Boss Rush Banter: What Did YOU Think About the February 2023 Nintendo Direct?

By now, we are all used to it: Nintendo announced a Direct one day before, leaving little time to prepare our schedules for viewing. The Direct aired at 5 P.M. EST on February 8th. In the twenty-four hours leading up to the Direct, many people excitedly built their bingo cards while others tempered their expectations. The question now is–did Nintendo deliver on their first presentation of the year?

This Nintendo Direct intended to showcase games for 2023. Prior to this, we were only aware of a handful of games releasing this year–The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Kirby’s Return to Dreamland, Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon, and a few more. This Direct’s goal was to fully flesh out the rest of this year’s roadmap. (If you want a more comprehensive summary of the Direct, check out our coverage here).

Below are some highlights that contributed to my “grade” for this Nintendo Direct:

DLCs For Days

Several DLCs were announced or detailed for the following games: Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Fire Emblem: Engage, Dead Cells with its Castlevania expansion, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Splatoon 3. This breathes life into existing games for players to enjoy.

Level 5 is Back

Level 5 has made a come back in this Direct, and fans are here for it. Deca Police, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time, and Professor Layton: New World of Steam were announced. Deca Police is a crime-suspense RPG with turned-based tactical battles in an anime art style. Fantasy Life and Professor Layton are familiar franchises from Level 5, and these fresh titles will be available on the Nintendo Switch this year.

The Return of Classic Titles

Where to begin? Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster have been announced for this summer. These games are an HD remaster of two GameCube games–Baten Katios: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean. Speaking of Gamecube, Nintendo shadow dropped Metroid Prime Remastered! This first-person take on the Metroid franchise received a glow-up and other control improvements. The digital version released same day, and the physical is set to drop February 22nd. On top of that, we have Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe (Origin: Wii), Tales of Symphonia Remastered (Origin: GameCube), Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection (Origin: DS family), and We Love Katamari Reroll+ Royal Reverie (Origin: PlayStation 2). I could go on and on, but it’s safe to say that this Nintendo Direct was filled with nostalgia games…Speaking of nostalgia…

Game Boy and Game Boy Advance Games for NSO + Expansion Pack!

A slew of Game Boy games will join Nintendo Switch Online, and Game Boy Advance games will be part of the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack tier. The added titles dropped same day. If you want to know what games were added, read our article here.

Major Nintendo Titles

Lastly, Nintendo hit us hard with hard-hitting first party IPs. The Nintendo Direct opened with a trailer for Pikmin 4. This joyous game will release July 24th. Nintendo also closed as strong as they opened with a gameplay trailer of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. While the trailer still doesn’t tell us must about the plot, we do hear the voice of an antagonist (Ganondorf, is that you?), and we get to see the Collector’s Edition and amiibo that will be available on launch day.

There was much more to this Direct, but I am simply here to layout evidence that, in my opinion, Nintendo knocked it out of the park. I believe there was truly something for everyone, and the addition of GameBoy and GameBoy Advance has finally their subscription service a little more palatable. Nintendo has a strong roadmap for 2023 with strong first party titles and a plethora of remastered games. This will give us plenty to do until those rumors of a “Switch Pro” come to fruition…

What do you think? Please share your thoughts with us on our Boss Rush Facebook Group or our Boss Rush Discord.

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