Of the Nintendo Direct predictions I made on Wednesday, only a handful game true. And when I expected a new Smash Bros. character to be announced, I would never in a million years have guessed Cloud Strife.

It seems too early for him to be the winner of the ballot, so do his few appearances on Nintendo consoles (like in Chain of Memories, which I’m playing now) qualify him as a Nintendo character? Weird…

Well, there’s a special Smash Bros. broadcast coming in December, so maybe we’ll learn more then.

But while Cloud was the stand-out shocker of the Nintendo Direct, it was actually a great presentation even without that. If you missed it, you can watch the full video below.

The Twilight Princess HD rumors were true after all. Not only that, it’s getting a retail release and a special amiibo! I’m actually tempted. I enjoyed Twilight Princess a lot.

Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon also caught my attention. I’ve never played any of the PMD games, but maybe this one will be a good place to start.

I have a wary interest in Xenoblade Chronicles X. While its open world structure turns me away, its sci-fi story keeps me interested. I’ll probably play it, and since I love retail copies, I probably should get some external storage and start downloading those data packs…

Of the indie games shown, Typoman interests me the most. Although its aesthetic reminds me of Limbo, which I didn’t love, its use of words has my attention. I ignored it up until now, but I might need to try it once it comes out.

And… that Yo-Kai Watch ad…

I’m really enjoying Yo-Kai Watch so far, and I loved the Yo-Kai Watch ad during the Nintendo Direct. It was much more entertaining than if they just reminded us the game was out.

Makes perfect sense.

Now, let’s talk for a minute about Pokkén Tournament. I have little interest in it. While I love Pokémon, I’m not a big fan of fighting games. If I couldn’t even get into Smash, why on Earth would I look twice at Pokkén?

That Shadow Mewtwo, though…

Shadow Mewtwo is not enough to make me want to play Pokkén Tournament. As much as I love Mewtwo, it’s not enough. Really.

…

Ahem. I’m still conflicted about Star Fox. It’s not a genre that greatly appeals to me. On the other hand, Platinum is involved. I’ll keep my eye on it as its release draws near. Maybe the reviews will convince me.

But the game I’m conflicted about more than anything is Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam. I want to believe in it. Yet when I look at it, I see more Sticker Star (which I hated) than Dream Team (which I consider a great, albeit flawed, game).

I need to see some story. Please, Nintendo. Original characters, plot, anything!

Final Fantasy Explorers could be entertaining, and the announcement that Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow will be coming to Virtual Console really took me by surprise. I expected Pokémon Z, but this is great news, especially for people who never got to play the original Pokémon games!

Moving on, I never played Hyrule Warriors, but I want to. Maybe I should just wait for Hyrule Warriors Legends instead. (Does anyone know if Tetra will be available on the Wii U version without the 3DS version?) The new character “Linkle” has also caused a stir, though she was first discovered over a year ago. Just saying.

And in fantastic news for Dragon Quest fans, the 3DS remakes of Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past and Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King are coming West!

From what I understand, Nintendo is publishing them, not Square Enix, which suggests this is another situation like Bravely Default, where Nintendo stepped in to localize a game Square Enix didn’t want to. (Someone correct me if I’m wrong.) It’s stuff like this that makes me think Nintendo could be the ones to finally give us Gyakuten Kenji 2.

And of course, Cloud’s big announcement blew my mind at the end.

Despite the lack of Ace Attorney news, this was a fun Nintendo Direct. What were your favorite moments, and which games are you looking forward to the most?

It may be April Fool’s Day, but Nintendo has promised the Nintendo Direct tonight is no joke! It will start at 6 PM Eastern Time (3 PM Eastern Time) and cover 3DS and Wii U games. A Nintendo Treehouse stream of an upcoming game will follow.

The time leading up to a new Nintendo Direct is always filled with hopes and predictions, some more plausible than others. For example, I’d be overjoyed if this was the day they finally announced Ace Attorney Investigations 2 localization, but it’s pretty unlikely. On the other hand, maybe we could get an announcement for Fatal Frame V.

Personally, I hope to hear localization news about Dai Gyakuten Saiban. The last few days have revealed a wealth of new information, including new scans from Famitsu, some brief gameplay footage, and the reveal of the sinister new prosecutor.

Why are the prosecutors always so cool?

I’m even more excited for that game than ever. It has a Japanese release day now, so why not announce it for the West as well?

Leaving behind the realm of personal hopes and dreams, I expect this Nintendo Direct to show more from Splatoon and possibly Devil’s Third, among other games from E3.

And of course, I always go into an event like this hoping for many, many surprises!

Let me know what you’re hoping to see in this Nintendo Direct, and don’t forget to tune in at 6 PM. With any luck, I’ll be able to embed the stream here like I did for the Dai Gyakuten Saiban stream, but if not, we can all watch it on the official site together.