The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening Remake for Switch Announced

Nintendo has announced a full remake for the Game Boy classic The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening for the Nintendo Switch.

Link’s Awakening for Switch is planned for a 2019 release. In its reveal trailer, Nintendo showed a recreated cutscene version of the Game Boy opening of Link’s Awakening, seeing Link wash ashore on Koholint Island after a storm destroys his boat.

Nintendo’s reveal also showcased gameplay and the brand new art style. Link’s Awakening on Switch retains a top-down camera style but set in a world realized in fully 3D animation. Characters are 3D models, and the art style is new to the series. (Some of us in the IGN office have compared it to the claymation characters of Frosty the Snowman.)

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Zelda: Link’s Awakening Remake Announced For Switch

If you haven’t already, you can catch up on all the biggest news from the latest Nintendo Direct here, but the showstopper was new Zelda game for the Switch. Nintendo closed out its latest Direct presentation by unveiling a remake of the beloved Game Boy game The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, which is being “reborn as a new experience” on the hybrid console later this year.

Nintendo didn’t share many details about the Link’s Awakening remake, but it retains the same top-down perspective as the original, making it the first new 2D Zelda game for Switch. It also features a visual style reminiscent of A Link Between Worlds, the 3DS follow-up to A Link to the Past.

Link’s Awakening originally launched for Game Boy back in 1993, with an updated color version (dubbed Link’s Awakening DX) following in 1998. Unlike most other games in the series, it isn’t set in Hyrule, but rather the mysterious Koholint Island. After being shipwrecked, Link washes ashore the island and can only escape by retrieving eight magical instruments and waking the isle’s guardian, the Wind Fish.

Nintendo announced a ton of other Switch games during its latest direct presentation, including Super Mario Maker 2, which is slated to launch this June. As promised, we also got a closer look at Fire Emblem: Three Houses, which is now coming to Switch on July 26.

Assassin’s Creed 3 Remastered Announced for Nintendo Switch

Nintendo and Ubisoft have announced Assassin’s Creed 3 Remastered will be available for the Nintendo Switch this year.

The Assassin’s Creed 3 remaster package will feature the main game, all of AC3’s DLC, as well as Assassin’s Creed Liberation Remastered, and will be made available on May 21.

Ubisoft first announced Assassin’s Creed 3 Remastered as part of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s DLC season pass. The remaster, also available separately on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, features both games — 3 and Liberation — fully remastered in 4K and with HDR functionality on those systems. Ubisoft has also added higher-resolution textures and improved gameplay mechanics to AC3.

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Assassin’s Creed 3 Remaster’s Nintendo Switch Release Date Confirmed

Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed III Remaster will be available on Nintendo Switch on May 21. The confirmation was provided during the Nintendo Direct, and confirms rumors from earlier in the year. The game has already been confirmed for release on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on March 29.

Alongside an updated version of Assassin’s Creed III, the package will include a remaster of PlayStation Vita title Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation, and the Tyranny of King Washington DLC. For those that have Assassin’s Creed Odyssey‘s season pass, this remaster will be available at no extra cost. The Switch version will have new gameplay features such as aiming using motion control, and some touch-based gameplay too.

Assassin’s Creed III was first released for PS3, Xbox 360, PC, and Wii U in 2012. We awarded the game an 8.5/10 in our Assassin’s Creed III review; critic Kevin VanOrd said it “expands the series’ gameplay in enjoyable and sensible ways.”

He added: “Assassin’s Creed III is a big game that gives you a lot to do, some of which is fleshed out relatively well, and some of which isn’t. It is not, however, content to rest on the series’ laurels. It takes chances with its opening, with its story, and with its characters.

“As with many ambitious games, not every arrow fired hits the bull’s-eye, yet this big, narratively rich sequel is easy to get invested in. Other games stimulate emotion with manipulative music and teary monologues; Assassin’s Creed III rouses your mind and your heart by giving you a glimpse into its characters’ souls and letting you judge them on their own merits.”

Final Fantasy 9 Out Today On Switch, Final Fantasy 7 Coming Next Month

Back in September, Square Enix announced it will bring a slate of modern-era Final Fantasy games to Nintendo Switch (as well as Xbox One) in 2019, including the classic PS One entries Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy IX. The former was recently featured in a new Switch commercial that teased it would hit the console “soon,” and now we know exactly when.

During the latest Direct presentation, Nintendo revealed that Final Fantasy VII is launching for Switch next month, on March 26. The spin-off Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon: Every Buddy is also set to arrive next month, on March 20, but fans won’t have to wait that long to play Final Fantasy IX; that game will be available in the Switch Eshop later today, February 13.

Beyond those titles, Square Enix is also bringing Final Fantasy X, X-2, and XII: The Zodiac Age to both Switch and Xbox One this year. The X and X-2 HD Remaster collection will arrive on April 16, with Final Fantasy XII following several weeks later, on April 30. The publisher has also previously announced a PS4 and Switch port of Final Fantasy: The Crystal Chronicles, but no release date has been confirmed yet.

That wasn’t the only Square Enix news to come out of the latest Nintendo Direct. We also learned that Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age Definitive Edition will launch for Switch this fall, while the Minecraft-like spin-off Dragon Quest Builders 2 is coming on July 12.

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice Announced for Nintendo Switch

Nintendo’s February 13 Direct offered plenty of surprises, including the reveal that the originally PS4-console-exclusive Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice will be coming to the Nintendo Switch in 2019.

Revealed during a suite of third-party announcements for Switch, Nintendo confirmed that Ninja Theory’s third-person action-exploration game will be released for the Switch this spring.

Hellblade originally came to the PS4 and PC in 2017, followed by a release on Xbox One in 2018.

Hellblade follows Senua, a celtic warrior on a quest into Helheim. The adventure takes advantage of binaural audio design to create a sense of 3D sound that is intrinsically tied to the main character, who suffers from psychosis and hears voices throughout her journey.

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Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice Announced For Nintendo Switch

During the February 2019 Nintendo Direct, the company announced that Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice will be getting a Switch release. The acclaimed action game, which explores mental illness in a Norse mythology setting, has a release window of Spring 2019.

Nintendo didn’t provide many details about the port during the presentation. Hellblade was originally a PlayStation 4 console exclusive (that was also available on PC), and it came to Xbox One in April 2018.

GameSpot awarded it an 8/10 in our Hellblade review, calling it “a spellbinding and sympathetic game about loss and redemption.” It was also one of GameSpot’s top 10 games of 2017.

Stay tuned for more news from the Nintendo Direct, which began with the announcement of Super Mario Maker 2 for Switch. We also learned a lot more about Fire Emblem: Three Houses, including a release date.

Deltarune: Chapter 1 Announced For Switch, Will Be Free

During a Nintendo Direct packed with big Switch news, the company also revealed that Toby Fox’s Deltarune will be coming to the handheld and console hybrid. Chapter 1 of the Undertale follow-up will be available for free, while later chapters–which are “currently in development”–will not. In true Toby Fox fashion, the announcement was made with “a censored, spoiler-free trailer” featuring tons of Undertale’s Annoying Dog, which was later confirmed to not be in Deltarune at such high quantities.

Undertale, which first released on PC in 2015, came to Switch in September 2018. Deltarune: Chapter 1 is getting its port much more quickly; it first released late last year on PC to a very excited Undertale fanbase. Toby Fox stated that the game is far from finished and that Chapter 1 is a demo for what’s hopefully to come.

Deltarune: Chapter 1 will release on the Switch Eshop on February 28. We loved what we saw when we first played it on PC.

In other Direct news, Nintendo has announced Super Mario Maker 2 for Switch and given far more details about Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

A Battle Royale Tetris Is Coming to Nintendo Switch Today

A new battle royale is coming, but you’ll need to sharpen your Tetris skills to survive among the pack.

Nintendo revealed Tetris 99 during its Feb. 13 Direct, which will be available later today as a free-to-play game for Nintendo Switch Online members.

Tetris 99 sees 99 players competing in a game of Tetris — completing lines will cause blocks to fill up the screens of opponents. Do your best to prevent your screen from filling up and persevere as the crowd of 99 players is whittled down each time to just one winner.

Tetris 99, naturally, features online competitive play, and will feature upcoming events to keep the experience fresh.

Tetris 99 is, of course, not the only recent surprise battle royale game. Respawn Entertainment’s Apex Legends, which features first-person shooting rather than 2D puzzle block building, launched as a free-to-play experience last week, and has seen impressive player counts since its launch.

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Marvel Revives the Original Star Wars Comic

Marvel Comics is going old-school with its latest Star Wars project. Today the publisher announced that it’s reviving the original Star Wars comic for one month.

As revealed by Comicbook.com, Marvel will publish Star Wars #108 in May 2019. Not only will this standalone issue pick up where the original series left off, it’ll even feature the return of classic Marvel characters like Jaxxon, Domina Tagge and Valance the Hunter.

Star Wars #108 cover by Walt Simonson. (Marvel Comics) Star Wars #108 cover by Walt Simonson. (Marvel Comics)

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