It’s been around three months since the last standard Nintendo Direct, back at E3 2021. Lots of new games would get announced, we’d get some catching up on a few older ones, and if you’re a fan of Nintendo games, new and old, I’d say you’d be pretty happy. Now in September, with this latest direct, I’d have to say more of the same, if not a bit more 3rd Party heavy.

Not so Square

No 3rd Party had a bigger presence than Square Enix, who showed off a whopping four games. We had another look at Project Triangle Strategy, now named…Triangle Strategy. Creative name aside, Square would show off more of the 2D-HD game as well as touch on a few thing such as release (March 04, 2022). If you had played the demo early in the year, which released right after the game’s announcement, there was a survey, to which has been addressed. I regrettably have not played the game’s predecessor Octopath Traveler, despite hearing praise. Maybe I should get around to that…I will definitely play the 2D-HD Dragon Quest III however.

Square Enix would show off Three brand new games. The first of which, the one I’m most excited for is Chocobo GP. The last time we got a Chocobo Racing game, the one and only was over twenty years ago. Though, one could not say that Square didn’t try, as there was a planned sequel or remake for the 3DS. Due to quality reasons, that one would be cancelled sadly. I have always been a fan of the Chocobo side games and characters, so the more games we get, the happier I am. Hope this one doesn’t get cancelled as well.

More of a Rectangle Really

Next is a brand new IP, Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars. Voice of Cards is like the name would suggest, a card game. Everything is shown, controlled, by cards. I’m intrigued as a fan of card games, but I was further drawn in upon learning that Yoko Taro, in addition to other Nier or Drakengard staff is involved. Outside of the already announced DLC being a thing, I am quite interested in playing this game and seeing if it hits at hard as Yoko Taro’s other releases.

Lastly, and he biggest surprise for most people is Actraiser Renaissance, which you can buy Right. Now. Half side scrolling action game, half god simulator, 100% a remake of an awesome game. It was great on the SNES, it was great when more people got to experience it on the Virtual Console, and it’s even better we have a remake now, with new Yuzo Koshiro songs!

M-I-C-K-E-Why?

Namco showed off a few things. Namco is finally supporting Arcade Archives, starting with Pac-Man and Xevious. Hoping to see Mappy or some odd ones like Outfoxies in he future.

Next is something I’m sure many people will not be excited for, but I personally am. And this announcement would be Disney Magical World 2 Enchanted Edition. I was a huge fan of the first game, which was like Animal Crossing mixed with Disney characters and some action segments. I never got around to playing the sequel unfortunately, and when I finally was on the road to buy it, 3DS games started getting expensive. This is no longer an issue, with an upcoming Switch port, this time with all of the DLC on cart bundled in! I will definitely buy it this time.

In Defense of Dracula X

More game collections were announced. If you like Shadowrun, the whole Trilogy is coming to the eshop in the future. These are tactical RPGs based off of a tabletop series…where have I heard that before…I’ve heard and known a lot about the 16 bit games, but not so much these recent games. It might just be the time to try them when they come out next year.

Castlevania Advance Collection has been an open secret for months since it’s ratings in other countries leaked it’s existence. Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance, Aria of Sorrow, and…Dracula X? Another M2 joint, which is available as of this post, brings these games together in a nice bundle, much like 2019’s Anniversary Collection. The elephant in the room is Dracula X being included in an otherwise exploration themed compilation. To me, the fact that Dracula X has recently became rather expensive, I’m all of it’s random inclusion, though I understand the frustration of not including Rondo of Blood in it’s stead. On top of the games, save states, rewinds, a nice art gallery, button mapping, and region choices are all included.

Updates! Some Free, Some Not

Some great update…er updates were announced! First up, Animal Crossing has an autumn update this November, with a direct showing off content in October. Looks to be adding a long missed feature, the coffee shop The Roost! This is all a free update, like previous updates to New Horizons. Mario Golf Super Rush is adding more characters and courses, the star of this being those Ninji, a rather under-appreciated and represented Mario enemy.

Smash Bros. Ultimate had it’s final Mr Sakurai Presents dated for the final Fight Pass character. October 5th is the stream, don’t miss it. Age of Calamity had a trailer for it’s second wave of expansion pass DLC as well. While some of it’s contents are still secret, Purah and Robbie become playable at last, with Kakariko Village and the Colosseum showing up as stages.

Monster Hunter Rise has an expansion coming in the future as well, with Sunbreak. It’s scheduled for arrive some time next summer.

YEAH, F-ZERO ON SWITCH

So I joked to my boss about how we’d be getting an F-Zero on Switch shown off, but it’d be X on Nintendo Switch Online. Well…looks like Nintendo 64 as well as Genesis are slated to join the NSO lineup in the coming months. Though for these consoles, you’ll have to pay an extra fee of which we don’t know of yet. However, these games can be played online, which means we finally have an online F-Zero game. NSO’s emulation is all handled by NERD, the same folk behind the NES/SNES Mini consoles and 3D All Stars, so if those worked well for you, you’ll have no worries.

Looks like the Genesis and N64 are getting controller replicas as well, which is really exciting. The Genesis pad being the 3 button is disappointing when considering Japan gets a 6 button. Though the Genesis Mini was like that too.

2’s and 5’s

Deltarune Chapter 2 is out as an update to Chapter 1, which launched a minute ago. I *still* need to play Undertale…eventually, but I don’t want to play Deltrarune until then. Dying Light 2 is coming to Switch as one of those Cloud releases, but the first game is also coming to Switch, thankfully in a physical state!

Rune Factory 5 and Shin Megami Tensei V were shown a bit as well. Both series were long overdue for a new release, so it’s always nice to see them more and more.

We’ve seen JRPGS, Now We Have WRPGs

A remake is coming to next gen consoles, but like many other Star Wars games, Knights of the Old Republic is coming to Nintendo Switch. For me, this would be a fantastic way to actually jump into this game. Hopefully the sequel comes too. The very much critically acclaimed Disco Elysium is heading to Switch as well, with a physical release coming some time next year.

No Better Party Than a Mario Party

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Mario Party Top 100 was underwhelming. Not only did you have no real boards in it, it was an incredibly late 3DS game, before the Switch really proved itself. Mario Party Superstars seems to be a do-over, with actual boards, HD graphics, and online play! At E3 only two of the five boards were shown off, but now we know the final three. Yoshi’s Tropical Island from 1, Horror Land from 2, and Woody Woods from 3. Great board selection, but I’d refer if the game had six boards so each of the first three games gets two to pick from. That and I would have loved Western Land from 2, but maybe DLC is planned in the future?

Kirby. In Threeeee Deeeee

If we’re being pedantic, the first 3D Kirby game was Kirby 64 (coming to NSO soon). Or maybe Kirby Air Ride, for full 3D movement. Or even Triple Deluxe for that 3D on 3DS Or even Blowout Blast, a small side game. But Kirby has never, at least in a main game or fully gone into a 3D space. Until now, with Kirby and the Forgotten Land. A post apocalyptical Kirby? Well, Shiver Star in 64 was kinda like that, but we’re going through a full game now. I feel HAL has been in a bit of a creative slump regarding Kirby as of late, with most games, despite being good, just feeling like ANOTHER Return to Dreamland. Forgotten Land feels like the first real evolution to the series in a very long time.

Are the Squids Still Kids?

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Splatoon 3 got another look, with it’s single player mode “Return of the Mammalians”, looking to explore how all mammals but two cats went extinct. Splatoon 3’s Splatlands, giving a bit of a Mad Max feel has me interested and it’s a nice change of pace from the idol fueled, Shibuya-esqe world of the first two games.

It’s. About. Time. Witch Time.

It had been nearly 1400 days between Bayonetta 3’s announcement and the trailer we got at the Nintendo Direct. This lead to concerns on the development and developer of the game. Games don’t usually go nearly 4 years between announcement and release unless something is very wrong. These concerns are unfounded however, as Bayonetta 3 looks amazing. The trailer had a Astral Chain fakeout, but no, we’re finally getting Bayonetta 3 next year. It looks quite a bit different and we’re not just talking about Bayo’s new design. I feel we need to see more before we really go indepth with the game, but people are theorizing alternate universe shenanigans.

Final Thoughts?

I am pretty happy with the showing we had. I’m glad that we have a new Kirby, I’m glad Bayonetta 3 still exists, N64 games finally on NSO is exciting. For some people, no matter what companies like Nintendo show, it’s never enough. I’m still playing plenty of games, so I’m happy and excited for what we were shown. Excited so much of it is soon too.