What We Learned From September’s Nintendo Direct

Another Nintendo Direct has come and gone and Thursday’s Direct was one of the most active we’ve had in quite some time. While the event itself was only 40 minutes long, it was full of games, announcements, and some big surprises. It was the exact kind of event that Nintendo was looking for to create some hype around the Switch as it continues to compete against the powerhouses that are the next-gen PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

The best part? Pretty much everything Nintendo showed is slated for a winter 2021/spring 2022 release so that means we don’t even have to wait too long for everything we saw. That means some really great games could be on the horizon very soon if the titles match the quality of the trailers.

Bayonetta 3 Is Real

Perhaps the biggest announcement was that yes, Bayonetta 3 is still happening. To show how long it’s been since we heard anything about this fantastic action franchise, this game was originally announced as a Switch exclusive all the way back in 2017. Ever since? Radio silence. It was starting to become a concern that the game was going through a tumultuous development cycle. Anytime a game isn’t heard from for a long time there are concerns it’s going to be cancelled entirely.

Thankfully, Bayonetta 3 was not cancelled, and not only did we finally get some new information about it but a release timeframe as well. Expect this game in 2022, still a Switch exclusive, and we can expect plenty of that heavy action gameplay we’ve fallen in love with before. If this game is going to be just as big and ridiculous as the rest of them, that should have all of us excited.

Give Us More Splatoon 3 Lore

Spoilers for anyone that still hasn’t played the first Splatoon game, but these games are actually set in a post-apocalyptic world where all mammals went extinct. Bet you weren’t expecting that kind of lore from a game about panting walls with paintball guns, but it’s part of what makes this new Splatoon 3 trailer so interesting. It revealed that some mammals still live on! What could this mean for the lore of the series!

Of course, this is still a multiplayer shooter franchise at heart, so as exciting as it is we’re getting some new lore it also means new maps, new paint guns, and some new mechanics. Splatoon is a great franchise and a strong part of Nintendo’s library. Anyone that hasn’t checked them out yet should really give it a shot.

A 3D Kirby Game

The trailer for Kirby and the Forgotten Land is very off-putting at first because the usually upbeat and charming atmosphere of Kirby has been replaced with what looks like a post-apocalyptic landscape. It also fills us with so much mystery. Why is Kirby here? What is the plan for Kirby in this new world and what kind of exploration will we be able to do there now that he is finally in a 3D environment?

Fans have been asking for a 3D Kirby game for ages so it’s great to finally see that coming to fruition. It’s going to be really fun to see how they apply his powers and abilities into that kind of world. Kirby’s previous games have all been very linear adventures, but this world looks massive so we might get a chance to do some real exploration here.

Is This Final Fantasy Or Mario Kart? Both?

Every major franchise must have a Kart Racer at some point. It is the law. That is why Final Fantasy is now getting one with Chocobo GP. This game is very clearly a Mario Kart clone, but it makes sense to emulate the best when doing this. Unfortunately, it’s also hard to judge this kind of game on the trailer alone, because so much of racing games is about how they feel when playing them. We’ll just have to wait to see more in the future.

More Metroid Dread

Metroid Dread is almost here and every follow-up trailer for the game has looked better than the last. This is going to be the first new-2D Metroid game in nearly 20 years so it’s going to have some big shoes to fill. So far it seems to be filling them just fine. Combat looks fluid and fun, the powers we’ve seen look cool, and we’ve even seen some hints that Samus might get her old suit design back.

Where Metroid Dread will really succeed or fail though is how it chooses to approach the old Metroidvania formula. These games are all about exploration so even if the gameplay is fun it will need a strong world to back it up. Right now we haven’t seen too much about that, but the game is coming out on October 8 so we won’t have to wait too long to find out how they did.

A Direct To Announce Directs

For a brief moment, it looked like we were finally getting a major Animal Crossing: New Horizons update. Then Nintendo pulled a fast one on us and announced that we would have to watch the upcoming Direct in October to learn more. That said, this did show that we’re finally getting Brewster back, so it wasn’t all lost.

What was odd is they also used this same Direct to announce an upcoming Direct for revealing, and showing off, the final roster addition for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Using a major reveal event to announce further reveals is a weird marketing move on Nintendo’s part, but that’s just par for the course for them at this point really.