One thing fans of the video game company Nintendo always look forward to is its announcements of upcoming game releases. The most well-known example of this is the Nintendo Direct, an online event that is held by the company at points throughout the year. The most recent Direct was held on Sept. 13, and was filled with a lot of announcements ranging from new releases to upcoming updates and downloadable content (DLC). 

The Direct started off with a major reveal, which was the next installment in the “Fire Emblem” franchise. The game, known as “Fire Emblem Engage,” features a protagonist with a colliding color palette of blue and red. It also appears to be calling back characters such as Marth. The announcement also revealed that along with the standard version of the game, there will also be a collector’s edition called the “Divine Edition,” which will feature the game, an artbook, a steel book, art cards and a poster. 

The next big announcement was for the recent release of “Splatoon 3,” which included the next Splatfest theme. Players were asked what they would bring to a deserted island, and the three teams would be based on what they would most likely bring: “Gear, Grub, or Fun.”

After that announcement, Nintendo unveiled the release date of “Octopath Traveler II,” a pixel-style RPG that will release on Feb. 24 next year. Some more minor announcements followed with a farming game including dungeon-crawler elements with “Fae Farm,” another trailer for “Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope,” and more N64 games for the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack library. These new N64 games include “Pilot Wings,” both “Pokemon Stadiums,” the first three “Mario Party” games, and a surprise with “Goldeneye 007.” 

The next big announcement was an upcoming teaser for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s Booster Course Pass with its third wave coming out this holiday season. The teasers included two tracks that will be featured in its third wave with Merry Mountain from “Mario Kart Tour” and Peach Gardens from
“Mario Kart DS.”

“Nintendo Switch Sports” was also given an update on the development of the golf sport for the game being pushed back to this holiday as well. Next announcement was quite a shocker with Shigeru Miyamoto (“Super Mario Maker”) coming out and announcing the long requested “Pikmin 4” coming out next year.

Rounding out the Direct was a surprise reveal of “Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe.” A remake of the popular Wii game, “Dreamland Deluxe” features updated visuals, such as a new design for King Dedede, a new copy ability with Mecha and new sub-games like Magolor’s Tomb Trackers and the return of Quick Draw. 

The final announcement was for the long-awaited “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” sequel, “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.” Featuring lore and new gameplay for the much-anticipated game, the Nintendo Direct finished with a bang, at least for most fans. “The Legend of Zelda,” “Kirby,” “Pikmin” and fans of farming games and visual novels were each treated to big reveals. But even then, it did feel a small bit lacking considering the large amount of farming games, to the point where viewers coined it “Nintendo’s Farm Direct.” Other than that, there is a lot to look forward to gaming-wise this holiday season and next year.

Image from Nintendo via YouTube