Exciting Announcements from the Latest Nintendo Direct
The Nintendo Direct that aired last week confirmed one thing - this is the end for the Nintendo Switch’s lifecycle. All resources have clearly moved over to the next Switch and I’m here for all of that. But at least the Switch is going out with a solid line up that should keep fans happy between now and whatever is coming next. I personally didn’t find a lot in the line up that I’ll personally pick up, but there are a couple of gems I can’t wait for.
I will personally use this time to clear out my Switch backlog. There are a lot of games and DLCs I have yet to tackle and with only five-ish new games coming up that I will definitely pick up - now’s the time to dig into the crates and finish the games I have yet to play yet.
With that said, here are the four games featured in the Direct that I will certainly pick up on Day One:
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Grabbing this by default as 2D Mario is my childhood. It looks to have so much more charisma and personality than the ‘New’ series with unique animations for the characters and wonder fruit mechanic. Looking forward to picking this one up in a month’s time.
Super Mario RPG
The return of a classic. So many people who weren’t around during SNES era have yet to play this and I’m so excited for them. I’m concerned that the difficulty may be too lenient as this is sort of a beginner’s RPG; but perhaps Nintendo thought ahead and added a hard mode in there somewhere. It’s not a particularly long game but I’m excited to support it. I actually preordered this game instead of Mario Bros. Wonder because I wanted my preorder to count for this title - 2D Mario will always be fine, sales-wise, and didn’t need it. I’m excited to go through this one again to see the updated visuals an hear what Shimomura has been up to with the arrangements.
Unicorn Overlord
This game completely grabbed my attention during the Direct. It’s no secret that I am a HUGE Ogre Battle fan; and this title is giving me huge March of the Black Queen & Person of Lordly Caliber vibes and I couldn’t be more excited. This is a Vanillaware developed title, so I expect fantastic artwork and animation. I also expect Sakimoto & Iwata to contribute to the score via Basiscape. We got a little more information on the title yesterday, divulging some plot, character, and gameplay details.
Before this drops, I’ll have finished Fire Emblem: Engage plus the DLC and I’ll hopefully have gotten through Tactics Ogre Reborn before this drops March 8, 2024. I have no idea of when I’ll get around to Triangle Strategy at all.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is peak Mario role-playing. It’s actually one of my favorite RPGs of all time. It deserves this treatment. I’m hopeful that everyone with interest in the Mario series and RPGs will give this a try. I'm really hoping enough people support it so that Paper Mario can go back to this style of full-fledged RPG again. The series went all the way downhill after this title - no, Super Paper Mario does not get a pass! I’m desperate for this game to do well so that we can more games in this style going forward!
Honorable Mentions:
I’m curious about Princess Peach: Showtime! I’ll pick it up depending on hands-on impressions and reviews
Star Ocean: The Second Story R is a day one purchase as well. I’ll finish that during my playthroughs of Mario Bros. Wonder and Super Mario RPG.