Nintendo Direct Round-Up: Xenoblade, Zelda, Fire Emblem, more - plus Cloud Strife

by Alex Donaldson on 13 November, 2015

Nintendo's three major offices around the world just held a 'Nintendo Direct' event, showcasing a whole lot of news and information on their latest titles - and among it all was a whole lot of RPG goodness. We've got the scoop in a series of news posts across the site, but here in this post you can find everything summarized, plus some RPG and RPG-related tidbits we didn't see fit to slot into a fully-fledged news story of their own.

Without further ado, here we go. Here is the news:

On the Site:

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD set to release on March 4th, 2016. It's being developed by Tantalus, the team responsible for the excellent Wii U port of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. It features updated graphics, of course, and Amiibo support. No word on gameplay tweaks, but we'd hope for that too. [ Full Story / Screenshots / Trailer ]
Dragon Quest VII and Dragon Quest VIII are coming to the 3DS in the West at last. They're both arriving in 2016 and based on the first pre-order pages on Amazon appear to be being published by Nintendo. [ Full Story / Screenshots ]
Fire Emblem Fates has been dated for February 12th . The game comes in two physical flavors plus a downloadable expansion chapter. There's a complicated way of buying both versions and also a nifty new special edition which includes all three versions. [ Full Story / Screenshots / Images ]
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks are out now on the Wii U eShop... but only in Europe. These DS Zelda titles can be picked up now on the Virtual Console, and there's even a discount for buying both. [ Full Story ]
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam is out January 22nd 2016 in North America and December 4th in Europe. There's new screenshots and a new trailer through the jump as well. [ Full Story / Screenshots / Trailer ]
Final Fantasy Explorers will arrive West on January 26th, 2016, and has a nifty special edition coming too. The Collector's Edition is available for pre-order now and is a limited deal. [ Full Story / Images ]
Xenoblade X got a ton of new screenshots and another trailer ahead of its launch, which is just a matter of weeks away. You can see this latest update on the beautiful looking title in our full story. [ Full Story / Screenshots / Trailer ]

Extra News Drops

Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon is coming to the Nintendo DS on November 20th. The game retails for just $39.99 and features turn-based battles but from the perspective of the Pokemon themselves. It features all 720 creatures.
The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes is getting more free DLC on December 2nd. The DLC adds Linebeck's uniform and the Fierce Deity outfits, tributes to old Zelda titles, plus a new Den of Trials with an additional 30 challenging stages. Balance changes and improvements to the online experience are also included.
Hyrule Warriors: Legends brings Koei Tecmo's hack-and-slash Zelda spin-off to the Nintendo 3DS on March 25th, and adds additional content. Included for the first time is Tetra, Toon Link and the King of Hyrule from Wind Waker and Skull Kid from Majora's Mask. In addition to all this new character Linkle joins the fray. Essentially a female take on the series' iconic protagonist, Linkle wields dual crossbows. The game retails for $39.99, and as previously announced picking it up allows players to unlock the additional content in Hyrule Warriors for Wii U.
Pokemon Blue, Red and Yellow are returning - as downloadable titles on the Nintendo eShop for 3DS come February 27th. Poke-fans will be able to download the original three Pokemon titles on the very same day the original titles first released in Japan in 1996 - and trading Pokemon has been rebuilt to work with the 3DS wireless communication.
Project X Zone 2 hits the Nintendo 3DS on February 16th, and adds some Nintendo RPG stars to the roster. Chrom and Lucina from Fire Emblem Awakneing and Fiora from Xenoblade Chronicles are available as party members in the game.
The Legend of Zelda for Wii U has been reconfirmed for its 2016 release, though no tighter window was given. Nintendo also confirmed that the game would be compatible with the new Wolf Link Amiibo designed for use with Twilight Princess HD.
Iconic Final Fantasy VII hero Cloud Strife is headed to Smash Bros as a downloadable character. Despite the title that made him famous never appearing on Nintendo platforms (though he has appeared in Kingdom Hearts titles, Theatrhythm and now FF Explorers for 3DS, Cloud is joining the world of Nintendo's iconic fighter. He comes with a slew of recognizable moves and a new stage - Midgar. No date was announced for the download, but Nintendo scheduled a new Smash-specific Direct for next month. For now, check out the trailer below.