Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for October 15th, 2020. There are a lot of new games today. It took me about seven hours to research and write about all of them. There are also some new sales. They did not take seven hours to type up. Contrary to many inside jokes, Shaun does not get paid by the word. Let us proceed with today’s parade of new games.
New Releases
Shantae: Risky’s Revenge – Director’s Cut ($9.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
Not to take away from the achievements of the first game, but Shantae: Risky’s Revenge is the game that properly put Shantae on the map. It’s a much more playable game than the original, and it had the notable advantage of being available to anyone with a Nintendo DSi as opposed to late Game Boy Color collectors and/or millionaires. So it’s nice to see it arrive on the Nintendo Switch, joining its bigger and occasionally better follow-ups. This is the Director’s Cut, which includes a new mode of play and some adjustments to various game elements. It may not be quite as good as some of the other Shantae games you can get on the Switch, but it’s certainly worth ten bucks if you haven’t played it before.
Shoot 1UP DX ($5.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
Yes, it’s another vertical shoot-em-up, but this one has a neat gimmick. As you play, 1up items will appear fairly often. Pick them up and you will not stuff them in the drawer for future use but rather deploy them immediately. You can have up to 30 ships in play at once, and in the local co-op multiplayer there can be a total of 60 ships out there. Wow! If keeping them safe sounds tricky, I’m happy to inform you that you can suck your ships into a compact formation whenever you need to. This new DX version offers more content, addressing one of the bigger issues with the original. With a nice price and a novel concept, this is a pretty good pick-up for the discerning shoot-em-up fan.
Roki ($19.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
A story-heavy adventure game steeped in Scandinavian folklore, Roki follows the story of Tove, a girl on a journey to save her family. She travels to a forest pulled straight out of a dark fairy tale, complete with legendary monsters and creatures that she’ll have to deal with one way or another. The puzzles aren’t too tough, as the game seems to want you to experience its compelling story fully. But they are there, and I appreciate that. Really though, the strongest aspects of Roki are its excellent atmosphere and emotional story. Come to it for those things and I can’t imagine many of you will walk away disappointed.
Seers Isle ($16.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
Very bold setting a game in a section of a failing department store chain, but what can you… oh, I see. Seers Isle. Well, you can see how I made the mistake. All jokes aside, this is an awesome narrative adventure set in a fantastical version of medieval Europe. Some apprentice shamans visit a sacred island to learn the ways of magic, but they’re shaken when they keep having dreams of a strange woman with horns. You take the role of one of the members of the group and need to make choices to determine the flow of the story. There are a lot of different routes to find, and tons of optional artwork that you’ll only see by poking around with your choices. There are multiple endings, of course. The writing is really great in this one, and it’s definitely worth checking out if you enjoy choice-based adventure games.
Along the Edge ($16.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
This is from the same developer as Seers Isle, and guess what? It’s also really good. This is again a choice-based narrative adventure where your decisions will determine the main character’s personality and appearance along with the general course of the story. That main character is Daphne, a young woman who is at the end of her rope with the way things are going in her life. She gets a chance to change things up when she suddenly inherits an old house in the middle of nowhere. But can a change of setting really make a difference in her life, or will she just fall back into old habits? That’s up to you, friends. Lots of different branches to explore in this one, each with its own art and situations to encounter.
Electronic Super Joy 2 ($9.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
This follow-up to Electronic Super Joy is another brilliant, ultra-tough platform with a strong sense of style and ideas to burn. Make your way through more than fifty stages, many of which have a specific hook to call their own. Battle four bosses and keep your eyes open for secrets as you hop, slice, and run through wild and wacky hazards. The action is solid and the game is just plain fun to play. Note that there will be extra paid DLC for additional levels and such, just as with the PC version. As far as I can gather, this initial purchase just includes the base game, but that’s still plenty for ten bucks.
The Jackbox Party Pack 7 ($29.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
Look, there have been six of these things already. I imagine you’ve all made your minds up as to how you feel about them by now. This seventh installment includes five party games to enjoy with friends. Quiplash 3 works like the first two Quiplash games. The Devils and the Details has you playing as a family of devils trying to fit into the suburbs. Champ’d Up is a drawing/fighting game where you create a fighter and then battle them to win titles. Talking Points sees one player giving speeches on the fly, responding to picture prompts given to them by another player who is the Assistant. Finally, Blather Round forces you to describe a secret prompt with a very limited vocabulary. As usual, local multiplayer only, up to eight players. It’s fun with friends.
Hardcore Mecha ($24.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
A 2D action-platformer featuring mechas. It has great cut scenes and it was pretty obviously made by people who love mecha anime. It’s actually really good, especially in its single-player campaign mode. I think it helps a lot if you have affection for mecha battles, but I feel like on some level most people do? There’s also an online and local wireless battle mode for up to four players, and a same-screen local option for two players. It can be fun, but for me it’s all about that campaign. You can unlock and use 42 different mechas, and there’s a surprising amount of variety in their designs and how they play. Cool stuff.
Ring of Pain ($19.99)
Well, this is kind of neat. It’s a roguelite card game of sorts that deals you a bunch of cards in a ring, with each one representing a room in the dungeon. As such you can see a little bit ahead and try to plan for it. There are 16 core path dungeons with 2 branching endings, hard mode items you can unlock, a daily dungeon, a bunch of special dungeons, and more. Lots of dungeons, friends. There are also a whole bunch of items. More than 180, if you can believe it. And while we’re throwing numbers out there, you can look forward to dealing with more than 40 different creatures. Seems like a neat concept, but I’d need to spend more time with it to make any kind of decision about it.
Space Crew ($19.99)
This is the follow-up to Bomber Crew, and it really feels like it. Basically move the setting to space and add a few more plates to keep spinning while everything is on fire and you’re nine-tenths of the way there. You have to explore space and carry out missions with your stalwart crew, which is totally boring until trouble arrives and you’re left trying to make things work without really having enough resources to do so. It’s certainly no FTL, but you don’t have to be the best to be good. And this is, by and large, quite good. Just know what you’re getting into. This game is really tough, and it’s a bit repetitive as well. Look for it to fill little pockets of time where you can afford to get ticked off.
Castle of No Escape ($2.99)
Castle of No Escape 2 is a decent game, all things considered. I’m not sure I’d say the same about the first game, which feels very much like the result of a game jam. And I suppose it should, because it is. That manifests in a lot of ways, with the most obvious being that there’s no actual way to escape the castle. It’s right there in the title, after all. Collect all the treasures, defeat the last boss, and that’s really all you can do. The game doesn’t end after that so I guess just muck around until you’re bored. I suppose it’s only three dollars, which may make it interesting to pick at if you’re looking for something really cheap today.
Burst Shooter ($1.99)
Uh oh, there’s another challenger for the cheapie crown today. It’s really hard to say which is better. Or worse, I guess. This is a horizontal shooter where you control a bird and need to blast the incoming enemies. Doing so will increase your health points, which in turn increases your energy level, which results in upgrades for your bird. Given the plethora of great shoot-em-ups on the Switch, I’m not sure why you would choose this one. But I am not privy to the darkest secrets in the hearts of humankind nor do I especially want to be. Do what you must.
Alpaca Ball: Allstars ($29.99)
I kind of expected this to be a disaster, but it’s actually pretty fun. It’s a wacky physics-based soccer game where you field alpacas who swing their heads around to knock the ball into the goal. Kind of like a cuter Rocket League, but not quite as good as that. Up to eight players can get in on this locally, and the more people you have the more hilarious nonsense you’ll get up to. There’s also a career mode if you don’t have other people on hand, but it’s really not the point. It’s a shame there’s no online mode in here, and the game could probably use some unlockable goodies to keep players coming back, but the core gameplay does its job and that may be enough for our party-oriented readers.
Dustoff Z ($14.99)
The Choplifter-inspired action of Dustoff Heli Rescue 2 meets the zombie apocalypse because, hey, why not? Maneuver your chopper just right, pick up zombies to bring back for research, or wreak a little havoc. The Dustoff Heli Rescue games tended to be decent games you’d pick up for cheap and have some fun with. We’ll have to see if this game punches things up enough to justify its higher price, but at the very least I think we can say that if you enjoyed the previous games in this series you’ll want to give this one a serious look.
Fight ($9.99)
Aw heck, it’s Sabec. You have got to be kidding me. Seriously, Sabec? A fighting game? You’re just going to go ahead and generic up a fighting game? Going to price that a couple bucks more than something like fifty NEOGEO fighters whose heinies your game isn’t fit to wipe? Heck, I guess I should be thankful there’s an option for a second player, even if it just local. Get out of here with this, you absolute hacks.
Tricky Spider ($5.00)
Hmm. Well, fine. You play as the spider, and you need to avoid the pink birds. At least until you unlock other things. But the idea is that you press and release the button to move the spider up and down to avoid the incoming obstacles. If you want to play with a friend, there is support for local multiplayer. See who can make it the farthest and get the best score. That’s it, that’s the game. Moving on.
Dead Z Meat ($9.99)
From the makers of Mad Bullets comes this zombie-blasting light gun shooter minus the light gun. Like that game’s Switch version, Dead Z Meat requires you to use a Joy-Con as a substitute for the light gun, to mixed results. Note that you can’t use a Pro controller, and you won’t be able to play on a Switch Lite unless you own separate Joy-Cons. Anyway, this works a lot like Mad Bullets in practice. Point, shoot, collect cash for doing well, buy upgrades and new guns, and head to the next stage. Single-player only, unfortunately. I do like the comedic take on the undead here. Still a little spooky and grotesque but very cartoony. But yeah, it all hangs on how well the Joy-Con as a pointer works for you.
Cloudpunk ($24.99)
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a delivery person in a cyberpunk world? No? Well, then I don’t know how to introduce this game! Thanks a lot! Let’s just go to it, then. There are a lot of interesting narrative adventures hitting the eShop today, and this is another one. It has an exploration element that ties in with the main theme of you being a delivery person in a neon metropolis, and a cast of weird and charming characters that you’ll be interacting with. It’s oddly kind of chill? Not really a must-have but it’s not bad either. I’d say if the screenshots and basic premise appeal to you, go for it. You’ll probably dig it.
This is the Zodiac Speaking ($19.99)
Look, we all know who the real Zodiac Killer is. But if you want to entertain other possibilities, This is the Zodiac Speaking lets you do that. This is an adventure game where you play a character loosely based on one of the real survivors of the Zodiac Killer. You have to search for clues and try to determine their identity, but if you’re not careful you may end up as another victim. It sounds good, but sadly it just doesn’t work on most levels. The puzzles aren’t very interesting, the story has poor pacing, and the whole enterprise has so many technical problems that it’s really hard to enjoy.
Dream ($9.99)
Well, good luck finding anything on the internet about this game with a title that generic. I have no idea if this game released somewhere else before, but its developer Rising Win Tech is a little easier to find info on. They’ve done a couple of adventure games before, and they usually lean more towards the escape room end of things. In Dream, you wake up in the morgue of a strange hospital and need to explore it and solve puzzles to figure out its mysteries and how all of it ties in with you. If this follows quality-wise in the footsteps of the developer’s previous titles, it’s probably decent but not spectacular.
Brunswick Pro Billiards ($19.99)
Farsight Studios, having almost entirely abandoned its previous bread-and-butter pinball, takes a step into another staple of amusement centers: billiards. The game features full Brunswick licensing, giving that extra bit of authenticity. You can play against another player locally or online, or battle against an AI opponent. My concern comes with what the game refers to as Brunswick Bucks, which can be used to upgrade your equipment and tables. You can apparently earn these by defeating other players online, but you can also buy them as a consumable IAP. I’m sure Farsight has done a decent job of the actual nuts and bolts of the gameplay, but I instinctively want to pull away when I see a game offering a selection of various amounts of something called “Brunswick Bucks" as real-money purchases.
Terror Squid ($9.99)
This game has some real potential. You play as a squid traveling around globes, leaving a trail of bullets behind it that it then has to dodge as they come back around. I’m not 100% clear on this, but I believe the idea is to fill the area with as many bullets as you dare, then detonate the lot to earn points. You’ll get a higher score if you push things to the bullet-hell extremes, but that carries a great deal of risk. The whole thing is presented in cool vector graphics, which fits the concept really well. I haven’t had a chance to play this game yet, but I’m definitely going to. If it’s as awesome as I think it will be, I’ll let you know.
Batbarian: Testament of the Primordials ($19.99)
That price tag is a bold play. Can a 2D action game from an indie developer with little hype live up to it? Maybe, friends. Maybe. After an unplanned dive into an abyss, you need to find your way out. You’re a barbarian, and your friend is a luminous bat who will help light the way. Using a combination of brains and brawn, you need to battle your way through the abyss, solving puzzles in more than 400 rooms packed with challenges and fun secrets. This is a rather large game for what it is, so it at least lives up to that price tag in volume. The play’s the thing, however, and to that I cannot speak as I haven’t had the chance to put my hands on this one properly yet.
Kaptain Brawe: A Brawe New World ($9.99)
Phew, this one’s a golden oldie in the mobile world. We reviewed it here at TouchArcade back in January 2012, in fact. I don’t recognize the name of the reviewer, so that’s definitely a minute or two ago. She gave the game four stars and made lots of references to classic point and click adventure games from LucasArts and Sierra, but also spoke of fond memories of Zak McKracken. Hmm. Well, the LucasArts vibe is definitely what Kaptain Brawe strives for, and while it somewhat gets the overall character and setting right, the puzzles and other mechanical bits aren’t in the same league as that stuff. It’s a decent entry-level adventure game, but I wouldn’t push it much farther than that.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
Sales! Lots of them for a Thursday, really. I think Arc System Works might also be having a sale on a bunch of its games, but I didn’t see them on sale when I loaded up the eShop on my Switch, so they aren’t here. You may want to check anyway. Anyway, have a look at both lists as usual. There will be many more sales to look at tomorrow.
Select New Games on Sale
Rock of Ages 3: Make & Break ($19.49 from $29.99 until 10/21)
Override: Mech City Brawl ($9.99 from $39.99 until 10/21)
Silk ($3.89 from $12.99 until 10/21)
Beast Quest ($11.99 from $29.99 until 10/21)
Bear With Me: The Lost Robots ($1.99 from $4.99 until 10/21)
Deer Drive Legends ($5.99 from $19.99 until 10/21)
Degrees of Separation ($5.99 from $19.99 until 10/21)
Troll & I ($2.99 from $29.99 until 10/21)
Ninjin: Clash of Carrots ($1.99 from $9.99 until 10/21)
Trine 4: Nightmare Prince ($8.99 from $29.99 until 10/21)
Trine: Ultimate Collection ($14.99 from $49.99 until 10/21)
Skully ($19.49 from $29.99 until 10/21)
Tilt Pack ($9.99 from $14.99 until 10/22)
Galacide ($12.00 from $15.00 until 10/23)
Collection of Mana ($19.99 from $39.99 until 11/2)
Trials of Mana ($34.99 from $49.99 until 11/2)
Ghostbusters: The Video Game ($7.49 from $29.99 until 11/2)
The Jackbox Party Pack 3 ($16.24 from $24.99 until 11/2)
The Jackbox Party Pack 6 ($19.49 from $29.99 until 11/2)
MX Nitro: Unleashed ($2.49 from $9.99 until 11/2)
Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn ($4.99 from $19.99 until 11/2)
8-Ball Pocket ($2.03 from $5.99 until 11/3)
A Hero and a Garden ($3.74 from $4.99 until 11/3)
Devious Dungeon ($4.39 from $7.99 until 11/3)
Devious Dungeon 2 ($4.79 from $7.99 until 11/3)
Daggerhood ($2.99 from $4.99 until 11/3)
Gravity Duck ($2.99 from $4.99 until 11/3)
I & Me ($4.99 from $9.99 until 11/3)
Inksplosion ($2.49 from $4.99 until 11/3)
Super Destronaut DX ($2.99 from $4.99 until 11/3)
Tetra’s Escape ($2.99 from $4.99 until 11/3)
Azure Reflections ($12.49 from $24.99 until 11/3)
Gensokyo Defenders ($9.99 from $19.99 until 11/3)
Gensou Skydrift ($19.19 from $23.99 until 11/3)
I Am The Hero ($5.99 from $9.99 until 11/3)
Heroes Trials ($3.59 from $5.99 until 11/3)
Access Denied ($2.99 from $4.99 until 11/3)
FullBlast ($3.59 from $5.99 until 11/3)
Jack N’ Jill DX ($2.99 from $4.99 until 11/3)
Shadow of Loot Box ($3.99 from $7.99 until 11/3)
League of Evil ($3.99 from $7.99 until 11/3)
Midnight Deluxe ($2.49 from $4.99 until 11/3)
36 Fragments of Midnight ($1.99 from $2.99 until 11/3)
Squareboy vs Bullies: Arena ($2.49 from $4.99 until 11/3)
Plantera Deluxe ($2.74 from $4.99 until 11/3)
One More Dungeon ($4.39 from $7.99 until 11/3)
Twin Robots: Ultimate ($3.99 from $7.99 until 11/3)
Peasant Knight ($1.99 from $2.99 until 11/3)
Super Weekend Mode ($2.99 from $4.99 until 11/3)
Iron Snout ($2.99 from $4.99 until 11/3)
Zeroptian Invasion ($2.99 from $4.99 until 11/3)
My Big Sister ($3.59 from $5.99 until 11/3)
Warlock’s Tower ($2.99 from $4.99 until 11/3)
Hoggy2 ($2.99 from $4.99 until 11/3)
Scheming Thru Zombie Apocalypse ($2.99 from $4.99 until 11/3)
Super Box Land Demake ($2.99 from $4.99 until 11/3)
Deep Space Rush ($2.99 from $4.99 until 11/3)
Keen: One Girl Army ($4.99 from $15.99 until 11/3)
RogueCube ($3.74 from $4.99 until 11/3)
Prehistoric Dude ($3.74 from $4.99 until 11/3)
Even the Ocean ($11.24 from $14.99 until 11/3)
Super Sportmatchen ($7.45 from $14.90 until 10/22)
Momodora: RUtM ($11.99 from $14.99 until 10/22)
Bug Fables: Everlasting Sapling ($21.24 from $24.99 until 10/22)
Ara Fell: Enhanced ($10.49 from $14.99 until 10/22)
The Bridge ($1.39 from $9.99 until 10/23)
Almost There: The Platformer ($0.19 from $9.99 until 10/23)
Tumble Stone ($1.79 from $14.99 until 10/23)
Gurgamoth ($0.09 from $9.99 until 10/23)
Breakpoint ($3.74 from $4.99 until 10/23)
Ambassador: Fractured Timelines ($9.74 from $14.99 until 10/23)
Midnight Evil ($1.99 from $9.99 until 10/26)
Monster Blast ($3.99 from $7.99 until 10/26)
Word Mesh ($3.49 from $6.99 until 10/26)
M.A.C.E. Tower Defense ($1.99 from $3.99 until 10/26)
Green Game: TimeSwapper ($2.00 from $2.99 until 10/26)
Paper Wars: Cannon Fodder ($1.99 from $9.99 until 10/26)
The Rainsdowne Players ($0.07 from $3.99 until 10/30)
Blue Rider ($2.99 from $9.99 until 11/5)
Princess Closet ($18.74 from $24.99 until 11/5)
Zero Strain ($6.99 from $9.99 until 11/5)
Task Force Kampas ($2.99 from $5.99 until 11/5)
Many Faces ($2.49 from $4.99 until 11/5)
My Bewitching Perfume ($14.99 from $19.99 until 11/5)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Friday, October 16th
#Funtime ($9.74 from $14.99 until 10/16)
4×4 Dirt Track ($7.19 from $11.99 until 10/16)
Battleship ($9.99 from $19.99 until 10/16)
Bright Paw ($9.99 from $12.99 until 10/16)
Broken Lines ($17.49 from $24.99 until 10/16)
Bubsy: Paws on Fire! ($4.99 from $24.99 until 10/16)
Chameleon ($1.49 from $4.99 until 10/16)
Clue: Classic Mystery Game ($14.99 from $29.99 until 10/16)
Coast Guard: Beach Rescue Team ($3.59 from $11.99 until 10/16)
Damsel ($3.39 from $16.99 until 10/16)
Danmaku Unlimited 3 ($4.99 from $9.99 until 10/16)
Deleveled ($7.49 from $9.99 until 10/16)
Dream Alone ($0.99 from $9.99 until 10/16)
Ego Protocol: Remastered ($0.99 from $4.99 until 10/16)
Exorder ($1.29 from $12.99 until 10/16)
F-117A Stealth Fighter ($1.49 from $4.99 until 10/16)
Kids: Farm Coloring ($3.49 from $4.99 until 10/16)
Make War ($3.99 from $9.99 until 10/16)
Monkey King: Master of Clouds ($1.49 from $4.99 until 10/16)
Nonograms Prophecy ($1.19 from $3.99 until 10/16)
Pirates: All Aboard! ($0.59 from $5.99 until 10/16)
Raiden V: Director’s Cut ($8.99 from $29.99 until 10/16)
Rawr-Off ($0.29 from $2.99 until 10/16)
Roundguard ($11.99 from $19.99 until 10/16)
Star Horizon ($4.99 from $9.99 until 10/16)
Strike Force Kitty ($1.99 from $4.99 until 10/16)
Summer Sweetheart ($13.99 from $19.99 until 10/16)
Tricky Towers ($7.49 from $14.99 until 10/16)
Unruly Heroes ($10.59 from $19.99 until 10/16)
Woodle Tree 2: Deluxe ($4.54 from $12.99 until 10/16)
Woodle Tree Adventures ($0.49 from $4.99 until 10/16)
That’s it for today, friends. There are around ten new releases on the schedule for tomorrow, and that’s assuming no unexpected games pop up today after I’ve gone home. There will also be a bunch of sales to check out. I hope you all have a great Thursday, and as always, thanks for reading!
