For the first time in quite awhile fans of Nintendo were given a chance to be excited! A Nintendo Direct took place on Wednesday and with it came some new games, quite a few ports, and as quite a few people mentioned on Twitter, more anime swords.
These Directs are always exciting because it’s a chance to see some new trailers for upcoming games and they’re always delivered in a really digestible format. Nintendo has done a great job skipping the bland trade show aspects of reveal events like E3 and gotten straight to the part that people care about most. The video games.
This Direct itself was largely fine. There weren’t any earth shattering unveilings, but it featured a lot of fun smaller titles and cult favorites that we can look forward to. Considering how long it’s been since the last Direct we can call this one a success. Not amazing, not awful, but fun. Let’s get to the biggest news to emerge from Wednesday’s event.
New Smash Bros character: Pyra/Mythra
A new DLC fighter for Super #SmashBrosUltimate has been announced! This fighter will release in March, so stay tuned for more information soon. pic.twitter.com/5yBSEMOyx9
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) February 17, 2021
If you are someone that has somehow never played Super Smash Bros. before then the reaction to this unveiling may have seemed a little odd. There wasn’t as much excitement as you would expect for a character from a cult favorite like Xenoblade. There was even some outrage over it and not just fans upset that their favorite character wasn’t chosen for the roster. Pyra/Mythra, characters from Xenoblade 2, look like anime characters and they use a sword. Something that, at this point, is a joke among fans of the Smash Bros. series because the roster is full of them.
As a fan of Xenoblade, it was exciting to see the series get some more representation beyond Shulk. That said, hopefully, future additions to the ever-growing roster of fighters will show more variety. It seems like fans are starting to get tired of the more repetitive selections.
Ports!
One unfortunate aspect of the Switch is it rarely seems to get non-party titles first. Many games will typically come out for the PC, Xbox, or PlayStation first and if it performs well then it will be ported to the Switch later on. We saw this a couple of times in the Direct with both Outer Wilds and Fall Guys getting ports to the Switch. Outer Wilds is a phenomenal game that everyone should play and Fall Guys is the perfect Switch title so these both make perfect sense to get ports.
https://www.youtube.com/c/nintendo/videos
Fall Guys has fallen off in popularity since it took the world by storm over the summer, but with a port to Switch, we might see a revitalization of the wacky game show-like Battle Royale.
Mario Golf
MARIO GOLF MARIO GOLF MARIO GOLF MARIO GOLF MARIO GOLF!
Mario Golf is ridiculously fun and one of the best Mario sports titles. Whether you’re a golf fan, Mario fan, or both you are going to have a great time with Mario Golf.
Star Wars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVLLXp0KZVY
Not much to say about this one other than it’s a Star Wars game and coming out on the Switch and mobile. It’s supposed to be a competitive style game so that could be fun. Let’s just hope there aren’t too many microtransactions.
Miitopia
Miitopia is another port, but this time for a game that came out on the 3DS back in 2017. This is one of those games that is perfectly Nintendo. It’s goofy, involves Mii’s, and is a fun way to take your friends on an adventure. Although without a street pass feature it’ll be interesting to see how the game utilizes Mii’s.
No More Heroes 3
No More Heroes is a cult favorite that you would never expect to be a Nintendo title. These games are typically very bloody, rather crude, and have absurdly wacky humor. They’re also really fun and a really good time for anyone that gives them a chance. The first two games came out on the Wii so it will be interesting to see how it fares a decade later.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, not Breath of the Wild
A lot of fans were expecting to see Breath of the Wild 2 in this slot, but instead, they ended up with a remaster of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. This would be fine if it wasn’t one of the most divisive games in the franchise and they hadn’t kept referencing Breath of the Wild in the presentation.
Project TRIANGLE STRATEGY
This game was really interesting. It had the art style of Octopath Traveler, but they haven’t given us a title yet. It features branching story paths and decisions that can impact them drastically. It’s very clearly inspired by Final Fantasy: Tactics which is a franchise that fans have been begging to come back for years. While this isn’t an official Tactics game it does appear to be a spiritual successor. The next best thing. It even has a demo for everyone to try.
Splatoon 3
The bookend of the show, Splatoon 3 was a bit of a surprise to see as Splatoon 2 came out for the Switch back in 2017 and still has a decently active multiplayer community. Although, what was interesting about this trailer is they put a pretty heavy emphasis on the beginning shots of the main character traveling through the desert and finding a bus to take them to what we assume is Inkopolis. One aspect of Splatoon that doesn’t get enough credit is the single player modes actually being fairly interesting. It will be exciting to see what they do in the latest title.