There are a lot of things only Nintendo would do. Only Nintendo would give you a cool retro challenge package but put a time limit on its existence. Only Nintendo would drop our first real look at Kingdom Hearts 4 into the middle of the presentation and act like it was no more important than Hello Kitty. Only Nintendo would spend five minutes on a thumb-wrestling competition.
The entire Xenoblade Chronicles series is getting a Switch 2 glow-up (minus X, which already got one earlier this year). They will be enhanced with better resolution and higher framerates, but each game will get its own individual improvements: a vehicle has been added to Xenoblade Chronicles for fast travel, Blades are now controllable in Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and a wave-based combat mode is now part of Xenoblade Chronicles 3.
Upgrade packs will be $9.99 each, while Switch 2 physicals will be $69.99 each. I think I’ll go with the upgrades!
Typically when we see these kind of ports it means the true next game is nowhere near ready, but with Xenoblade, that’s not the case. Xenoblade Genesis was revealed immediately afterward, and it will be ready to go in 2027.
Wooha! Kingdom Hearts 4! Did not expect to see YOU today! An entire minute of new footage teased what appears to be a darker next chapter in Sora’s history, both metaphorical and literal — there are sure a lot of grey-colored things in this area. The action mostly takes place within a city, which we’re guessing is the game’s hub world. No one knows when the game will launch, but Square did confirm Switch 2 will get it Day One.
Also, the previous three Kingdom Hearts games are coming to Switch 2, this time for real and not “on the cloud.” Look for ’em October 8.
Wow, a new Muramasa! Details are light in this trailer for Revenant Blades; the game doe not come out ’til 2027. But Vanillaware usually does good work.
I know what I’ll be doing this evening. DK Challenge is a new Nintendo Switch Online offering that presents random moments from Donkey Kong’s long history and has you complete quick tasks, much like World Championships two years ago or NES Remix back on Wii U. The annoying thing is that you can’t have it indefinitely, and no, we don’t know why. DK Challenge goes up today but only lasts through the summer, being taken offline September 1.
One of the coolest announcements was Final Fantasy’s first venture into HD-2D with Final Fantasy Resonance. It takes place in its own world, but FF characters from other games can cross over. It’ll be out October 22 for Switch and Switch 2.
Here are the deets on Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, now pegged for a September 17 release. You choose from one of four characters with different motivations, all of whom have entered a tournament of battle for the right to have their wishes granted.
A year ago, FromSoftware teased they were working on a Switch 2 exclusive game called The Duskbloods but revealed nothing else. They’re back to say….the game still exists. This new trailer doesn’t really tell us anything either, other than the promise of a closed test period, which means we’re slightly closer to the release.
The weirdest thing revealed in the Direct was this online title that basically expands what would be the lobby section of any MMO and turns it into the whole game. You and your friends log on and….just walk around, exploring. No leveling up, no monster slaying, nothing. It’s a Big Walk.
It’s become standard that a big Nintendo Direct has to include several moments when they “introduce” games that have been on other platforms for months, sometimes years, and act like they’re new. In this case we’re getting the first Stellar Blade, Metaphor ReFantazio, Lies of P, and Lords of the Fallen 2. Odds are good by the time they come out, the versions for other systems will cost a lot less. We’ll see how well the $80 Switch 2 Elden Ring sells later this year.
The one announcement everybody was expecting, the one spoiled months ago, also turned out to be the shortest and least revealing trailer of the bunch. Yes, the Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake is real, but it was only going to be teased with a shot of Link sleeping — and that was all we got. They would not be playing it at the Treehouse afterward. The 2026 launch date was also confirmed, but that was it for the day. ONLY NINTENDO would reveal this little about a game that has this amount of hype and has to ship within five or six months. Only Nintendo.
