Nintendo Direct 03/08/18 — Octo Smash: Ace Tracker

It took a while, but Nintendo finally provided another proper Nintendo Direct. This came after the Nintendo Direct Mini posted directly (ha ha) to YouTube in January, which contained several announcements for Switch games, but was mostly devoid of surprises. Said surprise announcements were saved for this installment, the first proper one since mid-September, notably before Super Mario Odyssey released. Here, Nintendo announced dates for games they previously revealed for the first half of 2018, while announcing games for the summer.

The Direct was hosted by Yoshiaki Koizumi, director and producer for several of Nintendo’s best games, who’s stepped up as one of the biggest faces of the company recently. He was mostly dubbed over since he doesn’t speak English, but he did a good job from what I could tell.

While most watching the Direct were anticipating Switch-related announcements, it started with a series of 3DS ones, a system  impressively still receiving new games despite being over seven years old. WarioWare Gold is coming to the system, the first proper WarioWare game since WarioWare D.I.Y. on DS back in 2010. (Game & Wario for Wii U was a spinoff mostly geared towards multiplayer, and contained a lower amount of microgames.) Gold will feature over 300 microgames that use touchscreen and button-based control methods, and will contain full voice acting. It will release on August 3rd in the west.

Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers is coming to 3DS, a successor to the Dillon’s Rolling Western games previously released on the system. It was announced simply as The Dead-Heat Breakers in Japan last year, and resurfaced with this new name. The gameplay will be similar to previous installments in offering a combination of action/adventure and tower defense scenarios. It will release in late-April in Japan, and in late-May for America and Europe. Noticeably, it will receive a physical release in addition to an eShop one in Japan and Europe, but will be eShop-exclusive in America. Sounds like Nintendo of America is cheapening out here.

Following quickly behind Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions, a remake of the first Mario & Luigi title, is Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr.’s Journey. This is a remake of the third game that uses character models like the previous 3DS entries instead of sprites, and adds a new quest featuring someone’s fan-favorite Bowser Jr. Yes, this does mean they’re skipping a remake of the second game, Partners in Time. It was one of the more divisive installments, though was nothing compared to the extremely divisive fourth game, Dream Team. It’s due for release in 2019, just in case anyone thought Nintendo would stop supporting 3DS in the near future.

Also, Detective Pikachu is scheduled for release two weeks from today, and segments of the newest trailer were shown. This is an expanded version of the game that will contain three times more content compared to the Japanese solo release of the first episode in February 2016. It will be accompanied by a giant Amiibo that will retail for a whopping $29.99, in addition to the $39.99 game.

The last 3DS title announced was a remake of Luigi’s Mansion, which will arrive more than half a decade after 3DS sequel Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon. It’s likely being developed by Next Level Games again, and is due for release sometime this year.

That was all for the 3DS titles, and unsurprisingly, much more time was spent on upcoming Switch releases.

The Switch announcements started with Kirby Star Allies, which releases in a week. The segment showed more of the, well, star allies that will be able to join Kirby in the form of legacy characters like King Dedede and Meta Knight, and more will arrive after launch. A demo has been available on the eShop since Sunday.

It was bizarre that Okami HD didn’t release on Switch in addition to other platforms in December, after a special edition released on Wii in 2008. Fortunately, Capcom agreed, as they’re porting it to the system this summer. In addition to being what should be a perfect port, it will also allow for ink painting through the use of the touchscreen or the Joy-Cons for motion controls.

Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido resurfaced for the first time since it was announced at E3 2017, a puzzle game developed by Indieszero (of the Theatrhythm games) that involves preparing sushi dishes to fling at opponents. Its appearance came with a surprise: It’s coming to Switch in addition to 3DS when it releases on June 8th. It should give this potentially obscure game a better shot on the market.

Square Enix’s Project Octopath Traveler was featured, where two more characters were introduced: Tressa, a merchant capable of obtaining new items from inhabitants of the game’s world, and Alfyn, an apothecary who can extract more info than other characters from NPCs. The game will also have jobs, which characters can switch to in order to obtain and use a different set of abilities, similar to many of Square Enix’s other RPGs. The game will release on July 13th, and will also have a $100 “Wayfarer’s Edition” limited set that includes the game, a sound selection CD, a cloth map, a replica coin resembling the in-game currency, and an 8-page pop-up book. Keep in mind a demo has also been available since October.

Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes was shown for the first time, and it looks a bit different than what people expected. As previously described, the game will star No More Heroes protagonist Travis Touchdown, who’s trapped in a video game world and is trying to find a way out. Instead of being a 3D action game, it will be an isometric title where one or two players travel to seven different worlds, and play seven smaller titles created by indie developers. It’s scheduled for release sometime this year.

Dark Souls Remastered was one of the biggest titles announced for Switch on the January Direct Mini, and this Direct offered an opportunity to show off how good its port job will be. There will also be a Network Test held before release to test the online servers before launch (which will also be available for the other platforms). But the biggest news is how Solaire is getting a “Praise the Sun” Amiibo. Several fans jokingly said they wanted this to happen after the January announcement, but it’s clear staffers at developer FromSoftware were serious about it. The game and Amiibo will release on May 25th.

Koizumi decided to throw in a MyNintendo reminder, which was actually well timed. If it was thrown in too early, it would have given watchers the impression that they wouldn’t have much to show. If it was too late, people would have known the show was over, and wouldn’t have paid attention to it. Showing this in the middle of the Switch announcements was a perfect time.

Mario Tennis Aces was heavily detailed, a presentation which showed how this is a serious effort after the comparatively throwaway Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash on Wii U. It will have 15 initial playable characters, including fan favorites like Waluigi and Rosalina, and several modes. This includes a Swing Mode, a more “casual” experience whose features could attract those who liked Wii Tennis. It will also have online multiplayer modes and tournaments, and special characters (or variations of existing characters) will be available for those who participate and win in them. The game will release on June 22nd, but a pre-launch tournament will be held before then.

A string of Wii U ports have been announced for Switch, to give them new life on an actually successful system. The newest one announced was Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, though in fairness, this one’s not a simple port. While it will retain the original experience, it will also add new levels inspired by those from Super Mario Odyssey. There will also be a 3DS version, though it’s not clear as to whether it will include the new content. Both versions will release on July 13th.

Nintendo fans have been asking for Undertale on a Nintendo platform for a while. After it released on Sony platforms last year, it was only a matter of time before it came to Switch, and that will happen “eventually.” It’s probably coming by the end of the year, but this was a fun tease.

More third-party ports are coming to Switch. For anyone who remembers the gaming company rivalries in the 90s, it was a little surreal to see that the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is coming to a Nintendo platform. It’s not quite on par with Sonic’s third-party leap, but it’s hilarious to see after ads like this. It will release on July 10th, alongside Xbox One and PC versions. Also, Little Nightmares: Complete Edition is coming to Switch on May 18th, the critically-acclaimed horror puzzle platformer from Tarsier Studios. Those rumors of Ubisoft South Park: The Fractured but Whole making its way to Switch were accurate, which will arrive on April 24th. Hopefully the framerate will be fixed in the final version, as what was shown in the Direct looked potentially burdensome.

Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition, announced on the Direct Mini in January, will release on May 18th in the west. This version will include all the content from the Wii U and 3DS versions, along with outfits for Link and Zelda based on their The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild versions. It will release first in Japan on March 22nd.

Though Arms isn’t receiving further substantial content, Nintendo is still having events for it, including the Arms US & Canada Online Open Tournament. This will occur through the game’s Ranked Mode between now and March 18th, and the top eight players will participate in the Finals, which will be streamed by Nintendo. If you still want to try it out before potentially purchasing it, a new global Testpunch that lets players try out specific modes for free will run for three days, starting on March 31.

Splatoon 2’s Ver. 3.0 update is coming in late April, which will include over 100 pieces of new gear, a handful of new stages, and a higher rank known as Rank X — the “extreme” rank, further channeling that 90s Nickelodeon cartoon vibe. The big announcement was for a new single-player campaign known as the Octo Expansion, the first such DLC campaign for a Splatoon title. It also looks like what people wanted from Splatoon 2’s single-player campaign in the first place, and given the info that it will have over 80 stages, it should be worth the $19.99 price when it arrives in the summer. It can also be preordered now to unlock exclusive gear.

The final announcement seemed like it would be another Splatoon-related one, until a familiar symbol appeared in the female Inkling’s eye near the end of the cinematic video: The Super Smash Bros. logo. This was followed by familiar characters like Mario and Link appearing in silhouettes, confirming that Super Smash Bros. is indeed coming to Switch, and it’s coming this year. Whether this will be a brand-new game or an enhanced port of the Wii U version isn’t clear, but that it’s releasing so soon suggests (but notably doesn’t confirm) it will be the latter. On the other hand, it’s worth noting that Link was clearly not wearing a cap in the teaser, suggesting he’ll be taking after his Breath of the Wild appearance. Masahiro Sakurai will once again be involved in this game, in case anyone thought the Wii U version might actually be his last one.

There are still a lot of ports coming to Switch, but this Direct showed how there will also be enough new games to keep most owners from having a problem with this. A bigger surprise was how the 3DS has more life left in it than expected, with Nintendo even dating a game for a 2019 release. There’s a good chance another Direct could arrive before E3 2018, where the new Smash Bros. could be shown. There’s also a chance Smash could be revealed on its own Direct. Either way, good luck waiting.

If you want to watch the Direct, feel free to do so here.