Okay now that was a BIG "one last thing," THOUSAND YEAR DOOR REMAKE IS REAL! Holy shit Arlo is gonna be so fucking happy, and I am too because damn I love that game but I haven't played it in over a decade.
I'd say that last announcement alone elevated what I was a a "very solid 7.5/10" Direct to a nice 8.5, because that was truly unexpected.
But yeah overall I think this was a really nice fall Direct to give us an idea on what Nintendo is likely using as the "wind downs" for the Switch as I expect we're getting the successor either at the end of 2024 or the very start of 2025.
Biggest things IMO are:
-Splatoon 3: Side Order expansion has a Spring 2024 date, which is later than I expected as I was hoping it would be out this year, but the DLC is looking awesome and I'm looking forward to it, and seeing Dedf1sh is a character in it is pretty rad!
-The original Mario vs. Donkey Kong from the GBA in 2003 is getting a Switch remake and honestly I'm 100% okay with this as I actually played the hell out of that game way back when, and I'd honestly prefer this over a remake or new entry starring the Minis that follows the Lemmings style of gameplay. Maybe Uncle Al will go "ya know what I'm actually okay with this."
-Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is shaping up to actually be a modern Ubisoft game I legitimately want and so hope this breaths new life into the long dormany IP
-That song in the trailer for Super Crazy Rhythm Castle unlocked some major nostalgia as holy shit I remember when that song was a YouTube animation fad way back when! Might actually have to check this one out as I never expected this type of new Bemani game.
-SpyXAnya looks super cute, hope the game itself will be good and satisfy fans of the manga and anime.
-That meter in the Super Mario RPG remake is confirmed to be a meter for new full party super moves, and a new wrinkle added to the action-command system is doing a perfectly timed attack will result in all enemies taking at least some small chip-type damage, and the game will game brand new post-game harder rematch boss fights. People also spotted the Culex door and he is likely still in the game, with people speculating he might take on the appearance of an HD-2D sprite.
-The super underrated Nintendo puzzle adventure game duThe ology Trace Memory/Another Code is getting remade on Switch, and it's BOTH games, similar to how they did Famicom Detective Club's remake. This is pretty notable as the Wii sequel only released in Japan and Europe, so NA is finally getting the game officially for the first time.
-The Princess Peach action platformer finally has a name, "Princess Peach: Showtime!," it's launching next March and the big gimmick is each "play" Peach enters will have her take on a costume that gives her new moves to battle enemies, solve puzzles, and complete minigames to progress.
-A brand new SaGa game is coming to Switch next year called "SaGa: Emerald Beyond" and it looks pretty neat.
-A major surprise for me personally as I've been super in the mood to replay the old Tomb Raiders, as Aspyr is remastering the first three games for release on Switch next February. You'll be able to swap between the original PS1 visuals and updated graphics so I assume you'll also be able to choose to play with the old tank controls and maybe modern dual stick controls, but I guess we'll know eventually. I wonder if they'll bother with Last Revelation and Chronicles as those two aren't viewed as highly as the first three, but it'd still be neat to see the entire PS1 quintology remastered.
-Popular meme game Trombone Champ is hitting Switch so hey if you've been wanting to play the funny rhythm game streamers were playing not that long ago, here ya go.
-The ORIGINAL Contra is getting a 2.5D remake called "Contra: Operation Galuga" and I'm hoping this turns out good because Contra needs a good game after the crappy Rogue Corp.
-Vanillaware's newest game got confirmed, it's called "Unicorn Overlord" and it looks just as awesome as every other Vanillaware game.
-Luigi's Mansion 2 HD is coming next summer, looks like the game might be running on the Luigi's Mansion 3 engine now, but my biggest question is I wonder if it'll fix the pacing issues the original game had as I did find being stopped by E-Gad constantly, especially in the early game, a bit annoying.
-Reaction to F-Zero 99 is going about what I expected, the like-to-dislike ratio on the trailer is split down the middle with some people going "not what I expected, but I'll take it" and others going "this is F-Zero's Federation Force moment." The biggest cope is maybe a mainline entry is being worked on for the Switch 2, but otherwise I think most agree this was the "low point" of the Direct.
-Indie darling Dive the Diver is coming to Switch next month, and other notable indies like Wargroove 2 is releasing next March, and Eastward is getting farm sim DLC. Among Us is also getting a fungus island map, so the devs took the meme of "there's a fungus Among Us" seriously lol.
-And of course Paper Mario: the Thousand Year Door is getting a remake that is coming next year, probably the biggest highlight by far.
