The first Nintendo Direct of 2019 seems to have set the stage for the first half of the year nicely, shifting the focus entirely towards upcoming games for the wildly popular Switch, with not a single mention of the aging-yet-still-living 3DS platform. With only a few exceptions, most titles mentioned will be arriving in stores or on the eShop by the end summer.
A Super Mario Maker 2 announcement kicked off the presentation, displaying features that the original lacked, like the ability to create sloped surfaces, new power ups, and potentially new playable characters. Though no exact date was announced, Nintendo committed to a June release window.
Originally announced as a Nintendo Switch exclusive at The Game Awards back in December, Team Ninja’s Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order will hit stores this summer. Along with additional gameplay footage, it was revealed that the game will also feature Captain Marvel, in the form of Carol Danvers, of course. This is the first Marvel game to ever be published by Nintendo, and one of the first existing outside IPs that the company has touched in decades.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is getting its version 3.0 update sometime this spring, and Persona 5’s Joker, previously announced at The Game Awards as the first of five DLC characters, will be available before the end of April.
Square Enix’s Dragon Quest series will see even more representation on the Switch this year, with Dragon Quest Builders 2 scheduled for a July 12 release. Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition will see release sometime this autumn, joining the running for the most convoluted naming convention on the Switch.
Square Enix will also be publishing another game from their subsidiary, Tokyo RPG Factory. The developers of I Am Setsuna and Lost Sphere bring us Oninaki, an action RPG in which the hero, Kagachi, must rescue lost souls before they become monsters. These lost souls will bring unique abilities that can be used in the course of battle.
Adding to the ever-increasing support from Square, the previously announced Final Fantasy ports received release information. Final Fantasy X | X-2 HD Remaster and Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age received release information back in January, setting dates of April 16 & 30, respectively. This Direct announced a March 26 release date of the vaunted Final Fantasy VII, and an immediate release of Final Fantasy IX.
Tetris 99 is a free-to-play battle royale version of Tetris, where you compete against 98 other opponents in a single match to see who will be the last standing.
Yoshi’s Crafted World had its release date of March 29 announced back in January, but this the Direct showed off a new costume mechanic and how it fits into gameplay, and announced the immediate availability of a playable demo via the Nintendo eShop.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses finally received a solid release date of July 26. Announced at the big Switch reveal in January 2017, the game has seen several delays and had a few release windows announced in the past, but this is the first solid date announced, which, for Nintendo, typically means it is rock solid.
Daemon X Machina, by developer MARVELOUS!, which was announced at E3 last year, finally receives a release window for this coming summer, with a demo pack entitled Daemon X Machina: Prototype Missions available now on the Nintendo eShop.
Platinum Games, developers of the Bayonetta series announce a game entitled Astral Chain, a cyberpunk actioner in a similar vein, supervised by Devil May Cry and Bayonetta director Hideki Kamiya.
The announcement saved for last, and one few saw coming, a remake of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening for the Nintendo Switch. The original game hit the original Game Boy in 1993, with a revamped, full color version, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX, on the Game Boy Color in 1998. A new 2D Zelda title has been rumored for the Switch for awhile now, with some expecting such an announcement with the first Direct of the year, though few went as far as to speculate it would be this specific remake. Link’s Awakening will now join a growing list of games from the series that Nintendo has seen fit to revisit, including Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess. It is, however, the first 2D Zelda title to see such a remake. Arguably, it is the one that needs it the most. Confined to the early Game Boy systems, with all of their trappings, the original is a brilliant game that pushed boundaries radically changed the way handheld gaming was perceived. It is, however, difficult to revisit.
Among other point of interest in the Direct were the announcements of Assassin’s Creed III Remastered, a ports of the BAFTA award-winning Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice and 2016’s Dead by Daylight, HAL Laboratory/Nintendo’s BoxBoy! + BoxGirl!, the 4th game in the puzzle-platformer series originally on the Nintendo 3DS. Starlink: Battle for Atlas will also see a spring update, bringing even more StarFox content to the game in April.
These are only the highlights. the 35+ minute Direct was among the most jam-packed presentations the company has released. Check out the video below for the entire presentation.
Allen Christian – @FourColorFilm
