Wednesday, September 22, 2021

Nintendo Direct September 2021 Predictions

 

Nintendo has announced a new Direct on Twitter for tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, depending on where you live (it's 12 AM CEST on the 24th). Now, I personally didn't expect a Nintendo Direct before the mid of October, after the upcoming major release of Metroid Dread and the Nintendo Switch OLED, but I certainly don't mind to be wrong in this case. This already gives us more things to talk about in the meantime.

But with this new timing also comes a certain uncertainty about the contents of the Nintendo Direct, because a mide/later October date would have made some stuff more likely. Nonetheless, let's go over some potential topis of interest for this month's Nintendo Direct.


Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity – Guardian of Remembrance

If you're expecting any news about the sequel to Breath of the Wild already, then you will probably be out of luck and are forgetting that the prequel is still a thing and gets its second DLC wave in November, titled "Guardian of Remembrance". It's supposed to include new story scenarios, new playable characters and new abilities for the existing characters.

They've kept revealing anything about the first wave very close to their chests, so it's not a 100% that we will already get to see its contents in action. But unless Nintendo plans to do another Nintendo Direct in the next two months, which feels unlikely, we can assume that they might reveal those new playable characters among other things in this Nintendo Direct. And this will be exciting.


Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – The Final Challenger

It is time. After three years full of speculation about who will join the roster of the world's most ambitious video game crossover of all time, things will finally be wrapped up and the development of this game comes to an end. And it's been a crazy ride with a great variety of newcomers, where there should be something in it for everybody. Except for the Zelda fans. But maybe this will change soon? Or maybe we will get another spectacular third party addition? Or maybe it's really King Boo or another Pokémon?

In any case, we will find out very soon... Any details will certainly be shared in a separate presentation by Sakurai, so the Nintendo Direct will most likely just show a trailer and cover some basics, like with Kazuya back in June.


Animal Crossings: New Horizons x The Legend of Zelda

Now that I have started playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons, it's time for Nintendo to reveal its next major update, which could and should focus on doing a cooperation with The Legend of Zelda for its 35th Anniversary, much like it did with Super Mario Bros. earlier this year.

Bring back the villagers from the Zelda universe. Add a lot of Zelda decoration items, like the Master Sword. And do a bunch of quality of life improvements while you're at it. But who am I kidding? The latter probably won't happen...


Nintendo Switch Online: New Classic Games Library

While the NES and SNES libraries for Nintendo Switch Online are awesome, Nintendo needs to step things up a notch by adding either Nintendo 64 or GameBoy (Color) games or even both.

There have been a lot of rumors about this lately, especially since a new controller FCC application has come up, where the confidentiality deadline ends on Friday, right after the Nintendo Direct (see NintendoLife for more details). And this could very well be a Nintendo 64 controller for the Nintendo Switch. With that we would also be able to play Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask on the Nintendo Switch, maybe even Master Quest.

Of course this could also lead to a "Nintendo 64 Mini", but Nintendo might skip this in favor of providing more for their online subscription service. Plus, microchips are scarce these days and they probably want to focus on the new Nintendo Switch OLED model for production.


The Wind Waker HD & Twilight Princess HD?

If we get Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask on the Switch in any form, then what will be of the remaining 3D Zelda games? While this is still a strong possibility, Aonuma has already said that they have no plans to release any games for Zelda's 35th Anniversary this year on the Nintendo Switch, so this feels more like something for Spring 2022 at the earliest and probably won't be featured in this Nintendo Direct.


Xenoblade Chronicles 3

The Nintendo Switch Online extension isn't the only thing that has seen some rumors lately, where this could be a major title in the upcoming months or early 2022. The Xenoblade Chronicles franchise has gained some popularity recently, with the release of Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition last year and the addition of Pyra / Mythra to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate earlier this year.

I'm mostly curious about the art style here, where the first two games have been quite different. And of course the "waifus", which always will be the best thing about JRPGs.


See you on the other side!

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