Here's a Rundown of Everything at Nintendo's Direct [17/02/2021]

It is somewhat apt that a company often goofed on for its lack of awareness around “THE INTERNET” stopped holding its before-their-time-pre-recorded-livestreams right as the rest of the industry was forced to pivot to aping their style due to the pandemic. After the release of the new consoles in November last year it felt like the games industry let out a collective sigh of relief and decided to take some time off. It was nice; we caught up on our backlogs and played some of the cross-gen blockbusters. But now the video game roadshow is back on tour and the never-ending news cycle is spinning back up. This year Nintendo got the ball rolling by holding its first fully-fledged Direct in almost two years (September 2019 was the last one, everything since then has been an Indie Showcase or Partner Direct).

With all that said expectations were high and rumours were swirling for the entire 24-hour run-up to the show after it was announced by Nintendo on Twitter. So what was shown? How will Nintendo celebrate 35 years of Zelda games? Does Bayonetta 3 still exist? Is Dry Ganon still lowkey kinda hot? Let’s look at what was shown.

Double trouble!

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 DLC? No.

Nope Pyra and Mythra are Coming to Smash

Xenoblade is having itself a bit of a moment right now. Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition released last year with a new epilogue and reminded everyone that despite the constraints of the Wii it is still one of the best JRPG of the last two decades. While Xenoblade 2 continues to garner more and more fans after a somewhat tepid launch. Many expected there to be some Xenoblade new at this direct as Monolith Soft’s cult classic franchise is quickly becoming a Nintendo mainstay. Most people however thought it was about time that the final big Wii U release gets ported to Switch with an announcement of some sort of Definitive Edition of Xenoblade Chronicles X, but that wasn’t to be (for now at least). Instead, we were treated to what appeared to be new footage from Chronicles 2 with original voice work for several characters, hints at some story beats and new cutscenes. However, things are rarely that simple anymore with Nintendo and instead, it turned out to be some high-quality bait. The trailer was actually a set up for Pyra and Mythra’s arrival in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (which, come to think of it, probably did a good job at pissing off most Xenoblade fans that thought they were getting a new game or content ). And while I don’t play much Smash, I know that the community has definitely been clambering for more sword-based characters, right? From what we can tell so far the duo appears to be a tag character of some sort instead of a Richter and Simon Belmont styled set of mirror characters. But it won’t be long before Sakurai graces us with an in-depth breakdown of the characters as they are set to arrive in March.

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout

The main news here was mainly, “Wait, Fall Guys never came out on Switch?” But it's true Mediatonic’s smash hit of the lockdown (until Among Us exploded) is coming to the handheld device. Having previously only been available on PS4 and PC the game is arriving on Switch sometime in Summer 2021. There is also a mobile port in development but currently, that is only scheduled for release in China. Nothing was announced in terms of Nintendo exclusive content but if there isn’t a Yoshi themed outfit I’ll eat my crown.
(It was also announced after the showcase that Fall Guys will also be coming to Xbox this Summer)

Outer Wilds

The best game of 2019 that everyone gives out to me for not finishing was also announced to be coming to Switch. No release date beyond “This Summer” but it will be interesting to see how the game runs on the now ageing console considering it sometimes struggled on last-gen machines thanks to its intricate persistent mini-universe.

Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir and Famicom Detective Club: The Girl Who Stands Behind

This is no text adventure anymore.

So this is by far the deepest pull Nintendo has made from its back-catalogue in some time.  The first Famicom Detective Club game, Famicom Tantei Club: Kieta Kōkeisha, was released in two parts for the Famicom Disc System only in Japan between April and June of 1988. While the second game, Famicom Tantei Club Part II: Ushiro ni Tatsu Shouju was released in 1989, also only in Japan. There was also a third game released for the Super Famicom’s Satellaview service in 1997. But the series went quiet until seeing rerelease on the Wii Virtual Console in 2007 and 2009 respectively for the first two games. The games are notable as famed Nintendo designer Gunpei Yokoi is credited as director on the first game and producer on the second.
Anyway, both games are now received a fresh coat of paint and a western translation under the names Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir and Famicom Detective Club: The Girl Who Stands Behind. We could get really into the weeds about the games’ plot but all you really need to know is that the first game follows a detective with amnesia solving a case in a small village and the second game is a prequel starring a different detective in a different town. The games were mainly text adventures on the Famicom where you could choose different actions and talk to locals to try to solve the mystery but this new version of the game seems to be a complete overhaul with modern animation and voice acting added. The games are scheduled for release on May 14th and can be preorder now.

Samurai Warriors 5

Two things in life are inevitable; death and a new Musou game from Omega Force every year. Last year saw the releases of the positively received Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity and Persona 5: Strikers(in Japan) after a more tepid response to Dynasty Warriors 9 in 2018. But now sees the return of the original Warriors-spin-off-series with Samurai Warriors 5. While there has been a lot (I mean a lot a lot) of these games it has been almost 5 years since the last Samurai Warrior and with Omega Force in better form than ever, there is hope for this title after all. No indicated release date but the game is also set to release on PS4, Xbox One and PC.

Legend of Mana

Square Enix has had (we’ll call it) interesting approach to bringing back the Mana series to modern systems. The first game, Secret of Mana, was released in 1993 on the SNES. In 2018 that game was remade in 3D, too many fans displeasure (this is as new art really looked poor compared to the 16-bit original). The second game, Trials of Mana, released in 1995 in Japan and never made its way west. In 2020 Trials of Mana was also remade in 3D but this time reimagined with a stronger focus on action (again this was an unpopular change with fans). Legend of Mana was originally released in 1999 in Japan and 2000 in the US on the PlayStation. Now in 2021, that game is getting a remaster but instead of majorly reworking the game or it’s style, this appears to be more of a fresh coat of HD paint. The game will also come with a reworked orchestral soundtrack, that can be exchanged for the original if that is your thing, and the ability to remove random encounters. The classic JRPG drops on Switch, Steam and PS4 on the 24th of June.

OH HOHO. Who’s a good not-quite-a-doggo?

Monster Hunter: Rise

Monster Hunter: Rise, the long-awaited follow up to World seems to be going back to the roots of the series. That being said some of the quality of life updates that made World Capcom’s best selling game of all time are being incorporated… ALONG WITH A VERY GOOD DOG. There has already been a Partner Direct focused on this game so we won’t get too far into details. However, with Monster Hunter traditionally being a handheld franchise that sells like hotcakes in Japan and now has a lot more international fans than this time a few years ago means that this game is guaranteed to sell gangbusters. It’s releasing on Switch on March 26th and is speculated to be coming to PC sometime later.

Toad’s PGA Tour 2021.

Mario Golf: Super Rush

There hasn’t been a Mario Golf game since 2014 and the series hasn’t seen a console since 2003 but now at long last, the Italian Plumber comes home… to, er, golf links. While the last Mario sports game, Tennis Aces, didn’t set the world on fire, it had some neat ideas and Super Rush seems to be going further with that game's weirdness. The big new thing is a new competitive “Speed Golf” mode where players all golf at the same time, collect power-ups and race to the finish. The game is also going to have a full story mode, which for some reason will focus on a player-created Mii character... despite everyone’s pleading that those dead-eyed bastards stay on the Wii U. Mario Golf: Super Rush is releasing June 25th.

Few Small Bits:
Tales From the Borderlands comes to Switch as Telltale and its new owners bring their back catalogue onto digital storefronts after their unceremonious collapse in 2019.
Capcom Arcade Stadium is strangely the first RE Engine to run nativity on the Switch (beating out MH: Rise but just a few weeks) as it launched alongside its new trailer at the Direct. The game, which is free to download, only comes with 1943 - Battle of Midway but has launched with three packs of games from 1984 all the way to 2001. So yeah, if you wanted yet another way to play Street Fighter 2 on the Switch, here you go.
Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse was released along with its announcement at the Direct on PS4, Xbox One, Switch and PC. The game is being rereleased by the original developer, Aspyr Media, fresh off its merger with the ever-growing (and evermore threatening sounding) Embracer Group.

Stubbs is back from the undead.

No More Heroes III

Everyone’s favourite NOT-LIGHTSABER wielding badass, Travis Touchdown, makes his return in NMHIII on August 27th. Suda51 fans will hope that his and Grasshopper Manufacture’s new game will be a return to form for the franchise after the somewhat disappointing Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes and III’s delay last year. The game looks visually impressive for a Switch exclusive but the question remains “will No More Heroes still work in 2021?”

This is quite the shift in tone from Donut County but, damn, it looks cool.

Neon White 

A New Anapurnna joint, you say? Developed by Donut County’s Ben Esposito, you say. Keep going… Wait, it’s a fast-paced throwback FPS crossed with a deck-builder and maybe visual novel elements? Huh, neat. 
Neon White is a game weird enough it might just work. Will have to wait until this Winter to find out.

DC Super Hero Girls: Teen Power 

Here’s an odd one. This game is part  3D-brawler and part social sim starring the Super Hero Girls of DC. While this sort of licenced kids game has mainly become a thing of the past or the realm of mobile games, Tenn Power is getting a full console release in 2021. Teen Power is being developer by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment AFAIK and is notably being published by Nintendo themselves. The game is releasing exclusively on the Switch on June 4th.

Plants Vs Zombies: Battle For Neighborville Complete Edition 

PopCap Games has been exclusively making Plant Vs Zombies games since 2014 when the first non-mobile game, Garden Warfare, released. And while Battle For Neighborville is sadly no Peggle 3 it is a much better game than it has any right to be if we are being honest. The 8v8 class-based shooter arrives on Switch on March 19th with all of its singleplayer content in tow.

Ok, but how tall is the horse?

Miitopia

Now that the Wii U has been dredged for pretty much all the games that could be ported to the Switch we are now getting 3DS games on the system. I know I just aired my displeasure at the sight of Miis in Mario Golf but with that being said Miis and functionality were at their best in Miitopia. While the game itself was a pretty standard RPG the customisation and the personality of the characters really made the game sing, leading to it being considered an often underrated 3DS gem. The main things of note here are that more customisation is being added, alongside rideable horses, but there is no word as to if the other 3DS Mii-centric game, Tomodachi Life, will still be integrated in any way when it arrives on May 21st.

Animal Crossing Super Mario Items. 

A very quick hit, but this announcement is notable as it seems to lend credence to rumours that Nintendo has been hit extremely hard by shift to work from home. On February 25th an update will arrive for Animal Crossing: New Horizons celebrating the 35th anniversary of Mario… which was September last year. While it is exceedingly strange that this update will arrive less than a month before Super Mario Bros. 35 and Super Mario 3D Allstars are removed from sale (as Nintendo claim this celebration was apparently a limited-time event) it does mean that there is a sliver of hope that we have more Mario Anniversary stuff to come. I may just be being overly optimistic. The update lands on the 25th of Feburary but items won’t arrive in the game’s shops until March 1st.

There is very little to say, other than this game is staggeringly good looking.

Project Triangle Strategy

Square Enix announced their latest “HD-2D” game in collaboration with Nintendo at the Direct. Project Triangle Strategy (working title) appears to be a spiritual successor to 2019’s Octopath Traveller. While that game was stunningly beautiful, it certainly had its problems; most glaringly the lack of meaningful interaction between the eight protagonists and their narratives. The trailer Project Triangle seemed keenly aware of the previous games somewhat disappointing story and focused on the choices your party will make and how that will shape the story of the game. While Octopath’s gameplay was extremely reverential to classic JRPGs, Project Triangle appears to being showing classic tactic games some love, leading some to even begin to dare utter the words; Final Fantasy: Tactic. Time will tell if that is an apt comparison with the game releasing in 2022 but if you can’t wait until then there is a demo on the eShop right now.

Star Wars: Hunters 

Now that Lucasfilm Games is no longer bound to an exclusive contract with EA except to see much more games bearing the Star Wars licence. Following the announcement of a game from Ubisoft Massive last month, Lucasfilm Games’ announced its newest partner is Zynga of all companies. Yes, the Candy Crush makers. Despite this odd coupling, we do know that game won’t be set on a grid-based matrix or a match-3 game, outside of that though info is limited. It will be a third-person shooter set after the fall of the empire and will feature characters from rebel, bounty hunter and imperial factions. The game has no firm release date beyond 2021.

I was not expecting this to be the first competitive multiplayer game from EA in 2021.

Knockout City

Coming from Velan Studio (developer of Mario Kart: Home Circuit) and being published by EA, Knockout City is a competitive dodgeball action game. The game appears to be focusing heavily on its customisable characters with distinct personalities (but no word yet on if their abilities differ). It is always nice to see big publishers take a risk on new IP and with day one crossplay for PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Series X|S, Switch and PC there’s a chance a community might build around this odd thing. The game is releasing in May but a Switch exclusive beta is running from the 20th to the 21st if you sign up on the game’s site.

Gang, gang.

World’s End Club 

If you like Japanese games with wild stories the creators of NIS’ Apple Arcade port certainly have an excellent pedigree. World’s End Club is a team-up between Kotaro Uchikoshi (Zero Escape series) and Kazutaka Kodaka (Danganronpa series). The game focuses on twelve characters trapped in an underground theme park forced to play “A Game of Fate”. Sounds bad, I know. But things only get worse once the crew finds there way out of the park and realise everyone in Japan has gone missing. The mystery-solving will begin on May 28th.

Hades Physical Release

I’m going to buy this game for a third time, aren’t I?
This is the same game as is already on the eShop as Hades(which some idiots claim was the best game of last year) is feature complete at this point and after over two years in early access, it is doubtful that Supergiant will go back to add more significant content. Honestly though, who needs more stuff when Hades already offers hundreds of hours of hacking, slashing and crushing on the inhabitants of the underworld. This version of the game will come with some extra goodies to get you started but more importantly, it comes with a download code for Darren Korb’s ripping soundtrack and a 32-page collection of character bios and Jen Zee’s incredible original artwork. This version of the game will release on the 19th of March.

Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection

The story of Tomonobu Itagaki, his opinions about PlayStation and Xbox, his studio and failed games since leaving Team Ninja is something you should really look into in your own time (seriously, look into Devil’s Third) but the franchise he so successfully rebooted in 2004 for Microsoft has also fallen on hard times recently. Ninja Gaiden hasn’t seen a release since the poorly received Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z in 2014. Before that many fans felt that Koei and Team Ninja no longer knew what to do with the franchise after 3 reviewed poorly. Since then Team Ninja has continued to find financial success with the Dead or Alive games but the critical reception of much of its output has been struggling until the release of Nioh in 2016. This new collection brings Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 and Ninja Gaiden 3 to PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Series X|S, PC and Switch on June 10th. Only time will tell if this is the beginning of the resurrection of one gamings longest-running franchises but it’s a good first step.

Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity DLC

MORE MUSOU! Players fought thousands of Bokoblins and Guardians last November when the second Hyrule Warriors game launched on Switch to a much more positive reception than its predecessor. The first new content for the game, which is a canonical prequel to Breath of The Wild, will arrive in May for those that buy the Expansion Pass that bundles the two new DLCs together. This first update will just be a bonus outfit for Link, while in June the first main update will feature new weapon types, more difficult enemies and challenges. The second update, planned for November, will add "new character vignettes", more stages,  new characters and skills.

This is a JRPG, you say? What gave it away?

Bravely Default 2 

Bravely Default 2 (the third game in the Bravely franchise) has received relatively little promotion from Nintendo since its announcement as an exclusive for the Switch at the 2019 Game Awards so it was nice to see it at the Direct. Despite that, there has been plenty of excitement from series fans for the new game from Claytechworks and Square Enix. Luckily we don’t have long to wait with it releasing next week on the  26th of February.

Ghost N’ Goblins Resurrection

The Ghost N’ Goblins franchise has been trapped on iPhones since 2007, so even if the new artstyle is massively divisive, it’s kind of amazing it’s back at all. The new game received its final big trailer at this Direct before being released exclusively on the Switch on the 25th of February.

SaGa Frontier Remastered

SaGa Frontier Remastered was announced back in November to be coming to Switch, PS4, iOS, Android and PC sometime this Summer but Nintendo’s latest direct contained a nice surprise: it will be out on the 15th of April. Along with that tidbit, Square Enix revealed a bunch of details about the new version of the game, including; updated graphics, a new eight protagonist and new scenarios for Asellus.

Apex Legends

Again, very little to go over here. We knew that Apex was on its way to Switch soon but now we have a date: March 9th. On top of that Switch players will receive 30 free levels on the season eight Battle Pass, a new Pathfinder skin and double XP during the launch window.

ZELDA!

This segment started very promisingly with Eiji Aonomua on hand and Breath of The Wild font on screen. Depressingly he was only there to crush our hopes, commiserating viewers that there would be no new Untitled Breath of The Wild Sequel news until later this year. As a consolation, he did let us know that with Zelda’s 35th anniversary coming up there would be a remaster of a classic game. And that game is...
Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword HD (or as I like to call it “Not Wind Waker HD”)
We won’t be too down on this announcement because everyone has there feelings about the different Zelda games and which ones deserve remasters. But what we will say is it will be fascinating to see both how this game has aged and if Nintendo will update it’s more tedious elements for modern audiences, as they did with Wind Waker HD on Wii U. Aonomua confirmed that motion controls will be making a return for those that love to detach their Joy-Cons but there will also be a gameplay mode where sword slash directions can be controlled with the left stick instead. The last 10 years haven’t been particularly kind to Skyward Sword and its interminable tutorials so here’s hoping for some updates, but if Mario 3D Allstars any indication this is unlikely. The game will be releasing alongside new Zelda themed Joy-Cons on the 16th of July.

I… Er.. At least the artwork is nice…

*Keanu Reeves voice*: Wake up Squid-kid. We got a city to burn,

Splatoon 3 

The final trailer of the show was for a game that many assumed was in production but almost no one expected to see footage of yet. Splatoon 3 will be releasing in 2022, alongside a butt load of new splat-guns,  what appears to be an expanded story mode and a stronger focus on the franchise’s truly grim lore (look it up, it is really dark). Many have made note of just how good this game looks which could be down to Nintendo’s knack of squeezing everything out of its systems, that what we saw was prerendered footage or even hinting at the rumoured release of a more powerful Switch in the near future. Until then all we know is that we’re a kid now, we’re a squid now, we’re a kid, we’re a squid, WE’RE A KID NOW!

And that was the show. Overall, considering we haven’t had a full direct in our a year, it was hard not to be a little disappointed. There were some neat surprises; Neon White, Mario Golf: Super Rush and Project Triangle Strategy were all unexpected announcements and looked really good. However, for a 50-minute long show, Nintendo spent an inordinate amount of time on ports of third party games, rereleases or remasters, most of the Switch exclusives shown were games already announced, like NMHIII and Monster Hunter: Rise, and Nintendo own first-party line up felt lacking, with Mario Golf being the only new game coming from Nintendo itself.

The biggest problem with the Direct though was undoubtedly what wasn’t there. Shin Megami Tensei V, Monster Hunter Stories 2, Pokémon Snap are all slated for 2021 and didn’t show up. While Bayonetta 3, Metroid Prime 4 and Untitled Breath of the Wild Sequel all seem to be missing in action to some extent. It is worth noting that Nintendo said prior to the Direct that this showcase would focus on 2021 games but even then they broke that rule with an extended look at Splatoon 3. There is still some hope, most of the games shown only took us up to late Summer in Nintendo’s release calendar, so it is still likely that some games are yet to be announced for the holidays. Besides look how close to release Paper Mario: The Origami King and 3D Allstars were announced. Are we being overly optimistic again? Sadly this show didn’t inspire much confidence that after a shaky 2020, only really saved by Animal Crossing, Nintendo is adapting to this new world we live in.