Yesterday was the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase, and while it wasn’t a great showcase for me, it did have a couple of great surprises.
(No Ace Attorney, though.)
It started with Orbitals, a game I don’t have much interest in because I’m not a big fan of co-op games. I do like its style, though. If I was more into multiplayer, I’d probably be interested.
The second announcement, however, took me completely by surprise, as it began with the Storyteller from Paranormasight. And it’s not just a Switch 2 upgrade or something like that; they announced Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse, an actual sequel! Not only that, but it’s out later this month!
I never saw this coming. We never discussed Paranormasight here in detail, but I reviewed it for MonsterVine and loved it. It’s one of those games where every now and then I’d say “I hope they make a sequel someday” while not actually expecting it to happen.
So I’m really excited for the new Paranormasight.
Anyway, they showed a new Captain Tsubasa game and then moved on to a game called Tokyo Scramble. It looks like it might be my sort of game, although maybe a little heavier on stealth than I’d prefer. Either way, I’m intrigued.
(I have to say, I much prefer that trailer from the showcase over the official announcement/pre-order trailer released separately, which chose to include music that feels… out of place.)
After that, they showed Valheim, a Switch 2 version of Hollow Knight, eFootball Kick-Off, and then a new trailer for The Adventures of Elliot. I never tried the demo for that game, but the way it’s using multiple time periods seems pretty interesting.
They announced a Super Bomberman Collection, the Switch 2 version of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and showed a new trailer for Pragmata, which I’m moderately interested in. Turok: Origins was announced next, and then… it was actually time for one of my predictions!
I had predicted that Falcom’s February announcement would be at the Partner Showcase, and it was. Kyoto Xanadu has officially been announced, and it looks really good! While it’s still an action RPG like its predecessor, it now has side-scrolling dungeon exploration that makes it seem almost like a Metroidvania.
It’s due out this summer, and I’m pretty excited for it. Curiously, it’s still unknown which publisher is handling it in the west.
That was the last major highlight of the showcase for me. Digimon Story: Time Stranger is coming to the Switch and Switch 2, an upgraded version of Granblue Fantasy: Relink was announced, we got a new trailer (and demo announcement) for Monster Hunter Stories 3, and a series of classic games being released under the title Console Archives was announced as well.
Then it was time for a quick montage of games: Scott Pilgrim EX was first, followed by Another Eden Begins (which does have me a little interested), Reanimal, WWE 2K26, Star Trek Voyager: Across the Unknown, Disney Dreamlight Valley, PGA Tour 2K25, and then Culdcept Begins, which was quite a nice surprise to tuck away as a 10-second montage.
(The Japanese Direct gave Culdcept a full trailer.)
The montage concluded with Goat Simulator 3, Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, and Tales of Arise: Beyond the Dawn Edition (Arise and its DLC coming to Switch 2).
As for the rest of the showcase, it finished with Resident Evil Requiem, Fallout 4, and The Elder Scrolls IV, so it was a rather uneventful end for me. I was hoping it would close out with the surprise announcement of a new game.
Still, I’m really excited for Paranormasight and Kyoto Xanadu, and some of the others look interesting as well. Which games were the highlights for you?
