I heard many people felt relief that a Nintendo direct finally released (ignoring the Pokemon, Smash and Animal Crossing dedicated videos and streams). While it’s nearly half an hour I suppose the reason it’s called a mini-direct is due to the minimal amount of first party news. Meaning that some were more disappointed than others. Personally I’d lost my expectations for one due to the COVID-19 pandemic it’s likely many games will be delayed.
You can watch it here or read the re-cap below:
Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition
The Direct started out with a new trailer for the Xenoblade Chronicles remaster the original released on the Wii and was later ported to the New 3DS. Now the Switch version has a release date of the 29th of May. This release will come with additional content in the form of an epilogue titled Future Connected. There are special editions though it’s a bit different depending on your region.
New Games
One of the sudden e-shop drops reveled in this direct is Good Job! It has a 3D style that uses the black warning or sign people you may in your daily life. It’s a puzzle game where you must meet objectives through whatever means necessary. You can be as careful or careless as you like. It appears to have co-op though that wasn’t shown in the trailer.
We also got King’s Bounty II, a sequel to the 1990 computer game. It’s a fantasy tactical game that is set to release on the Switch in 2020.
Clubhouse Games Worldwide Classics, is a mini-game collection of classic board, card and other games. This includes dominoes, shogi, golf, air hockey, Chinese checkers, billiards and more. Making for a total of 51 games, some of which will have local and online games. It will launch of June 5th.
Finally Ninjala an eight player battle game about bubblegum chewing Ninjas, has new footage. Asides from free-for-all there’s 4v4 battles. It’ll be free to play and releases on May 27th.
Ports Galore! (and some remakes)
Many ports were announced including many from 2K Games. Those being the entire Bioshock series, Borderlands 1, 2 and the pre-sequel as one collection and XCom 2. While there might be some worries about how XCom will run on Switch I’m sure these announcements were welcomed. Especially by those who have or hadn’t yet played some of these well regarded games. They’ll be releasing on the 29th of May, good for those who mightn’t be interested in Xenoblade.
Catherine Full Body is the new version of the original Catherine by Atlus, it released on the PS4 (and Vita in Japan) last year. In Vincent’s nightmares if he dies in the dream he’ll be dead for real. This is a puzzle game where you must push blocks around in order to not fall to your death. Sometimes with giant monsters or other stray sheep in your way. In-between that you make moral choices as Vincent who is stuck between the responsibility of his long term girlfriend Katherine and two new people: Catherine and Rin. There’s also a versus mode. The Switch port will release on July 7th.
Shinsekai Into the Depths looks interesting (though not that pretty as it’s a mobile game port). It’s an underwater themed 2D exploration and survival game. That released shortly after the direct.
Older Games
Star Wars Jedi Knight Academy is a port of the PC game. This launched after the presentation. There’s a single player campaign with custom character creation. Multiplayer modes include free-for-alls and other games for up to sixteen players online. Star Wars Episode I: Racer was mentioned to come soon but nothing was shown. It’s a great game but it seems that version might not get any added online play.
Originally a Sega Saturn game the Panzer Dragoon: Remake that was supposed to release at the end of last year, dropped onto the e-shop after this direct. It’s an on rails shooter with 360 degree camera control.
ARMS stretched out!
The first fighter for the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Fighters Pass 2 will be a character from ARMS. Though for some reason they aren’t being named yet. I hope for Ribbon Girl or Helix for something unique. Some expect it might be all the fighters but in the case of particular characters they won’t be represented really well by just being a different skin. Others have speculated that since Min Min won the final Party Crash she’ll be the representative. Either way we’ll find out before they drop in June.
To celebrate a free trial of ARMS is open for Nintendo Switch Online members from March 26th to April 6th. It contains the full game, though it will likely require an internet connection to keep it within the trial period. Check it out if you haven’t already!
Bravely Default II
A nice chunk of the direct was dedicated to Bravely Default II, the sequel to the 3DS game. Another entry Bravely Second also came out on the 3DS. This game will have four new main characters: Seth, Gloria, Elvis and Adelle. Some of the enemies have gotten hold of Asterisks that give them a strong job (class). Beating them will give you that job, which can now be fused. This game uses the brave and default system like the previous games. This involves saving up extra action points. It’s still set for a 2020 release date and a demo is out now. Demo participants will later be given a survey to help influence late development.
Animal Crossing, Ring Fit and DLC
In this video some information on the nearing holiday for Animal Crossing New Horizons was shown. Bunny Day will take places from April 1st to the 12th, and involves finding eggs from digging, fishing and other activities. These then can be used to craft the new egg series furniture which looks gorgeous. Towards the end of April will be another update for an Earth Day occasion.
Ring Fit has gotten a new update including more language options and a female voice for your companion, Ring. Not only that but there’s now a Rhythm mode where you move to a few different Nintendo songs. A jogging option can be used in Quickplay or Custom so that you can avoid battles and just enjoy the scenery. The update released today.
The final pack of DLC for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3’s expansion pack has released. Coming with a new trailer this part is about Doom and the Fantastic Four.
More Coming
The usual short showings of other games they didn’t spare time to talk about occurred. I’ll put them in order of release:
- Saints Row IV: Reelected: March 27th
- Vigor Closed Beta: April 9th
- Trials of Mana Remake: April 20th (Demo out now)
- Warhammer 40,000 Mechanicus: May 2020
- The Elder Scrolls Blades: Spring 2020
- Minecraft Dungeons: Spring 2020
- Mr. Driller DrillLand: June 25th
- The Legend of Heroes Trails of Cold Steel III: June 30th (Demo out now)
- Burnout Paradise Remastered 2020
Gastly, Pokemon
The last news was merely some information of the Pokemon Sword and Shield Expansion pass. Coming with some news of Part I the Isle of Armor. Training at the dojo will give you the legendary Pokemon Kubfu. Then you can challenge one of two towers: of Darkness or Waters. Depending on what you beat Kubfu will evolve into Urshifu and have a special attack unique to that tower. The Gigantamax form moves for the starter Pokemon were also shown off (something that really should have been in the base game). Some new outfit items and card backgrounds were shown.
Part I will launch by the end of June and the second part in Fall. If the expansion pass is purchased before August 31st you can receive Leon’s cap and tights to make his full outfit on your character. New Max Raids are starting and will show Copperajah’s, Duraladon’s, Garbodor’s and Charizard’s gigantamax forms.
Overall
Hopefully this had at least something you were interested in. For me I’m most excited about the Star Wars racing game. At some point I’ll pick up Good Job! as it looks fun. Depending on the price and any other releases at that time period I might even give the Clubhouse Games a go. I’m not much for puzzle games but I’ll think about Catherine: Full Body on Switch. I’ve never played a Mr. Driller game before but I’ll try it out when that launches. I’m also going to give the Trials of Mana and Bravely Default II demos a test run.
How about you? What did you like from this “mini” Direct?
Excellent sum up of the Direct. Thank you. I need more money