When all is said and done, there was a lot in there considering they're likely holding back for next week's Nintendo Switch 2 Direct.
We already knew about the Dragon Quest I+II HD-2D Remasters, but nice to see some footage of it. I still need to play DQ III though and it's not high in my priority list.
I haven't played any Somnium Files game yet but I watched a friend play the first two. They're pretty neat. I wonder if they are looking forward to this new one.
The Raidou remastered is a pretty big deal. Atlus also posted a 22 minutes long video about it after the Direct. It's a remaster of Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha Vs the Soulless Army (aaaaand you can imagine why they shortened that title) from the PS2 era. However, they have upgraded it to make the gameplay closer to its sequel (Raidou Kuzunoha Vs King Abbadon) which had taken a lot of feedback from the first game and addressed it so having Soulless Army with the improvements of its sequel is great news. I have the original game, but I haven't played it yet. Looks like I might just want to wait for the remaster then. I kind of wish they just called it a remake at this point considering all the changes and the extra stuff added but the remaster/remake debate goes on.
Shadow Labyrinth remains a curious but interesting take on Pac-Man lore. It looks fun if you're into Metroidvania style games. I'll keep it in consideration but no promises since so many stuff seems to be coming on in June and July.
Patapon. Is. Free. From the PSP. I kept hearing about those games but I never really saw them in action. They look fun. They're not quite rhythm games but they do seem like you still need to have good timing (and memory if you want to remember the word sequences).
We're already discussing about Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar in other threads so I don't feel like I need to repeat myself here beside the fact that at the time of the Direct, I legitimately thought it was a new game since I didn't remember the original at all XD.
Metroid Prime 4 is getting closer. The new abilities is a bit out there for Metroid standards but I suppose it's not the first time they go out of the left field so we'll see. It looks good but I'm also not confident about Retro Studios delivering something new after all this time (their latest new game was basically Tropical Freeze) but as I said, we'll see. I am amused on how people were saying "why is this not at the final thing for this Direct instead of what we got!?" and I'm like "it's literally what they did last Direct. It won't work twice."
Disney Villains Cursed Cafe is... a thing. It's basically Disney trying to Disney-ify someone else's concept. Moving on.
I feel like I heard of Witchbrook before but I believe it's the first time we actually see it in action. It looks cool but not for me.
Eternal Life of Goldman seems to be a fun platformer. I'll keep it in mind. Same for Rift of the Necrodancer.
Gradius Origins is Konami's next Old IP Collection project. I'm not the biggest schmup player but I'll see how I feel about it when it comes out. The fact that they actually added a brand new sequel to Salamander in the pot is impressive though.
Getting more info on Pokemon Legends A-Z after the Pokemon Present we had a while ago is surprisingly, but they followed up on the tease we had at the end of the Pokemon Presents and I am interested in the Night Battle Life they are offering. It also confirms to me that Pokemon Legends games are games that are not direct sequels from eachother but try out non-standard gameplay that the mainline games wouldn't use or haven't done yet. I'm more interested in A-Z is proposing compared to what Arceus delivered. It wasn't a bad game by any means but this one speaks to me more.
NEW. RHYTHM. HEAVEN. GAME. YEAH!
The Virtual Game Card system they're proposing is interesting though I wouldn't mind more details about it. At first glance, it looks like it's better DRM control which only requires you to be online for inserting or ejecting a virtual card and then you don't need the online to verify if you own the game as long as it's in inserted state. That also means that whoever is playing on that Switch can also play the game without online checking if they own it. I know there was some rules about other users and digital games bought by a different account with primary and secondary systems but all of it is a blur to me. That being said, it seems very obvious to me that this is a new system that the big N is hoping to block piracy or "duplicating" (aka even though you own the game, they don't want you to play it on two systems at the same time) since I'm expecting all digital games will eventually be converted into virtual game cards meaning those installed via others mean will be easy to identify. I guess we'll see. The lending feature is neat, but it only works if you are physically present with Family Account members so it doesn't apply to me. This is likely a precaution to avoid abuse. There's already plenty of people who just bought Family accounts with their Internet friends to benefit of the advantages so they likely don't want people to do that to just buy 1 game for 8 people.
SaGa Frontier 2 is Square-Enix's latest "bringing back game from our back catalogue" so no real surprise from me but I appreciate their effort on that front.
I never heard of Monument Valley before but I guess it's a big deal since people have been talking about it.
I know friends who are super into Everybody's Golf so this new one likely got them fired up.
Marvel Cosmic Invasion is the latest beat em up from Dotemu and their track record so far has been good so I'll see what they can do with this one.
Tomodachi Life is a big deal, but it's not really my cup of tea. Still, happy for those who love the series.
Finally, the Nintendo Today app is an interesting thing to end with but from a marketing standpoint, I get it. One, they are about to open the floodgates about the Switch 2 next week so they want you to have the app in advance. Two, the state of social media in this day and age is basically a dumpster fire. I'm not surprised Nintendo would make an app to push their news so they can eventually dismiss social media altogether. Third, they literally make their point by dropping a big news on the app the very next day to make sure people understands that if they want more Nintendo news, they want the app. The app itself is neat. It also has trivia and official art and concept art here and there. Wouldn't say it's a must have, but since they also said they going to drop Switch 2 news on it after the Direct next week at a regular pace, maybe worth it. Only time will tell.
Yeah, overall, surprising Direct considering we have another one next week about the new console.
And in case you don't know, the news they dropped today was:
