Nintendo has always marched to the beat of its own drum, which is both refreshing and incredibly frustrating for fans of the developer and Switch owners looking for their next first-party fix. After setting a new precedent with direct delivery of gaming news with its aptly-named Nintendo Directs, the platform-holder eschewed their consistently-inconsistent schedule for smaller breakdowns in 2020. Today was the first General Direct, a term for a longer, pre-announced Direct with Nintendo announcements and those of partners, after over 500 days.
If you missed it but don’t want to watch the nearly hour-long presentation to absorb the news, you’re in luck! Here’s a handy breakdown of everything the Direct had to offer.
- There’s a new Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC character! Surprisingly but not surprisingly, it’s Pyra and Mythra, a two-in-one character
- Splatoon 3 was revealed, with a desert motif and a 2022 release date
- Aonuma dead-ass came on screen to tell us that Breath of the Wild 2 info will be coming later this year
- Skyward Sword is coming to Switch, looking and playing differently from its unfairly-maligned Wii original with both button and motion controls
- Famicom Detective Club is coming to the U.S. for the first time on May 14
- Mario Golf swings onto the Switch from Camelot later this year *puts finger to ear* I’m being told that’s the wrong kind of swing
- Legend of Mana, Square Enix’s 2D PS1 JRPG is being remastered for Switch June 24
- Monster Hunter Rise got a new trailer with some new monsters revealed
- Stubbs the Zombie inexplicably shambles its way to Switch
- Rush Limbaugh died, which is good news for the war against fascism and bigotry and bad news for people arguing that racism and misogyny are good things
- It has inexplicably been Mario’s 35th anniversary for many years now and there’s now a bunch of Mario items coming to Animal Crossing coming February 25 with items coming a week later
- Electronic Arts remembers they promised an unprecedented partnership with Nintendo eight years ago and brings Apex Legends, Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville, and the dodgeball action game Knockout City from Velan Studios will all hit the console in the next few months
- Miitopia, that Mii-based game everyone gets confused with Tomodachi Life, is coming to Switch with make-up and wigs on May 21
- Project Triangle Strategy, a tactical RPG successor to Octopath Traveler in the HD-2D series which is apparently a thing that exists, is announced with an explanatory trailer for the game coming in 2022, with a demo releasing after the Direct
- Fall Guys lands on the console this Summer, making the name confusing
- The Outer Wilds comes to Switch also in Summer, no name confusion there
- No More Heroes III got a new trailer and an August 27 release date
- D.C. Super Hero Girls arrives on Switch June 4
- Neon White, a first-person action game, comes this winter
- Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity gets a season pass with new weapons, characters, and more
- World’s End Club, a game from the creators of Danganronpa and Zero Escape, releases on May 28
- Ghosts N’ Goblins Resurrection, which releases in ten days, has local co-op
- SaGa Frontier Remastered is coming to Switch on April 15 and includes new content
- Tales from the Borderlands, which returned to store shelves today, is also coming to Switch
- Star Wars: Hunters is a free-to-play multiplayer Star Wars game coming later this year
- Ninja Gaiden Sigma 1, 2, and Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge make up the Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection, two great games and Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge in one package
You can watch the full presentation here:
This Direct ostensibly only covered the first half of 2021, there were some notable exceptions. The company keeps things close to its chest especially in a COVID-facing world where delays are commonplace and does not, for example, swing for the moon as much as they did in January 2013 where it announced games that had barely begun development.
That said, I’m still waiting for Bayonetta 3. What the hell, Nintendo?
