Depending on who you ask, autumn is either well and truly in its swing or just around the corner, but either way, you’ll never guess what: we’ve got some gaming news for you again!
We remain in that lull period between Gamescom and the Tokyo Game Show, during which developers feel a touch reticent to reveal anything particularly consequential, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to pore over, of course.
As usual, grab a drink, pull up your favourite chair (no, not that one, we want to sit in that one), and join us for a recap of the week’s gaming news.
Final Fantasy Tactics could get a sequel if the remaster sells well
In an interview with publication Inverse this week, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles director Kazutoyo Maehiro said that a sequel to the game could be on the cards if this remaster sells well.
Maehiro said that if the game does well, it will show “the business viability of the strategy RPG genre”, and so that could “potentially open the door” for a Tactics Advance or A2 remaster, as well as “sequels and new titles”.
Of course, it’s worth bearing in mind that these sequels haven’t been announced yet; you’ll have to buy the remaster first if you want to see them happen, so when it comes along in late September, make sure you grab your copy.
Nintendo and Genki have settled their Switch 2 lawsuit
Earlier this year, Nintendo sued accessory maker Genki for introducing a new range of Switch 2 accessories before the Japanese company had even introduced the new console.
Now, the two companies have settled their lawsuit, with Genki being required to pay Nintendo damages, although we don’t know how much the accessory maker had to cough up.
Still, this will likely come as a relief for Genki; the company will have likely wanted to avoid a protracted court battle with one of the biggest gaming companies around.
It looks like Dead Island 3 is happening
This week, Dead Island 2 developer (well, eventual developer, at any rate) Dambuster Studios teased the existence of Dead Island 3, although the studio stopped short of outright announcing the game.
Posting on Steam, Dambuster said that it’s “already carving out what comes next” for Dead Island, and that “the outbreak is far from over”.
This text was posted alongside an image of Dead Island 3 character Jacob, suggesting that whatever happens in the next game, he’ll be making a return. We can only hope this game takes significantly less time to make than its famously-delayed predecessor.
Mario news galore at the Nintendo Direct
We’ll be focusing rather heavily on this week’s Nintendo Direct for the rest of this article, since there was a ton of news relating to upcoming Switch 2 and Switch games.
First up, we got a tidal wave of Mario news, including confirmation of the second movie’s title (The Super Mario Galaxy Movie) and remasters of the two games of the same name for the Switch and Switch 2.
We also got to hear about a new Mario Tennis title and a new Yoshi platformer in which the diminutive dinosaur must jump into a book to catalogue its creatures. It looks, as you might expect, very cute indeed.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond has a release date
Praise Samus, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond isn’t being delayed after all; rather, it’s finally releasing on December 4th across both Switch 2 and Switch, according to a trailer shown during the aforementioned Nintendo Direct.
The trailer didn’t just reveal the release date, though; it also showed off some gameplay for Metroid Prime 4, including some classic first-person shooting and a brand new bike traversal sequence.
Let’s hope that the bike doesn’t just add some unnecessary gimmicks to what is already shaping up to be a superb shooter (and as well it should, given how long it’s been delayed).
Pokemon Pokopia asks the question: what if Pokemon was Animal Crossing?
For many years now, it’s seemed a fairly obvious step to us to create a Pokemon cosy game. After all, the genre is hugely popular, and Pokemon is loved by millions around the world.
Well, it seems that this idea has finally occurred to Nintendo as well, because Pokemon Pokopia was officially unveiled during this week’s Nintendo Direct, and it’s coming to Switch 2 next year.
The game will task you with “shaping an empty land into a beautiful home for Pokemon”, to which end you’ll craft the landscape, meet cute ‘mons, and make your very own Poke-world.
Dragon Quest VII is getting a non-HD-2D remake
Recent Square Enix RPG remakes have all utilised that (admittedly rather pretty) HD-2D style that resembles ascended pixel art, but a Dragon Quest VII remake was announced this week, and it’s in full 3D.
The game takes on the visual style of classic Dragon Quest, but in a nice chunky, bubbly-feeling 3D visual style, so if you’re a little tired of HD-2D, it looks like you’ll get a kick out of this one.
Although it was announced during the Direct, this one’s also coming to other platforms, including PC, on February 5th, so you won’t have to wait too much longer to check it out. Here’s hoping it’s slightly less confusing than the original!
A new Fire Emblem game is in the works
We bet you thought Nintendo had forgotten about Fire Emblem, no? Well…no, alright, we suppose it has only been a couple of years since Fire Emblem Engage, but hey, here’s another game for you to look forward to.
During this week’s Nintendo Direct, Nintendo revealed Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, and it looks like it’ll be taking place in the same world and timeline as the well-received Three Houses.
Whether that means it’ll be up to the same quality as Three Houses remains to be seen, of course, but hey, that game wasn’t without flaws, so maybe Fortune’s Weave will be the game to fix them (retroactively, natch).
