Reaction - Nintendo Partner Direct
July 2025 Partner Direct
Nintendo finally gave us a post launch direct, and it was a partner showcase. I was pretty disappointed when they announced it was a partner showcase, as I was hoping to get some first party info. But as time passed, I started to get excited about the prospects of what could be here.
The Upside
Let’s start with the game of the show as far as I’m concerned, Square Enix's out of nowhere action RPG in the 2D HD art style - The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales. Now, I am not a fan of that name, I’m surprised that even got green lit, but man does this look good and continues the 2D HD style’s ability to look modern and bring back 2D pixel memories. This one has the personality of a good Square JRPG title, but some Legend of Zelda mixed in, so pretty much close to Secret of Mana. This looks like a Jose game and I’ve put it in my top ten most wanted games of 2026 already. Talking about Square, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles is coming to Switch 2 and in my opinion this is the best system for it. Due to finances I’m on the fence on getting this one at launch, but when I do get it, it’s probably going to be for the Switch 2.
We also got some long awaited ports Nintendo should’ve been getting a long time ago - Madden NFL, Persona 3 Reload, Yakuza Kiwami 1 & 2, and more. These aren’t games I plan on getting for my Switch 2, if at all, but I think they should be there. Another win for Nintendo is Star Wars Outlaws, one of my favorite games last year. I’m happy its coming to Switch 2 and is a perfect on-the-go game. There were other games that I’m hppy to see there for consumers and Nintendo as well, some solid third party titles coming to Switch 2.
The Downside
So while there was a lot I liked in here, I was left a bit dissapointed. There was a lot missing here considering all the questions we still have. With all the talk about Xbox and Activision-Blizzard titles coming to the system, I didn’t see any of those games. Nintendo signed a ten year deal to get Call of Duty games on their system and it hasn’t even been teased. The only thing I can think of is that they’re being saved for the last direct of the year or are more of a next year thing. Also, where is Red Dead Redemption 2? I guess a certain “insider” can’t always be right. It also didn’t help that this was a partner showcase over a typical direct. I don’t know why these games coulnd’t have been part of the June Switch 2 direct. I have felt that Nintendo’s messaging this year has been mixed, but I wonder if a part of that is that they want to make the Nintendo Today app feel like a big deal and want to save announcements for it.
Overall Thoughts
I wasn’t angry with this direct, I just was a bit dissapointed. Don’t get me wrng, there was a few cool things here and The Adventures of Elliot blew me out of th water, but there were a lot of questions left unanswered. My hope is that a September or October direct answer those questions and we finally see all these suppoused planned games from Microsoft and Take Two. Not a bad direct, just not too much for ME personally to get excited about.
Be Nice to All
Adventures of Elliot is the stand out title for me from this direct. Excited for more news about it!