Skip to main content

Everything announced at the June 2022 Nintendo Direct Mini Partner Showcase

Lagging behind a strong State of Play from Sony and an excellent Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase from Microsoft, Nintendo has now held a presentation of its own. It’s not a full-blown Nintendo Direct, though. Instead, this June 28 presentation is a Nintendo Direct Mini Partner Showcase, the first of its kind since 2020. As the showcase’s name suggests, this is shorter than a typical Nintendo Direct and mainly focused on what third-party developers and publishers are bringing to Nintendo Switch in the coming months. 

As Nintendo has said that this presentation would contain “roughly 25 minutes of info on upcoming third-party #NintendoSwitch games” on Twitter, don’t expect the likes of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 or Metroid Prime 4 to show up here. Still, there are plenty of cool games like Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope that make an appearance here, and we have a clearer idea of what the biggest third-party Nintendo Switch games of 2022 are. We kept track of everything announced during the Nintendo Direct Mini Partner Showcase, so you can look below and see everything Nintendo and its partners revealed throughout the event.

Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase | 6.28.2022

Nier Automata is coming to Nintendo Switch

nier automata robot fight
Nier: Automata/Square Enix

In one of the most notable announcements of this Partner Showcase, we learned that the critically acclaimed Nier Automata is finally coming to Nintendo Switch. It’s one of PlatinumGames’ best titles and has an amazing story, so be sure to check this out on Switch if you haven’t already. It’s also a native port, and not a cloud version either. Nier Automata: The End of YoRHa Edition launches on October 6.

First look at Return to Monkey Island gameplay

Return to Monkey Island | Gameplay Reveal Trailer

After it was confirmed earlier this year, we finally got a deeper look at Return to Monkey Island’s story and gameplay. It’s got a distinct and pretty new art style and looks faithful to how the old Monkey Island games play, so hopefully, it lives up to series fans’ lofty expectations. It will be released in 2022.

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope release date confirmed

Mario, Rabbid Peach, and more characters pose in Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope key art.
Ubisoft

Although the Nintendo Direct Mini’s biggest announcement lost a bit of its thunder because of a leak, it’s still cool that we finally got a release date for Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope. We got a general gameplay overview to learn how its turn-based strategy battle works and learned that Bowser will be a party member. It’s definitely going to be one of the most notable Switch releases this fall. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope launches on October 20, 2022.

Live A Live gets a demo

LIVE A LIVE - Nintendo Switch

Ahead of its launch next month, Nintendo and Square Enix released a demo for Live A Live. It contains the start of three chapters: Imperial China, Twilight of Edo Japan, and The Distant Future. Any progress made in this demo can be carried over to the full release of this HD-2D remake. 

Dragon Quest Treasures gameplay revealed

A player runs with monsters in Dragon Quest Treasures.
Square Enix

We actually learned how the interesting spin-off Dragon Quest Treasures would play during the showcase. It blends the Dragon Quest series’ traditional RPG elements with those of a platformer or adventure game as players look for treasure and engage in real-time action combat. Dragon Quest Treasures will be released on December 9.

Persona 3, 4, and 5 are coming to Nintendo Switch

Persona Series — Announce Trailer | Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, PC, Nintendo Switch

Following up on the exciting Xbox announcement earlier this month, we learned that Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 5 Royal are all coming to Nintendo Switch as well. These ports have been demanded for a long time, so it’s nice to finally get them. Persona 5 Royal releases on Nintendo Switch on October 21, while Persona 4 Golden and Persona 3 Portable don’t have release dates just yet.

Everything else

  • Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak got a launch trailer
  • Puzzle adventure game Lorelei and The Laser Eyes was announced as a 2023 launch exclusive for Nintendo Switch. 
  • Super Bomberman R 2 was announced with a 2023 release window.
  • Megaman Battle Network: Legacy Collection announced with 2023 release window.
  • Pac-Man World Re-Pac, a remake of the classic 3D platformer, was announced and launches on August 26. 
  • Text-free animal adventure game Blanc announced with a February 2023 release window.
  • Little Noah: Scion of Paradise was announced and released today on Switch.
  • Railgrade was announced by Epic Games and launches later this year.
  • RPG Time: The Legend of Wright will get ported to Nintendo Switch on August 18.
  • We got a look at the more traditional Cyber stages in Sonic Frontiers.
  • Disney Dreamlight Valley got a gameplay overview and will launch on September 6 as one of the platform’s first early access games.
  • Doraemon Story of Seasons: Friends of the Great Kingdom was announced and launches later this year.
  • We got a look at Minecraft Legends gameplay on Nintendo Switch. 
  • Captain Velvet Meteor: The Jump+ Dimension got a July 28 Nintendo Switch release date.
  • Portal: Companion Collection releases for Nintendo Switch today. 
  • Harvestella was announced by Square Enix with a November 4 release date.
Tomas Franzese
Gaming Staff Writer
Tomas Franzese is a Staff Writer at Digital Trends, where he reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…
The best Bethesda games of all time
Soldiers about to fight with a giant in the background.

Bethesda is one of the rare cases of a game developer finding so much success that it branched out to become one of the biggest publishers in the Western gaming market. While not quite as gigantic as the likes of Activision or EA, Bethesda has a great stable of developers, itself included, that have made some of the most ambitious games on the market. Whether it's the cutting-edge technology coming out of ID Software, the high-octane FPS action of Machine Games, or even the more experimental titles from Arkane, Bethesda's name is attached to far more than just its high-profile RPG series.

Since it was acquired by Microsoft, all of Bethesda's games, including the games made by the studios under it, will be console-exclusive to the X-box platform moving forward. However, there is a long history of games already released for multiple platforms, and between all the studios Bethesda is in charge of, there are games of all types to check out. You will obviously know the major players here, such as The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, but there are way more Bethesda games that are just as good. That's why we've rounded up this list of the best Bethesda games of all time.

Read more
Best gaming PC deals: Powerful gaming rigs from $600
young woman playing video games on a PC

A desktop PC offers a lot that even the best laptops can’t offer, such as expanded connectivity and the ability to swap upgraded components in the future. These features are especially handy if you’re a gamer. The best gaming PCs are a worthy investment if that’s the case, and it’s always worth searching through the best gaming PC deals if you’re in the market for an upgrade, or if you’re building a gaming setup from scratch. There are a lot of great gaming PC deals currently available, and they include brands like HP, Alienware, Lenovo, and Asus. We’ve rounded them all up, so give them a look and throw the savings at some of the best PC games.
HP OMEN 25L — $600, was $900

The HP OMEN 25L is one of the most popular gaming PCs on the market, as it offers some great value. Like all of the best desktop computers, it’s fully customizable, meaning you can purchase it at this great price and upgrade internal components if you need to in the future. This build has some good specs as it is, however, offering an Intel i3 processor, 8GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 graphics card. This is a great option for gamers on a budget, and it’s more than enough hardware to get you going if you’re new to the gaming world.

Read more
This deal gets you a PS5 for less than $470
The Playstation 5 system standing upright.

One of the best PlayStation deals is perfect if you don't mind buying a refurbished model. Over at Back Market, you can buy the PlayStation 5 for only $463 for a good-condition console. It's a refurbished model so it's been previously owned, however, it's verified to be fully working and comes with a one-year warranty so it's not much different compared to buying new. Your console will be repaired or replaced in the first year if the worst happens. Sounds appealing? Keep reading while we tell you more about the PlayStation 5.

Why you should buy the PlayStation 5
The Sony PlayStation 5 meets the expectations we all have of the latest game consoles. It loads games within mere seconds with the best PS5 games being something truly special and including titles like Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Gran Turismo 7, and God of War: Ragnarok.

Read more