Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for July 4th, 2019. Happy birthday to the United States of America! You don’t look a day over 235, I swear. I’m sure all of our American readers are enjoying a nice day off, but since I’m a Canadian living in Japan, I get no such rest. And it’s a good thing, because we have a lot of news, a bunch of new releases, and some nifty new sales to check out. Let’s go!
News
‘Fire Emblem: Three Houses’ Expansion Pass and Bundle Now Available to Buy
We’re only a few weeks away from the release of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, and that means it’s time to start selling the add-ons. The game’s Expansion Pass can now be pre-ordered from the eShop, either alone or in a bundle with the core game. On its own, it costs $24.99. The bundle sells for $84.98, which means it’s really more of a convenience purchase than any sort of deal. The Expansion Pass covers four waves of DLC that will arrive every few months or so after the game’s launch. The first of the lot will be available day one, granting you an alternate outfit for your main character. Extra maps and items will come by the end of October, extra quests and costumes before the end of the year, and story content, new playable characters, locations, and more will come by the end of April 2020.
‘River City Girls’ Comes to Switch September 5th
The heroes of River City Ransom, Kunio and Riki (sometimes known as Alex and Ryan in the West), have been kidnapped by hooligans, and it’s up to Kyoko and Misako to rescue them. The cast of characters has been given some fresh designs, stepping away from their original 1980s/1990s delinquent style to a more modern brand of Japanese troublemaker, but while the clothes and hairstyles may have changed, the gameplay looks to be just as hot as ever. This one comes from WayForward of Shantae and Double Dragon Neon fame, and it seems to include all of the cool things that made River City Ransom stand out to begin with. River City Girls will be available on the Switch and other platforms on September 5th for a price of $29.99.
‘Langrisser I & II’ Coming to the West in Early 2020
The current owners of Langrisser have been trying, in fits and starts, to bring the brand back to prominence lately. There was a 3DS game that’s best forgotten, a mobile game that was so thirsty for the audience of Fire Emblem Heroes you could taste it, and the recent announcement that one of the games would be included in the Japanese Mega Drive Mini. But Langrisser has been out of the public eye for a long time, and it’s likely today’s gamers don’t know why it’s something worth bringing back in the first place. That’s where Langrisser I & II comes in. These remakes of the original 16-bit games hope to bring players up to speed, and although the set received a mixed response when it came out in Japan, it has been picked up for a Western release anyway. NIS America will localize Langrisser I & II for the Switch and other platforms in early 2020.
It’s Official: ‘Story of Seasons: Reunion in Mineral Town’ Will Be Localized
A few more details have come out on the upcoming remake of the game once known as Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town. First of all, publisher Marvelous has confirmed that the game will release in the West at some point after its Japanese launch in October. The remake will include the content of both Friends of Mineral Town and More Friends of Mineral Town, meaning you can play as either a boy or a girl. Some new animals have been added to the game, along with a few new activities by the looks of things. We also have the first official trailer for the game, albeit in Japanese. Well, I’m sure you can figure it out if you’ve played a Harvest Moon or Story of Seasons game before.
New Releases
What Remains of Edith Finch ($19.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
Chances are good you’ve heard of this one before. An award-winning narrative adventure, What Remains of Edith Finch sees you playing as Edith, the last member of the Finch family, exploring the family home to figure out what happened to everyone else on the day each of them died. This vehicle serves as a great way to show some very different styles and perspectives, and makes for a compelling story hook. Keep in mind that this is more of a game about going through a story rather than solving puzzles or anything like that. But it is quite the story, so if that kind of experience is something you’re okay with, you’ll probably like this game. I’ll have a review of this one at some point in the next few articles.
Stranger Things 3: The Game ($19.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
Admittedly, this isn’t the BonusXP/Netflix Switch game I’m most excited for, but I’m pretty confident fans of Stranger Things will be happy with this. BonusXP has talent to burn and the Texas-based developer has already put out one surprisingly good Stranger Things game. This one looks like an even better take on the subject matter. Play either alone or with a friend in an isometric action-adventure with twelve different playable characters. Each character has their own set of abilities and skills to offer, so pick your team carefully. Expect the story to loosely follow the third season of the show, but with plenty of small additions and side-stories.
Clannad ($44.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
Visual novel developer Key started off making adult games for PC, but a funny thing happened on the way to the porn factory: the stories it created turned out to be really high-quality tear-jerkers. After having to navigate the tricky waters of removing sexual content from its first couple of releases when the time came to bring them to consoles, Key decided to just make an all-ages game right from the start for its next one. That game turned out to be Clannad, and it was extremely successful in Japan. It follows the story of a troubled young man named Tomoya who carries a lot of pain and trauma from his past. He meets a kindred spirit in the form of a girl named Nagisa, and the two become fast friends. I won’t tell you much more, but there are multiple routes and endings, so you’ll have a lot of reasons to replay parts of the game. You’ll definitely want to get the true ending on this one. Fair warning: this game is about 70 hours long, so plan accordingly.
Arcade Archives Ninja Spirit ($7.99)
Irem isn’t really around anymore in the sense it once was, and while R-Type re-releases are relatively plentiful, most of the company’s other hits have fallen out of the general gaming consciousness. If you don’t have a lot of first-hand experience with Irem, let me give you a brief summary of its games on the whole: awesome gameplay, amazing presentation, and so hard you could turn a chunk of coal into a diamond by squeezing it between any two of its releases. Anyway, here’s Hamster’s usual faithful take on an arcade classic. It’s Irem’s Ninja Spirit, and it features awesome gameplay, amazing presentation, and difficulty that’s so hard you yourself will be squashed into a diamond by the time you get to the end of it. Very cool pick.
Ankh Guardian – Treasure of the Demon’s Temple ($7.99)
Well, this one looks pretty neat. It comes from Japanese developer Tom Create, who have previously worked with some fairly high-profile partners and brands. Anyway, this is a side-scrolling action-adventure game where you play as a young hero who is summoned by the gods to the Temple of Farasis. The main gameplay twist involves breaking and repairing walls in order to move forward. The visuals looks nice and this developer has done some fun things in the past, so this may be one worth keeping an eye on.
Pure Mahjong ($9.99)
Mahjong solitaire. If it’s your game of choice, the Switch has several options for you. And here’s one more. Pure Mahjong is a really nice-looking game compared to most of its competition, and it offers up no less than 1,000 puzzles for you to pick away at. The presentation has had a lot of work put into it, and it has things like unlockable fortune cookies, a screen saver, and other such niceties. Basically, it’s a full-effort game in a sub-genre where most entries don’t usually bother doing all that much. If you’re on the hunt for a mahjong solitaire game and the price seems agreeable to you, this is an easy recommendation.
Asdivine Dios ($12.99)
Did someone order another Kemco/EXE-Create cookie-cutter mobile RPG port? If so, here you go. Asdivine Dios isn’t terrible as these things go, but it’s not very good either. It was something I was lukewarm on when it hit mobile, and adding a few bucks to the price doesn’t make it any more attractive. With Dragon Quest Builders 2 and Fire Emblem: Three Houses right around the corner, I can’t imagine wanting to waste your time and money on this. But the nice thing about Kemco and EXE-Create’s output is that you don’t really need someone like me to tell you if you’re already sick of the meager pleasures they offer.
Sales
If you like Naruto or games that contain the word ‘sky’, today’s sales are for you. A bunch of Naruto games are on sale for really good prices. Valkyria Chronicles 4 has been on sale before and will be on sale again, but it’s never a bad time to buy it. As for the outbox, there isn’t a whole lot going on. A couple of new releases are ending their launch sales, and that deep discount on Urban Trial Playground is coming to a close as well. Otherwise, this is a pretty relaxed day in the world of Switch sales. Words I will surely eat when I wake up tomorrow, no doubt.
New Games on Sale
Valkyria Chronicles 4 ($29.99 from $59.99 until 7/10)
BlazeRush ($8.39 from $11.99 until 7/10)
Treasure Stack ($9.99 from $19.99 until 7/10)
Fishing Star World Tour ($17.99 from $29.99 until 7/23)
Skies of Fury DX ($9.99 from $19.99 until 7/17)
Sky Ride ($0.70 from $7.00 until 7/23)
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm ($9.99 from $19.99 until 7/16)
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 ($9.99 from $19.99 until 7/16)
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 ($9.99 from $19.99 until 7/16)
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Trilogy ($19.99 from $39.99 until 7/16)
Rolling Sky ($8.79 from $10.99 until 7/25)
Utopia 9 – A Volatile Vacation ($0.99 from $9.99 until 7/25)
JCB Pioneer: Mars ($7.49 from $24.99 until 7/25)
Wondershot ($0.99 from $9.99 until 7/25)
Subsurface Circular ($4.79 from $5.99 until 7/25)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Friday, July 5th
Joggernauts ($7.49 from $14.99 until 7/5)
Scrap ($3.49 from $4.99 until 7/5)
The King’s Bird ($11.99 from $19.99 until 7/5)
Urban Trial Playground ($2.99 from $14.99 until 7/5)
That’s everything for today, friends. Tomorrow may be a little touch and go as I have some important family business to attend to, but there should be an article of some kind going up. There aren’t a whole lot of new releases tomorrow, but at least one of them has a special secret especially for SwitchArcade readers. Hopefully I’ll be able to spill the beans soon. Have a great day, and as always, thanks for reading!
