Julius

That's fair! Honestly I still can't believe neither of those games budged on their release dates, to be honest. If you want to play both at launch you really need to put a shift in to get through Forbidden West, otherwise you just need to pick your battles. Then again, it's like that for six weeks once Horizon launches, this quarter is nuts! Absolutely. I feel like it should honestly be standard for games that are very long or somewhat story-based, just make them skippable. If Metal Gear Solid and Dragon Quest XI can do it, games that honestly don't need to with how truncated (in a good way) some story beats are in those games are, it really should be elsewhere. Plus, it'd be hilarious in a From Software game... Last time... ...you died to the same boss. A lot. And freed a man who went on to kill an innocent lady. Curse you.

I respect it. You're still in for Elden Ring though, right? Also: good luck with your exams! Yeah, same here, honestly with some it's just really nice to see how positively received they are by very small but heavily affected parts of the gaming community (for example, the audio and visual stuff in The Last of Us Part II). Playstation has been making some weird moves over the last year or so that haven't exactly always sat right with me (shuttering most of their highly talented Japanese studios, buying Bungie), but this is one of those things that transcends the business side of things and has more to do with giving people a fair chance to enjoy something they might not otherwise. It's really commendable, and while I know it's not exactly reproducible across the industry due to the cost involved, I do think on a per game basis, a slew of their AAA offerings have some of the best and most through lists of accessibility options. Would love them to just throw money at a team which could help smaller teams try to make their games more accessible, but unfortunately that's where the business side of things make it an unrealistic proposition they're setting the right example in this regard though, for sure! Reading through this blog post, though, it also seems to go well beyond typical accessibility stuff, and touches quite a lot on quality of life stuff. I'll try to go through and list some, because some of these sound like things I could see folks on here being interested in using: Story So Far is the other one for me that stands out and sounds like it could prove useful!

Woo accessibility stuff! Just quickly glancing through, but gyro aiming and optional loading screens for tips on PS5 (this is kind of a hilarious flex) look like the highlights.

Had it spoiled for me in a clickbait headline if you've read it you can be my sounding board, if not ignore, but... Really curious to see if the leaked mechanic gets talked about when the review embargo drops (on Monday, I think?) or if it's something they stay mum about and which most will come across for the first time in-game. Total aside: who here is planning to pick the game up on Day 1, and is there anyone like me who will be holding off just because of Elden Ring being a week later? For me, I just don't think there's any way I'd be able to stop myself from rushing through, which I definitely don't want to do with a game like this, and to be fair, the next few months feels like a game if picking your battles with all of the releases as it is! It is a shame though, because I've been in a Nausicäa mood lately (in retrospect a huuuuuuge influence on the first game and Aloy) so there's definitely that (fictional!) environmental disaster scratch that I want to itch

Even better, now I can blindly recruit the poorest set of characters with confidence

Let's get (meta)physical, physical So long as it's not the Suikoden affair of needing to collecting all of them to get a true ending, I think it should be fine Yeah, a few times now actually! I got lucky and picked up the DS version a few years back before it's resale price more than doubled. Not exactly an unpopular opinion, but yeah, it's one of the greats, I hold that game in very high regard

Mine right now would probably be: 5 > 2 > 6 > 1 > 7 > 4 > 3 I do wonder if my opinion of Chapter 4 was hurt by being forced to take a break and coming back to the show at that point, though, so would be curious if that would change at all if I were to rewatch the show. Which, admittedly, I have very little desire to do outside of Chapter 5 Yeah, I honestly can't blame them! Anecdotal, but the few friends of mine who did watch Book of Boba Fett quickly fell off, and they've been known to stick with shows that I'd say were all around weaker than Boba. I wouldn't at all be surprised if viewership waned as the season went on and would be one of their weaker performing Star Wars shows so far, which I think is kind of hinted at by just how aggressively the official Star Wars channels were, unfortunately, very openly ruining certain aspects of Chapters 5 and 6 in what I would imagine was an attempt to get more people back for the finale. Obi-Wan is one of maybe two universally loved characters from the prequels (the other being Palpatine), not to mention the date they've chosen and the character's popularity before that, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if we hear that the show has one of the strongest premieres on the platform. I'm nervously excited in that I feel it's a show that could just as easily go right as it could go wrong (I've said my piece before on how the direction they're going raises a lot of questions compared to what I would want to have personally seen in such a show), but Episode III is by far and away my favourite of the prequels and one of my most watched Star Wars films, so it's hard to not be excited. I'm getting giddy at the possibilities of rearrangements or incorporations of prequels tracks like Battle of the Heroes, Duel of the Fates, Anakin's Dark Deeds, Across the Stars, not to mention some classic themes...I'll stop there, because the list gets long quickly, but the point is -- I'm excited! Probably the most excited I'll be going into a Star Wars show since the launch of Disney+ I imagine, and yeah, that hunger to get back on the metaphorical Boga and rewatch the films is just returning with this announcement As much as Favreau has helped spearhead live-action Star Wars shows, I do agree, it'll be nice to see someone else's vision fleshed out, which is very much needed after the muddled mess of Boba Fett. The rest of the year is shaping up to be a lot of fun, though admittedly, I do miss having a film to look forward to within the next 12 months!

The game will be on sale for £39.99 (source: it's eShop page). I think it's pretty much nailed on at this point to be Switch exclusive from what I can find, at least at launch and possibly timed, like H-o-T suggested. The trailer on the Japanese Square Enix YouTube channel only mentions the Switch in its description, and it is included in this version of Nintendo's press release for the Direct - which looks like it only mentions and links to exclusive titles from the Direct on the eShop. The page for the game on Square Enix Japan's site (I couldn't find it anywhere on their western site) also only mentions the Switch, as well as the first mention of a physical release and Collector's Edition of the game - let's hope they find their way to the West! Apart from the Dragon Quest III HD-2D remake, which I think at this point is still just vaguely listed as coming to "home consoles", the other two console HD-2D games have both had some form of Switch exclusivity so far. It's actually insane to think that between this and Triangle Strategy, the number of released HD-2D games from Team Asano will be tripling this year, as the only HD-2D game to release has been Octopath Traveler so far, and that was nearly four years ago now! You definitely get the sense that the team has been expanded and that they're working closely with other teams at Square Enix on these projects, as well as external support studios, as their output of games is increasing. It's just such a Square Enix move for a game as niche and under the radar as Live A Live to be the first HD-2D remake to release, when other Square Enix titles like Chrono Trigger and the classic Final Fantasy games have yet to come to modern platforms, despite having ports out on mobile and PC. One day!

Holy smokes, I've just been reading up on the game a bit more, and somehow every time I've heard about this game the people involved never came up. Those YouTube videos that mentioned the game that I watched should be absolutely ashamed! • Directed by Takashi Tokita - the Lead Designer on Final Fantasy IV, and Director of Parasite Eve and Chrono Trigger! • Battle and Scenario Direction by Nobuyuki Inoue - the Director of Mother 3! • Music by Yoko Shimomura - probably the most recognisable name of the bunch, this was her first big gig at Square. Shimomura has been the composer for games such as checks notes the Kingdom Hearts series, Final Fight, Super Mario RPG, the Mario & Luigi series, Xenoblade Chronicles (with others) and Final Fantasy XV (with others). The trailer already sold me on the game, but damn, those are some massive names, and they all worked together on this before they were big names. As if I couldn't be more sold. Oh, and there's a track in the game called Megalomania - jeez, I wonder who that track might have inspired? Well, if you do want to be more sold, Peer Schneider from IGN has your back with some tweets to make it even more enticing. I'll toss them in a spoiler tag because it's a bit long, but if you're on the fence, I'd recommend giving it a read. Yeah, this is ticking each and every box for me. I need this game

Executive Director Tetsuya Takahashi has shared some exciting details in a message on the official Nintendo website, including the composer's (spoilers: Mitsuda and ACE are back!). There are also a bunch of short character profiles and screenshots up on the official site too.

Wasn't sure where to stick this Earthbound overview from the official Nintendo channel, as it includes both Earthbound and Earthbound Beginnings, but man did it give me a good chuckle They're pushing it really hard, which is great to see!

Alright, I'm digging in. The Direct started out with Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, which let's be honest, is one of those announcements that should have been obvious in hindsight considering the success of Three Houses...but wasn't. I was there just nodding along going "oh, of course, this makes perfect sense!" and I imagine I wasn't the only one! Looks really clean visually, as most FE games do, but probably not for me, as I've got a musou or two on my shelf already to get through, and besides them, other FE games to get to as well. That June 24th release date is real soon and real nice, a musou seems like the right fit for an early summer game, so fingers crossed for no delays there! Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp is standing firm by the release date of April 8th, which is the first time I think it's been officially confirmed to have that release date in a tweet or Direct, but is a date we've known about for a while, what with it being up on the game's page in the eShop and on Nintendo's own website for a few months now. Looks to me like they might have heard some of the feedback about it being a full price game and so have added a bunch of extra stuff, including VA, which should hopefully help prove its worth. We'll see what, if anything, they do about the GBA games on the Wii U Virtual Console closer to launch. No Man's Sky coming this summer is an interesting one, but with all of the updates they've made in the years since launch, I think it'll find a great home on the Switch, assuming that it runs well. That just seems like the kind of perfect game for the Switch where you would want to chip away at it when- and wherever, so it could be a huge boon for Hello Games. Mario Strikers: Battle League looks really fun, a second summer in a row with a big Mario sports title. Haven't played a Strikers game before, so I'm not sure how onboard I am for this, especially as I could see myself being tempted to cave and pick up FIFA after playing another football game, which I'm trying to avoid. Hopefully we get another Mario Slam Basketball next summer, though, and then you'll be talking my language! Splatoon 3 in the summer, as I think was expected for that game. I want to try the campaign out for the first game still on Wii U to see if it's anything I'm interested in, but this didn't really move the needle on my interest for 3. Happy for Splatoon fans, though! Front Mission 1st is the first of a few Square Enix games to mention, and this I'm quite interested in after Left Alive got on - and quickly back off - my radar back before it had previews, where it became obvious that the game was a mess. I want to play more SRPG's, there are mechs, and I kind of like the look of it, so I'm hoping that it's release date is not near some AAA nuclear bomb of a game, because I really do want to give this a go. They announced 2 was in the works too, which is really bullish, and I'm glad to see it. To blast through a few: Disney Speedstorm looks like genuine fun, but it's free-to-play, so I'm out; Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is Aspyr continuing their domination of Star Wars remasters, but for the love of the Force guys, where the hell is the original Battlefront II?!; Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection - meh, a cash grab from Ubisoft of all folks, so no thanks; SD Gundam Battle Alliance looks good fun but very little interest from me I'm afraid, I'm sure fans are excited though. Then one of the big boys for me from this Direct in Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition. One of those infamous games to never make its way this side of the Atlantic, and I've heard mixed things on the battle system, but man do I want to at the very least hear that - remastered! - Yasunori Mitsuda soundtrack. Can't believe we're getting this before Chrono Trigger gets on Switch, but April 7th is soon, and I'm ready for it. Might have to delay playing the new LEGO Star Wars for it, damn it is this year stupidly packed! Hoping for a physical release so that we don't need to worry about a game not released over here before being pulled from the storefronts. Kirby and the Forgotten Land continues to look cute as all heck. The only Kirby game I've played is Epic Yarn on Wii, but this - and I mean, every Kirby game I've seen - just has this charm to it. Mouthful Mode is hilarious ("Kirby can even weaponise a mouthful of water!"), Waddle Dee Town and it expanding is jolly as all heck, Waddle Dee's Weapon Shop is where I'll be hanging out all of the time. I'm getting a serious Mario Galaxy vibe from this, maybe it's just the sheer variety of ideas on show and the town expanding, but yeah, I'm in. I'm so in. MLB The Show 22 is going to continue to make Sony cash money, but now on Nintendo's successful evolution of the Vita (sorry, someone had to mention the Vita here, muhahaha). Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece for Cloud continues to show that S-E will continue to just make words up and charge you a premium for it. Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series coming on July 8th looks a lot of fun, I know surprisingly little about the Klonoa games despite being intimately familiar with the character's appearance, so was surprised at how interested I was, and it's another that I'll keep an eye on, that price will be really important I think. Portal: Companion Collection makes me question if I want to play Portal 2 on a Steam Deck or on a Switch, which is not something I could ask myself before, so I'll wait and see when my Steam Deck arrives first. Live A Live, another game to infamously never release over here, or anywhere in the West (in an official capacity), for that matter. Seen it mentioned in loads of lists of games stuck in Japan over the years, and that HD-2D looks freakin' gorgeous, so yeah, July 22nd, I'm there. Apparently Square Enix own me now, but they also owe me an explanation as to where the hell the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters Collection is, and why exactly those games didn't get the HD-2D treatment. Nintendo Switch Sports made me realise how much I miss Wii Sports and the other Wii games (simpler times), so yeah, I'm really interested. At the moment I think it's coming out in a relatively quiet spot (unless I'm forgetting something obvious) on April 29th, so yeah, I could see myself being there for it if that remains the case, but if not, then probably in the summer. Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythm Festival I probably won't get, but I appreciate how fun those games are from the few times I've played them before, and not to mention in some of the Ryu Ga Gotoku games. Super jolly vibes up until the announcement of a subscription being available from the day of release for an additional 500+ or whatever songs. Then some updates on stuff. Really good trailer for Triangle Strategy, a Prologue Demo dropping which goes through to Chapter 3 with transferrable data to the full game when it launches next month, and I really want to play it...it just comes out at the worst imaginable time for me, and I imagine others too, caught between a bunch of AAA games I'm going to give preference to over this game: Horizon Forbidden West two weeks before, Elden Ring the week before, Gran Turismo 7 the day of, Stranger of Paradise two weeks after, Kirby three weeks after...Q1 2022 is absurdly stacked. I want to play Octopath at some point still, but I don't own it yet, and so I want to get to this before a Final Fantasy Tactics remaster is announced, hopefully over the summer or a quieter spell in the spring. Really looking forward to hearing what Akira Senju has cooked up with that score! Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course coming day and date to Switch with its release on other platforms is neat, just haven't played the game, so can't say it's that high up on my radar. And that list of Metroid Dread updates (Rookie Mode and Dread Mode today, Boss Rush in April) definitely makes me want to get back on the Metroid horse. Earthbound Beginnings and Earthbound coming to the NES and SNES apps respectively with a shadow drop is awesome, though it does make it suck harder that Mother 3 is probably never releasing in the West. They're both another slow nail in the Wii U Virtual Console coffin (thankfully I hadn't picked either up!), and I look forward to getting around to them at some point, that's for sure. We then got the only proper montage of the whole thing (as in, with cuts too quick to write down the names of games), nothing really catching my eye in that except GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon releasing today, that Konami game from the 80's (I think?) being remade by an indie studio which got announced last year. Then it's onto the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass, and yeah, this makes perfect sense. I thought some DLC for MK8D would be something they might announce back in the first few months of COVID just to keep money coming in and because it's a quick fix for a game that's already out there, but yeah, I'm very interested in this, I'm kind of just surprised it took them this long. Six waves of eight races is absolutely insane, and I guess it practically confirms that we won't be seeing Mario Kart 9 on the Switch, what with this taking us through to the end of next year, and 2024 probably being a realistic year for a Switch successor to release. Last but absolutely not least is Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Yasunori Mitsuda is making bank off of this Direct is what I'm here to tell you, and the cheeky git teased last month that he'd have a project being announced this month -- and there were actually two! And yeah, I'm making the not-so-wild assumption that he's on this OST, and I can't wait to hear it. But as for the game itself? I need to play XC2, I need to play Future Connected, and I need to play Torna, but I'm so in. This aiming at a September release makes me much less optimistic about Breath of the Wild's sequel releasing this year, though. So, a quick recap on how hurt my wallet is going to be from this Direct... Day 1 or Bust: Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Live A Live, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 The Waiting Game: Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp, Front Mission 1st, Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series, Portal: Companion Collection, Nintendo Switch Sports, MK8D Booster Course Pass Damn it, why are you in Q1 2022?!: Triangle Strategy Overall, I think it's pretty clear that I think this was a fantastic Direct, and quite possibly the best non-E3 Nintendo event I've tuned in for -- I'll need to give it more time to think of how it stacks up to the best Directs to date, including E3's, but I think it's certainly up there. Yes, it sucks that we're still waiting on Final Fantasy, but it's very hard to complain with this lineup of games. A whole lot of killer and very little filler, but my problem with the filler was that even though it was third party, some of it was almost offensive when put alongside these other games, with some either being cash grabs from pretty despicable companies like Ubisoft, or free-to-play garbage being pushed on kids like Disney Speedstorm. They just felt so out of place. Was wonderful to see Nintendo lightening up and messing around again, even if only a little, for that match of volleyball between Takahashi and Koizumi! To nitpick, I do think it was just missing that one big announcement which could have pushed it over the edge (and I'm saying this as someone who is hyped as heck for the announcement of XC3). When I think back to other memorable Directs which I would say across the board had weaker lineups than today's, they generally had that one game to latch onto and go "yeah, that was the Nintendo Direct at which X was announced." It was just missing something like Zelda or Silksong to push it clearly over the edge for me, and so with that in mind... My Verdict for Nintendo's February 2022 Direct: 9.5/10 Heck of a Direct, and as always, love being here to react to a Direct with you guys!

Also coming to PS4, Xbox One, and Steam from the description for the trailer on S-E's channel.

Kenobi is coming on May 25th - the date of the 45 year anniversary of the release of the first film! Obligatory.

Two worlds collide... Man, I hope not. Having a game that's not come out over here stuck as digital only could be a real pain in the far-flung future. Hopefully it's not the case for Live A Live either!

I get the feeling we're all unreasonably hyped for this Play test on 19th Feb - 20th Feb (UK), update in the summer to play football with the Joy-Con on a leg strap, and golf is coming this autumn.

Based on what I've heard about it, I think it's time to start looking up some guides on the battle system

Okay but seriously, how have we got a HD-2D remake of Live A Live and Chrono Cross (with Radical Dreamers!) coming out in Europe for the first time, and still no Final Fantasy collection?! Now I've got to buy all of these other games and I'm still left waiting?

Coming west for the first time, and in stunning HD-2D, no less!

The wait for Monolith Soft's next game is finally over. Guess I need to hurry up and get around to playing 2, huh?

Oh damn is this Monolith Soft?!

48 tracks in 6 waves by the end of next year?! Damnnnnnn

Hahahaha wow some Mario Kart 8 Deluxe DLC This Direct is just Nintendo printing money

Oh that sweet Earthbound music Let's goooooooooo

Wait, is Nintendo getting silly in a Direct again? This really is a great Direct!