The Very Best of September's Nintendo Direct
Yesterday, at 2:00 pm BST, Nintendo streamed an increasingly rare Nintendo Direct. This promised to show 40 straight minutes of games coming to the Switch in Winter 2022/2023. The show was overall pretty good, although it did catch some flack for the pretty heavy emphasis on some quite underwhelming anime and farming simulator games. Despite this, there were still some surprises and interesting projects showcased that managed to outweigh the bad. So, let’s take a look at the five most exciting games shown at Nintendo’s September Direct!
Octopath Traveller 2
Starting off very strong, an Octopath Traveller sequel is not something I ever really expected to see. The HD 2D art style seemed to be a prime contender for one-off experiences. This is especially true considering the launches of Triangle: Strategy and Live a Live earlier this year. It seemed that Square Enix were content with moving this beautiful aesthetic to a new project after new project. However, despite this apparent trend, Octopath Traveller was announced with a stunning trailer and a promise of eight brand-new characters to control. The original game was incredible- having an amazing soundtrack, battle mechanic, and, of course, art style. The only thing that really let it down was the lack of an intertwining story between the eight protagonists- which seems to be something that Square is looking to resolve if the trailer is anything to go by. At any rate, I can’t wait to return to the gorgeous and mystical world of HD 2D graphics when Octopath Traveller II comes out on February 24th, 2023.
Pikmin 4
Another (sort of) surprise from this Direct was the much-awaited new Pikmin game! All that was revealed was that it exists and… well, basically nothing else. However, we do know that this is releasing in 2023- likely Summer. This beloved franchise sees you playing as a tiny spaceman coming to an abandoned Earth and picking up ‘treasures’ (which are really just everyday objects) with the help of his little Pikmin friends. The third entry really diversified the Pikmin cast and innovated the controls to feel great. This was also recently ported to Switch recently- which had a lot of fans speculating whether a fourth entry was in the works. Now that it's been confirmed, hopefully, a lot more people will show interest in the franchise since, although certainly not unknown, Pikmin has often flown under the radar of grander series like Mario or Zelda. After the release of Tinykin (an indie Pikmin-inspired adventure game released early this week), I am very much looking forward to this release. Pikmin 4 is slated for sometime in 2023. Really, it's anyone's guess.
Crisis Core- Final Fantasy VII- Reunion
We already knew that a remaster of the critically acclaimed PSP prequel to Final Fantasy VII was coming to Playstation, but we didn’t know it was coming to the Switch until yesterday. On top of that, this new trailer gave us a release date slated for December this year. It wasn’t certain what the vague ‘Winter’ time frame meant for this prequel, and many believed this cemented an early 2023 release. However, now that we can be sure that this is coming just before Christmas, the excitement around the game is growing. This sounds like it will be perfect on the Switch too- originating on the Playstation Portable. It’s perfect timing too- with a lot of new fans to the property coming in from the 2020 Remake and a 2023 release window scheduled for its follow-up. From how it's looking, it's unlikely to disappoint. The exact date set for the Crisis Core remaster is December 13th this year.
Kirby’s Return to Dream Land: Deluxe
Kirby has been on a sort of resurgence this year. After the fan-favorite entries on the 3DS, the first Switch game was Star Allies, which was met with complaints about a lack of content and samey gameplay. This left a lot of fans disappointed with the direction the series was taking. However, this was changed with the release of Kirby and the Forgotten Land early this year. This brought the series to 3D and brought in a whole slew of new fans of the franchise to Kirby’s world. While a follow-up to Forgotten Land was not revealed, we did get a switch port of the beloved Kirby’s Return to Dream Land (or Kirby’s Adventure: Wii in Europe). This was a great 2D entry in the series, with its new abilities and multiplayer being much acclaimed. The Switch port seems to be taking on a different art style and also adding a lot of new features like minigames and online play. Either way, it’s great to see such a strong entry finally getting some more love (although it may be less great to see how much this retails for). Either way, Kirby’s Return to Dream Land: Deluxe is coming to Switch February 24th 2023.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Without a doubt, the most anticipated Nintendo game in years, the sequel to the hit 2017 Breath of the Wild is finally set in stone to be releasing early next year. This isn’t all we got, however. The new trailer showed off some new mechanics like a mechanical flying bird and a homemade elevator contraption. This is already looking excellent, and we’ve probably seen less than a minute of footage from it since it was unveiled. This trailer also came with a hyped-up title reveal: Tears of the Kingdom. It remains to be seen what this means, but I’m inclined to believe this may have a double meaning. Either way, it does imply a sort of darker world than the familiar green plains of Breath of the Wild. Keeping the overworld structurally the same but adding seemingly a whole new world in the skies was a genius idea for a sequel, and it’s exciting to see a proper follow-up for the series in a way similar to what Majora’s Mask was to Ocarina of Time. Perhaps we’ll see similar themes traverse across this sequel. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is finally slated to release on May 12th 2023.
