Hi, how are you doing? I actually planned to continue my reviews but yesterday both a Nintendo Direct and a State of Play were announced for today. I'm usually that kind of person who likes to watch these events, it's more or less a tradition, considering the occasion, I'd like to share with you my thoughts on the Nintendo Direct, my conclusions and games which got me hyped. I will do the same with the State of Play later.

I was quite hyped for the event, it's been a long time since we've had a proper direct, so my expectations were high. Honestly, I feel satisfied, the event was what I expected and a few more surprises. The whole event felt cool enough, it was game after game, trailer after trailer, they didn't stop for a moment to show information, and despite the fact that the direct lasts 40 mins, it felt short. Of course, there were games that I liked less, but in general, it felt like a pretty cool direct. This is my personal list of games that got my attention:

Fire Emblem: Engaged

Personally, my experience with Fire Emblem is almost non-existent, I got to know the franchise thanks to Super Smash Bros, but nothing else, I haven't played any of its games. However, since I loved Triangle Strategy, I became more and more curious about SRPGs, and I'm willing to give Fire Emblem a chance. Honestly, I liked what I saw of the game, but I can't deny that some parts looked ugly, I guess it's normal considering that the game isn't even finished.

Fatal Frame 4: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse

Hey, I'm a big fan of the horror genre in any of its branches, Silent Hill 2 is one of my favorite games of all time, so that alone can say a lot. I admit that Fatal Frame is not a franchise that I have not been able to play it too much, it is not accessible enough, so one day I would like to get into it. That said,this game release seems amazing to me, yes, I know this is a Wii game, but take into account that it was never released to America, it was only in Japan, so giving it a second chance seems cools to me. Besides Nintendo Switch, it´ll be available in PlayStation, Xbox and PC too.

It Takes Two

Okay, my personal GOTY of 2021 is Psychonauts 2, beautiful gem which I was able to play through gamepass last year, even so, I wanted to play It Takes Two too, I didn't have two controls at that time, only one and I didn't have friends to play it online either. The thing changes with Switch since in fact I do have more controls, a little too late but I can finally play it. Yes, I know it looks better on PC, yes, I know that it looks better on the Ps4 or Xbox one, but look, I'm excited to finally be able to play it.

Spongebob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake

I don't have much to say about it honestly, I like SpongeBob and this game looks amazingly cool, I want to give it a try. I'm a simple man, I see a SpongeBob game, I play it. To be fair, this was already anounced a time ago, still I wanted to put it here.

Tales of Symphonia

Lol, seriously? I mean, I keep track of the Tales Of franchise, and I've played more of its games games than I'd like to admit, but I don't know, I think there were better options, Symphonia is already on the Ps3 and I can play it on the Pc as well. But look, I'm a fanboy of Tales Of, so I'll probably end up playing it again, I can't deny that the announcement made me feel somehow nostalgic. On the other hand, I can understand why they prefer to port this release on the Switch, Symphonia is something like the Final Fantasy 7 of the Tales Of franchise.

Tunic

Honestly, I'd love to give it a try, it looks pretty nice and it's a Zelda-inspired game, and for that alone, it's a must-play for me. If I remember correctly, Tunic was only made by one person, maybe I'm wrong, but I think it would be great to see this person's work. Not much to say about it, it looks like its own thing, even if its inspiring on Zelda.

Bayonetta 3

The return of this witch is not something that I am going to miss, if I am honest, at first it did not got my attention, but as more info came out, it ended up the opposite, I really want to try it, I hope this time it sold very well because I see a lot of people crying for this game, and I hope they don't do the classic thing of asking for a game and then not buying it.

Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope

Same thing happened with Bayonetta 3, it didn't got my attention, but as more details and trailers came out I ended up liking it more, I'd like to give it a try, I mean, I'll see if I have time, I have many games which I have to play, plus I have to play the first game of the franchise, so we´ll see.

Kirby: Return to Dream Land Deluxe

It seems obvious Nintendo wants to take advantage of the momentum that Kirby and the forgotten land had, giving room and space to other games like Return to Dream Land, so that people play more Kirby. The truth is I'm a bit conflicted, it's fine but since it's somehow unnecessary, it's like the case of Tales of Symphonia, don't get me wrong, these two are great games, but was there a need to port them? I mean, I love Return to Dream Land, and I don´t think the problem is the port itsefl, the problem is that Nintendo will probably sell this for 60$...and I´m not sure it´s quite fair.

More Nintendo 64 Games on the Nintendo Switch Online

Okay, I have to admit it, this made me feel more excited than I should be, finally all of the Mario Party games from the Nintendo 64 will be playable, I love this, I mean, I was expecting 2, but not all 3, I haven't played Mario Party 1 or 3, I have distant memories of playing 1 with a couple of friends, but honestly I don't remember very well. In addition to that, they announced the two Pokemon Stadium games, especially from the first one I have nice memories, being able to play it again.

That's right, as a surprise, they announced GoldenEye, this one in particular, I remember playing it with some friends, I thought it was fun, I don't think I'm going to touch it, but hey, it's great they managed to rescue it somehow, that game is like really important to gaming history.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion

I don't agree with Square Enix practices, releasing Final Fantasy VII remake in parts for a crash-grab thing seems pretty insulting to me, the games are great and whatever you want, but there was no need to release it in 3 separate parts plus the others spin-offs that will come out from this. Yes, the game is very big, but that´s no excuse, Zelda Breath of the Wild exists and I don't see it divided into 3 parts, the same with Red Dead Redemption 2 or Persona 5, even Xenoblade Chronicles 3. However, I can't deny how great this Crisis Core remake/remaster looks. I have it on my list and it is something that I would definitely like to play this December.

Sifu

Yes, I know it runs better on a PC or Ps4, I know, but my PC today couldn't run it and honestly I don't have a Ps4, my only gaming console today is the Switch and well, the Nintendo 3DS, but obviously the 3DS doesn't run something like this. Anyway, since Sifu was released I wanted to play it and obviously I couldn't, but having it released for Switch makes me very excited, finally I'll be able to play it. I repeat, I know it runs better on other platforms, but I don't care, I'll be able to play it and that's more than enough for me.

Resident Evil, my biggest disappointment in this Direct

This was extremely disappointing, what disappointed me the most about the Direct, I can understand that perhaps Village is a very demanding game for the Switch, I´m not sure about that but let´s say it is, however, Resident Evil 2 and 3 remake are capable to run on a Switch, of course, with some sacrifices, but they can be playable, hell, my pc can run these games in a decent way. I wouldn't complain too much but the Cloud Service on Switch sucks, it doesn´t matter if you have a good internet connection, you´ll have issues with it.

Raincode

I call this … the Danganronpa Bottleg. I'm kidding, the truth is that it looks quite interesting, I like that it has the characteristic Danganronpa aesthetic, it has its own charisma. This game is more about investigation, and honestly, the Danganronpa cool thing were the trials, I'm not saying that the investigations were bad, on the contrary, but not enought to justify the game, well, we´ll see about that.

Octopath Traveler II

Finally, a sequel to Octopath Traveler, to be honest, I didn't expect it at all, it caught me by surprise, I've played the first one but I haven't finished it yet, this sequel will be the perfect motivation to finish it, I have to say that what I've seen looks very nice, the stories of the characters in this sequel look very good. I just love the HD-2D and hope it never dies.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Wow, finally TLOZ BOTW 2 has a title, honestly, for many it's the best of the event and I can understand it, but they only gave us a name, don't get me wrong, the game looks spectacular and the little they showed us looks amazing, it reminded me to Skyward Sword. Still, what they showed to me is not enough to be able to comment or give a verdict, it's great, but it's not my favorite moment of the Direct. From what little I watched of the new trailer, it seems to me that time control will be again a mechanic in this Zelda game, but we'll see. Would love to see more in the future.

Pikmin 4

I saved the best for the ending, or rather, what caused me the most hype, I'm sure many will say ¨Pikmin who? excuse me? Whats a pikmin lol¨ and I can understand why, Pikmin is quite a niche franchise that even God doesn´t know about it, but I personally love it, even if it was only a very short teaser, I'm glad to see that a new Pikmin is in developing. I loved the first game, I haven't been able to play the second properly and I haven't played the third yet for the same reason that I haven't been able to play Pikmin 2 yet, but man, I loved this announcementmy favorite from the direct.

Conclusion

That all folks, I think the Direct was great, although it could be improved, honestly if you don't like JRPGs, or Fire Emblem or Zelda, or you've already played the third party games they mentioned, you probably won't like the Direct , although for me, it was enjoyable, what I expected and a little more, thanks to Pikmin 4, Zelda and the third party games I haven´t played.

My thoughts on the ports showed is that, yes, they are unnecessary, but, the problem is not about that I think, it is more that Nintendo will individually charge you $60 for them, and well, that really sucks.

Honestly, I never felt a pacing issue with the Direct, they always showed games. The only thing I hated is the fact that Resident Evil is only available in the Cloud, but nothing else.