Cognition Dissemination: The Best Nintendo Direct We Could Get

There will always be choruses of loud fans too enthusiastic about a new Nintendo Direct whenever Nintendo announces one, thanks to the infrequency of them. Deep down, however, everyone should have known to keep expectations at a reasonable level given the perpetually dire times in which we live. The combination of it being a little over three months since the last Direct during the virtual E3 2021 event and the proximity of this presentation to the also-virtual Tokyo Game Show 2021 (starting on September 30th) inflated expectations into the stratosphere. When fans break out wishlists, it’s going to be a miserable time afterward.

The Direct served the purpose Nintendo said it would: It outlined the upcoming software lineup from the company and third-party partners between this fall and early 2022. There were surprises, though a couple of the biggest were leaked by the Japanese arm of Nintendo themselves hours beforehand.

The biggest surprise was Bayonetta 3, a game that had yet to be seen in action prior to this Direct despite Nintendo and PlatinumGames announcing it through a teaser nearly four years ago and subsequently insisting that it still existed for years afterward. The trailer shows Bayonetta in action in a dilapidated Japan, with the titular character receiving a more drastic makeover than between the first and second titles. Her hairstyle and changed voice actress point to her being a grown-up Cereza, who was in actuality a younger Bayonetta. None of the enemies shown are Angels either, but demons inspired by Japanese folklore. Just as it was tough to believe the game was still alive after so much time (and my faith was shaken), it’s hard to believe that it’s coming in 2022. It will ideally make that timeframe.

The other big announcement of a Nintendo-published game was Kirby and the Forgotten Land. This is a 3D-ish platforming game, in contrast to the previous 2D games that used polygons. The style resembles Super Mario 3D Land and 3D World in how Kirby sticks to a specific path within the 3D perspective while progressing through levels. The big change explains why HAL Laboratory and Nintendo stopped releasing new installments on a biannual basis, besides the production values needing to be higher compared to 3DS titles. The game is planned for release in spring 2022, around five years after Kirby Star Allies.

Other announcements came from third party developers and publishers, like the Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak expansion coming in summer 2022, and Chocobo GP coming in 2022. Even better were the titles that launched right after the presentation, like Deltarune 1 + 2, the terribly-kept secret known as the Castlevania Advance Collection, and Actraiser Renaissance, the latter of which bears a hell of a resemblance to a Sega Saturn game with the combination of sprites and polygonal backgrounds. Other announcements were for dates for previously announced titles like Triangle Strategy (03/04/2022 — sans the “Project” from the title), Rune Factory 5 (March 22 — with same-sex marriages for the western audience), and Splatoon 3, the last of which was unsurprisingly given a big preview.

Chris Pratt as Mario
Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach
Charlie Day as Luigi
Jack Black as Bowser
Keegan-Michael Key as Toad
Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong
Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong
Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek
Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike
Surprise cameos from Charles Martinet

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) September 23, 2021

The cast was confirmed for the Super Mario Bros. movie, which will have big names. Chris Pratt will play Mario, while Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, and Keegan-Michael Key will be among the cast as Peach, Luigi, Boswer, and Toad, respectively. Charles Martinet will also be involved… somehow. This is perhaps not the cast anyone who envisioned an animated Mario game had in mind, unless they imagined just how “Hollywood” the casting would get. Since the movie is due in the holiday season 2022, it won’t be long before a preview arrives. It fortunately (and sadly) won’t be as comically bad as the live-action film, but it remains an open question as to whether it will be any good.

There weren’t many surprises on this Direct (not including the content that either leaked or was implied to be there thanks to a mistake on Nintendo’s Japan side), similar to the PlayStation Showcase earlier this month. This was always going to be the case. It’s been clear for over a year that the COVID-19 pandemic has wrecked Nintendo’s Japanese software development and release pipeline, at least partially thanks to how Japanese companies have worked in the past. There won’t be any recovery until the pandemic is at least mostly over. The release lineup for later this year and early next year shows how Nintendo may not have a pre-pandemic-level software lineup again until later in 2022.

Also making things worse are “insiders.” Some know of behind-the-scenes happenings involving Nintendo, but those who know the most often remain silent. Others aware of a semblance of insider info can provide what they know, but plans can always change behind the scenes. But we’re talking about social media and gaming message boards here, which means there a lot of people spreading bullshit. If what they say doesn’t come to pass, that’s not Nintendo’s fault. It’s additionally ludicrous to list content that leaks beforehand as “spoilers.”

It’s unfortunate that the Switch lineup isn’t as robust as pre-pandemic times, but I don’t want to undermine how solid it still looks. It was also nice of Nintendo to let everyone know that the final Super Smash Bros. Ultimate announcement will be made on October 5th at 10AM ET/7AM PT, an event that will result in the internet erupting into mayhem regardless of who will be revealed. Find a bunker before then.