Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for October 1st, 2019. Not a whole lot of interesting news today, but we’ve got a fair few big new releases to look at. We’ve also got a couple more Mini-Views, covering a couple of last week’s releases. One of them is pretty good, and the other is really not. That’s how it goes sometimes. Finally, a rather intriguing list of sales rounds things out for today. Let’s dig in!
Mini-Views
Dragon Quest 1 ($4.99)
To an extent, I already knew what I was getting into here. I’ve been there and back with the mobile port this are based on (and honestly didn’t mind it too much), and I own the Japan-only 3DS version that is essentially identical to this port, ugly high-res sprites on low-res backgrounds and all. Except it looks even worse here, because the 3DS screen’s relatively lower resolution hid some of this incongruity. That said, the worst bit of it all is that the game scrolls with the same judder that was present in the mobile version, and it’s even more noticeable here on a bigger screen. It’s a very unpleasant way to play an otherwise pretty good classic game. Track down the Game Boy Color version if you want a much better experience.
SwitchArcade Score: 2/5
Paper Train ($9.99)
This one definitely isn’t going to be for everyone, but I can’t say that I’m displeased with Paper Train. It uses a very simple mechanic, having the player direct traffic by flipping switches on and off, and manages to tease an awful lot of interesting set-ups from it. I’m really keen on the ink-and-paper visual style here, and with 300 puzzles you certainly do get your money’s worth. Really, the only knock on it is that is does get a bit repetitive after a while. If you’re the sort that works through puzzles like you’re eating your way through to the bottom of a bag of shelled peanuts, I doubt that will bother you much. Just be warned that Paper Train gets very tough in its back end.
SwitchArcade Score: 3.5/5
New Releases
YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the End of the World ($49.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
This visual novel originally released in 1996 on the NEC PC-9801 in Japan. It was one of the earliest examples of an adult game breaking out of its brown-bag status and becoming a big hit. Its interesting story of parallel worlds earned it wide praise, and it’s considered a hugely influential title within the genre. A few years ago, visual novel publisher 5pb. did a remake for a variety of systems and Spike Chunsoft picked it up for worldwide release. That brings us to today, where you can buy and play this monster of a title on your little old Switch. Just keep in mind that this isn’t one for the lighter fans of the genre. It’s not quite as big as some of the later games from this developer, but it takes at least 30 hours to finish, let alone complete.
Super Crate Box ($4.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
Hey, it’s Super Crate Box, playable once again on a console. What can I really say about Super Crate Box? It put Vlambeer on the map and in some ways is still one of their most purely enjoyable titles. Jump into single-screen arenas and collect as many crates as you can, with each collected box giving you a new weapon to use. Some of them are immediately useful, others need to be handled more carefully. There are some neat unlockables, but ultimately it always comes back around to how awesome the game is to play and how fun it is to try to top your high scores. Definitely worth a fiver.
80 Days ($12.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
Whoa, 80 Days on Switch? Nice, nice. And indeed, this is a very nice port. I’ll be doing a full review soon, but I’ve had this in my hands for a few weeks now so I can definitely say that inkle did a fantastic job adapting this to Nintendo’s console. Play as Passepartout as you help your hapless associate win his ridiculous wager to travel around the world in 80 days. Manage money, choose the routes, and deal with the misadventures that ensue. It’s a wonderful game full of surprises and if you haven’t played it before, you need to get on that as soon as possible.
Sniper Elite 3 Ultimate Edition ($34.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
Look, this game (and series) sort of isn’t my thing, but I know it’s definitely something a lot of people love. In this third installment of the series, you face the Afrika Corps in World War 2, sneaking around massive open levels, stalking your targets, and doing that thing that snipers do. Your goal is to sabotage a Nazi super-weapon, and if that isn’t a feel-good set-up for a video game, I don’t know what is. All of the DLC from previous versions is included, and you have some multiplayer options if you want to dig into that. It even supports online multiplayer. And hey, motion controls. That’s actually super-useful for a game like this.
Lanternium ($9.99)
This is described as a family-friendly puzzle adventure game, and it certainly looks the part. It seems to have a lot of puzzles built around blocks and colors. It stars a cute raccoon on a quest to recover his chocolate cookies from some nefarious fellow. He carries a lantern and I suppose that’s where the title comes from. That lantern is used to fill in gaps to allow the raccoon to progress. The trick is that you need to match the color of the block with your lantern, and the minute you switch your lantern’s color, the blocks will disappear again. It gets tricky in the later stages, so puzzle fans will likely be satisfied so long as they’re not looking for anything too novel.
Sales
Well, today’s list is certainly interesting. Not a whole lot of the usual suspects, and a rather bulky list to boot. Two Tribes’s stuff is on sale somewhat regularly but I believe this is a new low for Rive and Toki Tori 2+, so you may want to consider them. Some but not all of Drinkbox’s titles are discounted, but those are also on sale often enough that it may not be pressing. Framed Collection, Downwell, Gato Roboto, and Minit are indies worth considering. There are lots of other good things in there, but I’ll let you poke through and see what catches your eye.
New Games on Sale
Rive: Ultimate ($5.24 from $14.99 until 10/20)
Toki Tori ($1.74 from $4.99 until 10/20)
Toki Tori 2+ ($5.24 from $14.99 until 10/20)
Framed Collection ($4.99 from $9.99 until 10/14)
Rento Fortune Monolit ($6.99 from $9.99 until 10/7)
Minit ($4.99 from $9.99 until 10/7)
Think of the Children ($2.59 from $12.99 until 10/14)
Feral Fury ($0.89 from $8.99 until 10/13)
Battery Jam ($1.49 from $14.99 until 10/7)
Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack! ($5.99 from $9.99 until 10/7)
Guacamelee! 2 ($9.99 from $19.99 until 10/7)
Swords & Soldiers ($2.62 from $7.49 until 10/20)
Downwell ($1.49 from $2.99 until 10/7)
Gato Roboto ($3.99 from $7.99 until 10/7)
Citizens of Space ($9.74 from $14.99 until 10/14)
Mainlining ($5.99 from $14.99 until 10/13)
Scrap ($2.74 from $4.99 until 10/14)
Spell Casting: Purrfectly Portable ($6.99 from $9.99 until 10/13)
Super Mutant Alien Assault ($4.99 from $9.99 until 10/14)
The Church in the Darkness ($13.99 from $19.99 until 10/14)
Bubble Cats Rescue ($2.99 from $3.99 until 10/21)
The Stillness of the Wind ($7.79 from $12.99 until 10/14)
Bow to Blood: Last Captain Standing ($9.99 from $19.99 until 10/11)
Brawlout ($7.99 from $19.99 until 10/20)
Grid Mania ($0.49 from $0.99 until 10/22)
Jumping Joe & Friends ($0.49 from $1.99 until 10/22)
Gaokao.Love.100Days ($7.79 from $11.99 until 10/14)
Not Not – A Brain Buster ($0.49 from $1.99 until 10/22)
Geki Yaba Runner Anniversary ($0.74 from $2.99 until 10/22)
Beholder 2 ($9.74 from $14.99 until 10/15)
Soulslayer ($6.99 from $9.99 until 10/14)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, October 2nd
Akane ($2.99 from $4.99 until 10/2)
Axiom Verge ($17.99 from $19.99 until 10/2)
Back to Bed ($3.99 from $4.99 until 10/2)
Brawl ($0.99 from $9.99 until 10/2)
Dimension Drive ($6.49 from $12.99 until 10/2)
Killer Queen Black ($16.99 from $19.99 until 10/2)
Neverout ($1.87 from $7.49 until 10/2)
One Strike ($0.49 from $4.99 until 10/2)
R.B.I. Baseball 19 ($9.99 from $19.99 until 10/2)
Robonauts ($0.39 from $3.99 until 10/2)
Strikey Sisters ($7.99 from $9.99 until 10/2)
TerraTech ($17.49 from $24.99 until 10/2)
The Bug Butcher ($5.59 from $7.99 until 10/2)
Trouserheart ($5.99 from $7.99 until 10/2)
That’s all we have for today, friends. Looking at the release schedule, we should only have one new game to check out tomorrow. I’ll probably have at least one full-sized review ready, and possibly a Mini-View or two to go with it. Naturally, all the interesting news and sales that hit in the next day will be there too. I hope you all have a wonderful day, and as always, thanks for reading!
