It's a thread! (Games discussion, etc.)

[Moge]

You can watch the trailer in its full uncompressed quality here -- assets.nintendo.com/video/upload/Nintendo%20Direct/2025/voPNXhhQvrtL/fkCXRmtUQPbQ/spotlight-02.mp4

I know i'm not alone thinking it looks almost too good. Some believe the footage is from a Switch 2 version, but i think that would be very underhanded for Nintendo to do.

I get the feeling Retro is more of a technical support studio first and a game studio second. How else to explain their sporadic game releases? That's why they'll always be around even if game development in Texas is prohibitively expensive. Their knowledge is simply invaluable to a company like Nintendo who aren't known for pushing the graphics envelope.

[JG]

Well Metroid Prime looked better in Switch 2. Still well under-advertised given how much money was apparently spent on its development and trying to position Metroid as a seventh key franchise per the Nintendo music logo, but if its set up to lose money and doesn't carry a Metroid Prime 2+3 with it then there's not much sense expecting it to ever join the ranks of the elite Nintendo franchises. Needed to be launch title with a strong focus on this being the marquee game through the summer (or at least, until Mario comes along), but they gave that role to Donkey Kong instead. So we're not seeing Metroid Prime 4 until August 14 or 21, being sandwiched between DK in mid-July and the presumed 3D Mario in September or early October. There just doesn't seem to be any way Metroid Prime series is going to succeed. They didn't even list Metroid Prime 2 on the GameCube NSO game selection which could have salvaged the situation a bit.

But holy crap did Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong look awful at bits. Donkey Kong is probably solvable by getting out some higher quality videos hat don't have nearly as much motion blur and start promoting them heavily so people see them and forget about the Switch 2 video (though first impressions are hard to overcome.) Mario Kart World has a lot bigger problem. Graphics pop-in is not an artifact of Youtube video compression. That's just bad performance.

I was generally unimpressed by the Direct. The game they should have highlighted for graphical performance was Metroid Prime 4. Its at 4K and 60fps on TV, and 1080p 60fps or 720p 120fps for handheld, which are great, but they spent way too little time pointing this out. This should have been a hallmark statement and once again, Nintendo seems that they just don't care how impressive Metroid Prime 4 is because they want to sell you upgrade packs instead. Mario Kart World has a neat idea of the cross-country travel rather than laps but the graphics pop-in really disturbed me. I'm not a fan of Donkey Kong and the motion blur on just about the whole bottom of screen when he spins around (which was often) was very annoying. Not providing the Welcome Tour game for free (like Sony does with the similar Astro's Playroom) is mistake: expecting people to actually pay for it is remarkably short-sighted. Pro Controller doesn't have any way to do a mouse mode, let alone touch screen so DS and 3DS gameplay on NSO appear ot be significant problems that are likely only solved by the dumb second screen add-on, and the only reason they went with GameCube now instead of DS is because they don't want ot scare off people with another $200-$300 accessory. DS/3DS doesn't have to be that expensive, but Nintendo appears to be money-grabbing to make it so.

I'm happy to see my Bravely Default arrive, but its wrong for Square Enix to call it a Remaster as the graphics look almost identical to 3DS version if merely upscaled to 1080p: the characters still only have stubs for hands or minimal claw like hands, the faces and arms have little curvature, showing some sharp angles, and the hair is flat: Bravely Default II from 4 years ago has vastly superior character models. And so far it seems like it might be Switch 2 exclusive, which is the completely wrong approach because if they're ever eyeing a Bravely Default 3, they've got to get BD1 over to PC and especially Playstation, which still doesn't even have BD2. At the very least it should have been Switch 1 and sell to ten times as many potential buyers. This looks like another in a long line of Square Enix titles that disappoints sales-wise, but dammit, they did it to themselves this time. It looks like they spent all the time and money making new mouse minigames instead of actually doing the remastering bit.

Hyrule Warriors Age of Imprisonment is something I'll certainly buy, but... its doesn't feel as interesting as Age of Calamity, and naming both games Age of ... (especially with Age of Empires series out there) seemed an odd choice to me. I'm not sure how they work it with just Zelda, Rauru, Sonia, Ganondorf, and the four dragonstone wielders. Either they've got to dip back into the time-travel pool AGAIN to bring other characters (like Link) into the fold or that's a remarkably small cast for a Warriors game, half of which we only barely know. A Xenoblade Warriors would have been a good change of pace as it has a large enough cast now and doesn't need to rehash ideas we've already seen.

Hats off to Koei Tecmo Omega Force showing up with three games: Wild Hearts, Nobunaga's Ambition, and Age of Imprisonment. And they didn't even show off their biggest title of the year in Dynasty Warriors Origins (which was a presumed launch title and now maybe bumps to next year), after already providing Warriors Abyss to all platforms. (On a personal bad news angle, this much output eliminates Omega Force as being involved with any Dragon Quest Builders 3 in 2025 or 2026, so now we're looking at Square Enix internal development teams only, or Square Enix misses the boat.)

Which begs the question why Microsoft was totally absent. I'm not only astonished they weren't there, but after signing a deal with Nintendo a short while back, I thought for sure they'd negotiate prime coverage during any Switch 2 reveal. It looks like the Microsoft team behind that contract were more interested in buying Nintendo's blessing on the Activision-Blizzard merger than trying to eak out a bit more to promote the games from the studio they were buying.

Not terribly surprised Capcom settled on Street Fighter 6 as a launch title. Very surprised they didn't even mention Monster Hunter Wilds, which was another near-lock as launch title. Had Switch 2 launched in 2024 as planned, you can be sure Monster Hunter Wilds would have been on Switch 2 when it launched on other consoles in February.

The NSO expansion pack is disappointing. Besides being GameCube rather than DS (showing a hardware design philosophy that focused on money rather than gameplay.) People want Wind Waker HD, especially fast travel and fixing the Tingle Tuner bits, but they get GameCube with neither. They want F-Zero GX Remaster/Remake, but only get original. Not clear why Luigi's Mansion is left off as supplying it now completes the set. Seems like Super Mario Sunshine and or Luigi's Mansion are being saved to release on NSO closer to new 3D Mario and Luigi's Mansion 4; whenever they get announced, the GameCube game probably gets same day shadowdrop to NSO. Pokemon Colleseum seems a very odd choice with the similar Pokemon Champions game coming.

So many games we saw as Switch 2 that don't look like they need to be. Deltarune 1+2+3+4 clearly would look fine on Switch 1. Most of the titles we saw in the March 27 show got a repeat in this show and didn't really need it (Story of Seasons Grand Bazaar, Marvel Cosmic Invasion, RAIDOU Remastered, No Sleep for Kaname Date, Witchbrook, Tamagotchi Plaza, etc.) And Silksong was promised a Switch 1 version years ago (and some people played a beta as far back as 2020), and not only did we not see it in the Switch 1 show last week, it only got a 10 second sizzle reel announcement today. Nintendo and Team Cherry are clearly not aware how much this game needed a full trailer as there's a lot of people that have been waiting on it.

Kirby Air Riders may be really fun, but seeing this was Masahiro Sakurai's game was a huge downer. Alot of people wanted Smash Bros, perhaps a reboot that shed the weight of all the third-party licensed characters, or a Kid Icarus Uprising sequel, especially since we never got Kid Icarus Uprising ported to Switch. (And with no Star Fox game either, the Switch 1 will now be the first Nintendo system to not have a first-party rail shooter since the NES, which really didn't have the technical power to make it work anyway.)

I'm not really sure we need to see a Mario Kart World Direct on April 17 if game doesn't launch until June, especially with Treehouse showing it Thursday and Friday this week. Too early. This seems like something they could have done more effectively in May. Especially since they have no game or Direct in May!

We never saw 3D Mario. Hopefully saving that as the closer to the summer Direct, and then hit it up again with a Super Mario Direct around September for what I expect to be an early October launch. After eight years, I don't want Donkey Kong to be the only game out of EPD 8 in 2025. Mario helps sells systems, and they're going to want Mario on that wall, need Mario on that wall, once the calendar flips to 2026.

If we get two Donkey Kongs in 2025 and no new 3D Mario, then Nintendo has lost the plot. In fact two Donkey Kongs in 2025 cements the theory that Nintendo really messed up by not swapping January's Donkey Kong Country Returns HD and November's Mario & Luigi Brothership. Brothership marched out to die in the face of a Dragon Quest III HD-2D army, when if placed in January it would have had the month to itself for better initial sales for an RPG, would have led off Mario's 40th Anniversary year with a game featuring Mario, and would have put Donkey Kong in position to appear just before his theme park opened in Japan, instead of after. Maybe Donkey Kong wasn't ready by November, in which case toss out low hanging fruit like Wind Waker HD in November before throwing it in the garbage by providing a GameCube edition. (So that's possibly three games they misplayed.) Then Mario & Luigi in January and Donkey Kong in February. It's still a better result than what they actually ended up doing.

We never saw either game from EPD 4: Splatoon 4 or the next Animal Crossing. With Tomodachi Life next year its now almost certain Splatoon 4 is up first, probably with a 2026 release, and it'll be 2027 or 2028 before Animal Crossing returns.

Still no Metroid Prime 2+3. Nintendo's had six years to know these games was needed before Metroid Prime 4 launched, if a MP1 was offered, and by all indications appears to have overlooked the obvious. Could still shadow-drop, but they've now burnt two Directs without taking the opportunity.

Assuming no surprise announcements, Switch 1 owners are starving for several months. The next time Nintendo will publish a Switch 1 game now appears to be either June 26 (though Drag x Drive probably goes here) or mid-August. That's likely a five-month gap between games. So much for the Nintendo promises of showing support for Switch 1 in 2025.

And since we now know the release date, the release schedule through end of year is pretty well settled so there's little room for future surprises.

RELEASE WINDOWS AT 3 WEEK INTERVALS:
June 5, June 26, July 17, August 7, August 28, September 18, October 9, October 30, November 20, December 11

PROBABLE GAME DATES:
June 5: launch games (confirmed)
June 26: Drag x Drive or Metroid Prime 4 (I'd wager Drag x Drive since it shows off the mouse mode more effectively than other games, and a bit surprised it wasn't a launch game)
July 17: Donkey Kong Bananza (confirmed)
August 14/21: whichever of Drag x Drive and Metroid Prime 4 wasn't in June (moves back a week or two to give DK more time)
September 4/18: ?
October 2/9: Mario 3D
October 30: Nothing? (Nintendo will likely yield this window to Call of Duty to help steal CoD players from other platforms, which also gives more time for Mario 3D and to produce cartridges ahead of Pokemon rlease and holiday rush period)
November 13/20: Pokemon Legends Z-A (probably 13th to give allow December 4 date to move up; given its been labeled both "Fall 2025" and "Late 2025" November is virtually confirmed)
December 4: Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment (one week earlier into holiday season; UK website apparently leaked Winter 2025 so nearly confirmed)

So just one release slot to fill. Maybe this is where Kirby Planet Robobot fits so its out before the figurine returns in Q4. Perhaps Kirby takes the same day as Call of Duty since its a remake but I think they prefer the idea of a really long exclusivity period for Mario 3D, and also gives them a bit of breather to prepare before Pokemon and holiday hit.

[Moge]

Despite only showing one game for their not-E3 presentation, the DK Bananza Direct was a real banger. Really washes away the very meh MK World Direct, which was mostly a regurgitation of the info already in the original Switch 2 presentation. The DK Direct though? Wow. Game is both fresh and inventive. It definitely has some really strong Mario Odyssey vibes. I'm gonna go out on a limb and call it a spiritual Odyssey sequel despite Bananza not being a Mario. Pauline being in both cements the connection even further.

[JG]

It looks more and more like Nintendo should have made DK Bananza the launch title. MKW is fine, and the sales of MK8 Deluxe are hard to ignore, but except for live pictures of players using GameChat cameras in bubbles over their kart, there isn't much in the game to show off Switch 2-exclusive capabilities. Bananza has the game share thing, including sharing to a Switch 1, a 3D Mario Paint mode with mouse controls, and just introduced a strong "girl hook" in Pauline who might make use of the new microphone. Add in some neat gameplay, smooth actions, what is shaping up to be a great soundtrack, and a more emotional story now that we have a speaking human to better relate to than the ape, and they've got a potential Game of the Year nominee on their hands.

Even before the Direct I had wished there was a choice between MKW and DK Bananza launch bundles. And while most people would have taken MKW (and I did as well for lack of another choice) I'd have taken DK and now feel like that would have been a very good decision.

[Moge]

Embarrassingly late, but i want to post my 2024 GOTY list. Wanted to do something more elaborate, but i'm bad at long form writing.

10. Splatoon 3: Side Order DLC -- B
9. Linda Cube Again -- B
8. Transiruby -- B

7. Dolphin Blue -- A
6. House -- A
5. Endless Monday: Dreams and Deadlines -- A

4. Crazy Taxi -- A
3. Shadow of the Ninja Reborn -- A
2. Signalis -- A

1. Unicorn Overlord -- A

Each of my top three could easily have been my GOTY in any other year. Shadow of the Ninja is just a masterclass in 2D action game design that's rarely done with so much care in both graphics and gameplay. Signalis blew away my expectations for a horror game with its incredible story that made me tear up at one point. As for Unicorn Overlord, it's the Ogre Battle spiritual sequel i've been longing for since the series went in an entirely different gameplay direction after the first game. Melding OB with Final Fantasy 12's Gambit system... Wow, they shattered my expectations for what i've long dreamt for a proper OB sequel. Had so much fun with Unicorn Overlord that i sunk almost 400 hours into the game

[JG]

Last year I really hit Nintendo's marketing wing hard for a number of missteps, such as bumbling through the month of October. (Continuing into 2025, stomping all over the DK Country Returns launch with a very unimpressive Switch 2 reveal trailer, then forgetting they never covered Xenoblade Chronicles X in a Direct or Twitter videos until review embargoes lifted and places like IGN started properly covering it.)

This Metroid Prime 4 deal really takes the cake, though. If you asked me on January 1 what known 2025 game needed a Nintendo Direct the most (choices being DK Country Returns HD, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Pokemon Legends Z-A, and Metroid Prime 4), then Metroid Prime 4 would certainly be the one to cover. Its been 18 years since the last Prime game, which is far longer absence than the other series, is probably Nintendo's most expensive game ever, is a series that has soft appeal in Japan and needs more advertising there, and its (re-)introducing a major antagonist that only the hardcore-ist of fans know anything about in Sylux. If you then told me we'd have NINE Nintendo Directs in 2025, and not one of them was for Metroid Prime 4, I'd have through you crazy and Nintendo insane. Jury is still out on you, but Nintendo... hard to debate it.

In the west, its been bad. Very bad. Almost but not quite terrible, thanks to last week's recent trailer which actually started to make the game look as good as we expect. We saw too much of the Federation research base and the forest level of Viewros, and not enough other biomes, and every second of Samus footage made her look slow, as if constantly walking under water. And despite being a 4K/60fps and 1080p/120fps game, which is raw power Nintendo should promote, all they did was a small text caption for a mere 2 seconds in the April 2 show and didn't mention it again until the latest trailer. Got about 40 minutes of Treehouse coverage in April, but the Nintendo-employee assigned to do the game had no idea what to do and terribly struggled using the mouse controls - they spent nearly half an hour fruitlessly battling the game's first boss and couldn't hit the weak points, which only served to make the game look unplayable. Nintendo needed to correct the Treehouse debacle with new video and just wouldn't do it. And until the recent trailer, everything looked like it was in slow-motion: Samus was moving like she was walking underwater and the psychic beams took several seconds to make their way through enemies. Add in the London Underground ad snafu and you can tell this was badly handled on multiple fronts.

In Japan, the market where Metroid needed the most advertising to overcome disinterest, its been even worse. All they've ever seen are the three bad trailers. They still haven't even got the good trailer the west got last week or the new Power Up Your Play campaign video that shows some Metroid Prime4 gameplay in it. neither are on Nintendo's Japanese Twitter or Youtube page and I'm not even sure if they get them. At some point, Nintendo's marketing department just completely gave up on the game in Japan, despite it being the most important market to advertise in. Failing without trying is not the Nintendo way. (Japan also never got the retrospective art book, which Nintendo had known about for well over a year and could have easily found a Japanese publisher to print.)

Then there's what Nintendo did do this year instead. The Mario Kart World Direct is widely viewed as the worst game-focused Direct they've ever made. It showed nothing that the April 2 show didn't except a few P-switch puzzles: it wasn't remotely needed, especially a mere two weeks after the April 2 show covered the same stuff and still seven weeks to launch. (Had it been done in May, it might have landed with more success.) After DK Bananza's Direct, I think just about every Nintendo fan expected one for Metroid Prime 4, but it never arrived. Once we got the December release date, we all knew a Direct would likely occur in October, as game-focused Directs are usually around 7-10 weeks lead time. With only Pokemon Z-A mid-month, there was plenty of time to work in Metroid Prime 4 coverage. Instead, we got that Pikmin Close to You video in early October, which could have been done at any other time, so a week of advertising was sacrificed there that did nothing to help game sales. We got an unprecedented second Air Riders Direct when one was enough and the over hour and forty minutes combined of the two could have easily been condensed to a single hour with better editing, so they lost the third week of October for just doing something that hadn't ever been done before and didn't need to be done at all. Then in the final week of October, they do the Animal Crossing DLC promotion. ACNH sold well, nearly up to 50 million copies. But with DLC at only $5 a pop, and even a best-case scenario of 20% attach rate for a five-year old game, Nintendo's going to pull down $50 million USD at most. Metroid Prime 4 will clear that in about a million sales. Is Nintendo really trying to tell fans that MP4's sales potential is less than a million copies!? If its that bad, why spend a small fortune to make the game? They made the game, now they have to do the job to sell it - and just aren't trying. Now, here, in the last possible week to advertise, we're getting the Super Mario Galaxy movie trailer that we should have seen as part of the September 12 year-long celebration kick-off. This whole arrangement through October and November was planned, and planned to ensure Metroid Prime 4 never got any advertising window after September 12. Shame on Nintendo.

Not to mention the lack of a Metroid Prime 2 and 3 game to fill out the Metroid slate on Switch, something they have done similar sized series like Pikmin and Luigi's Mansion. They had eight years to prepare for the launch of this game, and eighteen months from announcement last summer to launch in a few weeks. Only two Nintendo-published games have gotten 18 months of lead time in the last ten years: Advance Wars 1+2 Reboot Camp, delayed for external reasons, and Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo's previously most expensive title. More than enough time to do it right; embarrassing to get it so wrong. Nintendo just simply failed Retro Studios and the fans.

I really hope the sales are there and it's in the Metroid Dread sales level despite Nintendo's poor coverage of the game. It really looks like the desire to not advertise the game is a backdoor method to ensure the game sales are less, and this would give Nintendo an opportunity to close their most expensive studio and use the money elsewhere on cheaper-to-make games. It'll be very disheartening if Nintendo closes the studio because of lower than expected sales, when it wasn't Retro's fault.