Nintendo announces a boatload of classic game ports, Japanese RPGs for Switch
by Kyle Orland from Ars Technica - All content on (#63K8W)
While details about the next Zelda game provided Nintendo's big kicker this morning, the company's latest 45-minute "Direct" presentation was packed full of first-party Nintendo creations, Japanese RPGs, and a lot of remakes and ports from other platforms. Here's a quick roundup of everything we managed to jot down:
First-party Nintendo releases
Fire Emblem Engage is set after the main character's thousand-year slumber.
- Fire Emblem Engage is coming to the Switch on January 20, 2023, and it features familiar characters like Marth and Cecilia, alongside new partners. While the game is set after the protagonist wakes up from a 1,000-year slumber, its tactical positioning and ally recruitment will look familiar to anyone who knows the series.
- Shigeru Miyamoto was excited to announce Pikmin 4, coming to the Switch in 2023, as the next game in the two-decade-old franchise. Very few details were revealed, but Miyamoto seemed excited about an included low-angle, Pikmin-eye-view of the action.
- More N64 games are coming to Nintendo's expanded Switch Online subscription. GoldenEye 007 is the highlight here, and it's "coming soon" to the Switch, complete with online play. Aside from that, Pilotwings 64 and Mario Party 1 and 2 will hit in 2022, while Mario Party 3, Pokemon Stadium 1 and 2, 1080 Snowboarding, and Excitebike 64 will be released "gradually" in 2023.
- Bayonetta 3 is still barreling toward its October 28 release, which will come with an optional "put on more clothes" mode.
- Nintendo's next partnership with Ubisoft in Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope is planned for October 20 and features many new characters and abilities to spice up the tactical battles.
More like Nonopath Traveler, amirite?
- Square Enix's Various Daylife is available for Switch download later today. It combines elements of adventure and simulation-based RPGs and focuses on its characters' day-to-day activities.
- A sequel to Square Enix's stylish 2018 release Octopath Traveler will hit the Switch with eight new, highly varied adventurers on February 24, 2023.
- Koei Tecmo's Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key looks like an extremely generic fantasy RPG from its brief teaser. It hits the Switch on February 24, 2023.
- Fae Farm will be a Switch exclusive in the spring of 2023, combining the serene relaxation of a farming sim with magical spells, mischievous foes, and exploration through mystical realms.
- From the makers of Danganronpa, Master Detective Archives: Raincode follows a group of detectives that come from all over the world to solve the mystery of a city covered by perpetual rain. Look for it in the spring of 2023.
- Farming RPG Harvestella will release on November 4, but those who play a free demo available today can transfer their progress over to the full release.
Who's in the mood for some new (old) Kirby?
- Nintendo is remaking the Wii's Kirby's Return to Dream Land into a Deluxe Switch release with four-player local co-op, now with the ability for all four players to control a version of Kirby. A large collection of "subgames" will also feature when the remake hits on February 24, 2023.
- Square Enix's Front Mission tactical mech RPGs are getting Switch re-releases. The first game will hit the Switch in November, with Front Mission 2 coming in 2023 as that game's first Western release. Front Mission 3 will be released on the Switch "sometime in the future" as well.
- Koei Tecmo's Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse will see its first Western release in early 2023 with a Switch port of the 2008 Wii release.
- Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life remakes the 2003 Gamecube farm sim, complete with characters that can have kids that grow up to choose their own paths through life. It's coming in the summer of 2023.
- Speaking of Harvest Moon, Rune Factory 3 Special remakes the 2010 Nintendo DS spinoff for the Switch next year with a new mode focused on spending "quality time with your spouse," according to a press release. A new Rune Factory series has also been promised "in the future."
- A cloud-streamed version of Resident Evil Village will be playable on the Switch on October 28. A free demo is available today, and DLC will be added on December 2.
- Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion remasters the FFVII prequel with new combat and HD graphics, coming to the Switch on December 23.
- A port of well-loved color-based shoot-em-up Radiant Silvergun is available on the Switch starting today.
- A remastered version of Gamecube RPG Tales of Symphonia is coming to the Switch in early 2023.
- Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song was a 2005 PS2 remake of the SNES RPG original. That remake is now getting a "Remastered" Switch take on December 1.
- Life is Strange: Arcadia Bay Collection comes to the Switch this month.
- Language-focused Zelda-like Tunic is coming to the Switch on September 27.
- Survival/production sim Factorio is coming to the Switch on October 28.
- Multiplayer-required platformer It Takes Two is coming to the Switch on November 4.
- Martial arts/aging simulation Sifu is coming to the Switch on November 8.
- Just Dance 2023 Edition will release in 2022. November 22, to be precise.
- Psychological horror/art gallery game Ib is coming to the Switch in spring 2023
Exercise is much more interesting when it involves punching muscular anime men.
- A free update to Nintendo Switch Sports will add golf to the game, complete with a simultaneous multiplayer mode. That addition has been delayed from the fall to a planned "Holiday 2022" release.
- Fitness Boxing: Fist of the North Star was the weirdest game of the day, asking you to punch and dodge to the beat to take out the requisite anime beefcakes. Look for it in March 2023.
- Oddballers is a cute local multiplayer game with various takes on dodgeball for up to six players. It hits the Switch next year.
- SpongeBob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake looks like a bog-standard licensed platformer and is planned for sometime next year.
- Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line will include a whopping 385 songs from the Final Fantasy series to tap and swipe along to, plus DLC with tracks from SaGa, Nier, Octopath Traveller, and Live a Live. Local and online multiplayer modes will also be included when this hits the Switch on February 16, 2023.
- Sega's roguelike Endless Dungeon will let up to three players join together in exploring a series of pretty generic-looking underground caves that are never the same twice. It hits the Switch next year.
- Dreamworks' Super Mario movie and Universal Hollywood's Super Nintendo World are still both on track to open next spring, according to Shigeru Miyamoto.