Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase (June 28th 15:00 CEST/14:00 BST)

[S.C.G]

Nintendo Direct Mini Partner Showcase 28/06/2022 Roundup

Now up on the main page.

Formatted press release and video.

[Dcubed]

Well that was better than I expected

Nier Automata, P3rs4n5 and Super Bomberman R2 are genuine surprises! Didn't expect any of them!

Portal 1&2 shadowdrop is also much appreciated!

Edited June 28, 2022 by Dcubed

[killthenet]

Didn't clock that Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is by the studio that made Sayonara Wild Hearts so I'm even more on board for that now. Blanc also looked great so will definitely be adding that to my wishlist as soon as it goes live on the eShop.

[Jonnas]

For once, I didn't actually watch the presentation, merely read about it after the fact. As such, many of the announcements lost the impact they normally would have. Anyway:

• Super glad Nier Automata is coming to Switch. Between the stylish action, the robot/A.I. focused plot, the gorgeous music, and those beautiful buttocks, this game always hit the right notes for me;
• Live a Live has a demo. Neat;
• Persona games... if I'm ever getting into SMT, I won't start with Persona. And if I ever get into Persona, it'll be 3. For me, this was merely an ok announcement;
• Blanc looks great. So does Lorelei and the Laser Eyes;
• Harvestella is so not my type of game, but that trailer made it very alluring, I must admit;
• Megaman Battle Network Collection got the loudest gasp from me. The sub-series never really clicked for me (surprisingly enough, as it theoretically does a lot of things I like), but I'm very happy to see a modern rerelease. Nice going, EXE. All we need is a Star Force collection and I think that's all the main Megaman content available on modern consoles, I think.

And yeah, that's pretty much it. I had no expectations, but also no real wishes: the one game I wanted the most (Three Hopes) is within my grasp, and the one I wanted to know more about (Scarlet&Violet) was never going to show up. Nevertheless, I consider this a strong showing, considering the track record for Partner Directs.

Winners for me are Nier, Blanc, and Lorelei, for sure. And from a more impartial standpoint, Mega Man.

EDIT: Oh shit, I forgot a couple!

• Legend of Wright looks gorgeous, but I need to see more than just the art style first;
• Return to Monkey Island... did not look impressive. At all. Come on, man, surely you guys can do a better art style than that?

 

3 hours ago, Dcubed said:

P3rs4n5

*P3r5on4

Edited June 28, 2022 by Jonnas

[Glen-i]

Saw this and laughed.

Square continues to be a company of two halves. Nothing is ever guaranteed with them.

[Hero-of-Time]

11 hours ago, Jonnas said:

• Return to Monkey Island... did not look impressive. At all. Come on, man, surely you guys can do a better art style than that?

Yeah, I was really disappointed with the visuals of the game. It just looks so basic.  

[Julius]

Watched this again this morning (albeit at 1.25x speed) as a bit of a refresher before posting thoughts on the presentation. 

Capcom has got really good at showing off Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, I thought their 10 minutes spent on it during their own showing at Not-E3 was a great showing. Was it needed here? Probably not outside of some contractual obligation, but it was a fun trailer, so no complaints. Capcom's handling of Monster Hunter since World has been really on the mark from an outsider's perspective, reminds me a lot of Final Fantasy XIV; only negative I can really think of is not offering cross-save, which is pretty nuts for a game like this. 

NieR Automata: The End of YoRHa Edition looks rough around the edges, but so long as it's functional, I'm glad it's coming to Switch. Excellent game, story, music, and love the new white outfits...but how the hell has it already been 5 years since it released? And where's the next one?! 

Lorelei and The Laser Eyes has me curious, but that 2023 release date probably means I'll forget about it until it's shown off again some point next year. Quite like it's darker vibe for a puzzle game, though! Super Bomberman R 2 doesn't do much for me, but I'm surprised it's taken them 5 years to announce it, and it's not even out until next year, which is just strange. Pac-Man World: Re-PAC doesn't do much for me either, looks pretty cheap. 

Blanc looked incredible, lovely art style and cosy vibes. Return to Monkey Island confused me with its looks, having not played the earlier games but having screen plenty of photos/screenshots of them, it's gone from looking like, well, 90's/2000's quality animation to the more generic-looking tripe you see kids watching today. Mario+Rabbids Spark of Hope (the lack of a colon in the title...just why Ubisoft WHY?!) looks good, haven't played the first game still (sorry!) but it looks like most are excited about how it's turning out, and we get to see more today, which is neat. 

We then had a bit of a quickfire, and I'll just highlight what I'm interested in: RPG Time: The Legend of Wright looks wonderful still, releases on my little brother's birthday so that'll be a hard one to forget the date of; Live A Live getting a demo is awesome, Square Enix have been doing a great job with demos, and this might be one of the few times where I choose to dig in, very excited to get to it; and Dragon Quest Treasures...looked like a mobile game, honestly. I'm still in - because Erik - but that's a rough looking game, definitely looks like it needs time to cook, so hopefully that's an older build we saw and it's more than ready in December. Hopefully...maybe. 

Captain Velvet Meteor: The Jump+ Dimensions I have half an eye on, and same goes for the Portal: Companion Collection, though I might just save playing 2 for when I get my Steam Deck. Harvestella looks like it could be a chill time? But Xenotrowel Chronicles. We also know/expect more from Square Enix based on the Nvidia and other recent leaks, and this one doesn't hold a candle to the other stuff in those leaks for Square Enix, so... 

Lastly, Persona 5 Royal, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 3 Portable coming to Switch - awesome; finally! Morgana looked rooooough presenting the games (which I found very funny). I've played 5 before, really enjoyed it, and really look forward to hearing the thoughts of those exclusively playing games on Switch/have been waiting for the games to come to Switch, but if I ever get to Royal, I'll probably just enjoy it on my PlayStation. Ditto for Persona 4 Golden, that's the one I really want to get around to next. As for 3 Portable...eh, there's FES on PS3 which some fans seem to prefer, so I might just check that out instead. 

Overall, I thought it was a solid Direct Mini. We knew about Persona going in, so that was a bit of a nonstarter for me as something to close on, but that's no sleight against the presentation really. Some of these games feel like they've been shown off a bit too early (did we really need to learn about Super Bomberman R 2 and Lorelei and The Laser Eyes when they're at least six months away?), but at the same time, I did appreciate learning about the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection so early, just because of the ability to add funds to Wii U going away next month, so I don't need to pick them up there.

It was pretty well paced, but I do think having the presentation go up in full and having trailers for games not shown until the end of the presentation going up at the same time as the Direct Mini itself took away from it a bit. There also just wasn't much here for me to latch on to that was new; other than Blanc and the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection, my interest was mainly focused on RPG Time, Live A Live getting a demo, and the update on Dragon Quest Treasures. 

Totally official and not at all rudimentary verdict for the Nintendo Direct Mini: Partners Showcase - 28th June 2022 (good lord, what a freakshow of a presentation title): 7.5/10

Spoiler

February

State of Play: Gran Turismo 7 - 8.0/10

Nintendo Direct: February 2022 - 9.5/10

Pokémon Presents: Pokémon Day 2022 - 7.0/10

March

State of Play: March 2022 - 4.5/10

May

Indie World Showcase: May 2022 - 6.5/10

June

State of Play: June 2022 - 8.5/10

Summer Game Fest Live - 3.5/10

Day of the Devs - 8.0/10

Microsoft & Bethesda Games Showcase - 7.0/10

Capcom - 6.0/10

Final Fantasy VII 25th Anniversary Celebration - 9.0/10

Nintendo Direct Mini: Partners Showcase - 28th June - 7.5/10

And now to patiently wait for the next Direct... 

Edited June 29, 2022 by Julius

[Ronnie]

25 minutes ago, Julius said:

haven't played the first game still (sorry!)

[Hero-of-Time]

That opening story and comparison to the Direct is gold.  

[nekunando]

2 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

That opening story and comparison to the Direct is gold.  

Easy Allies were doomed the day Kyle left!

[drahkon]

16 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

That opening story and comparison to the Direct is gold.  

Holy shit, almost the exact same thing happened to me about 10 years ago  

This was basically the first Delayed Input I've watched. Sooo...what is this series about?
He's just talking about recent gaming news?

[Hero-of-Time]

48 minutes ago, drahkon said:

Holy shit, almost the exact same thing happened to me about 10 years ago  

This was basically the first Delayed Input I've watched. Sooo...what is this series about?
He's just talking about recent gaming news?

Yeah, kinda just his take on a recent event or news. The one he done about the Xenoblade Direct is also worth a watch.

[drahkon]

10 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Yeah, kinda just his take on a recent event or news. The one he done about the Xenoblade Direct is also worth a watch.

Is it the long version of "Star Ocean still looks better than Xenoblade Chronicles 3?"  

Edited July 2, 2022 by drahkon

[Hero-of-Time]

Haha. Star Ocean does get a mention.