Samantha Lienhard's Blog, page 9

Let’s Discuss the Switch 2 Nintendo Direct

I was incredibly excited for today’s Nintendo Direct focused on the Nintendo Switch 2.

The Switch 2 will be out on June 5 for $449.99. That’s not too far away, and the price is reasonable. There’s also a $499.99 bundle that includes the new Mario Kart game. We’ll get back to that soon.

While information like that is important, I was mainly interested in seeing the games. I love my Switch and I’ve had so much fun with it, so I couldn’t wait to see what games would be revealed for its successor.

Exclusives often determine when I buy a new console, and some potential titles could definitely influence me. For example, I made sure to get my Switch in time for Super Mario Odyssey.

Well, Nintendo Switch 2 presentation and its aftermath took me on quite an emotional rollercoaster, so let’s take a look.

They started off with the one Switch 2 game that had already been shown, the new Mario Kart game, now officially revealed as Mario Kart World. It’s an open world game with a Free Roam mode where you can drive around off-road and explore, which is… not my first choice for a Mario Kart game, but not a deal-breaker.

Actually, it looks a lot of fun, so I had it on my list of Switch 2 games to get.

Later on, I visited the website for Mario Kart World and learned that it will cost $80.

I’m baffled. I don’t even know what to think. I haven’t even adjusted yet to AAA games costing $70 at launch, let alone $80. There have also been some reports that the $80 price is for digital while physical copies will cost $90, but I’m hoping that’s a misunderstanding.

Now, the Switch 2 bundle that includes both the console and a digital copy of Mario Kart World costs $499.99, essentially letting you buy Mario Kart for $50 instead. At least that takes some of the sting away, but I sure don’t want to see this pricing become standard.

Moving on, they announced game chat, camera, streaming, and game sharing features that might be great for people who play lots of multiplayer games. I’m not one of those people, so that whole section didn’t mean much to me.

They showed off some new features of the Switch 2 itself, like its larger screen size and Joy-Con mouse feature, and then they revealed Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, basically one of those tech demo games that demonstrates all the console’s features. I was on board with that until they revealed it’s a paid digital game. Considering what it is, I’d assume it would just be included.

Onto some more technical details, they announced that it will only be compatible with MicroSD Express cards, rather than regular SD cards. From there they moved onto the three types of games the system will play – Switch 2 games, compatible Switch games, and Switch 2 versions of Switch games.

That second category caused some concern when they said it. Would only certain Switch games be compatible after all? Fortunately, the website has cleared that up. According to the compatibility status page, it looks like they’re testing each game, and while most are compatible, they’ve found issues with some that they’re working to fix. Nintendo Labo is the only one listed as being outright incompatible, because of the hardware changes.

So let’s talk about the third category instead. Some Switch games will be re-released with enhancements and new content for the Switch 2, with a paid upgrade available for players who have the original. The most notable one to me was Kirby and the Forgotten Land (which I still want to play someday), because it’s getting new story content, so it sounds almost like DLC rather than just paid upgrade.

Some games will also have free updates for improvements on the Switch 2.

All right, let’s get back to the games. They announced a strange multiplayer sports game called Drag x Drive to make use of the mouse feature, and then it was time for some third-party news. Elden Ring and Hades II are among the games coming to the Switch 2 that caught my attention, although I doubt I’ll re-buy Elden Ring I put so much time into my PS4 copy.

Daemon x Machina 2 also looks pretty cool.

Now, they eventually got around to showing Hitman, at which point I asked a friend whatever happened to IO Interactive’s James Bond game… but I spoke just a little too soon, because they followed up with a teaser for Project 007 (although it barely showed anything).

Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster was announced as a launch title after that, and I have to admit, I’m slightly tempted to give Bravely Default another chance.

Then came a big surprise – Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut as another launch title, adding new cutscenes, a multiplayer game, and an English dub to Yakuza 0. I thought there was a good chance Yakuza 0 would come to either Switch or Switch 2, but I wasn’t expecting new content.

A new Hyrule Warriors game was announced, and then they moved on to the announcement of GameCube games for Nintendo Switch Online. I’d be much happier if these were games we could buy instead of only being available through the subscription, but it’s still nice to see.

As another surprise, Deltarune is coming to the Switch 2 as a launch title with Chapters 1-4 available, which means this doubles as a release date announcement for Chapters 3 and 4!

The stream broke partway through the showcase of third party games, but fortunately they eventually got it working again.

Possibly the biggest moment of the third party section was during the sizzle real, when Hollow Knight: Silksong was briefly shown with a 2025 release window. It exists!

Now we get to the truly painful part. You see, the next game shown looked like my sort of game from the start. Being revealed as a surprise FromSoftware title exclusive to the Switch 2 only made me more excited. Seeing a Bloodborne-esque aesthetic had me marking down The Duskbloods as a reason to buy a Switch 2…

…and then after the presentation, I learned from the website that it’s a PvPvE multiplayer-focused title, and my excitement crumbled into dust.

Why…? If it was a single-player game, I’d be so excited for it right now. First Nightreign and now this. I was so excited…

Anyway, they finished the presentation with two more first-party titles, a new Kirby Air Ride game called Kirby Air Riders, and a new Donkey Kong game, 3D platformer Donkey Kong Bananza. I’ve never really gotten into the Donkey Kong games, but this one has my attention. It’ll be out on July 17.

Its website lists it for $70, so I really hope Mario Kart World’s pricing is a weird exception rather than the new standard.

All in all, the Switch 2 presentation left me with mixed feelings. The game I’m most excited for is Donkey Kong Bananza, and even that is mainly just because I like 3D platformers. Duskbloods went from being a reason to buy to personal disappointment, and there just aren’t enough games announced right now to convince me to get it at launch. Add in the game price worries and the announcement that some physical games will just be a key to download them (what’s the point of making it a game card then??), and I really don’t know how to feel.

But what about you? How did you feel about the Nintendo Switch 2 presentation?

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Trails Beyond the Horizon Coming West This Fall

We didn’t talk about it on Friday since we had the Nintendo Direct to discuss, but last week also saw the surprise announcement of the next Trails localization.

Kai no Kiseki, the most recent entry in the series, will be coming west for PS4, PS5, Switch, and PC this fall as Trails Beyond the Horizon.

It also has a nice Limited Edition available, with an art book, soundtrack, and acrylic clock standee.

I haven’t watched the trailer or read much about the game at all, because at this point it feels far too easy to trip over spoilers, especially when I’m still on Trails in the Sky!

But even if there’s no chance I’ll be caught up in time, the next game has yet to be announced for Japan, which means that when Trails Beyond the Horizon comes out this fall, the English releases will be caught up to the Japanese releases for the first time. That’s pretty remarkable, since it seemed for a while like it would never happen.

Who knows, maybe by the next game, I’ll be caught up, too! After all, I have only… ~700 hours left to go!

…All right, that’s probably not happening.

Anyway, I’m sure I’ll be excited for the new game when I finally do catch up, so it’s nice to see this news. Are you interested in Trails Beyond the Horizon?

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A Somnium Files Spin-Off and a New Tomodachi Life???

So the Nintendo Direct was yesterday, and while it didn’t include Ace Attorney 7 like I’d hoped, there were some pleasant surprises nevertheless.

I’ll only be covering the highlights for me, so be sure to check out the full presentation to see all the news.

It started out with a look at the Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake, which is set for later this year. Although I haven’t played the III remake yet, I’m interested in I & II. They look beautiful.

The next game shown started out looking like my sort of thing, with what looked like escape game elements… but I never expected to suddenly see Kaname Date on the screen and find out it was a new entry in the AI: The Somnium Files series.

No Sleep for Kaname Date – From AI: The Somnium Files will be out on July 25 and appears to be a spin-off set between the two games. I didn’t expect it at all, but I’m excited!

(What’s even crazier is that one year ago, Uchikoshi tweeted a cryptic message that fans hoped might be a hint toward a new Somnium Files game until nothing came of it. Now it seems like it was a teaser for this game after all.)

Next up was Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army. This is a remaster of Atlus’s PS2 game Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army, an action RPG about a detective. It’s one of the SMT spin-offs that has most intrigued me, so I’m definitely interested in this remaster.

It will be out on June 19, so this summer is already starting to look stacked.

The funny thing is that this was rumored 6 months ago due to an accidental update to the Nocturne remaster that gave it Raidou achievements by mistake. When nothing was announced at TGS, I forgot all about it, only for it to surface now.

The weird dark Pac-Man game Shadow Labyrinth showed up again, Patapon 1 & 2 is coming to the Switch, the DS game Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar is getting a full remake (as Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar, of course), and Metroid Prime 4 was featured as I thought it might be.

Metroid Prime 4 looks great, and seeing it reminded me that I started the first Metroid Prime last year only to sort of… forget about it. I’ll need to get back to that.

There were some other interesting games as well as an explanation of a new “virtual game card” system being implemented for moving digital games from system to system, but the biggest surprise for me was the game they closed with… a new Tomodachi Life.

I never thought it would happen. Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream has been announced for 2026.

I had way too much fun with Tomodachi Life on the 3DS, and I hope this new game will be just as wacky and weird. 2026 feels like it’s a long way off, but I’m really excited that a new Tomodachi Life game was announced.

Those were the biggest highlights from the Nintendo Direct for me! Which games stood out the most to you?

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Nintendo Direct Announced for Tomorrow

No, it’s not a joke. Strange as it may seem when we’re a week away from the Switch 2 presentation, the original Switch is getting a Nintendo Direct tomorrow.

This was rumored, but I didn’t believe it. I assumed it was too close to the Switch 2 reveal to talk about Switch games now.

But the Nintendo Direct will be tomorrow at 7 AM PT / 10 AM ET, last 30 minutes, and provide updates on upcoming Switch games.

I don’t know what to look forward to at an event like this. Updates on already-announced games seem likely, maybe even a trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles X since it came out so recently, maybe a look at Metroid Prime 4 to get people excited, but what can we even expect from new game announcements with the successor right around the corner?

So I’ll go back to what I always do and hope for Ace Attorney news.

Look, the Ace Attorney collections came out on PS4; with the Switch 2 being backward compatible, I don’t see any chance of the next Ace Attorney being a Switch 2 exclusive. Ace Attorney 7 (or a new Great Ace Attorney game, please) being announced for the Switch feels like a realistic chance.

What are you hoping to see at the Nintendo Direct tomorrow?

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Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter Might Have a September 25 Release Date

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, the upcoming remake of the first game in the Trails series, is one I’ve been excited for ever since it was announced.

Sure, I’m still working my way through the Trails series, so I’d probably stick to the games I haven’t played yet first… but it’s still exciting to see the game getting remade like this.

It looks beautiful, and I have high hopes it’ll be a great remake.

So far, it hasn’t received a release date announcement outside of a Fall 2025 release window, but it looks like we might know the date after all.

VGP put up listings today for Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter with a September 25 release date. That’s not a typical placeholder date, so there’s a good chance it’s accurate. If so, we probably can expect to see an announcement soon.

September 25 feels like it’s a long way off… but not long enough that I can even joke about being caught up on Trails by then with how long those games are and how early I am in the series.

Here’s hoping by then I’ve finished at least the next game. That’s a much more reasonable goal.

Are you interested in Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter?

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All Hauntings Restored to Silent Hill 4 on PC

We’re talking about Silent Hill news again today, not related to one of the upcoming games but rather my beloved Silent Hill 4.

Silent Hill 4 has been on GOG for a while now, but while it had fixed some of the bugs the original PC version had, it was still missing several hauntings.

(Including the infamous doll haunting.)

While it’s not necessary to have all the hauntings, it was disappointing.

Now, as part of the GOG Preservation Program, Silent Hill 4 has seen several improvements, including the restoration of all hauntings. Back when it initially came to GOG, that was the first thing I wanted to know about, so I’m delighted that it’s now complete.

I’ve been tempted to buy Silent Hill 4 on PC because I love it so much (and because I only have the Xbox version, which has some graphical glitches when played on an Xbox 360 like I did). Now that the hauntings are restored and the PC port sounds like the best available version, I’m more tempted than ever.

I don’t replay games often thanks to my backlog, but this is one beloved title that I make an exception for.

Have you played Silent Hill 4 on PC?

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Two New Otome Release Dates: The Red Bell’s Lament and Arcana Famiglia Rinato

We’ve got two new otome game release dates to add to the calendar!

First, Voltage and AmuLit revealed that their upcoming vampire otome The Red Bell’s Lament will be released on June 5.

It’s a worldwide release, so that release date is for both its Japanese and English versions.

I’ve been interested in this one since it was announced under the working title Project Code Vampire Hunter, but my interest has wavered after seeing concerns that they might be using AI-generated art for its backgrounds. So I’ll probably wait to see what the final verdict is there before deciding if I want to play it or not.

Meanwhile, Dramatic Create revealed a July 24 release date for La storia della Arcana Famiglia Rinato.

This one was originally a PSP game that got a Vita version with more content, which is now being ported to the Switch and PC (although the release date appears to be only for the Switch version). While it was never localized before, this new port lists English among its supported languages.

This one looks pretty interesting to me, so I’m looking forward to it. However, I’m going to wait to see reviews of its translation, since Meiji Tokyo Renka was localized by the same publisher and turned out… well… questionable.

It’s strange to have two release dates confirmed for games I like the looks of and yet both are firmly on a “wait and see” list for different reasons, but at least I have plenty to play in the meantime. What do you think of The Red Bell’s Lament and Arcana Famiglia Rinato?

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Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon – What a Wild Ride

It took me a while, but I finally finished playing Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon.

I played the Switch version, but it’s also on PS4. There’s no Steam version yet, but Witch on the Holy Night eventually came to Steam, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Tsukihime does eventually.

While I might refer to this as the Tsukihime remake, it would be more accurate to say it’s the first part of the Tsukihime remake. Yes, to remake this visual novel, they decided to split it into two parts. A Piece of Blue Glass Moon covers the first two routes.

Now, let me tell you my Tsukihime story.

I was excited for Tsukihime because I enjoyed Witch on the Holy Night. I knew it was in the same universe and also linked to the Fate series, and that’s basically all I knew about it. I did see people say it had some spooky elements and involved vampires, so I started playing it in October (although I didn’t finish it nearly in time for our spooky celebration).

So I started playing Tsukihime not really knowing what to expect, and it seemed pretty straightforward at first, there was some humor, some mystery, some hints of supernatural things at work, and I was just settling in for a quiet slow burn when Shiki (the protagonist) passed a woman walking down the street and I quickly realized I had no idea what sort of wild ride I was in for.

Click for Tsukihime Chapter 3 spoilersEverything seemed so normal right up until he followed her to her hotel, broke into her room, and dismembered her.

I was staring at the screen thinking, “WHAT IS HAPPENING?!” It was amazing. I cannot describe the shock of hitting that scene without any idea at all that it was coming.

Shortly afterwards I learned that Tsukihime doesn’t just involve vampires; it’s about vampires. The vampires and all the zombies, ghouls, and other monstrosities they bring with them are actually a core part of the story, so not only did it blindside me with its plot events, but it also turned to be even more my sort of thing than I thought it would be.

So, why did it take me so long to finish? I can answer in a single word: Arcueid.

Arcueid, Arcueid, my beautiful vampire princess. She’s so funny, they’re so cute together, everything about them brought such a smile to my face.

You know, I’ve heard people talk about playing a galge or otome and falling so in love with one character that they couldn’t move on, and I always thought that was silly, so it’s really ironic that it finally happened to me with a girl instead of a character I’d be personally attracted to. But it’s true! I was so invested in Shiki and Arcueid and that the thought of starting the second character’s route felt like heresy.

Click for Tsukihime spoilersEspecially because of the way Arcueid’s route ended. Ohhhh where is my happy ending??? Those hints that Arcueid is eventually going to get a true route had better be true, because my heart broke at that ending.

Anyway, I finished Arcueid’s route in early October and didn’t start Ciel’s route until January because I was still so hung up on Arcueid. To make matters worse, Ciel’s route is full of Arcueid moments that did not dampen my preference for Arcueid over Ciel one bit.

But despite my complaining, Ciel’s route is also really good and has some incredible moments that stood out to me even more.

Click for major Tsukihime spoilersThose scenes when Roa is awakening are so creepy and so good. It also makes great use of the medium. Shiki’s narration saying one thing while the visuals show something else creates such an unsettling disconnect, and the visual novel format makes it work so well.

I know I’m raving about what’s a comparatively minor part of the story, but that part was so well-done that it instantly elevated Ciel’s route to be on par with Arcueid’s in terms of enjoyment for me.

And when I went back through afterwards to see other choices and got the branch where Shiki/Roa has killed everyone in the mansion? That was so disturbing.

Tsukihime has a flowchart that makes it convenient to see what scenes and branches you’ve missed (although I wish you could move forward on the flowchart to scenes you’ve already seen instead of just backward from your current save), so I went back through after getting the main endings to see all the alternate choices and branches and bad endings that I’d missed during my playthrough.

I thought maybe my feelings would have changed – but nah, every new Arcueid scene was still pure gold that left me cheering for Shiki/Arcueid as the only true answer.

Now, if you see every ending, Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon ends with a teaser for Tsukihime: The Other Side of Red Garden, the second half of the remake. It seems like it might be a long wait, since they’ve barely said anything about it so far, but I’ll be looking forward to it for sure.

You might feel wary of playing a remake that only has part of the original content, but Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon definitely has enough content for a full visual novel on its own. Its two routes might not cover everything (and there were a lot of little hints that made me curious about the other routes), but they feel like complete stories in their own right. It’s definitely worth playing, and I’m happy I gave this one a try.

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Let’s Talk About the New Silent Hill f Trailer and Details

As we discussed, yesterday was the Silent Hill Transmission live stream.

Although no other games were featured, we did learn more about Silent Hill f.

I went into it with nervous anticipation and came out with cautious optimism. I still have some worries, but we’ll get into that in a little bit.

First, they showed a new trailer, which gave us our first look at the protagonist, Hinako, and some story details. We also see some unsettling monster designs, what looks like an Otherworld transition (those red plants/flowers look like they’ll be the dominant theme of Hinako’s Otherworld), and a scene of what looks like some sort of ritual.

That last part is especially interesting to me, because one of my top hopes is that the game will involve the cult in some form. Granted, the masked people in the trailer don’t look like the Order we’re used to, but I’d be happy with a Japanese branch of the same cult as a connection back to the main series.

The Steam page also provides some hints about the story and themes, as it includes a content warning for “depictions of gender discrimination, child abuse, bullying, drug-induced hallucinations, torture, and graphic violence.” It sounds like the psychological horror will definitely be there.

Getting back to the Transmission, they followed the trailer by talking more about the game’s writing, music (with the Fog World music being composed by Akira Yamaoka), and the overall direction.

While they didn’t show any gameplay, they did show a story summary that describes Hinako “solving puzzles” and “fighting strange enemies.” That, together with Hinako wielding a pipe at times in the trailer, makes it pretty clear that this will be a survival horror game with both puzzles and combat.

The other thing that stood out to me the most was their reason for setting this game in Japan, since the other games are set in America. Apparently, they felt the series was starting to lose its Japanese identity, so they decided to make the new entry completely Japanese.

That’s an interesting perspective, especially since it does feel like the later games were missing something.

Now, the biggest question that remains for me is whether Silent Hill f will actually connect back to the main series in some way or if it will be entirely separate. They said there will be references for longtime fans, but that still leaves it unclear. And that’s my biggest concern. It looks like it will be an interesting horror game, but if it’s being called Silent Hill despite being set in a completely different country from the town of Silent Hill, I want to see a connection.

Since we don’t even have a release window yet, I’m sure they have plenty more to show us about Silent Hill f. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that it turns out to be a great Silent Hill game.

(And in unrelated news, NIS announced five new games today, including one called Shinigami Hime, which is a new game from the team behind The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince and The Cruel King and the Great Hero, so you know I’ll be anxiously waiting for a localization announcement. In even more unrelated news, there’s going to be a live adaptation of The House in Fata Morgana, which… I don’t even know what to think about.)

In the meantime, what are your thoughts on Silent Hill f?

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Silent Hill Transmission Announced for Tomorrow

Konami has announced a new Silent Hill Transmission broadcast for tomorrow, March 13, at 3 PM PT / 6 PM ET.

This one will specifically feature Silent Hill f.

Silent Hill f has been the mystery game on everyone’s minds since the first Silent Hill Transmission back in 2022, where they announced several new Silent Hill projects. Silent Hill f is an upcoming new game in the series being written by Ryukishi07, the creator of Higurashi.

After an unsettling reveal trailer, almost no information has come out about it, but it looks like it’s finally time for that to change.

I have a lot of hopes for Silent Hill f. I hope it looks like a good horror game with a properly disturbing atmosphere. I hope the story feels logical with Silent Hill lore (and preferably involves occult aspects again). I’d love for Silent Hill f to be the grand return of Silent Hill with a new entry after the success of the Silent Hill 2 remake, so I’m a little nervous about how it will look.

Here’s hoping Silent Hill f is the Silent Hill game we’ve been waiting for!

(Don’t worry, I’ll definitely be caught up on Higurashi by the time it comes out. Seriously. I’ve actually been making progress.)

Now, another question is if they’ll show other games during the broadcast as well. We’ve barely heard anything about Townfall, so it would be nice to get another update on that. Plenty of people are also hoping for another Silent Hill remake announcement now (although I’d be happy just with remasters).

What are you hoping to see from the Silent Hill Transmission?

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