Direct Partner Showcase + Indie World 27/08/2024

[Dayni]

Well, I guess this might be ignored by some, but looks like first party will be taking a backseat this time around. Regardless, we have a time tomorrow for 7am PT/3pm UTC +1/11 pm JST, so speculate or sleep, your call.

So no Pokemon news for this week, likely no September Direct. Odds rising we get big news next month?

[Fabulously Olivier]

Xenoblade Warriors, please.

[Etrurian emperor]

Yeah I expected it wouldn't be a ''main'' direct since the last one was pretty recently. 

My biggest hope is Supergiant coming in to reveal Hades II's Switch release date. I'll take a Koei spinoff too. Xenoblade Warriors being the dream but BOTW Warriors 2 arguably being more likely. 

 

[Dayni]

I mean, duh.

Also just realised I'll be waiting for later on in the day for it. Ah well.

2 minutes ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

Xenoblade Warriors, please.

Do you have a list of expected titles to get the Warriors treatment by order of likelihood?

13 minutes ago, Etrurian emperor said:

Yeah I expected it wouldn't be a ''main'' direct since the last one was pretty recently. 

It's as long as one in fairness.

Feels a touch like this is the eleventh hour direct. Which I've said before, like an idiot.

14 minutes ago, Etrurian emperor said:

My biggest hope is Supergiant coming in to reveal Hades II's Switch release date.

With it still in early access, we might be waiting a while if they give it.

[Fabulously Olivier]

1 minute ago, Dayni said:

I mean, duh.

Also just realised I'll be waiting for later on in the day for it. Ah well.

Do you have a list of expected titles to get the Warriors treatment by order of likelihood?

Haha, I can only throw a shot in the dark based on the demand I see and past collabs.

 

Franchises they said they want to do - Mario, Star Wars.

 

Extremely likely/high-demand franchises - Xenoblade, Final Fantasy

 

Likely to get more - Zelda, Fire Emblem, Persona, One Piece

 

Moderately likely based on collab history and demand - Pokemon, Tales, Yakuza, SMT, Sonic, Naruto, Bleach, DBZ, Soul Calibur

 

Franchises Koei owns (free real estate!) - Atelier and "Koei Souls" (Nioh, Wo Long, Rise of the Ronin)

[Etrurian emperor]

1 hour ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

Franchises they said they want to do - Mario, Star Wars.

The Star Wars one always struck me as particularly unlikely. For the longest time they'd have to get through EA which likely finds itself above a quirky AA niche Japanese company. Now they just need to go through Disney which likely finds itself above a quirky AA niche Japanese company.

Mario I could see happening. Nintendo might be more protective of that one, but given Koei proved themselves with Zelda and Fire Emblem they can easily prove they ''earned'' the right to play with Mario. Its not as natural a Warriors pick as some others, but then again Zelda wasn't as natural a pick either and that worked out great. Even greater then with Fire Emblem which was the most natural fit.

[Fabulously Olivier]

3 minutes ago, Etrurian emperor said:

The Star Wars one always struck me as particularly unlikely. For the longest time they'd have to get through EA which likely finds itself above a quirky AA niche Japanese company. Now they just need to go through Disney which likely finds itself above a quirky AA niche Japanese company.

Mario I could see happening. Nintendo might be more protective of that one, but given Koei proved themselves with Zelda and Fire Emblem they can easily prove they ''earned'' the right to play with Mario. Its not as natural a Warriors pick as some others, but then again Zelda wasn't as natural a pick either and that worked out great. Even greater then with Fire Emblem which was the most natural fit.

So, I'm going to take the opposite stance here. Star Wars is already very willing to branch out, and Koei has already worked with Disney on Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, even if it was a Nintendo co-published game. I don't think a similar case of a Nintendo co-published Star Wars musou developed by Koei is all that unreasonable, and that's just one possible avenue towards it happening.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

I'm anxious to get a release date on Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind

 

[ciphertul]

7 hours ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

Franchises they said they want to do - Mario, Star Wars.

I personally do not want either of these, so if they happen I guess those who wanted them can enjoy.

7 hours ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

Extremely likely/high-demand franchises - Xenoblade, Final Fantasy

Also don't really want, I have never even finished a FF and while I only played XC3 it didn't vibe with me.

I kinda would like another DQ Heroes but played more like a Musou than the first 2.

7 hours ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

Likely to get more - Zelda, Fire Emblem, Persona, One Piece

I want the middle 2, but the outer 2 feel more likely to happen.

7 hours ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

Moderately likely based on collab history and demand - Pokemon, Tales, Yakuza, SMT, Sonic, Naruto, Bleach, DBZ, Soul Calibur

Only Tales and Soul Calibur sound good, and SC did already kinda have one with SC Legends. The Kiryu Yakuzas already feel like a Musou game.

7 hours ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

Franchises Koei owns (free real estate!) - Atelier and "Koei Souls" (Nioh, Wo Long, Rise of the Ronin)

I feel like the only way we will see Atelier and Nioh in a Musou again would be All-Stars 2. (Please let Klein be playable if it happens).

Edited August 26 by ciphertul
Edition

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

My guess is, this means no September Direct. I'm gonna put it out there: Switch successor reveal in October, 8 years after the original's reveal. Announced coming in 2025, with no specific date.

No real expectations for this double direct. Probably a lot of great games that I'm not gonna buy. But we'll see!

[Codename Shrimp]

EXCUSE ME???

FALCOM NO I ALREADY LEFT TRAILS BEHIND

Edited August 27 by Codename Shrimp

[Fabulously Olivier]

That 3D remake of the best Trails arc is awesome.

 

Otherwise, the direct didn't even meet my lowest expectations. And as a 30th anniversary celebration, a Graces remaster stings after an Xilia remaster leaked.

[vanguard333]

I had no real expectations for this; it's an indie direct + partner showcase near the end of the Switch's life. Some of these games look interesting, but none of these games are games that I really want to buy.

When the trailer for the rune factory game opened with two people fighting while riding on dragons, I thought, "Oh, a game where we fight while on dragons? That could be really interesting"; I somehow really didn't think through that that was an obvious cinematic opening.

Other than that, I really don't have much to say about that direct.

[Codename Shrimp]

Sky is the best news all month for me lol

And Atelier looks sick af as well

JP Trailer

Edited August 27 by Codename Shrimp

[ciphertul]

More Rune Factory is always great and I’m all for the Castlevania DS collection. All three where great games.

[Dayni]

Okay, a strong finish or a fumble at the final blocks?

Spoiler

So we start with an 18 rating and Indie World, where they really want to use a lightbulb for Indie World labelling. They start on Balatro. Fuck me that's a start- wait it was out already. But it's a Balatro/Witcher 3/Vampire Survivors/Dave the Diver/Among Us crossover. Fuck me that's mental. AND IT'S FREE. Sheesh, that's mental. Next is Neva from the GRIS devs, where you follow a woman and her wolf cub in a side-scrolling.... platform fighter? But yeha, could see that being appealing. It's called Neva and it's out 15th October. Next is Moth Kubit, which is a rhythm game? No, it's just a strange little game where you do what you can against a reality ending threat to keep you job? Bunch of different modes and it's out next year. Coffee Talk's next part is next and it's set in Tokyo. Guess I'm just not clicking with it. You have running the coffee shop and getting familiar with customers, which of course and it's out next year... some time. Next is a DLC montage, with Sea of Stars getting a clock-tower story and they abandoned the big guy for a robot coming out free next year (cool cool), Powerwashing Simulator centred around Shrek. Including washing his swamp, out in the next few months. That's it? Nothing else?

Next is Morsels, a card rougelike where you play a mouse fighting off cats... Or it's not a card-based rougelike at all and it's more top down dungeoncrawler. But no, the items are in the form of cards, so it's still true? Ugh. you do transform into various dungeon monsters, so that's something. Intentionally keeping scanlines helps make it look as trippy as it does with everything else and it's out next year February. Next is Date Everything!, which yeah I'm not. I'm not talking about this. It's trying to take the piss with textbox-cham and it's out 24th October, which I am fine leaving behind. Next is Peglin, a pachinko game where you play the pachinko to fight enemies and it's a rougelike right? Regardless, out today. Next up, Wobbly Life, a game where you go about with silly physics and just explore the place and do what you will, it's got multiplayer as well, so if this is what you're into sore. It's out December. Next is a co-op platformer where you can be tethered together, with up to 8 players and solvable with any number of them. Wonder how that'll be in practice. Pico Park 2 is out today and a temporary exlusive. Huh.

Next is Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope DX (How does this apply to Treasure Trove?), which has some new features and is next year. Then Europa finally gets a release date, sweet, it's pretty soon too on the 11th October. After that's an isometric dungeon crawler called Cuisineer, which is about what you'd expect from the title and out 28th January, On Your Tail gets a release date for the 11th November, then Metal Slug Tactics gets acknowledged but the closest date is Autumn 2024, a mention for The Plucky Squire that already had it's launch trailer for the 17th September, but why not say it in this too? and that's almost it, but we finish on Pizza Tower, which was inevitable but here it is. We get the gameplay montage, before it finishes on a laughing tomato and a release date of today. Quite a few of those so far.

We then start with the Partner Showcase, which is of course through to March. First is a Tetris bit, which includes Tetris Forever, which has a bunch of old Tetris games and Tetris Time Warp, which is a mode switching game of tetris and a documentary, all for the 40th Anniversary. No DS Tetris, what a shame. We also get a release for NES Tetris and a Tetris 99 event. Next is a hoverboard racer called Star Overdrive (Finally, we can play Treasure Planet's solar surfboarding) where you can race and use the board to also fight and explore open world areas, and it's a timed elusive next year (Oh man, let's hope performance is solid). Then there's Goat Simulator 3. I have no clever thoughts or questions on this, but it's out today, which huh. Next is a montage with TRAILS IN THE SKY GETTING AN ARPG REMAKE? WHAT. It's out next year and I can only imagine how fans feel about that. Here's hoping Silver Will still sounds good. Star Wars Hunters gets a new season pa- zzzzz- Wait, STALKER wasn't on switch before and all three are in one pack? Okay, that's alright enough, it's out November. Following that is a Worms Armageddon port out 26th September, Disney Dreamlight Valley having an event next month and that's it.

Then there's a Spongebob game but it's actually Patrick and they're phocused on the fisics- Okay, I know this ain't my scene, but still. It's an open world platformer and it's out 4th October. Eh. Fitness Boxing 3 is next, which includes a sitting mode and Take On Me. Huh, never knew this series had licensed music. The fact they have Ghostbusters in this one says to me they need Bustin' to make this sell millions. It's out 5th December, if this ends up a Christmas present.... After this is Capcom Fighting Collection 2, where they go into all 8 games briefly- wait this is not the one from June? Oh it's not, but this is pretty cool and has more 3D fighters. It's' out next year, the one with "Wanna Take you for a ride" is out 12th September, which is soon. This is the second game with a separate physical release. Next is some anime woman who showed up in the minital montage as she explores some fantasy world, only for it to cut to a wold on fire and the woman narrator argues with him. I'm not gonna like I'm lost, then it eventually shows the title of Atelier Yumia: long subtitle, which gets a date of February 2025. Then we finally get a release date for Suikoden 1+2, which is 26th March. Man, Eiyuden fans stay winning. Least it's still happening. Next up is DQ III HD2D getting a release date of 14th November, You get to customise allies and a monster capture mode as well. Next is the DS Castlevanias, which means Dawn of Sorrow that won't crash on me or need a touch screen is actually tempting. And the others I guess. They also add the arcade Haunted Castle so there's 4 games. It's out today, which sick. Next is Civ VII, which hey this is a thing. It's out 11th February.

Next we get a Tales of Graces remaster, which I have no idea about but hey you can low level the game and it's out 17th January. AND HERE'S THE LEAK. MySims gets the rerelease of MySims + Kingdoms in one game, which, okay I guess but it's funny that this leak is what set off the speculation this was happening. It's for 19th November, which yeah, sounds about right. Next up is more FNAF, no thanks personally but if you wanted Help Wanted 2 it's here at some point in Winter. Also DLC for Security Breach. I guess. Next is the montage, with Epic Mickey (hehehehehhehehehhe), which I'm sure had a date last time, but it's 24th September for the interested parties, the Tales of the Shire which still hasn't a date set, the Just Dance 2024, Funko Fusion (blech), Not FIFA out next month, Lego Horizon Adventures and I'm certain all these were in the last direct except Epic Mickey and none of them showed a release date. Sheesh. Then we get people fighting each other on dragons in the sky and we confirm it's a Rune Factory.... but I thought Rune Factory was sci-fi? Huh, guess we're doing RF with Japanese nostalgia in aesthetic, with a larger scale town and it makes me wonder if they're trying to keep up with the larger scale farm sims with a bigger focus on dungeons. It's out next spring. Finally is Yakuza Kiwami, which yeah that's something people were shouting for. It's out 24th October, which yeah. That's it huh.

TL;DR: Balatro adding modes, Europa finally getting a date, Pizza Tower, the Indie World actually was alright. Partner Showcase was less compelling overall imo, but I hope Star Overdrive is cool and runs well, Tetris be Tetris and the DS Castlevanias have a non-DS option. Silver linings.

Trails in the Sky ARPG 3D did throw me for a loop admittedly. Good luck Trails fans.

On 8/26/2024 at 5:13 PM, Fabulously Olivier said:

Franchises they said they want to do - Mario, Star Wars.

 

Extremely likely/high-demand franchises - Xenoblade, Final Fantasy

 

Likely to get more - Zelda, Fire Emblem, Persona, One Piece

 

Moderately likely based on collab history and demand - Pokemon, Tales, Yakuza, SMT, Sonic, Naruto, Bleach, DBZ, Soul Calibur

 

Franchises Koei owns (free real estate!) - Atelier and "Koei Souls" (Nioh, Wo Long, Rise of the Ronin)

Not gonna lie Soulcalibur sounds like a lark if it happened.

Edited August 27 by Dayni

[Jotari]

DS Castlevania collection has me invested. I've wanted to play the Soma Cruz sequel and Order of Ecclesia. How integrated is the touch screen into them? Is it an awkward port or did the original games basically ignore the dual screen set up?

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Has it really been three years since the Castlevania Advanced collection? Good to see they haven't forgotten. But I hope they have it in them for just one more "Oh Right, these too" Collection. We gotta get Castlevania The Adventure Rebirth, Vampire Killer (sort of a Metroid-style port of Castlevania 1) for the MSX, Castlevania Legends (the one where you play as a girl and Igavania hates since it implies that Belmonts F***), the PS2 games, the Wii fighting game, oh and that XBLA Co-op game where you pick a legacy character and fight through massive levels

Man the Switch looks like it's struggling to run Yakuza Kiwami. That's a PS3 game. And I don't just mean it's on the PS3 era engine, I mean that's literally a PS3 game ported to other platforms.

Edited August 27 by Zapp Branniglenn

[Fabulously Olivier]

28 minutes ago, Zapp Branniglenn said:

Has it really been three years since the Castlevania Advanced collection? Good to see they haven't forgotten. But I hope they have it in them for just one more "Oh Right, these too" Collection. We gotta get Castlevania The Adventure Rebirth, Vampire Killer (sort of a Metroid-style port of Castlevania 1) for the MSX, Castlevania Legends (the one where you play as a girl and Igavania hates since it implies that Belmonts F***), the PS2 games, the Wii fighting game, oh and that XBLA Co-op game where you pick a legacy character and fight through massive levels

Man the Switch looks like it's struggling to run Yakuza Kiwami. That's a PS3 game. And I don't just mean it's on the PS3 era engine, I mean that's literally a PS3 game ported to other platforms.

Yeah, I know Yakuza is a rapidly growing franchise, but it's really weird to have a port be the closing announcement. 

 

Granted, I struggle to think of anything in there with mass appeal - even awesome games like Sky Remake and Atelier. I guess I would have probably picked Ruin Factory to be the closer if I was them.

[Codename Shrimp]

2 hours ago, Dayni said:

TRAILS IN THE SKY GETTING AN ARPG REMAKE?

It's not action

It's a hybrid system, where you can switch from Action on the field to turn based. All story/important battles will be turn based for sure (or have the bigger focus there). Basically cutting down on mon grind

Watch jp Trailer or kuro gameplay

Edited August 27 by Codename Shrimp

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Japan gets another release of Tokimeki Memorial? Localize that game you Konami Kowards

[vanguard333]

9 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

My guess is, this means no September Direct. I'm gonna put it out there: Switch successor reveal in October, 8 years after the original's reveal. Announced coming in 2025, with no specific date.

Nintendo confirmed that the Switch 2 reveal isn't happening this year.

 

4 hours ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

Yeah, I know Yakuza is a rapidly growing franchise, but it's really weird to have a port be the closing announcement. 

It's only a port? Wow; I was barely paying attention and figured it was a remake. Yeah; ending the direct on a port was a very weird decision.

[Fabulously Olivier]

1 minute ago, vanguard333 said:

Nintendo confirmed that the Switch 2 reveal isn't happening this year.

 

It's only a port? Wow; I was barely paying attention and figured it was a remake. Yeah; ending the direct on a port was a very weird decision.

It's a port of a remake that already exists on the other platforms.

 

Personally, I love Yakuza Kiwami. Even more than fan favorite Yakuza 0. Call it one of my unpopular opinions.

[vanguard333]

4 minutes ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

It's a port of a remake that already exists on the other platforms.

Ah, I see. Thanks for the info. It's still weird.

That said, I'm not sure what game in the direct would've made more sense as the final presentation.

[Dayni]

39 minutes ago, vanguard333 said:

Nintendo confirmed that the Switch 2 reveal isn't happening this year.

Where was this out of curiosity? Haven't seen any confirmation of the reveal's date being as far away, just that it won't release in the financial year.