Nintendo Direct Roundup: Dave The Diver, Eastward, More

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The headline here is that Hollow Knight Silksong is a no-show at another Nintendo Direct. However, there are some awesome indie announcements to report!

Most titles at this Direct weren’t Indie, but the few indies we did get were quite the heavy hitters. Nintendo usually shows off way more indies in their dedicated Indie World showcases, so their relative lack of a big Nintendo Direct is no shocker.

Regardless, let’s dive into the few shown because I think they’ll excite you.

Nintendo Direct 9.14.2023 at a Glance

I don’t plan on diving deep into every Triple-A title shown off, but I’ll give you a quick list of everything announced at this Nintendo Direct so you can look into them if you’re interested. Here’s everything this September 14th Direct had to offer:

  • Splatoon 3: Side Order is a single-player DLC campaign to add to the main story of Splatoon 3.
  • Mario vs. Donkey Kong gets a remake on the Switch, a redoing of the GBA original.
  • Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a new 2.5D platformer in the long-running Prince of Persia series, dating back to the ’80s.
  • Horizon Chase 2 is a sequel to the arcade racer of the same name, featuring overhauled graphics and a lot of new races.
  • Super Crazy Rhythm Castle is a multiplayer rhythm action game featuring songs from games like Castlevania.
  • SPYxANYA: Operation Memories is a game based on the anime of the same name and is more or less just a life simulator.
  • Super Mario RPG gets its second gameplay trailer, a faithful remake of the 90’s original.
  • Another Code Recollection is a story-based puzzle game focusing on exploring the environment.
  • Princess Peach Showtime! is Peach’s second solo game, a 2.5D platformer with the theme of a stageplay.
  • SaGa Emerald Beyond is a new Square Enix RPG and Visual Novel with similar vibes to Dragon Quest.
  • Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered is, as it sounds, a remastering of the original PS1 Tomb Raider titles, with incredible dedication to making it look just as janky as before.
  • Detective Pikachu Returns is the sequel to the 3DS Detective Pikachu title, where you must solve murder mysteries with Pikachu.
  • Trombone Champ is the hilarious motion-controlled rhythm game where you play the trombone, not much else to it.
  • Battle Crush is a battle royale MOBA, similar to League of Legends, where you must use the crumbling environment to your advantage.
  • Wartales is an open-world RPG, like a Fire Emblem game, where you can travel wherever you want.
  • Contra: Operation Galuga is a re-imagining of the original Contra game on NES, which is refreshing after a million weird Contra spinoffs.
  • Unicorn Overlord is a tactical RPG with entirely 2D animated artwork, focusing on 4v4 battles.
  • Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is an HD port of Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon, with barely anything changed, and is kind of just an up-res of a 3DS game.
  • A Nintendo Museum is coming to Kyoto, Japan. As someone who’s never left the United States, thanks for putting this in the American direct, Nintendo, now I’m sad.
  • Amiibo for Xenoblade and Tears of the Kingdom have release dates announced, and a Sora amiibo for Smash Ultimate is revealed.
  • F-Zero 99 is F-Zero, but as a battle royale, probably replacing PAC-MAN 99 on Switch Online.
  • Bandle Tale is an isometric farming game under the League of Legends name, for some reason.
  • Song of Nunu is a platformer with a big yeti dog, also under the League of Legends name, for some reason.
  • WarioWare: Move It! is a primarily motion-controlled WarioWare game, just fun microgame collections with multiplayer.
  • Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is an anime RPG where you can lead an army and slowly restore a massive kingdom from the ground up.
  • Eastward: Octopia is a free DLC for Eastward, bringing a new area with a ton of farming, building, and fishing.
  • Wargroove 2 is the original game’s sequel, which is a loving tribute to the Advance Wars series, tactical RPGs with cool tanks.
  • Dave the Diver is the single-player underwater adventure and exploration game that’s taken over the internet recently, and it’s coming to Switch.
  • Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is getting its final Booster Course Pass DLC wave, so maybe we can get a new Mario Kart after nine years.
  • Among Us is getting a new map called The Fungle, a massive open desert island, and it’s coming to the game for free in October.
  • Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is getting a remake; all the gritty but charming parts of the beloved GameCube RPG remain intact.

Indies from the September 14th Nintendo Direct

Now that you’ve got an idea of how the entire direct went, let’s focus on the indies that got shown off, even though there are only a few. Almost all of these are ports or updates to big-hitting indie titles, which I don’t mind since I was excited to see all of them.

Trombone Champ

Trombone Champ is coming to Switch on the EShop today. While not much new has been added to the hilariously terrible rhythm game, there is now a four-player local co-op, multiple control options, namely two different forms of Gyro, and using the IR sensor on the right Joy-Con to play it by moving your hand, which sounds like absolute hell to try and do.

Wartales

A bit of an unexpected indie reveal: indie studio Shiro Games has dropped Wartales on Switch today, and it’s undoubtedly an excellent fit for the system, given the similarities to Fire Emblem.

It’s essentially an open-world tactical RPG where you travel, fight enemies in tactical combat, and try to survive in the harsh medieval world. It looks neat.

Eastward: Octopia

A free expansion to the action-adventure RPG Eastward, Octopia looks to be trying to capture the magic of Stardew Valley (after ChuckleFish stopped publishing it, which is funny).

It’s primarily focused on being a chill farming and fishing game, with flying cows, trains, and desolate farmland you have to work hard at restoring to beauty.

Wargroove 2

The Advance Wars revival known as Wargroove is getting a sequel, releasing on October 5th. This is a tactical RPG where you use different styles and weapons to take out your opponents, commanding your army using tanks, ships, or ground soldiers, all told with a charming cartoony aesthetic, mixing to make a great time. There is also a cute dog.

Dave the Diver

You’ve probably already heard of Dave the Diver, but if you haven’t, it’s a single-player adventure game where you explore underwater to collect Sushi ingredients and run a restaurant.

It’s been a PC and Mac exclusive since it launched earlier this year, but we’re getting it on Switch on October 26th, with a free demo launching today.

Among Us: The Fungle

Finally, we’re getting a new map in the hit game Among Us. I don’t have to explain what Among Us is to you, considering you’ve been on the internet in the last three years, and the last time the main game got a brand new map was over two years ago, so some new content is well-appreciated.

It’s had new roles and modes added over the past few years, too, so now is a perfect time to drop in.

We don’t know much about the new map, but it seems to focus more on recuperating from a crash on a deserted island rather than fixing things around a space station like usual.

We didn’t hear of any release date or new content that might coincide with this map, but what we have seen is enough for me to back into Among Us

Further Reading

If you want to hear more on the best indie games coming to Switch or want to read up on these games and more, check out more on Indie Game Culture.

Is Among Us Cross Platform?

Dave The Diver Best Staff Guide: The Employees You Need to Succeed

Trombone Champ Best Custom Songs – Become the Tromboner You Were Born to Be

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