After years of hopes, rumors, and speculation, Nintendo fans are finally get their wish. Atlus announced today that Persona 5 Royal, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 3 Portable are all coming to the Nintendo Switch, which has long been considered the natural home for the popular RPG series.

The announcement, which came during today's Nintendo Direct Mini, aligns with the earlier news that the series will be coming to Xbox and PC. It's a big move for the Persona games, which have traditionally been tied to PlayStation platforms outside of Persona 4 Golden's earlier release on PC.

First released in 2006, Persona 3 achieved cult popularity with its day-by-day approach to life in a Japanese high school, which it mixed with a dark, supernatural storyline. It was subsequently followed by Persona 4 and Persona 5, which expanded the formula in various ways.

When Persona 5 was released in 2017, many fans hoped the series would make its way to Nintendo Switch in relatively short order, not the least because Persona 4 Golden was so well received on the handheld PlayStation Vita. But while there were many teases and hints over the years, including Joker joining Smash Bros. Ultimate, the move never came to fruition until now.

With the Nintendo Switch release, Persona 3, 4, and 5 will be available on major major platforms. All three are technically enanced editions of their original releases, though Persona 3 Portable is in some ways more of a point-and-click visual novel due to the limitations of the original PSP release on which it's based. It is, however, the only entry with a story starring a female protagonist.

Persona 5 Royal launches October 21 on PC, Xbox, and Switch, with all downloadable content confirmed for the PC and Xbox versions. Persona 4 Golden and Persona 3 Portable will follow at a later date on the Switch.

In the meantime, check out the rest of our coverage of today's Nintendo Direct, which includes announcements for the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection and much more.

Square Enix announced a new game today that combines the fantasy worlds the company is known for with life-sim gameplay.

Harvestella is a brand new life-sim RPG in which players can farm, craft items, and collect materials, all while building their character's life and settlement. While players can live through various seasons like Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter, there is a fifth season, Quietus, or the season of Death.

During Quietus, players must do what they can to prevent the Death season from destroying the idyllic lifestyle of their hometown.

Harvestella looks very much like a Square Enix JRPG, with a fantastical world full of creatures, but while combat gameplay might look familiar, the game is also focused on Stardew Valley and Harvest Moon-like mechanics around farming, collecting materials, and building new tools and equipment.

Square Enix's foray into the popular life-sim genre is definitely head-turning, though the company is also experimenting with the genre by adding a Stardew Valley-like mode in Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker.

For more new announcements from today's Nintendo Direct Mini check out IGN's round-up here.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

Capcom is finally re-releasing all 10 Mega Man Battle Network games in 2023, with a new collection for the Nintendo Switch called Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection.

As revealed in today's Nintendo Direct Mini, a new collection featuring 10 Mega Man Battle Network games are coming to the Nintendo Switch next year.

The collection includes:

• Mega Man Battle Network 1
• Mega Man Battle Network 2
• Mega Man Battle Network 3 Blue
• Mega Man Battle Network 3 White
• Mega Man Battle Network 4 Red Sun
• Mega Man Battle Network 4 Blue Moon
• Mega Man Battle Network 5 Team ProtoMan
• Mega Man Battle Network 5 Team Colonel
• Mega Man Battle Network 6 Cybeast Gregar
• Mega Man Battle Network 6 Cybeast Falzar

Mega Man Battle Network was first released in 2001 for the Game Boy Advance. The series combines strategy and card-builder elements, seeing players control Mega Man on a 3x6 grid and utilize Battle Chips with different abilities and attacks to defeat monsters and bosses.

As part of the Legacy Collection, a gallery with over a thousand illustrations as well as a music mode featuring a library of the game's songs will be added to the conclusion. The package will also be split digitally as Legacy Collection Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.

The series is beloved by tactics fans and Capcom began releasing multiple versions with unique bosses and Battle Chips starting with Battle Network 3 in 2002. The games were re-released digitally for the Wii U, but remain largely absent from modern digital stores.

There hasn't been a Mega Man Battle Network game since 2006, though the series did generate several video game spinoffs and an anime series called MegaMan NT Warrior.

For everything else from today's Nintendo Direct Mini check out IGN's recap here.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

Return to Monkey Island, the new sequel in the famous point 'n click adventure series, will be released on the Nintendo Switch first when the game comes to consoles later this year.

As announced in today's Nintendo Direct Mini, Ron Gilbert's sequel to Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, will be coming to consoles starting with the Nintendo Switch. While no other platforms have been announced, we know at least that players who want to Return to Monkey Island on consoles can expect it on the Nintendo Switch first.

A direct sequel in the Monkey Island franchise, Return will take place after the events of LeChuck's Revenge. Hero Guybrush Threepwood, as well as Elaine and Murray, are all set to return.

Writer-director Ron Gilbert, along with co-writer Dave Grossman and composers Michael Land, Michael McConnell, and Clint Bajakian are all set to return for the sequel.

Along with the returning cast, there will be some modern updates including an Easy Mode and Hint System. The classic point 'n click format raised a generation of adventure game enthusiasts, but early game design was sometimes byzantine. The optional modes should help new players jump into the format with ease.

Be sure to check out our interview with Gilbert on how he returned to Monkey Island. And for more announcements from the Nintendo Direct Mini, check out IGN's round-up here.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

The Portal: Companion Collection announced earlier this year officially has a release date, and that release date is... today. Valve's classic puzzle games are officially out on Nintendo Switch, giving fans a chance to reunite with GLaDOS on the go.

Developed in collaboration with NVIDIA Lightspeed Studios, the collection will feature both games' full single-player campaigns along with Portal 2's co-op mode, which is available in both split-screen and online multiplayer.

Portal was originally released in 2007 to widespread acclaim. It won praise for its originality and its writing, which popularized quips like, "The cake is a lie." It also gave the world the wonderful 'Still Alive' by Jonathan Coulton, which played to the original game's closing credits.

The sequel was still more elaborate, adding in multiplayer and a host of other features. Both are rated among the greatest games ever made.

Portal: Companion Collection's release was one of several announcements during a Nintendo Direct Mini that also included the reveal of a Mega Man Battle Network collection and more. You can read the full recap right here.

After years of hopes, rumors, and speculation, Nintendo fans are finally get their wish. Atlus announced today that Persona 5 Royal, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 3 Portable are all coming to the Nintendo Switch, which has long been considered the natural home for the popular RPG series.

The announcement, which came during today's Nintendo Direct Mini, aligns with the earlier news that the series will be coming to Xbox and PC. It's a big move for the Persona games, which have traditionally been tied to PlayStation platforms outside of Persona 4 Golden's earlier release on PC.

First released in 2006, Persona 3 achieved cult popularity with its day-by-day approach to life in a Japanese high school, which it mixed with a dark, supernatural storyline. It was subsequently followed by Persona 4 and Persona 5, which expanded the formula in various ways.

When Persona 5 was released in 2017, many fans hoped the series would make its way to Nintendo Switch in relatively short order, not the least because Persona 4 Golden was so well received on the handheld PlayStation Vita. But while there were many teases and hints over the years, including Joker joining Smash Bros. Ultimate, the move never came to fruition until now.

With the Nintendo Switch release, Persona 3, 4, and 5 will be available on major major platforms. All three are technically enanced editions of their original releases, though Persona 3 Portable is in some ways more of a point-and-click visual novel due to the limitations of the original PSP release on which it's based. It is, however, the only entry with a story starring a female protagonist.

Persona 5 Royal launches October 21 on PC, Xbox, and Switch, with all downloadable content confirmed for the PC and Xbox versions. Persona 4 Golden and Persona 3 Portable will follow at a later date on the Switch.

In the meantime, check out the rest of our coverage of today's Nintendo Direct, which includes announcements for the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection and much more.

Square Enix announced a new game today that combines the fantasy worlds the company is known for with life-sim gameplay.

Harvestella is a brand new life-sim RPG in which players can farm, craft items, and collect materials, all while building their character's life and settlement. While players can live through various seasons like Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter, there is a fifth season, Quietus, or the season of Death.

During Quietus, players must do what they can to prevent the Death season from destroying the idyllic lifestyle of their hometown.

Harvestella looks very much like a Square Enix JRPG, with a fantastical world full of creatures, but while combat gameplay might look familiar, the game is also focused on Stardew Valley and Harvest Moon-like mechanics around farming, collecting materials, and building new tools and equipment.

Square Enix's foray into the popular life-sim genre is definitely head-turning, though the company is also experimenting with the genre by adding a Stardew Valley-like mode in Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker.

For more new announcements from today's Nintendo Direct Mini check out IGN's round-up here.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

During today’s Nintendo Direct, we got several more details about Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, including a release date for the tactical sequel to Nintendo and Ubisoft’s unusual collaboration: October 20, 2022.

But we also learned a bit more today about Sparks of Hope, notably that it will include Bowser as one of the nine playable characters. There’s more to come on Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, too, as we’ve been promised a special presentation tomorrow, June 29 at 9am Pacific / 12pm Eastern /5pm UK with even more details about the upcoming game, so stay tuned.

Sparks of Hope promises a number of changes to Kingdom Battle’s tactics formula, most notably allowing free movement around the map instead of using a grid-based system, and introducing some strange new Rabbids – including Rabbid Rosalina. We know from the announcement that it will remain an entirely single-player game, and will feature new equipable partners called Sparks, which offer both active and passive bonuses in battle.

We first learned about Sparks of Hope over a year ago at Ubisoft E3 2021, and today’s presentation was the first significant chunk of info we’ve gotten since then. It’s a sequel to 2017’s Kingdom Battle, which we praised for its surprising XCOM-like complexity and variety of enemies, objectives, and abilities.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

More than five years after its original release on PlayStation 4, Nier: Automata is headed to Nintendo Switch.

Square Enix confirmed the Switch release during today's Nintendo Partner Direct, which also included announcements for Persona 5 Royal and other hotly-requested RPGs.

Nier: Automata The End of YoRHa Edition will include all previously-released content as well as new costumes exclusive to the Nintendo Switch edition. It will join versions already released on PS4, PC, and Xbox One.

Nier: Automata is the game that made director Yoko Taro a familiar name among RPG fans while raising the series into mainstream popularity. Lauded as one of the best games of 2017, it follows androids named 2B and 9S as they explore the remains of human society. It is an indirect follow-up to the original Nier, taking place thousands of years after one of that game's endings.

IGN's review of Nier: Automata lauded it as a "great action RPG filled with beautiful locations and zany, fun-filled combat." As of July 2021, it has sold more than 6 million units worldwide -- an impressive feat given the niche status of the original game.

It has since grown into a franchise, complete with an anime adaptation and an updated remaster for the original game. Meanwhile, Taro is apparently working on his next game, and yes, it will be weird.

For those who haven't experienced it yet, Nier: Automata is set for release on Nintendo Switch on October 6. You can check out the full recap of our Nintendo Direct Mini right here.

The Portal: Companion Collection announced earlier this year officially has a release date, and that release date is... today. Valve's classic puzzle games are officially out on Nintendo Switch, giving fans a chance to reunite with GLaDOS on the go.

Developed in collaboration with NVIDIA Lightspeed Studios, the collection will feature both games' full single-player campaigns along with Portal 2's co-op mode, which is available in both split-screen and online multiplayer.

Portal was originally released in 2007 to widespread acclaim. It won praise for its originality and its writing, which popularized quips like, "The cake is a lie." It also gave the world the wonderful 'Still Alive' by Jonathan Coulton, which played to the original game's closing credits.

The sequel was still more elaborate, adding in multiplayer and a host of other features. Both are rated among the greatest games ever made.

Portal: Companion Collection's release was one of several announcements during a Nintendo Direct Mini that also included the reveal of a Mega Man Battle Network collection and more. You can read the full recap right here.