INDIE WORLD + PARTNER SHOWCASE: August 27

[Nester the Lark]

I mean, I'm not trying to sound entitled or impatient, but the relative silence is conspicuous at this point.

Rationally, I know Nintendo has been been working on the game for at least five years, and if there's some big twist they don't want to telegraph, that's fine. Frankly, I don't expect the gameplay demo to be much more than a closer look at what's already been shown in previous trailers, plus maybe an extra detail or two.

My suspicions about the dev team vs the marketing may not be entirely off base, though. Here's what former NoA staff member Kit Ellis (of Kit & Krysta) tweeted:

[Nester the Lark]

New Indie World incoming.

[Nester the Lark]

So, among the few games I hoped to see during the Indie World Showcase, they actually showed one!

Rift of the NecroDancer is officially announced for Switch, and coming sometime in 2023!

EDIT: Trailer.

[Nester the Lark]

[nocturnal YL]

Very interesting, with all those Mario-related announcements. Some of those are completely unexpected.

[Nester the Lark]

OK, full (and lengthy) thoughts.

Saying the Direct was "slim pickings" was maybe a little harsh. They showed plenty of good things, but nothing terribly Earth-shattering for me.

I was surprised to see both Shinya Takahashi and Yoshiaki Koizumi hosting it. Yeah, Koizumi is the "Mario guy," but for all those Mario announcements, it doesn't seem like he actually introduced them much. Still, I like seeing him, and with that WarioWare bit, I'm happy to see that Nintendo can still have a little bit of fun in their Directs.

So, yeah, all those Mario games. And a Luigi game. And a Wario game. And a Peach game. Makes sense considering the success of the Mario movie.

I loved Super Mario RPG on the SNES, but I don't plan to get the remake. I wonder if this is intended to pick up the slack for the Paper Mario games not being RPGs anymore, and Alpha Dream not being around to make more Mario & Luigi games. Could this be the beginning of it becoming its own series?

Interesting to see a new WarioWare game so soon. I guess Get It Together must've been successful.

I'm wondering what that new Princess Peach game will be like. The stage seems to be a theme. I don't think it will be like the old Super Princess Peach game.

So, all four Pikmin games will be available on Switch. Miyamoto is trying really hard to make Pikmin a thing. I've still only played the first one on GameCube. It was always in the back of my mind to try another one, but I just never really bothered.

I want to mention the Metal Gear Solid collection only because it includes the non-canon NES game Snake's Revenge. I was joking recently on Twitter that since Hideo Kojima is gone, Konami should reboot Metal Gear as a continuation of Snake's Revenge. I'm kind of impressed that Konami included it, and it probably wouldn't have happened if Kojima was involved.

Ah, the annual Just Dance. I know it's kind of a joke, but I was thinking how this was a series that started off on the Wii, and was a gimmick to take advantage of the motion controls. Yet, it's still going all these years later. I imagine they don't cost that much to produce, but they keep selling.

I guess the most interesting game for me in this Direct is Super Mario Bros Wonder. This looks like the best "modern" 2D (or 2.5D) Mario game yet. The classic Mario games had their own sense of "wonder" to them at the time, whereas the "New" SMB games relied more on comfortable familiarity. The "wonder" was reserved more for the 3D Mario games. By using the word "Wonder" in the title of this new game, I hope that means they're trying to bring that sense of wonder back to the 2D games.

I like how the perspective of the characters now resembles what the 2D sprites used to look like, rather than the generic side perspective of the "New" series. It reminds me of how they handled the graphics in A Link Between Worlds.

It's interesting that Daisy is a playable character. I wonder if there are others that haven't been announced yet, like Rosalina, or if there will be more added via DLC. (EDIT: I just noticed in the trailer that it looks like you can also play as Yoshi.)

Side note: It's interesting that new 2.5D Mario and Sonic games are coming this year, and they both have similarly colorful, vibrant graphics with a cute style, plus 4-player co-op. It's hard not to draw comparisons. I know Sonic Superstars is being developed by Arzest, but I hope it turns out OK. Both games are really appealing to my childhood nostalgia.

Overall, it was a decent Direct. Not much for me personally, but it was entertaining. I'll give it a C+.

Last note: Metroid Prime 4 is still completely M.I.A. There hasn't been any mention of it since 2021 when Metroid Dread was revealed. Retro Studios is still hiring new talent. It's been six years since the game was first announced, and over four years since development was restarted. It's pretty clearly in development hell at this point.

I know Nintendo announced it early to assure people about the types of games that were coming to Switch, but now it puts them in the awkward situation of not really being able to cancel it. Some people think Nintendo is just saving it for the launch of the next platform. There's also still time to reveal it for Switch before the end of the year. But there's been less reveled about it than there was for even Tears of the Kingdom in the past five years.

I'm not personally invested in it, but I am curious about it, and I feel kinda bad for the fans being strung along all this time.

[Nester the Lark]

[Nester the Lark]

So, I'm even more excited about this game now.

Impressions:

SPOILER: Click to show

- 12 playable characters, but four of them are straight-up alt colors. Characters seem to be divided between two main classes, as the Yoshi's and Nabbit have a different play style.

Characters can still ride on a Yoshi, including Yoshi, which is awesome.

- Online play, kind of. This seems to be a compromise to get around possible connection issues, but I think it'll be fun. There's a heavy emphasis on helping each other, and I think it'll add a nice feeling of community in the game.

I was expecting there to be a functionality similar to SpotPass in New Super Mario Bros U and Super Mario Maker on Wii U where you could leave messages for other players, but I think this will be better.

- The rumored special edition red Switch OLED is confirmed.

- No amiibo support so far.

- There was no mention of it in the Direct, but the eShop page mentioned in-game purchases, so there could still be DLC on the way.

[nocturnal YL]

The music heard on the JP website can be obtained here:
www.nintendo.com/jp/switch/aqmxa/assets/sound/top/bgm_01.mp3
www.nintendo.com/jp/switch/aqmxa/assets/sound/top/bgm_02.mp3
(Thanks for the well-organised files and code, Nintendo. You've made analysing your website very easy.)

This looks quite impressive. Only 6 worlds, but the Wonder transformations should spice things up. Shouldn't be too different from the New SMB games in terms of scale.

I want to see more power-ups, since the ones we have are rather different from each other, with 2 flower types (projectiles), 1 transformation and 1 terrain traversal type. Though I guess badges already serve the purpose of giving Mario different moves.

Mario feels quite different, mostly because of the new art direction. Nintendo should consider setting a new series standard using this style. The New SMB / 3D World standard has been around for about 15 years (starting from Mario Party 9 becoming the first spinoff to adopt the style), after all.

[Nester the Lark]

Eurogamer has a good interview with producer Takashi Tezuka and director Shiro Mouri.

Basically, they wanted to modernize the sense of mystery felt when players discovered secrets (like warp pipes) in the old games.

One funny anecdote is that Mouri wanted to add Daisy to the game because he has two daughters, and they would fight over who got to play as Peach. So this would settle those fights in his own household.

[Nester the Lark]

[Da Robot]

Um, prediction time?


- Smash 64, 25th anniversary version
- More N64 games for NSO
- FE4 remake?

[nocturnal YL]

That's crazy, especially with the Mario-related news.

Biggest impression: It looks like Nintendo is finally starting to recognise their own history of games that aren't bleached in New SMB-coloured paint. We're seeing the return of Mario games with a non-standard cast (Princess Peach Showtime and the RPG remakes), Another Code coming back, Nintendo Museum is opening before the end of Q1 2004, Mario vs DK, the previously announced WarioWare and Luigi's Mansion 2, and F-Zero… 99, sadly, but hey.

They tried to make indie games of questionable quality sound fun (seriously, that quiz game thing feels like a clone of some Roblox games). They tried.

ATLUS is getting a new SRPG. Rather surprising to see that; when I see that graphical style I thought it was SQUARE ENIX. And surprisingly, SQUARE ENIX didn't show up a lot this time.

To be honest, without the endless Monster Hunter and SQUARE ENIX shilling, the third party side of the presentation looks a bit weak. We do get a new SaGa and a new Shiren the Wanderer, though.

The most interesting thing is Princess Peach Showtime, which looks like a minigame collection to me. Looks like they've spent way too much effort on it if that's all it's going to be, though. I'm guessing there's more going on.

And we're finally getting more Wave 6 info. We have Daisy's Circuit (which some predictions were so vehemently against because "another circuit"), Diddy Kong who should have been in the base MK8, Pauline and PEachette from Tour, and the main character of Mario Kart Wii. Interesting, and now we have to wait a few more months to see what the rest of the courses are.

[Nester the Lark]

So, I wouldn’t say there were any huge megaton announcements this time, but there were still some fun surprises. And Mario. Lots of Mario.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong
Nice to see a new Mario vs. Donkey Kong that takes its inspiration from Donkey Kong ‘94. Is this being developed by NST?
I’m somewhat interested.
EDIT: Ah, this is a remake of the GBA game. I never played that one.

Another Code: Recollection
I never played Trace Memory, but I always heard good things about it. Not sure if I’m interested in these, but it’s cool to see Nintendo bring back more obscure stuff. And unlike the Famicom Detective Club remakes, these are in full 3D. (Not that I have issues with 2D, obviously. The FDC remakes looked quite nice. It’s just interesting that they put the effort into remaking these in 3D.)

Princess Peach: Showtime!
This looks really cute. It does seem like a minigame collection, but I like all of her different outfits. It’s nice to see Peach as more of a heroine lately.

SaGa Emerald Beyond
Was definitely not expecting a new SaGa announcement in a Direct. Gameplay-wise, it seems most similar to Scarlet Grace – Ambitions. From what I’ve seen so far, SaGa fans are quite excited for this.

The SaGa series is on sale right now on the eShop. I know Baten Kaitos HD is out today, and Nayuta is next week, but since I’ll likely get each of those digitally, there’s less incentive for me to get them at launch. I'm still undecided, but I may wait for a sale. (Bandai Namco and NISA have sales fairly regularly.) In the mean time, I’m considering a SaGa game.

Contra: Operation Galuga
A new Contra, and it’s developed by WayForward?! Heck yeah, I’m in!
This is considered a “re-imagining” of the original game, which is kind of what Contra 4 was. So basically, this is “Contra 4-2.” (If it had online multiplayer, it’d be perfect.)
After the disaster of Contra: Rogue Corps, I think it’s fair to say that WayForward understands Contra far better than Nobuya Nakazato.

Unicorn Overlord
As soon as I saw this, I recognized Vanillaware’s art style. Don’t know if I’ll play this, but it looks gorgeous, and I like the character designs.

Noah and Mio amiibo
Coming January 19, which I admit, is sooner than I expected. We also now know what they do: they unlock more costumes. Noah and Mio will get Consul N and M skins (this has long been requested by fans), and all six characters can take their jackets off.
This isn’t super substantial (they'll likely be unlockable without the amiibo), and I don’t know if I’ll get the amiibo, but I do kinda want them anyway.

F-Zero 99
I was going to predict an F-Zero reveal one last time due to it being rumored earlier this year, but it was spoiled by the leak.
But finally, F-Zero is back! It might not be exactly what I would’ve hoped for, but an F-Zero 99 was definitely something I would’ve wanted to see as part of the, uh, “99” series(?). I think it’ll lend itself well to this, and I’m looking forward to trying it!
It’s strange that only the original four vehicles are available for a 99-payer battle royale game, but I guess it makes sense considering this is based on the original F-Zero. (Maybe they’ll add others later?)

Overall, there was quite a lot of Mario in this Direct, just as there was in the June Direct. Yeah, it makes sense because of the movie and all, but I am feeling a little bit of Mario fatigue already. (And all these games aren’t even out yet.) But there was also some representation for more obscure series’, too. I’m definitely not disappointed. I’ll grade the Direct a solid B.

[Da Robot]

The rumors/leak about this direct I think really left an impact on it.

- Splatoon 3 DLC looks good.
- Unicorn Overlord has a strange name, but it looks like a spiritual successor to Ogre Battle.
- MvsDK looks good, though I'm saddened it's a remake and not a new game (hopefully they add the Jp-only e-Reader levels and possibly a level editor. I suppose this means that GBA version won't appear on NSO. Co-op with Toad is good addition.
- Princess Peach: Showtime looks good, though how lng will each segment/costume level be
- I'm happy to see Wayforward get more work on Contra even if is a remake. Though the word "Galuga" make me think of Galaga.
- Another Code remakes are great, with new voice acting, puzzles and a physical release have been confirmed. I wouldn't be surprise if the dev behind the Famicom Detective remake games was behind this.
- F-Zero 99, the game that F-Zero fanbase didn't want, but at this time, is incredible that it actually exists. We now have a official widescreen, HD, online multiplayer version of the SNES F-Zero. I think the rumors of a HD F-Zero GX remake spoiled people, into thinking it was going to lead to something more.
- SMRPG remake, I'm heard the battle in the original could drag out with multiple rows of enemies so attacking multiples at once looks like a great convenience.
- The infrared camera feature hasn't been forgotten with Trombone Champ and WarioWare! 2 more games added to the incredibly short list of games that use it!
- The only issue with WarioWare I have is if they have enough microgames games for each "form"/pose, I remember with 9-Volts games you could easily predict some of the microgames was going to come next if you had already played a microgame with a particular form because some microgames only had 2-3 forms but then again that only seems to have effect his stages.
- PM: The Thousand Year Door remake, good to see another GCN remake.
- LM2, already own the original, surprised it doesn't have co-op.



Surprising omissions from the Direct

- No updates to retro software/hardware on NSO or future releases, I wouldn't be surprised if the first GBA F-Zero game get added next month with the recent F-Zero interest


Overall a lot of remakes (from Nintendo) from across many hardware generations (SNES, GBA, GCN, DS, Wii), looking back at the 3DS final years it too got a large amount of ports/remakes (which can be made with a lower budget/dev time), I can definitively understand that theory of these games being holdouts until the supposed "Switch successor/Switch 2" launches in 2024 with more "original" games.

Also a lot of Mario games, I can't tell if this is some sort of coincidence following the Mario movie or not.