Some good stuff in here.
Nintendo put out a new Direct Mini, dedicated to their third-party partners. And it’s chock full of upcoming goodies. Here’s what they had on tap:
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak
The Monster Hunter Rise train isn’t stopping any time soon. And the developers have taken the criticisms on the stop-and-go content update releases to heart, too. Not only does Sunbreak drop soon on Switch, the first free title update will come with Seething Bazelgeuse and Lucent Nargacuga. What’s more, each update will come per season, featuring a number of new monsters each, though Capcom’s not tipping their hand on them. They do, however, plan to keep things rolling through 2023.
NieR:Automata The End of YoRHa Edition
Yeah, this is a surprise. Somehow, using some form of Necromancy I imagine, they managed to cram NieR:Automata onto the Switch. It comes with all the previous DLC too, as well as some exclusive content. If you haven’t played it, this is probably one of your best chances if all you own is a Switch. It’s set for an October 6th release, with eShop pre-orders open today.
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
Coming from Annapurna and Simogo, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is a modern take on adventure-puzzle games. Looks pretty trippy, ought to be good.
Super Bomberman R 2
It’s not often you get a real twist on a game with a new mode, but that’s what Konami’s aiming for with Super Bomberman R 2‘s new Castle Mode. 15 players try to blast their way to the top, while 1 defends the castle. Launches next year.
Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection
Exactly what it says on the tin. In the same vein as the other Mega Man collections. Also features hideous pixel smoothing. Coming next year.
Pac-Man World Re-PAC
A remake of the well-loved PS1 title. Coming August 26th
Blanc
A textless adventure game about a faun and a wolf cub trying to find their way home. Features local and online co-op. Striking black and white graphics. Surprisingly coming from Gearbox; you can’t even see Randy’s grease. Launches February 2023.
Return to Monkey Island
How appropriate, you make a comeback like a cow. A return (heh) helmed by series originator Ron Gilbert. Coming later this year.
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
The first game was actually good, despite my distaste for the Rabbids. Movement’s free rather than grid-based this time around. Releases October 20th.
Sonic Frontiers
A little bit more of Sonic Frontiers running on Switch. The cyberspace levels actually look pretty good. Coming Holiday season.
Disney Dreamlight Valley
Honestly, looks like it’ll be good for kids. Scrooge might actually be better without his memories though. It’s coming in early access September 6th. Early access?!
LIVE A LIVE
I’d probably be lying if I said LIVE A LIVE was the best Squaresoft SNSES RPG to have previously never left Japan. But what I think works about it (charm, the strength of endgame narrative, overall presentation) is simply getting enhanced here. Honestly, I’m hoping they fix a few things, like the Near-Future chapter’s horrible item refinement process that turns it into a bigger slog than both the Prehistoric and Bakumatsu chapters combined. A demo consisting of the early parts of the Ancient China, Bakumatsu, and Distant Future chapters is available now, and save data will be transferrable to the final release, on July 22nd.
DORAEMON STORY OF SEASONS: Friends of the Great Kingdom
A Story of Seasons (a.k.a. actual Harvest Moon) game featuring Doraemon characters. Launching in North America later this year.
Minecraft Legends
Seems to, oddly enough, be taking a page out of the Dragon Quest Builders book… which took a page out of Minecraft’s book. Here’s hoping you can build brown bricks, which is the most fun you can possibly have. And speaking of Dragon Quest
Dragon Quest Treasures
Seems to be a hybrid successor to both the Torneko games and Dragon Quest Monsters in some way, though focused around finding treasure, as befitting of DQ11’s Erik and Mia. Launches December 9th.
Portal Companion Collection
Take the damn lemons. You monster. Available today.
HARVESTELLA
Square Enix does a Rune Factory. That isn’t a bad thing, just my immediate take. Launches November 4th (what a clever date for a game that features a “season of death”).
Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4 Golden, & Persona 5 Royal
Probably the biggest news of the Direct, all three of these games are headed to Nintendo Switch. Persona 5 Royal releases October 21st, while Persona 4 Golden and Persona 3 Portable release in 2023.
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