That’s a wrap on the long titled Nintendo Direct Mini Partner Showcase, and here are our top 5 games from the event!
The Nintendo Direct Mini Partner Showcase was officially announced yesterday as a 25-minute event following a tweet on Nintendo’s Twitter that explained it was just focusing on upcoming Nintendo Switch games coming from the Mario company’s third-party partners.
While a traditional full-fashioned Direct presentation, Nintendo showed off a huge list of previously announced titles coming to Nintendo Switch later this year and a couple in 2023. While there were not too many surprises, we decided to boil the event down to the top 5 announcemens from earlier this morning.
If you want to watch the whole presentation for yourself, the smaller scale Nintendo Direct presentation is down below for your viewing pleasure.
Here are the five highlighted games that were shown during the Nintendo Direct Mini Partner Showcase:
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (Nintendo Switch)
Release Date: October 20th
Following yesterday’s leak on the Ubisoft Store, the Assassin’s Creed publisher officially announced that Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope will exclusively land on Nintendo Switch on October 20th. As a part of the announcement, preorders are currently up for the Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle sequel which is set to see the return of the first game’s fun innovative turn-based tactic / real-time action gameplay with some improvements.
Mario and friends (including Rabbids too) will embark on a space adventure this time around as Cursa and its minions try to consume all the energy in the galaxy by hunting the titular Sparks, creatures that are a fusion of Lumas & Rabbids. Ubisoft is set to show off more information and another look at the game tomorrow during its Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope-focused Ubi showcase event.
Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 5 Royal (Nintendo Switch)
Release Date: October 21st (Persona 5), TBA 2023 (Persona 3/4)
Following the reveal during the Xbox and Bethesda Game Showcase that Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 5 Royal are officially coming to Microsoft platforms, the franchise’s 25th-anniversary celebrations continue on as all three are coming to Nintendo Switch. Similar to the Persona 5 Royal announcement on PC, PS5, and Xbox platforms, a native Nintendo Switch version is heading to the Nintendo Switch eShop on October 21st which comes with previously released DLC. While Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden will release later next year.
Portal: Companion Collection (Switch)
Release Date: Available Starting Today
Starting today, Nintendo Switch players can dive into the Portal: Companion Collection which comes with both Portal and Portal 2 alongside “the groundbreaking gameplay, dark humour, and exploration that earned the series hundreds of awards.” In the first game, you’ll use the experimental device that shoots out portals from two points that can be used to solve physical puzzles and challenges as you deal with the commentary from A.I. named GLaDOS who in no way is your cake-giving friend.
Portal 2 is similar to the original but adds so many more stakes and even more exceptional writing where players will “an expanded cast of characters as you think your way through dangerous, never-before-seen areas of the laboratories and a wider variety of portal puzzles.” The sequel also adds co-op mode in both local and online multiplayer.
Megaman Battle Network Legacy Collection (Switch)
Release Date: TBA 2023
Capcom is bringing back some fantastic Game Boy Advance titles to modern platforms with the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection. The collection brings TEN — that’s not a typo — Battle Network adventures from the past that use a unique battle system which fuses action and card-game-like mechanics. Players will play as Lan and his digital AI partner, Mega Man as they work together to stop evil forces that threaten Net Society. The collection will also feature a music player with over 180 songs, a gallery with over 1,000 images, and an optional high-resolution filter.
Blanc (Switch)
Release Date: February 2023
Blanc is a poetic tale that tells the story of a wolf cub and a fawn that find themselves lost in a snowstorm that comes out of nowhere. To find their families, both must work together in an unlikely pairing in this cooperative adventure in a truly artistic black and white world coming to Nintendo Switch this coming February.
