Mario Party 2 (planned for 2022), and Mario Party 3, Pokémon Stadium 1 and 2, 1080° Snowboarding, and Excitebike 64 (planned for 2023)
- The most notable addition is the long-rumored, iconic GoldenEye 007, featuring online play and “coming soon.” While the Switch and Xbox ports were announced at the same time, online play is exclusive to the former

Oh dang; my dad’s gonna be so excited about 1080°.

Various Daylife, a new RPG filled with “over one hundred types of daily tasks” and possessor of the silliest title for a Square Enix game in this Direct, announced. Releases today!
Factorio, the 2012 management sim game about building factories and fending off monsters to develop a rocket, announced for Switch. Releases October 28
Ib, the cult 2D horror / exploration game from 2012, releases “spring 2023”
Mario Strikers: Battle League is getting another free update, with Pauline and Diddy Kong, more gear, and a new stadium. Launches “this month”
Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key announced; features an open world and eleven heroes. Releases February 24
Wave 3 of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass includes Merry Mountain (from Mario Kart Tour) and Peach Gardens (from Mario Kart DS), as was discovered in an extensive datamine. Releases “this holiday”
Nintendo Switch Sports will be adding Golf, featuring 21 courses from the Wii Sports series and an up to 8-player “Survival Golf” mode. Due to needing to more time, the update has been pushed back from “this fall” to “this holiday”
Alongside another rundown on Pikmin Bloom (and the upcoming U.S. Super Nintendo World parks), the announced but untitled Pikmin sequel was finally revealed as Pikmin 4. No significant footage was shown, but it features a new Pikmin-level camera position and a protagonist who may or may not be Brittany. Releases 2023
Just Dance 2023 Edition announced. The dancing is indeed Just; it is also planned to feature regular updates. Releases November 22
Announced at the last event, Harvestella showed more of its RPG and life sim gameplay. A new demo is coming out today!, and the full game (which accepts save data from the demo) releases November 4
Bayonetta 3 got a new update. Returning characters from the series, like Jeanne and Luka, are playable. It still launches October 28, but pre-orders are now available
- Another trailer for the game was released separately on Nintendo’s YouTube channel, because they are cowards. I’m linking to it here and not embedding it, as it is age-restricted
Master Detective Archives: Rain Code, a new detective game from the Danganronpa developers, was shown off formally after its announcement in 2021. You investigate crime scenes and proceed through a “Mystery Labyrinth” as the final deduction. Releases as a timed exclusive “spring 2023”
Resident Evil Village Cloud announced; releases October 28 with the Winters’ Expansion DLC launching December 2. While I’m suspicious of its quality as a Cloud game, it’s still RE Village. A free demo launched today!, giving players an opportunity to test it
- Other Resident Evil games are coming to Switch via Cloud this year: Resident Evil 2 (2019), Resident Evil 3 (2020), and Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (which was ported to Switch in 2018 to mixed reception)
Sifu, a martial arts brawler from February, announced for Switch. Its main mechanic is that as you fight, you age, which worsens your skills, inches you ever closer to death, but gives you new moves. Releases November 8
Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion, previous announced in June, releases December 13
A port of Radiant Silvergun, previously leaked earlier this month, launches today!
Endless Dungeon, the procedurally-generated action game announced last year, launches “next year”
Tales of Symphonia Remastered announced for Switch; features an updated UI and appears to be primarily based around the PS3 iteration of the game. Releases “early 2023”
Highlight reel: Life is Strange Arcadia Bay Collection (September 27), Romancing SaGa -Minstrel Song- Remastered (December 1), LEGO Bricktales (fall 2022), Disney Speedstorm (“2022”), Fall Guys – Season 2 (September 15)
As part of Kirby’s 30th anniversary, Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe, an explicitly described “remake” of the Wii co-op platformer, announced for Switch. It has a new Mecha Copy Ability and allows all four players to play as Kirby (as opposed to the original release, which forced additional players into one moveset). Features returning and new bonus sub-games. Releases February 24, 2023
The sequel to Breath of the Wild finally has a title: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Releases May 12, 2023

The Direct itself. Due to this releasing so soon, it’s the livestream version of the Direct and may be replaced by a separate one in the future.

Wolfman’s Soapbox: But what of Metroid? But what of Zelda ports?

Oh, I’m sure the long-rumored and various ports of Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Metroid Prime (1, not 4, which I’m happy to treat as MIA until we see proof of life) are coming eventually. It’s surprising, since all three are big enough to merit their own shoutout in a Direct, and would probably be great for the holiday season. If you’d like, you can point to the footage of GoldenEye having a Metroid Screw Attack avatar as secret foreshadowing, but… eh. They’ll still be “just” remasters, and they’ll still be fine. But it’s a bit disappointing, if only because I’m a sucker for Zelda and Metroid. And, of course, Nintendo moving from Wii U and Wii ports to GameCube gets us ever closer to Odama: Definitive Edition (and, more seriously, the GameCube’s genuinely excellent and imaginative lineup), so that’s just one more reason for those to be worthwhile when and if they happen.

In other news of “stuff we didn’t get,” I am surprised at the relatively small update for Nintendo Switch Online, since September is where they like to show off more updates. Not that GoldenEye isn’t big on its own, because it absolutely is, but I think we’re kind of geared to expect things like the long-rumored Game Boy additions. But focusing on what we didn’t get is, while understandable, perhaps missing the point. This was a very packed Direct, and while it perhaps went heavy on the farming life simulators and JRPGs, I think there was generally a wide array of stuff to enjoy. If you wanted updates on Switch games, we got some important ones. If you were jonesing for more Zelda news, we finally got a title… and mostly just that, but that and a short but wild trailer is still pretty big.

If I could try to bring it back around to the pre-Direct hype cycle (i.e. me and everyone else being excited for HD GameCube ports), it is this: the main throughline in this Direct was about what was leaked and what wasn’t. Fire Emblem Engage, GoldenEye, and Radiant Silvergun? Leaked. Multiple ports of beloved, decade-old PC games and a sequel to Octopath Traveler? Out of the blue. Mario Kart 8’s new courses were datamined almost immediately, while a remake—or remaster, even Nintendo seems somewhat unclear about this—of Kirby’s Return to Dream Land passed us by. There were the known quantities that kind of dropped out of the radar (like Pikmin 4, which was a surprise despite us having known of its existence forever), and the 2022 games that are only just now getting Switch ports.

So if you were a plugged-in fan, you were probably getting as many surprises or curveballs as “obvious” choices. And I think that is my biggest takeaway. We generally had very clear ideas about the shape this was gonna take, our reasoning came from legitimate sources and explicit evidence, but the final product looked quite different. Looking at the cult games that I’d never even heard of that got breathlessly promoted by a Nintendo staffer, I think I like that part most.

Well, that and Pikmin 4 looking quite pretty. That’s also good.