The good, the bad, and the “Oh God why?!”
The new Nintendo Direct finally dropped after holding everyone in suspense. And, uh, there was probably more in this for someone like me than there was for most people. So let’s just get to it.
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak
A big paid DLC expansion for Monster Hunter Rise, à la World‘s Iceborne expansion. New everything; set to come out Summer 2022.
Mario Party Superstars!
Ramping up to its release on October 29th, Nintendo decided to show off more of Mario Party Superstars! Also in there is a minigame-centric mode called Mt. Minigames.
Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars
A game coming from Square Enix. Everything, and I do mean everything, is represented with cards, down to terrain. Notably, there are some serious names attached: Yoko Taro, serving as Creative Director, and Yosuke Saito as Executive Producer. I’m definitely keeping it on my radar.
Disco Elysium The Final Cut
Releases digitally October 12th, physical release early 2022.
Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity Expansion Pass
Available October 29th.
Chocobo GP
Kinda came out of left field, but then again, I remember Chocobo Racing. It’s only been what? 22, 23 years? Anyway, I guess it’s back. Releases 2022.
Smash Bros. News
The final fighter is set to be announced in an event on October 5th, finally freeing us from the nightmare of idiots thinking it’s going to be Ichigo Kurasaki or Goku.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land
This is actually a bit of a first. Because Kirby’s Air Ride aside, I’m pretty sure Kirby’s never had a game set on a 3D plane. Set for a Spring 2022 release.
Animal Crossing Direct
Set for some time in October.
Mario Golf Super Rush Update
Disney Magical World 2: Enchantment Edition
Lets you take a Mii to see Disney characters like pregnant Elsa Frozen and places like the Hundred Acre Wood.
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic
Dying Light 2 Stay Human (Cloud Version) and Dying Light Platinum Edition
Dying Light 2 available February 4th, 2022 with free demo launched on same day, Dying Light Platinum Edition available October 19th.
Triangle Strategy
Oh yeah. It’s worth noting that they took the feedback from the February demo to improve the game overall, notably for the UI, difficulty options, and controls. You can even backtrack and review previous dialog in a scene, complete with voiceover. Hell, they even improved the loading times. Finally launches March 4th, 2022.
Metroid Dread
Ramping up to release next month on October 8th. Kraid’s back.
Nintendo Switch Online – New Plan with N64 and Sega Genesis games
New plan will cost more, as a sort of new tier. N64 offers local and online play for up to 4 players, for the games that originally supported multiplayer, so that’s nifty. The launch lineup for both systems is solid. Not surprised to see Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time on there, since they’re the easiest to emulate. Sin and Punishment is a significant deep cut for the launch of the lineup, with WinBack being the odd man out. They promise more to come for booth systems, but they specifically dangled Majora’s Mask.
Future titles listed:
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
- Mario Golf
- Pokémon Snap
- F-Zero X
- Kirby 64 The Crystal Shards
- Paper Mario
- Banjo Kazooie
All, IIRC, games which were already released on the Wii Virtual Console, so they know that they at least will function properly.
Notably, they’re just tossing in Phantasy Star IV, which cost, like, $70-$80 back in the day.
Also, they’re releasing wireless N64 and Genesis (3 button, sorry 6 button Genesis controller lovers) controllers to go with them. My head would’ve popped at a Nintendo-branded genesis controller when I was a kid.
Shadowrun Trilogy
Castlevania Advance Collection
I’m happy to say I was wrong. Not only are they giving you all three Game Boy Advance Castlevania games, they’re adding in Dracula X as well. As well as a host of quality of life features, including rewind, save states, and button remapping. Out now on the eShop.
Actraiser Renaissance
The game was aimed at mobile but got a release on PC, Switch, and PS4 as well. It kinda shows. At least they got Yuzo Koshiro back to arrange the new soundtrack. Available now.
Deltarune Chapter 2
Comes as a free update for anyone that owns Deltarune Chapter 1.
Showcase of upcoming titles
- Hot Wheels Unleashed – September 30th
- Surviving the Aftermath – Holiday 2021
- Shin Megami Tensei V – Digital pre-orders open now
- Wreckfest – Fall 2021
- Arcade Archives PAC-MAN
- Arcade Archive XEVIOUS – Both available now
- Rune Factory 5 – March 22, 2022
Mario Movie Casting and Release Date
Comes out December 21, 2022.
- Mario – Chris Pratt
- Princess Peach – Anya Taylor-Joy
- Luigi – Charley Day
- Bowser – Jack Black
- Toad – Keegan Michael Key
- Donkey Kong – Seth Rogen
- Kamek – Kevin Michael Richardson
- Crankey Kong – Fred Armisen
- Spike – Sebastian Maniscalco
- Charles Martinet – “Surprise Cameos”
Splatoon 3
The Mammalians return, and they kinda look like cousins of Ding Dong.
Bayonetta 3
There’s news! And a release date sometime in 2022! Rejoice!
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