February 2019 Nintendo Direct Reveals New and Remastered Titles
By: Bryce L. Jackson
Nintendo held its quarterly Nintendo Direct presser this week, announcing many new titles, DLC both free and paid, and some first and third party remasters coming to the Switch this year.
Nintendo started its showcase by announcing the sequel of the popular 3DS and WII U game Super Mario Maker 2 that allows players to create and share their own Super Mario levels (or torture chambers). They show off new features and expand on the potential creativity that players can have not only with level design, but graphics, showing off a short clip of Mario in a retro Super Mario level. Super Mario Maker 2 will be released in June 2019.
Nintendo’s long awaited new entry into its console exclusive Marvel title received its official title in Marvel’s Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order. Today’s announcement revealed some of the, presumably deep, cast of Marvel heroes and their ability to combine various levels of attacks as they face of against Thanos and The Black Order. Nintendo revealed that this game will be out in Summer 2019.
Nintendo announce a new campaign for the iconic JRPG series Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition. This entry further expands the universe and promises to give fans hours of story in a world that they will not want to leave. Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition is expected some time in the Fall of 2019.
Iconic Japanese title Fire Emblem will get a new entry bolstered by its increasing popularity in the West with Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Along with its traditional gameplay style, Fire Emblem: Three Houses adds to the immersion with fully customizable characters and a vast amount of training and combat options. Fire Emblem: Three Houses was expected during the Spring of 2019, but Nintendo has slightly pushed it back to July 26th, 2019.
Nintendo and Platinum Games announced a new game called “Astral Chain” that Yoshiaki Koizumi teases will have an interesting gameplay element. With the creators of Bayonetta and Nier: Automata at the helm, its almost a certainty that what they will be working on will be memorable. This title was given an August 30th, 2019 release date.
Nintendo ended todays show with announcement of a remaster 25 years in the making. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening was a 1993 Game Boy title and the first Zelda title for handhelds. Now, Nintendo is shaping up to build a bridge between retro Zelda fans and new Switch users with its colorized top-down gameplay from the past and combining it with gameplay elements that feel familiar today. Nintendo plans to release the game in 2019 but no specific date or season was given during this Nintendo Direct.
There were many other announcements like Switch releases for Mortal Kombat 11, Grid Autosport, Assassin’s Creed III, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, Dead By Daylight and many more titles coming to the Switch in 2019 and DLC and game updates for existing titles. Watch the full Nintendo Direct below.