The rumors about a January 2018 Nintendo Direct started what feels like eons ago, back in the simpler days before Nintendo had resorted to setting Chibi-Robo ablaze to sate the clamoring masses’ thirst for answers. Even without the leaks and insider tips, it always made sense for a Direct to drop this month. With Switch’s software and sales successes in 2017, everyone’s been wondering what’s in store for the new year.
It was roughly a year ago when Nintendo revealed the Switch alongside a roadmap of their launch-year titles, and many were hoping for a sort of repeat of that strategy in this rumored Direct. And after all the fervor and speculation with no official advance announcement, the hype train was in full effect. What we ultimately got after the rollercoaster of emotions was a “surprise” Nintendo Direct Mini on Thursday morning that (as the Mini designation suggests) was nowhere near as expansive or Earth-shattering as many had hoped, but did contain a consistently solid grouping of announcements covering the next few months.
Headlining it all was Dark Souls: Remastered, a perfect fit for Switch and a very nice third-party classic to add to the system’s lineup. And keeping with the third-party announcements, we also saw The World Ends with You: Final Remix (a DS port which hopefully is a sign that a sequel might be in the pipeline), Ys VIII, SNK Heroines (a new SNK fighting game), and the stylish EA-published indie title Fe.
On the first-party front, Nintendo showed off a bit of new gameplay for Kirby Star Allies and gave a March 16 release date for the pink puffball’s Switch debut. They also announced ports of Wii U titles Hyrule Legends and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.
Super Mario Odyssey is getting some free DLC next month containing some minor niceties, including a new Balloon World mode that seems to be a sort of asynchronous online competitive mini-game. Meanwhile, in paid DLC news, Donkey Kong is coming to Mario + Rabbids as a playable character in a future content release and Pokken Tournament DX is getting a handful of new fighters.
The only newly-announced original first-party title in the Direct was Mario Tennis Aces, which looks to rectify an oft-cited series complaint by including a Story Mode. It’ll be out this Spring, so more details are still to come.
For me, perhaps the most promising game in the presentation was indie title Celeste. It’s a sweet-looking retro-styled platformer from the makers of Towerfall and it looks glorious. More on this one when it releases in a couple of weeks.
All in all, it was a good Direct with little filler, though it leaves a lot of questions unanswered. What of the upcoming paid online service? Where’s Yoshi? When will we see updates on previously-announced Switch entries in the Fire Emblem, Pokémon, and Metroid series? Which will come first: Smash, Animal Crossing, Pikmin, or Chibi-Robo: Fire Clean with Me? Guess we’ll find out in the next Nintendo Direct, which should arrive any minute now…