Nintendo Direct on February 13 2019

[Alistair]

So it seems Bylith is going to be Avatar!Ike in terms of background.

[Strullemia]

10 minutes ago, omegaxis1 said:

This is VERY interesting. Look, I know some people will get pissed at the idea of how "you alone" are special that you can see this little girl that is likely some goddess/dragon, and you are the ultimate leader, but the premise and how it's done is very interesting. 

1. In fact, there's a LOT of replayability in that you can choose one of three houses, all in a single game.

2.And the fact that you can even customize many more things in your units in what weapons they wield and such and possibly even control their promotions. This can give us much more control over making ideal units for characters.

While I'm a fan of having choices like that as well I wonder how it's going to impact the game.

Are the routes going to be shorter or for that matter why didn't they split the game in three different games like Fates?

I'm not complaining if it does turn out that the game has choices and has good content but I just find it sort of odd.

2. Yeah, that I find super interesting as well. I also find the whole reclass everyone a lot more acceptable in this setting because you're in a school and you're a teacher.

[Punished Dayni]

Alright, here we are with the first not-smash direct in 5 months. No wonder I was concerned.

Spoiler

Mario World to start.... Well, sort of, it's Mario Maker 2. Well, there that is, though it has Cat Mario too for those who were looking. It's for June. Who's Yoshiyaki Koizumi out of curiosity? Apparently it's still getting new features too. Marvel Ulitmate Aliiance 3 is a thing for Switch (though it has X-Men, surprisingly enough. I expected it not to after MVCU), which is strange considerint the last two weren't. Boxboy has returned, though for Switch (RIP 3DS) and with co-op and a tall box. Ultimate is getting 3.0 with speculation. :P and Joker's out by the end of spring. Captain toad gets co-op (that sounds neat) and separate DLC. Bloodstained gets a release date (I see Igavania's successor is coming after all.) in summer too. Dragon Quest Builders gets a sequel with all that Midi music and Minecraft camera too.

Dragon Quest 11 is getting a port I see as well, though I've kind of droned out the discussion of the game in some detail. Also, there's a 16-bit option, orchestrated music and multi-language dubs, so this seems like the best port actually. It's out later on than all the other stuff so far, autumn. 

Tsum Tsum.... what is that? I actually know them sadly, thought they were just rubbers. Anyways, it's a puzzle and party game I guess. Starlink gets a update with the other guys in Star Fox playable. Rune Factory gets a remastered game, is that good actually? It also gets a sequel whenever. Oninaki is new, it's about helping the dead to prevent them becoming monsters, I hope that's alright. Yoshi's Crafted World gets more footage and a demo too, with it finally coming out right before Brexit day.

Three Houses, here we go. First to that sleeping dragon girl, who finally woke up and asks someone why they're there (I guess the avatar). We get to see a opening exposition of the kingdoms in Fodlan, I will love to look at this in more detail. Apparently in a time of peace, you're going to be the hero (and the son of Geralt (The Witcher is the prequel series then?)) and you're based in the church of Seiros in the army school. Also the dragon girl's called Sothis and you'll be talking to her a bit I assume. Also, turns out we've got Fates, but it's all one game and you're commanding one of the side's students. I hope we don't hit on these people. There's a lot to cover, I'm going to have to look at this again. Also, OH CRAP, it's going to be July instead, That's a bit dickish to not admit to before, that's the second delay.

Tetris has a 99 player game... Wait, what? It's also FTP? maybe?. Dead by Daylight is a multiplayer horror game like Friday the 13th I guess (Is this a port). Deltarune's first chapter got ported, which is dumb to only have out. Daemon Ex Machina gets a demo and a summer release date, so that's neat. GRID gets a switch title, alright for those who wanted it. Senua's Sacrifice is getting a port soon. Now for a rapid fire I guess. MK11, Unravel 2 (REALLY? I'm surprised), ACIII (Well that's a shame), FF7, Chocobo Mystery dungeon 2 are out soon and FF9 is out today YEEEE.

In another trailer we get some character with battle armour fighting in a city, though I wonder what this is supposed to be in every sense of the word. It's Astral Chain, from the DMC and Bayonetta producer , though we get nothing much on Bayonetta 3. And for a finish we get 2D footage, which looks like Link's Awakening. Oh shit is this a Link's Awakening remake? IT IS! It's still top-down, still cute and still going to be dark as all get out in the ending. Nothing more than being in 2019 though

TL:DR: SO MUCH WITH THREE HOUSES, TOO MUCH. Aside from that, bit limited but not terrible, nothing for AC or Pokemon fans and no Joker gameplay (Just, why?), but Oninaki or Astral Chain could be cool, Link's Awakening has to find some way to convince me to play it again and FF9 is out and those who haven't yet PLAY IT.

I'm off to look at the Three Houses footage again. If you want to do so, can you recommend Rune Factory?

[Thane]

1 minute ago, Alistair said:

So it seems Bylith is going to be Avatar!Ike in terms of background.

Byleth and the Emblem of Fire. (Presumably) dead parents and everything. 

[Acacia Sgt]

Well, I guess the Mana trademarks things will be for another thing... or it was too late to reveal something on this Direct. Can't be ruled out, after all, but still...

Nice to see Rune Factory with a new entry... but now what they'll do? They've already used up the four dragons...

[omegaxis1]

1 minute ago, Hekselka said:

While I'm a fan of having choices like that as well I wonder how it's going to impact the game.

Are the routes going to be shorter or for that matter why didn't they split the game in three different games like Fates?

I'm not complaining if it does turn out that the game has choices and has good content but I just find it sort of odd.

2. Yeah, that I find super interesting as well. I also find the whole reclass everyone a lot more acceptable in this setting because you're in a school and you're a teacher.

Good point. Will it be shorter? And will the story be altered depending on your choices? COuld actually be no difference other than what units you get. 

Very true. It makes perfect sense. You guide them and train them to reach their potential. Though it is a bit sad if this is the case for everyone. That means that everyone will be your students, right?

[Armagon]

Thoughts on the things i cared about

Super Mario Maker 2: They added slopes. Literally the one thing people asked for. All is well. Also the 3D World skin is awesome.

Joker in Smash tease: LMAO, they really just gonna show us his model and then leave. Amazing. Looks like we won't have to wait long though.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night: Looks good. I've been waiting for that game since it was announced. I played the prequel, Curse of the Moon, and it was good so i hope Ritual of the Night improves.

Rune Factory 4 Special+Rune Factory 5: I really liked 4 on 3DS so i wouldn't mind double dipping on it and i'm glad Rune Factory 5 is finally gonna be a thing now.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses: Looks better than when we first saw it though it seems to unfortunately have the low framerate cutscenes that Echoes did. Byleth being a mercenary that is also a teacher should be interesting. The delay also wasn't as bad as i thought. In fact, it's just three days after my birthday now. Glad we have more info on the game although we still have a surprising lack of knowledge on the characters. We know their names and background but only the bare minimum. We also still don't know what the actual plot is gonna be like.

Astral Chains: Looks badass and it satisfies my sci-fi hunger.

Link's Awakening HD: My first Zelda game being remastered is wonderful. Complete with a cute, almost toy-like artstyle. Definitely will be picking this up.

 

[PeaceRibbon]

Boxboy! and Boxgirl! was my pleasant surprise of the direct. It's one of the only game series I've played every entry in, and I'd LOVE to be able to share the fun experiences of these puzzles with a friend!

Fire Emblem Three Houses looks really exciting too, with the competing houses theme looking like it could lead to multiple endings and interesting dynamics. It's also a blessing that I'll be able to play the game on summer break too instead of having to wait and feel like I'm missing out. My one pessimist declaration: I don't mind the school setting to be honest, but in light of that setting if marriage and children become a thing I'm going make IS sit in the corner and think about what they did. I might go discuss this game more in a Three Houses thread once I've analysed it more.

[EnderKid]

1 minute ago, omegaxis1 said:

Very true. It makes perfect sense. You guide them and train them to reach their potential. Though it is a bit sad if this is the case for everyone. That means that everyone will be your students, right?

There was something about a main house of knights (the knights of Seiros). Avatar teaches at the officer school at the Monastery in the middle of the map. So, hopefully not all of them will be students, maybe you'll get some pre promotes or other units that are already knights of Seiros.

[Sire]

So, here are my highlights and some reactions to stuff... (When I'm not on Discord. This is my own recap and notes post.)

Super Mario Maker 2!
There are slopes! Super Mario Maker 2! Woo! (Honestly though, I didn't get my money's worth out of it... I loved the game, but didn't play it enough to be worth the purchase.)

Smash Ultimate 3.0.0 Update
Personally hoping for Smash Run to return in some form as I loved that mode in 3DS Smash. Otherwise, I have no idea as I haven't gotten around to Smash Ultimate yet.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Looks awesome and hope to see Derrick of GameXplain stream it as part of his Castlevania marathon. Personally though, I probably will give it a pass.

Yoshi's Crafted World
Man I'm hype for this, but then I remember the last real Yoshi game I played was Yoshi's Story for the N64 and Yoshi's Island (SNES) on the GBA. I want to play Yoshi's Yarn game thing too...

Astral Chains
I got baited hard with Astral Chains. I legitimately thought it was Xenoblade Chronicles X 2 (even thought there was a bearded HB in there). However, as it progressed, I realized it wasn't XCX2. Still, it's a Platinum game and they make amazing things. If only I had the time and money to actually play them...

Link's Awakening Remaster
Eh, it's nice for LoZ fans. Personally, there is a majesty and beauty to sprites. Not everything has to be 3D...

Tetris 99
Tetris Battle Royal. That is all.

Daemon X Machina
This still looks good and I'm probably gonna try out the prototype demo. It helps that it reminded me of Xenoblade Chronicles X (I thought this was XCX2 when it was first revealed. Look, I want a sequel, okay?) I've been wanting a good Mech game to mess around in as Hawken and Mechwarrior Online are just a mess...

Fire Emblem Three Houses
- Here we go, the main feature!... Wait, there's basically nothing here and it was just as long as the other announcements. I guess it was just a bone to us FE dogs...
- I wonder if this will end up being what Fates was supposed to be (but as a teacher to the three factions instead of siblings)
- Progression seems a lot more open-ended than before.
- I'll need to re-watch the trailer for more impressions, but right now I'm feeling "It's a Fire Emblem title. It reminds me of Radiant Dawn. I want it."

* * * * *

So, off to do research and rewatches and whatnot. I'll be back!

[Florete]

Please give me vertical levels in Mario Maker 2. Please.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Wow, Captain Toad gets DLC while Super Mario Party doesn't. Probably the most bizarre piece of news for me. Good ports, some of these were chuuuuggging in frame rate like Assassin's Creed and Dead by Daylight. But Hellblade looked excellent, I may pick that up since I missed it back in 2017. Another pickup potentially is FF9. I still own the game on PS1, but I've been in a rare mood to replay it and maybe they'll have a speed up feature or improved load times. I'm not really up to date on how Final Fantasy ports are like these days. I'm cool enough to say I've played Link's Awakening DX to death, so that remake may be a pass for me, but I'll still recommend anybody check out that game. I love they kept the weird Mario enemies in and that was a surprisingly faithful recreation of the opening.

As for Fire Emblem, that seems like a lot of unit customization. I got a chuckle out of the class changing mechanic "Will you take the Brigand exam?". But teaching them things like "horseriding" or "magic" really has me intrigued. Perhaps classes will not dictate a unit's abilities as strictly as previous games. I'm also itching to know more about these formation/gambit systems we keep seeing. The only thing that kind of bugs me are the armor designs, and by that I mean the lack of armor, those are school uniforms. Like, I get it, they're students, but it's hard to take them seriously in such fashionable clothing.

But really the show was stolen by Super Mario Maker and this Astral Chain game that came out of nowhere. Koizumi, please don't tease me about Bayonetta 3 like that.

[Dandy Druid]

Rune Factory's announcement made my day. I miss that series so much. Link's Awakening is also hype. Onaniki, Dragon Quest XI, and Astral Chain looks cool.

 

I'm not happy about the Avatar being the center of the focus again. I don't trust them to do a good job after Corrin. However, the story set up does seem pretty unique for Fire Emblem (more RPG elements. The talks with the dragon girl who's design seems to be altered seems to be more player-focused, which is a first.) It reminds me of the protagonists from Persona, so I wonder if the story would also follow Byleth's perspective more than a general overview like usual. It'll be interesting to see how the story plays out.

MISSING: Did anyone see Mercedes? I must have missed her. I saw Hilda (pink twintails) and she seems to be an ally of Claud.

Claud reminds me of Hector: he hails from an alliance country and has a pink twintail follower (Serra). 

The character design had some variety, but there really isn't a character that caught my eye in particular. Chinatsu (who I believe to be the artist) drew some pretty boys which I expected. It seems that pretty boys is definitely her forte. There is some diversity with body types, but this looks like teen idol emblem so far.

[Etrurian emperor]

The Mario Maker reveal was  cheeky. I love it. 

Aside from Fire Emblem the highlight probably was Astral chains. It looked quite interesting and Platinum has a very solid track record. Did I hear Alm in there?

The low point is sadly Zelda. I'm really, really not feeling the toy artstyle. It looks like those old playmobile dolls.  

[Johann]

Link's Awakening made me hyperventilate in joy, best game of all time. The art's alright, but I'm really excited to see what they add to it

Also seeing Bloodstained and Rune Factory was really good, I'm looking forward to those

[Tryhard]

three houses did very much remind me of valkyria chronicles 2

Edited February 13, 2019 by Tryhard

[EnderKid]

I'm not crazy about the art direction and characters in Three Houses. The female Avatar is unappealing, all of the supporting student's outfits are too chic... I do quite like Claude, Edelgard, and Demitri, at least. But the rest of the students I don't care for. I'm wondering if the reclassing/exam system will let you change their outfits or if that will only change stats. Edelgard's outfit change a few times in the trailer, so fingers crossed that applies to everybody.
 

[Sire]

Oh yeah, Rune Factory was a thing. I remember during things about it back in my GBA days, but never really delved into it.

* * * * *

For more of my impressions on Fire Emblem: Three Houses, after re-watching the trailer...

- The low FPS Cutscenes are back... Man, why couldn't they have the quality of Awakening cutscenes if they wanted to go this route?
- Dragon Girl Lissa?
- I appreciate the world-building they seem to be going for. Hopefully there is more than what they say in the trailer.
- Traditionalist Empire, Holy Kingdom, and the Independents (Leicester Alliance)

- Avatar Time! I prefer the male's traditional design, the female's "torn leggings?" are not really my thing.
- Hey, the Witcher is our dad! Wait, wrong Geralt. Our dad is Jeralt, with a J.
- So, something happens and Avatar receives special powers. Oh boy, this may be worrisome...
- Avatar Teacher Dreams of Dragon Loli. why

- I have a feeling we'll choose a house side and the Church (which was probably neutral) may end up being the bad guys. Alternatively, someone in the three houses may attempt to resurrect a dark dragon god or something, so the Church comes in to save the day.
- Legs. Sorry, I had to.
- What side we choose likely determines main lord and character access. While I'm a fan of paladins and knights, Dimitri looks lame. I'll likely for go Edelgard my first playthrough. Claude may be the most fun though, and for some reason I'm getting Hector vibes.

- Once again, loving the battle map. It reminds me of Radiant Dawn and I loved Radiant Dawn.
- I suddenly have a feeling most character outfits will be a variation on school uniforms...
- Yeah, Three Houses definitely looks more opened-ended compared to other FE titles. So many things to study train!
- Everyone was kung-fu fighting... (We got Claws as weapons, folks!)
- Still not sure how troops are supposed to work, unless they are purely visual (but then what about formations?)

- So, does the Avatar have future vision, or something akin to Mila's Turnwheel from Valentia? I'll love the see the Turnwheel function return.
- Why would the three factions fight each other? Are they even fighting each other in the first place? The three main lords seem to know each other, at least.
- Yeah, we got some dark forces stuff going on. Wonder how that will play out in the grand scheme of things.

* * * * *

All right, some hope and hype has been restored. Still, I really wanted to see more. At least we now know the release date, July 26th.

Edited February 13, 2019 by Sire

[TheGoodHoms]

Smash Ultimate 3.0 - Nice tease! Thanks for nothing!

Bloodstained - After playing Curse of the Moon, this game looks even better then ever! The spirit of Castlevania will live on.

Three Houses - Definitely looking forward to playing this one, but I would be lying if I said I didn't have reservations about the game's setting. Hopely if the game's story crashes and burns the gameplay will pick up the slack.

Daemon X Machina - PUT ME IN THAT BETA! So, yeah. I still think it's a badass looking action game.

Astral Chain - Platinum Game is always a win. Also with Hideki Kamiya as the director just makes me even more interested, he's got some of the best action games ever made to his name.

[Gregster101]

I'm cautiously optimistic regarding Three Houses. I'm not too keen on the Avatar being the main character again after the stain that was Corrin, but the mercenary background does seem interesting. As for teaching any of the three houses, I really hope this doesn't mean there will be multiple versions again, although the amount of customization has me intrigued. Again, I'm cautiously optimistic so far.

Link's Awakening remake also looks interesting.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Also it's kind of a big deal that Dragon Quest 11 gets its orchestrated music in this port. Hope the other versions get that in some kind of update otherwise that's a raw deal for early adopters. The 16 bit mode is also pretty charming, I should take the plunge.

Edited February 14, 2019 by Glennstavos

[ConquestVeteran]

On 2/12/2019 at 3:14 PM, ConquestVeteran said:

I'm calling that they're gonna reveal or tease something to do with Paper Mario. 

Welp, looks like I was wrong. I'm still holding on to hope, though.

[Alexmender]

I won't lie, Rune Factory 5 was the hypest moment for me in the direct. I loved RF4 and was heartbroken when I heard the company that made the games went bankrupt so I'm extremely happy to know the series isn't dead! 

The Link's Awakening stuff is a bit of a mixed bag for me, I love that they're remaking the game but I'm not too keen on the style they chose as it reminds me a bit too much of Pokemon Rumble. 

Astral Chains seems very fun, although that's to be expected with Platinum being the developer. I'll look foward to it. 

Fire Emblem Three Houses wasn't all that hype despite it having a bigger spotlight than other games. I like that it seems to have tons of customization but I'm not too keen on the models and the game looks a bit like PoR when it comes to how it runs, which isn't a good thing as that game was extremely slow. 

I didn't care that much about the other stuff so yeah, that should be it for my impressions.

[Espurrhoodie]

Well then.

- Astral Chains looks interesting, might pick that up if I have the money, same thing with Bloodstained, Dragon Quest, and Rune Factory.

- That mood whiplash between Onaniki and Yoshi's Crafted World was funny to me.

- The Link's Awakening remake looks cute.

Anyway, onto the entire reason I watched the Direct:

- Dimitri's hair still bugs me, seriously, it looks like string cheese, FIRE YOUR BARBER!

- I'm calling it, Dragon Loli who's name I can't remember is either the antagonist, or shiny Yune.

- I'm also calling the dad dying 5 seconds into the game.

- I wish the special edition soundtrack was the entire soundtrack.

Yeah that's all I can think of right now.

[Anacybele]

Man, I am utterly shocked that Luigi's Mansion 3 had nothing in this Direct. This was extremely disappointing. Even if it's not coming out until late summer or fall, we still saw other games get announced/talked about that are coming out then. So why not another LM3 trailer or at least a better release window/date?

This was like the ONE thing I just really really wanted to see...nothing else besides Three Houses which was confirmed.

EDIT: @Etrurian emperor That's EXACTLY how I feel about this LA remake! I enjoyed the game, now they go and ruin it with this baby style that looks like Playmobil toys.

Edited February 14, 2019 by Anacybele