Nintendo Direct 14 Sep 2023 - Another Code, Paper Mario, F-Zero 99 and More!

[Shiny Gems]

A Nintendo Direct is happening, guys!

 

[Waveshocker Sigma]

  

39 minutes ago, ShinyGems said:

A Nintendo Direct is happening, guys!

 

It was never a matter of "if", only of "when".

[ZinogreVolt]

I'd ask for something outrageous like Golden Sun, but I doubt that would happen before it even gets put on NSO.

[Salamander]

Is it weird that I don't feel like it's been that long since the last one?  Or is that just the burden of all the games I already want to play?

[Sonicka]

F-Zero.

Come ON NINTENDO. 

[Shiny Gems]

Here are the US Nintendo Direct and the UK Nintendo Direct respectively.

[Salamander]

Never in a million years would I have expected an Another Code remake.  What a complete blinder, and it's both games, too.  A must-buy for me and the like ten other Another Code fans in the world.

The new SaGa, SaGa Emerald Beyond, looks fantastic, too!  What an incredible set of playable characters.

So yeah that's pretty much all I needed for this to be a good direct.  Unicorn Overlord looked pretty intriguing too, though, the Atlus/Vanillaware strategy title.

[Sonicka]

18 hours ago, Sonicka said:

F-Zero.

Come ON NINTENDO. 

F-Zero 99. Those bloody left field turns. You were SO close Nintendo. XD

Loving the look of the Peach game and brilliant that they finally announced that the Paper Mario Thousand Year Door remake is happening. My only quibble is that it's feels a little TOO soon considering Super Mario RPG (also a remake), but hey this is still good! 

[Dreadknux]

Splitting this into its own topic, as there's a lot to talk about here!

I thought this was a pretty good showing considering that Nintendo is likely winding down the big guns for the Switch and clearly moving focus to the successor. I think they were trying really hard to communicate that they had at least a game coming out every month or so, which was nice to see (even if some of those were remakes like Luigi's Mansion 2 and Mario vs DK).

Never played the Another Code games and I think they'd be right up my alley. F-Zero 99 sounds absolutely mad, but it's obviously no new game... Paper Mario was the big hitter but that's got it's own topic so.

Funnily enough I was really interested in the Tomb Raider collection. That'd be so cool to have on my Switch!

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Personally, I found this was a pretty weak one. Not downright bad or anything, the Sora amiibo and the TTYD remake boosted it quite a bit, and I liked seeing Tomb Raider Remastered.

But it did feel like every fun announcement has a * beside it.

Splatoon 3 DLC!

...which has been pushed into 2024 after a immensely lackluster first DLC.

New Donkey Kong game!

...it's a remake of Mario VS Donkey Kong for full price and only includes one single game and didn't see fit to include March of the Minis or DK '94.

New F-Zero game!

...it's a 99 player battle royale using the harder to control SNES version instead of something like F-Zero X

Luigi's Mansion 2 HD!

...somehow it's not coming out until Summer 2024, even though the graphical leap isn't very high, and the untitled Peach game announced at the same Direct is being pushed ahead of it.

Add in the same looking RPG titles that seem to always do the same thing at this point (SNES/GBA esque sprites exploring big more graphically intensive world) and I wouldn't say it was a particularly stellar showing, especially when so much of it was riding off the coattails of the very good previous direct with stuff like Peach, Warioware, and so on. 

Maybe it's a result of the previous direct being something that was genuinely special with all of the big surprise heavy hitting titles that was widely varied as well. This time, it was just mostly updates, or conditional hits, or the same kind of RPGs that frankly have become dime a dozen when it comes to Directs at this point. 

Still, TTYD does score it a crap ton of points. As does that Sora amiibo. Even if I wish they had included a KH2/KH3 variant as they did with Cloud.

[Sean]

Paper Mario, Peach, and F-Zero 99 were all pretty cool announcements/reveals but Another Code Recollection was the highlight for me. Cing's games are very dear to me and the two Kyle Hyde games are some of my favorite all time narratives. I hope these do well enough for Hotel Dusk/Last Window remakes.

[Salamander]

40 minutes ago, Sean said:

Paper Mario, Peach, and F-Zero 99 were all pretty cool announcements/reveals but Another Code Recollection was the highlight for me. Cing's games are very dear to me and the two Kyle Hyde games are some of my favorite all time narratives. I hope these do well enough for Hotel Dusk/Last Window remakes.

"The Kyle Hyde Memoirs: Hotel Dusk & Last Window".  Something like that.

I never in a thousand years would have expected to see an Another Code remake, of all things, but it looks fantastic!  I assume Nintendo is looking to its back catalogue both to diversify its portfolio (adventure games) and for titles which might be difficult to port to legacy services in future (because of course the duology are so dependent on DS/Wii console features).

[Blue Blood]

Disappointed by the lack of Tomb Raider love in this thread. 

There were a number of good announcements in this Direct, but Tomb Raider ended up being the highlight for me. I mean TTYD is amazing, but Tomb Raider is equally as exciting. They're masterful early 3D creations. Humble, but incredibly good. And despite being so iconic, especially for the PlayStation 1, they're not really accessible these days. The remastered versions look fantastic. Fans of the series who are, at best, torn over the state of the franchise today as it's handled by Crystal Dynamics are going to be stoked to have the chance to go back to the old days. Ngl though, I'm kind of dreading what the next new game in the series will be. Rise and Shadow ate utter shite. And even though I actually rather enjoy TR'13, it ain't "Tomb Raider" and it doesn't star "Lara Croft".

Tell you what did disappoint me though; Princess Peach Showtime. I don't know what I was expecting from the initial teaser months ago, but the end result is looking pretty damn boring. Graphics are great. But that gameplay? Snooze fest. It actually reminds me of Luigi's Mansion in some ways, which I found to be similarly dull tbh. You've typically got a side-scrolling perspective with full 3D movement (very fitting for a theatre and stage setting), and a bunch of challenges in every level that play out in a very linear, specific way. When I've played Luigi's Mansion, I've been put off by how the games aren't built to be replayed. It feels like the exact same thing every time, and each level provides the same experience as the last but tries to hide it with a new aesthetics. Any truly unique elements are just shallow minigames/gimmicks. That's the same impression I get from Showtime. I was hoping for something more "traditional platformer", I guess. Super Princess Peach on the DS was a fun little game, even if it was on the tame-side of things. 

Splatoon 3 DLC looks interesting, but I'm not sure what to say about it yet. Even though Splatoon is a multiplayer game first and foremost, I'll always have most fun with the single player campaign. All of the campaigns so far are really good, and this one appears to be doing something different. I like the idea that they say its focused on being replayed time and time again. I just need to know how it actually works. I'll probably end up buying it. The DLC as it currently stands though is basically just a skin for the main hub. It looks like a ridiculous waste of money.