The NieR series has emerged over the last few years to become one of Square Enix's most unlikely franchises. While we don't know what the future of that series looks like right now, it seems that some of the team behind it, including NieR Creator and original Director Yoko Taro, does have another RPG for us in the meantime. And well, it isn't exactly what you probably expect.
Announced today via the Nintendo Direct and from Square Enix, the game is Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars. It's a RPG that follows three characters: a heroic protagonist, a monster that is attached to him for unknown reasons, and a witch seeking revenge, as they embark on a mission to slay an awakened Dragon. The set up itself doesn't sound too out there, but this particular adventure is told entirely through the medium of cards. Everything from combat to plot to character interactions will be told through cards. The game doesn't seem to have any direct connection to the NieR/Drakengard series, but it does seem there will be NieR-themed cards you can download for free for a limited time.
Voice Of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars will launch on October 28th for PlayStation 4, Switch and PC. A demo is also available now for you to try out.
Metroid Dread Extended Story Trailer Released
Amid all of the announcements from Nintendo Direct, Nintendo offered an extended story trailer for Metroid Dread. Though it doesn't offer too much new information for those who have been following the sequel, this is a nice overview for non-series fans who may be intrigued by its premise.
Following the events of Metroid Fusion, bounty hunter Samus Aran travels to Planet ZDR to investigate a strange signal. She discovers the Federation's E.M.M.I. robots having gone rogue and attempting to hunt her along with evidence of the Chozo civilization being present. The latter also seem to have armed machinations and there's a mysterious Chozo-like being that's also involved somehow.
Metroid Dread is out on October 8th for the Switch so it won't be long before all of the answers are revealed. For a quick look at some of the different enemies and powers, both old and new, head here. You can also read up on the new areas here.
Chocobo GP Announced, Coming To Nintendo Switch In 2022
Today was a new Nintendo Direct, and has sometimes happens, there was lots of nice surprises. Some of them leaked ahead of time, but one of the games that pretty much no one saw coming was a new Final Fantasy-themed kart racer that is a callback to an old subset of the series that some may not even be aware existed. That game is Chocobo GP.
The game came alongside an announcement trailer, which you can see below. It's a kart racer styled after the likes of Mario Kart and Sonic Team Racing, only with the Final Fantasy mascot, the beloved Chocobo front and center. Much like those other examples, you race other players and use special power ups to gain an advantage as well as spells taken from the franchise like Fira. It's not just the feathered friends you'll get to play, either, as it will include other original characters and those from classic titles such as Vivi from Final Fantasy 9. The game seems to be something of a modern interpretation of Chocobo Racing, a similar kart racer released in 1999 for the PS1.
Chocobo GP is set to release sometime in 2022 exclusively on the Nintendo Switch.
Disco Elysium – The Final Cut Comes To Nintendo Switch On October 12
The critically acclaimed Disco Elysium came to PC in 2019, and was a unique blend of an adventure title with some RPG elements and was largely praised for its high level writing. The game received an extended version called The Final Cut earlier this year that expanded some elements as well as added full voice acting. That game has already released on PC and the PlayStation family of consoles, and now it's time for it to make its debut on the Nintendo side of thing.
Final Cut was announced to be coming to the Switch at some point, though no date or time frame was ever given. As part of today's Direct, it was revealed the game would come to the Switch next month. The initial release will be digtal-only, but a physical release will come eventually in 2022.
Disco Elysium – The Final Cut is available now on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and PC. The Nintendo Switch version will launch digitally on October 12th. If you're curious about how we felt about the game, you can read the full review through here.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – Final DLC Character Reveal Coming October 5th
Though it was a brand-new Nintendo Direct, Nintendo did not reveal the final DLC character coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. However, it did announce that the next "Mr. Sakurai Presents" hosted by director Masahiro Sakurai would be taking place on October 5th. The last DLC character will be revealed there with Sakurai also detailing how to play them over the 40 minute presentation.
Obviously, there's quite a bit of hype attached – this is the sixth and final DLC fighter in Fighters Pass Vol. 2, and the last DLC character that will be added to the title. One can also expect the usual new stages and music tracks along with new Spirit Boards and other features. Nintendo of America also confirmed on Twitter that the final Mii Fighter costumes would be revealed.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is currently available for Nintendo Switch and over the past year, characters like Min Min from ARMS, Pyra and Mythra from Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Steve and Alex from Minecraft, Kazuya from Tekken and Sephiroth from Final Fantasy 7 have been added to the roster. Stay tuned on October 5th to see who's coming next.
Tune-in on 10/5 at 7am PT for the reveal presentation of the final Super #SmashBrosUltimate DLC fighter with Director Masahiro Sakurai. The fighter's release date and final Mii Fighter costumes will also be revealed!
Watch here:https://t.co/wLVCdxTgtT pic.twitter.com/wCAZw2kmLZ
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) September 23, 2021
The presentation will be roughly 40 minutes long, and it will be the final presentation about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) September 23, 2021
Castlevania Advance Collection Out Today on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, Switch and PC
During the recent Nintendo Direct, Konami announced that Castlevania Advance Collection would be out today. The compilation includes Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance and Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow from the Game Boy Advance era along with Castlevania: Dracula X. Check out the trailer below.
Along with features like Rewind, Replay and Save/Load (including Quick Save), there are other features like a Music Player for all of the music, an Encyclopedia and even the ability to select the ROM Region for experiencing each different version (with each having their own save data). Some other nice additions include scans from the original package and artwork for each title and being able to create one's own playlists.
Castlevania Advance Collection is coming to Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PS4 and PC for $20 with backwards compatibility support for Xbox Series X/S and PS5. Stay tuned for more details and updates on the collection following its release.
Mario Party Superstars Adds Woody Woods, Horror Land and Yoshi's Tropical Island Boards
Among the various Nintendo Switch titles releasing this Fall is Mario Party Superstars which offers numerous remade boards from the Nintendo 64 era. A new trailer confirms three more boards – Woody Woods, Yoshi's Tropical Island and Horror Land – joining the line-up along with Space Land and Peach's Birthday Cake. Check them out below.
Each board has its own unique gimmick, like Horror Land's King Boo statue being harmless during the day but swipe Stars from players at night. There's also Mt. Minigames, which offers seven courses for partaking in 100 minigames with various players. Along with Survival, which sees participants competing for the longest winstreak, there's also Tag Match for co-op action.
All boards and mini-games support online play at launch, making it easy to jump in with just about anyone worldwide. Mario Party Superstars is out on October 29th for the Nintendo Switch. For more extensive gameplay of the party title in action, head here.
Actraiser Renaissance is Out Today for Switch, PS4, PC, iOS, and Android
Nintendo's recent Direct had a good mix of big and relatively more off-beat games, and one of the more unexpected announcements came in the form of Actraiser Renaissance, a remake of Enix's 1980 SNES title Actraiser, which was part-2D action platformer and part city builder.
Structurally and mechanically it looks like it's going to be faithful to the original, but other areas have seen some notable upgrades. The visuals have been lifted up, with the side-scrolling sections in particular quite good with their 2.5D aesthetic. The soundtrack has also been remastered, though you can also switch to the original if you want. Check out the announcement trailer below for more details and proper look at the game.
Actraiser Renaissance is available now on Nintendo Switch, PS4, PC, iOS, and Android. There's no word yet on whether there are any plans to bring the game to Xbox, so stay tuned for more details on that front.
Triangle Strategy Coming to Nintendo Switch on March 4th 2022
Square Enix's Project Triangle Strategy has received an update and an official name. It's now called – surprise – Triangle Strategy but still retains the gorgeous HD 2D art-style, tactical turn-based gameplay and involving story. Along with a new trailer, the publisher also confirmed a release date of March 4th 2022.
An update on feedback from the demo was also provided with Square Enix noting changes like better clarity for the visuals in combat, difficulty changes and more. Camera angle controls, "streamlined" game flow and loading times, and an option to review previous lines of dialogue have also been added. Whether a new demo will be released in the coming months (a la Bravely Default 2) to showcase these updates remains to be seen.
Triangle Strategy is exclusive to the Nintendo Switch and plays like an interesting mix between Octopath Traveler and Final Fantasy Tactics. As Serenoa, players must venture across the land, rallying support to fight back against a tyrannical kingdom. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is Adding Brewster and The Roost in November
The monstrous hit known as Animal Crossing: New Horizons continues to sell ridiculous numbers, but support for the game has largely dried up in recent months, with Nintendo having released next to no major new updates for it in a while. That, however, will be changing soon.
During their recent Nintendo Direct, the publisher confirmed that one fan-favourite character (that has been quite in demand pretty much since the day the game launched) will be added soon- Brewster and his cafe, The Roost, will be added to Animal Crossing: New Horizons in a free update this November.
There's supposed to be more to the update than that, but Nintendo's remained tight-lipped with those details for now. A dedicated Animal Crossing: New Horizons Direct has been confirmed for some time in October though, where we'll be getting the full details on the upcoming update.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available on Nintendo Switch.