Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for August 24th, 2023. In today’s article, we’ve got a bit of news to go through courtesy of our pal Mikhail. After that, it’s the usual Thursday business of checking out a lot of new releases. Not so many as we typically see on a Thursday this time, but there are some great games in here like Blasphemous 2 and Shotgun King to consider. After that, we’ve got the lists of new sales and expiring discounts for you to thumb through. Let’s get to the fun!
News
Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story Gets New Trailer
Riot Forge’s newest release has been developed by Tequila Works. Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story is an adventure game taking players of on a roadtrip with Nunu and Willump. This Riot Forge release follows Convergence and The Mageseeker takes players on the ultimate road trip with Nunu and Willump, two best friends in search of answers in a gripping narrative game. Fans will discover their unbreakable bond and meet legendary champions along the way as they unlock the secrets of the Freljord, a beautiful but treacherous region in League of Legends. I enjoyed both recent Riot Forge releases so will try and play this as soon as I can. Check out the official website here. Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story is in development for Switch, PS5, Xbox, and PC platforms. –Mikhail Madnani
New Releases
Blasphemous 2 ($29.99)
The blend of Metroidvania-style action-adventure and Souls-like mechanics has proven to be a popular one, and one of the more successful ones now has a sequel. It promises more of what people loved in the original Blasphemous, picking up its story where the first game left off and giving players even more options for customizing their character. There are also some new weapons to play with, and you’ll need to make the most of them because this sequel is just as merciless as the original game in terms of difficulty.
Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate ($12.49)
If you’re going to do a chess game at this stage on the Switch, you might as well mix it up. In this game, you play as the Black King. That’s your only piece. You’ll have to defeat the numerous white pieces on each board, and that might seem like a serious disadvantage until you remember the other word in the main title: shotgun. Yes, your piece is packing a piece of its own, and it’s not afraid to use it. Each turn you can move or fire your gun, but if you choose to open fire you’ll need to move again to reload it. The other pieces follow the usual rules of chess, and there are some roguelite aspects here as you can choose perks and such as you go. It got great reviews over on Steam and I’m sure it will do just as well here.
Curse Crackers: For Whom the Belle Toils ($15.00)
Wow, this is a zippy one. This is a platformer that seems built for speed runners, and I don’t mean in the sense that there’s a little timer up in the top corner of the screen or something. Rather, your character’s movement and the stage layouts seem designed for you to just keep moving at all times if you do things right. This is another one that has received a solid reception on other platforms, though I’ll admit that I have to consult my brain on eShop purchases of fifteen bucks or more. It’s very tempting though, it looks fantastic in motion.
GINSHA ($17.80)
Another Metroidvania-style game, hunh? I remember when these were extremely rare. The description for this game leans heavily into every buzzword you can think of, and that makes me worry a bit about what it has to offer beyond pastiche. Still, if you’re interested enough in the genre at this point to take a twenty-dollar punt on a game without any obvious distinguishing features, here’s one more.
King of the Hat ($19.99)
This is a party platformer for up to four players either via local multiplayer or online. The idea here is that you attack by throwing your hat, and score points by stomping on your opponent’s hat. There are a variety of arenas to do battle in, so that’s nice. It doesn’t look like there’s much to chew on for a single player, so this is more aimed at the fans of playing with others. Really, best played with people in the same room.
Alice Escaped! ($19.99)
Yes, we have one more Metroidvania today. I’ve actually played this one and what I will say is that while it’s an enjoyable enough playthrough, it tries to make up for its relative brevity (it’s about four or so hours long) by forcing you to replay it several times to reach the true ending. I’ll have a proper review of this one soon, but while I liked it a little I wasn’t anywhere close to loving it.
Arcade Archives Bosconian ($7.99)
Namco’s influential and infrequently re-released 1981 arcade game Bosconian is this week’s pick, and it’s a good one. It’s a multidirectional shooter where you’re tasked with finding and destroying all of the enemy space stations on each stage. It’s pretty enjoyable, and I believe it served as a source of inspiration for the likes of Sinistar. Of course, given its age and how early on it came in video game history, you have to forgive some rough edges in its design if you really want to get the most out of it. But I see this as a foundational work for the shooter genre and it’s nice to have it available on modern platforms.
The Bin Bunch
Word Search Puzzle: Find the Words! ($9.99)
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
The main thing I want to call out in today’s list of new sales is No Man’s Sky hitting a new low price. It’s a great port and for thirty bucks you’ll get a lot out of it. There’s an assortment of other indies in there as well, so do your thing. Over in the outbox, it’s your last chance to get the excellent works of Onion Games at a discount. I recommend buying them all.
Select New Games on Sale
Suhoshin ($11.39 from $18.99 until 9/1)
Protodroid DeLTA ($15.99 from $19.99 until 9/4)
Carto ($7.99 from $19.99 until 9/4)
Infinite Guitars ($15.99 from $19.99 until 9/4)
Ikenfell ($7.99 from $19.99 until 9/4)
Slay the Spire ($9.99 from $24.99 until 9/4)
Crying Suns ($12.49 from $24.99 until 9/4)
Supraland ($11.99 from $19.99 until 9/4)
The Wild at Heart ($12.49 from $24.99 until 9/4)
Flynn: Son of Crimson ($9.99 from $19.99 until 9/4)
Ring of Pain ($7.99 from $19.99 until 9/4)
Forager ($6.99 from $19.99 until 9/4)
Wandersong ($4.99 from $19.99 until 9/4)
The Last Campfire ($2.99 from $14.99 until 9/4)
Ghost Song ($13.99 from $19.99 until 9/4)
Moonscars ($13.99 from $19.99 until 9/4)
SIGNALIS ($15.99 from $19.99 until 9/4)
Unpacking ($11.99 from $19.99 until 9/4)
Midnight Fight Express ($13.99 from $19.99 until 9/4)
Void Bastards ($8.99 from $29.99 until 9/4)
Void Bastards: DeLUXe Bundle ($9.89 from $32.99 until 9/4)
Chinatown Detective Agency ($12.49 from $24.99 until 9/4)
No Man’s Sky ($29.99 from $59.99 until 9/7)
Dredge ($19.99 from $24.99 until 9/7)
Virgo Versus The Zodiac ($15.99 from $19.99 until 9/7)
Robolt ($3.49 from $4.99 until 9/8)
Rule No. 1 ($2.39 from $5.99 until 9/8)
Rayland ($2.49 from $4.99 until 9/8)
Pretty Girls 2048 Strike ($4.19 from $6.99 until 9/8)
Hatup ($2.49 from $4.99 until 9/8)
Moe Waifu H ($3.49 from $4.99 until 9/8)
Stellatum ($4.99 from $9.99 until 9/13)
The Mooseman ($3.49 from $6.99 until 9/13)
Drowning ($1.99 from $2.99 until 9/13)
North ($1.99 from $2.99 until 9/13)
Breeder Homegrown Director’s Cut ($2.49 from $4.99 until 9/13)
Rift Keeper ($4.99 from $9.99 until 9/13)
Blood Waves ($4.99 from $9.99 until 9/13)
Figment 2 Creed Valley ($16.24 from $24.99 until 9/14)
If My Heart Had Wings ($8.99 from $19.99 until 9/14)
The Sinking City Deluxe ($9.74 from $64.99 until 9/14)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Friday, August 25th
1971 Project Helios ($6.99 from $19.99 until 8/25)
2021 Moon Escape ($3.99 from $4.99 until 8/25)
4×4 Offroad Driver 2 ($6.49 from $12.99 until 8/25)
Arsonist Heaven ($1.99 from $4.99 until 8/25)
Ball laB ($1.99 from $4.99 until 8/25)
Black Bird ($13.29 from $18.99 until 8/25)
Cat Quest ($3.89 from $12.99 until 8/25)
Classic Games Collection Vol.1+2 ($2.29 from $7.99 until 8/25)
Clunky Hero ($8.24 from $14.99 until 8/25)
Dandy Dungeon: Brave Yamada ($13.29 from $18.99 until 8/25)
El Gancho ($2.79 from $6.99 until 8/25)
Jewel Wars ($3.99 from $9.99 until 8/25)
Layers of Fear 2 ($4.49 from $29.99 until 8/25)
Layers of Fear Legacy ($3.99 from $19.99 until 8/25)
Manifold Garden ($9.99 from $19.99 until 8/25)
Mon Amour ($6.29 from $8.99 until 8/25)
moon ($13.29 from $18.99 until 8/25)
New York City Driver ($6.49 from $12.99 until 8/25)
Obakeidoro ($9.99 from $19.99 until 8/25)
Observer ($5.99 from $29.99 until 8/25)
Pocoyo Party ($10.49 from $29.99 until 8/25)
Pretty Girls Four Kings Solitaire ($2.99 from $5.99 until 8/25)
Pretty Girls Panic ($2.99 from $5.99 until 8/25)
Queeny Army ($1.99 from $4.99 until 8/25)
Rip Them Off ($3.00 from $8.99 until 8/25)
Roof Jump Stunt Driver ($6.49 from $12.99 until 8/25)
Royal Roads ($2.09 from $2.99 until 8/25)
The Medium: Cloud Vers. ($29.99 from $49.99 until 8/25)
Torinto ($3.49 from $4.99 until 8/25)
That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with the remaining releases of the week, plus whatever sales and news hit in the next day. Yesterday when I looked at today’s schedule I half-expected a snap Direct would be called or something. But no, it’s just a genuinely slow week. I guess even the Switch has those sometimes. I hope you all have a thrilling Thursday, and as always, thanks for reading!
