February Nintendo Direct Promises Big Things for 2019

While there’s been plenty of talk about what wasn’t included in this week’s Nintendo Direct presentation—the long-rumored new iteration of Switch hardware, the status of the forthcoming Animal Crossing game, a potential re-release of the Metroid Prime collection—there was still a lot of ground covered in Nintendo’s latest half-hour of power.

While the main focus seemed to be on Fire Emblem: Three Houses (now officially releasing on July 26), we got a look at Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order and Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night, both slated for release this summer; heard all about upcoming DLC for Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Starlink: Battle for Atlas, and, of course, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate; and found fresh new demos for Daemon X Machina and Yoshi’s Crafted World already available on the eShop.

Fans of JRPGs were doubtlessly delighted by news of multiple Dragon Quest (including Dragon Quest XI and Dragon Quest Builders 2) and Final Fantasy titles (the newly available Final Fantasy IX and the March 26 re-re-re-re-release of Final Fantasy VII)—with hybrid RPG/sim series Rune Factory‘s 4th and 5th entries further sweetening the deal.

The prominent opening and closing numbers, though, were all about Nintendo’s first-party haymakers. Things kicked off with a look at Super Mario Maker 2 (heading to the Switch this June), and Yoshiaki Koizumi left us with the big reveal that 1990s fan-favorite Game Boy release, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, is being reimagined for the Nintendo Switch. While the trailer was short, it showcased a gorgeous, top-down, almost Claymation-style adventure that my family and I can’t wait to experience!

Check out all of this and more—including the triumphant return of BoxBoy—below.