Friday, September 2, 2016

Nintendo Direct 01.09.2016

It was a good Direct. It truly was. I can't really complain about anything shown there. Even the more controversial games don't bother me. It really was a good Nintendo Direct focused solely on the Nintendo 3DS.
But first if you haven't watched it you can catch up right here:


Objectively we got everything we could ask from this direct. New information about upcoming big games, Indie Love and some new announcements. And the skits in between are a great way to break up the continuous announcements.


Pokemon Sun and Moon look better and better each time they are shown. I like the concept of Alola forms for older Pokemon a lot. What I'm not so sure about is the restriction to Gen 1 only. It seems GameFreak is riding the Nostalgia Wave pretty hard with this one. But from the looks and information we got so far this Generation seems like it will break up a lot of established rules for the franchise. Something that is more than welcome after 20 years. To me it seems as if GameFreak intends Sun and Moon to be the next big leap in the Pokemon Franchise, maybe being as influental as the ground breaking first games.


Next up is one of the more controversial games in this Direct, but honestly one that I was expecting. Ever since it's announcement I was sure that Mario Maker will find its way onto the Nintendo 3DS. And on the first glance this is good. And on the second too. Yes I won't complain about them ''robbing'' the Wii-U of one of its exclusives, because in my eyes they're not. They're expanding the Playerbase and more Players means more wacky and more great designed courses. Of course it also means more trash courses, but let's ignore that for the moment.
But what I have to criticize is the way they implemented things. The idea of strengthening the local aspect of the game is great, but cutting down the Online functionality is not. For me this robs most of the games motivation.
But something that I imagine to be great would be like a level jam, where you meet up with other like minded People and you all create levels together and try to beat them. This is something this game offers. Anyway I'm sure it will be a huge success, especially in Japan.


Mario Party Star Rush also looks good, but for me it's still not really interesting because it has the same Problems every handheld Mario Party had so far. It's not the games fault, but more or less a platform problem. Mario Party works best with friends on couch. That's also why I've never missed online functionalities in those games.
Also something that I find quite interesting is the fact, that so far the classic Party mode (with or without car) hasn't been shown. Maybe they scrapped it all together in favour of Toad Scramble?
But anyways the game looks really solid and it offers a ton of different modes to play. So any handheld gamer, who was let down by Mario Party: Island Tour, can look forward to this iteration.


As for Animal Crossing. I'm not the hugest fan of the series, but a good friend of mine absolutely loves it. And she is looking forward to this new Update, which, for her, reinvigorated New Leaf. She is playing it regularly again in anticipation. Also the announcement of an Animal Crossing Direct raised some expectations. We'll probably get some new information about Animal Crossing for Smart Phones and hopefully a completely new Animal Crossing. As for platform I really can't make and prediction. It could be NX or even a new 3DS Title.


Tank Troopers and the Mii Plaza Games look like simple fun, and I'm pretty sure that they will find enough fans, who'll enjoy them.


The Zelda Amiibos look great and I'll definitely get Ocarina of Time Link. Also the release of Skyward Sword for the Wii-U Virtual Console reminded me that I have to play this game again before Breath of the Wild releases. Thanks Nintendo. You're always looking out for me.


And now we have the next controversial title after Super Mario Maker 3D. Yoshis Wooly World will be ported to the Nintendo 3DS with new levels and new features, as well as all the content that could be found inside the Wii-U Version of the game. And again I won't complain about them robbing the Wii-U one of it's exclusives, but instead try to stay positive.
The game looks great, even on the 3DS screen. The Yarn look is just timeless. Of course I prefer the HD Version, which looks more vibrant and detailed, but for someone looking for a great 3DS Yoshi game, after the disappointing Yoshis New Island, this is perfect. The new additions are not enough for me to say that I feel robbed and they are not enough to warrant another purchase of the game for me. So I'm just happy that more people get the chance to play this delightful game.


Ever Oasis got a little bit overlooked during this Years e3, which is a damn shame. It looks like Grezzo has taken all they learned from making Ocarina of Time 3DS and Majoras Mask 3DS and gave it their own spin with their first own IP. The game reminds me a lot of Fantasy Life, which was a great title for the 3DS. And with Level 5 chasing the mobile dream with that franchise Ever Oasis comes right along to fill that gap. The mixture of RPG, Town building and The Sims looks like a lot of fun. If Grezzo manages to balance all this aspects I think Ever Oasis could become a big success. Let's hope it will.


Mario Sports Superstars looks fine, but I really missed some wacky Mario like items or areas to spice up the Sports. So far it looks like it will be regular sports with Mario Characters attached, which really doesn't interest me. This was one of the main reasons I didn't buy Mario Tennis for the Wii-U. In a Mario Sports game I want crazy courts, abilities and items. I hope they deliver this to Mario Sports Superstars, because it looks like a solid game even without these features. But with them this could be a hit.


And lastly we have a surprising announcement. A new Pikmin is headed to the 3DS. Now to quench your worries. This is not Pikmin 4 and it's not created by the main Pikmin team. This new game is a 2D spinoff. The true Pikmin 4 is still headed to Wii-U or NX (probably NX).
This game focuses on puzzle solving and fighting in a 2 dimensional plane. On the one hand this reduces the complexity, but also opens up new ways to interact with your Pikmin. The announcement of this game took me completely by surprise and I'll hope it doesn't share Federation Force destiny.


Now I haven't talked about the worries of several people that Nintendo is robbing the Wii-U of it's games with these ports. I think this is an interesting topic and I want to discuss this in depth, so that's why this will be next weeks topic for the Wednesday Thoughtpiece. I hope you can be patient until then.

And now before I wrap this up I want to adress the people that called this direct disappointing. What did you expect? We got a lot of games. Big titles and smaller ones. New announcements completely out of the blue and more information on upcoming games. In fact let me just list all the games that where shown during this direct.

  • Pokemon Sun and Moon
  • Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS
  • Mario Party Star Rush
  • Animal Crossing: New Leaf
  • Mii Plaza Games
  • Tank Troopers
  • Picross 3D Round 2
  • Hyrule Warriors Legends DLC
  • Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice
  • Dragon Quest 8: Journey of the Cursed King
  • Yo-Kai Watch 2
  • Disney Magical World 2
  • Sonic Boom: Fire&Ice
  • Shin Megaim Tensei 4: Apocalypse
  • Poochy & Yoshis Wooly World
  • Ever Oasis
  • Mario Sports Superstars
  • Pikmin

And that's just the games. I haven't even included the merchandise like the New Amiibos.

So what are your thoughts on this direct? Are you happy? What would you have loved to see, but wasn't shown? Let me know in the comments

and as always

thanks for reading
Source of all Pictures: Nintendo

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