It has been a long time since we had a Nintendo Direct, with the last one being exactly five months ago in September. That means it is time to make predictions on what/ what’s not going to be in the presentation. I have made a list of nine predictions, some that will probably happen while some that are long shots. If you agree or disagree with any of my predictions, or have other predictions to add, feel free to leave a comment!
Anyways, my first prediction is something that there is no doubt that will be in the presentation:
- A Full Blowout of Fire Emblem: Three Houses Details
The one thing we know for certain that will be in the Direct is Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Some things that they probably will go over are basic story details, like the main characters, the ‘three houses’, and the general plot. If there are new game mechanics (like explaining how each unit has soldiers surrounding them), they will definitely talk about it too. If I recall correctly, this is what Nintendo discussed when they went into detail with an upcoming Fire Emblem game. They introduced the Dragon Vein mechanic on the field and My Castle in the Directs leading up to release of Fates. Also, I do believe that there will be both a Collectors Edition and a set of amiibo announced too, similar to what they did with Shadows of Valentia. Finally, there will be a set release date for the game, which I believe will either be on April 19th or sometime in June/July.
2. Final Fantasy VII Will Be Released After the Direct
In the last Direct, Square Enix announced a bunch of Final Fantasy ports for the Switch. Final Fantasy X/X-II and XII already have April release dates while VII and IX haven’t got a release date. However, Final Fantasy VII was briefly shown off in a recent Switch commercial, which makes me believe that the game is close to being finished. It wouldn’t surprise me if the game gets released after Direct, if not a short time afterwards.
3. Already Announced First Party Games
We already know quite a few first party games that will be released this year and I believe that we will get a brief glance at some of them. The game that is closest to release is Yoshi’s Crafted World and I believe that we will get a short gameplay trailer while announcing a demo that will be available after the Direct. Another game that probably will have some presence in the presentation is Luigi’s Mansion 3, with another gameplay trailer, a release window of Fall 2019, and maybe a new subtitle. Daemon X Machina might also be mentioned, with at least a release window. Something is not likely to show up is the new Animal Crossing game. If it does show up, they will show off some gameplay and give the game an official title with a release window.
4. Another Wii U Port
Nintendo has constantly been making ports of Wii U games for the Switch since the console launched. Right now, we do not know about the next port that will be on the console. I believe that there are two games that are most likely be announced in this Direct: Metroid Prime Trilogy and Pikmin 3. Due to the delay of Metroid Prime 4, it makes sense that Nintendo and Retro Studios to have the previous three games on the Switch to hold fans over until the new game comes out. It has been a long time since we had a proper Pikmin game, so I believe that there will be a port of 3 or maybe an announcement of the highly rumored Pikmin 4. Other games that can be announced as ports in this Direct could be The Wonderful 101, Super Mario Maker, or Super Mario 3D World. The one Wii U port that I want, but probably won’t be announced at this time, is Xenoblade Chronicles X.
5. Ports of Games From Other Consoles
Speaking of ports, there must be some announcements of ports from third parties or previous console generations. One of the ports that has been rumored and seems likely is Assassin’s Creed III Remastered will be on the Switch. Another game that has be rumored heavily since last year is Spyro Reignited Trilogy. If the Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy was ported to the console, then I don’t see why it wouldn’t be on the Switch. I also think that games that have been previously announced will get release dates in this Direct including: Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Trilogy, the Resident Evil ports, and Grandia 1 & 2.
My bold prediction in terms of ports will be that NieR Automata: Become as Gods Edition will be ported to the console, since the game is on every other console this generation and the game will soon be celebrating its 2-year anniversary. Other games that I would like to see, but probably won’t be announced include: Kingdom Hearts: The Story So Far, Devil May Cry HD Collection, and the Danganronpa Trilogy.
6. Nintendo Switch Online Games
With the recent data mine of the Nintendo Switch Online app, there is a lot of reason to believe that the app will start to include SNES games. In the recent investor’s meeting, Nintendo mentioned that they are working hard to improve the service, and this would help do that.
7. An Unannounced First Party IP Game
Another interesting thing that Nintendo mentioned in the Investor’s Meeting is that there is one unannounced Switch title that fans will be excited for in the upcoming Fiscal Year, and I believe that they will tease that title in this Direct to build hype. As for the title, I am not sure what it can be, whether it is a new 2D Zelda game, a new Mario spinoff game (like Mario Kart, any of the sports games, or a Paper Mario remake), or Pikmin 4.
8. No New Persona News Will Be Talked About
Although there have been rumors of a port of Persona 5 on the Switch after Joker was announced as a DLC character and it makes sense, I doubt that there will be announced at this time. Atlus announced that they will talk about Persona related news in March, so it makes sense that they would hold off something as big as a Persona 5 port until then.
9. No Joker Smash Footage, but Another DLC Character Will Be Teased
I am not sure how far they are in development with Joker in Smash, but I believe that it might be a little bit early to show gameplay footage. However, I think that they will show of another DLC character in a teaser trailer like how Joker was announced since they wouldn’t need in-game footage for that. I think that the character could either be Sora, Erdrick, or Dante, depending on the games that are talked about in the Direct.
J Chang Gaming 