Summer Game Fest might be over, but that doesn’t mean the summer of game announcements is, and Nintendo decided to show everyone how it was done during today’s Nintendo Direct, with a slew of titles that dwarfed entire days of the Summer Game Fest show itself. We’ve got a recap for you if you missed the broadcast.
Before the Summer Game Fest, Geoff Keighly spoke a few times about how he’d love to get Nintendo to participate, to which the gaming giant not only seemed to ignore, but then decided to show why their presence would be such a boost. There was a truly huge amount of titles shown off at today’s Direct (but no Silksong, so if that’s all you’re here for, you can stop reading (please don’t stop reading, I worked really hard on this)), with many of the games announced coming out in the near future. As an opinion out of the gate, I much prefer these types of Directs, and Nintendo has always had the best handle on them: to the point, filled with news, and many of the titles shown releasing within the next 3-6 months, rather than overly produced CG trailers with no gameplay, release dates, or hints at mechanics. Also, a pretty low level of cringe engagement ‘entertainment’, which is always a plus. If you want to watch the entire Direct, you can do so here, otherwise, let’s get to the individual games themselves.
Mario & Luigi: Brothership
Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: November 7, 2024
Platforms: Switch
Marcy: A huge surprise out of the gate, Mario & Luigi: Brothership returns to the RPG hybrid that Alphadream started. The trailer for this one shows off quite a bit of the platforming, combat, and some of the new characters with the usual brand of madcap weirdness that the Mario & Luigi games are known for. It’s funny to see a new one after the way Miyamoto took Paper Mario out back and shot it in a gravel pit, so there’s some excitement to be had ahead of the game’s release in November. Also, Nintendo, you really need to start hiring people to tell you not to title games after their fanfiction pairing tags.
Nintendo World Championships NES Edition
Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: July 18, 2024
Platform: Switch
Marcy: Speedrunning used to be a niche aspect of gaming, a place where people would come together and challenge each other (or just themselves) to consistently improve their times and see who could come out as the current champion, rife with tricks and exploits to complete games as fast as possible; with the advent of the modern internet, speedrunning not only became much more common as a global pursuit, it also spawned a community, with events like Games Done Quick turning the passion for them into charitable (and profitable) pursuits. Capitalizing on this a bit, Nintendo delivers World Championship NES Edition, which is both an incredibly niche, but also very interesting little title. Players are able to play NES classic games to complete various time related challenges, essentially reducing games to a score attack style mode, but some of the other aspects, such as “legend challenges”, to try and replicate historic runs and firsts, and a semi-multiplayer mode, where you race 7 players ghosts to come out on top as the fastest to clear, turn this from an amusing little diversion into a serious contender for players looking to test their skills.
Fairy Tail 2
Developer:Koei Tecmo America
Release Date: Winter 2024/25
Platforms: PS4, PS5, Switch, Steam
Marcy: To be frank: Unless you are a Fairy Tail fan, this game is very unlikely to be something worth your time. There’s not a lot to love in this trailer: the game looks kind of sluggish, and while the characters are nicely rendered and look authentic to the original series art designs, this kind of just falls into the usual ‘mediocre manga/anime tie-in action-rpg’. If you happen to have a Fairy Tail fan in the house, they might love this, but otherwise, probably a skip. Oh, and it will be on other platforms as well.
Jonathan: Feels like every single one of these licensed shonen anime games gets churned out in the same engine with the same underlying gameplay skeleton in the same poorly-tuned, underwhelming, hugely empty combat environments.
FANTASIAN Neo Dimension
Developer: SquareEnix
Release Date: Holiday 2024
Platforms: PS4 PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, Steam
Marcy: Carrying the pedigree of Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nobuo Uematsu, FANTASIAN was a nice surprise for fans of turn based RPGs, and the fact that this game is coming so soon makes one curious as to how long it has been in development. Something that may be hard to notice at first in the trailer: backgrounds, such as the fields shown off during battles, are physical, hand painted miniature dioramas. With something so uniquely beautiful and interesting, here’s hoping the gameplay and story of FANTASIAN can hold up to the aesthetic curiosity when it arrives this holiday season on multiple platforms.
Nintendo Sports Update: Basketball
Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: Summer 2024
Platforms: Switch
Marcy: If you’re a Nintendo Sports and Motion Controls fan, then good news: Basketball now exists, or will exist. Using a street ball style 2 on 2 system, there’s some cute little options being offered here, but if you are not a Nintendo Sports fan, you’re probably not going to miss much by not shooting virtual hoops with your Joycons.
Mio: Memories in Orbit
Developer: Duck Nine Games
Release: October 29, 2024
Platforms: Switch, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, Steam
Marcy: Who needs Silksong when you have colorful and vibrant games like Mio: Memories in Orbit? Well, that’s half a joke, but Mio seems to be following in the footsteps of other recent 2D Metroidvania games (and in fact, Focus sells it as exactly that in their copy for the game), and it was hard not to occasionally get Hollow Knight vibes from this game. The first game shown without a fairly close release date, Focus Interactive promise a 2025 release, so expect to see more of Mio as the year gets closer.
Disney Illusion Island
Developer: Disney
Release Date: Today!
Platforms: Switch
Marcy: A (welcome) surprise update to the 4 player co-op platformer starring Disney’s flagship characters Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy, Illusion Island is getting a free update to the game with brand new levels and content for players to explore. If you’ve never given the game a shot, it’s quite a fun little co-op platformer, and now you’ll get even more to play if you do so.
Hello Kitty Island Adventure
Developer: Sunblink
Release Date: Now for iOS, Timed Exclusive Switch 2025
Platforms: iOS, Switch, more after exclusivity period(?)
Marcy: That’s right, the gaming sensation you didn’t know existed is finally getting a console release, so you can put down Animal Crossing and instead play with global juggernaut Hello Kitty and all of her friends in Hello Kitty Island Adventure. Initially released on the Appstore for iOS devices, Island Adventure is a shockingly fun game in the vein of Animal Crossing, but with some slight differences. I was always baffled by the fact that it had no other platform release, but seems that’s because there was a deal in the works to first bring it to the Switch! So, either pop open your iPad or wait till next year to get adventuring with Hello Kitty and pals (including Gudetama and Aggretsuko, if you were curious how far the Sanrio roster goes in this).
Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports
Developer: GameMill
Release Date: Fall 2024
Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, Steam
Marcy: GameMill is a bit on the nose for a developer name, isn’t it? Anyway, this sure to be shovelware with wrong sounding Looney Tunes releases in fall and lets you do what the Looney Tunes are best known for: play a variety of sports turned into minigames (Listen. I can’t be excited for everything).
Among Us Update
Developer: Innsersloth
Release Date: Today
Platforms: Like, everything.
Marcy: A surprise announcement considering how much time Innersloth was given at the Summer Game Fest, today’s direct announced the update to the social deduction megastar in the form of new player classes and roles.
Farmagia
Developer: Marvelous USA
Release Date: November 1st, 2024
Platforms: PS5, Switch, Steam
There’s a lot going on in this trailer, first of which: Felicidad is a word that already exists, which makes it a weird ‘fantasy world’ name, and second: ‘Farmagia’ makes me want to either pinch my fingers like I’m making fun of Italians or question if someone just called me a slur. Also I guess this is a farming/pokemon style game with sort of forgettable graphics and designs, and is the second game in the showcase to feature characters designed by Hiro Mashima (which is funny, because his egregiously boobed women gave it away without them putting his name on the screen). It’s a little odd to say this but I think I’d rather just play Palworld?
Jonathan: Yeah, on first blush the name’s a little too much like something the Pope just got in trouble for saying, but even as a portmanteau of “farming” and “magic” it’s only slightly less baffling. It’s always fascinating to see what reaches escape velocity from the Japanese domestic market on these directs, but this seems like a firm miss.
Donkey Kong Country Returns HD
Developer: Retro Studios
Release Date: January 16, 2025
Platforms: Switch
Marcy: the Wii revival of Donkey Kong Country gets an HD upgrade in 2025, combining both the Wii and 3DS versions of the game into one new package. Taking the series from Rare’s dead hands, Retro Studios blew people away with DKCR when it first released, having managed to mostly nail the magic of the original DKC while adding some new updates. Hopefully this version is playable without the need to use motion controls in any way, but the inclusion of couch co-op is a great touch, and it’s nice to see DKCR not get lost to time as the Wii fades from memory.
Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake
Developer: SquareEnix
Release Date: November 14, 2024
Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC
Marcy: The best-selling Dragon Quest game of all time, and the title to launch the series into the stratosphere of RPG legends, Dragon Quest 3 is getting a frankly gorgeous remake that takes pages out of Octopath Traveller’s aesthetics. DQ3 the standard bearer for what “Dragon Quest” even meant (It was the game’s success that made Enix decided to only release Dragon Quest games on weekends in every new iteration), so I’m quite excited to revisit this classic when it releases later this year. And I’ll be honest, I got a bit of chills when I heard the classic DQ fanfare music at the end while they announced that DQ 1 and 2 will ALSO get the HD-2D Remake treatment in 2025! It was nice to also see Yuji Horii speak about the games afterwards, as the only remaining part of the trio that included legendary artist Akira Toriyama, rest in peace, and some dude that sucked, Koichi Sugiyama.
Funko Fusion
Developer: 10:10 Games
Release Date: September 13, 2024
Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, Steam
Marcy: Sorry but my soul left my body when they credited all of the media franchises as being “from the Funko Universe.”
Jonathan: This “toy” empire can’t speedrun bankruptcy soon enough.
Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD
Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: June 27, 2024
Platforms: Switch
Marcy: Anyway, moving on to a game that doesn’t suck–wait, sorry, sucking is actually a major mechanic here–Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is making its way to the Switch before the end of the month. A great entry in the series, the Luigi’s Mansion games were always a ton of fun, so I’m excited to get back into the ghostbusting silliness again when it does.
The New Denpa Men
Developer: Genius Sonority
Release Date: July 22, 2024 (Timed Exclusive)
Platforms: Switch, others TBA(?)
Marcy: I have to be honest: I never expected to see the Denpa Men ever again. That’s not a bad thing. I really liked the original Denpa Men game, a combination of wacky aesthetics and gameplay with a fairly solid RPG and collectible engine underneath. The game has been out in Japan, and apparently will be free to play, while also being a timed exclusive of some sort. I couldn’t find much info on what other platforms would get the game, but perhaps we’ll find out after the game releases in July. Also, I just thought I’d mention that the Japanese name for this is “The New Denpa Men RPG Free!”, which is… a choice.
Metal Slug Attack Reloaded
Developer: SNK
Release Date: Today!
Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch, PC, Mobile(?)
Marcy: RAWKIT LAWN-CHAIR! Metal Slug is back, kind of, in what is essentially a tower-defense deck-building spin on the classic 2D platform shooter from SNK. The game promises PVE and PVP modes, although as a former mobile game, it’s probably worth giving this a ‘try and see’ approach if you like what it offers, and don’t go in expecting it to be the Metal Slug you remember. It does, at least, have nice looking sprites.
Darkest Dungeon II
Developer: Red Hook Studios
Release Date: July 15, 2024 (consoles)
Platforms: PS4, PS5, Switch, PC (Out)
Marcy: The follow-up to Darkest Dungeon, Red Hook’s sequel finally makes its way to consoles on July 15th. There is supposed to be a planned update this year for the game for PC owners as well, but it was unclear from the trailer if this console release contained or was going to herald those updates; if you’ve never played the game, or were waiting for a console release, now’s your chance.
Jonathan: I reviewed the game here a couple years ago, and since then they’ve added a new biome and overhauled all the metaprogression systems in a good way.
Nintendo Online + Expansion Pack
Marcy: One of the parts of Nintendo Online that gets forgotten is that there are a ton of games at your fingertips just for having a membership, which is sometimes worth noting as part of the price you’re paying to use the service, or a reason to buy the service at all. This little bumper announcement heralded Link to the Past Four Swords from the GBA, Metroid: Zero Mission, and the N64 Mature 17+ collection, including Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and the original Perfect Dark, including online multiplayer, with the promise that all four games would be live by the time you’re reading this.
Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero
Developer: NIS
Release Date: 2025
Platforms: Switch (No others listed at this time)
Marcy: If you were to tell me “Marcy, NIS is going to release a Phantom Brave sequel”, I would probably have thought you crazy. The original game released in 2005, so this was certainly not one I expected to get a new installment for, but am kind of happy to see how this one turns out. The Confine system and updates to the turn based strategy game seem to be helping to make this stand apart from other NIS games like Disgaea, and it would be nice to see if NIS can recapture some of their lost spark from recent installments of the Disgaea series here.
Marvel vs. CAPCOM Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics
Developer: Capcom
Release Date: 2024
Platforms: PS4, Switch, and PC
Marcy: Depending on your age, the period of time in which Capcom and Marvel teamed up were some of the best years in gaming, with titles like The Punisher, X-Men: Children of the Atom, and of course, Marvel vs. Capcom 2. This collection puts those and 4 other titles (Marvel Super Heroes, X-Men vs.Street Fighter, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, and Marvel vs. Capcom) into one hefty package. Most importantly, this game has online play, so assuming the netcode is solid, it’s time, once again, for MAHVEL BABY!
Jonathan: I do not think I have thought about this Punisher beat-em-up in literally two decades of my life, maybe more, and it was a bit surprising to see it get this place of prominence as the only single-player game they could rustle up for the bundle.
Super Mario Party Jamboree
Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: October 17, 2024
Platforms: Switch
Marcy: Promising the largest collection of mini-games yet, the bright and colorful new Super Mario Party looks like it will be happy to help end your friendships in style. While I’ve always had a soft spot for Mario Party, a lot of the recent iterations have not been very good; I’m a little worried about the inclusion of new motion controls. The “Koopathlon” mode promises up to 20(?!) players, which could either be amazing or a disaster.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: September 26 2024
Platforms: Switch
Marcy: Zelda finally gets her turn in the spotlight of her own series, where the fate of Hyrule (and Link, I guess) hang in the balance. The super-deformed look of the game is fun and colorful, and the gameplay offered as players take the role of Zelda seems interesting. Eiji Aonuma talked through some of the design decisions, such as not giving Zelda a sword (which, whatever…), instead focusing on using magic to create “echoes”, giving the game a larger sense of puzzle solving adventure than combat focused gameplay. While that might initially sound a little dampening, what was shown here looks fun and kind of freeform, which means that players will have the ability to solve puzzles creatively (an example showed Zelda using a table to jump over an obstacle, and then creating a barrier to walk past a similar obstacle). Also, they showed off a gorgeous Zelda-themed Switch Lite model that will release in September alongside the game.
Jonathan: Really missed a trick here to call it The Legend of Link. Looks completely unbalanced and unbalanceable in the way only the best sandbox games can be; I look forward to the 2:45 tools-unassisted speed run.
Just Dance 2025
Developer: Ubisoft
Release Date: 2025
Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch
Marcy: Just Dance is… just dancing. If you like the series, it’s back! If you don’t, well, anyway. If anything, I find the inclusion of “new” songs such as “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga and “Basket Case” by Green Day at least amusing; but also, Just Dance has a big following for people who use it to get some activity into their day, and for that, I’m not going to poke fun at it. Do you, guys/gals/nonbinary pals.
Jonathan: Much fewer dancers getting a payday for the ad for this year’s installment, which as far as I’m concerned was the franchise’s greatest virtue.
Lego Adventures: Horizon
Developer: Playstation Publishing
Release Date: Holiday 2024
Platforms: PS5, Switch, PC
Marcy: First shown during the Summer Game Fest, we got another look at the crossover of Lego and Horizon. I still think this being the game that brings Aloy multi platform is still a bizarre choice, but it does look colorful and fun, and if you like co-op games, this is another great choice that fits a lot of age demographics. Also, online and couch co-op were confirmed.
Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game
Developer: Private Division
Release Date: Holiday 2024
Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Switch
Marcy: In a game that kind of misses much of the point of Lord of the Rings, Tales of the Shire is a “cozy” game in which players take on the role of a new resident of the shire of Bywater. If you’re into these sort of lifesim games AND love Lord of the Rings as an aesthetic setting, well, then you’ve got a game to look forward to! However, I can’t say much about how well it plays or what level of investment the game deserves. It also makes a point to show off Gandalf, because of course it does.
Ace Attorney Investigations Collection
Developer: Capcom
Release Date: September 6, 2024
Platforms: Switch, PS4, Xbox One, Windows, Steam
Marcy: The spinoff from the Ace Attorney games, Ace Attorney Investigations lets players take on the role of semi-antagonist and certainly not rivals-to-lovers prosecutor Miles Edgeworth as he investigates crime scenes and gets to finally play the role of the good guy for once. The most exciting part of this release is that the second game is now getting an official release, having only existed previously as a fan translation (Only real ones will remember Sebastian Debeste)! Ace Attorney holds a very special place in my heart as a franchise, as I met my wife through our shared interest in it, so I’m always excited to get new chances to reignite my love of the franchise, and highly recommend checking it out if you’ve never tried them before, and once this releases, the entire franchise is now officially localized and available!
The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy
Developer: Too Kyo Games
Release Date: 2025
Platforms: Switch and Steam
Marcy: The moment you see Rui Komatsuzaki art, you know you’re probably in for something weird and unexpected, which is exactly what The Hundred Line seems to be promising. And with the team of Danganronpa’s Kazutaka Kodaka and Zero Escape’s Uchikoshi, it is very likely this game will either be peak fiction or peak fiction (train wreck connotation). The gameplay seems to be turn-based strategy of some form, which is an interesting departure from the usual visual-novel style games of both previous designer’s works. Promising up to 100 endings in a bizarre dystopian future, this game is up my alley, and I hope it lives up to the pedigree.
Stray
Developer: BlueTwelve Studio
Release Date: Late 2024
Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, MacOS, now Switch
Marcy: The 2022 game that everyone thought was just “a cute game where you play as a cat”, BlueTwelve’s dystopian game that is certainly NOT just about playing as a cat finally makes its way to the Switch later this year. There’s no promise of new or updated content, so if you just were absolutely waiting to play this on the Switch, here you go.
Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven
Developer: SquareEnix
Release Date: October 24, 2024
Platforms: PS4, PS5, Switch, Steam
Marcy: The SaGa series has always struggled slightly to make a big splash in the West, but that hasn’t stopped the series from remaining popular globally and getting new HD updates and remakes. The SaGa games have always allowed an unusual amount of freedom in how players approach them, with options for progression not always clearly spelled out and often up to the whims of inquisitiveness of the players; Romancing SaGa 2 is the best selling game in the franchise, but ironically hasn’t had much time to shine in the West, so if you’re curious, the new version of the game releases later this year with a gorgeous remaster.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: 2025
Platforms: Switch
Marcy: Somehow also mastering the “one more thing” part of Directs, Nintendo closed out this mammoth showcase with a game players have been clamoring for for years: Samus Aran is back in Metroid Prime 4, reviving the first-person iteration of the franchise that has been dormant for eighteen years. The trailer didn’t promise a specific release date, but did show some early gameplay and footage, so we’ll have to wait for more soon, but so far, things look pretty solid for this long awaited update to the Metroid franchise.
Wrap Up
Marcy: Holy hell that was a lot of games; leave it to Nintendo to simply drop a bomb of titles on people without any warning and then just wander off like nothing happened! This Direct did a really nice job of showing the vitality of the Switch as a platform, and also some of the odd weaknesses; there are a lot of great new games coming out, which means fear of an imminent replacement in the nebulous Switch Successor can be put to rest for a little while, but also the fact that Nintendo still does lag behind a bit in some areas became more apparent (Stray is nearly 2 years old at this point, and people have largely moved on from caring about it).
That doesn’t always matter to Nintendo, though, which is maybe the best possible conclusion. While the Wii and Wii U era were a little rocky due to the focus on their inability to “keep up” with modern gaming, the way the industry has been teetering on collapse and burnout from too many of the same gloomy and dreary games has allowed the Switch to capitalize with a wide, diverse market of games for almost anyone and everyone to be able to play, and today’s Direct reinforced that, with lots of variety for all ages and demographics to find something new to play on their consoles.
There will certainly be more gaming news on the horizon, especially with Gamescom looming on the horizon in August. We’ll keep you posted with updates and digests like these if you can’t watch, or just want to hear our lovely opinions on them!
Also play Ace Attorney. Now.
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