Talking About One Of The Best Directs Of All Time.

 

Hey, everyone, Happy Tuesday!

We have a milestone to celebrate, but that'll come in the very next article.

Let's talk about that incredible Direct. I'll be honest, outside of E3, that might now be my favorite Direct, ever. I've watched it 15 times or so now. There were so many cool announcements and so many genuine surprises. I had to wait a bit on this article because I was waiting on some news to come in, that'll be at the end of the article.

I'll be talking about the most interesting, exciting announcements that pertain to this blog, so keep that in mind. Here we go! 

Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes:

This was certainly a surprise. This wasn't the remake I've been hearing about for ages nor the new mainline game that's been rumored either, but still, hey, cool. As I'm sure most of you know, I'm not a Fire Emblem guy, but this was still a cool announcement, and I'm happy that most of my friends were happy. From what I know, Three Houses has a great story, so a game that expands on it sounds like a win to me. It's also coming out literally a day before my birthday, so hey, neat! 

Splatoon 3:

Uh...well. I absolutely love Splatoon 2, but I'll be honest. The promotion of Splatoon 3 so far isn't selling me, at all.

If you put Salmon Run from 2 and 3 side by side, I literally couldn't tell you a single difference to save my life. The campaign will probably be dope, but, is that enough for someone to spend $60 when the game mainly a multiplayer game? I don't think so. I hope marketing ramps up in a positive way for Splatoon 3 soon, because I'm not excited, and that sucks to say. 

Advance Wars 1&2:

We finally got an Advance Wars update, with a release date, and it continues to look fantastic. The character designs are  incredibly faithful to the originals, and the animations are silky smooth. I know a lot of people are iffy on Wayforward, for good reason, but I strongly believe Nintendo has their watch eyes set closely on this team to make sure they do this right. Everyone, please buy this so we can get more Advance Wars  I could not be more excited. Bring on the 8th of April.

 

Portal Collection:

Portal 1 and 2 are two of the dopest, most inventive games I've ever played. Portal 2 is a masterpiece. I'll be buying these and playing them again. That is all. 

Klonoa Returns:

Finally. Klonoa is back! The first two games are some of the most fun, imaginative, inventive platformers I've ever played and I'm extremely excited to get to play these again. Please buy these masterpieces. The world is a much better place with more Klonoa in our lives.

Live A Live:

My jaw literally dropped when I saw this. I knew there were trademarks made for this a while ago, but I didn't expect for it to just get dropped in a Direct like that, like holy fuck. A remake of this forgotten masterpiece is a blessing, and I recommend any RPG fan to give this banger a try. Square, please remake every RPG you have in HD 2D. I'll buy all of them. Live A Live is a genuine treat. Couple that with a remake of Front Mission 1 AND 2, as well as a remaster of Crono Cross, and it's safe to say classic Square was all over this direct. I'm fucking here for it. Parasite Eve next, please!

Kirby And The Forgotten Land:

I don't even know what else to say. I don't think my hype could rise any higher, the game looks absolutely stunning, it's like, everything I could have ever wanted from Kirby, in one.

The game looks like a dream to control, there are so many cool new transformations, the bosses look amazing, and I'm genuinely intrigued by the game's narrative. Being able to upgrade your copy abilities is a genius move and I'm super excited to try that out. The team is going way harder than they need to, and I just need March 25th to be here. I think I may have my GOTY already. 

Nintendo Switch Sports:

Wow. Talk about a surprise. I can confidently say I did not see this coming. They're finally bringing back Wii Sports, in a brand new form, and I'll be honest, this is a much better package. Wii Sports and it's sequel were two of the most played games in my household, and this is probably going to have the same effect. It looks like an absolute blast to play with friends and family, and it's also got something the previous two games didn't: Online Play.

Also, I absolutely love how these new avatars look, and I'd much rather have these from now on, rather than the ultra ugly ass Miis, which I have never liked, for the record.

I'm extremely excited. I just wish it came sooner and that Jet Ski and Boxing were included. Maybe in a future update.

FYI: This is a NOT a misinterpretation of the 1-2 Switch sequel I've heard about. That's very much a thing Nintendo will announce later on. 

Xenoblade Chronicles 3:

Here we go. The heavily rumored Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was finally announced, and wow, what a difference 5 years makes. This looks so much better than the previous game that it's not even funny. The character designs are a million times better, the world looks more interesting and I'm much more interested in the story this time. 

I'm not only actually looking forward to this one, but now I've made it a mission to complete the original Xenoblade Chronicles before this comes out. It's also out in September. Which is not very far from now at all.

Mario Strikers Battle League:

Oh my word. I could not believe what I was seeing. Mario Strikers is fucking back and I'm fucking hyped. The characters have that trademark Strikers attitude again, the game looks as brutal as it did before, and while we don't have a developer yet, I strongly believe it's Next Level Games developing this, given how the models look so similar, with Bandai Namco helping out in some way. As I said in the previous article, I had no idea what sport it was going to be when I was told about the game a few months ago, but man. Man. Holy shit. The game looks absolutely awesome. My friends and I will be playing this endlessly. This was my favorite game of the Direct. 

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Pass: 

Well, this was certainly a surprise.

It was obvious from all points of view that Mario Kart would be getting news sooner or later, and now we've gotten our announcement, and it's...DLC for a five year port of a nearly decade old game. And, it's a ton of content. 48 classic tracks for 25 bucks, which is very cool, however, this is very, very strange. For many reasons. Why now? Why did this take so long? It's no secret that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has been the best selling game on the console since the beginning. Don't get me wrong, I'll take as much Mario Kart as I can get, but wouldn't it have been beneficial to do this, ya know, right after launch?  

And don't get me started on the most controversial aspect: The visuals. It's very, and I mean, *very* obvious that they just took the versions of the courses from Tour, uprezzed the textures, and called it a day. It looks like an entirely different game. And that's for a reason:

*I heard shortly after the Direct that this DLC is being made entirely by Bandai Namco, EPD has little to no involvement with this, as work continues on the next Mario Kart.* 

I'll be doing articles on this game with more information, as well as articles on Strikers and other things from the Direct very soon. Mario Kart will be next. 

Regardless, this was an excellent Direct, and I'll be watching this one again and again. It's almost an easy 10/10 for me, personally.

That's all from me today. As always, thank you for reading.