Jun 212023
The rush of showcases seemingly ended last week, but Nintendo decided to continue the rush of gaming news with a new Nintendo Direct. I’ll be covering the highlights that stood out to me, so be sure to watch the whole thing for more.
They started off with a bunch of different things, including the Pokémon Scarlet/Violet DLC and another look at Sonic Superstars. They also showed Persona 5 Tactica (but not Persona 3 Reload, so maybe the persistent rumors that it’s coming to the Switch after all are false).
After a few more things, they then showed a game we’ve been waiting on since 2019… the Detective Pikachu sequel!
Detective Pikachu Returns will be out on October 6. While there were some concerns when it was announced that it might be yet another expanded version of the original game, it appears from the trailer to be an all-new sequel. When I played Detective Pikachu last year, I found it to be pleasant enough to play a full sequel if that was what the new game turned out to be, so it looks like I’ll be playing Detective Pikachu Returns!
For me, the Direct had picked up tremendously at that point, and it continued with that momentum – because the next game announced was a remake of Super Mario RPG! I played Super Mario RPG back in 2016 and enjoyed it, although I felt the hype surrounding it was overblown.
The remake looks beautiful, though, so I’m tempted to get it nevertheless. It will be out on November 17.
They also teased a game starring Princess Peach. I assume they would have just said if it was a remake of Super Princess Peach, so it’s most likely a brand-new Peach game. The teaser was so short, I’m not even sure what type of game it is, but I’m looking forward to learning more about it. It will be out in 2024.
After that, they showed Luigi’s Mansion – but it’s just a remaster of Dark Moon. Dark Moon is my least favorite of the Luigi’s Mansion games, so I doubt I’ll get that.
The Batman Arkham Trilogy is also coming to the Switch, yet another reminder that I should play Arkham Knight someday.
Quite a few games I’m not interested in followed after that (as well as the DLC for Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, yet another series I still haven’t tried), but then it was time for another one that caught my eye – a new Dragon Quest Monsters game!
A new Dragon Quest Monsters was said to be in development back in May, and now it’s been officially unveiled as Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince. It will be out on December 1.
I’ve never played a Dragon Quest Monsters game before, but it looks great! I’m excited to try it.
Pikmin 4 got a long segment, as well as the announcement of HD remasters of Pikmin 1 & 2, which are out now. Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1 was also confirmed to be coming to the Switch, although the Switch version will require downloads. (It figures these Metal Gear Solid collections would start coming out after I bought the PS3 collection.)
After a few more game announcements and more Mario Kart 8 DLC, they revealed a game I’m pretty excited for that leaked a few days ago: Star Ocean: The Second Story R. Due out on November 2, this is a Star Ocean 2 remake that looks incredible!
While I had mixed feelings about First Departure R, the second game gets so much praise that I wanted them to at least port the original or its PSP remaster… so this is more than I ever hoped for.
(It’s also getting a $200 Collector’s Edition, but it doesn’t look worth it to me.)
Anyway, they announced a new WarioWare game and some other updates, and closed out the show with the announcement of a new 2D Mario game, Super Mario Bros Wonder. It will be out on October 20.
All in all, this was a pretty good Nintendo Direct. Detective Pikachu Returns, Super Mario RPG, the Princess Peach game, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, and Star Ocean: The Second Story R are all new announcements that have my attention, plus the already-announced Persona 5 Tactica. And while I’m not the biggest fan of 2D Mario, the new game looks interesting enough for me to consider. The end of 2023 is already stacked for me!
Hey, maybe if the Super Mario RPG remake sells well enough, the constant Thousand-Year Door rumors will finally come true.
How did you like the new Nintendo Direct? What games stood out to you the most?
Even though I bully SMRPG and dislike it as an overrated and overhyped game, the remix of the Fight Against a Somewhat Stronger Monster theme in Super Mario RPG was my favourite part of the Nintendo Direct. And I’m saying that as someone who also thinks the game’s soundtrack is overrated too.
Haha. Guessing that’s not enough to make you want to get the game, though.
I dunno, I keep listening to this guy’s attempt at looping the song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miB3UNF-kVo
If it’s a faithful remake like, say, Pokémon BDSP or Advance Wars 1+2, then it won’t be enough for me to want to get the game. If they make changes using some of the learnings they’ve acquired from making better RPGs since SMRPG, I’ll consider that.
My party when I played it was that plumber, Princess Toadstool, and King Bowser. Maybe I’d use Mallow more if I played a remake.
I boycott Geno. >:(
ALTHOUGH MAYBE they’ll add more dialogue to the game to make Geno more interesting and more of a character?
If you look at the game’s text script, Geno barely talks, and if he does, it’s exposition. Very much a plot device, that one.
I’d also reconsider it if they fixed the character balancing so Bowser doesn’t suck. He’s treated horribly in terms of stats / moves / armour.
There’s a lot of speculation online right now about whether or not they’ll make any changes. Some people think it will be a strict 1:1 remake, while other people seem to think it could have new content. (I saw people suggesting “Legend of the Seven Stars” was left off because the story will have additions, but I think that’s a stretch right now.)
I did play Super Mario RPG and may give it another go with this remake! Super Mario Wonder was still the biggest surprise for me, in that I didn’t expect to be so interested in a new 2D Mario game! Detective Pikachu I will likely get, just to see what they do with that irascible deep-voiced Pikachu and see how they (hopefully) conclude the story from the first game!
Pikmin looked interesting, but the game’s persistent time limits were never quite my style as someone who likes exploring everything.
And yes, go play Arkham Knight, it’s been out for 8 years now!
Since the Detective Pikachu game and movie had different endings, I wonder if they’ll continue to diverge further.
Yeah, that’s one of the reasons Pikmin doesn’t interest me.
SO2 looks like it might be a decent version BUT I’ll only buy it if they let you use the PS1 voices. The art is way better than the PSP version.
Why are the PS1 voices what will decide it for you?
They were so bad that they were good. The PSP voices were just bad, and going by the narration on the trailer, I’d expect the same of this version. I think they changed some of the funnier lines used in combat in the PSP too.
It looks like the announced voice cast is the same as the ones from the PSP version, although revealing the cast like that makes me think they’ll probably re-record lines. But in the announcement trailer, the narrator is just the narrator for the Nintendo Direct, so that has nothing to do with the game’s voice acting, and talks over most of the voices in the trailer, so I’d think it’s too soon to judge it.
Ooh, right. I only watched that one trailer so I didn’t realize. I was always curious to try the Super Mario RPG but I didn’t watch the trailer yet.
Super Mario RPG looks pretty good. I wonder if they’ll add anything new to it.
[…] some exciting surprises in store. I expect we’ll hear more about some of the games announced in the previous Direct, like the untitled Princess Peach game, and maybe the Baten Kaitos remastered collection since […]