Our Nintendo Direct 6/9/2026 recap and impressions

This morning saw Nintendo stream what might be the biggest and best presentation of this past week in the E3verse with the State of Play, Summer Games Fest, and the Xbox Showcase. Today’s Nintendo Direct was absolutely slam packed with surprising ports, announcements, and a new trailer for a game you would not believe to appear at a Nintendo event of all places. If you’re a fan of video games, and you should be if you’re a Gaming Age reader, you’ve got something for you from today.

The Big Guns: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Reimagined

Let’s start off by getting the big hype announcements off our chests so we can breathe a little better, shall we? There was some buzz on the internet about a The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake coming, and we were not disappointed. With a cinematic intro leading into the opening shot of Link sleeping in his house in Kokiri Forest, Nintendo has shown that a complete reimagining of the second best Zelda ever made is in the works. So far all we’ve been able to glean from the trailer is that there’s a new art style and a sorta new design for Link. Primarily, the shoulder strap he has that connects to the belt is noticeably larger. Outside of this, it’ll obviously be in much higher fidelity. There’s likely more details to be revealed later.

A Surprising Return: Kingdom Hearts IV Goes Multiplatform

The other incredible “excuse me??” part of the Nintendo Direct was following the native Switch 2 ports of Kingdom Hearts. You’d never believe it if I told you, so you’ll have to look at the trailer for yourself, but Kingdom Hearts IV has finally made another appearance since its initial reveal 4 years ago during the 20th anniversary. Donald and Goofy seem to be in Disney Hell with Hades, Sora’s meeting a younger Xehanort, and there’s some other characters throughout. There’s also some gameplay showcased, so you can get a relative idea of what you’re looking at for release. Now, there’s no release window yet, but we do know it’s a multiplatform simultaneous release, so whether you’re on PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, or PlayStation, you’ll be able to play Kingdom Hearts IV on release. Yes, we’re all also surprised Sony didn’t get to show this off.

Xenoblade Trilogy Gets the 60FPS Upgrade

There’s a whole myriad of excellent Switch 2 versions and updates as well. We saw the entire Xenoblade trilogy getting a Switch 2 upgrade with the addition of some new additions, including a faster way to navigate the water areas in the first game, Xenoblade 2 is getting a new rare Blade to use, and Xenoblade 3’s getting a new Hero to add to your party. Whether there’s more content or not is up for time to tell, you never know what they just didn’t tell us. Either way, being able to play one of the greatest trilogies ever made on Switch 2 at 60 frames per second is phenomenal. Xenoblade 2’s Switch 2 upgrade will release digitally on July 30th, with a physical release on October 1st of 2026. Xenoblade Chronicles 3’s Switch 2 Edition releases both digital and physical on December 3, 2026.

Next Generation: Xenoblade Genesis Revealed for 2027

Following the announcement of the Xenoblade trilogy’s Switch 2 upgrades, we got our first look at a brand new Xenoblade title. Dubbed “Xenoblade Genesis”, we know it has to do with something called Anima and there’s some academy life aspects to the game. Naturally, it’ll likely be a massive and beautiful open world like Monolithsoft is known for. Oh, and there’s dragons now too, so that’s different. The trailer may look a lot more fantasy than prior entries too. We’ll likely be seeing a more typical fantasy style now instead of the steampunk/industrial style we’re accustomed to. Xenoblade fans, we won’t be waiting long either, because Nintendo announced that Genesis is releasing in 2027.

First-Party Updates: Fire Emblem and Splatoon Raiders

We also got some new details on other upcoming first party titles, including Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave and Splatoon Raiders. Fire Emblem introduced the four main characters the story revolves around and showcased some of the gameplay. It’s still the familiar grid-based RPG combat, but with some new stylish additions. Splatoon got a bit more of a look at the story and what you’ll be doing in this single-player exclusive entry. Both games release within the next few months, with Splatoon in July, so be prepared!

Dive Into Pokémon Pokopia’s New Expansion Pass

There’s some new updates coming our way for Pokémon Pokopia too, which is amazing. If you haven’t played Pokopia, I did a review on it back closer to release you should check out. It’s an absolutely phenomenal game for cozy game fans and Pokémon fans alike. They announced that we’re getting the ability to use Dive, enabling underwater exploration, as well as a new expansion pass bringing three entirely new areas to the game! We’ve even seen some new underwater Pokémon like Tatsugiri and Mudkip. The first Expansion Pass area was announced as well with a September release date, but you can get the Expansion Pass starting today. The first town confirmed for the game is Bubbly Basin, so get your watery build ideas ready.

Heavy Hitting Ports: Stellar Blade, Lies of P, and More

Some of the massive news today were ports of some high profile titles. We got some trailers for games like Lords of the Fallen II and Onimusha: Way of the Sword, but that’s not the big surprises. The larger surprise ports were both the announcements of Stellar Blade and Lies of P with its Overture DLC coming to Switch 2. Lies of P releases digitally on August 6th with a physical release coming later. Stellar Blade currently does not have a release date, so that’ll be a stay tuned type of deal. We know it’s supposed to be coming this year, so be ready. On top of these games, we see the release of Devil May Cry V: Devil Hunter Edition coming and a port/remaster of a classic Vanillaware game, Muramasa: Revenant Blades. Nintendo really came packing heat with the ports today, so if you want some stellar (this isn’t a pun) titles on the go, you really can’t go wrong.

Even More Big-Budget Titles Coming to Switch 2

There’s more ports coming up other than just those too, so keep your eyes peeled or watch the Direct if you want to see them all without being spoiled here. There’s titles like Metaphor: ReFantazio finally getting its Switch 2 port, Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen, and Runescape Dragonwilds. There’s so many games to play if you’re exclusively a Switch 2 owner that you’re absolutely gonna have your hands full for the next year.

Nintendo Treehouse Live & Star Fox Demo

There was a Nintendo Treehouse Live event following the Direct focusing on gameplay of some upcoming titles, so if you wanna check out some more gameplay of upcoming games like Star Fox, that’s worthwhile for your time. They also said that Star Fox has a demo you can play now, so feel free to give it a shot yourself!

Something for Every Nintendo Gamer

With such a packed Nintendo Direct, it’s hard to say what the best announcement was (we all know it’s Zelda) but there’s something for every kind of gamer. From hardcore action games to cozy games to party games and strategy games, all kinds of Switch owners are guaranteed to have seen something that catches their eye. Who knows what else awaits from Nintendo, such as a new 3D Mario, but with a new reimagining of Ocarina of Time, I’m plenty held over until then.

Ed’s Note: Some article headers were generated using AI