Following September 8th’s Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary Direct, Nintendo had a separate standard Nintendo Direct today on September 9th. It may not be a “blow your socks off” presentation, but it had some games for everyone even if they may not be “new” announcements. We’ll briefly touch on some of the highlights here to give you a brief rundown of what happened.
A lot of the ports are games you’ve probably heard about somewhat recently like the Resident Evil remakes for 2, 3, and 4. There’s also games from a while ago like The Witcher 3 getting a Definitive Edition for Switch 2 and Far Cry 3 and its Blood Dragon spinoff. Even games like It Takes Two got an upgrade for the Switch 2 enabling higher resolutions and framerates. If you’re someone that only has a Switch 2 but wanted to play some of these pretty big games, you’ll now have the opportunity.
There were also some minor touches on Switch 2 versions of first party titles. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition showed off a new mode seemingly adjacent to Vampire Survivors style gameplay and a new companion: Shimmer. In addition to these Xenoblade Chronicles 3 updates, a new Switch 2 upgrade for Pikmin 4 will be available. Exclusive to Switch 2, players can use the built-in microphone to give commands to Oatchi. Additionally, you can partake in a new mode called Dandori Academy. This mode will be available exclusively on weekends and is a 1-try-only “challenge” mode with a ranked leaderboard. Take on challenging scenarios and do your best to score highly to place above strangers and friends alike.
As far as the big first party things go, there were two that would make some waves. Near the end of the Direct there was a voiceover with some subtitles that looked a lot like Metroid Dread’s subtitles, so naturally that generated some excitement. Shortly into said trailer, it’s revealed that this is in fact a new 2D Metroid title seemingly developed by Mercury Steam, who you may recall from Samus Returns and Metroid Dread. This new Metroid title is called Metroid Ravenous and will be released this upcoming January.
Wrapping up the Nintendo Direct was a good sized trailer for a brand new Kirby game titled Kirby and the World Beyond. There’s no definitive date for this yet, but it’s scheduled for Spring 2027.
September 9th’s Nintendo Direct may not be a heavy hitter, but it still had some goodies sprinkled throughout. If you’re looking for a new Super Smash Bros you won’t find it here, but if you’re looking for a sick new Metroid game you’ll be satisfied. We also got another oh-so-exciting shot of the Persona 6 logo if that’s your thing. Who knows what’s still in the pipeline, as Nintendo seemingly only showed off games releasing through very early 2027. The Tokyo Game Show is coming up later this month and The Game Awards always have some stuff, so maybe Nintendo will have even more big names showing up.