Nintendo Direct June 2026: Zelda Remake, Fire Emblem, Kingdom Hearts IV and More

The June Nintendo Direct has come and gone, and honestly, it was a strange one. Not bad, just a little uneven in how it handled some pretty massive reveals. There were third-party games, long-awaited RPG upgrades, some family-friendly sports content, and then, right at the end, the kind of announcement that makes the internet lose its mind for 48 hours straight.

Here's a full rundown of everything that went down and why the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct ended up being more of a slow burn than a banger from start to finish. Right out of the gate, the Nintendo Direct made it clear that third parties are very much on board with this platform.

One of the first games shown was Onimusha: Way of the Sword.

It's coming on day one, September 25. It'll also have Joy-Con motion controls baked in, which is either a neat feature or something you'll ignore entirely depending on how you feel about motion controls in action games. The demo that's been available on other platforms has been a lot of fun, so the main concern here is just how steady the frame rate and resolution will hold up on Switch 2. That said, having it ready for launch day is a good look.

Pokémon Pokopia also got some attention during the Nintendo Direct, with both a free update and a paid Expansion Pass DLC on the way. The free update, arriving in August 2026, opens up underwater building for your towns, which genuinely does expand how much space you're working with.

The paid DLC is rolling out in three waves: the first part, called Bubbly Basin, dropped today; the second part arrives later in 2026; and the third part comes in 2027. The game has already pulled in a serious amount of hours from people who got into it, so more content is going to land well with that crowd.

Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave was another notable showing. The game follows four heroes, Kai, Dietrich, Theodora, and Lita, each with their own storyline to follow. It's a strategy turn-based RPG, which is exactly what you'd expect from Fire Emblem, but there's also a free-roaming overworld component where you can explore, find treasures, and level up your characters between battles.

It's set for September 17, and it's clearly part of Nintendo's plan to build toward the holiday season in an organized way.

Speaking of building toward the holidays, the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct also laid out what's on the calendar more broadly. Splatoon Raiders is coming next month. Star Fox is dropping later this month and comes with a free demo, which is worth grabbing. Then you have Fire Emblem in September and Nintendo Switch Sports Resort in October. Nintendo is pacing things out in a way that makes the back half of 2026 look genuinely well-stocked.

On the Nintendo Switch Online side of things, there's a new feature called DK Challenge, which runs from June 9 to September 1. The concept is that you complete challenges in classic retro titles like Donkey Kong Country on the Super Nintendo, and when you do, you earn collectible cards as rewards. It's limited-time, but the structure of it, actually completing specific tasks rather than just logging hours, is interesting.

It's as close to a system-level achievement setup as Nintendo has ever come, and it makes you wonder if they're quietly testing the waters for something more permanent down the line. Also tucked in here: Donkey Kong Bananza is getting Mario and Luigi crossover outfits.

Then there's Xenoblade. The Nintendo Direct confirmed that Xenoblade Chronicles 1, 2, and 3 are all getting Switch 2 enhanced editions. You're looking at 4K 60 FPS when docked and 1080p 60 FPS in handheld mode, with additional features shown for each game. The first game gets its update later today. The second follows on July 30, and the third arrives December 3.

The biggest visual win is probably Xenoblade Chronicles 2, which has always struggled a bit in this department.

Actually being able to see characters' faces clearly is going to change how that game feels. The third entry already looks solid on the original hardware, so the enhanced version is going to be a noticeable step up. And then there's a brand new entry announced during the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct: Xenoblade Genesis.

It takes place in an academy setting and has a visual style that occasionally draws comparisons to Fire Emblem, though it still feels like its own thing. Monolith Soft has a track record of building massive open worlds, and there's no reason to expect anything different here. It's coming in 2027, and it's the kind of announcement that will have fans very excited.

Nintendo Switch Sports Resort came up next. Bowling, boxing, basketball, golf, and table tennis are all in. You can use your Mii characters, and there's a thumb-wrestling mode that went on a bit longer during the presentation than it probably needed to. This isn't the kind of game that gets hardcore players talking, but Nintendo knows exactly what it's doing here; this is the game you set up when people who don't normally play games come over for the holidays. It'll sell well. It's out October 22.

Final Fantasy Resonance is the first Final Fantasy game done in the HD-2D art style, and it's a pretty compelling concept. The game pulls in characters from across the Final Fantasy franchise as summons, and during the presentation they showed Cloud from Final Fantasy VII Remake appearing alongside the HD-2D visuals, which created a sharp but interesting contrast between the two styles. That one's also out October 22. There's something genuinely fun about the idea of uncovering which characters from across the series have been included. 

The Duskbloods got maybe 30 seconds of screen time, with a closed network test announced for summer 2026.

The short treatment is a little odd given that the game is reportedly meant to launch this year. It either means there's a dedicated Direct coming sometime before or after the network test where they'll properly reveal a release date, or the game has quietly shifted to 2027. Neither would be surprising, but the low-key presentation for what should be a major release is noticeable.

Kingdom Hearts IV, though, got a proper moment. Fans have been patient with this one, and seeing it confirmed during the Nintendo Direct with a day-one Switch 2 launch is a big deal, especially for people who have only had access to cloud versions of the series. The Switch 2 versions will be native, and save data from the cloud versions will carry over. Those launch on October 8.

And then the closeout. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is getting a remake; Nintendo actually confirmed it. The reveal was brief, maybe ten seconds of footage showing Link asleep at the opening of the game, but what was shown points toward a more realistic visual direction, something closer to the Twilight Princess approach rather than anything experimental or stylized.

That's the right call. The strange part is that it's supposedly releasing in 2026, meaning it's out within the next five months, but it was shown in a way that felt more like an early teaser than a game nearly finished. A dedicated Zelda Direct is almost certainly coming, and for a game this significant, that's probably the right move. People are already speculating about Zelda anniversary events, themed Nintendo Switch Online challenges, and even merchandising tie-ins to go alongside the launch.

There are still a lot of open questions: how much has been reimagined, whether the story beats are being touched, what the full scope of the project looks like. The Nintendo Switch 2 Direct planted the flag on this one, and it gave fans just enough to chew on while they wait for the full reveal. Now the follow-up just needs to deliver the full picture, and given what's at stake, it better do so.