Shadow Drops & Surprises – A Direct Stuffed With Something For Everyone

Are we all recovered?

On the surface, today’s Nintendo Direct Indie World & Partner Showcase doesn’t sound as impressive as the main Direct in June 2024. It never will: on name and value alone, this is a Zelda And Mario-free presentation. And we’re slowly approaching the end of the console life cycle, with constant reminders of “Yes, the successor to the Switch is coming, but we’re not talking about that today.”

Yet now, hours after a 40-minute doubles match, we’re staring at empty coffee cups after seeing over 50 matches announced or new trailers released. 50. And, after last week’s dismal Gamescom presentation (for us, at least), it was a breath of fresh air. No one can present like Nintendo.

The format of this Direct is a little different than what we’re used to seeing—Indie Worlds and Partner Showcases are typically separate, shorter events that fill in the gaps between the main (big) Directs. But as we get closer to the eventual Switch successor, it makes sense for Nintendo to bundle these two shorter shows together into something more compelling. So we got 40 minutes of straight announcements, release dates, and trailers, and barely a second was wasted.

So let’s start with Indie World first. We weren’t sure what to expect from this part of the show, but that’s what always makes it interesting. Luckily, one of our biggest wishes was granted. We were excited to see Pizza Tower on Switch since its PC launch in 2023. And even better, it’s out now. This is just one of many Shadow Drop releases we have today, and we’ll cover a few of them as we go.

Nomada Studio Neva finally got a release date during the presentation and looks like another sensational film when it comes out in October. A few curiosities are hidden in the Indie section, such as Kubit Motha top-down role-playing game where you play as a moth. Are we becoming Franz Kafka? Metamorphosis with our video games here? Sea of ​​Stars‘DLC, The Pains of a Watchmakeris out now — and it’s free. And a GOTY nominee Balatro also received a major free update today featuring Witch, Dave the Diver, Among usAnd Vampire Survivors.

The Indie world isn’t stuffed with blockbuster games, but each one feels very different from the last. We’re used to plowing through fields of farm simulations and cozy games in these games, and while Coffee Talk Tokyo suitable for this latter niche, it is really the only one of its kind. Plus, Talk about coffee It’s awesome — we wouldn’t say no to another game set in a completely different city.

It’s a truly great showcase of the Indie world—diverse, quirky, ambitious, and a mix of old and new faces. It may not be the absolute best of the best, but there’s something for everyone, both this year and early 2025.

The Partner Showcase follows suit; even in a show that’s packed with ports, remasters, remasters, and collections, variety is the name of the game here. What else would you expect from a console in its eighth year? And you can’t be disappointed when those collections include things like Digital Eclipse’s museum-style Tetris Forever, Capcom Fighting Collection 2 (Street Fighter Alpha 3 Upper, Capcom vs. SNK 2, And Power Stone? Yes, please), or damn it Castlevania Dominus Collection. Many of these games have been stuck on older systems for a long time, so owning them now — literally now In the case of Castlevania, it’s once again revealing “it’s out” — being available on modern consoles is great.

Sure, the new one, new The game is a bit light, but we had some — Overdrive Star may have gotten lost in the nostalgia shuffle a bit but the open world adventure lets you zip around on hoverboards and looks pretty stylish. The new Rune Factory project has been named in Azuma Guardian. And we have a new one. Garment factory game in 2025.

Additionally, we also have some expected release dates like Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection — though not surprisingly, LEGO Horizon Adventure This has appeared briefly in one of the re-edited footage, but there is no official date, even with yesterday. potential leak.

However, even focusing on the ports mentioned above, Nintendo still managed to create a lot of surprises. Tales of Graces f Remastered Not the Tales game we expect to see on the Switch next, but it’s coming. Anyone see it? Yakuza Kiwami on its way to Switch $19.99? And Trails in the Sky Remakerandomly placed in a montage sequence, with little or no recognition in the West? Fine.

The thing is, we have to remember that the Switch is in its twilight years. Classic collections and compilations will be very much in the cards at this point; re-releases of classic games will always be a feature, they’ll just be more noticeable at this point. But an eight-year-old console can still put out presentations with over 50 games, and if nothing in the showcase interests or surprises you, that’s okay.

Admittedly, the genius move here was Nintendo combining two small Directs into one big Direct. Individually, either one might have been a bit dull; however, together, the pair made for a compelling spectacle that kept us glued to the Switch for a few more months.

How do you feel about this Nintendo Direct format? Vote in the poll below and let us know in the comments.