Issue #500

September 20, 2026

500 Nintendo Newsletters

Hello, Chris here with quite the milestone issue of Hanafuda Report. This week is issue #500! I never thought I’d be reaching such a high issue number, but here we are. I’ve just shared a quick video about this on YouTube which you can watch here — you should subscribe too!

Anyway, I just want to extend a huge thanks to you for reading, whether you’ve been here for days or years. I appreciate you letting me into your inbox every week to share the best Nintendo reads from around the web.

Ok, so last week was all about Fire Emblem, and the reviews for that seem very good indeed. As for next week? Well, there’s over 20 games coming to the eShop. You’ll find the list below.

Alright, let’s get to it. Here’s to the next 500!

Cheers,
Chris ✌️

🎮 Currently Playing: Boltgun

REVIEW Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave — “the most ambitious game in the series to date, and it executes that ambition with almost effortless elegance“.

Oliver Brandt // Vooks

▶ Is Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave worth buying? Review round-up

Hanafuda Report // YouTube

80 hours into Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, I’m confused but having fun

Will Greenwald // PCMag

▶ I’ve done this 500 times — It’s issue 500 of Hanafuda Report. Which is kinda insane. Here’s some thoughts from me on that.

Hanafuda Report // YouTube

007 First Light is shaken, not shipped as Switch 2 version slips to 2027 — I was kinda bummed about this, but to be honest it makes sense at this point if only because the release calendar is only getting more and more crowded as we head later into the year.

Chris Brandrick // Hanafuda Report

Stellar Blade’s physical edition comes on new 32 GB cartridge — This is an exciting development for physical releases on Switch 2. Up until now it’s been pricey 64GB cartridges or nothing…

Peter Glagowski // Nintendo Wire

Head of Nightdive Studios appears to be teasing a remaster of GameCube cult classic Eternal Darkness — This, complete with new sanity effects, would be rad.

Chris Scullion // VGC

REVIEW Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter

Jordan Rudek // Nintendo World Report

Masahiro Sakurai discontinues Game Designers Award after 16 years after failing to find successor, warns fellow devs that an industry without originality “will die a slow death”

Carlos “Zoto” Zotomayor // Automaton West

▶ Monster Hunter Wilds on Nintendo Switch 2: Ten minutes of exclusive gameplay — If you’re curious as to how Wilds will run on Switch 2, here’s a look at just that – in handheld.

All Out Gaming // YouTube

Nintendo of America President on Switch 2 life cycle and ‘The Legend of Zelda’ anniversary plans: ‘This is just beginning’

Jennifer Maas // Variety

REVIEW Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol 2

Nintendo World Report

▶ Takumi Kawagoe: Camera systems, cinematics, and defeating Ganondorf — An interesting look at the career of Takumi Kawagoe, not a name I was overly familiar with. John shared on Bluesky that he suspect’s that Kawagoe is currently at work on the Zelda movie which is “potentially very exciting given his previous contributions to Zelda storytelling“.

The Video Game History Foundation // YouTube

The curious case of Pixar vs. Nintendo, and the quest for answers

Jack Yarwood // Time Extension

▶ Professor Layton and the curious usage of AI

eviesweetly // YouTube

As Wave Race: Blue Storm turns 25, an ex-Nintendo artist shares the challenge of designing the game’s characters

Jack Yarwood // Time Extension

INTERVIEW Reggie Fils-Aime: How to build brand equity, gaming style

Dean Takahashi // GamesBeat

Upcoming Releases

⭐️ = One to Watch

📦 = Physical Release

🔑 = Game Key Card

🎮 = Demo Available

Tue

22

🎮 Graveyard Keeper 2 — Build and manage your own medieval graveyard. Also on the original Switch. Demo is only for Switch 2.
⭐️ Well Dweller — A dark fairy-tale metroidvania, in which you play a matchstick wielding bird.

Wed

23

⭐️🎮 Farming Camp — Looks to be a decent 2D cozy, single-player farm management game. Shame about the generic name really.
Birdcage — Arcade-style vertical scrolling sci-fi shoot’em up.
⭐️ Sento Survivor: Slip, Grab, and Bathe in Glory! — Frantic looking water-gun battles set in Japanese public bathhouses.

Thu

24

I Hear Them — A first-person horror game in which you and the cat try and find rats.
London: Echoes of the Past — A short yuri mystery visual novel set in 1935 London.
Half Billion: Love Choice — A surreal interactive video sim game about money and love.
⭐️ The Room Three — Award-winning puzzle series. This entry set on a remote island.
⭐️ The Room 4: Old Sins — Like the above. This time solve puzzles in a fantastical, multi-room dollhouse.
Tentacle Tango — Precision co-op either local or online.
⭐️ Superstar Strategy — A turn-based tactics action game. Looks quite neat, strong GBA vibes.
Garfield: Escape From Monday — A nightmarish ‘veggie filled’ 3D platformer staring that cat.
Kalanoro — Madagascan folklore-inspired 3D action-adventure.
Boardwalk Builders — 2D sim game about building out a boardwalk/amusement pier.
PUPU’s Adventure Park — A fantasy theme park sim.
Courier — An 8-bit cyberpunk action adventure.
Hack ‘n’ Stack — A party game for four described as ‘physics meets tower defense’.
Nocturne for Cyl-Hestia — Investigate a dystopian city in this 3D adventure game.
⭐️2️⃣📦🔑 Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition — Graphics and performance tweaks over the original Switch version. No upgrade path. Physical release.
⭐️2️⃣📦🔑 Shinobi: Art of Vengeance — All-new 2D action platformer with a neat hand-drawn look (this is the same team behind the Streets of Rage 4). Physical

Fri

25

⭐️2️⃣📦🔑 EA Sports FC 27 — Mbappe is on the cover this year. Physical release. The original Switch version is here.

Release dates are for Europe & U.S. markets unless otherwise stated.
Data sourced in collaboration with Switch Scores.

Quick Links

I love these themed logo generators, and now there’s a Metroid Ravenous one.
A demo for Stellar Blade is now up on the Switch 2 eShop.
The Ocarina of Time remake will feature docked VRR support.
Pikachu had a trip to actual space thanks to a collab between with the ESA.
Want a way to hold your Switch 2 which doesn’t scream GAMER? This upcoming handbag-style Zelda bag from Power A may be worth a look.
Banana republic sim Tropico 7 is confirmed for Switch 2. Coming next year.
Hoping for some Splatoon Raiders DLC? I wouldn’t hold ya breath.
Bloomwalker, coming to Switch 2, looks kinda delightful. The fried egg animation alone got me.
Konami have confirmed a demo for the new Castlevania will be dropping soon.
90s JRPGs Lufia 1 & 2 have been announced for Switch, having been “ported lovingly and enhanced for modern play”.
You need to see this placeholder title screen for Mario Superstar Baseball, or you know… ‘Luigi’s Older Brother Baseball’
Nintendo has made some slight changes to the official Super Mario logo.

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Upcoming Releases

Quick Links

007 First Light is shaken, not shipped as Switch 2 version slips to 2027

Nintendo’s Ocarina of Time remake isn’t chasing realism

Leak reveals a Zelda-themed Switch 2 and Pro Controller