The good, the bad, and thoughts on the latest Nintendo Direct Mini

by Nolan Leahy For those who missed the Nintendo Direct Mini on Thursday, here’s a summary of what was announced:

• The World Ends with You -Final Remix- releases this year on Nintendo Switch (Originally released on Nintendo DS in 2007).
• Pokken Tournament DX Battlepack DLC releasing new Pokémon in two different waves. Wave 1 will release Jan. 31. Wave 2 will release on Mar. 23.
• Kirby Star Allies new features revealed within the game. Such as four player cooperative combined abilities, artist ability, spider ability, and featured villains. Kirby Star Allies releases on Mar. 16, 2018.
• Kirby Battle Royale Demo currently available for Nintendo 3DS on the eShop.
• Dragon Quest Builders Demo currently available for the Nintendo Switch on the eShop.
• Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition arrives on Nintendo Switch this Spring along with Breath of the Wild skins and two player split screen in tabletop mode. It includes all of the DLC.
• Mario Tennis Aces video game arrives this Spring on the Nintendo Switch along with a story mode that is a first for the Mario Tennis games.
• Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA releases this Summer on the Nintendo Switch.
• Super Mario Odyssey gets an update called Balloon World, which features a competitive online mode where players hide and find each other’s balloons. New in-game camera filters also added. The update releases in February.
• Fighting game SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy releases this Summer on the Nintendo Switch.
• ACA NeoGeo Art of Fighting 2 is available now for the Nintendo Switch on the eShop.
• Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle DLC features Donkey Kong. The DLC is available this Spring.
• PAYDAY 2 exclusively premieres a new character on its port of the game. PAYDAY 2 launches on Nintendo Switch on Feb. 27.
• Fe platforming adventure game releases on Nintendo Switch on Feb. 16. Gameplay elements feature the Joy Con’s HD Rumble.
• Celeste platforming game releases Jan. 25.
• Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze port releases on Nintendo Switch on May 4 featuring Funky Kong as an added character.
• Dark Souls Remastered is coming to the Nintendo Switch on May 25.

The Good

Excellent choice of ports and new games.

A few superb details came out of this Direct Mini. Mario Tennis gets a promising new title to continue its spin-off franchise. The well-acclaimed Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is getting a port, which means that those who skipped the Wii U will have another chance to buy the game. Fans of the Soulsborne games will be content that Dark Souls Remastered will arrive on a portable device; however, whether or not this means that the game will implement local wireless coop between Switch devices is still unknown. The new information on Kirby Star Allies makes it look even more promising than before, and it encourages local coop more so than single player. It definitely looks like this generation’s version of what New Super Mario Bros. Wii was back in 2009.

Currently available Switch games are still fresh

Currently available video games on the Switch are also being kept fresh with the implementations of the DLC and update announcements. Seeing an update for a competitive mode for Super Mario Odyssey is slightly surprising. While the game offers competitively timed modes such as foot races and an RC race track, seeing Nintendo still push this competitive tone for a single player 3D platformer is entirely new to the 3D Mario franchise. Pokken Tournament’s DLC is also adding new fighters and support characters to keep players coming back, similar to how ARMS has also added new fighters to its roster in the past.

The Bad

The biggest projects weren’t shown

Even though the showcase of updates and games arriving to the Switch were fantastic, the bigger questions still linger: How is Metroid Prime 4 progressing in development? Are competitive Smash Bros. players going to be able to bury the CRTs with a Super Smash Bros. Melee HD? Will the Wii U’s Smash Bros. be ported, or will there be a new Smash? What about the new Pokémon game that was announced last year?

The Switch update leak wasn’t mentioned

Within the past week, there was a video leak of what apparently was the next major Nintendo Switch update to improve the OS (AKA 5.0.0). The user who posted the leak has taken the video down, but can still be viewed here.  What this video featured was virtual console, cloud storage, more streaming support (YouTube, Crunchyroll, Twitch) and a more customizable home menu. It’s been a constant debate amongst fans of whether or not this convincing leak is true, and the mini direct didn’t help its cause.

Reflection

Josh Gunn is a Ball State University Student whose been gaming on PlayStation consoles for the last 10 years. When talking about the games shown on Nintendo’s Direct Mini, he said that it does sway him more into getting a Switch, but at the same time it doesn’t.

“I’ve wanted one. There’s already games out that I’ve known before that I would enjoy playing on the Switch, but with them incorporating more games it does make me think that I should try to get one soon. They’re porting these many games that are from other consoles; it seems like it’s going to a nostalgia thing because you’re playing old school games. [The Direct Mini] was a lot of remasters.” - Gunn

When looking at the rest of 2018, there are still many gaps that need to be filled. Nintendo handled 2017 phenomenally with releasing a new exclusive game during every month after launch. Despite this factor, it’s questionable now if Nintendo can continue this momentum. For those who bought the Wii U, it would be disappointing to have another experience of “dry seasons” where big games aren’t being showcased, especially when considering exclusives. Even though this mini direct showcased a limited number of games, a video from the YouTube channel Nintendo Life made an interesting point about the previous Nintendo Direct Minis: whenever there was a Nintendo Direct Mini, a bigger Nintendo Direct followed shortly after. Following Directs have previously spanned anywhere between a day to twenty days after the Direct Mini. Historically speaking, a new Direct could be coming in the next few weeks. Sadly, nothing is confirmed at the moment for a new Direct. UPDATE: According to a report by Nintendo Life, the aforementioned Nintendo Switch OS update was proven to be fake.

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Source: YouTube, Nintendo Life Image: YouTube