ReaperMelia

@Crono1973 The concern around a subscription service is that one day, it will end and all the games will be completely inaccessible. With Virtual Console, even if you lose the ability to buy new games, as long as you have the ones you've bought downloaded, you can still access those. Digital has its issues as well (if anything happens to your system, you can say goodbye to all of those games downloaded on it), but it's better than just having everything tied to an online service that will inevitably come to an end one day. Ultimately, I'd prefer physical collections of these retro games, but I know those wouldn't be popular enough to justify production costs.

And before anyone gives the argument that physical copies can break too, yes, I'm well aware. I still trust it over digital personally, and at least in that case, it's just one game/collection that no longer works as opposed to your entire library (plus there's always the option of buying a new copy off the second-hand market).

@Modsandsods1 Have you never played a game at least a few years after it came out? Not everyone has the time or money to get and play every game that interests them right at launch. I don't think it's hard to just not openly spoil a game that's still fairly recent. Four years is far from "ancient."

And it still ruined a surprise for one person when it wasn't necessary to do so in the first place. Again, it's not hard to just handle this in a way that doesn't put a huge spoiler in the thumbnail.

@Modsandsods1 I don't think you're understanding my point. I never once said that anyone who hasn't played the game will be buying it. I said that people who are scrolling through this website and playing the game will see the article thumbnail and have it spoiled for them. It doesn't matter if they're interested in the figure or not. The ARTICLE is the spoiler I'm referring to.

@RupeeClock We already have one comment here from someone currently playing the game who had it spoiled due to the thumbnail. Depending on when someone gets around to the game, they might still remember the picture and connect the dots as well. That sort of thing has happened for me in the past. It's not like it's hard to choose just a stock image of the game for the thumbnail and say "spoiler warning" in the header or something.

@Modsandsods1 I never said they'd be buying it... the issue isn't with the figure existing, it's Nintendo Life posting an image of it as the article thumbnail with no warning. And how is this not a spoiler? Nia's Blade form isn't revealed until like 75% of the way through the game, the fact that she keeps it hidden is a huge part of her character and this form represents her learning to not be afraid of who she is. Showing off her Blade form with her core crystal right there in the thumbnail is a pretty big spoiler for anyone browsing the site who happens to be playing through the game right now, and one person in this article has already said the thumbnail spoiled the twist for them.

@Modsandsods1 It's not a matter of whether or not they're big fans now, it's a matter of people who might have recently gotten into the series after the announcement of the third game stumbling across this article and seeing a huge spoiler in the thumbnail. There are people who don't get around to playing games until well after the initial release and still wind up loving them. A lot of people in the Xenoblade community still use codenames to avoid spoiling major plot elements from the first game that released almost 12 years ago, it's really not that ridiculous to not want to spoil the game when there are people checking the series out right after the new game was announced.

@FX29 It also just had a sequel announced less than a week ago that likely got more people interested in the series. If people are avoiding spoiling things like Final Fantasy VII's big twist due to the remake, I think it's fair for people to avoid spoiling something from a game that's not even 5 years old yet

That thumbnail's kinda a pretty big spoiler... I feel bad for anyone who hasn't finished the game yet and sees it.

@dustinprewitt Meme Run was delisted years ago, it's just too good to be allowed on the eShop unfortunately. Maybe the world will be ready for it one day...

Any chance we'll get a list of noteworthy games to pick up before the shops go down, NL? I'm trying to figure out what games I want to focus on while they're still available, it'd be nice to know what games are worth buying.

This release is embarrassing to be honest. I have a love-hate relationship with the series, but I would've bought genuine ports if they had come to the Switch. Instead, I'll just wait for the collections to come to Steam so I can play on the Steam Deck.

Also, on the note of the DS games not being included, that's something that's always bugged me as well. I'll be honest and admit I'm in the camp that can't stand 358/2 Days, but the cutscene collection is even worse and the co-op mission mode would've been fun to have online at least. Re:Coded is a game I think gets way more hate than it warrants and I would've loved to see that included as well.

Still no picture of the limited edition contents? North America's will probably be a bit different, but I was hoping Europe's listing for it might have a picture so I could at least get an idea of how it all looks.

Unless NA gets a nice limited edition for this like the previous game did (soundtrack, please!), I'll just wait until release day to go pick up a copy. I've enjoyed the Nintendo Warriors crossovers so far, so I'm looking forward to this one, even if I wasn't a huge fan of Three Houses.

@VoidofLight Given that this seems pretty far after the events of the first two games, I'd imagine Melia probably didn't take losing her friends all that well. It also seems like there's something else pulling the strings here, presumably the Ouroboros Melia mentioned. The characters mention filling clocks, and Noah's first line in the trailer mentions they fight in order to live, so I think that everyone can see how much time they have left in their lives (presumably ether-related) and they can extend it by taking someone else's life. With the two nations being at war in 3, my guess is there's some sort of crisis going on that's related to both sides running out of ether and being desperate to keep their people alive at all costs. This led to Melia and Nia declaring war to protect their own people, it's the only explanation I can think of for both of them to take such dire measures. My guess is Ouroboros is some sort of new omnipotent being/group that's drawing ether from the world, hence the ether shortage. As for Nia and Mio, yeah, I think they're mother and daughter. They definitely aren't the same person, but the similarities are too striking for them to not be related. It makes me curious as to whether or not all Blades can reproduce or if it's just because Nia's a Flesh Eater; maybe we'll see descendants of some of the other Blades as well?

@VoidofLight Nia's core crystal is definitely the most telling sign, though Mio has a similar one. Those two definitely seem related in some way. Melia's less obvious given that she doesn't have a unique trait like Nia's crystal, but her wings match up and she has the same hair curls from the first game, so it seems like that's probably her as well. To tell the truth, as much as I love getting an opportunity to see my favorite video game character return, I'm kind of dreading seeing her in a much darker place than where she found herself in the first game. Not that I think it'll be bad, it's just going to hurt to watch.

@VoidofLight Got it, thanks! There are also the masked characters who look and sound just like Melia and Nia for more overt connections. There's definitely a possibility those are meant to be misleading, but everything matches up pretty well, so I'm working with the assumption they're the same characters at the moment.

@VoidofLight Yeah, I was going to point all those out, I just don't know how to use spoiler tags, ha. There are definitely plenty of ties coming up, I can't wait to see how it all connects!

@fafonio I can't go into detail since I don't know how spoiler tags work, but 3 is definitely going to continue the connections between 1 and 2. The trailer was full of hints.

@UsurperKing Thank you! I'm glad to hear you appreciate it. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's excitement for this one as well! There's nothing quite like the wait for a new Xenoblade game in my opinion.

@Dingelhopper Nope, same character designer as Xenoblade 2. It just seems like he infused more elements from 1 and even a little bit of X into the designs this time around.

@fafonio I don't know how to use spoiler tags here so I can't go into detail, but as @VoidofLight summed up, there are some pretty notable connections. X doesn't have those ties. Nopon are more like Xenoblade's Moogles in that they're the series' mascots, so it would be weird to have a game without them. Maybe they'll retroactively find a way to tie in X, but I doubt it personally. I think it'll just be its own standalone game, which is fine in my opinion.

@fafonio I do agree with you on X being a fantastic game, I've never played anything like it and it definitely deserved better reception. That being said, its ties with the first game are more tongue-in-cheek gags than direct connections like the main numbered games have. X is pretty different from the others in terms of its setting, gameplay, plot, and structures, which is why it's not considered part of the main series. I don't say that as a negative thing-- like I said, it's my favorite game of all time. It's just too different from 1, 2, and presumably 3 to be grouped as part of that main series.

@ModdedInkling Square Enix is a bit of a weird case because of how many internal teams/studios it has and how each one seems to have a different relationship with the Switch. The Kingdom Hearts team is definitely the worst with its support given the abysmal cloud ports, but most of their series seem to be seeing varying levels of committal and success on the Switch. I hope someone will step in for Super Mario RPG in some form soon, though I do agree it'll likely happen at some point. I remember the game took a long time to come to Wii and Wii U as well. And hey, if Radical Dreamers of all things is coming to Switch, anything's possible!

@Snatcher That makes sense! If you're in North America, physical copies of the first game go on sale for $40 fairly often at a lot of stores as well. You can definitely play in either order if you get the second game first, there are just some things that stand out more if you've played the first game before it so most fans suggest playing in release order if possible.

@fafonio If you happen to be referring to my comment, I didn't forget X, it's my favorite game of all time. I didn't mention it because it's a completely standalone game whereas 1-3 all share plot elements despite still working as standalone games. If someone asks what to play to get ready for 3, I'd suggest 1 and 2 as priorities so they'll be all caught up on the main entries.

That being said, Takahashi himself is the one who said this is the third entry in the series, so if anyone forgot about X, I think it's him.

That's good to hear! I've heard great things about these games but never got around to trying them out myself, so I'm looking forward to playing them on Switch.

I'm liking how the characters in this one look so far! I'm excited to learn more about them, Mio in particular has me curious given her very strong similarities to a certain other character in the series... Eunie's my favorite of the bunch so far, though. The High Entia is one of my favorite fantasy races ever (maybe my favorite period) and I think it's cool that she has some unique (Eunique?) features that make her stand out more as well.

@Snatcher If possible, I'd highly recommend starting with the first Xenoblade, then playing 2 (and Torna) after it. It's not essential, but you'd get the best experience that way. It looks like you should play both before 3 for the best experience there as well, though it's probably not necessary. The games are distinct enough that they stand on their own pretty well if you don't have the time to get through the others before 3's out, but playing them in release order adds a lot to the overall experience.

@Don I agree those should all be added too, just clarifying that Super Mario RPG is up to Square as well. I think we'll see the FF Pixel Remasters come to Switch soon, they probably just want to give them a little more time on Steam/mobile before putting them on another platform (they know people will buy them again on Switch). I think Chrono Trigger and at least DQIV-VI will come over as well, they're just taking their time for whatever reason.

@somnambulance @Snatcher @Moonlessky Unfortunately, that's on Square, not Nintendo. Square seems to own the rights to Super Mario RPG, and they don't seem interested in the Switch Online apps since they're just doing standalone eShop releases for their older games. If you have a Wii U, it's on Virtual Console there (also on the SNES Classic Edition for anyone who has that), but I do hope Nintendo can work something out with Square to get it on Switch in some form. The more retro JRPGs that are available on modern devices, the better in my personal opinion.

@Specter_of-the_OLED I think Capcom's one of the last major studios you can accuse of avoiding the Switch given that they've been supporting it from day one. The Switch has 5 RE games on it already, most of the classic Mega Man games, two console-exclusive Monster Hunter games despite the series exploding in popularity on PS4 after World's release, and plenty of other collections/remasters. Given that the teaser image looks like a classic RE collection, there's no reason to believe it wouldn't come to Switch if that's what this announcement is for.

I'm thinking this is the Resident Evil 4 Remake that Capcom's done a horrible job of keeping secret. The style of it fits really well with the RE series, and what else would warrant a week-long countdown from the series?

A collection would make sense for tomorrow's reveal looking at the included picture. The logo for RE2 is visible along with some other scratched out logos, and there's the classic RE zombie in the top right corner for more classic RE ties. The countdown is probably for the RE4 Remake that everyone knows is in development. Either way, I'm excited to see what comes! I've come to really love this series over the last few years, so I'm interested in whatever they announce.

@Axecon Thank you! Yeah, I'm worried about the stock on those two. Their other figures are way out of my price range, so I've just been waiting for the amiibo to have something for them. I'd buy a full set of Xenoblade amiibo if Nintendo ever made any more, I'd love to see more (affordable) merchandise for the series!

@Snatcher Did the other DLC fighters get amiibo data? I haven't really followed it closely. I suppose there's a possibility they could do a small update later on down the line just to add Sora amiibo data if they needed to. I'm not going to get my hopes high at this point though.

Hopefully the others follow pretty quickly! Pyra, Mythra, and Sephiroth are all ones I absolutely plan to pick up. Might get Min-Min, I'm not a huge Arms fan but it was still a fun game and I think she's a cool character.

@iLikeUrAttitude All but Sora have been confirmed so far. It seems like Sora probably won't be getting one since Sakurai explicitly confirmed everyone but him in the final Smash presentation, but I hope that's not the case.

I'm almost done with Pokemon Legends Arceus at this point, so I'll hopefully finish that and return to Skyward Sword HD. I also started up EarthBound through NSO, but I haven't made much progress there yet.

I should really get back to .hack//Infection and Kirby's Dream Land 3 as well... I've got a lot on my plate at the moment, and after this recent Direct, it looks like that won't be changing any time soon!

Times like these are when I miss Miiverse. I refuse to use Facebook or Twitter, so I'm stuck with the painfully obnoxious method of transferring to my phone and hoping it actually works properly. Miiverse was nice for a quick screenshot upload option (and for laughing at, well... everything on there, really).

Hopefully it won't be too much longer! With the first two games now on the Switch, I'm hoping they'll pave the way for 3. I'm sure Nintendo has some way to see how many people are playing them through the Switch Online apps, so I started up another playthrough of EarthBound to hopefully help bump up the numbers there.

@somebread That sounds like a good length to me! With all the huge JRPGs I've got on my radar, something that's shorter and tighter in its pacing is certainly welcome as well.

No better way to advertise a game than with a beautiful budd(ew)ing romance story...

Please keep these commercials coming, I can't get enough of them. I'd love to see Nintendo take the same approach for its 2022 releases as well.

I'm really looking forward to this! I've heard great things about this game for years, so it's cool that it's finally getting a proper localization. I love the HD-2D style as well, so I'm happy they're using that for this remake! As a massive JRPG fangirl, I'm both excited for all the ones coming to Switch this year and wondering how I'll manage to get through all of them, ha.

@anoyonmus According to HowLongtoBeat, the original version took anywhere from 18.5 to 29 hours depending on how much side content you played through. No clue if the remake will add anything to bump up that playtime or not, but I'm personally down for a shorter JRPG either way. It's by the same director as Chrono Trigger, and that game was a short yet fantastic experience with perfect pacing, so I'd imagine this will be similar.

It wouldn't be a mainline Xenoblade game without the accents if you ask me. I'm from North America, but it's just a part of the series and it'd feel wrong if they just hired famous American voice actors as opposed to the varied dialects 1, 2, and now 3 have all had. Same goes for Dragon Quest since I'm seeing some others bring that series up as well, the accents make both worlds feel bigger and more alive.

@Not_Soos No problem! I will say I personally find the camera controls in the remaster to be kind of weird in general, but that's mostly just because I'm used to how it was handled in the original PS2 release. Most people who first played the remaster have no issue with it there, so playing it via the PS5 should be fine. I definitely understand preferring a Switch release though, I would have loved to have a portable release of the series. I'm just hoping the series will get ported over to Steam soon so I can play them on the Steam Deck once that's out.

@Not_Soos The original Kingdom Hearts is one of my favorite games of all time, and I've played it many times on PS2 and once each for the PS3 and PS4 remasters. Having played this cloud demo, I can tell you the camera is nowhere near as sluggish in the native releases as it is via the cloud port. It completely threw me off while trying out the demo (which I went in knowing would be pretty bad, I was just curious as to exactly how bad it could be). As much as I love the game, I can't recommend playing it on Switch at all. I personally have problems with the PS3/PS4 remasters, but those are still much better experiences than this embarrassing release. For anyone who only sticks with Nintendo platforms, I really hope Square sees the criticisms and comes out with native ports either on the Switch or its successor so you all get a chance to play it as well.

Happy anniversary, Kingdom Hearts! Square really knows how to make the fans feel appreciated after 20 years of support!

Square should be ashamed of these ports. This has to be the most pathetic Switch release any major studio's ever put out.

I'm still looking forward to the game as I would have bought it even without any influence from post-launch content, but this is pretty disappointing. I hope this is just for the F2P version and that people who pay for the full game have some way to earn the currency in-game, though I'd prefer for the battle pass idea to just be tossed out entirely. I'd be fine paying like $20-$30 for a season pass that adds new characters, tracks, and karts post-launch if that was how they handled this, but battle passes are boring grindfests and having to pay extra for them in a $50 game is even worse.

I'll echo the sentiment that this is one of the best Directs yet! I can't remember the last one with this many huge surprises and exciting announcements. While there were a ton of great announcements, the big ones for me were Xenoblade 3, Chrono Cross: Radical Dreamers Edition, the Mario Kart 8 DLC, and the Portal collection. This year's packed with great releases!

I learned my lesson after KOTOR. Holding off for LRG to announce a physical release, I'll get it then instead. Still, always great to see more classic Star Wars games come to Switch!

I don't get the complaints about the visuals, it looks fine to me. This is what the FFVII-IX remasters look like too, no one complained this much about those.

@Damo In what world is Live A Live not a remake? It's a full HD-2D remake, it looks nothing like the original. Just because it's not a complete FFVII Remake-style overhaul doesn't mean it doesn't count as a remake.

This was a fantastic surprise! I'm hoping they'll bring over Half-Life as well, it's my favorite Valve franchise and one of my all-time favorite game series of all time.

YES! I knew it had to be coming soon! Xenoblade's my favorite series ever and I can't wait to play this one! I'm really interested in figuring out what's going on plot-wise, there's a ton to take in here. I like that it kind of looks like a blend of all three previous Xenoblades stylistically.

I was planning to grab this on Steam anyway, but between this and the announcement that the PC release will be Epic-exclusive, I'll just grab the PS5 version instead. It's good that the Switch version isn't being canceled at least.

I can't wait to see Xenoblade 3 and the next Fire Emblem! And Nintendo, if they aren't in this Direct, I swear that I'll keep waiting patiently because they're going to happen at some point and every Direct that passes without them is one Direct closer to the one that does reveal them.

@ChakraStomps I'm not proud to not pay money for things I enjoy, I just don't want to pay money for what essentially boils down to gambling for digital characters. FEH offers a F2P route and I wanted to take that route because it was perfectly viable for a few years, but it got to a point where they shoved in so many microtransactions that it was too much. There are people who blow thousands of dollars and put themselves in debt over games like this. If anything, I'm proud I never fell into that trap despite having played it for years on end as the game became increasingly more and more pay to win. If people responsibly spend their money on this, then that's their choice and I won't tell them what they can or can't do. There's nothing wrong with choosing to not pay if the game is free, though.

@Noid They don't "shill it" in Smash, it has a lot of representation because it's a popular series with a lot of memorable characters. Not many series have anywhere near as many distinct characters as Fire Emblem. And before anyone says the Smash characters aren't distinct, yes, Marth, Roy, Lucina, and Chrom all share a moveset, but every other FE character has a unique moveset. I'd love to see them branch out to a different weapon type for a new FE rep in the next Smash game, but even sticking to swords, the Smash lineup is way more diverse than people give it credit for.

@ATaco Oh yeah, I completely forgot about FEH pass! I think I quit around the time that was implemented, it just became way too obvious they were trying to squeeze every last cent they could out of players and I wasn't happy with it. I bought the $4 starter pack once when that came out and that was the only time I spent any of my own money on the game (I got a few Google Play vouchers from doing surveys that I used in-game too, but those were pretty much free orbs). I keep an eye on the game because there's at least a lot of cool art that comes out of it, but I haven't touched it in at least a year. Maybe two, it's hard to remember when I quit.