Every handful of months, Nintendo publishes a livestream where they showcase upcoming games and console features that will be arriving in the next year or so. Their most recent direct was in September of 2021, and it had an incredible amount of upcoming content to look forward to!
The most recent direct has made quite a splash, considering just how astonishing some of the releases were! In terms of games, one of the ones that has garnered the most attention is the new update on Bayonetta 3, featuring new footage and clips of gameplay. Bayonetta has and will most likely always be an incredibly popular character, from her own standalone games and her presence in the Smash Bros game series, she’s left an impact that’s had people jumping at the chance for a new solo Bayonetta game.
She looks gorgeous, the newly updated graphics are absolutely stunning, and the general sound design and new tweaks to her costume have left a lot of gamers buzzing for any new information to come!
Another game that received updates was the new “TRIANGLE STRATEGY” role-playing game from the company Square Enix. Now, Square Enix as a developer isn’t quite as well known in the mainstream as Nintendo is, but they have released titles that are pretty iconic even to people who don’t really play video games as a hobby. They’ve made the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts series, which are well-loved classics by a large number of people.
During the last Nintendo Direct, there was a downloadable demo version of the game that was available in the Nintendo Switch shop. Honestly, I downloaded it instantly. It wasn’t a very long demo, but it was absolutely gorgeous with an incredible art direction, and characters that I had already grown attached to despite how short the demo was. I honestly cannot wait to see where they go with this game! Square Enix is one of my favorite developers, and I can’t wait to see where they take this new series.
Something else that had people eager was the mention of a new update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons! This game is an absolute quarantine-classic (as tacky as that sounds), and I have a few friends that have been a little desperate for an update, considering the amount of time they’ve put into it. Fingers crossed that this new update is substantial enough to tide them over until the next update!
A personal favorite that I’m really looking forward to is the new Kirby game! It’s been a good while since Kirby’s gotten his own game instead of making cameos, and considering it’s an updated 3D platformer, I’m hoping for some nice new mechanics that will be fun to learn and get the hang of.
The final thing that had pretty much the entirety of social media losing their minds was the voice actor cast reveal of the new Super Mario movie. Yes, there is a Super Mario movie that’s coming out. Yes, I am astonished and surprised, too; I’m pretty sure we all are.
The lineup for the voice actors is, frankly, a bit ridiculous and I’m not quite sure what direction the movie is meant to go in. With Chris Pratt voice acting for the titular Mario, it can honestly go anywhere, and I’m excited for (and dreading) new updates on the movie’s progress.
This Nintendo Direct was incredible, and it really gave people a lot of information to absorb! There’s a stunning lineup of games for 2022, and I’m terrified for the safety of my wallet but thrilled nonetheless.