Let’s travel back in time two weeks to June 1, right before “Not-E3” took over our attention for a while.
EastAsiaSoft had a showcase that morning, and they kicked it off with an exciting otome game announcement: the localization of Hakuouki Shinkai: Ten’un no Shou, one of the Hakuoki fandiscs.
It will be coming west in early 2027 as Hakuoki Memoirs: Drifting Clouds.
This marks the third Hakuoki localization from EastAsiaSoft, as they released Hakuoki: Chronicles of Wind and Blossom followed by the spin-off Hakuoki SSL.
Following that with a fandisc is great, especially since we went so long without any Hakuoki fandiscs being localized.
Meanwhile… I really need to play Hakuoki.
It’s been on my list for so long. I bought Kyoto Winds and Edo Blossoms on the Vita but never started them, hoping for a combined release. Then when Chronicles of Wind and Blossom came out, I intended to play it… but I still haven’t. The Hakuoki releases are starting to stack up, and I need to get on it!
Are you planning to get Hakuoki Memoirs: Drifting Clouds?
With the last of the showcases behind us, I’d like to mention a few other games that stood out to me from the smaller showcases. First up is Moonlight Pale, which was included in the Latin American Games Showcase. It’s a survival horror game, and it has an absolutely gorgeous art style.
Next up is Threads of Time, which was shown during Day of the Devs.
It’s a beautiful turn-based RPG that deals with time travel both in its story and its gameplay. I’m really curious about this one.
Now, the India Games Showcase was an unexpected standout, and I have no less than three games I want to highlight from it, starting with Abashed.
Abashed is a 2.5D psychological horror game that looks really good. I’m not sure where the story is going, but I’m intrigued by what they showed.
Then there’s Project Foxx, a fun-looking action game.
I’m having trouble finding the specific trailer that was played in the showcase, but here’s an earlier one.
Finally, there’s a new trailer for Raji: Kaliyuga, the sequel to Raji: An Ancient Epic, and I was impressed by it. It’s a dual-protagonist action game, and it looks like a huge step up from the first one.
I enjoyed the first Raji, although I found the ending disappointing because it felt like it was setting up for a sequel, and now I’m looking forward to that sequel.
These are a few of the games that stood out to me from amongst the showcases. What are some others games that caught your eye?
I went into today’s Nintendo Direct completely convinced that we were going to get Ace Attorney news for real this time. And… I was completely wrong.
But we did get some exciting announcements, including some major heavy-hitters that elevated the Nintendo Direct for me despite it also having a lot of games I didn’t care about. Let’s take a look.
The Nintendo Direct started out with Rhythm Heaven Groove, confirmation that Onimusha: Way of the Sword, Dragon’s Dogma 2, and Stellar Blade are coming to the Switch 2, a new trailer for Orbitals, and a new trailer for Rayman Legends Retold.
Then came a co-op game called Big Walk, the announcement of a One Piece restaurant game (???) called One Piece: Grand Gourmet, and new content for Pokémon Pokopia that includes both a free update and a paid expansion pass. I don’t have Pokopia yet, but it is a game I want to play eventually.
It was a slow start for me so far, but the next game was one I’d been hoping for, a new trailer for Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave and a release date! It will be out on September 17, which at least isn’t September 24-25, but it still leaves me asking why everything is coming out in September.
They followed Fire Emblem with Ninjala 2: The Uncharted Planet, a Nintendo Switch Online challenge event for Donkey Kong, and a limited time event for Donkey Kong Bananza’s DLC.
The next game, while not one that interests me personally, still deserves more than just a mention. Jujutsu Kaisen Rumble: Survivaton is a new game from the Vampire Survivors developer, set in the world of Jujutsu Kaisen. It’s one of those unexpected combinations that makes you pause even if you’re not a fan.
It was time for some more ports, with Lords of the Fallen II, Lies of P, and Devil May Cry 5: Devil Hunter Edition.
After that came Muramasa: Revenant Blades, which I thought was a sequel to Muramasa at first, but it sounds like it’s actually an enhanced remaster.
Finally, it was Monolith Soft’s turn. They announced Switch 2 versions of Xenoblade Chronicles 1, 2, and 3, with some additional content like newly-voiced Heart-to-Hearts in the first game, new battles in 2 where you control Blades, a new combat mode in 3, and more. And that’s fine, although not enough to make me upgrade, but then…
XENOBLADE GENESIS!
That’s right, a new Xenoblade game has been announced, and it looks beautiful. The end of the trailer also has me really curious about the world. It looks like it might be completely separate from the other games, and I can’t wait to learn more.
So the Xenoblade excitement pretty much carried me through Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, Runescape: Dragonwilds, Hello Kitty Party Land, and the new Star Fox, but I definitely perked up when they announced an HD-2D Final Fantasy game, Final Fantasy Resonance.
Now, it’s not entirely new; it seems to be an adaptation of now-dead mobile game Brave Exvius, but I like the looks of it. It’s coming out on October 22, so at least that’s not September.
They showed a puzzle game called Pikuniku 2 that looks really cute, a full trailer for Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World that revealed a December 3 release date, and a short teaser for Duskbloods that still has me wishing that was a single-player game instead of a multiplayer one.
(Seriously, I love it’s aesthetic. I’d be all over it if it were a single-player RPG.)
Splatoon Raiders got a new trailer and a dedicated Direct announced for June 30, and then Deltarune Chapter 5 was announced for June 24. I… I still haven’t played chapters 3 and 4 yet… I really need to get on that…
Metaphor Re:Fantazio and Minecraft are both coming to the Switch 2, and then it was time for the quick sizzle reel.
Hey, remember that time when the Trails in the Sky remake was revealed via a few seconds in the sizzle reel despite being a major new announcement for JRPG fans? Yeah, today it was Atelier’s turn, with the sequel to Atelier Yumia. Atelier Karia: The Night Kingdom & the Guide of Memories was shown so fast, I nearly doubted what I’d seen. Here’s the full trailer, since it got so little time in the Direct itself.
The sizzle reel continued with Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine 2, Observer: System Redux, DayZ, Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Volume 2, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and then Tales of Eternia Remastered! Eternia will be out on October 16.
Like with Atelier, I’ll include the full trailer here instead of just the little bit shown in the sizzle reel.
SnowRunner, Fitness Boxing 3, Everbloom, and Final Fantasy XIV finished out the sizzle reel.
The next big announcement was the Kingdom Hearts Collection [I~III], which includes all the Kingdom Hearts collections, so that’s nice, although now there’s concerns that they used AI for the Switch 2 cover art, so that dampened my mood a bit…
But then it was time for Kingdom Hearts IV!
Yes, really. This is the only one of the big events I didn’t go into expecting Kingdom Hearts news, and it’s where we got it. There’s a lot of intriguing stuff in the trailer, and I’m just excited we got to see it again after all.
Finally, they finished by teasing a remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which is fine, but I’m not too excited just from the teaser. I’d be more excited if it was an all-new Zelda game in that style.
But anyway, while this Direct was filled with games I’m not too interested in, it also had Xenoblade Genesis, Tales of Eternia Remastered, Kingdom Hearts IV, and a few others that made it an exciting watch after all. What were your thoughts on the Nintendo Direct?
Let’s travel back in time two weeks to June 1, right before “Not-E3” took over our attention for a while.