Aug 012025
There was a Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase yesterday, and while it wasn’t the most thrilling Direct, it started off on a great note for me.
(Not as great as if it had been Ace Attorney, but maybe next time.)
When the first trailer began, I spent a few seconds thinking, “It would be neat if this was actually a new Monster Hunter Stories” before realizing it really was.
I enjoyed the first Monster Hunter Stories, and I was pretty excited for Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin. It’s one of those games that I would have played at launch if not for it coming out shortly before The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles and NEO The World Ends With You, which kept me busy.
As a result, I still haven’t played it, but I keep intending to.
I didn’t expect a third entry this soon (if ever), but Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection has been announced for 2026, and it looks fantastic.
That was the high point of the Direct for me.
Despite starting off so well, I found myself uninterested for most of the Direct. I know the new Katamari game is a big deal for fans, but I never got into that series. Ports of Persona 3 Reload and Yakuza Kiwami 2 are neat, but I already have them on other platforms.
It didn’t catch my attention again until Square Enix showed up to announce two games. The first was a new HD-2D action RPG called The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales. It has a demo, so I might give it a try.
The second was a new entry in the Octopath Traveler series, Octopath Traveler 0. It looks like this one is based on the mobile game, but reimagined as a full console game.
I’ve never gotten into the Octopath Traveler games, mainly because of the lack of party interactions, but maybe I’ll give the series another try someday.
So there we go. For me, the Partner Showcase was pretty much “Monster Hunter Stories 3 and a couple other games.” It’s one of the weaker Directs we’ve had recently, but I’m thrilled about that announcement at least.
I now have until sometime in 2026 to play Monster Hunter Stories 2. It’ll get done… surely.
What announcements from the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase did you enjoy the most?
It has been 14 years since a real new Katamari game has come out… if you don’t count remakes and phone games that either never escaped or eventually died. So yes. Katamari!!!
The Adventures of Elliot seemed interesting but I was also laughing a bit at some of the fantastical names. Like… the complete mess of the main world or capital city which I will just call “Philadelhia”, then has a fairy named “Faie” and the main character is… Elliot? It feels like a mishmash of fantasy names xD But it’s nice to see the HD-2D design being used for more original game stories!
Wow, that’s a long wait, then. I hope it’s a good one!
Oh yeah, the names in The Adventures of Elliot are hilarious. I saw so many jokes about the setting’s name, too.