Looking into other Directs
Nintendo Directs are always chock-full of information on games coming to different regions. And while the North American Nintendo Direct had a bunch of games to show off, today’s Nintendo Direct for Japan also had some surprising, intriguing games on display.
I try to make a habit of watching the Japanese Nintendo Direct after the North American one airs. For one, it’s an interesting way to see how Nintendo organizes these shows for different regions; some games move further up in the rundown, or feel like they get a little more time. And in other cases, some games only show up in certain regions’ Directs. It’s a handy way to spot games you might have otherwise missed, and has put me onto early stand-outs like Gnosia‘s Switch port.
Today’s Nintendo Direct for Japan certainly had some surprises, too. I normally wait until later in the day to take a look, but after seeing some Twitter chatter about a few trailers, I looked over and found that quite a few games showed up here that didn’t appear in the North American Direct. So I put together a quick look at the key differences. An important note: I do not speak Japanese, and am mostly relying on info I can ascertain from English outlets or otherwise noted sources.
Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Nekketsu Hachamecha Dai Kasha-sai!
Shoutouts to our sister site Siliconera for getting the details on this one. Shown near the beginning of the Direct, it looks like a party game featuring various athletic competitions starring… horse girls? I have done some research and ascertained that this franchise is, indeed, about literal horse-girls. Either way, the anime horse gals slamming dunks and playing dodgeball looks pretty fun.
Fashion Dreamer
Shown off at a North American Nintendo Direct earlier this year, Fashion Dreamer is a new game from the Style Savvy studio. It got a November 2 release date in Japan’s Nintendo Direct, but did not appear in the North American version.
We contacted Marvelous and were told that there hasn’t been an update on the formal date for Fashion Dreamer in North America beyond a stated window of 2023.
This Goemon-style game
A video that was going around of this game is what got me to immediately jump over to the Japanese Nintendo Direct. A Google translation has it as “Mametanuki no Buckel ~ Festival of Oracle Festival Taro!” It definitely has some Goemon style, and looks like a pretty fun action-platformer. It’s planned for 2023 sometime in Japan.
Game of Life
Yes, the Game of Life. The classic board game of getting a car, filling it with spouses and offspring, and spinning the most ornate spinner your child-brain could conceive. Seriously, that thing was a subtle work of art to a small child, at least until Mouse Trap came along. Anyways, we have some versions of this already available on the Nintendo eShop, but I do like the look of this version.
Ketsugou Danshi: Elements with Emotions
Okay, I had to do some digging on this one. After a bit of searching, I found a Gematsu article (thanks Sal!) about this game from a few months ago, describing Ketsugou Danshi: Elements with Emotions as an adventure simulation game. It launches with a few characters, with additional members available later as DLC. Apparently you have to stop the world from being destroyed, using the power of anime boys. Sure!
This is why I like watching the Nintendo Direct for Japan, because I doubt I’d have known about this game otherwise. It arrives for Switch in Japan on June 29.
A few quick clips
Alongside Ketsuogou Danshi, we also got brief glimpses of the Atelier Marie remake, which hits Switch on July 13, and Crymachina, FuRyu and NIS America’s new action RPG. That’s coming to the west in Fall 2023, but Japan will get Crymachina a little earlier, on July 27.
We also got a look at The Wonderful One: After School Hero, which happened to release today for Switch, PS4, and PC. It’s a standalone version of the free DLC for The Wonderful 101: Remastered.
Momotaro Electric Railway World ~The Earth Spins with Hope! ~
Another board game, and this one seems to have some train antics involved. Not sure what else it entails, but I do wish we had some more wacky party games available over here. That heads to Japan on November 16.
Fate/Samurai Remnant
Boy, was I bummed we didn’t see this in today’s Nintendo Direct over here. I do enjoy some Fate from time to time, and this entry looks fascinating. It’s got some serious Like a Dragon: Ishin! vibes, but within the world of Fate where heroic spirits can clash in big, flashy battles. A trailer debuts soon (as of this writing) for the English version, but thanks again to Gematsu, it looks like we are getting a worldwide release in line with Japan’s launch.
Fate/Samurai Remnant will arrive on September 29. And yes, you can pet the dog.
Natsu-Mon
Via the official Nintendo site for the Direct in Japan, this appears to be Natsumon! 20th Century Summer Vacation. Much like other Summer Vacation games, this looks like a relaxing sojourn to the rural countryside of Japan. Check out Tim Rogers’ lengthy video essay on it for more info, but I do hope we get this in North America.
That’s all for today’s Direct, but I hope y’all enjoyed this look at what’s happening in other regions. Let us know if any stand out to you down below!
