A Look at this Week's Nintendo Direct (March 27th 2025)
While the gaming public is waiting for the Switch 2 Nintendo Direct on April 2nd, Nintendo decided to also provide the public with another Direct ahead of the big reveal. The focus on this Direct is a look on Switch titles that deserved some love that may be overlooked by the new console. There’s so many titles to highlight but here are five titles that I can’t wait to try.
I am a lover of RPGs and Indie titles so this Direct has some amazing games that will find its way to my collection. While Metroid Prime 4 and Pokémon Legends AZ look great, there are some other titles that grabbed my attention even more. Below are some of the titles that stood out the most to me.
DRAGON QUEST I & II HD-2D Remake
I have always been aware of the Dragon Quest series but have never tried an entry in this long running series. Seeing this beautiful remake of the first two titles seem to be the best way to experience the first entries to the series that has inspired many additional fantasy RPGs.
Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D remake will launch later this year.
RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army
Atlus continues to feed their fans with remasters of some of their past classics that modern gamers may not have experienced or would be best to experience with modern quality of life improvements. Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs The Souless Army was a PS2 title from 2006. This game is part of the Shin Megami Tensei franchise and this title is a part of the Devil Summoner series, which is similar to how they have multiple titles under the Persona series. Similar to other SMT titles, Raidou has a battle mechanic that uses devils you collect during the travels.
While the regular edition for Raidou is available now, Atlus did announce that Limited Run Games will have a Collector’s Edition for the US market coming soon . After seeing how they handled Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden Collector’s Edition, I am interested in seeing their plans for this title.
Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Souless Army is planned to release on June 19th, 2025.
Patapon 1 + 2 Replay
Patapon is a series that I have liked since the PS3/ PSP era. I remember working at GameStop and recommending customers who enjoyed rhythm games. This title took it in a unique way. The goal is to use certain patterns to attack the enemies on screen. I love that the games continue to live on via PSN and is accessible on PS4 and PS5. This release will be the first release of this series on a non-Sony platform. This release will also be available on PS5 and Windows.
Patapon 1 + 2 Replay has the current release date of July 11th, 2025.
Rhythm Heaven Groove
Rhythm Heaven (also known as Rhythm Tengoku in Japan) has been a staple in the Nintendo catalogue since the Gameboy Advance. My first experience with the series was Rhythm Heaven on the Nintendo DS. I still have my copy and still play one of my favorite games on the cart, Glee Club. In the mini game, you play as a member of a choir with a beautiful Vince Guaraldi style jazz song in the background.
Rhythm Heaven has also had entries on the Nintendo Wii (Rhythm Heaven Fever) and 3DS (Rhythm Heaven Megamix). While it’s exciting to have a new entry in the Rhythm Heaven series, we will have to wait. Rhythm Heaven Groove is expected to have a 2026 release.
FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time
One of my favorite Japanese Studios is Level-5, the makers of Professor Layton, Ni-No Kuni, and the Inazuma Eleven series. Fantasy Life first premiered on the 3DS in 2012. After a few different follow ups, Level-5 is bringing back Fantasy Life and premiering it on the Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series S/X, and Windows. This title is not a new announcement and has been delayed multiple times. While it was not on my radar at that time, it does have my attention now. The title appears to be an expanded version of the previous cozy title with a bigger world and updated home building gameplay that reminds me of Animal Crossing.
Fantasy Life I: The Girl Who Steals Time has a current global release date on May 21st, 2025.
What’s Next?
The next Nintendo Direct is on April 2nd, 2025 and the expectations have been set. The show should be our first, official, in-depth look at the Nintendo Switch 2. We have enjoyed the Switch since it’s inital launch in March of 2017 but gamers are looking forward to a much needed update to the hardware. Nintendo has an amazing way of innovating their systems without depending too much on powerful hardware. I hope we can get a system that not only plays Switch 1 and 2 titles but also improves the experience on existing titles on a new console that includes a beautiful OLED screen.
We are looking forward to updating the site, next week, with our thoughts on the new Direct and share our thoughts on what we are shown during the presentation.