Look, I love Rhythm Heaven, but I understand why you’d frontload your niche little Switch 1 swansong in the biggest Nintendo Direct since September last year.
First-party-wise, that was followed up by some Pokémon Pokopia update and DLC, then another look at Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave with a September date. A limited-time Switch Online DK Challenge event gave Switch 1 owners some more love before the one, two, three, four-punch Xenoblade combo that saw Chronicles 1, 2, and 3 get Switch 2 Editions and a new entry — Xenoblade Genesis — announced. Bonza!
That segued directly into Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, whereby Koizumi-san gave us all a blessed break while he declared a thumb war for what felt like five minutes. Following a few more third-party reveals, the cursory mention of the upcoming Star Fox came with news of a demo that’s out right now, and Splatoon Raiders soon got its nod, too (although no demo for that one, yet – all eyes on that standalone Splatoon Direct), along with some new Joy-Con colours.
And yet somehow, even with all that, it still felt ‘one last thing’ was needed; fortunately, Nintendo didn’t disappoint. Even the leaks and rumours couldn’t really spoil the narrated reveal that tastefully retold the opening moments of Ocarina of Time. We’ve seen almost nothing, but that “2026” means there must be more — a lot more coming very soon.
And going back over all the third-party games announced — big ones, too — it’s difficult to call that direct anything but a triumph. They kept up the pace with big’un after big’un from the beginning. Lots of known quantities, sure, but that’s been the case with Switch 2 since launch and it’s unlikely to change.
And amongst the knowns, there were a couple of surprises, too, in Vanillaware’s Muramasa returning in Revenant Blades (also on Switch 1) and Final Fantasy Resonance bringing the HD-2D style to that particular series for the first time. The original Pikuniku was great, happy to have a sequel. And although we all knew Kingdom Hearts 4 existed, I’m sure a few hearts skipped a beat at that one, too.
As for the knowns, it would be churlish to complain. Non-Cloud versions of Kingdom Hearts 1.793 + Pi Re;Curring and sequels? Lovely. Rise of the Tomb Raider shadow-drop? Downloaded. A glimpse of The Duskbloods? Have it. Metaphor: ReFantazio, RuneScape: Dragonwilds, Lies of P, Stellar Blade, DMC 5, Big Walk, Onimusha, Dragon’s Dogma 2…? Yes, yes, yes.
There were a couple of moments that had me raising an eyebrow, but looking back that was a strong showing that summed up the Switch 2 experience quite well for me: an absolute cavalcade of quality — too much to any normal person with eclectic tastes to keep up with (or afford!), but not much genuinely new to sink your teeth into.
As for the closing game, I’m hoping for something radical — a Capcom-style overhaul that totally reimagines a classic from the ground up. There may be merits to giving Ocarina a Star Fox-style modern paintover while keeping 1998’s Hyrule the same underneath, but a game this special surely deserves more.
Overall, Nintendo needed to lay out its plans for the rest of the year, and from first- and third-party perspectives, it’s job done – you can’t argue with that lineup, even if I’m still jonesing for some unknown unknowns. Roll on summer.