the Nintendo Direct of this back to school was particularly expected given that the only big Nintendo Direct of this year dates back to February. Not enough to put pressure on Nintendo, which still had a few surprises to reveal to us for this end of the year and the start of 2023, even if the presentation was undoubtedly saved by two or three major titles. Here are all the announcements to remember from this Nintendo Direct.
Fire Emblem is back
This Direct got off to a flying start by confirming the existence of Fire Emblem Engagea new episode which had already been entitled to some leaks in recent months.
We will find here a protagonist with blue and red hair (it’s a style) who will wake up from a very deep sleep in the world of Helios. If this episode will feature new characters, we can also call on cult heroes of the saga, like Marth. And we already have a release date, since this Fire Emblem Engage will be available on Switch from January 20, 2023.
Then came the confirmation of a port for It Takes Twowhich will arrive on November 4 on Switch. Project Zero: Mask Of The Lunar Eclipse (Fatal Frame) will arrive in Europe for the first time in start of the year 2023 on Switch and showed us a taste of his horrific adventure.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 came to give news of his Extension Pass with its second wave of content, which will be released on October 13 and which will add more challenges but above all a new character, Ino.
We were then treated to a few quick announcements where we will remember above all this strange new episode for Fitness Boxingwhich offers a crossover with Fist of the North Star (yes yes), and the arrival of Tunic on Switch September 27.
The series remakes Front Mission came to give some news with the release of the first episode in November, followed by that of the second episode in 2023. FrontMission 3 will also be entitled to its remake later.
This Nintendo Direct was also an opportunity to show lots of farming-simulation oriented games, starting with Story Of Seasons: A Wonderful Lifewhich will be released in the summer of 2023.
We will also remember fae-farm for this spring, or Rune Factory 3 Special for 2023, without forgetting Various Daylife from Square Enix, available today.
We prefer to retain Octopath Traveler 2, the sequel to the RPG that introduces us to a brand new cast of 8 characters. Among the novelties, we note the importance of the day / night cycle, and we can notice that the game keeps its 2D-HD aspect of the most beautiful effect.
The release is scheduled for February 24, 2023 on Switch, but not only, since it will also arrive on PC, PS4 and PS5.
If you like the music of the saga Final Fantasyyou will be delighted to witness the return of the license Thearrhythm with Thearrhythm Final Bar. This episode will contain 385 songs and even more in DLC with songs from other series, such as Live A Live Where Deny. You can also enjoy it in multiplayer. This new opus will be available on February 16, 2023.
Mario + Rabbids quickly came back to show us his exploration, but we had already seen him well during the Ubisoft Forward. Same for Just Dance 2023who simply advertised.
The Nintendo Switch Online will welcome a new series of games from the Nintendo 64 with first Pilot Wings 64, mario party and Mario Party 2 in 2022, then Mario Party 3, Pokemon Stadium, Pokemon Stadium 2, 1080 Snowboarding and Excitebike 64 in 2023.
But the most important thing is above all GoldenEye 64 which will return to Switch, with online multiplayer. The game will also be coming to Game Pass.
Among the new games, we note Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Keywhich will attach great importance to the keys, and which will release the February 24, 2023.
Shigeru Miyamoto was also present, not for Mario, but for pikmine. After recalling the existence of Pikmin Bloom on smartphones, he did indeed announce Pikmin 4 with a first teaser. We won’t see any gameplay right away, but we know that the game exists, and even thatit will be released in the course of 2023so the wait won’t be very long.
Harvestella stood out a bit from all the other simulation games, but didn’t have much new to show us except uploading a demoas Bayonetta 3 who came by quickly to announce the posting of a long 8-minute video to better know what to expect.
Among the updates of Switch games already released, we will retain a small teaser for the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe DLC wave 3or the arrival of golf in Nintendo Switch Sports from this winter.
Already announced, Master Detective Archives: Raincodewhich we will just call rain code, showed more moving images. This is the new license from the creator of the series Danganronpa, and we will play a detective who will fight against demons to find the truth. The game will first release on Switch in the spring of 2023.
It was then the party at the portages with Resident Evil Village which offers a Cloud version for October 28, then Resident Evil 2 Remake3 Remake and VII coming later this year. A demo of Resident Evil Village is already available.
Sifu also came to specify his arrival on Switch for the November 8while Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion has finally dropped its release date set for December 13.
We will also notice that the cult JRPG Tales of Symphonia Remastered was announced on Switch, with a release set for early 2023. Then it’s Kirby’s Return To Dreamland Deluxe who showed images and who will make us play in coop up to four from February 24, 2023.
The chef’s surprise, the one we were expecting but that we no longer dared to hope for, was the presentation of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2. Well, no, sorry, that’s not what the game is called. Nintendo has finally unveiled the name of this sequel, which will be called The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
We even had the right to a short trailer in which we see Link in the skies, and where we guess a little more the map of Hyrule. The bonus everyone was waiting for: a date has finally been given. See you on May 12, 2023 to discover The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom on Switch.
A Nintendo Direct which was not always exciting, but which managed to slip in a few cartridges to wake us up between two ports and three simulation games. We say thank you to Fire Emblem, Pikmin 4 and Zelda.