Earlier today Nintendo treated us to another jam-packed video game presentation. While it seemed to show off a few more farming sims than we knew we needed and there were some notable omissions of things we were hoping to see (Mario movie trailer, Metroid Trilogy Remake to mention just two) there was still a lot to enjoy (particularly if you are a Square Enix fan). Plus, with a few surprises and a nice mix of new games and familiar favourites getting a new lease on life – there’s quite a lot to look forward to if you’re a Switch owner in the coming months.
While it is worth watching the whole presentation to make sure you didn’t miss any of the many many games on the horizon – here are just 10 highlights we picked to whet your appetite:
1. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Yes, while it was the very last item show during the Direct it will no doubt be the biggest announcement for many. Yes, the Breath of the Wild sequel finally has a title: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The trailer also showed off Link soaring around big floating cliffs and we even got a new release date… TOTK (as I suppose we will be calling it) will be coming to the Switch on the 12th of May 2023.
2. Pikmin 4 announced (again)
After Mr Miyamoto appeared on screen I was hoping we’d finally get our first look at the upcoming Mario movie. However, after confirming that it was still in production (and hitting cinemas in Autumn 2023), Mr Miyamoto then spoke a surprisingly long time about the mobile game Pikmin Bloom before slyly introuding a teaser for Pikmin 4. We We didn’t to see much about this game that has seemingly been confirmed for over 7 years, but a still image, a logo and and new T-Shirt revealed that we’ll be exploring the gardens of a strange new world sometime next year (2023).
3. Octopath Traveller II
After the success of the first game, team Asano has clearly been hard at work for the sequel. Like the first game, Octopath Traveller II will follow 8 intertwined stories from 8 distinct characters and will once again feature a similar JRPG battle system and gorgeous HD2D pixelart. And you won’t have to wait too long to play it… it launches 24 February 2023.
4. Fire Emblem Engage
While perhaps not as popular locally, Fire Emblem is a huge franchise for Nintendo. And for those excited about the next entry into the tactical/startegy-based RPG – the good news is old heroes (including Marth) will be making a comeback in some kind of summon-system in Fire Emblem Engage and the game will be hitting the Switch first thing next year: 20 January 2023.
5. Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe
As we’ve said previously 2022 is definitely the year of Kirby. And while Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe is a remake of the 2011 Wii game and will only officially hit out consoles next year (24 February 2023), the updated graphics and combination of coop side-scrolling platformer that also includes mini-games looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun to play (whether it will be your first time playing or a return to your Wii-glory days).
6. Switch Sports Golf Update
Ok this one was a bit of downer in that the free DLC that will add Golf to Nintendo Switch Sports has been delayed from Autumn 2022 to the nebulous ‘Holiday’ 2023 (northern hemisphere). That being said, we did also learn that the update will include 21 holes from Wii Sports and Survival Golf where 8 players can play against one another at the same time – and that sounds like something to look forward to.
7. N64: Goldeneye, Mario Party & Pokémon Stadium
The Nintendo Switch Online N64 library will soon(2022-2023) be getting very popular games soon including, Mario Party 1,2 & 3 ,Pokémon Stadium as well as Excitebike 64, Pilotwings 64 and 1080° Snowboarding. However, it was undoubtedly the ‘we-never-believed-it-would-actually-happen’ announcement that Goldeneye would also be coming to the platform with new multiplayer online functionality that will be most exciting for fans – ‘coming soon‘.
8. Mario Kart and Mario Strikers DLC
On the sports-and-racing-games-starring-Mario-and-the-gang front, it was good news too as we got the news the Mario Strikers Battle League would be getting it’s second free DLC update later this month. This time around we can look forward to Pauline and Diddy Kong joining the roster as well as a selection of new gear and a new stadium plaus a few other smaller customisation options. In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe news, while we didn’t get a full reveal of Wave 3, two upcoming tracks were revealed: Merry Mountain (Mario Kart Tour) and Peach Gardens (Mario Kart DS) – again though the release date was only given as ‘Holiday 2022‘.
9. It Takes Two & Theatrhythm Final Bar
There was a huge range of games shown off during the Direct including several in a quick fire summary. And while it is hard to talk about all of them (including new Bayonetta 3 footage), there were two that specifically caught out eye. The first is It Takes Two, the Hazelight Studios Two-Player action-adenture titles that got a lot of buzz last year when it released on the PlayStation and Xbox platforms and will now also be coming to the Switch. This is one I missed on th other platforms but was always hoping to try out – and now may get the chance on the Switch when it launches on the 4th of November. Our final standout title is Theatrhythm Final Bar. We know this is a franchise that many love and that hasn’t seen a new title since the 3DS. There are a ridiculous number of songs (385 to start off and several available as add ons) from multiple Square Enix series including Final Fantasy, Nier, Live A Live and Octopath.
10. New Splatfest announced
We’ve had a lot of Splatoon 3 news lately and that’s to be expected really, However, today’s Direct also revealed that our first official post-launch Splatfest will be happening on the weekend of 23-25 September. The theme for this special event will be: Splatfest: “Which would you bring to a deserted island?” And you’ll have to choose between Gear, grub, or fun.
And those are our 10 picks for the biggest news items from today’s Direct… Did we miss anything? What was your favourite announcement? What were you hoping for that we didn’t see? Let us know in the comments section below.
Check out the full Direct below:
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