Video Game Tirade
Video Game Tirade
Ep. 2 (R) - Reacting to the Sept 23 2021 Direct!
Warning: This episode contains mature language. 18+ strongly recommended.
In this episode, I discuss the Direct from now last week! There were some strong titles, and also some things that I personally would never be interested in. With these kinds of large mishmash announcements, that will always happen. What things are YOU excited for??? Let me know using #VGTDirect21 !
This episode is highly reliant on my own opinion - I am not stating anything regarding the "goodness" or "badness" of any game or person as fact. Any claims I make regarding actual people are all alleged and based on my own opinion only.
(Also, I'm aware that a lot of the things I say in this episode aren't exactly 100% correct - I have the corrections in the comments of the transcript over on my Patreon!)
Beginning and Ending links:
Beg: https://youtu.be/bafd5CsNk0M - ROY KNOX Lost in Sound (Magic Release)
End: https://youtu.be/Ar50xVQ08Qw - Yusuf Alev Yoros (Magic Release)
Follow me on social media, or support me on my Patreon - my Patreon posts are all free transcripts of my episodes, so go check it out if you need that accessibility option!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/VideoGameTirade
Email: videogametirade@gmail.com
Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Video Game Tirade! My name is AJ, and today's episode is going to be a little different than usual - instead of talking about the games I have been playing or watching, I'm going to be talking about the games I look forward to instead. Um. Yesterday as I'm recording this, uh, Nintendo released a 40-minute Direct, and I will be discussing/reacting to the announcements made therein. I actually recorded this live yesterday but there were a lot of technical difficulties with the actual audio, so now that I have, uh, thought about some of the things and I know what to expect, I am re-recording it! So this is going to be half direct - half-discussion, half-reaction.
And since today's episode is going to be more about reacting than going full-depth into a topic or a game, this is to remind you upfront that I have a Patreon to support me doing this as well as a Twitter and business email if you want to talk to me about how exciting the announcements were. Today's hashtag will be #VGTDirect21 with a capital D, and all links, including to today's opening and ending themes, will be in the description of the video.
I'm going to be watching along to the Direct itself, so my pacing today will be absolute garbage - I am 100% sorry for this but there are a lot of things to talk about and I look forward to expanding on them more in later episodes. For those who want to follow along with the Direct as I talk about it, I am pushing play - now.
So I know from watching yesterday the first thing that gets announced is, uh, oh god what's it called? Monster Hunter Sunbreak? Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, and, um, I'm not a huge fan of the Monster Hunter series. I'm not exactly sure what goes on but that one Monster Hunter game that came out on the Switch, when the Switch was still new, kinda threw me off any of the rest of the games, 'cause it honestly looked like Dark Souls but with - monsters, instead of monsters. Um. However, I am a huge sucker for dragons, and the opening of this trailer, for the paid DLC for Monster Hunter Rise, I'm kinda suckered in a little bit. This dragon looks really cool. He's got, like, a mane and he looks really cool and his dragon wings are all torn up and everything, uh. Plus, it looks like he's also in front of a red sun, which explains why its called Sunbreak. Um. Its a - its a good trailer. Nintendo knows how to make trailers; Capcom also knows how to make trailers, too. Um, this, uh, this DLC will be released in summer 2022. Um, its a good name, Sunbreak. I, eh, don't currently have Monster Hunter Rise, and honestly I don't know enough about the game to say whether or not I'd be willing to get the game to play this DLC, and also I'm not the kind of person who approves of people getting games just to play DLC. Um, so probably I'm gonna be skipping on that one.
The next title, after Koizumi-san talks to us for a little bit, is going to be Mario Party Superstars. Um, he talks to us a little bit about Sunbreak, expands about how this is, I believe, a story DLC. Uh, that should be exciting for Monster Hunter fans, and I'm happy they are getting - just a ton of stuff. It seemed like the Monster Hunter series was kinda dead before the Switch, and in the past 2 years they've had like 5 different games? Their fandom must be doing great. Um.
Mario Party Superstars. This is apparently a remake of several boards from old N64 games like the announcement says. Uh, its done up in the style of Super Mario Party, the more recent one on the Switch, that got panned really hard because its boring and sad and just devoid of all life. Um, it looks - good? It looks like its more lively... but I'm also very nervous, because it looks like it could very easily fall into the same traps of Super Mario Party, as well. I do know for a fact that a lot of people are going to be very upset if it doesn't come out of the box with, um, max turns? I believe it's been 40 turns in previous games, the ones that go on for like 8 hours. People are gonna be really upset about that; for some reason that's a really popular option, and in Super Mario Party, I believe the maximum you could get was 20 turns I want to say? 15 or 20, and that was - that was not enough for a lot of people, that was not enough for me and I barely play Mario Party.
By the way, Waluigi number 1! I'm happy to see that Waluigi is returning. Uh, this game is gonna be available October 29. I haven't really been playing party games a lot lately, especially on the Switch, so I'm probably going to skip that - for now. Uh, I'll keep it on the radar if ever I have friends and we decide we want to play it. The good news about Nintendo Switch games is they download pretty quickly even if they're large. Um.
The next one is Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars, and I gotta say, Yoko Taro is phenomenal creative director. I love everything that they ever make, design-wise, I love all of their character designs, their world designs, everything. I hate this game. I hate tabletop card games. I hate all of them. I hate that the fact that this entire game is cards. I hate that all the characters are cards, all the worlds are cards, the combat is turn-based card game gameplay - I hate it. I hate it. I love the OST, I love the art style, I love the concept because its a very easy concept, its very fun, its always - that's always going to be a good concept to play in a video game. I hate that its all cards. I hate card games! They're so boring. They're so boring, and convoluted, as well. Like, Yu-Gi-Oh is boring when things are not being actively destroyed and people being sent to the Shadow Realm.
Voice of Cards is coming October 28th for people who are interested in it - it's a month away. Yay! Uh. I am not going to play it! I might watch somebody play it, but I am not not going to play that.
Disco Elysium is getting a port to the Switch: The Final Cut, so presumably there is going to be extra content, compared to the original releases. I - hmm. I admire Disco Elysium, uh. It has a lot of choices that you can make in terms of skills as well as plot choices that end up actually affecting the plot, and that's something that is rarely done well in video games. Um. Mostly because the actual process of designing, writing, and fleshing out multiple story endings is extremely expensive and hard. Uh. But, apparently from what I've heard, this game does that very well. And if you can get past the fact that every single screenshot is completely packed with, like, a I Spy video game page, book page, whatever, of just garbage and gobbledygook. If you can get past the ver- the visual vomit on every single frame, you'll be fine. This is a great game to play for anyone who's interested in story and its also a little bit of a darker story. So, uh, I personally won't play it because my eyes start bleeding whenever I look at it. Um. I am excited, though, to see what the changes are, and its coming out October 12th! With a physical version in early 2021 - *gibberish* - 2022. I'm glad that a lot of games are still keeping physical versions, even with the pandemic and even with, uh, the extreme move towards digital gaming.
I'm pausing every so often, by the way, so, uh, anybody who's following along, I'm sorry, I'm definitely way behind where the, uh, actual Direct is at this point. Um. I'm pressing play again.
The next title is an update on the Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity expansion pass. I saw this first yesterday and I was like, "Eh. I'm not super excited about this." And then I saw the little tiny egg Guardian turn and look around and see, like, this Malice creature that looks different from the GanonBlights, and I was like, "Okay... You've got me, Nintendo. I want this." And then I saw Zelda on a motorcycle, and Baby Sidon charging in, and I was like, "Okay...!! Alright! Wh-When can I have this, I need this now. Please take my money and give it to me now!" I didn't actually finish Age of Calamity's base game. I got very bogged down in doing all the completion stuff, instead of actually focusing on the story. Also I like that this trailer has the - one of the bad guys of the Sheikah - of the Yiga, rather, doing fricking "BELIEVE IT" hand jutsu. Uh, I find that very funny. Anyways, um, I didn't get - I didn't beat the Age of Calamity base game. I got bogged down with all the stuff and burnt out on all the mechanics, so, um, the fact that this has more story and seems to be more story-focused, rather than "Look at all the new things and creatures and people we're adding that you can play as!" It - I'm probably gonna go back and finish that game just so I can play this DLC. Quite frankly. Also I'm super excited that Robbie and Purah are playable! I'm very excited about that. I'm not excited for - I wasn't excited for the previous wave, with, like, a playable Guardian, who cares??? Um. Robbie and Purah, though, especially Baby Robbie and Baby Purah, that's the - that's the stuff that I want, that's the choiceness! Um, we didn't get a release - did we get a release - yes, we did. We got a release with, um, October 29. So. So begins, Halloween month, um, begins the two quarters that my wallet just screams at me constantly for plundering it actively.
The next title is, uh, Chocobo GP. Honestly, it just looks like its a reskinned Mario Kart, and while its cute, I really honestly just want a new Mario Kart. Mario Kart 8 is so old at this point. Just - please give us a new Mario Kart. Keep the Chocobo on roller skates, that's adorable, but give us a new Mario Kart, please. Please, Nintendo, I'm begging you! Uh, this game will come out sometime in 2022, it's not specific. So, uh, yeah.
Um, the following announcement is, uh, that the final Smash fighter is going to be announced on the 5th of October, which I believe is a full week from - two weeks! Two weeks from yesterday... Two weeks and change? I'm looking at my calendar, I can't tell exactly... It's soon, it's very soon. Um. I don't play Smash. I don't like fighting games, but I'm as excited as everybody else on the fricking planet, uh, to see who that final Smash fighter is, and honestly, Sakurai needs a long vacation. I hope he gets a very long vacation after finishing up all this stuff. He's done way more than he ever needed to, for this game, for this community! Uh, he just - he needs to take a long nap. That meme from a couple years ago - "Don't ever ask me for anything else again" - I'm asking you to take a vacation and enjoy yourself and not work - for a while! Enjoy the game that you spent 4 years making.
Please, sir, and thank you.
The next game, when I saw the opening of the trailer for it, I thought it might be the next Splatoon, Splatoon 3, or possibly some kind of pseudo-remake/sequel to Super Mario Sunshine. Uh, the wave sounds made me believe it might be Super Mario Sunshine, and also the dilapidated, like, mall area. I have to be honest, I was a little disappointed when I saw Kirby on the beach, um, but now that I've spent some time thinking about it and I've rewatched the trailer a couple of times... I - I'm - I'm - I'm interested, I want it, I want to play it, I want it in my hands, I wanna see, like, what's going on with Kirby? Uh. I haven't played any Kirby games since... oh, god. Magic Canvas??? Was that the one where he was a ball on the DS and you drew, like, rainbow lines? Um. I haven't played any Kirby since that one, and the Kirby before that that I played was Air Ride, which I think was the last 3D Kirby as far as I'm aware. I like Kirby as a character, and I like Kirby as a game, but I don't like the 2D traditional-ness of Kirby, I don't like 2D, like, action games at all. They very rarely keep my entertainment because its - its - they're usually over in, like, 6 hours. Boring!
This game looks really cute! Uh, it looks like they borrowed a little bit of the engine and assets from Super Mario Odyssey. And, I am actually really excited to play it. Its in spring - its going to launch in spring 2022... part of the next half-year where my wallet is screaming at me... Uhhh, I'm just gonna have to get used to that. Yeah, I'm excited for this. I'm glad that Kirby is finally, uh, coming to the Switch in a super large game, a very, uh, what's the word I'm looking for. What is the word I'm looking for? It looks - not impressive, it looks like it's doing something new, it looks like its breaking boundaries. Kirby and the Forgotten Land is the name drop for it. Pretty excited, I'm pretty excited.
Uh, also! Also I wanted to mention, it's not mentioned anywhere in this Direct, I'm pausing. My wallet is going to be continuing to cry at me in spring 2022 because, uh, Pokemon Arceus comes out in January, and my god, I am very excited for that game. I am unbelievably excited, especially considering the new information that we're supposed to be getting tomorrow - tomorrow? Sometime next week, maybe? We're supposed to be getting new information tomorrow, and my god, I am so excited for that game. I'm mostly just excited, honestly, for the concept of, uh, making your own Pokedex by observing Pokemon doing certain things over and over and over again, and catching Pokemon over and over and over again. Like - I've always wanted to make my own Pokedex from scratch, and we finally get to do it and I'm so excited!
So, that was Kirby and the Forbidden Land, and also a little bit about Pokemon Arceus. My wallet - I'm already anticipating spending around $240 over the next 6 months in games, which is a lot! Its about one every 6 weeks, one game every 6 weeks, so about $10 every week on video games. That doesn't sound a lot, actually, now that I break it down like that. Uh. It is a lot of games to be playing, though, and I don't have a lot of time 'cause I have an actual job.
Um. My brain is fried. I'm watching Mr. Koizumi-san speak. He's cute - a cute Japanese man. Ah, yes, the next announcement - I lost my shit when I saw this. Um. This is the teaser for the Animal Crossing: New Horizons Brewster update, which is going to be releasing in November 21. I was screaming when I saw this announcement. I've been missing Brewster since the beginning of the Switch when we opened the museum. Brewster was, like, a staple component of the previous 2 Animal Crossing games, the ones for the Switch - *gibberish* - the DS, rather. Uh, and he's - he's - he's a part of the museum, the same way that Celeste is part of Blathers' life as his sister! And when we didn't get any word at all about whether or not Brewster was going to be even included in New Horizons... It kind of is part of the reason why I stopped playing New Horizons, is like, all these characters that I really enjoyed from previous games weren't around and other ones from other games that I didn't play, like City Life on the Wii with Luna and her fricking massage parlor, like? Who's??? Who missed her, she's a weird little anteater lady!! She's in before Brewster! And, we finally got confirmation of Brewster finally joining the game, and I've very excited for it. He's just a shy little pigeon man who just wants people to enjoy his coffee. I'm - I'm very curious about what they're going to actually be doing with him and his cafe, how its going to be different from previous games. Because, in previous games, Brewster's Cafe, in the games that had Brewster's Cafe, is where K.K. went to play on Saturdays. And in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, for the past year? Two years? Year. Past year since it launched in March 2020, we have - year and a half, actually - we've already established that K.K. plays in front of the Town Hall in the little public cobble area. He's not just gonna move indoors where its gonna be harder for people to find him, especially since he's, like, a bigshot celebrity now, apparently. Um. So, I'm very curious what they're going to be doing with my boy and, uh, if he still is as shy and cute and anxious as he used to be. If you're going to have to, like, go and get coffe from him every day before he starts talking to you and being nice and warming up and like, ugh. I'm getting the warm fuzzies just remembering my boy. I'm very excited that he's coming back. I hope he's doing okay.
Let's see, its Koizumi-san again, he's announcing... a couple of new interesting things. A couple quick things before some more stuff. Um. Mario Golf: Super Rush. I am not interested in Mario Golf, like, full stop. Uhhh, apparently it wasn't a super great game for people who wanted a golfing game. And people who wanted just a straight-up Mario game were also a little bit disappointed. It's fun, but, like, it gets boring very quickly. Um. It's getting an update with a couple new characters and a couple new courses. People who like it, I'm sure, will be happy. Uhhh, the other update is for Disney Magical World, and I don't really want to talk about it at all because Disney doesn't need any more money, next! I am skipping forward through that - ah! The next one was KOTOR - Knights of the Old Republic. It's not my jam, but I am very happy for those people who are very excited for it, who've been missing it. Uh, this is a great way to introduce that game to the new generation of gamers, and if you hear a computer screaming, I am very sorry! I don't know what's going on... I'm just gonna ignore it.
Uh, Dying Light 2 is the next, uh, is the next title. I feel like this is the 5th time I've seen Dying Light 2 announced as if its a brand new game. It's just - Fetch isn't gonna happen, my friends. Um. I heard it panned really badly critically when it first released because it didn't fully flesh out the - the "choices you make affect the world and everything in it!" It didn't fully flesh that out and the gameplay wasn't as exciting as the first game, which is also coming to the Switch, by the way. Uh... so... It didn't make the plot very interesting, from what I heard, and they didn't capitalize on all of the things that made the first game very fun, like all the running around and fighting zombies and all that fun stuff. Apparently it was just very disappointing, and I'm not a huge fan of that genre of game, so. I think it's funny that its like the 5th time its being re-released as if its new, and that's all I really have to say about it.
Next game is Triangle Strategy. This is the first time I've heard of it. It looks like its your typical RPG but apparently its got decisions in terms of combat as well as story and apparently both can help change the story and make it go in one of 3 different directions, apparently. And that is exciting, I really do like games that, um, have consequences to your decisions that make the story actually change instead of, you know, the Nintendo thing of "You like Pokemon, don't you? Yes or No. No? You like Pokemon, don't you? Yes or No" until you say "Yes." That's not an actual choice, that's just the illusion of choice. I like games that actually do give you choice and, like, actually have consequences if you choose the wrong things and fuck up. Uh. So I actually am excited for that, not sure if I'm going to play it, but I am excited to watch it. Its coming out in March 2022. Looks good. It looks pretty good. It looks like its in the style of Octopath Traveler... I'm pretty excited for it.
Uh, next game I am more excited for, Metroid Dread. Uh. I really laughed when this was announced, just a couple of months ago, because, um, if I recall correctly, it was announced as Metroid 5 and then with the subtitle of Dread, and it made me question, "Wh-Where's Metroid 4?" We haven't heard anything about Metroid 4 since the Switch was released!! Which is, at this point, FOUR years ago. Um, and I'm still asking where the heck Metroid 4 is, uh, but, this game looks really good! I normally, like I said earlier, I don't like 2D action games. This is, like, 3D-2D combined, like 2 and a half D. It's 3D models in a flat area, you can't go back or forth, you can only go left or right, and up and down. But it looks really interesting - the little trailer that they have following that explains exactly what Samus is doing on this planet and all of the concept of, like, you're constantly being chased by something and you have to monitor escaping from it as well as all the normal combat of Metroid and all the Metroidvania style stuff of getting new abilities and backtracking to different areas - on top of being chased by something that is indestructible and will kill you??? That kinda gels with me, that kind of - I - I kinda wanna play it. Its coming out October 8th so I have a very short amount of time to make my decision! And I kinda wanna play it. I kinda wanna play it, it looks really good!
Its been a while since I've played a Metroid game, and honestly I don't have positive feelings about the Metroid game I played. It was the 3D one on the DS when the DS was brand new. I don't have super positive feelings about that game because it was very hard for tiny baby AJ. But, uh, this one looks like its really fun. Like, they've fleshed out the idea a lot, and also, canonically its coming after the last Metroid - Fusion game? Metroid - something, its canonically coming after a game where Samus was, like, in her 20s, in her late 20s, so. Old-er Sam-us Old-er Sam-us, I'm very excited! We need more older female character representation in video games, and not just as, you know, enemies, like Lady Dimitrescu.
Uh, the next announcement is the new, uh, Nintendo Switch Online plan, which they announce has new content, and that new content is a limited virtual console. There are, I want to say, from what I remember, 12 to 14 games from the 64 and approximately, like, 16 to 20 games from the Genesis? Uhh. Honestly, the only couple of games that I'd be really interested in are from the 64, and they've all been re-released so many different times. I could spend far less money buying them once for a console I already have rather than continuing to pay for access on them on the Switch. Eh. I'm not super interested in this new Nintendo Switch Online plan, and I'm a little disappointed that Nintendo is paywalling their virtual console - at least in this kind of subscription-based way. I know that in previous iterations of the virtual console, you did have to re-pay for the games, which is stupid. Um. But, like, this subscription-based paywall seems very skeevy. Like, what if you download the games and you run out of your Online subscription? Are you prevented from playing the games because you're not actively paying for access to them? If so, that's a really skeevy thing to do. Anything that does that is really skeevy. Software as a service should not apply to video games, and that's the end of that idea of mine. That's a very firm belief of mine. Um.
The next couple of announcements are a couple of, uh, collections and re-releases. I'm skipping forward just a little bit to finish out the, um, the virtual console. By the way, last thing I want to say about the virtual console is, why the heck are you remaking the N64 controller??? That thing is an ergonomic nightmare, no, thank you!!
Uh, so. Next couple of announcements are for some collections and a couple more, um, re-release titles. The Shadowrunner collection looks like a very futuristic kind of D&D kind of thing. Like, uh, if Fallout and Oblivion - Elder Scrolls met in the XCOM universe. And while that sounds cool, I do not at all like the concept of, like, Elder Scrolls-type things, Lord of the Rings-type creatures, like orcs and elves and everything being in futuristic settings with, like, laser guns and things. I'm not a huge fan of that, I don't like Fallout games as a principle because of that, and I more prefer Elder Scrolls. I like medieval-style things being in medieval-style settings. So I'm not going to be getting that collection.
Uh, Castlevania collection is great! I'm very happy its coming to a new console. Like I said earlier, I don't like 2D action games so I'm not going to be getting it.
And finally, there's a new 2D action game that's actually a remake of a game called Actraiser?? I don't - I've never heard of this, I don't know if anyone is at all interested in this? It looks pretty, I'll give it that. Ummm, sure, thank you...? Thank you, Nintendo.
Uh, the next announcement is for Deltarune Chapter 2 being a free update to Chapter 1, already on the Switch. I need to go back and play Chapter 1, and then also play Chapter 2. I love everything Toby Fox does, Undertale is one of my top 10 favorite games of all time, because of both the OST and the actual, like, messages that come through in both the gameplay as well as the actual plot, and that was a proof of concept for Deltarune, Toby Fox's actual, like, passion project. So the fact that Chapter 2 is now out, it gets my bones, it - it gives me jellies! I'm very - I'm very excited to play it. I just need the time to actually go down and - sit down and play it. Uh.
Next up is the sizzle reel! First title is Hot Wheels Unleashed, I don't like racing games, full stop. There's no particular... There's no particular, like, good thing I can say about them. I don't like them. I think its boring. I think cars are terrible creations that are just deadly and disgusting and I don't like Forza, I don't like the driving, racing parts of GTA, I don't like Hot Wheels, I don't like it. I'm not - not supporting it. Surviving the Aftermath kind of looks like its a boring post-apocalyptic material manager that's a spoof - it looks like its a spoof, parody of games like Starcraft, Warcraft, things like that. But boring. It looks very boring from what they show of it. The next one is Shin Megami Tensei 5 which I already wanna buy, like, I just need a release date for that, please, pretty please! Anything Atlus does I love. Uh, the next one is Wreckfest. Again, I don't like car games. I don't like card games or car games. Um, the Namco collection is once again Pac-Man on yet another console. I'm good. I'm good. If I want to play Pac-Man there's a thousand online resources I can use.
The next title is Rune Factory 5. This is the first I'm hearing about it, uh, and I'm very excited for it. This is one of the simulator games that I really enjoy playing! Its coming out March 20-2022 *gibberish* March 22nd 2022, so, once again, another game that's gonna make my wallet cry. And, something I'm very excited about that, uh, I didn't notice the first time I saw this, is this seems to be the first trailer that's annoucing Rune Factory 5, and the first thing we see is 2 women in a wedding ceremony! I'm very excited about that! The first couple of Rune Factories that was not allowed, and in Harvest Moon games that's fully not allowed. Um. But! I think in the last Rune Factory game, Rune Factory 4, it was allowed but it wasn't advertised, and this trailer in this sizzle reel is the first I'm seeing of Rune Factory 5, and the fact that its even in any promotional material, 2 women getting married, makes me very excited for the gameplay aspect of this game, the romancing aspect of this game, as well as for future titles. Um, Rune Factory is one of the popular, more popular, simulators of the genre, with Story of Seasons/Harvest Moon coming up along as a very close second. And, if this game does really well, uh, the Story of Season developers, Natsume - I believe its Natsume Inc that's making Story of Seasons? Uh, should see that and go, "Oh! People actually want gay in their games! Okay!" I want gay in my games, at least. I'm very excited about that!
Listen. Love is love. Love wins! You can't tell someone that who they love is wrong. That's all I'm gonna say about that for now, because that's a lot of can of worms, and if that makes you angry for whatever reason, if you "disagree" with me for that on whatever reason, please stop listening to this podcast! Thank you. :)
Um, the next announcement, ugh, from Miyamoto! I'm sure everyone has already seen all kinds of memes about this but this is the Mario movie and all the cast announcements. I'm so disappointed at so much of this. Honestly? Honestly? Honestly?!? Fuck everybody except for Jack Black in this movie!!! ...And a couple of the other, like, lesser character voice actors. I hate that Chris Pratt is going to be voicing Mario when they already have Charles Martinet going to be cameoing in the fricking movie! Um. I really hate that the voice of Mario has been given to a homophobe who has not been well-regarded as a good voice actor. He's pretty much, in everything he's been since he first showed up, he's just been "Chris Pratt as blank." I'm not excited about that. Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach I feel like is a little bit of a strange decision? Um, but, Peach has kind of a bland voice so honestly they could have probably picked anybody. They're probably just picking her 'cause she's been really popular lately from Hereditary and Midsommar and a couple of other movies. They probably also picked Chris Pratt becuase he's super popular right now... and like, again: Charles Martinet! Or, like, anybody who, like, has any kind of respect for the role of Mario. This is gonna be the biggest Mario thing EVER, it's a Mario MOVIE made by an actual professional 3D animation studio, and you gave the role to Chris frickin' Pratt. I'm upset. Um.
Charlie Day is gonna be fine as Luigi, he's already shown that he has the chops for acting from Sunny as well as Pacific Rim and he's been a pretty good VA from the past couple of roles he's had that have been VA. He'll be fine. Jack Black as Bowser is probably THE best choice they could have made other than casting Danny DeVito as Wario. Uh, we haven't had no confirmation that is Wario is any - gonna be anywhere in this movie, and if they do have Wario in it, its gotta be Danny DeVito! That's the only way it could be more accurate. Uh, but, Jack Black, I'm really excited to see him play Bowser. That man... That man is like a Swiss Army Knife for acting and I'm - I just always enjoy watching whatever he does.
Um, let's see, what were the other announcements? Keegan Michael-Key as Toad. You can't go wrong with Toad as long as you can do an accurate Toad voice. "Hey, I'm Toad!" Anybody can do it. Um. That being said, Toad is a very easy role to just not be funny and hiring Keegal - *gibberish* - Keegan Michael-Key as the voice of Toad? Good choice. Ensures that that dude is actually very funny.
Speaking of funny, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong is a funny choice because that man is not funny! Donkey Kong doesn't really speak much, so... Hopefully, that's actually a good, a good thing. I'm not excited for that, either, I don't approve of Seth Rogen. He's not, like, a bad person like Chris Pratt is, but, like, he's the kind of guy who, like Adam Sandler, who writes his own movies and then writes himself in as the main character and he gets everything he ever wants without really doing anything. And, yeah, I don't particularly like that! That's - no... You're a barely comedic white man who is mediocre at best. Saying that you deserve good things - all of these good things, like a hot super hot girlfriend and, like, being good at your job, so much so that you can start your own job - like, all these things that happen to the crazy lucky or the crazy rich or, like, just people who are super, you know, like, Elon Musk-levels of, like, OUT there. Like, you're just an average white dude, my dude. Roll back your ego just a tad, please and thank you.
Charles Martinet! He's gonna be in the movie, and he's not gonna be Mario!! I'm upset!
Um, a couple of other roles that are going to be in are Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, and Sebastian Maniscalco - Manis "cal" co? Manis "call" co. I haven't actually hear his last name pronounced, so, uh, I'm sorry if I'm pronouncing that wrong, I'm really sorry!! Uh, he's gonna be playing Spike. And, um. Yeah, I don't have any problems with those, those are - seem very fitting cast choices for me. The only ones I really honestly have legitimate problems with are Chris Pratt as Mario when you have Charles Martinet right fucking there! And Seth Rogen, just being in the movie at all, like. Why? Miyamoto! The decisions you make, I have questions!
Let's see, there's 2 more announcements after this. Uh, I'm just gonna say, um - the next, like, 5 minutes are just gonna be me gushing about Splatoon 3 'cause I, I really love Splatoon. I really love all the music, I'm very much a musical person even though I might not sound like it. One of the things that determines if I really like a game or not is if the OST is good or not. Fucking Splatoon just knocks it out of the park, constantly. The first game was super great, very simple concept that they executed on amazingly! Second game, Splatoon 2, was very much the same but also different, they executed on it extremely well and added into the lore a lot and came out with different music??? That was more R&B kind of - and hip-hop kind of flavor to it in addition to just pop music. I like that they did that. I really like that they did that and that they branched out in terms of both what they can do with the multiplayer and the singleplayer as well as what they can do, like, in terms of pop culture to incorporate into the game. That was a very smart idea, in my opinion. And the fact that we are getting a Splatoon 3 makes me very happy! Um, from the sounds of what I heard in the trailer, it seems like its still mostly gonna be pop music and I'm excited to see what else they incorporate this time. Um.
I'm curious to see what kind - how the multiplayer is different this time. It looks like we already have a couple of different maps. I'm curious to see if Salmon Run will be back at all, because that was honestly my favorite part of multiplayer, is, like, working together to do a specific thing rather than just team fights. Um. I'm very excited - I'm very excited for this game, like, I, er, it doesn't matter what they do with Splatoon, as long as I have a new one, I'll be happy. Um, I'm very excited for this game... The furry squids, though, I have questions about. I have - I have many questions. Why are they furry. What's going on with Easter Island? What's going on with - it - I - I paused the trailer a couple of times because I've been looking at this really close because I'm very excited about it. What's going on with, like, the giant, like, circular mech? It looks like its being driven by Octavio again, I've - I saw his wasabi in the cockpit as well as, like, something red in the clearest screenshot I could take. It looks like it's being piloted by Octavio and someone else. And I'm very curous what that has to do with, uh, the furry squids, the return of the mammalians, and why it looks like the new agent, the new Splatoon kid is waking up on, like, a military rocket silo at the end of the trailer. Like, what's going on there? What's HAPPENING.
Is this - is this continuing off of the stuff that was talked about and explored at the end of Octo Expansion, with, like, the genetic goop??? From Commander What's-His-Face, the talking cell phone, that was supposed to preserve human life, like - what's going on there - trying to find the perfect life form to help resurrect humanity, like... Did he succeed, did he find mammals again??? What's happening, I'm so excited! All we get for a release date for that is sometime in 2022, and I am unbelievably excited to hear more news about that.
Uh - it's - the game takes place in Splatsville, and from the description as well as from some of the imagery we're shown, this looks to be more in of a post-apocalyptic America kind of setting, rather than a post-apocalyptic Japan like the previous 2 games. Yeah, I'm just - I'm super - I'm just - its Splatoon! You can't really go wrong with a formula that ain't broke. Uh, you can just expand on it, and I'm very - I'm very, very, very excited, I'm very excited for this game to come out. I hope its earlier in 2022 and not, you know, like, holiday-time 2022. I hope it doesn't have to compete with Breath of the Wild 2 or any other really good game, I hope it just comes out on its own and people can admire it for the gorgeous awesomeness that it is.
Also, I want it now. Please give it to me now.
Stay Fresh~! Ugh, I love the way that all of the former agents are all together and the way they're dressed and I really hope we get some really good fashion choices. Honestly, I hope we get more weapon customization with this game. We kind of dropped that a little bit in Splatoon 2. Um, we got a lot more weapon options, obviously, but, like, the differences between them were a lot less noticeable, and I really kind of want, like, cosmetic differences, like stickers or skins or stuff like that! That don't have any impact on, like, how much damage they do or how much range they have.
I just want - I just want a lot of customization, and, like, the whole point of Splatoon, other than, like, exploring this interesting world that is post-apocalyptic where squids have - where squids and other cephalopods have inherited the earth and developed legs. It is a exploration of, like, fashion and pop culture in a very Nintendo-style world. I really like that, that's what I really like about Splatoon!
Remind me in the comments - in, on Twitter and my email - remind me to play Splatoon 2 sometime soon so I can talk more about it.
And, finally, our last announcement. Um, I know what this is now. Uh, you should have heard me talking to myself! Uh, trying to predict what this announcement could be. So, my first thought was, based on the architecture of the buildings as well as the specific font of the subtitles, that this was another Monolith Soft game. Which was a idea that was hardened when we saw the creature, that is kind of white with green - white shelling with, like, green sensitive parts and, like, blue ribbon pieces, like scarves and beards and stuff. That all looks like the same - the same stuff as, like, the Pulse, er. Are they called Pulse? The things from Xenoblade Chronicles X that, uh, the BLADE system have to fight. It also looks like the kinds of creatures that are fightable Titans in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. So I thought this was a Monolith title that was either Xenoblade Chronicles 3 or a port of Xenoblade Chronicles X 'cause I haven't seen a lot of Xenoblade Chronicles X. And then we see a pink "P" printed on the back of one of these creatures as it attacks a dog costume worker person. And then we see, in the shadow of the arm blade - the reflection of the arm blade of one of these creatures, a person falling from the sky. Pans up to her, she kicks the monster in the head and then lands, and we see her very recognizable gun heels and black outfit and its Bayonetta 3.
I'm super excited for that! Um. The Bayonetta collection, as far as I'm aware, has not been ported to Switch, its only available on Wii U. And, as far as I'm aware as well, none of the other Bayonetta games are available on Switch, but this one will be, and I'm actually very excited for it. I like Bayonetta's, like, "Just have fun and dance and beat up demons and aliens" kind of stuff that she has going on. I'm excited for this. Uh, we didn't get a firm due date other than 2022. Yeah, I'm excited. There's definitely a lot of people who are far more excited about this than I am. Uhhh, I'm gonna play it though, at some point. I would like to play the first 2 games first, and that might be an issue because I don't know where to get them! 'Cause I don't have a Wii U and I'm not going to buy one! Honestly, the only reason why I would get a Wii U at this point is the 2 Bayonetta games, um, Pikmin - no, not Pikmin 3, Pikmin 3's on the Switch... So's Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. Xenoblade Chronicles X would be one of the other, like, 2 games that I would get for the Wii U, like. I would get a Wii U for 5 games, which - that's a bad investment. Somehow I'll figure out how to play Bayonetta 1 and 2 and then I'll talk about them, and then hopefully I'll do that before this game comes out, and then I can play this game and talk about it some more and, uh, it looks really cool. She turns into, like, a kaiju dragon to fight a demon kaiju thing. It looks really cool, I'm excited.
2022. On a background of red moon that gets slashed apart by some dude? Who looks like I should recognize him but don't? I haven't seen any Tweets or any videos, either, explaining who this person is, so I imagine this is someone who Bayonetta recognizes but we as an audience don't. Um.
Yeah, that's the last of the announcements, there's only a couple of extra titles - er, a couple of extra seconds, rather, in the Direct, which, um, are just Koizumi-san thanking everybody for showing up. And, um, let's see. The things that I am most excited for are... Kirby and the Forbidden Land, uh, Age of Calamity DLC - that's coming out at the end of October, I'm super excited about that - let's see, what else, what else, what else. I'm SUPER excited for the Brewster update and Splatoon 3. Ummmm. Deltarune - that was cool.
Can I just mention, wha -wh-wh-what was with Toby Fox being like, "Hey, the Undertale 6 year anniversary is this week, so instead we're gonna play Deltarune Chapter 1! Oh, by the way, we finished playing Deltarune Chapter 1 and Deltarune Chapter 2 comes out tomorrow, bye!" I admire the gusto it takes to do that, the sheer cajones, but also, what? Why. Why? Who told you you could do that...? They lied! You cannot! I do appreciate the shadow drop, though, and I wish Nintendo did more of that stuff. Of just like, "Hey! We've been working on this game for forever, this is the first your heary abouting - hearing about it, and it's available next week." That'd be great!
Umm.
Let's see, what else am I excited for... I already mentioned Brewster, love Brewster; I'm excited for Shin Megami Tensei - we don't have an announcement date for that; I'm excited for Rune Factory 5 because it looks gay and also just the same formula but better - that's coming out in March. Ummmmmm. Bayonetta 3 and Splatoon 3. That - yeah. That about wraps it up. There's a couple - there were - and Metroid Dread, of course, if I hadn't mentioned that already. There were quite a few titles in there that I was very excited for. Um. You know. You win some, you lose some, with every Direct because they want to try to announce as much as they possibly can for everybody to be excited about.
I'm excited for a lot of things. Nintendo is doing good, and I'm happy to see that the pandemic hasn't interfered with their processes too much, um. So yeah.
I think that's going to wrap up all of my thoughts on today's - er, yesterday's Direct, all of my thoughts on today's episode, I feel like I'm just rambling at this point, so its definitely a good time to wrap up! Um. Just a reminder, all of the links to today's - all of the links to everything - my Twitter, my Patreon, my business email - are going to be in the description, as well as the links to today's, uh, opening and ending themes, which respectively are Lost in Sound the Magic Release by ROY KNOX, all caps, and Yoros the Magic Release by Yusuf Alev. Links to those will be in the description. The hashtag to talk to me on Twitter today will be #VGTDirect21. All 4 of those first letters are capitals. And I hope to talk to you guys about some more - some of the things that YOU found interesting from this Direct online! With all that being said, I hope guys have a great day and stay awesome!