In the lead-up to its highly-anticipated Switch 2 reveal on 2 April, Nintendo has dedicated the last hurrah for its current-gen hybrid console and upcoming titles. The 37-minute Nintendo Direct livestream, held on 27 March 2025, treated fans to a slew of new announcements and debut trailers, from unexpected sequels to heavyweight releases.
Leading the charge are Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, which received new gameplay footage and confirmed a previously revealed 2025 launch window; Pokémon Legends: Z-A, introducing the Z-A Royale, a tournament that pits the player against NPC trainers and promotes them to the next rank upon victory; and follow-ups to classic series like Tomodachi Life and Rhythm Heaven. The next Pokémon instalment is due to bow in late 2025, while the latter two will arrive sometime in 2026.
Plenty of love was shown for the rhythm genre, with Rift of the Necrodancer, Patapon 1+2 Replay, and more getting their fair share of the spotlight. Elsewhere, the cosy game fever continues to pick up through Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar and Witchbrook, arriving on 27 August and this holiday, respectively.
The company also unveiled Virtual Game Cards, a new lending and sharing system for digital titles, alongside the Nintendo Today app that delivers news, comics, and information to users, available for download now.
Amid the Nintendo Direct showcase, a sizzle reel featuring select forthcoming titles locked in a couple of dates, including High on Life (10 May), Star Overdrive (10 April), The Wandering Village (17 July), King of Meat (2025), Lou’s Lagoon Summer (2025), Fantasy Life I: The Girl Who Steals Time (21 May), and SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered (available now).
Here are the trailers for all previously highlighted games (in order of mention and excluding the sizzle reel):
As for the remaining announcements, the complete list is as follows:
- Dragon Quest 1 & 2 Remake, releasing 2025
- AI The Somnium Files: No Sleep for Kaname Date spin-off, releasing 25 July 2025
- RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army, coming 19 June 2025
- Shadow Labyrinth, due 18 July 2025
- Disney Villians Cursed Cafe, available now
- The Eternal Life of Goldman, releasing Holiday 2025
- Gradius Origins, arriving 7 August 2025
- Tamagotchi Plaza, releasing 27 June 2025
- Monument Valley, coming 15 April
- Everybody’s Golf: Hot Shots, available 2025
- Marvel Cosmic Invasion, releasing Holiday 2025
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Marion Frayna
Jake Su
