Julius

Joy-Cons. Oh. Oh no... Woooo new button layout for controller play

Well, it's happening! Can be played through motion controls with Joy-Cons or on a controller with a new button layout. Joy-Cons landing the same day.

Hell yeah. So interested to hear more about how they've translated this to the Switch!

Aonuma shooting down BOTW2 immediately is hilarious

Wait, this isn't Republic Commando... ...and I swear that's the Fortnite font.

Announced during the Direct, HD-2D, Final Fantasy Tactics/Tactics Ogre-looking SRPG. Debut Demo available today!

DEMO TODAY! AAAAAAAAH

Maaaaaajor Final Fantasy Tactics look to it too. Of course S-E would rather make something new rather than just port that, not that I'm complaining...

Oooooooo more 2D-HD stuff, count my interest piqued S-E!

Huh, Miitopia? Figured they wanted to get distance between the Wii / Wii U by avoiding Mii stuff, so I'm pretty surprised by this, but good for them. Wii Sports stock is rising...

Well, it's not the Final Fantasy Collection...but similar wheelhouse I guess you're getting closer, Square!

I didn't notice it but you're right! Weird...Sonic Mania 2? Yeah thought it looked pretty interesting, super intrigued by it!

Hahahahaha that fakeout the effort they put into making you think that was DLC is insane!

There seems to be a leak going around regarding some of the Direct's content at the moment, which ZhugeEX has corroborated. Just a heads-up, because I know many here like to go in blind. I haven't had a look myself, and won't link it directly here in case someone opens it by mistake, so instead I'll throw a link to a thread from ResetEra which rounds up the apparent leaks: Should be interesting to come back to once this is done. Half an hour left folks. I'm psyched!

A New Home DLC is coming to PC on 26th February and consoles in the summer.

Just remembered we got this last week, so...Republic Commando could be making an appearance I guess? Please? Yeah, I thought similarly too, and honestly I agree with the logic behind it. Even if we somehow don't see a Zelda game today (which would baffle me a bit, Nintendo thrives itself on the legacy of its core brands), I'd still expect it to be talked about though, amiibo to turn up, and perhaps even announce a Zelda Direct. The main reason that I think they'll share stuff today rather than do that isn't just the proximity to the date itself, but that we're super likely to get a Pokémon Direct next week, which they could definitely confirm here (and even if they don't, I'd still say it's very likely), and I don't see them having so many Directs so close together. I thought yesterday that there was a good chance we'd hear something because of how close we were to the Zelda Anniversary, and kept a bit of an eye out for it. It was a Tuesday and I fully expected them to announce a Zelda Direct, so I genuinely think the reason we aren't getting one isn't because they aren't going to celebrate Zelda (though a Zelda Direct could be just as fitting a place to do that), but rather, because there's just so much else to celebrate too. The first half of the year is pretty empty for them so far, but there are so many franchises to celebrate. Even if just two others of the many franchises celebrating anniversaries this year turn up, I feel like that's a great reason to choose to do a general Direct over a Zelda one right now, and given the length of the Direct, it's hard to not hope for that. And this is just totally me making a mountain out of a mole hill for the sake of my own optimism, but Link has turned up at both of the last two February Directs (Smash Bros. Ultimate reveal in 2018, Link's Awakening in 2019). Yeah, I really need to jump on it at some point, it looks like a great time!

To be fair to them, they probably had to put a bit of time into XI S – Definitive Edition, and that was for Switch in 2019, and came over to everything else just back in December. But I think this year is the year XII gets announced, for sure, especially with their work seemingly done with XI (even if I don't think tonight is necessarily the place to do that). I think Horii already teased that there will be announcements coming before, so now I think it's just a matter of time.

The more the merrier! So long as we get Final Fantasy at some point Actually, though, you've just reminded me...isn't it Dragon Quest's 35th Anniversary this year too? They could totally do their own thing later in the year for it with more reveals, but I think it's totally possible we could see something here. Smash showed more love for the series than I feel Square Enix has in the last few years, XI was the first game announced for Switch way back, and so on... So yeah. I'm not really expecting anything here, just because of the time this will be airing in Japan, but an update on that Dragon Quest Monsters game which was going through a rough patch, Adventure of Dai, or maybe even a Dragon Quest Builders 3 would probably be a welcome addition. A Dragon Quest VIII Remastered to throw in with a IV - VI Collection would be pretty neat too! And I'll freak out if we get XII announced. I don't expect it to be here in this Direct, but I do think that there's a good chance it gets revealed this year. It's been long enough a wait!

Alright, I'll try to keep it fast and loose. We'll see how that goes not so much predictions, but more just me speaking out loud about expectations and wishes, and trying to figure out what I think is likely. Final Fantasy I - VI Collection. I'm just going to say it until it happens, even if it's more likely now that they just wait until next year for the 35th Anniversary. Some decent pixel art too, none of this sickening smoothed over mobile business you've got going on. In terms of Zelda, I do think we're getting something, because of the 35th Anniversary being this Sunday, but I'm just really not sure what that is exactly. I think they could spend a good 5 - 10 minutes on it, to be honest, because there's so much that they could potentially have in the works. I think a Zelda 35th Anniversary Collection like 3D All-Stars makes a lot of sense, and focusing on the 3D games makes a lot of sense too...but I'm not even sure what form that could take, if I'm being honest. Ocarina of Time / Wind Waker / Twilight Princess, leaving Majora's Mask to be like Galaxy 2? Or do we see Ocarina of Time / Majora's Mask in a collection which releases shortly in say March or April, and then another collection (which they may or may not announce here) for Wind Waker / Twilight Princess which releases later on in the year (I'm thinking summer)? I mean, Nintendo has to feed the kids somehow Beyond that, though, I still think there's the potential for more Zelda stuff. I'm always optimistic when it comes to events like these anyways (unless it comes to Square Enix porting over legendary games to make them accessible), and so I do think that the Breath of the Wild sequel turns up here, and I think what they say - and what the end of the trailer says - will be very indicative of where they're at with it. Personally, I think we get a title reveal and the trailer ends saying "2021. More info this summer." because they don't quite want to nail down a release date, just because of COVID and the potential for delays, which brings me onto a Skyward Sword remaster...I think it's their fail-safe for if they can't get BotW2 out this year, a nice ace to have up their sleeve. I'm in for a remake of a 2D Zelda game too, so I'll throw my two cents at a remake of the Oracle games (like others have suggested, in a similar style to the Link's Awakening remake), as they're a great and logical shout (Minish Cap somewhere down the line I imagine); I know some have said A Link to the Past elsewhere online, but with that already being on SNES Online, I just can't see Nintendo wanting to touch it, in the same way I can't see a modern remake of Super Mario 64 or Ocarina of Time (unless decades from now things go down the drain, then that's their big red button idea). Only other 2D game I think could see a remake would be Zelda II, just because from what I've heard, it could probably benefit from a modern update the most. Zelda 35, some battle royale thing set in the original Zelda, probably seems like an easy enough idea for them to implement it. Commemorative amiibo are more likely than us seeing the sun rise tomorrow, so count on that. Screw it, I'll go all in: the announcement of a LEGO Legend of Zelda set. Why not? And if not here, I imagine we get all this bold stuff at some point in the future anyway. Outside of Zelda for half a second to talk about Smash...where I will go back to Zelda and suggest we get CD-i Link okay, but in all seriousness, obviously a trailer for the next Season Pass character. It'll be Captain Toad, he unfortunately will not be wielding a sword, but he will announce a Captain Toad sequel. I'm thinking Temple of Goom...ba. I haven't even played the first (for some reason, seems like it'd be up my alley) but it looks charming enough where I'd want it during these dark times. Do the right thing Nintendo. In terms of Pokémon, maybe a new trailer for New Pokémon Snap? But in all likelihood I'm expecting minimal Pokémon news here and for them to just give us confirmation of a Pokémon Direct on 26th February for the 25th Anniversary, which will include a better look at New Pokémon Snap and plenty of other reveals. A new Mario game would be cool, as would a new Mario sports game, but you know what I think could be even cooler? They mention giving an update on some of their already released games like Smash Ultimate, so how about we finally see some DLC for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe? They have some 33 million units out there in the wild, and I think it would be a waste to not tap into an audience of that size, but even more so because of COVID, I just think it'd be a great thing to put some DLC out for something they clearly don't plan on replacing anytime soon and doesn't require buying a totally new game to experience it. On a similar train of thought: Ring Fit Training DLC expansion. Honestly, it's a little tough to not turn around and just say everything with an anniversary this year is getting a collection and/or sequel, because that's kind of what I would want them to do. Heck, if it were up to me, they'd have the logos of each franchise with an anniversary this year and straight up say "We know we have a lot to celebrate this year. We're focusing on a handful of them today, we have the Pokémon Direct next week, but rest assured that there is still plenty of time left in the year for more surprises", but that makes too much sense. So, instead, we'll get bits and bobs: a remake of Metroid: Zero Mission and not hear anything about a Metroid Prime Collection, which they'll save to announce in August or September. They'll announce a new Fire Emblem, which will be a remake of Genealogy of the Holy War, but there will immediately be outrage just because of some of the questionable content I've read about in passing about the original game. Imagine Intelligent Systems have probably modernised the tale a little bit. The Switch Pro doesn't turn up here. I don't doubt it's coming towards the end of this year, but considering that the Switch Lite had a little over two months from announcement to launch, and that the original Switch as a new platform had what turned out to be six months from reveal to launch (and once again, two months from release date announcement to launch), I think the safer move with COVID in mind is to hold off for now. Save the announcement of it for shortly before a Nintendo Treehouse in the summer, where they can show live gameplay footage from BotW2 off on it. Think the last thing I'll mention will be what's going on with Switch Online, and that's that while Game Boy and N64 games are coming to the Switch, it's not at all going to be what you expect: Game Boy and N64 games will be released separately a la Virtual Console, with Switch Online membership providing you with discounts when new games launch as part of their legacy catalogue (20% for handheld titles and 10% for home console titles). Though they'll skip ahead a little bit to Game Boy Advance next week when FireRed and LeafGreen get dropped for the 25th Anniversary, those won't be counted towards this, as there's too much money to make. They've seen the green from 3D All-Stars and are about to get greedy with it. But, actually, speaking of Mario, that will be the thing I end on instead: Super Mario Galaxy 2 is coming, and 3D All-Stars is here to stay, just digital only and sold separately. They will give us the whole "we heard you" spiel.

Act 5 is over and credits have rolled, so that's a wrap on Metal Gear Solid 4. Look, I do think Metal Gear Solid 4 has some issues, quite possibly more than any of the previous Metal Gear Solid games. Act 1 is a bit of a mess until Rat Patrol turns up, there are a looooooot of cutscenes (if that's not your thing, well, you'll probably have issues with it), a lot of loading screens, frame rate issues galore, and so on. The latter two could be fixed in a remaster, though, and it's not something I really hold against the game, it's just a product of its time. Because for all of its issues, they wouldn't be there without a ton of ambition and clear love for this franchise, not just from Kojima, but clearly from the whole team that worked on it. The sheer abundance of nods, flashbacks, tie-ins, returning characters, and very direct moments of fan service allowing us to fulfill some wishes I could have only dreamed of fulfilling after the earlier games, makes this one hell of a great time, and I had a huge smile on my face throughout a lot of it. The music is great as ever. I need to listen to the soundtrack some more, for sure, and it sucks that they couldn't use the Main Theme from previous games in all of its glory, but I did find it funny that it still turned up being whistled in Act 3 and is the tune Sunny sings to when cooking eggs. Transitioning from that to focus on the secondary melody from the Main Theme to make Metal Gear Saga was about as good an alternative as we could get, and I was happy with it. Definitely a couple of times where they start hinting at it only to subvert into this more melancholy tune, does make me wonder if anyone's gone back through the cutscenes on YouTube and added it back in, because it did feel on a few occasions like there was a little something missing musically, and I think this was it. So, Metal Gear Solid 4. Flawed? No doubt about it, in my personal opinion. And yet, it still manages to be the home of some of the greatest and most hype moments in the series, tells an engrossing story, has a wonderful cast, and pays homage to what came before in a way I don't think I've ever experienced before in a video game. I ended up absolutely loving it, flaws and all.

Zelda 3D All-Stars 2D Zelda Remake Skyward Sword HD Zelda 35 Metroid Prime Collection 2D Metroid Remake Final Fantasy Collection (pleaseeee) Confirmation of 25th Anniversary Pokémon Direct next week

Xbox Wireless Headset announced: More details:

Yeah, it does seem a little on the later side for a change, but it's been so long since we've had a Direct proper that I genuinely can't remember, I feel like they're generally some time between 16:00 and 19:00 for us over here (other Direct types are all over the place though). I do seem to remember the Smash reveal Direct in 2018 being around this time in the year and quite late into the evening for us (21:00 or 22:00?), and similar timing even in 2019 for the one where they revealed Link's Awakening if I'm remembering right?