Nintendo Direct 9/13/17 Thoughts & Notes
The latest Nintendo Direct has come and gone, and it delivered pretty much what I expected, if not slightly more. Given the timing of the presentation, this was Nintendo’s best opportunity to push its fall and holiday lineup, and it did just that with new information on Super Mario Odyssey, Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and a smattering of others. Anyone expecting big reveals set themselves up for disappointment; this was about selling the games hitting in the remainder of 2017 first and foremost. That’s not to say there weren’t surprises; not only were new first-party games announced, but so were third-party titles, new hardware variations, and even an unexpected blast from Nintendo’s past. Here are the top 15 notable moments as far as I was concerned.
1. Super Mario Odyssey
The more I see of this game, the better it looks. Nintendo has obviously been holding back information on this game since E3, showing only a handful of environments, enemies, and abilities, but the curtains opened a whole lot more during this Nintendo Direct. Sure, we expected Mario standbys like an ice world, a water world, and a jungle world, but it’s nice to see them with our own eyes. As with previous looks at this game, the new footage displayed a world bursting with imagination and unparalleled creativity: running on water, controlling an adorable flying dinosaur, racing against Koopas, and engaging in a 2D Donkey Kong homage. The classic outfits tug at my Nintendo nostalgia, and the photo mode opens up a lot of fun creative possibilities. The best part is I think we’ve still only scratched the surface of this game. Well, the best part for some might be topless Mario’s nipples, but I guess that’s a personal preference. The Switch bundle that includes red Joy-Cons and a Mario carrying case is pretty snazzy too.
2. Xenoblade Chronicles 2
The new footage of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 really emphasized just how vast and beautiful the world is. The living, breathing environments, built on the backs of massive creatures, look absolutely stunning and, like in previous Xenoblade games, simply beg to be explored. The Nintendo Direct presentation - evidently narrated by a bored, genteel British grandfather - was absolutely ridiculous and probably didn’t garner many new fans, but it didn’t negate my enthusiasm for this anime-influenced RPG. The special edition - including a music CD and a 220-page artbook - is somewhat tempting too, but maybe not for $100.
3. Project Octopath Traveler
Even though it’s not set for release until next year, Nintendo put a heavy emphasis on the ludicrously named Project Octopath Traveler for Switch. I know it’s supposed to be a temporary name, but hopefully it finds a better one sooner rather than later. More exciting than the presentation was the release of the playable demo, which lets you sample the game as two of the eight protagonists, Olberic the warrior and Primrose the dancer, each with unique special skills. The inclusion of eight protagonists gives the game a Saga Frontier feel, while the retro graphics feel like a throwback to 16-bit Final Fantasy games. This one has a lot of promise.
4. Nintendo Arcade Archives
This came out of nowhere. Hamster, the company responsible for publishing a ridiculous number of Neo•Geo games on Switch, will now be delivering Nintendo’s classic arcade lineup in pixel-perfect form to a console for the first time ever. Nintendo should have tried something like this with arcade Virtual Console on Wii, but it didn’t; now, at long last, the original versions of these seemingly lost arcade games will finally be playable once again. While the differences between the arcade and NES versions of these games aren’t huge, they’re a captivating piece of Nintendo history, and hardcore fans will love picking up on the subtle differences in games like Mario Bros, Vs Balloon Fight, Vs. Ice Climber, Vs. Pinball, and Vs. Clu Clu Land. For me, it’s all about Vs. Super Mario Bros and Punch-Out!!, but if the price is comparable to past Arcade Archive offerings ($8 or so), I’ll probably buy the whole lot.
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