2/17/2021 Nintendo Direct Discussion

[Etrurian emperor]

My expectation was that it would be a decent but not a mind blow Direct. The Direct went on to entirely meet those expectations. 

It started strong with Smash. Unlike some choices like Crash or Monster Hunter this pick is way more up my alley. While I am kinda grumpy that the most important part was left out Pyra and Mythra are a strong edition who I'll likely end up getting and enjoy playing as. So as Smash DLC goes its good if a little flawed. 

Samurai Warriors 5 was a neat little surprise but it only lasted a second or so which was a little disappointing. Its not a direction for the series that I wanted, but what you know you want and what you actually want aren't always the same. I'm more or less open to a game set in Nobunaga's early career. Maybe it will fix the plotpoints that never really worked out such as Mitsuhide's betrayal. 

Octopath Emblem was a really surprising addition. First I thought it was about Bravely Default 2, then I realized it was Octopath Travelers 2 but it was actually Octopath Emblem instead. Taking Octopath and turning it into a Fire Emblem game is certainly a bold choice. The choice heavy aspect could be interested, or it could be fairly mundane. Either way its the title I most have my eye on.

The Zelda stuff was....underwhelming. I was ready for a BOTW Warriors DLC announcement but they didn't tell us anything. We got to hear there would be DLC but not a second was spend telling us what that DLC actually was. A remake of the weakest 3d Zelda didn't really hype me. Its fine but I doubt I'll pick it up. The message of ''lol you're dying for info about BOTW 2 but we have nothing'' was kinda amusing but on another level it also wasn't funny at all. Its been years. C'mon guys. Just show a five second trailer or a logo. 

Splatoon 3 is one of the more big scale announcement. I've never been a big Splatoon guy but its nice to see its now a big fancy franchise. Maybe I'll join the fun once its there. 

Edited February 17 by Etrurian emperor

[Dandy Druid]

16 minutes ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

Octopath Strateger does indeed look good. 

 

Everything else, not so much.

it's definitely the title I'm most interested in. There's some stuff I was like "ok... cool. Might play that." But Triangle Strategy was definitely the winner for me.

10 minutes ago, Sayyyaka said:

Feels like Nintendo is just pretending FE doesb't exist now

it's supposed to be this big franchise now apparently but can't even get a nice filler title like idk, Warriors 2?

The 30th Anniversary isn't until April, so there could be a direct in March or April about FE. I was hoping for something too, but it looks like we'll have to wait a little longer. I highly doubt they forgot about FE- not when it's selling millions of copies now.

[Use the Falchion]

I admit I'm a little sad that there wasn't any FE news, especially considering how much of an anniversary year this could be. It still can be one, but someone on Reddit commented that FE this year is unlikely, given that if they were going to announce something, it would be here. But that's not always true. Maybe IntSys likes the shorter announcement-release window, so they're waiting until the project is fully done. ...yeah, I may be in denial. 

Other than that, it was a pretty solid Direct! Splatoon 3 looks fun, as does that FFTactics spiritual successor game Triangle Strategy. Granted, I won't play Splatoon 3 since online shooters aren't my thing, but at least it looks fun! And I can see several of my friends being interested in more than a few of the games. 

Do I wish there were more things for me? Absolutely! But I'm already buying a few games this year with Persona 5 Strikers and the Mass Effect Legendary Edition, so maybe it's a good thing that there weren't many games that peaked my interest. 

[PeaceRibbon]

Saltiron Tactics was easily the big win for me, I fully intend to dig into that demo... as soon as I finish eating.

[NinjaMonkey]

23 minutes ago, Sayyyaka said:

Feels like Nintendo is just pretending FE doesb't exist now

We got an english translation of FE1 late last year, how is that "Nintendo is pretending FE doesn't exist"?

Also, the Direct leak was true, it seems.

Edited February 17 by NinjaMonkey

[Wraith]

I’m also a veteran of the great Saltiron War! At night I can still smell the salt in the streets, feel the iron rusting in my hands!

Edited February 17 by Wraith

[Alexmender]

Well, that was underwhelming. I only cared about Skyward Sword HD (Kinda salty that they didn't mention a left handed mode, but I can do with the joystick controls) and sorta the Triangle something game which reminds me of FF Tactics.

The Detective VNs looked interesting but I'm not into that type of media, I'd rather read a novel or manga as those take less time. 

Shoutout to that Super Girls game for making me feel physical pain due to how much cringe it gave me (Knockout city came close to it, but it wasn't enough). 

I knew there wasn't going to be anything for FE or Pokemon, but it's still a bit of a bummer. 

[indigoasis]

Thoughts. A poem in bullet points.

• Pyra and Mythra were hype! Same with NMH 3!
• Hades physical release is cool!
• Splatoon 2 meta is gonna be dead by next year, rip
• Skyward Sword HD is... okay
• We're getting a Square Enix version of Fire Emblem, so that's neat
• Not much else that I want to note.

[ZeManaphy]

Maybe did Mythra/Pyra as a solo fighter because of the lack of female representation in Smash? Min-Min is the only stand alone female in Smash DLC until right now. Anyway Octopath Fire Emblem looks really fun. Definitely picking that up. 

[TheGoodHoms]

As a Xenoblade fan, Pyra and Mythra are a really cool addition to the Smash roster, but as some who adamantly believes Xenoblade Chronicles X stands head and shoulders above the other games it pains me greatly that we won't be getting Elma or Cross.

Monster Hunter Rise was easily the best part of the direct for me personally, but I'm already set on getting it when it comes out so it's more or less just extra fuel for the hype.

The only brand new title that really sparked my interest in a significant way was Triangle Strategy because Octopath was a brilliant game and this spinoff looks just as promising. I really like the idea of each path being based on an idea you choose to uphold rather than just the character that you choose. Also I'm declaring team morality in advance and none of you can stop me.

[vanguard333]

57 minutes ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

Octopath Strateger does indeed look good. 

That it does, though is it just me, or does it look like the choice & convictions system is at risk of easily becoming overcomplicated?

[NSSKG151]

I expected nothing and that's pretty much all I saw here today, nothing of note. Oh well, I guess my Switch will continue to gather dust in my closet. At least I kept my expectations low.

Surprised to see people say they were expecting a FE announcement here. Honestly I wasn't really expecting anything FE related here. It could just be that whatever IS is currently working on isn't done or they just want to announce there next game closer to it's release date. They seem to have a tendency to release new stuff in late summer anyways based off past years.

[Murozaki]

I didn't expect nor want much.

I wanted No More Heroes 3 footage, Monster Hunter Rise footage, and a Dai Gyakuten Saiban localization reveal.

I got two of those things so im happy.

Beyond what i wanted and expected, Pyra and Mythra in Smash look neat, i should check out XBDE and XB2 these days. Splatoon 3 looks cool though i probably won't play it myself. And the new game by the Bravely Default team seems interesting.

[Etrurian emperor]

I wasn't really expecting a Fire Emblem game either so I'm not at all disappointed by its absence. Three Houses is still relatively recent. At this point the only thing a FE trailer would bring to the table is the vague announcement that it exists and maybe a logo. 

[vanguard333]

21 minutes ago, Etrurian emperor said:

I wasn't really expecting a Fire Emblem game either so I'm not at all disappointed by its absence. Three Houses is still relatively recent. At this point the only thing a FE trailer would bring to the table is the vague announcement that it exists and maybe a logo. 

Same; I wasn't expecting anything Fire Emblem either unless it was something very small like a bunch of Three Houses characters being announced as mii fighters or something like that. 

I suppose that project tripath traveler game comes close to an FE game announcement; I always wanted to see elevation return after Radiant Dawn introduced ledges. 

[Dandy Druid]

1 hour ago, Use the Falchion said:

I admit I'm a little sad that there wasn't any FE news, especially considering how much of an anniversary year this could be. It still can be one, but someone on Reddit commented that FE this year is unlikely, given that if they were going to announce something, it would be here. But that's not always true. Maybe IntSys likes the shorter announcement-release window, so they're waiting until the project is fully done. ...yeah, I may be in denial. 

Echoes got announced in mid-late January was released in Japan 3 months later in April. 4 months later worldwide in May. That's an incredibly short time span between announcement and release, and could be the precedent for remakes. As for other games, Warriors was also announced that same day and was released in September, 8 months after announcement. 8 months is rather short compared to most big name franchises. As for big mainline titles, it's more of a two year wait.

If a remake is in the works, I wouldn't be surprised if it's announced March or April and then released late summer. Even for big titles like Fates or Three Houses, they didn't start marketing it until 3 months before release even though we've known about them.

1 hour ago, Alexmender said:

Shoutout to that Super Girls game for making me feel physical pain due to how much cringe it gave me (Knockout city came close to it, but it wasn't enough). 

It was super out of place. It looked and sounded like a forgotten game out of the Gamecube Era imo. I looked at it and thought "wow, this is what they're deciding to promote instead of Bravely Default II or Persona Strikers. Wow."

Also, surprised more people here aren't talking about No More Heroes III. It looks fun and I would like to see some other character designs.

[Dayni]

Just giving a timeline of what comes out when from the direct:

Capcom Arcade	Today!
ANCHxMario	25/02/21
Ghosts n Goblins	25/02/21
BD II	26/02/21
Xeno Smash	March
Apex Legends	09/03/21
Stubbs the Zombie	16/03/21
PvZ Battle for Neighborville	19/03/21
Hades Physical	19/03/21
Tales from the Borderlands	24/03/21
MH Rise	26/03/21
SaGa Frontier	15/04/21
Famicom Detective VNs	14/05/21
Miitopia	21/05/21
Knockout City	21/05/21
World’s End Club	28/05/21
AoC EP	28/05/21
DC Super Hero Girls	04/06/21
Ninja Gaiden Remaster	10/06/21
Legend of Mana	24/06/21
Mario Golf	25/06/21
Skyward Sword	16/07/21
Fall Guys	Summer
Outer Worlds	Summer
Samurai Warriors 5	Summer
Neon White	Summer
No More Heroes 3	27/08/21
BotW 2	2021?
Star Wars Hunters	2021
Project Triangle Strategy	2022
Splatoon 3	2022

So, we actually had a large proportion coming out in the next 4 months. The issue is much of it is ports and remasters, with few first parties and a few remakes too. No More Heroes is also the latest of the new ones with a set date while multiple larger options are delayed to late 2021 or 2022, out of the stuff we saw.

Also, the Golf one honestly sounds neat with Speed Golf.

[Zan Partizanne]

I got up at 4 AM  just to check out this thread.

I rather should have stayed in bed instead.

At least next new Smash characters are a really good addition (will be the first characters from the second DLC pack I purchase).

A pseudo Fire Emblem game is in progress, but it's developed by Square Enix, so no for me.

[Armchair General]

Nothing but ports and remakes, unfortunately. Triangle Project looks good, but at least I'm glad that I won't have to be stressing out on buying stuff for the next few months.

[Glennstavos]

Huh, I guess this was better than I expected. But the surprise I was most in the mood for this morning would have been something kirby related. On the other hand, No More Heroes 3 has wrist-mounted joy-cons to represent the Death Glove this time around. And it's looking to be another video game about video games in the same vein as Travis Strikes Again. I don't know if it will be my new favorite video game, but it's pretty clear it's competing for that spot. Splatoon 3 was hype until it was made clear that it wasn't an ambitious open world adventure spinoff set in that universe. Project Triangle is looking like what Fire Emblem ought to be. Lovingly crafted 2D art style, narrative choices that matter, altitude bonuses. I gotta get that demo.

Don't really have strong opinions on anything else. Legend of Mana remaster is very left field, but I guess fits as a followup to the three previous games making it to Switch last year. I hope the Ninja Gaiden trilogy is good. I think they said they will have all the content, which is great, because every time those games got ported they seemed to add something while taking something else away or just significantly altering something about the gameplay that is very contentious. The first one is pretty good, the second is kind of brainless from what I recall, and the third is aggressively dumb. I would have preferred a new ninja gaiden over re-releases, but somebody's probably hype for this.

As for Pyra, I like it. I honestly did not care for Xenoblade 2, especially not its characters, but she just looks fun with the character switching. I've got a ton of questions, so I'm looking forward to a Sakurai stream about it. As well as news about what mii costumes are joining my Reeks Mii fighter.

[lenticular]

I thought it was a pretty decent Direct. Not mind-blowing, but there was one announcement that I was genuinely excited for (the TRPG with Octopath style graphics) and a few more that I am sorta vaguely interested in keeping an eye out and seeing how well they review (Mario Golf, Skyward Sword, the visual novels). That counts as decent for me, since I always keep my expectations low going into these things.

I'm a little disappointed to see people shitting on DC Super Hero Girls. I mean, it's pretty clearly a game that's primarily targetted at teenage girls, so it's to be expected that most people who fall outside of that demographic aren't going to be interested in it. Personally, I'm glad that Nintendo are promoting games that are aimed at wide varieties of people.

[Reality]

I was going to say Mario Golf is the best part of this Direct for me ironically, but then I thought about it more and realized it isn't ironic.

As much as I can enjoy NBA Jam or Fifa, I can't think of any single sport that has a solid 6! videogames that I still play rather than just 1-2 only like Basketball/Football do.

[Dinar87]

Terrible direct, one of the worst ever.

Imagine promoting things like "DC SUPER HEROES GIRLS", mobile game looking trash, over a new Fire Emblem game LMAO



Nintendo's becoming too much like this these days, no good games, just chinese soy.

[zuibangde]

I wanted a Western release date for Rune Factory 5 but I guess not. 😕 

World's End Club is kinda intriguing but I'm not sure what to expect. It seems more like a lighthearted Zero Escape / Danganronpa? But at the same time, I feel like it's going to be darker than it seems.

Edited February 18 by zuibangde

[Azz]

Personally I was expecting more 1st party content than what we got. Overall it was rather disappointing, but I'm assuming covid is still affecting work output so I think it mainly being ports/remakes and indies makes sense tbh. Tho kinda pissed they said early 2021 but dropped several mid/late-2021 and some 2022 games lol.

- Super excited for Triangle Strategy (I really hope that is a working title unlike what they did with Octopath lol). Looks super nice and looks like it will be its own thing since I never played Octopath and I don't want to have to to understand the universe. Although, as soon as I saw that TS was a trpg, I knew we would get no FE.

- Skyward Sword HD is hype, especially with buttons. SS is one of my fav Zelda's but I find it had to replay because the controls, so having buttons controls is nice. Also those joycons... I really want them.

- AoC DLC finally. Disappointed we have to wait until November for it all but none the less I'm excited. AoC was super fun but felt super short in terms of content compared to HW and FEW so I'm hoping the DLC adds a lot more to it.

- Nice to know BotW 2 is still in development I guess lol. I kinda wish we got like even just a little gameplay sneak peak or another mini-trailer, idk.

- I don't care for Smash or XC2 as a whole, but I do enjoy Pyra and Mythra and it's nice to see them in Smash.

- Splatoon 3 looks cool, I might actually try to get into Splatoon when it comes out.

Overall, it was fine. What I got, I was happy with and I'm excited for them. Sad we got no FE, Pokemon Gen 4 remakes and Bayonetta 3 news, and especially ??? at the lack of Zelda considering it's the 35th anniversary, but hopefully we'll get a Zelda direct later in the year (with a WW/TP HD port for Switch) and also hopefully we'll get FE news in whenever the next direct is