Nintendo have just streamed their latest Direct, seemingly to coincide with the wonderful Summer Game Fest we’ve been experiencing over this weekend. If you don’t have time to sit down for an hour and watch the whole thing, let me breakdown a selection of highlights from the stream.
Firstly, Pokopia (which I reviewed earlier this year) is getting a big free content update, as well as a season pass.
We all knew this was coming, Nintendo has been experimenting with DLC more and more in recent years, and one of Switch 2’s biggest must-buys was bound to get in on the action sooner or later. There are three waves of content, with the first coming in August this year.
This DLC will introduce a new zone called Bubbly Basin, set deep in the ocean. This will be accessed using a new move, Dive, which will be introduced in a free content update at the same time. How much use the free move will be if you don’t have the corresponding DLC remains to be seen, but this will sure be a treat for those of us desperate for some more cosy gaming.
We got more footage of Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave. Seemingly set in the same world as previous hit Three Houses, the story revolves around a tournament. You chose from one of four heroes each with their own unique power in battle, and try and navigate them through the twists and turns of the narrative. The series tropes return with recruitable units, social sim-style free time elements, and of course those absolutely gorgeous anime visuals we’ve come to love. The game will launch on 17th September, and Nintendo also showed a brief glimpse at a tasty looking collectors edition.
If you’re wanting something a bit more retro, those of you who are subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online will be able to take part in the DK Challenge. Much like the Nintendo World Championships of old, this event will allow subscribers to take part in a variety of bite size challenge levels based on a whole host of classic Donkey Kong games. If you also happen to own the smash hit Donkey Kong Bananza (and corresponding DLC), there will be a heap of special challenges there too! These challenges will run between the 10th June and 1st September.
A real left-field entry now, as poncle announced JuJutsu Kaisen: Rumble Survivaton. What initially appears to be a Vampire Survivors clone (of course from the creator themselves) actually turns out to be a battle royal spin on the genre?! Eight players enter and work to take down huge swatches of demons and spirits, but the entire match culminates in a 1v1 final battle for the two top players. This will be playable solo against bots, or online, and with up to 20 playable characters from the hit franchise, there’s sure to be plenty of variety here.
Lastly, the worst kept secret of the year, Nintendo crowned the presentation by official announcing the Ocarina of Time remake will be coming to the Switch 2 this year. The game needs no introduction, as the seminal adventure many consider to be the greatest game of all time, Ocarina of Time has been remade or ported before, to both the Gamecube and the 3DS, but now we get to play it again.
As I said previously, these were just a few of my personal highlights from the stream, and I would highly recommend heading over to Nintendo’s YouTube channel to check out the rest. A huge swathe of ports and multiplatform releases were shown in the Direct, including complete editions of Lies of P, Dragon’s Dogma 2, and Devil May Cry 5. It took my breath away just seeing how well the Switch 2 was keeping up with the fidelity and graphical power on these (admittedly older) titles. I didn’t even get time to mention the new Dragon Quest Monsters as an example, or the fresh looks at the upcoming Splatoon Raiders and Kingdom Hearts IV.
Overall, it’s been a good June to be a gamer so far!
