Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for December 5th, 2023. It’s a bit of a short one today since I was busy with a variety of other things, but there are several new releases for us to summarize. There are some really good ones in the bunch, so do give them a read. After that, we move over to the lists of new and expiring sales. Let’s get to it!
New Releases
A Highland Song ($17.99)
This is the latest from the folks at inkle, who know what a good narrative adventure tastes like. This time they’ve added some platforming into the mix, as protagonist Moira makes her way across the Scottish Highlands to reach her uncle on the coast. The trip won’t be easy, and she’ll have to make some choices along the way. This looks and sounds gorgeous, and I can’t wait to sink my teeth into it properly in anticipation of our review.
A Long Journey to an Uncertain End ($24.99)
So, apparently you’re a sentient spaceship. You’re on the run from your ex, and apparently being a sentient spaceship is illegal? You choose your crew members and make your way across the universe towards freedom, trying to keep up your supplies without allowing your pursuers to catch up. If nothing else, it looks interesting.
Skater XL ($39.99)
There seems to be some divided opinions on this game depending on where you look, but the developer has certainly done the work in porting it to Switch, maintaining 60 fps in both handheld and docked modes, bringing in access to user mods, and keeping the online multiplayer for up to ten players so that you can hang out and do skate sessions with others. It looks to be a good port of the game, so if that’s what you’re after, then here you go.
Born of Bread ($29.99)
For a while there, a lot of people were worried we weren’t going to see any more Mario RPGs from Nintendo. Maybe that’s why we’ve seen some indie games that seem heavily informed by those games, or maybe not. Born of Bread is another one. It’s a light-hearted RPG with turn-based combat featuring action-based commands. The main character is a bread golem who, with the help of his friends, must travel the world to fend off invaders who threaten the peace of the land. I’m going to be doing a review of this one as soon as I can.
While the Iron’s Hot ($19.99)
This one kind of strikes me as a blacksmith-flavored take on Stardew Valley. Instead of farming, you’re smithing. But otherwise you can look forward to exploring the land, solving puzzles, developing the town, and so on. I’ve only played a little of this so far, so I can’t say too much at this point. We’ll have a proper review sometime next week, I think.
Make Way ($14.99)
A top-down racer for up to four players locally or via online multiplayer. The gimmick here is that you can build your own course. That doesn’t sound that unusual, except that you do it on the fly. Players take turns adding to the course and can either work together or try to screw each other over. Throw in some wild weapons and you have a recipe for disaster at family gatherings. Sounds like a good holiday plan, if you ask me.
Reviews & Mini-Views
Kickback Slug: Cosmic Courier ($11.99)
Kickback Slug: Cosmic Courier is a great title for this game. You play as a mail-delivering slug that can only get around via various means of propulsion. The first is by using your gun to shoot in the opposite direction from where you want to go. The gun can also be used to defeat enemies and activate switches, though do keep in mind that firing will send you sailing. You can also release gas, which is an easier way of moving around if you don’t need to do precise adjustments. Finally, you can fling yourself at high speed, an action only recommended if you know there is nothing dangerous ahead of you. Your slug will pop if you hit anything too deadly, and you’ll get a sense for what will kill you pretty quickly.
There are fifty stages, and you need to find the package on each and bring it to the exit portal. If you choose to, you can activate a timer at the beginning and give yourself a time limit, but simply reaching the end of the level gets pretty tough once you get past the first world. If you like games that require careful thrusts, you’ll probably enjoy the regular stages here. Each world has nine of those, with the tenth dedicated to a boss battle. These are less enjoyable since the bosses take a lot of hits yet have fairly simple patterns, making them kind of boring. They feel a bit out of place.
I enjoyed Kickback Slug: Cosmic Courier, but despite its best attempts to keep mixing things up with new obstacles and themes, the moment-to-moment gameplay felt like it plateau’d a bit too early. I also wasn’t a fan of the boss battles, which drag on too long and feel ill-matched to the rest of the game. It looks and sounds good, with a nice cartoony vibe that really pops. Those who enjoy games with thrust mechanics or just want an action game that does things a little differently from the norm might want to check this one out.
SwitchArcade Score: 3.5/5
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
Some new low sales on a variety of cool games today, and RPG fans at the very least will be eating well. The list is short enough that you can probably give it a look over on your own, so I’ll let you do that. Not much going on with the outbox, but that’s another brief one. Do what you must.
Select New Sales
Goonya Monster ($4.99 from $19.99 until 12/11)
Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure ($27.99 from $39.99 until 12/18)
Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie UE ($76.99 from $109.99 until 12/18)
Disgaea 7 Digital Deluxe ($59.99 from $79.99 until 12/18)
Crystar ($29.99 from $49.99 until 12/18)
Raiden III x Mikado Maniax ($22.49 from $29.99 until 12/18)
Monster Menu: The Scavenger’s Cookbook ($29.99 from $49.99 until 12/18)
Void Terrarium 2 ($23.99 from $39.99 until 12/18)
Doraemon Story of Seasons: FotGK ($19.99 from $49.99 until 12/18)
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan ($9.99 from $19.99 until 12/18)
Lotus Reverie: First Nexus ($2.39 from $15.99 until 12/18)
JoJo’s Bizarre Adv. All-Star Battle R ($19.99 from $49.99 until 12/18)
The Jota Collection ($14.79 from $31.48 until 12/18)
Captain Tsubasa: RoNC Deluxe ($14.99 from $59.99 until 12/18)
Dragon Ball Z Kakarot Deluxe ($19.49 from $74.99 until 12/18)
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 Deluxe ($19.99 from $39.99 until 12/18)
The Unexpected Quest ($2.25 from $15.00 until 12/23)
Titanium Hound ($10.50 from $15.00 until 12/23)
Cats and the Other Lives ($16.99 from $19.99 until 12/23)
Octopath Traveler II ($41.99 from $59.99 until 12/25)
FX Unit Yuki ($6.29 from $8.99 until 12/25)
Astebros ($9.09 from $12.99 until 12/25)
Veritas ($5.99 from $11.99 until 12/25)
A Short Tale ($2.99 from $5.99 until 12/25)
Ferris Mueller’s Day Off ($2.99 from $5.99 until 12/25)
The Forgotten Room ($2.99 from $5.99 until 12/25)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, December 6th
60 Parsecs ($4.99 from $9.99 until 12/6)
60 Seconds! Reatomized ($4.99 from $9.99 until 12/6)
Button City ($6.99 from $19.99 until 12/6)
Shin chan: Summer Vacation ($27.99 from $39.99 until 12/6)
Slime Rancher: Plortable ($12.49 from $24.99 until 12/6)
TRON: Identity ($11.99 from $14.99 until 12/6)
Untitled Goose Game ($9.99 from $19.99 until 12/6)
That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with more new games, more sales, more reviews, and perhaps some news. Too little time, too much to do. Best move on to the next thing. I hope you all have a terrific Tuesday, and as always, thanks for reading!
