Nintendo Direct (February 8, 2023)

Well, there was another Nintendo Direct today. I went into this thinking it'd primarily be a Zelda showcase and came away pretty surprised and impressed. Sure, not everything in it appealed to me but there was a heck of a lot shown off and I'm interested in more than a few of them. Obviously there are better places to go if you want a full run-down, but I wanted to share my thoughts on the stuff they showed off today.

I suppose I'll start with their showstopper (if you can still call it that after the umpteenth Direct that it closed out), The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Still haven't seen all that much gameplay but if this is just more Breath of the Wild I am so, so, so down. Breath of the Wild was an incredible experience but it's about six years old at this point so I'm deeply curious as to what changes they've made because I doubt this is only more BOTW.

Splatoon 3 is getting a two-part Expansion Pass. I still haven't played Splatoon 3's campaign so I'm not as excited as I could be, but it seems good. The first "wave" seems a bit underwhelming as it seems like it's only adding the hub from the earlier Splatoon games as an option. Maybe there's more to it (and that does seem neat, I suppose) but hopefully there's also a big update to coincide with it. The real announcement here, though, is the second wave. Presumably another solo campaign (titled "Side Order") that seems like it might have the protagonist from the Octo Expansion, so maybe it's taking some cues from that and, if so, my interest is certainly piqued.

I've never played the Etrian Odyssey games but in my research of "what games should I buy on the 3DS eshop before it collapses?" these games always made the top of the list, so a better way to play them takes some of the pressure from that deadline away. $40 (each!) feels a bit steep for an HD remaster, but prices can change and, who knows, maybe it's still worth the cost regardless.

On a similar note, I've never played Advance Wars but I was real interested in "Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp" when it got announced. World events being what they are, it's been out of the spotlight for a while and I was honestly starting to believe that it might just never release. It has a date set for April though so, fingers crossed, this game might actually come out.

Nintendo Switch Online is getting Game Boy games as part of their classic collection and Game Boy Advance games are coming to their higher "Expansion" tier. I've held off on upgrading my subscription but a new way to play The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap might be the thing that convinces me. I have still only played two Zelda games in my life and both of them got some representation today so I'm feeling satisfied.

 

Now, to close this out with the real showstopper...

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is finally getting another re-release!

 I remember playing the demo for this (it had an in-browser, Flash-based demo that seems unplayable now) and really liking what I saw but I never ended up picking up a DS copy. When it came to iOS a few years later I gave it a shot and loved it. Even though this was now close to a decade ago there is so much about this game that is still seared into my memory. It's a puzzle-game with some incredible spritework and animations and it's got a really solid mystery at the heart of it. It's very very good and I'd recommend going in with a blank slate because I was delighted with the puzzles and plot developments that ultimately unfolded. Even if this is just a barebones up-res, anything that gets more people to play Ghost Trick is A-OK in my book.