Just like that online Ganon player hit you with that warlock punch you weren’t prepared for, Nintendo just hit us all with a surprise mini-direct out of nowhere. Despite its diminutive qualifier, the presentation weighs in at a nearly 30-minute length, so we’re here to catch you up to speed on everything you missed.
Nintendo began by confirming what most of us probably expected at this point: the COVID-19 pandemic will potentially push release dates back, with that possibility even extending to the titles shown in the direct.
With that in mind, the real show begins with a whopping 3-minute long trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition. The carefully crafted world of The Bionis still looks stunning in high definition and the trailer’s emphasis on story gives a good look at the game’s redone character animations. They surpass not only the original’s in terms of fluidity and expression, but arguably even the Nintendo Switch’s very own Xenoblade Chronicles 2. And as if that weren’t enough already, we also got a tease of some new story content. Future Connected will be an epilogue exclusive to the definitive edition, but it looks like we’ll have to wait for the May 29th release date to know more.
The next and probably less expected segment came courtesy of 2K Games, who will be bringing Borderlands Legendary Collection, Bioshock: The Collection and XCom 2: Collection also on May 29th. These collections all seem to be running well on the Switch’s hardware, but there doesn’t seem to be any new content, so let’s jump straight to…
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, whose DLC expansion passes can be purchased for 3 postgame campaigns. Curse of the Vampire, which gives some love to the Marvel Knights stories, an adaptation of a classic X-Men storyline in Rise of the Phoenix and the new Shadow of Doom which will mark The Fantastic Four’s long-awaited return to the world of gaming. All passes are already available for purchase.
A quick trailer followed for the undersea 2D adventure Shinsekai: Into the Depths, promising exploration, combat and—best of all—a jukebox feature that will allow players to create their own remixes of the game’s soundtrack. It also is available right away.
But the news we were probably all waiting for came with the belated announcement of Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ free update that launched earlier today. No, it’s not just about taking duplication glitches away, it will also allow Zipper T. Bunny to visit players from April 1st-12th to celebrate Bunny day and invite them on an egg-hunt. The trailer shows eggs being found in the ground and sea, albeit initially appearing identical to your run-of-the-mill fossils and fish before being uncovered. A second update was also promised for later next month, bringing Earth Day events and some other as of yet undisclosed goodies.
But if indie is more your scene, the following trailer for Good Job! gave a quick demonstration of the labor-simulator’s puzzle-oriented gameplay to promote its launch today. Speaking of puzzles, Catherine: Full Body also had a trailer, preparing us for its July 7th, 2020 release date.
The following announcement featured Ring Fit Adventure’s new rhythm game mode, with tracks from Mario, Zelda, and Splatoon to choose from. Other audio additions include a new female-voice option for your ring buddy and the ability to play in different languages. Jogging was also showcased as a new free-play style alternative to the main game’s missions for those who want to take their workout at their own pace.
But the other news we were probably all waiting for came with the announcement of the new Super Smash Bros. Ultimate character… kind of. Nintendo confirmed the new fighter would be from ARMS, but also confirmed we’ll have to wait until their release this June to learn who it will be (hopefully Twintelle). But those not familiar with the early Switch title can catch up thanks to the game going free to play for Nintendo Switch online owners from today until April 6th.
If this already seems like a lot of information for you, strap yourself in, because Bravely Default II got a 4-minute trailer showcasing its story, world, and combat. All of these will be familiar to seasoned RPG veterans. In addition to the returning BP system, characters can now be equipped with items called asterisks, effectively acting as jobs in a way reminiscent of Final Fantasy V. An eShop demo has been released for the game too.
Following that, the direct took us to some quick presentations for:
Not had enough yet? Well, neither did Nintendo, who launched into a showcase of the upcoming Pokemon: Sword and Shield expansion pass: The Isle of Armor. The most significant announcement is of the two trial towers trainers will be using to test their mettle: The Tower of Darkness and Tower of Waters. Players will select one of the two towers to train their new legendary Pokemon Kubfu, with the choice of tower reflected in the form the new creature will adopt when evolving into Urshifu. The Tower of Darkness will grant a single strike style, whereas water will grant a form focused on rapid strikes, each naturally bringing exclusive attacks. Other points of interest include the previously seen gigantamax forms of the starter Pokemons’ evolutions, new cosmetics, new League Card backgrounds, and an increased chance of finding gigantamaxed Copperajah, Duralodon, Garbador, and Charizard in raid battles.
And with that, we’ve finally reached the end of this ostensibly Mini Nintendo Direct. It had a lot of information to take in and a lot of new game releases available right now, so we hope you all enjoyed it.
Nintendo began by confirming what most of us probably expected at this point: the COVID-19 pandemic will potentially push release dates back, with that possibility even extending to the titles shown in the direct.
With that in mind, the real show begins with a whopping 3-minute long trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition. The carefully crafted world of The Bionis still looks stunning in high definition and the trailer’s emphasis on story gives a good look at the game’s redone character animations. They surpass not only the original’s in terms of fluidity and expression, but arguably even the Nintendo Switch’s very own Xenoblade Chronicles 2. And as if that weren’t enough already, we also got a tease of some new story content. Future Connected will be an epilogue exclusive to the definitive edition, but it looks like we’ll have to wait for the May 29th release date to know more.
The next and probably less expected segment came courtesy of 2K Games, who will be bringing Borderlands Legendary Collection, Bioshock: The Collection and XCom 2: Collection also on May 29th. These collections all seem to be running well on the Switch’s hardware, but there doesn’t seem to be any new content, so let’s jump straight to…
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, whose DLC expansion passes can be purchased for 3 postgame campaigns. Curse of the Vampire, which gives some love to the Marvel Knights stories, an adaptation of a classic X-Men storyline in Rise of the Phoenix and the new Shadow of Doom which will mark The Fantastic Four’s long-awaited return to the world of gaming. All passes are already available for purchase.
A quick trailer followed for the undersea 2D adventure Shinsekai: Into the Depths, promising exploration, combat and—best of all—a jukebox feature that will allow players to create their own remixes of the game’s soundtrack. It also is available right away.
But the news we were probably all waiting for came with the belated announcement of Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ free update that launched earlier today. No, it’s not just about taking duplication glitches away, it will also allow Zipper T. Bunny to visit players from April 1st-12th to celebrate Bunny day and invite them on an egg-hunt. The trailer shows eggs being found in the ground and sea, albeit initially appearing identical to your run-of-the-mill fossils and fish before being uncovered. A second update was also promised for later next month, bringing Earth Day events and some other as of yet undisclosed goodies.
But if indie is more your scene, the following trailer for Good Job! gave a quick demonstration of the labor-simulator’s puzzle-oriented gameplay to promote its launch today. Speaking of puzzles, Catherine: Full Body also had a trailer, preparing us for its July 7th, 2020 release date.
The following announcement featured Ring Fit Adventure’s new rhythm game mode, with tracks from Mario, Zelda, and Splatoon to choose from. Other audio additions include a new female-voice option for your ring buddy and the ability to play in different languages. Jogging was also showcased as a new free-play style alternative to the main game’s missions for those who want to take their workout at their own pace.
But the other news we were probably all waiting for came with the announcement of the new Super Smash Bros. Ultimate character… kind of. Nintendo confirmed the new fighter would be from ARMS, but also confirmed we’ll have to wait until their release this June to learn who it will be (hopefully Twintelle). But those not familiar with the early Switch title can catch up thanks to the game going free to play for Nintendo Switch online owners from today until April 6th.
If this already seems like a lot of information for you, strap yourself in, because Bravely Default II got a 4-minute trailer showcasing its story, world, and combat. All of these will be familiar to seasoned RPG veterans. In addition to the returning BP system, characters can now be equipped with items called asterisks, effectively acting as jobs in a way reminiscent of Final Fantasy V. An eShop demo has been released for the game too.
Following that, the direct took us to some quick presentations for:
- Tabletop game collection Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics releasing June 5th, 2020
- Free-to-play gum-based ninja multiplayer arena combat game Ninjala releasing May 27th, 2020
- Re-released third-person action game Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy releasing today alongside
- On-rails dragon shooter Panzer Dragoon: Remake
- Star Wars: Episode 1 Racer confirmed for release at an unconfirmed date.
- Action-RPG Trials of Mana releasing April 24th
- Pop-focused rhythm game Fuser is set to drop this fall
- Mobile action game The Elder Scrolls: Blades for spring
- Sci-fi strategy game Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus in May,
- Grim survival shooter Vigor’s closed beta on April 9th
- Racing classic Burnout: Paradise at an unconfirmed 2020 date
- Goofy sandbox crime game Saints Row IV - Re-Elected on March 27th
- Hardcore JRPG juggernaut The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III on June 30th,
- Adorable puzzle game Mr. Driller DrilLand on June 25th
- And the self-explanatory Minecraft Dungeons in spring.
Not had enough yet? Well, neither did Nintendo, who launched into a showcase of the upcoming Pokemon: Sword and Shield expansion pass: The Isle of Armor. The most significant announcement is of the two trial towers trainers will be using to test their mettle: The Tower of Darkness and Tower of Waters. Players will select one of the two towers to train their new legendary Pokemon Kubfu, with the choice of tower reflected in the form the new creature will adopt when evolving into Urshifu. The Tower of Darkness will grant a single strike style, whereas water will grant a form focused on rapid strikes, each naturally bringing exclusive attacks. Other points of interest include the previously seen gigantamax forms of the starter Pokemons’ evolutions, new cosmetics, new League Card backgrounds, and an increased chance of finding gigantamaxed Copperajah, Duralodon, Garbador, and Charizard in raid battles.
And with that, we’ve finally reached the end of this ostensibly Mini Nintendo Direct. It had a lot of information to take in and a lot of new game releases available right now, so we hope you all enjoyed it.
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