Nintendo Direct : 09 / 02 / 22 (10pm UK time)

[killthenet]

Ha, I'm in a similar situation to you @Cube, I gave my copy of MK8 to my cousin a couple of years ago so if I want to play the new tracks I'm going to have to fork out for another copy

[darksnowman]

2 minutes ago, Julius said:

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? 

Not a mention of Chocobo GP either!!

[Sméagol]

I'll post a full reaction tomorrow. In short: lots of surprises, but many which I don't care about (like No Man's Sky). Kirby still looks awesome, and it was all worth it for Strikers, Mario Kart dlc and especially Xenoblade Chronicles 3.

[killthenet]

2 minutes ago, Ike said:

They gotta keep some stuff for E3.

Oh, I knew they weren't going to blow their load here but I'm just antsy to see more of Zelda!!

Really great direct, even if I wasn't interested in every announcement it was a really enjoyable show with lots of big reveals and I'll definitely be picking up Kirby, Switch Sports and Xenoblade - going to be another expensive year to be a Nintendo fan!

[Mokong]

It's only just hit me that if Zelda BotW2 keeps it's previously promised 2022 release and doesn't fall into 2023 we are seriously getting a new Xenoblade Chronicles AND a new Zelda game in the same frakking year!!!!

 

[ArtMediocre]

1 minute ago, Mokong said:

It's only just hit me that if Zelda BotW2 keeps it's previously promised 2022 release and doesn't fall into 2023 we are seriously getting a new Xenoblade Chronicles AND a new Zelda game in the same frakking year!!!!

 

It truly brings a tear to my eye! I just wonder where I'll find the time for it all.

[Glen-i]

A lot of you getting hyped over that MK8 DLC...

Am I going to have to take a defibrillator to the N-E League carcass? @Dcubed, you might have to dig up that old Laptop and get the files and Excel spreadsheet I have saved on it.

But yeah, the first half was a bit meh outside of Fire Emblem Warriors: Age of Calamit... Uh, I mean, Three Hopes. Bit apprehensive though, because the first game was let down by half the cast being moveset clones, but maybe focusing on one FE game will mean we don't get Lord Overdose this time. I hope so, because the gameplay was top notch.

In for Live-A-Live though. 2D-HD is infinitely better then whatever rubbish the FF Pixel Remasters are doing. And I suppose I might give Chrono Cross a second chance, only when it eventually goes on sale though. (OMG at Radical Dreamers though!)

Those knock-off Miis in Switch Sports are awful. While you can use proper Miis, you just know they won't be the default, so you'll see them everywhere online. Eurgh!

And Xenoblade 3? Yes please!

2 minutes ago, Mokong said:

It's only just hit me that if Zelda BotW2 keeps it's previously promised 2022 release and doesn't fall into 2023 we are seriously getting a new Xenoblade Chronicles AND a new Zelda game in the same frakking year!!!!

Yeahhhh. I wouldn't put money on that.

[Ronnie]

If BOTW2 doesn't get delayed then 2022 could be Nintendo's best ever year tbh. Fantastic Direct, even if the three of the biggest reveals Fire Emblem, Mario Strikers and Xenoblade did nothing for me personally.

Kirby looks amazing. I was laughing out loud at some of those transformations, the vending machine in particular.

Splatoon 3 Salmon Run looks like a lot of fun.

Switch Sports looks great too, relieved Golf is being added in the autumn, I'll pick it up then. I appreciated the awkward af live demonstration too 

The MK8 DLC is typical bonkers Nintendo. Great to see it added as another perk of the NSO Expansion pass. I'd love to be more hyped for it but the visuals look extremely basic, any idea what the reason for that is? MK8 is one of the prettiest games I've ever played so it's weird how barebones a lot of those courses look. Great idea to release lots of waves over the next couple of years. 

Edited February 9, 2022 by Ronnie

[Dcubed]

That's stupid cheap! I can't believe that Valve are actually releasing console games again!!!

Interesting that it's being ported by NVidia Lightspeed Studios... (The internal NVidia development team that worked on the NVidia Shield TV ports; including the China exclusive Wii emulation projects...).  This is their first Switch release!

Wonder if this means that we could be seeing the other NVidia Shield TV games get ported over to Switch now... I certainly wouldn't mind seeing MGS 2 & 3 HD and Metal Gear Rising come to Switch

Edited February 9, 2022 by Dcubed

[Ronnie]

Suddenly 150 million units sold doesn't seem that much of a stretch...

[Glen-i]

8 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

I'd love to be more hyped for it but the visuals look extremely basic, any idea what the reason for that is? MK8 is one of the prettiest games I've ever played so it's weird how barebones a lot of those courses look.

A lot of it is reused assets from Mario Kart Tour, which doesn't look as nice as MK8.

[Dcubed]

Speaking of recycling failed mobile games... I wonder if there's a legit chance that Super Mario Run might actually now get ported to Switch as NSMBU DX DLC...

I would actually love that! Make it happen Nintendo!

[Goafer]

With other companies showing games that won't be out for another few years, it's refreshing to see Nintendo go the other way and showcase games that were released decades ago.

I love my Switch, but it's becoming a console for playing old games that I'd like to replay, rather than excitedly waiting for new ones.

[Jonnas]

22 hours ago, Jonnas said:

Serious predictions

• Advance Wars trailer. Gimme more!
• Triangle Strategy, the final showcase
• Kirby and the Forgotten Land showcase
• Deeper look at Splatoon 3

 

Four outta four, baby!

22 hours ago, Jonnas said:

Hopes and Dreams

• Advance Wars demo. Out now!
• "The expanded NSO now has the option for a monthly subscription"
• Timesplitters Collection coming to the Switch
• Just...please any info on the next Fire Emblem project. They could be working on a Tokyo Mirage Sessions sequel for all I care, I just want to know what's next for the series.

Good thing I kept my Fire Emblem hopes as low as possible, because that's the only thing I got right! So much for the other... three hopes

-------------------------

Alright, now my general thoughts on the Direct:

• Three Houses Warriors was an educated guess that was all over the place back in... early 2020. Kinda crazy that it's actually happening, potentially even crazier if this game brings relevant lore to the table. I might play it just for that, but for now I'll just say, I love these "mid-timeskip" designs for the main lords. I'll save guesses, hopes, and predictions for a more relevant thread;
• Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp is looking good! There was actually a leak from some time ago that got proved by this trailer (they got Max's voice actor right), so a lot of thoughts are going through my head. Once again, I'll save more detailed opinions for the game's thread;
• Mario Strikers 3 and Switch Sports are games that I'm not likely to get, but I'm happy that they exist for all the folk who enjoy them (and I certainly enjoyed the wacky presentation). In fact, I'll say the same for the Mario Kart 8 DLC;
• Disney Speedstorm is quite the surprise. Might check it out... but only because it's free ;
• The Triangle Strategy demo took me by surprise. If the progress carries over, I may actually play it before I buy;
• Kirby and the Forgotten Land looks absolutely delightful, and I'm super tempted to get it;
• Portal Collection. Well slap me silly. I did not expect this! I already have it on Steam, but the Switch is more appropriate for Co-op...;
• Chrono Cross Remaster, ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? RADICAL DREAMERS AS WELL!!? Fuck me sideways!;
• Live-a-Live remake, WHAAAAAAA!? I had heard of this game before, but I never expected this in a million years! I don't know what Square's "smaller, older IPs" division is doing, but whatever it is, please continue!;
• Metroid Dread update. Back to grounded reveals, this is something I wondered about, but didn't think we'd get. Dread Mode sounds wild (does this disallow the use of Shinespark on bosses, I wonder?), and I'm up for a few runs of the Boss Mode.

For everything else, I'm fairly indifferent about. But all in all, look at how many games there still were to talk about! This was an excellent Direct for sure.

[martinist]

Live A Live, Chrono Cross and Klonoa. Those are ones I'll be picking up for sure. New strikers looks nice but i'm not sure if i'll play it at all.

Switch sports is a big maybe but I don't really like the badmitin and volleyball stuff.

[Kav]

 

[Julius]

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

 

Spoiler

February

Gran Turismo 7 State of Play - 8.0/10

Heck of a Direct, and as always, love being here to react to a Direct with you guys! 

Edited February 10, 2022 by Julius

[Ashley]

After being unable to sleep last night I had a glance at the Wario64 thread which at least let me know I could skip the first few minutes because as a franchise Fire Emblem has always bored me. 

That being said I was surprised by the range on show. Presuming you weren't going in with ridiculous expectations I'm sure there was something for everyone. Not least Karby, who is for everyone. 

Do we know if the £23 price for the MK8 DLC is for all passes, not just the first? I assume so but I don't think they made that clear unless it was small print somewhere I missed. 

[Glen-i]

9 minutes ago, Ashley said:

Do we know if the £23 price for the MK8 DLC is for all passes, not just the first? I assume so but I don't think they made that clear unless it was small print somewhere I missed. 

It's defo for everything.

[Ashley]

Figured as much because otherwise it would be ridiculous but just checking. 

I've not played MK8 in ages but will probably buy the pass so that I own it.

[Ronnie]

Crazy to get four big new reveals and have them all out in the next 7 months. 

Switch Sports: April 
Fire Emblem Warriors: June
Mario Strikers: June 
Xenoblade: September

[BowserBasher]

If it weren't for Kirby, Mario Strikers and the MK tracks that would have ben a dud for me, too much RPG stuff as those are not my games,

However some good stuff in there that I'll be getting.

[RedShell]

1 hour ago, BowserBasher said:

If it weren't for Kirby, Mario Strikers and the MK tracks that would have ben a dud for me, too much RPG stuff as those are not my games,

However some good stuff in there that I'll be getting.

Same here, although in my case it’s really only Kirby that stands out, so it kinda was a dud Direct for me.

The MK DLC is cool, but as someone who regularly plays MK Tour I’ve seen it all before.

Mario Stikers seems very similar to the previous versions, so not too interested in that. Same goes for Switch Sports and Splatoon 3…

So yeah, the wait continues for original stuff from Nintendo.
They seem to be playing it super safe at the moment, which is disappointing.

[Dufniall]

That was a pretty good Direct! A bunch of new announcements, a couple of restatements about what's coming, and not even the need for heavy hitters like Bayonetta 3 and BOTW2 to save the show. Definitely not everything is for me but I can see that it was a good mix of titles shown.

Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes - I loved the first one that I reviewed for N-E, especially because of the mix of characters from different timelines. Not having played Three Houses, this did nothing for me.

Advance Wars 1+2 Reboot Camp - Looks solid, getting more used to the new graphics style. Won't be on my must-buy list though, I haven't even finished Wargroove!

Super Mario Strikers: Battle League - Not big on Mario Sports titles (including Strikers), but I know a bunch of guys who are very happy with this! I like the idea of a 20 player online community team though.

Splatoon 3 - This is a strange one. I loved 2 and can't wait for 3, but I haven't seen anything in the trailers that feels really fresh and new. What they've shown could all have been just DLC.

Kirby and the Forgotten World - God, this keeps looking better and better. The mouthful transformations are funny as heck, and I like the ability upgrade path.

Live A Live - Never heard of it before, but the trailer had me interested. Especially the 7 different storylines in different timelines (and if I have to guess they'll be connected somehow). May be my first 2D-HD title that I'm going to play. Plenty of Square Enix in this Direct by the way.

Nintendo Switch Sports - Don't like the non-mii characters, don't necessarily like the selection of sports. Would have loved to see a couple more from Resort such as archery, table tennis and Wave Racing. I think the time of waggle control sports has sailed a bit for me. If anything I'll just boot up the Wii and get a very similar experience as far as I can judge now.

Metroid Dread update - Nice modes for newcomers or people who enjoy S&M, but I'll wait for the boss rush mode.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Booster Course Pass - Holy mother, 48 courses? Amazing, don't care if they are pilfered from Tour. Love that the city courses like Paris and Tokyo are coming as well. Hope they throw in a couple of characters in there as well. Fair price as well. Love how they show the Disney racer early on and then just annihilate it with this.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 - Great announcement, but at the speed I play RPGs (currently playing Xenoblade 1 HD and I'm at the same place where I stalled on Wii), I probably get around to playing this when they release the 4K remaster on the Switch 3.

Some other good gets that I'm not that interested in like No Man's Sky, The Force Unleashed, Assassin's Creed Ezio Collection, Klonoa, Portal and the new Taiko. That Disney racer looked a bit ehm, dark or something? As in, not as cheery and cartoony as I would imagine a Disney kart racer. That Gundam game looked weird as well, did they make the giant Gundams into chibi characters? Chrono Cross looks severely outdated, and this is the remaster? Not too fussed about the rest except for the Cuphead DLC!

[Ronnie]

1 hour ago, RedShell said:

They seem to be playing it super safe at the moment, which is disappointing.

Vending Machine Kirby and the like say hi