Nintendo Direct, 6.21.23
June 21, 2023
Another Nintendo Direct has come and gone, and with it, plenty of new announcements. Some games we've gotten more info on, and some games were outright new reveals. I thought I would go ahead and write down my thoughts on the announcements that stood out to me.
If you haven't watched the Nintendo Direct yet, click here to watch it, then come back and read.
Sonic Superstars
I'm a bit wary about this title. I want to hope that after Mania, Sonic Team has learned what makes 2D Sonic good, and that this will be more of that rather than whatever Sonic 4 was. But also, with the recent-ish overuse of Classic Sonic (especially in Forces), I worry that this could be an attempt at nostalgia baiting, rather than a legitimate attempt to make a good product.
The various "power-ups" feel like they're stepping a bit too far away from what makes Classic Sonic games... Well, Classic Sonic games. They may be integrated seamlessly, but we'll have to wait for the game to release to know for sure.
The inclusion of four-player co-op seems interesting, but honestly, even two-player co-op felt like it didn't work too well in Classic Sonic games. One player too often gets too much speed and zooms off, leaving the other player behind and off-camera.
MythForce
I don't personally care too much for this title, but I wanted to bring it up, because I recognize what it's trying to do, and I like it.
This game's art style feels like a classic love letter to those Saturday morning cartoons that used to be on years ago - stuff like He-Man and Thundercats and... That's actually the only examples I can think of.
And I feel like that explains why I don't care much for this title - because I'm not in the target audience for this game. And yet, I feel like I gotta respect this game for trying to be what it is. It's a unique concept I've never seen before. A love letter to a classic part of many people's childhood.
It's just not a part of my childhood, so it doesn't personally touch me as much.
Detective Pikachu Returns
Honestly, I'm more surprised that Detective Pikachu 2 is out of development hell. It was announced as in development back in 2019, and we haven't heard anything from it since. After nearly 4 years it wouldn't be a dangerous assumption to assume it was just shelved.
It's been in development for so long, that the most recent Pokémon that seem to be included in the game are only from Sword and Shield, rather than Scarlet and Violet.
Super Mario RPG
My immediate thoughts when this came on were "Oh cool, Super Mario RPG is being added to Switch Online. I didn't expect that to happen because of Square Enix holding the copyright, but it's neat that it did."
And then it switched to 3D. And I thought "WAIT, THEY'RE REMAKING THIS?!?"
Honestly, I love remakes like this. Ones that feel like they're taking the classic look of the original game and just directly translating it into 3D rather than trying to update it. I loved The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening and Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl for doing the same, despite most people criticizing the latter for that.
I never played the original game, but this remake makes me want to give it a shot.
And if they're making Mario RPGs on the Switch... Maybe they could give us a resurgence of the Mario & Luigi series too?
Untitled Princess Peach Game
Seeing this brings me back to the olden days when every side character in a franchise had the potential to possibly get their own game. Sonic the Hedgehog had Tails Adventure, Knuckles Chaotix, and Shadow the Hedgehog. Mega Man X had Mega Man Zero. The Legend of Zelda had... Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon... Yeah, let's not talk about that one.
Anyways, it's neat to see a character who is usually reduced to a supporting role getting her own title (even though that already happened before with Super Princess Peach).
They didn't show much about the game, so there just isn't much to go off of yet.
Oh, and speaking of side characters getting their own games.
Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon
This game getting ported to the Switch is giving me whiplash.
At first, I thought it strange, cause the 3DS was just the previous console generation. And yet, Dark Moon came out in 2013. That was 10 years ago.
It's long ago enough that a remake makes sense, but it still feels like there just hasn't been enough advancement in technology to make it worth it.
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope - DLC 2: The Last Spark Hunter
I didn't play Sparks of Hope, so I don't have much investment in this at all. I just want to bring this up because I found it strange.
They released a trailer for this DLC alongside the Direct, but they only had a mention of it in the Direct.
Pikmin 4
Here it is, the big title I'm anticipating... But this new trailer has me more worried than anything.
Ochi, the dog, feels like he's a bit too overpowered of an addition. It seems neat to be able to carry any type of Pikmin over the water, but that kind of trivializes water. Throughout the series, it's been seen as a major threat and obstacle, one that only Blue Pikmin had the power to overcome. And now this game is adding Ice Pikmin, which can just outright freeze the water so that any color can cross it. That's fine, provided that's relegated to the late game. But allowing Ochi to carry all of your Pikmin across? Ochi feels like he would be more of an early game unlock and giving you that ability early game feels like it just reduces what was once this major obstacle to the most minor of inconveniences. Granted, you still can't carry anything across the water with Ochi. You would need to wait until you have Ice Pikmin to freeze it to carry things across. But still, it feels wrong.
They're bringing back caves, which I've already made a whole blog post about how I disliked caves in Pikmin 2, although I ended that on an optimistic note, hoping that despite bringing them back in Pikmin 4, they wouldn't make the same mistakes. Unfortunately, after watching the trailer, I noticed the time meter. It's visible on-screen during the outside scenes, but in the scenes in the cave, it's completely gone. This means that they're doing the same thing in this game that brought me to dislike caves in Pikmin 2, by having time pause while you're inside them.
The Dandori battle seems like just a side multiplayer mode, and likely it is, but considering you meet the second character in the actual game, I wonder if it'll be implemented into the main game itself.
I think having base camp will be a neat addition, allowing the player to upgrade themselves and Ochi. Things such as Ochi's strength, speed, and general abilities can be upgraded, and the player can make themselves equipment that lets them explore better. And it will be neat having a hub that you'll get to watch grow and develop alongside your journey, rather than the generic map the series used in the past.
Night Expedition sounds like an amazing feature. The series has always talked about how the creatures on the planet get dangerous around nighttime, but for once it's going to be shown how that happens. I just wonder how they're going to try and make it necessary to go out at night, rather than just ignoring it in favor of the much safer daytime. The only thing known to be exclusive to night is Glow Pikmin, which we don't know the ability of yet.
I'm still excited for the game, and glad I got into the series at all.
And they're rereleasing the first two Pikmin games on Switch... *After* I've played through them of course. But this is neat, now having the entire franchise available on Switch.
Penny's Big Breakaway
This game didn't interest me at all at first. I just thought "Oh, another generic game I probably won't care about."
But after hearing the trailer say it was from "the team behind Sonic Mania", that alone had me intrigued enough to consider trying it when it comes out.
And then I went back and rewatched the trailer... And holy shit this looks like the perfect game for me. I *love* 3D Platformers, and I've been having a major itch to play one lately that I've been wanting to scratch.
The movement with the yo-yo seems like it'll be fluid, which I love fluid movement. And adding a time attack mode will be fun. I loved getting my times down in Neon White by literal milliseconds, so having more of that in a game like this sounds exciting.
I should've paid more attention the first time.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - Booster Course Pass Wave 5
The bathroom track leaked from Mario Kart Tour is real. But whoever owns this bathroom seriously needs to do some spring cleaning.
The track itself looks neat. It looks like there'll be plenty of split paths and a neat section where you go into the bathtub drain and through the pipes.
They only showed off some footage of that one track, but they also showed some new characters, too.
Petey Piranha, from Mario Kart: Double Dash, which was honestly a given as soon as we learned they were bringing more characters in. He's such a good pick, and honestly, it's a shame that he never came back after Double Dash in the first place.
Wiggler, from Mario Kart 7. Personally don't care too much for him, but I'm sure some people are excited. I love that he turns red and angry when he gets hit. It's nice little details like that that stick out.
And lastly, Kamek, from Mario Kart Tour. It's great that he's finally getting to shine in a console Mario Kart game, after having been snubbed out of a spot back in Mario Kart 64.
Nintendo Live 2023
Nintendo Live seems like a good idea. A physical event for people to attend to play games, listen to some live performances, take part in tournaments, and maybe even try some demos of the new games that get announced there...
Oh, wait, the FAQ on their website says there's not going to be any new announcements...
Really? You have this physical event you're putting on, during a year where E3 gets canceled (likely permanently), and happening alongside, and in the same place as, PAX West, and yet you aren't announcing anything new?
Honestly, having no announcements drops this event from something that you should be watching for announcements to just a generic publicity stunt.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
I love the hand-drawn art style of this game. It looks beautiful, and it's nice to have a 2D Mario game that looks like something other than the New series of games. That art style was just beaten to death, resurrected, and killed off again.
And I love how the worlds look like a bit *more* than just the generic world themes. The grassland has some mountains in the background, the forest has pipes and music blocks throughout, and the autumn forest is a neat and new environment for Mario (if you haven't played Newer Super Mario Bros. Wii).
But then we get to the main feature of the game, the Wonder Flower. This thing turns the game from being another New game with a fresh coat of paint to a whole acid trip. Grab one of these and the pipes will start moving and bending, or you'll be riding a horde of buffalo, or even have Mario turn into a spiky bowling ball, or stretch himself to the top of the screen.
Oh, and there are more playable characters than just the standard New cast. You still have Mario, Luigi, and Yellow Toad (rest in peace Blue Toad), but now you can also play as Peach, Daisy, and even Yoshi. And if you hop on Yoshi, you can even ride him.
Minor Notes
I'll quickly go over everything that I only have one or two sentences to say anything about.
Batman: Arkham Trilogy - I'm surprised this is getting released on Switch. It feels like something that I'd expect to be too "big" for the console.
Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged - A Hot Wheels racing game with a track editor? Yeah, this feels like a no-brainer.
Manic Mechanics - Honestly this just feels like it's Overcooked but cars
Vampire Survivors - I keep hearing this game's name come up, but I still have genuinely no clue what it is. Honestly, it looks like a generic shovelware game.
STAR OCEAN THE SECOND STORY R - I haven't played many games with this art style, but I think the style of 2D sprites in a 3D environment looks neat.
WarioWare Move It! - Never played a WarioWare game, but it's neat we're getting a classic one rather than whatever Get It Together! was supposed to be.
Overall Thoughts
There was quite a bit neat in this game. I'm mostly still excited for Pikmin 4, but Super Mario RPG, Penny's Big Breakout, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder have me intrigued.
And Sonic Superstars seems like it might be interesting too, although I'll wait until the reviews come out for that one.