February’s Nintendo Direct: What’s Here and What’s Missing

On February 13, Nintendo fans were blessed to see the first Nintendo Direct of 2019 and were given new information on some of the upcoming games. A plethora of new information was announced along with the upcoming title “Fire Emblem: Three Houses”. However, the Direct also left out information on some big titles for 2019 that fans are anticipating but have yet to hear anything about. 

Nintendo Switch owners will be happy to know that the sequel of their favorite sandbox game from the Wii U is coming to the Nintendo Switch, “Super Mario Maker 2”. Some notable new differences from the first game are the inclusion of the world level style from “Super Mario 3d World” and its trademark power up, the “Super Bell”. With new enemies, art styles and much more, players are very unlikely to get bored making new levels in “Super Mario Maker 2” coming in June 2019.

Speaking of the Mario Franchise, our beloved green dinosaur is getting some action of his own in the new upcoming game “Yoshi’s Crafted World”. Different to previous Yoshi games, players will be able to obtain special “Papercraft Costumes” that let players resemble their enemies or just wear everyday items like juice boxes and empty cans, staying true to the title’s name. You can download the free demo in the E-Shop right now and get the full game on March 29, 2019.

For those of you haven’t touched a Zelda game since Breath of the Wild, get ready to relive the GameBoy Color days and experience a new version of one the oldest traditional 2D Zelda games, “The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening”. The new game has a huge art change, turning Link from his smaller, limited, pixelated sprite from 1993 into a cleaner, and more cartoonish current form that really emphasizes how far Nintendo has come since making the original game. No specific day has been set, but you can expect to see Link in his new game this year!

Although these games spark excitement, there were also games that were missing from the February Direct.

What was certainly no surprise to anyone watching the Direct was the lack of any Metroid news. Ever since last month when Senior Managing Executive Officer of Nintendo, Shinya Takahashi, announced a delay on the new installment in the Prime Series “Metroid Prime 4”, fans have given up hope on seeing their favorite female bounty hunter make any appearances in 2019. With that being said, what some were hoping to see now was an HD port of “Metroid Prime Trilogy”, but that was absent from the Direct as well.

Similar treatment was given to fans hoping to see a glimpse of the new installment of  Animal Crossing coming in 2019. It is one of Nintendo’s very successful titles spawning many versions across multiple consoles and even getting its own mobile game, however the only information players have received about the new title was back in 2018 in a teaser trailer after the trailer for Animal Crossing Character “Isabelle” for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

On the topic of Smash Bros., Version update 3.0 will be hitting the Nintendo E-shop this Spring and will be featuring the game’s first fighter pack starring Persona 5’s “Joker”. Much more info about the 3.0 update will be coming soon but the latest players will have to wait is April for the update to arrive.

The highlight of the February Nintendo Direct was certainly“Fire Emblem: Three Houses”. For the first time since 2007’s “Radiant Dawn” for the Wii, Fire Emblem will be returning to a home console! Players will be able to play as their own customizable mercenary in the continent of “Fodlan”, home to three kingdoms that have lived in harmony with each other for quite some time, until now. The mysterious mercenary you play as will become one of the teachers at “Garreg Mach Monastery”, a church in the center of the Fodlan region and responsible for keeping the peace between the neighboring kingdoms. You can aid your students in learning combat skills and lead them into battle as the fighting gets fierce! While some things like the combat system has retained its old RPG mechanics, the brand new visuals, gameplay, and enticing story hooks in both veterans and new players. Fans will be able to start their quest when “Fire Emblem: Three Houses” arrives on July 26, 2019, for the Nintendo Switch. 

2019 is set out to be a good year for Nintendo with some awesome titles already mentioned and more amazing games to come. Make sure to check out other stories on the Saint Scroll and see all the other games shown in the Direct like “Mortal Kombat 11”, “Assassin’s Creed III Remastered”, and “Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition” in the full video up above!