Spring is the time to Smash!!
Nintendo just wrapped up their first Direct of the year and boy was it filled with tons of stuff!
It was not like other ones when they spent 15-20 minutes on one major game. No more than a few minutes were dedicated to each title. This Direct really focused on their Japanese audience and their RPGs, with a few other surprises mixed. Nintendo did a really solid job of lining out what the first half of the year with major release dates and release windows. There was not really any one announcement that blew me away, but I was very happy to see how much they have planned for this year. I was starting to get a little worried when we still had not gotten an official release date for Yoshi and other important titles that had been slated to come out this year. Before, I ramble anymore, let us jump in to the announcements. Like I said, some were more notable than others.
The Direct started out strong with an announcement for Super Mario Maker 2! Fans have been begging for the first one to get ported to the Switch for a long time now and I am glad to see that they are just going ahead and making a new one all together. The game was slated to be release in June of 2019. Not really too far away for an announcement just revealed today!
Next we were given a release window for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, as well as an announcement that Captain Marvel will be joining the battle. This game still does not have the best visuals and looks like a simple beat em up game, but having that many characters together on a Switch console will, without a doubt, be a ton of fun. The release window it was given is for Summer 2019.
After that a sequel to Box Boy was revealed. The sequel is called Box Boy and Box Girl. The original was a cute 2015 plat-former and the sequel looks to be even more. With over 270 levels, it appears to be another fun installment. This game is also slated for Summer 2019.
If there is one lesson you leave this Direct with, it is that this Spring is the time to SMASH (You can decide if that is an innuendo or not). A massive Smash Bros Ultimate 3.0 update was revealed today as well. Absolutely no details were given about this update, besides a reminder that Joker is coming soon. In summary, there is a SSBU update coming in spring. It is going to be huge, but we do not know anything else about it at all.
This next announcement I did not expect, but was one I cannot not be more excited for! A new update for Captain Toad Treasure Tracker was announced including new levels and worlds. Plus all stages will now support two player! Finally, a real two player mode in stead of that fake one where player 2 had to be the stun mechanic. Like I mentioned, there is also paid DLC coming soon. The DLC is not available to play now, but you can purchase it now. We were also told that you can purchase the DLC and main game bundled together now. Captain Toad Treasure Tracker was my favorite Wii U port from last year. The music is awesome and Toad + Toadette are adorable characters that I loved playing as. As soon as this DLC is available, I will jump back in and play again.
These next few announcement, I do not really have too much expertise on and I may not pick up. Bloodstained : Ritual of the Night, the spiritual successor to Castlevania is slotted to be released in Summer 2019 ( I do not know how Nintendo will windows to release all these games within the same time period). Some character customization options were shown off and it still looks gorgeous. I always love a game that displays damage numbers above the head of the monster I am beating up. After that, Dragon Quest Builders 2 (DQB 2) was announced for July, 12, 2019. If you are over 30, this game looks like another fun take on Dragon Quest with the classic Akira Toriyama art style. If you are under 30 then this game looks like a Japanese version of Minecraft. You decide. After DQB 2 was announced, Nintendo followed up with a Dragon Quest 11 update. They revealed plot details, some fighting mechanics, and the open world a little bit. It seems like a classic Japanese, turned based RPG, just like Dragon Quests before it. This game will be released in Fall of 2019.
Next was a weird game that I had never heard of, although it is incredibly popular? The highly anticipated (?) co-op party game, Tsum Tsum Disney is coming to Switch. It looks like a lot of fun actually, and the characters all look adorable. Just look at Donald Duck:
I am always looking for more party games to play on Switch so I can be like the super cool, attractive looking young adults in the Switch commercials on TV...even if I only have like one or two people to play them with.
Next was an update announcement for Star Link: Battle for Atlas. Starfox and his friends "take flight" April 26th! This means Falco, Peppy, and Slippy are all available when this update goes live.
Rune Factory Special 4, fully remastered, with the ability to marry CPUs comes to Switch later this year with a full sequel sometime coming next year! This game is essentially Harvest Moon/Stardew Valley but in Japanese. If that type of gameplay interests you, I would check it out for sure! More information will be announced soon as well, according to Nintendo.
Oninaki, a game where you fight between the worlds of the living and dead is coming to Switch (guess when) this Summer! It is a single player, top down RPG with a super cool art style. The main mechanic for this game is that you use souls of the dead that you gather throughout the world to fight enemies strategically. That is all we really learned from this Direct.
Next was the big announcement I was personally waiting for! Yoshi's Crafted World finally has a release date of March 29, 2019. Not really too far away! Nintendo needed a big game to release this spring and it looks like Yoshi is their chosen one. Yoshi still looks adorable as wool and there is a demo coming later today if you want to try it yourself.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses was given the most time today during the Direct. We got tons of details regarding gameplay, plot, main characters, and lore. I personally am not interested in Fire Emblem (despite their characters being some of my favorite Smash Bros characters). In this game, you used to be a mercenary with your father until some crazy event caused you to unleash a power you did not know you had. Now (I am assuming time passes) you are a professor at a school and you are teaching students how to harness powers and skills of their own. This may or may not be Hogwarts, but who am I to judge? It looks like as you train these students they can become part of your party as you battle enemies in the game. I know how big this game is for fans around the world and it is one of Nintendo;'s biggest properties. That is why both I, and the Direct, have given it the bulk of time it deserves. The release date is slotted for July 26, 2019.
This next announcement you actually will not believe. Tetris is getting a Battle Royale... Yes it is. You face off against 98 other Tetris players in Tetris 99. The last one standing wins! I cannot believe that this is actually real. It is available later today.
What is a Direct without a port from a game more than 2 years old? The correct answer is that it is not one without one. Dead by Daylight is this Direct's port. Originally released in June of 2016 to rave reviews of 6.2 (per Metacritic), Dead by Daylight is now coming to Switch this Fall. The graphics do not look that great though, especially compared to so many other visually appealing games surrounding it in this Direct. But I am sure that does not matter because ports always sell well on Switch which is why developers and publishers keep porting them there.
Another announcement I was excited to see because I was not expecting it! Deltarune is coming to Switch only a few months after it was released on PC! They had an adorable spoiler free trailer and we have a review of it here if you want to see what it is all about! Plus the update is free and it is coming February 28, 2019.
Daemon X Machina, the Mech shooter first revealed at E3, is getting a limited time demo for Switch with a full release later this year. The demo is called Prototype Missions and is available today.
After watching mechs shoot each other, we got to see a trailer and release window for an iconic racer (not Mario Kart or Crash Team Racing). Grid Auto Sport is coming to Switch Summer of 2019. I have never heard of this game, but I guess it is about time that Switch got another racing game besides Mario Kart. It looks pretty realistic and it probably the best replica of Forza that Switch owners will ever get. You can steer with your Switch which means motion controls are used in this game. Good luck to anyone who wishes to race that way.
The final game revealed before the sizzle reel was one of the best games from 2017- Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. This extremely powerful game about mental illness, loss, and fear is unparalleled. I do not want to say anything else because it is a game you must simply sit down and play. Hellblade is coming to Switch this Spring.
Here are the games from the sizzle reel at the end:
Mortal Kombat 11 is coming April 23, 2019. I am still stunned this game is coming to Switch. This game is as M rated as they come.
Unravel 2! That game is perfect for Switch. I am glad it is finally making its way there. Play as not just one, but two Yarny! Available March 22, 2019.
Assassins Creed 3 and Assassins Creed: Liberation (Remastered) are both coming to Switch. While the ending of AC 3 was a little disappointing and I did not like the main character all that much, the setting was one of the most interesting times in history. Release date: May 21, 2019.
Final Fantasy 7 is coming to Switch March 26, 2019. No not the remake. Just the original.
Chocoboms Mystery Dungeon is coming March 20, 2019.
and finally, Final Fantasy IX is being released later today!
and now...the one last thing!
Nintendo revealed a new action game from Platinum call Astral Chain. Platinum is the best developed (in my opinion) at action games and this game looks just as cool and epic as some of their past released. The voice acting also seems cheesy and over top, a must have for action games. What seemed most interesting is that there are two protagonists fighting together which leads me to believe this game will feature some sort of co-op campaign or at the very least, you can fight with friends on some missions. Astral Chain will be released August 30, 2019. Nintendo also confirmed that Bayonetta 3 is in production and being worked on by Platinum games as well.
Finally, the real one last thing! This time Nintendo revealed that a remake of Zelda: Link's Awakening is in production and will be released in 2019. Originally released for the Gameboy in 1993, this game is another popular classic that fans have been demanding be remade for a long time. I never had a chance to play it when it first came out, but I will dive in head first when it does come to Switch later this year. I have a feeling this will be Nintendo's big game of fall of 2019 along with their new Pokemon Gen 8 RPG and Animal Crossing.
Like I mentioned at the top, this Direct was absolutely packed! No one game had a ton of focus over another. There were 27 games covered in just over 35 minutes! They certainly did their best to make up for going so long without a Direct before this. While not everything was what I wanted to see, I was still glad to see how much is planned to be released in just the first half of 2019 alone. I still wish we would have seen some update about Animal Crossing or Pokemon, but I have a feeling that Nintendo will dedicate future Directs to just those games so I was not too disappointed that we did not see them today. I also found it interesting that everyone of these games were for the Switch. In the past Nintendo made it a point to usually include a new game or two for the 3DS. Is this a sign that the DS is being fazed out? Probably not. I just found it interesting.
I always enjoy seeing new games get announced. I was also happy to finally have a Nintendo Direct again! Overall this was a solid Direct and sets up nicely for a slate of new games coming to Nintendo Switch in 2019.
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