Julius

Multiple insiders saying that the lack of Wind Waker and Twilight Princess in yesterday's Direct is nothing to worry about, as they're still planned to be brought over to the Switch later in the year. I'm still a little surprised they seem to be releasing Skyward Sword first of those three, but assuming that there's truth to this, do we think they will be bundled together, or sold at full price separately? Personally I had been hoping for a bundle, but these did get a lot more work than the versions of the games included in 3D All-Stars, so I'm probably leaning towards them being sold separately at full price.

Ah okay, don't know how I missed that, but that's pretty cool! Not that I'm complaining about Triangle Strategy yeah, they'll totally incorporate 'Tactics'. It'll be Triangle StraTactics and we will regret everything In terms of the gameplay footage I think it looks alright, I do feel like Octopath had a bit more oomph to it in its reveal trailer, but that might be down to their overuse of depth of field on that particular trailer. I think the character art does look pretty generic, though, even when compared with Octopath's. If not for how flat the colour palette was as well as how plain the character designs are, I would've thought it was a Fire Emblem game. And that's not a sleight against Fire Emblem (although it kind of reads like it!), I'm more just knocking how this game has a similar shape to it's characters and their faces when it comes to the art style, but just seem so unremarkable by comparison. Soullessness might be a little harsh, so I don't know if I'd say that, but I do see where you're coming from. There's just a bit of a lack of expression to it, at least in the little gameplay we see and the voice acting being so monotone. I'll see how I feel after checking out the demo, but I imagine it's just early days and they've still got some ways to go to hopefully breathe a bit more life into it.

Yeah, I'm not all that surprised, it does seem like they've put a lot of effort into this, just from the fact that they have a new controller layout incorporated. As someone who hasn't played it before, personally I don't really mind and just want to play the game, but whether or not that will fly with those that have... and, I mean, rightly so. Ports are a part of every gen, but it does feel like Nintendo takes the mick a bit at times. I am interested to see what else they might have included in terms of new features though, any QoL improvements are always welcome!

A pretty middle of the road Direct for me, but I'm still glad that they're back. Seeing as we didn't see Star Wars: Republic Commando here, which was found on the eShop, it's possible we get something else in a month or two, but that could totally just be a Partner Showcase, or even elsewhere. Loved the Pyra/Mythra Smash reveal, they totally got me. I knew it was Xenoblade-related just from the clouds and the first note, but wow, they really committed to framing it like new DLC was coming with how much of it was running in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Kudos once again to Sakurai and team, I know it's not necessarily what people wanted (and another sword user ), but I thought they handled it really well. Fall Guys coming to Switch is great, I think it's seen a bit of a decline since launch, so it'll be good for it to be in a fresh ecosystem with plenty of new players. Doubt I'll be checking out as I played it for a good 10 or 15 hours back when it launched on PS4 last summer, but I imagine it'll be right up the alley of a few folks here! Was really interested in the Famicom Detective Club games until I found out that they were £49.99, maybe it's just me, but that seems a bit on the hefty side. Added it to my wish list for now, will probably wait to see how it reviews and hopefully pick it up on sale at some point. Funny that the Mana games have been getting more love and attention than legacy Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest titles, what the hell is that about S-E?! My wait for the Final Fantasy I - VI Collection (or even just individual releases of those games) continues...honestly, at this point, I think they might as well wait to release it next year (alongside a XIII trilogy remaster and probably XVI, if it doesn't make it out in 2021, and heck, if they do that, they could do a great collector's edition with all of the main series single player games. as they'd then all be on modern platforms). Thought Legend of Mana looked fine, interest was piqued, but doubt I'll be picking it up, mainly because of just how packed the summer is based on this Direct (never mind whatever might be coming to other systems). Still, though, do appreciate Square Enix turning up with that and Project Triangle Strategy. I love the HD-2D look of Octopath, and I've got on well with strategy games so far, so I'm looking forward to checking out the demo; fingers crossed that the music is like Octopath's too! I was definitely surprised by Miitopia coming over to Switch, but if H-o-T says it's worth checking out, it's probably one I'll be keeping an eye on when reviews drop to see if I should be checking out the Switch or 3DS version. Were those also Miis in Mario Golf Super Rush? Because if so, and Miis are back on the table (I feel Nintendo were pretty smart in distancing them from the Switch's advertising and games in the first few years to help draw the line between it and the Wii U), then I could totally see us getting a Wii Sports Deluxe package at some point, maybe later on in the summer? Might as well throw us Wii Music while you're at it too Having not played a Mario Golf game, apart from 5 minutes on a friend's GBA while waiting in a queue somewhere for something a long time ago, Super Rush looks like a hell of a lot of fun, especially Speed Golf! Seems like it's excited a lot of people here, which is always great to see, and definitely has that great summer game vibe to it...hopefully things have improved enough by then so that we can enjoy this with friends and family in-person. I think this might be one of the few titles shown here that I actually end up picking up! Aonuma shooting down there being BotW2 news here was hilarious, happy he confirmed we're getting more info on that later this year - says to me that they're aiming for 2021, which I would love! Glad to see Skyward Sword is coming in July, that I'll be picking up for sure having not played it before. Interested to see how well the game translates to being played with a more traditional controller input, but I greatly appreciate the MGS2-style use of the right stick for swiping things down (I know that's not the only game with it, but it's the one that came to mind, so I'm sticking with it ). Quite like the look of those Joy-Cons, too, but mine are working fine for now, so I'll probably give those a pass. A bit gutting having not completed any Zelda games besides BotW that they didn't end up putting any of the earlier games out before this, the Wii U remasters of Wind Waker and Twilight Princess in particular. I got Spirit Tracks when I was younger (still have it, too!) based almost entirely on the art style, as I saw footage of Wind Waker when I was younger, and it continues to elude me. Does force my hand a bit into playing other Zelda games before July, though, so that should be fun! Colour palette looks a little muddy, but it's really crisp, and that frame rate looks good too, so fingers crossed it turns out well. Splatoon 3 isn't for me (haven't tried the series, and I'm not really one for live service games anyways), but I'm glad that it's in the works for fans of that franchise. It was due a new entry! Didn't seem to be any direct acknowledgement of the 35th Anniversary for Zelda, which was a little weird, so it does make me wonder if they have anything else planned (games or otherwise) for the series this year. And, if we are getting one, the decision to not confirm a Pokémon 25th Anniversary Direct for next Friday here is one of the most Nintendo things ever, but that Pokémon had zero presence here all but confirms it to me; even New Pokémon Snap wasn't here, when other Nintendo published titles releasing before and after were mentioned in rundowns if there wasn't much else to say. So...roll on next Friday, probably Overall, I think it was a solid Direct to return with. It didn't blow me away, but there are a couple of things I'm interested in picking up (Mario Golf Super Rush and Skyward Sword), and I'll be checking out the demo for Project Triangle Strategy, with an eye on it moving forwards. I would score this one a 7/10.

This one's for @Glen-i! £17.99 on our trusty old UK eShop. I still need to go back and check the base game out

Well, at least we learned from Aonuma that we'll be getting more information on this later in the year during today's Direct. Hope is not totally lost in my mind, though, because I don't think they'd be preparing to reveal more this year (and share that with us so early in the year too) if they weren't at least aiming for a 2021 release...but whether or not that comes to pass, well, we'll see.

Yeah, I think you're right, it's probably a translation error. Also, around £30 each in Japan?! Man, they might be getting that collector's edition, but Japan is getting fleeced! Only other alternative I can really think of is that they originally had them available separately here too but decided a bundle might be best, just given how graphic novels generally perform much better in Japan than they do in the West? But that seems like a stretch I feel. Oh well, bit of a shame it's so high, I feel like it might put a good few people off (myself included) from picking it up at launch. Hopefully it'll be included in a sale later in the year!

Oh yeah, you're totally right, forgot about that! Guess hearing about Galaxy of Heroes for so long threw me off

Yikes, yeah, that's higher than I was expecting too, guess I'll be adding it to the wish list for now and hoping for a sale at some point. I was thinking maybe £19.99 each or £29.99 for both? Also, been left a little confused by the trailer, which clearly when showing the logos of the games at the end says 'Games sold separately', but I can only find them on the eShop bundled together? Small mistake I guess, but weird that wasn't picked up on by someone.

Maybe I missed this in the Direct somewhere? But it's also coming to Android and iOS... ...which does lower my interest quite substantially, as if it being only on Switch wouldn't have already (for me personally I just don't have many friends with the system, so it would be hard for me to get excited for it anyway). I could be totally wrong here and maybe this is being done in partnership between EA, Zynga, and naturalmotion, but no EA logo or mention of them in the small print is a strange one, and no mention about it on EA's Twitter either. Weird.

Demo is already up and ready for download from the first page of the eShop for those interested! Think I'll be giving this a spin tomorrow afternoon after work. Still haven't played Octopath Traveler, because although the music is great, I've just heard middling things about it, and given its length, there are quite a few other JRPG's and longer games I've prioritised getting to. Also, this is totally just going to end up being called Triangle Strategy, isn't it?

They're taking forever to put the English trailer up so I can't update the original post, typical S-E I'm pretty interested in this. Not something I'd commit to being there Day 1 for - we'll see what else lands around then, or if there's something else I'm in the mood for at that time - but it's certainly on my radar now. Crazy though that we've had not one, but two Mana remakes, and still not much for S-E's bigger franchises. Smaller undertaking I guess, but still, a bit odd. Visually, that's the kind of treatment I'd be okay with for an FF Collection. Would much prefer the original sprites, but what constitutes the best version for those games isn't necessarily their original release.

Once more unto the ink, dear friends, once more.

Splatoon 2 DLC expansion they hinted at during the New Year celebrations that I've read too much about for someone who doesn't play Splatoon? Oh wow they're just going straight to 3. Alrighty then!

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!