Hello, gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for December 14th, 2018. Today we’ve got news of some games that are coming in the New Year, more new releases, and a ridiculous list of sales that are surely just the first wave of what’s to come. There’s a lot to get through, so let’s get on with it!
News
‘SEGA AGES Out Run’ Will Release in the West on January 10th
It’s no secret that the SEGA AGES Switch releases in the West have fallen a little behind the Japanese ones thanks to what was apparently a lengthy submission process for Phantasy Star. It seems as though SEGA is looking to try to catch up as much as they can, however, because we’ll be getting the next SEGA AGES title, Out Run, in just a few weeks. It’s more or less the Nintendo 3DS version of the game without the stereoscopic 3D and some slightly better visuals. Oh, and a few new pieces of music, some of which are very cool. You’ll be able to pick it up on January 10th. What will come next? Perhaps we’ll have some news about that soon.
The New Update for ’20XX’ Adds a New Character and More
Version 1.0.3 of 20XX has hit, and it brings with it a bunch of cool new features including the game’s fourth playable character. Draco is all about weapons, and as such he can equip a whopping eight of them. The trade-off is that he can only equip one power. Draco also has six new weapons that are exclusive to him. This update also allows you to use the right stick to pan the camera around, allowing you to see more of the stage around you. There are also ten new Augs to play around with. There are a few other things, but it’s mostly bug fixing and balancing stuff.
‘Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force’ is Coming to Switch Next Month
Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force is a souped-up take on the somewhat mediocre original game. It hit the PlayStation 4 and Steam in 2016 and 2017 respectively, and now it’s coming to Switch. We don’t have an exact date yet, but Idea Factory has said it’s coming in January 2019. Honestly, even in this redone form, it’s not the greatest RPG around, but if you need something to fill your belly, it works. If you’ve ever played the Neptunia RPGs, it’s along similar lines. The game will be priced at $39.99, with a launch discount to sweeten things up for those who jump in early. Oh, and this release is digital only, in case you’re a physical game maven.
Hamster Outlines Upcoming ACA NEOGEO Releases
As they often do from time to time, Hamster has made an announcement about its upcoming NEOGEO releases on the Switch. Next week will see the release of Puzzle Bobble, aka Bust-A-Move, and the coming weeks will include Puzzle Bobble 2, The King of Fighters 2002, Ragnagard, The Ultimate 11: SNK Football Championship, Ninja Masters: Hao Ninpo Cho, and Kizuna Encounter. There are some surprisingly deep cuts in there, but I suppose that’s where we’re getting to with NEOGEO games by now. These will most likely be selling for $7.99 apiece and include the usual bells and whistles.
PSA: Stay Away From ‘Ark: Survival Evolved’, It’s an Absolute Mess
You know, I’d much rather tell you games to go towards rather than games to keep away from. But I’m going to break from my usual habit here to warn you all about Ark: Survival Evolved‘s Switch version. It’s a total technical mess, particularly if you’re playing in undocked mode. Even when the game is docked, the resolution goes down as low as 360p, but undocked? It sometimes drops under 200p, which is under even the Nintendo 3DS’s screen resolution. The shadows skip all over the place, visual detail has been scaled way back from the other versions, and the loading times are absolutely unreal, taking almost three minutes to load on start-up at times. While the game will likely get patched as time goes on, at the moment it’s really a poor product that shouldn’t have been released in its current state.
New Releases
A few more games slipped out yesterday after I went off to slumber land, so we’ll take a look at those today along with today’s releases. Remember, if you see the bold SwitchArcade Recommended!, that’s what we consider a keeper.
Venture Towns ($12.00)
SwitchArcade Recommended!
Okay, Kairosoft’s games can be pretty samey, and there’s a very good chance you already played this on your mobile device. And nothing is stopping you from buying it on mobile right now for a lower price. But there’s something still very enjoyable about Kairosoft’s simulations, and they look pretty nice on the Switch screen’s bigger real estate. Just like the other games from this company, victory is more or less inevitable, but it’s rather nice watching it all build up. Are there better city-builders on Switch? Yes, but this one is cheap, charming, and runs fairly well.
Mahjong Solitaire Refresh ($16.99)
Whoa, it’s Sunsoft! And it’s… well, that’s mahjong solitaire, alright. You know the thing. You match the tiles sitting on top and try to get rid of the whole pile without running into a dead end. This version includes 256 stages with different arrangements, all set up in pleasing shapes that remind you of things like animals. It also has a humorous translation for its shop description, asking “Won’t you enjoy using brain and be healed with first series of Mahjong Solitaire with theme of water?", and that really says it all, doesn’t it? The price is probably a little high for what’s on offer here, but if you really, really love mahjong solitaire, I’m not going to tell you that you can’t buy it.
TRYBIT LOGIC ($6.99)
This curious puzzle game is another mobile transplant. You use logical operations to eliminate bugs, and yeah, they are depicted as actual insects here. You’ve probably played something similar to this before, but the core concept does work pretty well. It does strike me as something better to play on your phone rather than fire up a proper console for it, though. Eh, if logical operators are your jazz, you might enjoy it anyway.
Party Arcade ($19.99)
I’m sorry, this is how much? Hmm. Well, what you get here is a quote-unquote family friendly party game with 13 mini-games that try to mimic the kinds of non-video games you might find in an arcade. The good points? You can play online, and up to four players can play at once. The developers say they’re going to add more games, and holy cow, I just realized that this is from FarSight, the Pinball Arcade people. I mean, that means this game is probably of higher quality than what I had thought, but wow, losing that Williams license has taken them down quite the path, hasn’t it?
MIND: Path to Thalamus ($11.99)
This is one of those games where you explore around and solve some mild puzzles while enjoying a story. It’s a psychological story, which is one of the best sorts for this kind of thing. It’s been out on other platforms for a while, and the consensus seems to be that the visuals are very nice, the puzzles are a little on the easy side but still okay, and the story is alright if a little predictable. Doesn’t seem half-bad, and the price is nice. Might be something to look into if you enjoy adventure games of this type.
Rain World ($19.99)
Billed as a survival platformer, this little game has had some mixed reviews in its previous forms on other platforms. Apparently, its difficulty skews a little more towards cruelty than a lot of folks would prefer. The key gimmick is that rain is absolutely deadly towards your cat-slug thing, and you need to make it to safe hibernation chambers to survive each onslaught. However, the chambers are spaced pretty far apart, and if you don’t reach the next one in time, you’ll have to try it all again from the last one. The controls are apparently a little difficult to deal with in certain situations, as well. That said, the game is awfully pretty. You may want to take a roll on it anyway. I’m not going to, though.
Lazy Galaxy: Rebel Story ($7.99)
This game touts itself as a rogue-lite bullet-hell shoot-em-up. It’s apparently a spin-off of an idle clicker-type game, and yeah, it kind of looks like it. From the impressions I’ve read, it’s neither terrible nor particularly great, which isn’t an awesome place to be if you’re a shoot-em-up on the Switch. There are probably more interesting things out there to play, but if you’ve exhausted all of those epic shooters and want something a little more grounded, here you go.
Peace, Death! Complete Edition ($4.99)
SwitchArcade Recommended!
I like the idea behind this one. You play as a reaper trainee, and you have to decide whether each person goes to heaven, hell, or purgatory. It’s sort of a silly take on Papers, Please, and while some of the jokes look a bit lame, the gameplay hook that served that game so well works nicely here, too. Examine each person thoroughly and try to send them to the right place. Survive the job for 50 days and you’ll get hired on full-time and get paid. Fail to impress Death, and things will go… less well. Anyway, it’s loaded with goofball references so it’s probably going to age like milk, but in the here and now? Seems like a good time. And that price is very friendly, indeed. High-five for not putting in a Switch tax like just about everyone else. Yeah, it’s a couple bucks cheaper on mobile, but this one has all the goodies included.
Race Arcade ($9.99)
You don’t see a lot of top-down racers these days, and that’s too bad because they can be rather fun if they’re done right. Is this one done right? Well, judging by reviews of the game on other platforms, not really. On the positive side, there are lots of tracks with a bunch of different themes, and it allows for up to four players locally via a split-screen. But it also sounds like there just isn’t a lot of meat on the bone here in terms of deep mechanics, which when combined with the somewhat plain presentation makes for something you’d probably only be interested in if you really, really love top-down racers. Which you might! In which case, party on.
Sales
Would you look at that? Look at that list! You know, I check the eShop all the time and there are several games on that list I feel like I’ve never even seen before. Bah. Well, if you’re looking for recommendations, I’d lean towards Ambition of the Slimes, Cat Quest, and IMPLOSION, but there are lots of good games here that will cater to a variety of interests.
New Games On Sale
6180 the moon ($2.99 from $3.99 until 12/20)
Ambition of the Slimes ($3.50 from $5.00 until 01/02)
Bingo for Nintendo Switch ($2.49 from $4.99 until 12/27)
Boom Ball: Boost Edition ($8.70 from $12.99 until 12/31)
Bulb Boy ($1.79 from $4.99 until 12/27)
Burly Men at Sea ($6.99 from $9.99 until 01/02)
Cat Quest ($5.84 from $12.99 until 01/01)
Chronus Arc ($11.69 from $12.99 until 12/20)
CricktoGame: Nintendo Switch Edition ($4.39 from $5.49 until 12/31)
Crush Your Enemies! ($6.40 from $8.00 until 01/02)
DEEMO ($25.40 from $29.99 until 01/02)
Dark Witch Music Episode: Rudymical ($3.99 from $7.99 until 01/02)
Deployment ($7.49 from $9.99 until 01/03)
Earthlock ($14.95 from $29.99 until 12/27)
FAST RMX ($15.99 from $19.99 until 01/03)
Fairune Collection ($6.99 from $9.99 until 01/02)
Frederic 2: Evil Strikes Back ($0.49 from $4.99 until 12/27)
Goetia ($0.99 from $9.99 until 12/27)
Graceful Explosion Machine ($8.99 from $12.99 until 12/20)
Guns, Gore and Cannoli 2 ($9.74 from $12.99 until 12/28)
Hand of Fate 2 ($22.49 from $29.99 until 12/27)
Hover ($12.49 from $24.99 until 01/02)
IMPLOSION ($7.15 from $11.99 until 01/02)
In Between ($8.99 from $11.99 until 01/02)
Kill the Bad Guy ($4.99 from $6.99 until 01/02)
Let’s Sing 2018 ($29.99 from $39.99 until 01/02)
Lost Sea ($6.99 from $9.99 until 01/02)
Lost in Harmony ($0.99 from $6.99 until 01/02)
Marble It Up! ($15.99 from $19.99 until 12/27)
Maria The Witch ($2.49 from $4.99 until 12/27)
Membrane ($0.99 from $9.99 until 12/31)
Millie ($0.49 from $4.99 until 12/27)
Momonga Pinball Adventures ($4.79 from $5.99 until 01/02)
Muddledash ($4.19 from $5.99 until 01/01)
My Farm ($6.99 from $9.99 until 01/02)
Ninja Striker! ($2.79 from $3.99 until 01/02)
No Thing ($0.19 from $1.99 until 12/27)
OPUS: Rocket of Whispers ($7.19 from $8.99 until 01/02)
OPUS: The Day We Found Earth ($3.50 from $5.00 until 01/02)
Old School Musical ($9.99 from $12.99 until 01/02)
Party Crashers ($10.00 from $15.00 until 01/02)
Party Golf ($5.00 from $15.00 until 01/02)
Qbik ($0.49 from $4.99 until 12/27)
Retimed ($11.99 from $14.99 until 01/03)
Runbow ($10.49 from $14.99 until 01/02)
STAY ($8.99 from $11.99 until 01/01)
Samurai Defender: Ninja Warfare ($5.59 from $7.99 until 01/02)
Shape of the World ($8.99 from $14.99 until 01/02)
Shut Eye ($0.99 from $3.99 until 12/27)
Skee-Ball ($13.99 from $19.99 until 12/28)
Slime-San ($7.19 from $11.99 until 01/02)
Sparkle 3 Genesis ($0.49 from $4.99 until 12/27)
Sparkle Zero ($0.49 from $4.99 until 12/27)
Spider Solitaire F ($3.50 from $5.00 until 01/02)
Star Story: The Horizon Escape ($2.49 from $9.99 until 12/27)
SubaraCity ($3.50 from $5.00 until 01/02)
Suicide Guy ($4.79 from $7.99 until 12/27)
Super Rocket Shootout ($4.99 from $9.99 until 01/02)
Surgeon Simulator CPR ($9.09 from $12.99 until 01/02)
Tachyon Project ($4.99 from $9.99 until 12/27)
The Keep ($13.99 from $17.99 until 12/20)
The Next Penelope ($4.99 from $12.99 until 01/02)
Timber Tennis: Versus ($1.59 from $1.99 until 12/20)
Timberman Vs ($0.99 from $1.99 until 12/20)
Transcripted ($4.49 from $7.99 until 01/02)
Urban Trial Playground ($8.99 from $14.99 until 12/27)
Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story ($9.59 from $11.99 until 01/02)
White Night ($7.49 from $14.99 until 01/02)
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles ($23.99 from $29.99 until 01/03)
Yono and the Celestial Elephants ($8.99 from $14.99 until 01/02)
Zotrix: Solar Division ($10.49 from $14.99 until 12/28)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Saturday, December 15th
Alteric ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/15)
Energy Balance ($1.19 from $2.99 until 12/15)
The Mooseman ($4.89 from $7.99 until 12/15)
North ($1.19 from $2.99 until 12/15)
Sigi: A Fart for Melusina ($3.49 from $4.99 until 12/15)
Sky Force Anniversary ($7.99 from $9.99 until 12/15)
State of Anarchy: Master of Mayhem ($5.59 from $9.99 until 12/15)
Where Are My Friends? ($1.19 from $5.99 until 12/15)
Phew, that was a lot. But we made it through, and while this may just be the beginning, it feels good to get off on the right foot. What are you all playing this weekend? More Smash? Or are you on to something else already? Let me know what games you’re playing in the comments below. As always, thanks for reading!
