Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase July 2025: Every Announcement, Game Reveal, Trailer

I didn’t like it at all. But then again I wanted silksong. Why was I fooling myself.

As expected Partner Showcases tend to be the weakest among Indie and proper Nintendo Directs for me.
Mostly ports which play better on their original consoles, and no superb announcement although the last 2 HD-2D announcements from Square look nice at least.

More Switch 2 game-key cards to ignore, sigh. At least it looks like they're not selling very well, with shops heavily discounting them already.

Bit underwhelming. I'll probably pick up Octopath 0

For what it was, it was a solid presentation. Could have been better, but Age of Imprisonment is really hype

There were good games announced in this Direct. Just not the games or news people needed to see. Whoever's managing the Nintendo marketing cycle right now needs to be fired into the sun

Persona 3 Reload is good. Romancing Saga good.

I think that’s it. Not great, not terrible.

Well I might check out apex just to see how it runs. Just 100% PvZ on steam last December so not too interesting. Only cared about FF Tactics but nothing new. Adventures of Elliot has a bad name but and a annoying fairy but going to check out the demo for the sake of it.

Went in excited to find out what I'd be playing the second half of the year...
Left feeling apathetic and unmotivated for the console.

When they spent a whole minute talking about a janky bonfire simulator I somewhat gave into despair. Clearly I invest too much emotional energy into this hobby but I'm just bummed out right now.

Where the hell was Hades 2!?

Bit upset that Persona 3: Reload's a game-key.
I was really holding out hope on that one given how Sonic Racing Crossworlds isn't.

Been meaning to try Pac-Man World on Switch so it's nice to see the second one getting the same treatement.
Surprised we didn't get any update on Elden Ring or FFVII Remake though!

For me it was pretty weak, even for a partner showcase. Very Bandai-Namco and Square Enix heavy too.

Nothing in there for me really. Today's Hitman: Absolution announcement was the most exciting thing about today and it wasn't even in the Direct. I was hoping the Partner Showcase would give us a good insight into third-party support for Switch 2, but overall it was very disappointing.

@AJWolfTill lol right? I was bored just watching that bonfire ad myself.

There wasn't a single game that I thought I would definitely buy, disappointing for me, but for fans of certain genres I assume it was great!

Only "Cronos" for me, but I'll play it on PC.
Other than that, way too many sequels, prequels and ports of older games.

@Waluigi451 Ironic considering both companies heavy hitters were missing. FF7 and Elden Ring are out there somewhere.

Nintendo took an eternity to release the Switch 2, and now they're taking an eternity to give fans any concrete excitement for the future. To be told that 3rd party devs are eager to support this platform and then to give us THAT showcase? Something isn't adding up. Nothing from Microsoft (Forza, Halo, etc), nothing about Silksong, nothing about RDR2, just a bunch of the same stuff. More JRPG nonsense that looks like the exact same game 5 times over. I really can't believe I wasted my time watching that.

Was very very disappointed with that direct, I think more-so as it was the first direct (bar DK) since Switch 2 launched. Alot of games we already know about, and really none that took my interest at all. I was really expecting more big hitters to be revealed like Baldurs Gate 3, Indiana Jones, Doom Dark Ages etc but nothing

stares at all the key-card releases

Well, it was nice to be excited about my Switch 2 for a while, anyway. Wanted to triple-dip on P3R but that isn’t happening now.

4/10 hyrule warriors and the weird mouse game saved it for me. the campfire game is gonna give me NIGHTMARES

@Nintoz Sonic Racing getting the VIP treatment stills makes me happy, so disappointing that's not the case with P3R.

Weird that Octopath has a generic custom lead character, but it still looks good. I'm very excited for the Elliot game.

And did I miss something, is the Oblivion remake coming to Switch 2?

Im usually pretty positive about these, but this was really weak. Maybe one game id actually care to get.

I think a lot of third party developers might be waiting till they get the whole game key card thing resolved. There were games that released at launch that didn’t sell to great because of the key cards.

Not feeling that Shinobi game at all

It just felt really odd. Some interesting games, I particularly enjoyed the fact that there's a new Katamari game, but this was the first direct in the life of a new console, so from that point of view it felt quite underwhelming

I think that people are melting down over nothing. It was a solid showcase of third party games. Monster Hunter Stories, two Square Enix RPGs, new Katamari, Pac-man World 2 Re-Pac, and ports of Yakuza, Dragon Ball Sparking Zero, and Persona 3 Reload. Plus a new HW trailer. A respectable 7/10 showing.

FFVII? No.
Elden Ring? Nada.

Bonfire Simulator 2025 with janky webcam support on your new £400 console? You betcha by golly gee whizz!

Only voting for how it works for me but I thought that was about the lowest of the low for a Nintendo direct.

It just had nothing in it at all that grabbed me.

Most of it was known about already, a load of it was just garbage and it felt really low key.

I'm looking forward to Shinobi and I hope Cronos is good.

@MeerkatSimples Seems like everyone is doubling down on them.

This is just making me buy the PS version of all these released games. At least the actual game is (usually)on the disc and it isn’t a glorified download voucher.

Some cool stuff though nothing that blew me away. And idk if I'd get any of these for the Switch if given the option due to the key cards. Also performance to consider, Katamari looked particularly crusty, though that could've just been the stream.

@Rice Agreed. It was definitely the weaker side of each company’s catalogues.

I went into the direct with low expectations and it was ok the thing that killed it for me was finding out that most games announced are game key cards. Im a physical collector and the switch 2 is looking more and more disappointing to me. I know game key cards are ok with some people but once the serves get shut down say good bye to your games.

I thought it was decent, typical Partner Showcase
Couple of games I'm really interested in and the rest that aren't for me, that's how it is with every showcase of only third party stuff so I'm not sure what makes this one so much worse than the previous ones

Abysmal. No horror games. No fighting games. No visual novels. No Dreamcast/PS2/GameCube/XBOX era games ports.

Philabieldia

For the first Direct post-S2 launch, just viewing the recaps...it's a little underwhelming yeah. Expected things like EA sports franchises, and some more indie stuff, updates, etc. I know not everyone is stoked on the game key cards, but they don't bother me so much (I'll just buy a 1tb SD and go digital). The bigguns are coming, that's what matters.

@dskatter, is 3 Reload a Key Card? If so... crap. As for my rating, I gave the Direct as a whole an 8/10.

These Partner showcases always have a low bar for me. It feels like Nintendo has to share this information as part of their deals with partners. Or the next has too much in it, so they need to announce titles in some kind of Direct.

The next regular Nintendo Direct will be long.

many switch 2 games that were expected were not shown like elden ring or final fantasy 7 remake..

@dskatter - Even if the game is on the disc, it’ll still require a day 1 update. Publishers are shipping the games in a borderline unfinished state, so they can continue wrapping up QA testing while the discs/carts are being made. It’s apparently like a 3 month lead time before launch day to produce physical media.

While I understand people’s complaints on the key cards, buying a PS5 game with the software on it doesn’t always resolve the problem that a download will be required.

@Vyacheslav333 there was a horror game. There was a port of remade older Yakuza title.

It was an ok presentation. Definitely lacking in terms of surprise announcement. Still, there are some good games announced. FFT Remaster though after the SoP, this isn't all that exciting and since we already knew it will be a multi-plat game. P3R announcement though it's only a matter of time instead of IF it's comig to Switch.

I do like the MH Stories 3 announcement, the new 2D-HD game from Square and a new OT game.

Overall, just an okay, not great presentation.

It wasn't great in my opinion. I had hoped for some bigger heavy hitters even if they were largely ports.

I stay hopeful of the next full fat direct that the absences of today make an appearance then.

I mean it's not totally impossible for a full direct next week, is it???

@johnedwin probably saved for the next big Nintendo Direct with the Metroid Prime 4 announcement. Probably trying to give Square Enix the best runway possible for FFVII.

Not a great showing this early into the console's life. Still feels like we're mostly getting games that would've already hit Switch in the past. It's insulting that they're showing indicators for physical/digital games and counting Game-Key Cards as physical, and I was genuinely kinda pissed when that campfire game showed up. Developers still can't secure devkits for the Switch 2, including ones like Nitrome actively making games that use the new features of the system, and yet we got...that?

I don't regret getting a Switch 2 at launch, but I am increasingly dissatisfied with how the third-party games are being handled, especially because a lot of ports haven't been going as far as one would think for a Steam Deck-like platform that benefits from being closed. Couple that with Game-Key Cards, and...well, I'm likely to try and get the next-generation Steam Deck at this point.

2D-HD is a sell for me from Square every single time.

Every one of them has been good, many of them excellent.

I really wanna dip into that old school ARPG with this style in Elliott.

And More Octopath = Yes. Thank you.

@JohnnyMind Agree with you on that, it was a great direct, with a very diverse public in mind. Great ports, awesome new games and I also see am attempt of trying to broaden the Switch audience with the sports games announcements and Chronos.
I'm more interested in Persona, Octopath Traveller and Elliot, but all in all, a solid 9 in my book!

6/10. A bunch of publishers are missing and including game series I expected to launch on Switch 2 months ago.

Switch 1 launch was like a supernova to the face.

Switch 2 launch has been almost as underwhelming as the launch of PS5. Not quite THAT bad but... pretty weak.

This was a no from me dog.

Not really anything especially since the chasm is forming between switch and switch 2 games.

im so sick seeing monster hunter again...

Why did the campfire game developers get a Switch 2 dev kit and not the developers of Mouse Works?

I guess I was expecting too much, everything went down the drain after seeing a campfire simulator game

You wouldn't know a new Nintendo console launched this year from this Direct. Had basically no expectations for this, didn't anticipate any big announcements. My only slight expectation was some new footage of Eldin Ring and FF7 and releases dates. And this Direct still disappointed me lol. Bare minimum not met.

@ShieldHero It is a key card, at least according to the Japanese Atlus site.

The lack of the Resident Evil Remakes for Switch 2 was criminal. The console is basically tailor made for those games.

But Octopath 0 looks fantastic.

The people who spam "SILKSONG" in every chat of EVERY damned showcase by every developer really bring it upon themselves. It'll be ready when it's ready, for christ's sake. It's great to be excited for a thing, but holy mackerel, employ a modicum for patience.

@mattitudemf People keep using that excuse to justify stuff like this. Not every game has a day 1 patch. Not every game is unplayable without an update.

I miss the days when a game actually ships COMPLETED.

The game keys are especially egregious since space is far more limited on the S2. On a PS5 or Series S/X you can always offload a game to an external hard drive or something.

I am excited about the Hello Kitty Island Adventure DLC. I am just wondering how much it is going to cost.

Also hoping the game gets a Switch 2 upgrade at some point.

I wasn't expecting a lot but that was whole lot of nothing. I'm just here for the comment section because nothing about SILKSONG and E33. lol

I think Nintendo and their fans would benefit from having 3-4 general directs a year that includes Nintendo titles, 3rd party, and indie games. Directs that are in the same timeframe every year so we’re not having to constantly guess what Nintendo is doing. That level of transparency in their plans would be better as less frequent but longer directs would guarantee to have something for almost everyone instead of these shorter specific directs that differ wildly in quality.

The majority of these games look good, I just have no desire to play any of them.

@McMongoose indeed, the fantasy city name well is clearly running dry.

Missing the "nothing" option.

Everyone calling this a poor showcase just put way too much expectations on it.

It was average with a few decent announcements and a pretty even spread of genera.

So overall it may not excite many but it probably got most people interested in at least something.

An expected basketful to wishlist from it, although I was admittedly a bit salty about NS2 upgrades taking up a bunch of slots (you'd think people hungry for "improved resolution and framerates" already camp out at the relevant social media PR accounts for the relevant news as it is), and Persona 3 Reload trailer put the final nail in the already half-buried coffin of Kotone's comeback odds. Still, there's more Yakuza, Monster Hunter Stories and Octopath, the return of classic Plants vs Zombies, a brand new Katamari title, a new horror game from Bloober and a new "HD2D" JRPG triggering vague but welcome flashbacks of early Mana games and even Landstalker. Hela and Goodnight Universe look interesting as well.

I did hope for a bit more from a showcase like this, with the autumn Direct destined to spend a fair chunk of its own runtime on the first party stuff that tends to be half a franchise binge away from me (I mostly make rare gluttonous exceptions for Xenoblade these days, but I also don't expect anything else on that front so soon after XCX DE), but far be it from me to pretend that even the factual highlights here wouldn't keep me busy for months to come on their own.😸

@Old-Red I’m not sure this is the “win” people think it is. It’s done exactly what keycards were intended to do, push towards digital only. What’s the point of the key card when it’s just an additional hoop to jump through to play a game digitally.

A mediocre direct made worse by the fact that everything is on game key cards.

At this rate I may not even buy any third party games on Switch 2 and just switch to PC for third party stuff. This is so disheartening.

Most excited by Yakuza Kiwami 2. Will we finally get a version that runs at 60fps?

Pretty sad when one of the hottest consoles around gets a showcase this lame. Like, I'd get it if Nintendo was in their low-selling days, or if it was a brand new system/concept. But... Switch 2 couldn't get any samey-er than its predecessor and this is the best developers could do? Oy vey.

@Ade117
I know the HD-2D stuff resonates with a lot of people but it feels like we are getting half a dozen of these kinds of games a year now. Having two visually similar (albeit mechanically different) back to back to close out the show is putting a lot of eggs in a niche basket.
Persona 3R is cool but I played it last year, great to see a new Katamari game but I feel like we see this series pop up every other direct.
I'm interested in Age of Imprisonment but I did not feel that trailer offered any meaningful information.

It was incredibly underwhelming.

Only 2 out of 10 – no more! Where is the content nintendo?

Some things caught my eye (MH Stories 3, new Katamari, Pacman World 2, Hela, etc.), but a bit underwhelming as a presentation.

I was at least hoping we'd get more dates for 2025 Switch 2 games that were announced back in the April Direct. Just kinda felt like the obvious move...

I liked it. I was hoping for some Finally fantasy 7 video and release date.
I think they are saving some heavy hitters for the next direct.

I truly loved what they showed from Monster hunter.

Also starwars, Hyrule warriors, dragonball. Love it. Event tho i already have dragonball on pc, will double dip!

@dskatter, thanks for the heads up! If I do end up getting a Switch 2 and Persona 3 Reload, it will definitely be digital, since I refuse to get any Game Key Cards. I only buy a game physically if all of the game data, except maybe a few bug fix patches, is on the cartridge.

I thought this was a great presentation! Persona 3 reload, a new square enix IP, and a new Octopath Traveler!? What a great showing for JRPG lovers. The only gripe I have is that the only multiplayer focused game that I recall was Apex Legends. I like to play with other people online.

@ShieldHero This is the way.

Persona 5 Royal is ALL on the cart and has no patches currently. I can attest to that at least.

@kmtrain83 I refuse to answer that on the grounds that it may incriminate me.

Well, the two HD2D JRPGs are on my radar, but the whole presentation was very underwhelming. Like others have mentioned, some big hitters like Elden Ring could have boosted my score, along with maybe some surprises from Microsoft, like entries from Forza, Halo etc.
Anyway, off to burn my hopes and dreams with Chillin' by the Fire; expectations dwindling, so gonna use them as kindling

It was, decent. Nothing groundbreaking and of course more game key card bs.🥴 Despite not selling well, publishers are still trying to force them on us.

@KevinP Silksong is already said to be showing at the next big games event for Xbox so it was never ever going to be shown in any form at this direct .

It was a poor direct though. The system itself is selling crazy numbers but with the lack of anything to really grab the attention, I can see that slowing down eventually.

Game key cards are a bad idea and I just cannot see 3rd party games selling well enough at all and they will drop support very quickly.

I was expecting so much more today and came away very disappointed

As a Switch owner, I am seeing Nintendo fans blindly defending Nintendo here. Where are the Microsoft ports like on PS5? They promised Call of Duty. Where are the rumored Assassin Creed games and RDR 2? Seems very underwhelming for a partner showcase

Definitely “average”. That said, cool to see Cronos is coming to Switch 2 (although I’ll be buying it on PS5). Looking forward to trying the The Adventures of Elliot Eating a Philadelphia Cheesesteak demo today too. Age of Imprisonment continues to excite me, but was hoping for a solid release date (not delayed though!). Overall pretty ‘’meh”..

I am starting to doubt my purchase of the Switch 2. I am still playing Breath of the wild. So few release dates and we are over halfway through the year. Christmas season is not far off. This is starting to look like a purchase that could have waited two years for.

All this power and most still looks like it was made for the Switch 1.

It was garbage.

Huge advocate for the Nintendo switch and the switch 2 has been excellent but if that’s the quality of 3rd party support then I can see me picking up a handheld pc this year.

Nothing there for me, which is good. It'll put me off buying a S2 and keep my money in my pocket a bit longer.

the key card direct could have been worse

It started off pretty nicely with Monster Hunter Stories 3 - key card or not, its gonna be a purchase at around 50% off

Ivalice Chronicles wasn't news, lol, will buy the switch 1 version.

Persona 3, a must have for me, probably around 50% off

Other than that, everything is an easy skip, except maybe the Kiwami games, but I can wait a couple of years and get the bundle when its heavily discounted.

I am not too much into warriors games, but always added them to my collection regardless, lol. Please be a key card, otherwise I will feel obliged to buy it, haha

@shred5 yup - seriously thinking of handheld pc to complement switch2 after that.

It was simply nowhere near good enough - absolute trash

It was a solid Direct with a good variety of games. Age of Imprisonment, Elliot and Octopath Traveler 0 were my favorite announcements.

I was actually screaming about pac-man world 2 re-pac, i loved pac-man world re-pac and really hoped they would do one for 2 cause i never played that game, so im SO hyped!

Truly it was

A Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase 7.31.2025

"we have two games left to show..." That don't at all take advantage of our new hardware.

Not my kind of monster hunter. Unless they've decided to turn it into an action rpg. We'll see.

Other than that they clearly deliberately chose not to show the bigger more blockbustery stuff. I mean even big stuff that we know about weren't there. It's probably part of a strategy though I have to say I fail to see the point of that strategy so far.

P3 makes me very happy.
Adventure of Elliot makes me ecstatic and is the only huge news for me in there.
Cronos makes me curious and I very much it will be good because it looks like it has potential.
That's about it really. Not great but not bad.

It was great, because I do not want a single game, so no FOMO for me. Feels good to know, that I can concentrate on retro games now. Thanks industry!

That new Ehnix game looks so bland and creatively bankrupt. I am playing a PlayStation 1 game on a CRT and that game has soul and it is much more beautifu, than this new Ehnix game.

I am thinking about selling my Switch 2. Seriously modern gaming is dead and I am out of copium.

It wasn't awful since it had stuff I wanted, but I really hope that Nintendo themselves bring their A-game when the inevitable September Direct (or whatever else) happens, because things are looking...a bit weird right now.

Where is red dead 2? Final fantasy remake?
Only one decent game that was a surprise. Monster hunter 3.
We all knew fifa madden and Star Wars were coming out so this was just a big waste of time.
Very disappointing. 1/10.

Virtua Fighter 2 is going to switch 2!!!!!!!! That’s enough for me. woo SEGA look at you being all nice!

So getting Hyrule Warriors of course, Monster hunter, katamari, pac man world, ff tactics, vf 2 (I mean Yakuza Kiwami 2), I guess I am rebuying kiwami for switch 2, OCTOPATH TRAVELER 0!!!

Geez I am not gonna have time to buy first party games.

Gonna try the demo for shinobi to help me decide.

I’m sorry to say, but I’m regretting the purchase.

After waiting this long for the NS2, I assumed we would be bombarded with a ton of great new games.

I’m glad there are those out there who are enjoying the games released and announced to-date, but I’m definitely not one of them.

Had I known it would be so underwhelming, I would have waited, rather than give Nintendo the benefit of the doubt.

In no way was that a 4/10. Lol

I gave it a 7 because even though many games didn't interest me, there was a lot of new content.
And the early Switch 2 has been more or less what I expected. Which was a variation of the long forgotten early PS4/X1 days, where there were not many games for the console to call its own (like those two). Still, that this was considered a "bad" Direct and it had a lot of new games says how spoiled for choice we gamers are.

Absolutely nothing I would be getting. Not one game caught my attention.

Gotta say though, can't wait until star wars outlaws releases and see how it does on switch and the youtube vids surrounding it, haha. This stuff never gets old!

Awful direct imo. The games they showed were fine, but nothing exciting or really new either, the amount of time they spent on that campfire rubbish was genuinely embarrassing. They didn’t date either elden ring or FF7 even though they are supposedly coming this year, and of course the big looming factor of 99% of the games being on key cards which is a complete turn off. They couldn’t even date their Zelda game which is supposed to be coming this year.

Its pretty worrying that this was all they had to show with how slim the dated game list already was for this year, and to be honest I think it did a better job convincing me to buy a game like persona 3 reload for my PS5 with an actual physical edition for a fraction of the price. Let’s hope the Mario anniversary has something worthwhile to show…

I gave it a 6/10. There's plenty of games that I'm looking forward like MH Stories 3/Age of Imprisonment/Pac-Man World 2/Octopath 0 but I do think it was a weird Partner Showcase. Square Enix was heavily present but FFVII Remake was absent for example.

I know, it is my fault for buying the Switch 2 in the first place. There were way too many red flags and I should have realised, that the industry is dead and can not produce games with a soul anymore, since I own a PlayStation 5. It is only about greed and control now.

This is a lesson for me, that being optimistic and positive can be harmful sometimes.

I thought it was pretty solid overall. I absolutely adored monster hunter stories 2 so I'll definitely be picking up monster hunter stories 3! Of course both of the square enix games at the end also have my interest and are likely going on my wishlist. Looking forward to Final Fantasy Tactics and maybe Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac

Not much to be excited about IMO. Maybe Pac-Man. Meh. Holding out hope for good first-party stuff.

[1/2]
I suppose it's because people were looking forward to this for a while now, but my expectations have been kept at an all time low since the first Direct for the Switch 2.
Was it because the other Directs were terrible?
No. Maybe the Mario Kart one should've just been listed as a features trailer rather a Direct. But other than that: no. I just knew that most games early on advertised wouldn't be aimed at me or my family.

But this one?
I actually ranked it as a 9 EXCELLENT. No, I'm not overinflating it. It's exactly what I feel it is.

Monster Hunter Stories 3 - My wife loved Monster Hunter Stories 2. Played it non-stop for weeks. There are plenty of people out there who ran to this game when the newer Pokemon games didn't scratch their trainer-battle itches, and came out very satisfied.
One where the protagonist is much older and the theming seems to be much more mature? What's there to NOT look forward to?

Once Upon a Katamari - It is no exaggeration that the Katamari Damacy series ranks as my all time #1 Video Game Soundtracks. Literally listen to their songs to this day. They're fun, exciting, unique, and seriously such a bop. The games themselves are humorous and silly - and a good way to spend the afternoon. But the music... NEW MUSIC...
It may be considered ridiculous to look forward to a video game soundtrack - but this, for me, is on the same level as a Mario Kart World Soundtrack being released. How can I NOT be excited?

Dragon Ball Sparking Zero - As a veteran of the Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2 & 3 games on the Wii, how could I not be excited for this to come to the Switch? Well, specifically Switch 2. No way am I going to play this on the Switch 1.
And if anyone wants to rant about how poor this game was on release in other consoles: Have you played it since the updates? Even though I don't own the game on other platforms, I've been keeping up with the updates - and they've all been pretty solid improvements.
The only thing I can hope for is for them to further expand and improve the custom missions - as I know that's where 90% of my time on the game will be (I'm kinda' obsessed with games that let you make custom scenarios). Sure, it's limited. But I've worked with limited customizations for years - it's never stopped me.

Plants vs Zombies Replanted - Wife is SO looking forward to this.She's been wanting to revisit Plants vs Zombies forEVER now. Yes, it's on PC. Yes, it's on tablet. Yes, blah blah blah. But for her, the Switch 1 was the perfect handheld for the game. It's just the right size, shape, and portability for her. She's been wanting it for so long that she's refused to repurchase it on anything else - she's THAT adamant of it being perfect for the Switch.
Well, her dream's come true.

Yakuza Kiwami 2 - How is having more Yakuza on the Switch a bad/boring thing? Put the entire series on here. It's great to play on the go. This is nothing but great news.

Hello Kitty Island Adventure - Wife just recently got the first game. Now she has another thing to look forward to.

[2/2]
Romancing Saga 2 (Switch 2 edition) - I have the Switch 1 version. I was originally going to pass this up because that version's just fine for me. Then they surprised me by saying there was an UPGRADE to Switch 2. This may not be shocking to you - but when you consider the company that's running it and how they've REFUSED to create Switch 2 upgrade paths for their other games: It's obviously shocking.
I love this game. Played it for the first time on the Switch 1. Seriously addicting. And for it to load much faster? I'm definitely looking forward to that.

Octopath Traveler 0 - I'll admit, I'm not into the Octopath Traveler series. Not because of its graphics. There are some people who hate it or find it boring. Me? I ADORE the graphics of Octopath Traveler 1 & 2.
But... the stories and storytelling have lacked that 'oomph' for me. Maybe it's because it's highly reliant on the voice actors - as they set the tone and atmosphere. Probably would've hit harder if they chose different VAs, or if it was just silent and I had to come up with it myself.
Not only that, but I'm actually not a big fan of "tiny chibi protags vs FULLY RENDERED FULL SIZED HUMANS THAT ARE 10x LARGER THAN THE PIXEL PEOPLE"..... sooooo... hrm.
But THIS game? It has a town building mechanic that ties the story/characters into it.
ANY game that has a decent town building mechanic that ties the story/characters into it will ALWAYS get me hooked, and supremely more invested in the story/characters.
Suikoden II (PS1) first got me interested in it with building up your base with more and more members - but Xenoblade Chronicles 1 got me ADDICTED to it. Nothing quite gets you attached to a world than creating a memorable portion of it.
So even though I'm not a fan of Octopath Traveler... I know I'll love this one.

For anyone out there looking at my list and thinking "That's it?":
Man, it's EIGHT GAMES I"M INTERESTED IN. HOW CAN THE OVERALL SCORE BE ANYTHING BELOW AN 8 FOR ME??
And like I said at the start:
1) I think y'all just went crazy with predictions so of course it's lackluster
2) I and my family are NOT into the biggest-name franchises out there, we like the B-Grade games, as they genuinely stick with us for far longer than the classics. Everyone talks about the classics, but only speedrunners and streamers go back and play them constantly. The B-Grade games? You can bring them out at ANY TIME and very few of them ever feel like they've aged poorly. They feel more timeless than the classics, honestly.
This Direct was filled with B-Graders. Which is awesome for my family and I.

Wait for the Holidays. I'm very confident the A-Graders will show their faces there.

Worst Direct I’ve seen since 2015 ngl…

Cronos and Borderlands? NAAAH, give me Chillin’ By The Fire by Oink Games, that’s the real showstopper of the Direct! 🥴

@Jhena you probably should sell it tbh

Retro games aren't coming back, if you would really rather play a PS1 game then a new RPG then you should do that. If you go into every game announcement hoping that they will have the charm and soul of a PS1 game then they won't and you'll be disappointed.

Either find new games that don't come off to you as cheap copies of the PS1 era games that do have soul and play those or play PS1 games, but do not expect anyone outside of indie companies to make games with the challenge or style of retro games, no major studio makes games like that.

Sigh...

1. The new Katamari looks fine, but the series isn't really exciting anymore. I still remember the original designer dropping out to work in other media after We Love Katamari because he was wary of Namco milking it too much.
2. I know they were just speculating, but once one of the NL editors suggested that Rare Replay might show up, I couldn't get that off my mind. Rare's audience is still with Nintendo gamers in their 30s. How is nobody banking on that? (Besides Miyamoto's prideful self, of course.)
For that matter, there were no release dates for upcoming retro games I'm genuinely excited for, but still in the dark about-- R-Type Delta HD and Mortal Kombat among them.
3. Goodnight Universe sounded like an interesting, poignant premise, but after seeing the footage, the game seems to be a lot sillier than the blurb printed in this article entails. Which is fine, I guess. That's in keeping with a lot of indie titles. Maybe the game will surprise us.
4. Still slim pickings where top third-party games are concerned. I wouldn't care about this on Switch 1, but their framerates looked choppy as all get out. Yakuza Kiwami 2 is eight years old for chrissakes. With more partner showcases like this, the Switch 2's success is going to rest solely on the shoulders of Nintendo games... which I'm sure is fine with them.

Everybody's going to rant about something in this Direct, because it just wasn't very good. But I'm sure there will be interesting third-party games coming down the pike if publishers actually accept the Switch 2 as a unique piece of hardware. Clearly, they've learned from their mistakes with underestimating the first Switch and emphasizing higher specs over truly novel ga--

Ah screw it, who am I kidding? 🫠

@BBBBBBBBBBB
Thank you, your advice is appreciated. My real problem though is not that new games are not retro enough, but that new games just feel dead and nihilistic and worse than what came before.

I will consider selling the new consoles though.

This is the first Katamari in a long time, the Enix RPGs look fun, more Monster Hunter Stories is awesome!

Very pleased with how this went down.

@Punisher67

Yea a PC handheld may have been the way to go and just held on to my Switch. I really like portables.

I dumped my Xbox because all their top games were supposed to be coming to the Switch 2, PC and PS5. So why have a Xbox anymore.

For someone like me that has all 3 or had all 3 these ports do not do it for me either. I played most of what I wanted to.

I should have just kept my Switch One and got rid of both my Xbox and PS5 because Sony is also bringing there games to the PC.

Maybe I should also dump my PS5 and still get a Steam deck.

To late on the Switch 2 now i have one.

That said there really is a game drought lately all the way around on all systems. The last game I really got into was Elden Ring, I also liked Tales of Arise but that was sitting on my shelf for years because I got it really cheap and didn't think I would like it but it was fun.

@IronMan30 Very PS5 launch to me. DKB is R&C, MKW is well, not even sure PS5 had that. But 3rd party dual gen support was still better.

@Grumblevolcano I also voted 6/10. First half was an 8, last half was a 4. I may not play any of them. Not as excited now to be getting our Switch 2 bundle on Monday. Going to order DKB after lunch. Glad I have a backlog.

@electrolite77 "is that it?"

Having those last 2 games basically be the same 3DS looking games in my head was not great for the 2 month old next gen console. 1 of those needed to be swapped w/ either MHS3, HWAOI or even Borderlands 4 just to mix it up a bit. Very front heavy Direct.

I'm not interested in too many old ports but I thought Microsoft would be there w/ Forza, GoW, Halo, something. Was kinda hoping for South of Midnight. They are 3 years into their 10 years of Call of Duty contract. I never play CoD but it would have made a nice last game. Not sure Switch 2 can run Indiana Jones or that space game but nothing isn't promising. I'm still waiting for DQ12 news.

Switch 2 is supposed to be next gen but half of those games are still running on Switch and look like 3DS games to me. Could have used a little more oomph. Maybe ended with Madden, which looked rough but it's here in 2 weeks. JRPG fans are eating well, and I am 1, but not the pixel variety. Oh well. I'm over it.

I made a list (sort of a wishlist), games that have not been released on Nintendo systems, but should be able to run on Switch 2. I think most of these will be released in batches in the next two years and new games will release day and date (or at least close). It’s a gamble which one will be announced when.

I’ll try to keep this list up to date for every direct:

• Metal Gear Solid 4 and 5
• Journey
• Assassin’s creed shadows
• Mass Effect Legendary edition
• Dragon Age: the veilguard
• Dragon’s Dogma 2
• Monster Hunter Wilds
• Clair obscure expedition 33
• Star Wars fallen order and jedi survivor
• Psychonauts 1 and 2
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Grand Theft Auto IV and V
• Detroid: become human
• Resident Evil VII, VIII, IX (?), 2, 3 and 4 Remake
• FF XVI, FF VII Rebirth
• Stellar Blade
• Demon soul and Dark souls 2+3
• Kena: bridge of spirits
• Silent Hill 2
• Tales of Arise, Scarlet Nexus, Metaphor Refantazio, Fate/Samurai, Star Ocean: the Divine Force, other rpg’s?
• Kingdom Hearts
• Death Stranding
• Like a Dragon games
• Control
• Alan Wake 2
• Baldurs Gate 3
• Viewfinder
• Indiana Jones
• Hi-fi Rush
• Flight simulator
• Deathloop, Ghostwire tokyo
• Diablo IV
• Oblivion remastered
• other Sony ip, Microsoft ip. Why not?
• moonlighter 2
• ufo 50

Updates for:

• Doom, Alan Wake, Skyrim, Witcher III, other assassin’s creeds, Mario + Rabbids, Kingdom come Deliverance, Outer Worlds.

Released or announced from my original list:

• Street Fighter VI
• FFVII Remake
• Split Fiction
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Elden Ring
• Star Wars Outlaw
• Kunitsu-Gami
• New: Persona 3 reload
• New: Yakuza Kiwami 2

@Jhena, I'm also still really undecided on the Switch 2 myself for a few reasons. I hope you start feeling better with gaming, even if it means going back to older games.

@kmtrain83

Baldur's gate 3 would have made it better for sure.
That said the fact it wasn't mentioned makes me think it wont.

Once Upon a KATAMARI, Yakuza: Kiwami 2 and Shinobi look great. Don’t care for the rest.

Wow is that the worst poll results for a direct so far? Don’t remember any being worse…?

Not much really exciting to me. I think we all have to laugh at it when they included building a campfire. That feels like a joke.

I am getting Madden just because I haven't bought a football game in 20 years and while I don't want to give them money I do want to refresh just because my 360 is probably going to die.

Like all these showcases, there's probably something for most people but nothing is going to please everyone.

Plenty there for me but I can understand why some are disappointed. I can't understand why some are miserable mind you. Ha.

Persona 3 Reload
Dragonball Sparking Zero
Yakuza K 1 & 2

the highlights.

But about 6 or 7 I'm really interested in downloading in total. And there and a few more intriguing ones (3?) for the reviewers to help me with.

@McMongoose Pinkerton for life.

I literally don’t want to play a single one of these games so I don’t know how I can give it anything other than a 1. I’m happy for people who found things to like here but I did not.

So sad there is no Blue Prince or Expedition 33 (yet).

Always a joy seeing the viewer ratings after these things. Either there isn’t a market for these titles on the system, or (more likely) people just tune in expecting Nintendo games despite it not being a main direct.

The Partner Direct was a solid 8/10 IMO, you got some pretty epic 3rd party titles coming to Switch and Switch 2 here, not every port I expected was announced, but all in good time.

It's fine, but fine was not what we needed! ,😂

I had to remind myself that this was a Partner and not an Indie showcase; especially by the time we made it to the "Chillin' by the Fire"... but the last two games from SE bumped the entire presentation up in my mind.

That mouse game and 2D-HD games look interesting but that’s about it. I reckon this is the master plan - Underwhelming Partner Showcase and then smash it out the park with full Direct in Sept.

6/10 Direct for me. Somewhat decent overall, though the middle sagged quite a bit IMO. I can see how those who don't care for a lot of RPGs would find it worse though.

New announcements I'll keep an eye on:

• Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection
• Once Upon A Katamari
• The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales
• Octopath Traveler 0

Games we knew about already that I'm excited for:

• Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment
• Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles

Due to...those...I'll likely pick most of these up on the Switch 1 when possible. Otherwise, I'll likely go the digital route or buy on a different platform.

@ShieldHero
If you do not feel like getting one now, waiting is the best option. And thank you for trying to comfort me, but thankfully there is no reason to. I know my posts are quite negative now compared to my usual ones, but I am actually feeling kinda relieved and content now, with a little dose of schadenfreude for the self-destructing industry, and I am enjoying myself with classic games. I am not going anywhere and I will keep loving games, even if it means playing old games.

@Bentleyma
100% agree. And knowing that the good old games will always be there for us, is a great feeling. There are so many classics, which I never played and so much I want to play again.

At first I felt a bit of FOMO for not buying a Switch 2 when Nintendo offered me one, but after this showcase I'm really glad I didn't.

Very few exclusives, ridiculous game key shenanigans, and games that look and play much better on a PS5/Series X/PC.

The Switch 2 hasn't come even close to justifying its existence.

omg just dance 2026 so excited

@AJWolfTill you word it like it felt to me… I was also really lost when the campfire thing came along indeed

@Jhena, about me getting a Switch 2, for me, it really depends on Pokémon Gen 10. I know I like Pokémon way too much, but I always like getting into Pokémon Gens around the time that they start. If Gen 10, which is probably coming out in 2026 for the 30th anniversary, is exclusive to the Switch 2, then I'll want to get the Switch 2 a lot more than I do now. However, the Teraleak last year seemed to suggest a potential Switch 1 version of Gen 10 (the Gaia and Super Gaia stuff) and the Teraleak hasn't gotten anything wrong yet, so if Pokémon Gen 10 is on Switch 1, I'll just wait on Switch 2 even longer.
A few other small concerns:
Game Key Cards
Needing a system update to play physical Switch 1 games
Nintendo of America's censorship of Japanese games that started last fall, which led to a game I was interested in purchasing (Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth Collection) getting its release canceled in the west. Thankfully, I can still obtain the games in that Collection physically via Playasia once they're out, but I'm worried that something like that will happen again in the future.
Basically, I still really like Nintendo a whole lot, but I don't want to keep spending money on an ecosystem that tries to boss me around, so my future gaming plans are kind of in limbo at the moment. Unfortunately, because of how young I am, I didn't really get into video games until the Switch generation and the Switch is the only console I have, so I don't really have the opportunity to go backwards (unless I buy the stuff used, like my used 2DS that I purchased in July 2023 that broke after a little over a year later thanks to its charger plug spot bending even though I took really good care of the little thing, or pirate, it doesn't help that older games are often more difficult and don't have as many quality of life improvements as newer ones, so I don't like playing older, pre-3DS games a ton).
I'm still having a lot of fun playing on my Switch. And I've decided that going forward, any game that I'm interested in that has all content on the cartridge except maybe a few bug fix patches, I'll get physically. If a game I'm interested in has dlc, I'll probably just get it digitally, assuming that I continue to buy video games in the far future. I'll always love the classic (and even most of the newer) Nintendo franchises, even if I don't play the newest games in their respective series 😃. If necessary, I can always take a break from gaming for a while and do something more productive, like continue writing my books I've mentioned on the Chit-Chat thread. I always try to stay positive, though I can get a little negative here and there. I just realized this is probably close to my longest wall of text on the site so far 🤣!

A very fair-to-middlin' collection to be honest. There are some new announcements I have interest in, a bunch we already knew were coming. With no real "exclamation point" title the whole show just seemed like this could have been an email.

I suspect they'll ramp up come October/November for the real movement, but this doesn't inspire me to run out and get a Switch 2.

Cronos looked like it might be okay. Rest was a waste of time. Pretty

@ShieldHero
Hehe, write as much as you want. If you feel like buying the Switch 2 when Gen 10 arrives, that is fine. If you are not into retro gaming, that is fine too. And do not worry about these kind of things, you will always find something worth doing and living for.

So I gave this showing a 6. I felt it didn't give me everything I anticipated (wanted to see dates for Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition and Final Fantasy ViI Remake + Intergrade and Hades II and didn't give any of that) but what I did get me was exciting. Firstly, Madden NFL 26. I loved the footage I saw. Seems EA Sports is doing for Madden on Switch 2 what 2K already did for WWE 2K25. Looks great and hope it runs as good as it looks. Also the new Octopath Traveler 0 game looks really cool. Shinobi:Art of Vengeance was another good one. Also a big surprise: Romancing SaGa 2 Switch 2 Edition gets...an upgrade pack for Switch 2 from Switch 1!? Didn't Square Enix say they weren't doing this with any game ever? I happily picked that up. Props to Square Enix for having an open mind and heart about ..1 game. I have the Switch 1 version FYI. The more the hours tick away from what I saw? The more I saw what Nintendo was trying to do. This event was only 25 minutes long so I set my expectations a little low while also understanding that Nintendo used this event to focus on games they didn't want to place into a general Direct later in the year (hopefully September as some are speculating) so if this Direct was a movie it was a movie a little tipsy on being full of filler and exposition. I'm hoping from this Nintendo will give us a Dynamite September Direct that really hits it out of the park. Overall this Direct was for a specific purpose of storytelling (mich like the Star Wars prequel trilogy) and it did the job it was meant to....at least to me.

If it wasn’t for Persona and Cronos this would have been one of the worst directs I’ve seen.

Switch 2 needs the next CoD. Fine, let it run 720p 60fps, fine. But having it on there with crossplay multi-player is a big win.

Lacklustre and more so following the news of a 30fps borderlands 4 on switch 2.
I think Nintendo still have a lot of work and learning when it comes to third party top end support.
I shall continue playing the great MKW and amazing DKB and wait for MP4.

Only thing I even mildly care about is Persona. I'll give it a 3 since I at least recognize a few of the other things are things a notable subsection of people would want but it still felt like a total waste of time on my part to watch, especially with this being the first real info Nintendo's put out in months.

Nothing really interesting for me. I'll work on my backlog.

I hope Switch 2 has a quicker start than PS5 did, it’s not looking great so far.

Could have been an email. A disappointing email.

Very underwhelming Direct.

The big thing with Switch 2 was that we'd get to see heavier hitting 3rd party titles... and this had largely the same stuff that we saw on Switch 1.

They knocked out the 2 most obvious ports (Sparking Zero, P3R) and then had Kiwami 2 and Cronos, but nothing super major past that as far as ports go. Weak showing for your 2 month old console port wise.

Also, what was the point of showing Age of Imprisonment just to show another teaser with no release date??

Im getting zero of these games as I expected. sigh...

@Misima heck yes

Just more sequels and prequels, no risk taking.

It was an average one to me. But OCTOPATH TRAVELER 0, ADVENTURES OF ELLIOT, and MONSTER HUNTER STORIES 3 were all great revelations. I'm neutral on this Key Card thing. I just want to play them on S2. And so far, S2 has succeeded in discouraging me from ever investing in a PS5. FFVII Remake being on there sealed the deal for me.

It was exactly what I expected it to be. Elliot looks cool. Shinobi has been in my dreams lately, lol. Looking forward to that one.Yeah but in the age of nearly everyone treating exclusives like they're just the worst, what else SHOULD we expect?

@Agent069 This is the way and the light and the only true answer.

Could have been an email.

man i looked back at the directs from last year and they usually rate a good on the highest rating, and this one rated poor for the highest rating. I think it's pretty agreed that it wasn't great.

I rated this showcase a 3/10, not counting the numerous excellent games they've already announced earlier, towards the rating.

Why?

• Still nothing from Microsoft
• No PC strategies (which I'd consider a perfect fit for Switch 2 because of the built in mouse mode)
• Way too much focus on Switch 1 games (I guess rumors about not enough devkits at developers are true)
• Way too many remakes
• Zero system sellers were freshly announced
• Forcing Switch 2 owners from physical to digital releases is outrageous (and it's entirely Nintendo's fault).

I bought the Switch 2 but I'll still rather play on PS5 Pro.
(Thanks to the trophy system, which Nintendo still doesn't care about and a proper gaming log, which Nintendo already perfected on 3DS and then just forgot about it...)

Possibly an issue with publishers not wanting to lump all their best games from the past couple of years onto Switch 2 at the same time. Feels like an obvious one Squenix, Atlus and Bandai Namco as they'll be wanting to stagger them for the next couple of years, and sadly it makes more business sense for them to do it.

Persona 3 Reload and Cronos were the clear highlights for me.

Elliott looks like it's going straight to meh corner of JRPG history to keep I Am Setsuna, Chained Echoes and Lost Sphear company.

Will add it's possible Microsoft want to save any port announcements for their own showcases, but perhaps this is pure copium.

Overall I was underwhelmed.

This was terrible. When the Just Dance trailer came on I was like… is this going to be all 25 minutes?

Also, Outlaws looks like an absolutely terrible port. Looks like PS3 quality at best. Ubisoft is an absolute joke.

A disaster. Nothing to be excited about and nothing to buy a Switch 2 for.

I dunno if anyone else felt this way but the weirdest announcement of the Direct for me was a Switch 2 upgrade for Romancing SaGa 2 Revenge of the Seven. Like.... huh? Square Enix is doing upgrades after all, then? ...Just not for Octopath for whatever reason? And why this one in particular? It ran pretty well on Switch, the only issue I really saw was with the loading times, which is something Switch 2 automatically fixes anyway. They're not adding mouse mode, they're not adding a DLC area like Kirby, they're not adding app integration like Zelda. ... why is this a paid upgrade??? Why isn't it just a compatibility patch like Pokémon got?

If a game only gets framerate and performance boosts, I feel like it should just be a patch like Pokémon got, not a paid upgrade. I really wish Nintendo set more rigid guidelines to their third parties regarding this. Because it is such a mess, with each game seemingly following its own rules.
Some games like Suikoden I&II have completely useless Switch 2 versions, some games like Sonic X Shadow have only mild performance boosts but expect you to buy it all over again. Some games like Puyo Tetris 2S add silly mouse mode shenanigans, but its mere existence further splinters the online player pool further, because they didn't care to make it compatible with the original version... And now we have a paid upgrade, similar to the ones Nintendo offers for their games, except this one literally doesn't add anything to the game except for a bit better performance. for a game that doesn't perform badly in the first place....does anyone else find this was a really weird announcement??

Also I played Revenge of the Seven extensively earlier this year and have absolutely no desire to go back to it at all. It's got good gameplay but I don't enjoy the way they implemented the time skip feature, it's completely immersion-breaking.

I wasn't expecting anything, so I wouldn't say that I'm disappointed. However, nothing really piqued my interest either. I'm happy for others who have something to be excited about from this direct, though.

I would say, surely Hyrule Warriors would be an actual cartridge, but that that's what my main thought coming out of the Direct is just says a lot about the state of Switch 2 physical media. I'm pretty much getting all of the multi-plat games announced on either the PS5 or Xbox if they have physicals or on Steam/GOG if they don't. Any Switch 2 exclusives will languish until a deep discount sale years from now.

Curious about the new square action RPG. Since I already have P3R, I'm probably skipping everything out of this showing. Which is too bad, but not a huge issue--we're starting Baldur's Gate 3 for the first time tonight, and that'll probably take me until Metroid/Pokemon.
Hopefully a first-party direct comes sooner rather than later.

The real star of the show is the Shinobi demo that Lizardcube just released—game is siiiiiiiick and plays beautifully on Switch(2)! Little concerned about the graphics though… Joe Musashi has some rough edges for some reason; hopefully it’s just a demo issue… Can’t wait for the full release though!

this might be the only direct where absolutely none of the announcements interested me

@Anguspuss -1000/10 no dance sequence

The correct answer is Persona 3 Reload.

Hyped by Monster Hunter Stories 3.
Also, happy with Persona 3 Reload, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, Yakuza Kiwami 2, Borderlands 4, The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales and SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance.

Overall, it was a good direct (although too much EA); the JP Direct had more variety.

Nothing at all there for me but I buy a Nintendo console to play first party games! Another Nintendo Direct would be nice, give me a reason to buy a Switch 2!!!

I thought the direct was good. Looking forward to Adventures of Elliot, Octopath Traveller 0 and Monster Hunter Stories 3.

Now, when is the actual Nintendo Direct? Maybe late September?

@dskatter - But the thing is MOST games are requiring that day 1 update. I’m not saying it’s right, nor am I saying it’s wrong it’s just the reality now. I’m honestly at the point where if the game doesn’t have a full physical release I’ll just go digital.

Probably one of the worst directs I’ve seen in recent times, rivalling the “farming sim” direct. Sure there were a couple of games I’m looking forward to, but mostly mid-to-rubbish.

And frankly, all sports games and Just Dance should never get a spotlight segment in any games showcase, they should all be displayed in a quick fire segment.

And where were all the Microsoft published games?

Square Enix was there so I had my hopes up for FFIX remake or Visions of Mana port. Instead, we get more HD-2D games. I kind of half expected this would happen. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Octopath but right now there’s an abundance of these HD-2D games so I don’t think that should be a priority at the moment. A bit underwhelming as others have mentioned.

Partner Directs have not been exciting for me for several years. I actually stopped watching then and referred to an article. This one did not disappoint, in that sense. I rate it 6 because it was good in comparison, and enjoyed seeing Star Wars Outlaws. NBA Bounce and Plants vs Zombies were the only others of mild interest.

Let's face it, we predominantly buy Nintendo systems for Nintendo games. Those always excite us the most. I'll get excited for the usual September one.

PS: Can we note, yet again, the "leakers" got it wrong? They were all over the place with the date, and unanimously got its purpose wrong.

I was excited for several of these, some of which I already have for my PS5. I was thinking on double dipping until the game key cards started to appear online. Now I'd rather pirate them whenever switch 2 is safe to hack. I'll buy physical or not buy at all. Their choice.

Switch and Switch 2 need physical more than the other consoles. On Switch it was fine except those games that only had half of the game on the cartridge. On Switch 2, the game keys are unacceptable and it's Nintendo's fault because of their exorbitant prices.

There were some nice surprises in this Direct like Octopath Traveller 0, but most were last-gen ports that play better on Xbox/PS, anyway. It seems that Nintendo doesn't really care about third parties and that's they're fine with Switch 2 being a Mario Kart machine, as the sales data reveals.

Poor direct. I like the games shown, but the concern remains. Many of us bought this after watching the last few years of the og Switch being "underpowered for devs". Nothing in this direct helped to lift that concern, despite many sources applauding the S2's tech.

@mattitudemf Techbically very few really REQUIRE it. If I had an offline PS5, 99% of the disc games out there would play just fine. There might be bugs but they’d play.

The only exceptions are recent MS-published and Ubisoft games, and of course games that require you to be online.

Obviously this is a distinction that doesn’t make us disagree on the common point of “dear god, just put the game on the freaking disc/card!”

It was probably the worst Direct I watched.

Not even close to one of the better Directs. I was happy to see Cronos as a day-and date title, though! I also was happy to see Persona 3 Reload even though I JUST finished the P3Portable edition on Switch 1 last year.

I think Yakuza, Persona, Monster Hunter Stories, Sparking Zero, and Octopath Traveler alone warrant at least a 7/10. People are being way too picky nowadays. We're closing in on 2 months of Switch 2. Please stop acting like there is nothing at all to play.