What was the best game at the June 2024 Nintendo Direct?

The Wednesday letters page is very angry that the Nintendo Direct was so good, as one reader plans to spend the weekend with Shadow Of The Erdtree.

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Unpredictably good
I know they always say that you shouldn’t try and predict Nintendo but who would’ve imagined that this week’s Nintendo Direct would be this good? I knew when it opened with Mario & Luigi that it would be good, since nobody leaked that and they could’ve ended on it, but then they just keep announcing more things, and only one remaster – and even that wasn’t one of the ones people expected.

My favourite announcements were Zelda and Metroid Prime 4. Zelda where you actually play as Zelda is long overdue and I love the sound of the new echo mechanic. It seems really clever and should allow for some great sandbox style puzzles. I also like how Zelda isn’t just doing Link stuff but has her own gimmicks. It seems much more like a proper game than that recent Princess Peach one.

Metroid Prime 4 looked great too. Not much to judge though, other than the graphics which… were they Switch 2 or not? I could see arguments for both sides, which is probably exactly what Nintendo was counting on. A great show all round and I love that the Switch is not slowly dying but going out with a bang.
Baskin

Annoyingly good
I’m mildly annoyed with Nintendo for that Direct. Firstly, because I had prepared myself for there being nothing much of note on the horizon until the Switch successor is released, so I would save a bit of cash in the meantime. There are now at least three games I will probably end up buying.

Secondly, I was happy to spend time filling out my tattle log on Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door but they’ve added Turok, Perfect Dark, and Metroid: Zero Mission to online expansion. I haven’t played the first two for decades and have never played Zero Mission before, so all of them probably mean the tattle log will remain unfilled for now.
John Atkinson

Backlog extension
Thanks Nintendo, for just emptying my piggy bank!

There I was, thinking Sony have nothing and I don’t own an Xbox, so no need to worry there, and I’ve got a lovely little backlog of Switch games to tide me over until next year when, suddenly, they drop a Direct and blow me away. Again.

Metroid! Zelda! Dragon Quest! Fantasian! Mario & Luigi! And lots more…

I’ve no idea how I’ll either afford it or have time to play it all, but, whatever way you look at it, Nintendo have demonstrated once again that they’ve got the magic and didn’t even need to mention any new console, even going so far as to tell us they weren’t even going to talk about it beforehand. Thought that was overconfidence, but no, they had more than anyone else to drop and virtually nothing had leaked.

How on earth they will top that Direct with the new machine in 2025 is beyond me.
ZiPPi

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Female leads
Nice to see that the two biggest announcements at the Nintendo Direct both involved female protagonists and in a way that I don’t think any reasonable person would complain about. Samus looked badass as usual and an actual Zelda game is well overdue.

I really liked the Tri Rod gimmick for Zelda too. It means she won’t just be Link but with a different look, but she’ll still be able to fight and puzzle in new and interesting ways. A really good Direct, with far more games of interest than I expected. Maybe it wasn’t better than Xbox, but it absolutely slayed Sony’s event and the boring Summer Game Fest.
Zeiss

Slow but steady
Bravo FromSoftware, bravo. You’ve outdone yourselves. Like I’ve said before, I’ve literally just started Elden Ring but I’ll keep making progress, no matter how long it’ll take me and it will take me a long time. The grind always does. I’ll hopefully be skilled enough to defeat Radahn and Mohg, then I can see what Shadow Of The Erdtree has to offer.

That’s why I won’t be buying it straight away, since I understand the DLC will be more difficult and I’m not the greatest of players. Trust me. I make it a point to hide behind my shield and dodge as much as I can. But It’s on my list and I absolutely can’t wait to dive in. Black Myth: Wukong, you’re first.
Shahzaib Sadiq

Universal praise
Not at all surprised to see the universal praise for Elden Ring’s Shadow Of The Erdtree, but it is reassuring to know that FromSoftware are in that rare group of developers who have never really made a dud. I’d put them in the same company as Naughty Dog, Nintendo EAD, and Larian Studios.

Sure, some of their games are better than others but I don’t think I’ve ever seen them make an actual bad one. From may actually be the most consistent of them, as I think only Dark Souls 2 has come anywhere close to being a disappointment.

As someone that thoroughly enjoyed Elden Ring there wasn’t much that was going to stop me from buying Shadow Of The Erdtree, except maybe universally bad reviews. Unsurprisingly we got the opposite and I couldn’t be more excited.

I’ve made sure I’ve got full access to Mohg’s little mausoleum already and will be travelling to the Land of Shadow as soon as I get off work on Friday. It may be some time till I leave!
Austin
PS: Once again, we see that the best games have review embargoes that are several days before the game is out. That show of confidence is almost more convincing than the reviews themselves. And the opposite is also true, with publishers who clearly know they’ve got a flop on their hands.

May to December
So I see Microsoft and Nintendo must still be on good speaking terms if Nintendo are doing a port of Perfect Dark, and it even has online multiplayer.

Normally I’d applaud cooperation in the games industry, but I can’t help feeling that Microsoft is taking the role of the two-faced young upstart, trying to take advantage of an older relative. I can just imagine them trying to talk Nintendo into cloud gaming or letting them have Game Pass on the Switch 2. I feel confident that Nintendo isn’t going to fall for that though.
Trepsils

Show don’t tell
An absolutely great Nintendo Direct and with some genuine surprises, even if the Zelda one had slightly been known about before. I really like the echo concept though and I think this could end up being a very distinct game, which is nice to see.

I really respect the fact that Nintendo didn’t just make it a Link style adventure in all but name but actually thought up a brand new style of gameplay, which justified the change in character. I really liked the look of it and will almost certainly be getting it.

For me the most exciting game though was Metroid Prime 4. Not just because I’ve been waiting for it all this time but because it looked really nice and… I’m convinced that was the Switch 2 version.

I really don’t see how you can get graphics like that on the Switch, so either it was some pre-rendered trailer using ‘in-game assets’, which Nintendo doesn’t usually do, or it was running on a Switch 2. Or more likely a PC emulating a Switch 2, because that’s how games get made.

Some of the texture work and detailing looked far too good for the current Switch and yet overall it seemed maybe a bit better than a PlayStation 4, which I think is where the rumours have said the new console is at.

Nintendo said they wouldn’t talk about the Switch 2, but they never said they wouldn’t show it and I think they have. I think we can book Metroid Prime 4 as a cross-gen Switch 2 launch title now and I can’t wait!
Ashton Marley

Inbox also-rans
I’m going to be honest, I had no idea there was an Uncharted movie. Aren’t the two leads both a bit too young for the roles? Neither of them looks like their character.
Barclay

Kudos for the Elden Ring director wanting to protect his workers. I’ve always liked Japanese games more than most Western ones but now I have good reason to do so just on principle.
Caliban

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The small print
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