Summary
With the Switch 2 Direct only a week away, it was quite a surprise when Nintendo announced a 30-minute showcase to ring out the Switch 1 era. The Direct was predictably (and enjoyably) niche, though two non-game announcements have important implications on the Switch’s successor.
The Most Important Announcements Weren’t New Games
When Nintendo has information to share regarding non-game endeavors, it likes to segregate it into stand-alone presentations, social media posts, and the like. Yet in a move particularly surprising given the Switch 2 info dump is less than a week away, the company bundled two such bombshells into this Direct.
The most crucial of these is thenew Virtual Game Card feature, which is Nintendo’s attempt to simulate the experience of swapping physical cartridges between systems with digital games. It’s also an improvement over thecurrent game-sharing feature.
Their approach comes in two flavors, the first of which involves linking two Switch systems to freely swap digital games between them. This means you and one other person can share your digital library, though the license can only be used by one system at any given time, just as if it were a physical card. A point was made that a local connection was only needed for the initial system linking; it’s unclear if the service will work as an online transfer after that.
The second use for Virtual Game Cards is lending games to members of your Nintendo Account family group. These loaned games can be played for up to two weeks by the recipient before they’re automatically returned to the account holder they were purchased by. This is a great way to give others a chance to check out a game without worrying about the awkwardness of having them return a physical copy, though like with linked devices, you can’t play a game when it’s loaded onto another system.
It’s fair to assume this feature will carry over to the Switch 2. It’s entirely possible this is Nintendo’s new approach to data, though hopefully not as it would negate the value proposition of the service if it resulted in eight years of digital purchases being locked to an eight-year-old device. It’s also unclear if every digital game becomes a virtual game card, or if third parties need to opt into the program. We’ll learn more by (or at) the time the program launches at the end of April.
Nintendo closed out the presentation by announcing and shadow-dropping a new app calledNintendo Today!. This is a calendar that provides information on upcoming releases and content updates across Nintendo’s services. It’s also a delivery system for fun content like comics and video clips, with the option to opt into which franchises you’d like to receive daily drops for. It’s not much more than a bit of fan service for die-hards, but it’s nonetheless fun.
However, if I’m being honest, I’m not enthused by this one. At best, it’s a vehicle for a Nintendo-themed calendar widget for your phone’s home screen. Realistically, it’s little more than a marketing arm in a form factor few will bother checking. This functionality doesn’t warrant its own app when Nintendo already has an increasingly superfluous number of these things floating around, be it theNintendo Switch Online appor theNintendo Music streaming service. I would’ve been much more excited if they had taken this opportunity to consolidate these apps into a one-stop shop.
New Information About Two Heavy Hitters
The only major Nintendo titles shown in this Direct were thetwo we’ve known about for a real hot minute:Metroid Prime 4: BeyondandPokémon Legends: Z-A. Neither got updated release dates (they’re still a vague “2025” window), but the extra insight was nonetheless appreciable.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyondshowed off a lush jungle planet scattered with ancient ruins and bug and plant-like enemies. A special focus was put on Samus’ new psychic powers, the coolest of which is her ability to control energy beams to pass through multiple enemies. Seeing features like this is also a good sign that the game will be accessible to players who may not be experienced or comfortable with first-person shooters, an atypical genre for Nintendo. Also, if this visually impressive footage was indeed from the Switch 1 version, I can’t imagine how good the plausible Switch 2 boost will look.
The newPokémon Legends: Z-Ainformation was even juicier, outlining the gameplay loop only hinted at in the two trailers released earlier this month onPokémon Day(the franchise’s yearly anniversary celebration). During the day, you capture and train Pokémon in designated zones throughoutPokémon X & Y’sLumiose City, and at night you face off against trainers in a competition to rise from rank Z to rank A. More of the series-first action-based combat system was shown in footage, and though we’re yet to get a detailed breakdown of how it works, it sure looks more and more inspired byXenoblade Chronicles.
Both of these trailers could have easily shown up without a raised eyebrow during next week’s Switch 2 showcase, so their inclusion here largely served to excite me about what other surprises Nintendo still has in store for this year. Aside from a newMario Kart, we really know nothing about what 2025 holds for Nintendo game-wise.
Niche Franchises Make a Shocking Return
The most exciting reveals for me during the Direct were new entries in lesser-known series I figured Nintendo had given up on.
Rhythm Heaven Grooveis the big one. It’s been a decade since the last entry in Nintendo’s bonkers rhythm mini-game franchise, and even longer if we consider that was a best-of collection. The idiosyncratic series never caught on outside Japan, so hopefully the Switch can work its magic and turn around its fortunes.
In a similar vein,Tomodachi Life: Living the Dreamis banking on the Switch’s hit-making potential to turn an obscure 3DS social game into a beloved franchise. Miis return at a higher fidelity than ever, and it seems this entry may grant them the ability to freely roam about the game’s island. I think this concept has a lot of legs with a Switch base that bought the console to playAnimal Crossing: New Horizons, thoughI wish this was being baked into the Switch 2’s OS as a social hub. Perhaps it’s a sign of things to come, at least.
Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until 2026 for these. They’re likely indicative of the type of cross-gen support we can expect to see from Nintendo as both games demand little of the original Switch’s hardware.
Cozy Game and RPG Fans Ate Well
Not a Nintendo Direct goes by without its fair share ofRPGsandcozy games, and this was no exception.
The headlining cozy game title wasStory of Seasons: Grand Bazaar, which remakes theHarvest Moonpredecessor of the same name but will need to spruce up its offerings if it wants to compete in a now-crowded market. A sizzle-reel appearance of the long-in-development do-whatever-role-you-please simulatorFANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Timewas also welcome, though the frame rate worryingly felt like watching a slideshow at times (the full trailer only reinforces this).
Perhaps the most promising game shown in this categoryis Witchbrook. It features stylish pixel art depicting player characters going about their lives in a world that evokes anime likeKiki’s Delivery ServiceandLittle Witch Academia. Also, if we consider serving magical caffeinated beverages to evildoers to be cozy,Disney Villains Cursed Caféwas announced and shadow dropped.
Admittedly, the usual crop of JRPGs is more my speed.DRAGON QUEST I & II HD-2D Remakewas an impressive first showing, if a bit predictable given how it’s stylistically identical to last year’s remake of the series’ third entry. I’m intrigued by the teasing of a new plot point, though, and also respect Square Enix continuing to revisit its classics (though, especially on its 30th anniversary,where’sChrono Trigger?).
RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Armywas also revealed, bringing the PlayStation 2 title under theShin Megami Tenseiumbrella to the Switch.SaGa Frontier 2 Remasteredcontinues the revivalism trend as well, following up the 2021 remaster of its predecessor.
However, I was most tickled byNo Sleep For Kaname Date – From AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES, which looks to be a smaller-scoped entry in the wonderfully weird detective visual novel series. The only issue is that these games have been notoriously less polished on Switch than on other platforms. Hopefully the Switch 2 can bridge that gap, or I’ll be playing elsewhere.
The Best of the Rest
There were other noteworthy announcements that didn’t neatly fit into my rundown.
Shoot ‘em up fans will assuredly get a kick out of theGradius Originscollection, which features an entirely new game, and beat ‘em up fans were served well withMarvel Cosmic Invasion, which is being developed by the team behind the highly regardedTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. TwoMetroidvaniasalso caught my eye:Shadow Labyrinth(that edgyPac-Manspin-off based on the short fromAmazon’sSecret Levelanthology series) andThe Eternal Life of Goldman(DuckTalespogo stick platforming with hand-drawn animation).
Sony franchises (published by way of Bandai Namco) also had a bit of a presence here.PATAPON 1+2 REPLAYbrings the first two rhythmic battlers in the PlayStation Portable franchise to the Switch with some enhancements, andEverybody’s Golf: Hot Shotswas revealed as the first non-VR entry in the franchise in nearly a decade. (Gotta love how they worked theoriginal localized name for the social golfing franchisein there.)
The Main Event Is Next Week
While there was a lot to like in this impromptu Nintendo Direct, it’s only an appetizer for theSwitch 2 blowout happening on April 2nd.
We’ve been waiting years for a holistic look at the next generation of Nintendo gaming, and we’re about to get just that. Outlying hardware questions will be answered, such as how thecolloquially dubbed “mouse mode”works, andwhat that extra button on the right Joy-Con does.
Plus, with how empty its 2025 schedule is, Nintendo’s going to need a heap of barn-burner blockbusters to pair with its console rundown. Here are theSwitch 2 games I predict Nintendo will reveal.
