Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase: which announcements to remember?

The Nintendo Direct Partners Showcase is an opportunity for the Kyoto firm to present some games from third-party publishers which will be released during the year. If the arrival of a few titles (including Unicorn Overlord) had been revealed during previous events, players were unaware of what other games were planned.

This Nintendo Direct took place just days after Microsoft announced that it would bring certain titles from the Xbox catalog to other consoles; eyes immediately turned to Hi-Fi Rush And Sea of ​​Thieves, two titles perfectly suited to the Switch despite its venerable age. So? Have the web’s predictions come true? Has Microsoft finally surprised everyone? Was this Nintendo Direct Partners Showcase of any interest? Answer in the following lines.

Two Xbox games revealed

The first announcement therefore aimed to announce the release of Groundeda title released on Xbox in 2020. For those who don’t know, it’s a multiplayer survival game that draws its inspiration from the film Honey, I shrunk the kids. Reduced to a lilliputian size, the player must demonstrate cunning and skill to survive the multiple dangers that the garden conceals; The release is scheduled for April 16. Let us point out that a few furtive images of Penment were briefly seen, suggesting that this once-exclusive title will be available on the Nintendo console. For Sea of ​​Thieves And Hi-Fi Rushyou will have to wait a little longer.

Sequel, remake, adaptation… Recycling by Nintendo

This Nintendo Showcase was also an opportunity to lift the veil on a countless number of remakes. Fans of Monster Hunterfor example, will undoubtedly be delighted to (re)discover the opus released on Nintendo DS in 2016. Remake again with Disney Epic Mickey Rebrushed, an improved version of Disney Epic Mickey released on Wii in 2010 and imagined by Warren Spector. One of the most classic platform games, it nevertheless prides itself on a high-level artistic direction which does not seem to have aged a bit. In the remake family, I ask Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection. The title invites you to take part in the biggest battles of the saga initiated by George Lucas. Even if the idea of ​​going to give a few blows with TIE fighters or a lightsaber is always attractive, the technological gap between the opuses proposed in this compilation and current productions risks well to slow down players, even the most nostalgic.

Less dated, but available on other platforms for many years, Kingdom Come Deliverance will strike a chord with masochistic medievalists as the game is so demanding. A final remake for the road? Endless Oceanreleased in 2007 (the year the first iPhone was released to put things in context), is back on Switch in an improved and multiplayer version: we can’t wait.

Multiplayer is also rearing its ugly head in the Super Monkey Ball saga thanks to the next opus called Banana Rumble. It should also be noted that the sequel to the technically splendid and little-known Metroidvania Ender Lilies Quietus of the Knightsbaptized Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mistwas announced, as well as a new opus of the very demanding series Contra, Contra: Operation Galuga.

Some original, even special titles…

Fortunately, a few lesser-known titles were also revealed during this Nintendo Direct Partners Showcase. Some of them (South Park: Snow Day, Gundam Breakers 4, Mumrik: The Sound of Moomin Valley, Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- Sweep the Board!…) clearly act as games fanservice while others, as nice as they seem, do not seem to get off the beaten track (Another Crab’s Treasure, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, Fantasy Life: the Girl who Steals Time, Penny’s Big Breakaway…).

They are rare, but some new IPs still demonstrate originality. This is the case, for example, of Arrange: A Role-Puzzling Adventurea role-playing and thinking game, or Pepper Grinder a 2D platformer while pixel art in which the character traces his path with a drill. But above all, Game Freaks abandoned Pokémon for a while to develop Pocket Card Jockey: Ride onan improbable mix between prediction game, card game and equine breeding simulation with artistic direction kawaii To scream.

The big absentees

Obviously, this edition of the event being dedicated to third-party publishers, no announcement of the future Nintendo console was made. We nevertheless feel that the Switch is starting to struggle to offer notable titles and that its successor must arrive very quickly. Perhaps it will be announced during a next Nintendo Direct, which we hope will be a little more exciting.