Last week's Nintendo Direct was delightfully surprising
There were tons of great announcements that I truly did not expect out of Nintendo.
Hey, sorry about not writing anything last week. I am looking for jobs and was busy with interviews and such, but we are back.
Last week, there was a Nintendo Direct that was much more exciting than I originally expected it to be even if it started out with a big switcheroo on a beloved franchise.
The first announcement looked like it would be a new Fire Emblem game, but just ended up being another Dynasty Warriors-esque game that Nintendo has been recently making games of.
From there things really heated up with a new Mario Strikers game on Switch. This is so exciting and looks like a big enough change to the core gameplay that will make it an even better Mario sports game than last year’s golf.
Hoping these yearly summer Mario sports games continue. They are nice little mid-summer releases that bring back some fun, arcadey sports that have the perfect soak of nostalgia.
Splatoon got another showing with their PvE Salmon Run mode. It has never really been a franchise for me, but I am sure there are some people excited about it.
After that, they pulled my attention fully back in with Kirby. Kirby and the Forgotten Land comes out next month and getting to see a bit more gameplay as well as showing off some core mechanics has certainly piqued my interest.
Kirby now has a mouthful mode that has been making for some great memes. I am dying to get some Carby on my switch. I am hopeful that this will be the Mario Odyssey of the Kirby franchise.
A bombshell announcement followed that with Nintendo Switch Sports. Absolutely no one asked for this game, but wow, I am extremely excited to get a Nintendo sports game again. Wii Sports was a game that literally everyone liked to play, even your grandma.
This new game comes with volleyball and soccer as well and I just think it will be a great time to play with friends in-person and online. I hope Nintendo’s online services are ready for this.
The updated Miis look great in game as well. I am just looking forward to hitting the links with some friends and then maybe popping over to bowling to become a pro again.
Mario Kart then got some long awaited DLC with 48 additional tracks to be added in the coming year. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Deluxe is coming and everyone should be excited about it.
Some classic tracks from past Mario Karts are here and completely remade to fit with the new mechanics of recent installments.
Ending the show was a bit of a disappointment for me, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was announced and although I am sure there was a niche audience that was very excited for the next game in the series, I was uninterested.
It was a bit of a let down for their final announcement, in a year when the next Zelda installment is slated to come out.
Overall, this was a great direct. There were good updates and announcements that actually got me very excited.
I also think Nintendo has been missing terribly with old games coming to the system that somehow look worse than when they originally came out. Many of these games are also PS3 Xbox 360-era releases.
There have been some great remakes of very old JRPGs that many thought we would never get in the US like Live A Live. Earthbound also is getting a virtual console release that may push Nintendo to actually make the long asked for Mother 3.
The new MLB the Show game is also coming to switch with cross-saves which makes for a solid on-the-go option for many people who have multiple consoles.
Nintendo Directs are often a bit of a let down overall for me, but with everything they had shown here, I was pleasantly surprised.
The great first months of games continue with Pokémon Legends: Arceus being a great new installment for that series, Sifu being a new, exciting challenge and Horizon Forbidden West and Elden Ring coming.
Video games have never been better, and the future looks bright.