Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for June 14th, 2022. As I mentioned yesterday, I had some business today that took up much of my time. Luckily, our pal Mikhail came to the rescue with a full-sized review of a game that came out a little while back and has some DLC incoming very soon. I’ve got summaries of the few new releases that hit the eShop today, along with the usual lists of sales. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to cover any news, but at the very least I’ll mention that a Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak demo is apparently incoming today. Let’s get into it!
Reviews & Mini-Views
OlliOlli World ($29.99)
The original OlliOlli and its sequel were two of my favorite indie games back when the PS Vita was still kicking. I adored OlliOlli 2 and continue to play it often on Switch and PS4. When Roll7 and Private Division announced OlliOlli World, I was surprisingly not sold on it. The aesthetic turned me off initially, but hearing impressions from friends and the soundtrack, had me interested in checking it out. With the new OlliOlli World DLC out this week on all platforms, I wanted to cover the base game first ahead of the VOID Riders expansion. Having now played OlliOlli World on both Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch, I’m blown away by how good it is in almost every way.
What made the original OlliOlli games special, was a combination of the tight controls, level design, and the soundtracks. OlliOlli World is an improvement in just about every way, and I don’t say that lightly considering I consider OlliOlli 2 as one of the best indie games ever. There’s a story that the team has clearly put effort into with memorable characters who talk to you before and after levels, but I just wanted to skip that to get to the next level. The combo possibilities are endless with how much chaining you can do alongside the new tricks, but the way everything comes together in the levels is what makes this special.
You initially learn the basics, something I was rather bored of doing having put in dozens of hours into the prior games, but this is all worth it once I finally saw the improvements and enhancements the team made to even basic combo chaining, grinding, and the skills you take for granted early in the game. As you go through different levels and learn new mechanics, things start becoming harder. OlliOlli World has track changing in levels giving you branching paths to either go for more challenging routes in a level, or fulfill specific requirements. There’s a ton of flexibility in chaining combos as well and the later levels are true tests of your skill.
Barring the actual levels, tricks, possibilities, and biomes (with gorgeous visuals), OlliOlli World adds character customization with a lot of cosmetic unlocks through levels. I liked this aspect of the game a lot more than I thought I would with how colorful and creative the clothes, skateboards, and skateboard items are. This game deserves a good artbook alongside a physical release. I assume Private Division will do one after the DLC is all available.
Barring some performance issues on Switch that mostly are in the non gameplay portions, my biggest complaint with OlliOlli World is the dialogue. Early on if you keep pressing A to skip to the next level or continue, you will trigger some dialogue with your companions that can’t be skipped. The way to skip it, is to press B instead of A before starting that level. This is a small issue, but it reminds of how annoying the Splatoon 2 intro is each time you launch the game. Thankfully, OlliOlli World doesn’t waste a minute like Splatoon 2 does.
Visually, OlliOlli World looks great both docked and handheld. After playing it at 1440p on my monitor through the PC version, it scales down well to Switch, and looks gorgeous on the OLED screen. It also runs well with the 60fps target feeling good during gameplay. There are some issues before and after levels with a few levels later on struggling once in a while, but it never was as bad as certain other ports on Switch.
The OlliOlli games have great electronic licensed music and OlliOlli World rivals Death Stranding with how much good music it introduced me to over the last few weeks. This complements the excellent sound effects to make for an experience only Roll7 has been able to give so far. While I haven’t played OlliOlli World on PS5 yet to experience how the team took advantage of the DualSense controller, the Nintendo Switch version’s HD Rumble is awesome and this version is an excellent way to play OlliOlli World.
Hopefully we get an update that just lets us disable dialogue or lets us skip it faster because that’s my only complaint with the game itself. The Nintendo Switch port of OlliOlli World is surprisingly great as well with no major performance issues during gameplay. If you enjoyed the first two games, this is an absolutely brilliant follow-up. OlliOlli World is one of the best games of the year so far and I can’t wait to see how the DLC builds upon it. -Mikhail Madnani
SwitchArcade Score: 4.5/5
New Releases
The Hand of Merlin ($29.99)
This is a turn-based roguelite RPG that has seen a fairly positive reception in its computer version. Exploration is mostly about making choices along some nodes, while combat plays in a sort of light tactical RPG manner. The theme is pretty interesting, crossing Arthurian legends with cosmic horror. The main criticism seems to come down to it being a bit too repetitive, with the rogue-ish elements perhaps not doing enough to keep things fresh.
Supaplex Hard ($9.99)
It’s more Supaplex, but it’s very, very hard. No, really. Don’t even think about playing this until you’ve finished all of the levels in the original Supaplex. You’ll have a pretty rough time if you do. But if you have gone through that enjoyable Boulder Dash-style game and are hungry for something spicier, by all means.
I Love Finding Critters! – Collector’s Edition ($9.99)
This is an entry-level hidden object (animal?) game in the vein of the previous dog and cat versions. This one goes for a more general approach, and that’s probably the right move since the other games couldn’t properly stick to their themes as it was. Anyway, if you love finding critters, it’s finally your time to shine.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
Not a whole ton going on with either list today, but if you want to catch up on some Monster Hunter or are looking for a second chance on that great discount for Dragon’s Dogma, you’re in luck. Nothing too wild in the outbox, but it’ll only take a second for you to have a look yourself.
Select New Games on Sale
Negative Nancy ($7.49 from $14.99 until 6/21)
Dragon’s Dogma Dark Arisen ($9.99 from $29.99 until 6/23)
Catch The Stars ($1.99 from $2.99 until 6/27)
Soft Drift ($2.31 from $3.85 until 7/1)
Monster Hunter Generations Ult. ($11.99 from $39.99 until 7/4)
Monster Hunter Rise ($30.59 from $59.99 until 7/4)
Monster Hunter Stories 2 ($29.99 from $59.99 until 7/4)
Outbreak: Contagious Memories ($14.99 from $29.99 until 7/4)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Wednesday, June 15th
Chiki-Chiki Boxy Racers ($4.99 from $9.99 until 6/15)
Death Come True ($11.19 from $15.99 until 6/15)
Ekstase ($9.89 from $14.99 until 6/15)
Hextones ($1.99 from $2.99 until 6/15)
MilkChoco ($20.99 from $29.99 until 6/15)
Necrosphere Deluxe ($3.99 from $7.99 until 6/15)
New Terra ($12.24 from $24.99 until 6/15)
P.3 ($1.99 from $4.99 until 6/15)
Tiny Metal ($7.49 from $14.99 until 6/15)
Toki ($2.08 from $14.90 until 6/15)
Tokyo Dark: Remembrance ($9.99 from $19.99 until 6/15)
That will do it for today, friends. Today I visited a family member in the hospital; tomorrow I will go to a different hospital for my own test results. Fingers crossed and all that. It shouldn’t take too much time, so provided the news isn’t, you know, absolutely awful, you can probably look forward to a typical Wednesday Round-Up with some new releases, sales, and maybe a bit of news. I hope you all have a great Tuesday, and as always, thanks for reading!
