Switch 2 Direct Countdown

Nintendo Switch 2 Direct

Monday, January 15, 2018

Nintendo Direct Mini Reactions/Thoughts




After 3,000 years, rumors a many blossoming, the dancing of the Mii in the legendary garb of the Hot Dog, and the flames from the Robo of Chibi igniting...

...Nintendo Strikes Again...



In a non-dramatic version of that statement, Nintendo released the first Nintendo Direct of 2018. Not only was it heavily rumored, it was heavily hyped-up. So what did I think of the announcements and what did I think of the direct in general. Well lets dive in and see what we get.



Also, I want to know your opinions. What did you think of the direct? Was it Good? Bad? At an awkward time in the day? Let me know in the comments.

Also, here's the link to the actual direct if you haven't seen it yet. (Nintendo Direct Mini)


The World Ends With You -Final Remix- (2018): This was a surprise, and really good way to start. This Square-Enix RPG was originally on the Nintendo DS and now is getting an HD Remake on Nintendo Switch, with a new story added in. I found this to be a really great surprise and I do want to get this game. While I never got the chance to try the original, I did find out about this series thanks to another Square game, Kingdom Hearts 3D Dream Drop Distance. I think this is great remake to put on Switch and I look forward to when it comes out. 

Pokken Tournament DX DLC Packs (Wave 1 - 1/31, Wave 2 - 3/23): Again, a good announcement and I like that Pokken Tournament is starting to thrive more on Switch, at least enough to warrant DLC. I think that the packs themselves don't quite reach the $15 price point, but maybe we don't know everything in the pack and I still think that the new characters, Aegislash & Blastoise, are indeed worth it.

Kirby Star Allies (March 21): As you can see we finally got a release date for the first Kirby entry on Switch. Not only that we saw some new abilities from Kirby, some new levels, and a general gist of the story. So yeah, this was good. That's it...
  • Kirby Battle Royale Demo - Available Now (Okay, I knew that)
  • Dragon Quest Builders Demo - Available Now (That I didn't know, Cool)
Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition (Spring 2018): First off... I TOLD YOU, I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN! (Link to that list.) So anyway, this is a port of Hyrule Warriors from Wii U and 3DS with all of the Characters, Maps, Costumes, and My Fairy feature from 3DS all on Switch. I said that I wanted this to be ported on the Switch, I thought it would be fitting seeing as we have FE Warriors on Switch. So I'm excited for this and I'm happy its coming. Boy, that's two games from my list that came true, I wonder what else could Nintendo do with my list...

Mario Tennis Aces (Spring 2018): When I saw this game I thought it was going to be like its Wii U counterpart with some upgrades like graphics and new stadiums. Not only did those come true, but there was a lot more. For one Mario looks like he's actually ready to play tennis with a really cool looking tennis outfit. However, one of the biggest things out of this announcement was that this game was going to have a story mode, which hasn't been in a Mario Tennis game since the GameBoy Advance. Not to mention the environments look so nicely detailed and the gameplay isn't just a round of tennis, it varies between mission. I thought this was a good surprise and its nice to see a new Mario Sports Spin-off coming soon to Switch.

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana (Summer 2018): Honestly, I didn't know there was an Ys 1. With that said, this game looks really good. It kind of reminds me of Monster Hunter and some of those gameplay elements. In this game you end up shipwrecked on an island where everything is trying to kill you, because of course they are. So you team up with other survivors, build up a base camp, and fight off the monsters of the land to discover a way off and the secrets of the island. While not quite a game that I would say I had to have I did find the gameplay interesting. It had a fast-paced battle system with some RPG elements and I thought the monsters looked really cool. Not quite my style, but nowhere near a bad one, maybe I'll try it out.

Super Mario Odyssey - Luigi's Balloon World DLC (February 2018): This new DLC for Mario Odyssey was a nice surprise. Its an online game mode where you either hide balloons for other players to find or search around the levels to find balloons other players have hidden. I think its fun, its a nice free update, and I theorize it might lead to some DLC you can purchase in the future. Overall, I like it and any reason to play more Odyssey is fine by me.

SNK HEROINES Tag Team Frenzy (Summer 2018): So, this is a fighting game featuring female fighters from multiple SNK games coming together. This game really intrigued me, I never really heard of a fighting game like this and when I saw the actual gameplay I thought it looked good. It kinda had a BlazBlue vibe from it. I liked what I saw, I want to know more, but I think this is a game where I need to try a demo before I buy it. Still really cool looking.

DK in Mario + Rabbids (Coming Spring 2018): We finally know the newest character in Mario + Rabbids and its Donkey Kong. This was only a CG trailer so no actual gameplay, but I do think its a nice fit, seeing as we already have his Rabbid equivalent, and the trailer itself still holds the charm and humor that the game has. This DLC sounds good so far and I really hope we see a gameplay trailer soon.

PAY DAY 2 (February 21): This to me was a slower part seeing as we already knew about this game's release date, but what they showed was fine. The Switch version of this game has an exclusive character and gear and that again they reconfirmed the release date. That's it.

Fe (February 16): We now reach the game that let us know that there was a direct this month. This game looks beautiful. I really want to get my hands on this game to see how it plays and I'm glad we know the release date now.

Celeste (January 25): This was a cool looking indie title. I've always liked the "current 8-bit look" and the game looks like a fun platformer.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (May 4): Once again... I TOLD YOU SO! I knew this game would be ported to Switch eventually. Something new they announced was that Funky Kong was announced as a new character which I think was a good decision, even though he sounds like a glorified easy mode. The game looks fun and I'm glad its coming to Switch, but there is one issue. The price to pre-order this game is $59.99, this game on Wii U is $19.99. If this game is $60 and nothing else besides Funky Kong is added in, I'm not buying it. At max this game should be $35, although that's just me.

DARK SOULS Remastered (May 25): The surprise ending, to some people (more on that in a second), was the announcement of this game. I think that this is a great addition to the Switch library. I'm not a fan of the Dark Souls games, but I know a lot of people will be very happy this game is coming and I always appreciate third party games building up the Switch audience. I think what shocked me most about this game is that we got a release date. Not release "timing", not Winter/Spring 2018, not even just May 2018, a solid release date for the game, May 25th, 2018. This was a smart move and it shows that the game isn't just "coming to the system one of these days". A very good "surprise" and a decent way to end this mini direct.


Overall, I thought this was a good Nintendo Direct to start off the year. It wasn't a big event like last year's Switch Presentation, but it did have a lot of good announcements and surprises, reconfirmed or gave us release dates for games, and the pacing of the direct itself was very well handled.

However, there is an issue that I had with the direct and that was how it was a "surprise". The thing is even if it was a surprise direct that came out of nowhere, there was no information given beforehand. There wasn't even a simple tweet from Nintendo saying "Watch out for tomorrow" just vague hints, Chibi-Robo on fire, and a Mii in a Hot Dog suit. I liked Nintendo having fun with its fans on Social Media, but they could've let us know something, ANYTHING in advance. The only reason I thought to look was because I saw a post on Twitter saying that a Direct Mini was going to happen and that Dark Souls was going to be announced. I just wanted some advanced notice, even if it was just something like "Stay tuned for tomorrow".

So besides that, I enjoyed the Direct, and I hope you guys did to. Let me know how you guys felt about the direct in the comments. Thanks for tuning in, and there will always be more where this came from.

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