Welcome to the SwitchArcade Roundup for Monday, May 22nd, where we have impressions of Runner3 ahead of its release tomorrow! It’s gonna be a fun last few days of the month, with Capcom delivering some compilations, some cool games coming this week, Owlboy getting a physical release next week, and tons of new indies. My copy of Mega Man Legacy Collection is on the way, because saving three bucks and getting a cartridge is better than spending three more bucks to have both collections digitally, if I’m gonna have to use up a few gigs for Legacy Collection 2 anyway. Also, I totally forgot to cancel my preorder from Amazon. Add another game to the pile that I’ll play someday…or die with it in my backlog. There are officially too many games to play on the Switch. Send help.
Runner3 Hands-On
Tomorrow, Choice Provisions releases its latest auto-running platformer onto the Switch eShop (which you can pre-purchase at a 15% discount), and you should prepare for some more exceptional auto-running action. This series started as Bit.Trip Runner, which eventually led to Runner2, which escaped the aesthetic of the Bit.Trip series while still starring Commander Video. Runner3 takes that gameplay even further than before by adding in new elements while you run, and reining the systems that veterans know and love.
While you should be familiar with the gameplay if you’ve played previous Runner games, the first few levels in Runner3 introduce you to the game’s mechanics, without being necessarily ‘easy’. You can jump, slide, kick, and even do a little dance to get some extra points. Now, you might have some confidence after beating these introductory levels. Maybe you got a perfect. Maybe you completed the Gem Path and am now ready to tackle the first side level, 95 Windows. It’s the first side level, it’ll probably be hard, but it won’t be that difficult, right?
Nope, it is that difficult. The game throws absolutely devilish platforming sequences that require precise timing…and there’s one checkpoint per level. This game will absolutely test your skills and reaction time, as well as your patience, because you will need to repeat some of the more difficult levels hundreds of times to beat them. To be fair, these levels are called the Impossible Levels. The regular levels will still challenge you, but they’re definitely not impossible. Of course, the regular levels also have secrets in them that you’ll have to discover, such as finding the VHS tapes that unlock the retro game, which have their own set of levels. There is a lot to do in Runner3, for sure.
Choice Provisions knows how to do the whole auto-runner platformer quite well, having developed these games for a few years now. I think this game will appeal best to people who enjoy the genre, and have the patience to constantly repeat levels to repeat tricky sections. If you’re the kind of gamer who just plays games to complete them, and doesn’t care about mastery so much, then you might not enjoy Runner3. But if you have that taste for completion, and grinding through challenges, oh will Runner3 scratch that itch for you.
Runner3 releases tomorrow, May 22nd, for $29.99, but you can save 15% by pre-ordering right now. We’ll be streaming more of the game on our Twitch channel, too!
News
Resident Evil 7 coming to Switch in streamed version?
Capcom is bringing Resident Evil 7 to Switch, but in a version that streams from a cloud server. The game was originally designed for VR and the PS4 and Xbox One, so perhaps the game wouldn’t run on the Switch without too many compromises…or perhaps Capcom wants to run an experiment on what might work with the Switch.
The downside to a cloud game on a portable system is the inability to play when you might be without wifi, which is a realistic concern with the Switch! However, if this does well, then it could be a way forward for Switch games if the PS5 and the next Xbox get revealed soon: big games would just need to stream from the cloud to the Switch. Losing ownership of games would be really rough, though.
No word yet on a US release, but this releases in Japan on Thursday, May 24th.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 isn’t coming to Switch
All sorts of rumors have surrounded Black Ops 4 coming to the Switch, perhaps in a Battle Royale format with just the “Blackout" mode. Well, Twinfinite spoke to Treyarch and asked “Are there any plans to bring any aspect of Black Ops 4 to Nintendo Switch?" And Yale Miller, senior producer at Treyarch, said “No there is not." So that’s that, folks! I’ll always say that marketing departments have no disincentive to lie to you about things like upcoming releases, but I feel like this is about as straightforward of a denial as we’ll get.
Sales
Death Squared ($10.04 from $14.99 until June 3rd)
SMG Studio’s cooperative game of guiding robots through tricky puzzles is on sale for its biggest discount yet. I’ve really liked this game whenever I play it, as it’s simple enough for someone to pick up and enjoy rather quickly, which is key for a good cooperative game. Yet, you can have plenty of fun by yourself. If you played this on mobile, you get the four-player Vault levels here that are unavailable on iOS/Android due to the difficulty of getting four players on one device. This is definitely home on the Switch, though.
Forma.8 ($6.49 from $9.99 until June 3rd)
This moody, atmospheric Metroidvania is a unique experience in the ‘pathfinder’ genre because you have the ability to fly everywhere from the outset of the game, so progression is about discovering and finding new abilities to defeat enemies and unlock new parts of the environment. The game can be frustratingly obtuse at times, but it’s overall a rather worthwhile experience. It’s available on many platforms after its lengthy development, so take your pick of where you want to play this one.
Crypt of the NecroDancer ($14.99 from $19.99 until May 28th)
One of the must-play games of this generation. This unique roguelike has you moving to the rhythm of the game’s music to defeat enemies, while still having the feel of a turn-based roguelike. The shifting beats in songs as you play add to the challenge, along with learning how the enemies act and react with their behaviors. It’s absolutely rewarding the more you play it, though, and the soundtrack, primarily by Danny Baranowsky but with guest composers, is fantastic. Get a good pair of headphones and sit down with this one for a while. If you’ve never played it on any platform, you have to do so now.
Keep an eye out every weekday for more SwitchArcade Roundups! We want to hear your feedback on Nintendo Switch coverage on TouchArcade. Comment below or tweet us with your thoughts!
