Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for July 16th, 2024. It’s a relatively busy Tuesday by recent standards, with a handful of new releases to check out. First up, we’ve got two reviews to check out, covering Princess Maker 2 Regeneration and EGGCONSOLE Popful Mail. After that, it’s over to the new games, where we summarize all the games worth summarizing. We finish things up with the stalwart lists of new and expiring sales for the day. Let’s get to the games!
Reviews & Mini-Views
Princess Maker 2 Regeneration ($39.99)
There are two ways a person is going to be approaching this game, I think. The first type is familiar with Princess Maker through one of its previous releases or another. I think that sort is mainly going to be fine with what they get here. There are some visual elements that seem mismatched (because they are), but overall this is a respectable reissue of the classic Princess Maker 2, albeit one mostly based on the PlayStation 2 remake from… almost twenty years ago. Goodness. So if you know what Princess Maker is about and you want this on your Switch, go ahead. It’s a good version.
The other type is the trickier bunch. You haven’t played Princess Maker before, and somehow this game has caught your interest. And hey, not a bad eye. For as weird as it seems and how badly a few bits of it have aged, Princess Maker is a fairly enjoyable and unique simulation game. You’re raising a child and have to plan out her schedule and activities, all with the aim of having her grow up to be a healthy and happy adult. Maybe even a princess! There are tons of outcomes, and each playthrough is relatively short yet satisfying enough. Getting the best endings takes some really careful planning, and you’ll have to understand the mechanics very well and make your choices wisely.
At the same time, despite running through the remake/remaster process a few times, this is still Princess Maker 2. That means it is in many respects more than thirty years old, and very little has been done in terms of adding modern touches. The game’s depth is a double-edged sword here. You’re not given a lot of wiggle room in terms of avoiding bad outcomes, so you need to get to grips with things quickly. The game gives you practically no explanations or instructions, and unlike with the releases twenty and thirty years ago, you don’t have an instruction manual to consult. It will take some trial and error to sort out how things work and what you need to do to succeed. Not everyone is going to have the patience for that, and I can understand that.
Ultimately, Princess Maker 2 Regeneration is a slightly spiffed-up reissue of a game originally released on Japanese computers more than three decades ago, and it often feels like it. Without a manual, it would have been nice if the game itself had some additions to teach the players how this rather complex game functions, but as-is I think newcomers are going to struggle trying to understand what they need to do. Those who persevere will find a game that is just as unique and oddly compelling now as it was back in 1993.
SwitchArcade Score: 3.5/5
EGGCONSOLE Popful Mail PC-8801mkIISR ($6.49)
Sometimes I think about how much more interest D4Enterprise could generate with these EGGCONSOLE releases if it had the games translated. The one and only time Popful Mail had an English release was when Working Designs brought the SEGA-CD version over in 1995. If you want to pick that game these days, it will run you almost three hundred bucks for just a naked disc. Imagine if you could pick up another localized version for under ten bucks? Well, it is what it is. But it certainly changes how I evaluate these releases, because I know not many of my readers can understand Japanese.
This is the original PC-8801 release of Popful Mail, a highly enjoyable action-RPG from the good folks at Nihon Falcom. As games on this computer go, Popful Mail is rather advanced. Not as colorful or smooth as the SEGA-CD version, of course. But it’s a solid little game, and the characters are quite personable and charming. In some ways this shares elements with Drasle Family/Legacy of the Wizard, and you can see just how far Falcom had come in only a few years when you play this. I would highly recommend any action-adventure fan play it one way or another.
The problem is the usual one, and I’ll keep saying it because who knows if this is your first time reading one of my EGGCONSOLE reviews or not. While the wrapper offers English for its menus, instructions, and options, the game itself is exactly as it was in its original Japanese form. That means all of the dialogue and other text in-game is fully Japanese, and while I think some can probably bumble through without reading any of it, a lot of the game’s joy is in its story and dialogue. For six and a half bucks, it’s not the riskiest of punts, but it is definitely a gamble.
Popful Mail is a really great game that has disappeared between the Ys and Trails sofa cushions at Falcom, and this PC-8801 original shows just how much it got right immediately. Unfortunately, with so much untranslated text in the game, it’s going to be a flavor few reading this will be able to fully enjoy. Would-be historians might enjoy poking at it anyway, but it could be so much more.
SwitchArcade Score: 3.5/5
Select New Releases
Hot Lap Racing ($34.99)
This has no relation to Hot Lap League, let me just start with that. An indie “simcade" racer that somehow managed to pull down proper track and vehicle licenses, Hot Lap Racing is clearly trying to punch above its weight class in a lot of respectable ways. You get multiple modes of play, including local multiplayer for up to four and online multiplayer for up to twelve. The career mode sees you starting as a rookie driver and working your way up, eventually competing against real drivers. I’m cooking up my review of this one, so do look forward to that.
Deliver Us The Moon ($19.99)
Can’t imagine the shipping and handling charges on something like this, but okay. You want the Moon, we’ll deliver it. The set-up here is that in some unimaginable future, the Earth is depending on resources from the Moon. All well and good until a vital base goes silent, and so you are sent to head up there by yourself and give a good knock on the door. You’ll be engaging in all kinds of astronaut-type stuff here, and the game does a really good job of building the kind of tension you would want from a semi-realistic space game. We’ll be reviewing this one soon-ish.
Let’s School ($19.99)
Sure, let us school. This is a school management sim, a category that we already have some solid options for on Switch. What does this one have to offer? Well, in addition to building and running your school, you’ll also be meddling in the lives of the students. I think Mikhail might be taking a look at this game, given his prior love affair with Two Point Campus. I suspect this will come up short of that game in the final analysis, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Stories from the Outbreak ($19.99)
You know Darkest Dungeon, you know Slay The Spire, you know zombie apocalypses, and here’s what you get when you toss those ideas in a blender. It does what it sets out to do well enough, so if you like the premise then you might want to look into this one a little further. It might be up your alley. Personally, I’m tired of zombies. I know that’s just my hang-up, though.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
Two very short lists today, and I’ll start by saying there is pretty much nothing worth worrying about in the outbox. As for the inbox, there’s a rare sale on the solid fighter Fantasy Strike, plus a few other odds and ends. Take a glance and see if anything catches your eye. It’ll only take a second this time.
Select New Sales
Fantasy Strike Core Pack ($5.99 from $19.99 until 7/23)
Fantasy Strike Collector’s Pack ($29.99 from $99.99 until 7/23)
Full Void ($10.49 from $14.99 until 7/29)
The Game of Life 2 ($11.99 from $29.99 until 7/29)
Life Bubble ($2.39 from $7.99 until 7/29)
Freedom Finger ($3.99 from $7.99 until 7/30)
Planet Cube: Edge ($5.99 from $14.99 until 7/30)
Gravity Circuit Deluxe Edition ($16.24 from $24.99 until 7/30)
LEGO City Undercover ($5.99 from $29.99 until 8/5)
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes ($9.99 from $39.99 until 8/5)
Mail Mole ($5.99 from $14.99 until 8/5)
Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate ($8.99 from $59.99 until 8/5)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, July 17th
Gothic Murder: Adv. That Changes Destiny ($5.99 from $11.99 until 7/17)
Jump King ($5.19 from $12.99 until 7/17)
Split ($2.24 from $8.99 until 7/17)
That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with more new games, sales, and perhaps a review and some news depending on how things go. Ever get the feeling the rug is about to be pulled out from underneath you? That’s been my year so far, and I’m starting to get low on rugs. Well, I’ll do what I can. I hope you all have a terrific Tuesday, and as always, thanks for reading!
