[Feature] Let’s Talk About The Nintendo Direct Mini Partner Showcase

Nintendo fans have clamored for new game information in 2020. They love their directs, and they want one now, so Nintendo has started doing showcases with 3rd parties. These are short, but they showcase new games for the Nintendo Switch. There has been a lot of mixed reactions to these showcases by fans. They want a full-blown direct with info on BOTW 2 dang it! Not a mini showcase.

Nintendo livestreamed a Direct Mini Partner Showcase for today, and I am going to share my thoughts on it. Was it good? Were there any big announcements at the presentation? Will Nintendo fans keep complaining? Well, let’s go through it.

Monster Hunter Rise! It wasn’t even close. Capcom’s Monster Hunter games stole the show. New mechanics like the wire bug, which makes it possible to swing across bridges, canyons, and across the sky to the next destination. Some of the Quality of Life ideas from Monster Hunter World made it into MHR. MHR is coming out on March 26, 2021.

Capcom then showed off another big game! Next up was Monster Hunter Stories 2. MHS2 is a sequel to the Nintendo 3DS game. It looks incredible, and I cannot wait to play it when it comes out summer of 2021. The Best of the Rest, Capcom wasn’t the only partner bringing the heat for Nintendo Switch. NISA announced Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny was coming exclusively to the Switch in the West (A PS4 version will be available in Japan), Rune Factory 5 was up next, and it looked stunning.

The final game shown during the Nintendo Direct Mini Partner Showcase was Ori and the Will of the Wisp. This is the only big game announced during the Partner Showcase that is coming out in 2020 as the other games were previously announced during other Partner Showcase or Indie World Showcase. No direct is perfect and neither was this one. Fitness Boxing 2 seemed out of place. I think Nintendo should start doing more casual Direct Minis. That would fit a game like this. Sniper Elite 4 was OK, as was Goldie and the Fortune Teller, but they were both soon overshadowed by the other games announced during the Nintendo Direct Mini Partner Direct Showcase.

What a great showcase that will keep the excitement going into next year. A few games seemed out of place, and there should have been more games from this year shown, but some great surprises, good pacing, and updates on existing games made this a memorable Nintendo Direct Mini Partner Showcase.