Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for May 10th, 2022. In today’s article, we’ve got a couple of games to evaluate. Getting a full review is Fellow Traveler and Jump Over The Age’s cool science-fiction adventure Citizen Sleeper, and in Mini-Views we’ve got a short and to-the-point look at As Far As The Eye‘s Switch port. There are four new releases to check out, and all of them have something to offer. Finally, we’ve got the usual lists of incoming and outgoing sales for you to take a gander at. Let’s get to it!
Reviews & Mini-Views
Citizen Sleeper ($19.99)
Citizen Sleeper is a fancy little cousin to gamebooks, and I love it. You play as a sort of synthetic human apparently known as a Sleeper. Having escaped your servitude to the corporation that built your body, you wake up in a place called Erlin’s Eye. You don’t have a whole lot to go on, and you don’t have time to worry about it as your body will decay without a special supplement that isn’t exactly easy to find. You also need to eat, and that isn’t the easiest thing to do without any funds. Once you’ve put those fires out, then maybe you can start solving mysteries or building a life.
There are two main things you need to keep an eye on: your vitality and your energy. If your vitality runs out, you’re finished. If your energy runs out, your vitality will drop more quickly than it already does. Keeping your vitality is up is also important because the higher it is, the more actions you can take on any given day. These actions take the form of dice that you can assign to tasks of your choice. The higher the number on the die, the better chance you’ll get a good result. Depending on your character build, there may also be some modifiers to those dice totals.
Initially your possible actions are fairly limited. As you play, things open up significantly. How they open up and in which order depends on how you prioritize things. The passage of time will also cause events to occur, and there are some things you need money, specific items, or certain abilities to access. It takes some getting used to, and the longer you play the more you’ll get a handle on things. It feels like it falls between a gamebook and a proper tabletop game. You are choosing between a limited amount of actions, but the dice and sheer number of activities take this well beyond what a gamebook can typically offer.
The presentation isn’t very fancy here, but it gets the job done. The graphics have a bit of a classic computer feeling to them, and the audio hits the cyberpunk vibes it’s going for. The interface is a little clumsy initially, and some of the text could be clearer on the handheld screen. But once you’ve got the hang of it, the game is pretty easy to play. Naturally, the story itself is well-written and compelling. It’s probably the main hook of the game. It unrolls at a rather leisurely pace at times, sometimes slowing down to help paint in details of its setting and the characters that inhabit it.
Those who enjoy a good narrative adventure will want to consider picking up Citizen Sleeper. It’s a very humble game in a lot of ways, but there’s plenty to dig into here if you give it a shot. The range of choices allowed me to feel like I had some agency over my character and their new life, and the dice mechanic added a pleasant random element to keep things interesting. A very cool slice of cyberpunk storytelling.
SwitchArcade Score: 4.5/5
As Far As The Eye ($24.99)
This is a textbook example of how a poor port can ruin what a game is trying to get across. The Switch version of As Far As The Eye suffers from numerous bugs that significantly impede attempts to play it, and decisions like tiny text and not allowing touch controls would cause issues even if everything was running smoothly. These problems stack on top of a game that already had its fair share of flaws in its original form to wash away most of the goodwill from its more clever moments. If you’re looking for a unique strategic survival game, you may want to give As Far As The Eye a chance, but I can’t recommend doing it on Switch.
SwitchArcade Score: 2.5/5
New Releases
Prinny Presents NIS Classics Volume 2: Makai Kingdom: Reclaimed and Rebound/ZHP: Unlosing Ranger vs. Darkdeath Evilman ($39.99)
NIS is killing me with these titles, I swear. On the other hand, that is a very good description of what this is. This pack includes a revamped version of the 2005 PlayStation 2 tactical RPG Makai Kingdom and the quirky 2010 PSP game ZHP Unlosing Ranger vs. Darkdeath Evilman. Both games are quite good, though I prefer the unique charms of ZHP. I’m happy to report that the terrible crashes and technical issues that plagued (and continue to plague) Prinny Presents Volume 1 aren’t in this second volume, at least as far as my experience with it goes. I’ll have a full review shortly.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising ($14.99)
Here’s the first fruit of Rabbit & Bear Studios, the latest venture of Suikoden series creator Yoshitaka Murayama. The studio also includes a number of Suikoden series veterans besides him, and it is then perhaps no surprise that their aim is squarely focused on fans of that dormant franchise. The main project the team is working on is Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, but this game will introduce some of the cast of that game along with the overall setting. This one is a side-scrolling action-RPG, and it certainly has a nice look to it. I’ll have a review of this one next week.
Wolfstride ($14.99)
Do you like games where you can almost immediately feel that the people who made it may have poured a little bit too much of themselves into it? Wolfstride is definitely one of those, and it’s pretty cool. Three former partners in crime find themselves, through a series of events, participating in a mecha tournament with huge stakes. What starts as a simple plan to make some cash soon becomes very complicated. There are basically two components to this game. On one side, you’ve got a rather involved narrative that could probably hold its own if it had to. On the other side, there are some surprisingly enjoyable turn-based mecha battles to engage in. There are rough edges all over the place here, but it somehow works.
Rage Among the Stars ($4.99)
Here’s another one of those precision platformers where you die a lot. It refers to itself as old-school, and I suppose Super Meat Boy and N are both getting up there in years. I’ll allow it. There are forty levels to play through, and the game is lovely enough to keep a running count of your deaths and how long you take to get through each level. Nothing too fancy, but it seems to do what you would want a five dollar Switch platformer to do.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
I suppose it’s a good day to stock up on Gal*Gun games, if nothing else. Raging Loop is also good, but I’ve recommended that many times before. Even the outbox doesn’t have too much going on. If you have some cash to burn, perhaps save it for later this week to see what comes in with the tide. Check both lists anyway, of course.
Select New Games on Sale
Swords and Bones ($1.99 from $7.99 until 5/16)
Trash Quest ($1.99 from $9.99 until 5/16)
Promesa ($3.49 from $4.99 until 5/16)
Monument ($1.99 from $7.00 until 5/16)
Cuccchi ($5.59 from $7.99 until 5/16)
The Last Friend ($7.49 from $14.99 until 5/17)
Muddledash ($2.99 from $5.99 until 5/23)
Ciel Fledge: Daughter Raising Sim ($2.99 from $9.99 until 5/23)
PlataGO! Platform Game Maker ($9.99 from $19.99 until 5/23)
The Plane Effect ($10.49 from $14.99 until 5/23)
Razed ($5.99 from $11.99 until 5/23)
Gravity Heroes ($9.74 from $14.99 until 5/23)
Alpaca Ball: Allstars ($13.99 from $19.99 until 5/23)
Turmoil ($2.99 from $14.99 until 5/23)
Raging Loop ($14.99 from $29.99 until 5/23)
Gal*Gun Returns ($29.99 from $49.99 until 5/23)
Gal*Gun Double Peace ($33.99 from $39.99 until 5/23)
Gal*Gun 2 ($8.99 from $29.99 until 5/23)
Gal*Gun 2 Complete ($23.99 from $59.99 until 5/23)
Gun Gun Pixies ($12.49 from $49.99 until 5/23)
Dusk Diver ($10.49 from $34.99 until 5/23)
Root Letter: Last Answer ($7.49 from $29.99 until 5/23)
7 Years From Now ($6.49 from $9.99 until 5/23)
Kotodama: 7 Mysteries ($14.99 from $29.99 until 5/23)
Tokyo School Life ($7.49 from $14.99 until 5/23)
Quantum Replica ($6.49 from $9.99 until 5/23)
Supermarket Shriek ($9.99 from $19.99 until 5/23)
Valrithian Arc: Hero School ($7.49 from $14.99 until 5/23)
Hell Warders ($7.49 from $14.99 until 5/23)
Nippon Marathon ($7.49 from $14.99 until 5/23)
Gordian Rooms: A Curious Heritage ($4.99 from $9.99 until 5/23)
Tears of Avia ($11.99 from $14.99 until 5/23)
Our World is Ended ($24.99 from $49.99 until 5/23)
Zengeon ($13.39 from $19.99 until 5/23)
Last Encounter ($1.99 from $14.99 until 5/23)
SpellKeeper ($1.99 from $5.99 until 5/23)
Moorhuhn Remake ($5.59 from $6.99 until 5/30)
Moorhuhn Knights & Castles ($7.49 from $14.99 until 5/30)
Knights & Guns ($2.49 from $14.99 until 5/30)
Irony Curtain: FMwL ($2.79 from $19.99 until 5/30)
Lost Grimoires 3: Forgotten Well ($2.09 from $14.99 until 5/30)
Scarlett Mysteries: Cursed Child ($2.09 from $14.99 until 5/30)
Quest Hunter ($8.99 from $29.99 until 5/30)
Racing Xtreme Fast Rally Driver 3D ($2.39 from $7.99 until 5/30)
Tank Battle Heroes ($1.99 from $3.99 until 5/30)
Super Mike: Classic Adv. Game ($2.99 from $9.99 until 5/30)
Zombie Call: Trigger 3D ($2.99 from $9.99 until 5/30)
Moto Rider GO Highway Traffic ($2.69 from $8.99 until 5/30)
Top Boat: Racing Sim 3D ($1.99 from $5.99 until 5/30)
Jumpy Mia ($4.49 from $8.99 until 5/30)
InfiniteCorp: Card Game ($2.39 from $7.99 until 5/30)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Wednesday, May 11th
Agatha Knife ($4.79 from $11.99 until 5/11)
Attack on Beetle ($4.19 from $5.99 until 5/11)
Between Time ($1.99 from $9.99 until 5/11)
Colossus Down ($8.99 from $17.99 until 5/11)
Dead by Daylight ($14.99 from $29.99 until 5/11)
Deadly Days ($2.08 from $18.99 until 5/11)
Demon’s Rise: War for the Deep ($1.99 from $6.99 until 5/11)
Duo Zombies ($3.99 from $7.99 until 5/11)
Encodya ($4.49 from $29.99 until 5/11)
Eufloria HD ($4.99 from $9.99 until 5/11)
Figment ($1.99 from $19.99 until 5/11)
Jessika ($2.09 from $14.99 until 5/11)
Leisure Suit Larry WD Saga ($9.74 from $64.99 until 5/11)
Leisure Suit Larry WDDD ($3.99 from $39.99 until 5/11)
Leisure Suit Larry WDDT ($7.99 from $39.99 until 5/11)
MechaNika ($2.39 from $5.99 until 5/11)
OctaFight ($1.99 from $5.99 until 5/11)
Palindrome Syndrome ($1.99 from $9.99 until 5/11)
Parkasaurus ($22.49 from $24.99 until 5/11)
Sector 781 ($2.99 from $5.99 until 5/11)
Shakes on a Plane ($1.99 from $19.99 until 5/11)
Skul: The Hero Slayer ($13.99 from $19.99 until 5/11)
Splatter ($1.99 from $4.98 until 5/11)
Super Shadow Break: Showdown! ($9.09 from $12.99 until 5/11)
Tested on Humans ($1.99 from $9.99 until 5/11)
The Innsmouth Case ($2.09 from $14.99 until 5/11)
The Kids We Were ($12.79 from $15.99 until 5/11)
The Sokoban ($8.99 from $17.99 until 5/11)
Trigger Dungeon ($1.99 from $3.99 until 5/11)
Urban Trial Playground ($2.24 from $14.99 until 5/11)
Urban Trial Tricky ($8.99 from $14.99 until 5/11)
That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with more new releases, more sales, and perhaps some news. I have no control over that last one. I hope you all have a fantastic Tuesday, and as always, thanks for reading!
