The Nintendo Direct that aired earlier this month was one of those presentations that causes gaming forums to collectively lose their minds. Kingdom Hearts 4 is coming to Switch 2. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is getting a full remake as a Switch 2 exclusive. Elden Ring is finally playable on a Nintendo handheld. Metaphor: ReFantazio — arguably the most critically acclaimed RPG of last year — has a confirmed Switch 2 release date.
If you follow games even casually, you'll understand why the internet reacted the way it did.
The RPG Situation on Switch 2
The original Nintendo Switch had a complicated relationship with major RPGs. Many of the biggest titles from other platforms simply never arrived — either because the hardware couldn't handle them or because publishers didn't see the commercial case. Switch owners spent years watching games like Elden Ring and Stellar Blade pass them by.
Switch 2 is aggressively correcting that. Elden Ring with the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion arrives on August 28th. Stellar Blade — the former PlayStation exclusive that took the action-RPG world by surprise — is confirmed for 2026. Lies of P hits on August 6th. Metaphor: ReFantazio on November 12th. Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave has an official release date. Final Fantasy Resonance, a new HD-2D entry, lands October 22nd.
That is, by any reasonable measure, a remarkable lineup for a single year on any platform.
The Kingdom Hearts 4 Moment
Of everything announced, Kingdom Hearts 4 generated perhaps the most emotional response. Square Enix's beloved but notoriously convoluted franchise has had fans waiting for a mainline sequel for years. The confirmation that it's coming to Switch 2 at launch — alongside PS5 and Xbox Series — meant Nintendo players won't have to watch from the sidelines this time.
For a generation of gamers who grew up with Kingdom Hearts on PlayStation and always wished they could take those worlds somewhere portable, the news hit differently.
The Zelda Question
The Ocarina of Time remake deserves its own conversation. The original game is regularly cited in polls as one of the greatest video games ever made — and for many players who encountered it as children in 1998, it holds a nostalgic status that few other titles can match. A full remake, built ground-up for Switch 2, as an exclusive — it's the kind of announcement Nintendo saves for moments when they really want to drive console purchases.
Whether it lives up to the impossible standard the original set is a question for when reviews arrive. The hype around it, though, is entirely warranted.
Portability Still Matters
What makes all of this particularly interesting is the context of the hardware. Switch 2 is still a device you can pick up and take with you — a genuinely powerful portable console. Playing Elden Ring on a handheld, in bed or on a train, is not the same experience as playing it on a television. For a significant number of modern gamers, many of them adults with demanding schedules who game in smaller windows of time, the portable element isn't a compromise. It's the point.
The RPG genre — built on long form storytelling, deep systems, and hours of investment — suits portable play in a specific way. You can put it down mid-dungeon. Pick it up again on a lunch break. The Switch 2's success with RPGs says something interesting about how people actually play games in 2026, not how they did in 2006.
Information based on confirmed Nintendo announcements and Nintendo Direct June 2026 reveals. Release dates subject to change.
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