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The 5 Most Interesting Games from the January Switch Direct Mini

After much speculation, anticipation, and excitement (including the unwitting immolation of Chibi Robo), Nintendo has presented the first Nintendo Direct of 2018. It was a Direct Mini to be honest; but even with that diminutive name it was still filled to the brim with Switch centric news –  with a few small crumbs thrown the way of  the aging 3DS as well.

Here is the Top 5 announcements from the January Direct Mini along with a round up of the rest. If you hate written words you can always watch it here instead.


The World Ends With You Remaster Coming to Switch

The World Ends With You: Final Remix was the first game shown during the Direct, and arguably the most exciting. The original release garnered many adoring fans due to its unique and stylish take on the RPG genre, and this is a remaster of that game. TWEWY comes from the mind of Tetsuya Nomura – who had previously worked on many Final Fantasy games,  and many other titles at both Square and Square Enix. It is not yet known if Nomura will be hands on with this remake, as he is currently busy directing Kingdom Hearts III.

As of yet, there is no firm date for The World Ends With You: Final Remix other than the vagueness of “2018.” The game is just a tad over a decade old, first released on the original Nintendo DS back in July 2007. Final Remix is billed as more than a simple port, with the Switch version boasting HD graphics, joy-con support, and a new epilogue. The touch controls of the original release are there too – if you play in handheld mode.

The World Ends With You has previously been ported to iOS and Android with the subtitle “Solo Remix” in 2012, and received much praise from various sources.


Kirby Star Allies Brings Love To Switch March 16

The world already knew a new Kirby game was on the way – as it was first shown at E3 2017 – but the Direct Mini brought more concrete details. Nintendo will release Kirby Star Allies for Nintendo Switch on March 16. Along with constant sucking, love seems to be a central theme of the game, with a focus on friendship. Lovely hearts and many other awwwww-inducing things are all over the gameplay shown during the Direct Mini. Sadly Star Allies won’t be released in time for Valentine’s Day, so you will still need to find an appropriate non-Kirby shaped gift for your better half. With the theme of friendship strong, you won’t be surprised to hear the game supports co-op play for up to four friends.

Star Allies seems to adopt familiar stylings and ideas seen in Yoshi’s Woolly World and Kirby’s Epic Yarn – which are both great kid friendly games, but also great fun if you are a grown adult like I am supposed to be. However, this game is not created by Good Feel. Instead HAL Laboratory are working on it, and this will be the developer’s debut effort on Switch. Good Feel are still working away on a Yoshi themed game for Switch – which was first shown alongside this at E3 2017. Hopefully there is not long to wait to get our hands on that either.


Retro Styled Platformer Celeste Hits Switch January 25

Celeste, from Matt Makes Games, is an interesting indie release coming to Switch later this month, and Nintendo gave it pride of place during the Direct Mini. The game has an eye catching retro inspired look with styling similar to the developer’s last game; Towerfall: Ascension, and has similar controls too. However unlike Towerfall, Celeste is a single-player game, one where you play as Madeline, and are tasked with climbing a mountain. If you wonder why you play as Madeline in a game called Celeste then worry no more. The mountain you are climbing is called Mount Celeste. Now everything makes sense!

If Celeste interests you, and you cannot wait until January 25, a more basic version of the game, which the upcoming release is based on, is available for free on Itch.io. Celeste will also release on PC, Xbox One, and PS4 on the same day.


Mario Tennis Aces Ready To Hit Switch This Spring

There sure were a lot of remasters and ports shown during the Direct Mini, but not all games announced were re-releases. Mario Tennis Aces is a brand new game coming to the Switch. It is coming very soon in fact, but we were not given a more solid date other than “this Spring”. That could mean a lot of things depending on how you choose to read a calendar. Long-time developer Camelot are developing the game. They have worked on this series since time immemorial, so some things will never change.

There is however a change to comment on this time, as this effort will offer a story mode for the first time since Mario Tennis: Power Tour on GBA in 2005. The last entry in the Mario Tennis franchise was Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash on Wii U – which was not well liked. Let’s hope for better things this time out, and Mario and friends can serve up another ace.


Dark Souls Remaster Coming To Switch May 25th

I feel like the whole world knows about Dark Souls at this point. You have either played it, tried to play, watch someone you know play it, or found a great Let’s Play of the game and enjoyed it that way. At the very least you have probably seen a silly GIF or two, and laughed at people’s misfortune. However, if you have still not come into contact with Dark Souls you will be happy to know a remaster is on the way. The Remaster will release on PC, PS4. and Xbox One alongside Switch on May 25. The remaster will come with the Artorias of the Abyss DLC packed in – which is home to one of the best boss fights in all of video games.

Dark Souls, along with the rest of its Souls compatriots, are notorious for been difficult video games, and can be unfriendly and confusing to newcomers. But they are fair… always, mostly fair.  Now that Dark Souls is finally playable on the move please dont punch someone beside you on the bus when a random rat kills you in a horrible dark, wet sewer.

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Elsewhere on the Nintendo Direct Mini there was other exciting news. Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition is coming to Switch “this Spring,” and will include all the modes and content from the previous 3DS and Wii U versions. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze will also arrive on Switch on May 4. You can even play is Funky Kong in the version. That is not all for DK. he will also come to Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle as added DLC content, offering more levels and new content “this Spring“.

Even though EA gets a lot of hate these days for their business practices, one small beacon of hope comes from their decision to publish the 3D adventure game known as Fe. It was first shown a few E3s ago, but will finally release on Switch on February 16 – the same day as other platforms. Fe is developed by Zoink Games, who already have one game on Switch – Stick it to The Man!

Payday 2 comes to Nintendo Switch on February 27 bringing some extra competitive multiplayer fun to the platform. Hopefully other publishers pay attention…. namely Blizzard. The single button arcade fighter SNK HEROINES Tag Team Frenzy will also come to Switch “this Summer“. Speaking of summer, if you have not finish Xenoblade Chronicles 2 yet, you’d better hurry up as another JRPG is incoming. Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA will hit Switch sometime in the middle of 2018.

Finally, Super Mario Odyssey will get a free update – adding a new mode and outfits to the game. The new mode is called Balloon World. It’s a simple idea, letting one player hide a balloon in one of the game’s worlds and tasking another player with finding it. Simple, but maybe effective? You access this mode by talking to Luigi… so if it is bad we can blame him.