Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for August 20th, 2019. Well, that Indie World presentation was something, wasn’t it? Combined with a flurry of news coming out of Gamescom, it seems this week will be anything but quiet. I hope you’ve all tucked away a small fortune for new purchases in the next couple of months, because you’re going to need it. Anyway, today’s article features some news items, a look at all of the new releases for the day, and a robust list of sales including a few games being discounted for the first time ever. Let’s have a look-see!
News
‘Ori and the Blind Forest’, ‘Torchlight 2’, and More in the Indie World Video
The 20-minute Indie World presentation Nintendo held yesterday had a few surprises packed into its contents. SUPERHOT and Hotline Miami Collection dropped not long after the video aired, and we got announcements, extra details, and gameplay footage of games like Torchlight 2, Risk of Rain 2, and Eastward. The presentation capped off with one of the worst-kept secrets in recent Switch history: Microsoft’s Ori and the Blind Forest will be coming to the system on September 27th. Besides the bigger names, lots of great-looking titles were shown. I’d recommend just watching the video so that you can check them all out.
‘Final Fantasy VIII Remastered’ Hits Switch on September 3rd
We finally have a date and price for Square’s upcoming remaster of Final Fantasy VIII, and it’s sooner and cheaper than most expected. The game will be hitting the Switch and other platforms on September 3rd at a price of $19.99, putting it more or less in line with the other Final Fantasy games of its era available on the eShop. While this game has never properly clicked with me in spite of my playing through it at least a few times, I look forward to giving it yet another chance in… wow, two weeks? Hm, better start searching the couch cushions for change.
Extremely Big Boy ‘The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’ is Now Available for Pre-Load
The announcement of a Switch version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was a bit wild all on its own. We’ve seen some minor miracles when it comes to Switch ports, but this was going to be a tough one no matter how you sliced it. Surprisingly, it seems to have come out pretty well given the hardware. You will be able to enjoy The Witcher 3 wherever you like, albeit with some clear concessions when compared to the other versions. Anyway, the game will be coming on October 15th, and you’re able to pre-load the digital version now if you like. As our old pal Rob would say, it’s an absolute unit of a game, requiring 28.1 GB of space. That means you need a memory card to download it, as the Switch’s internal memory isn’t big enough to fit it all in. I think I’ll be going for the physical version on this one, personally.
It’s Official: ‘Streets of Rage 4’ Will Be Coming to Switch
While I was never really doubting whether the game was coming to the Switch very much, the folks behind the upcoming Streets of Rage 4 had been pretty careful not to specify any platforms up until now. Along with dropping a new trailer revealing new character Cherry Hunter, DotEmu also mentioned the systems the game would be coming to. The Switch is among them, luckily. The game frankly looks outstanding, and the music featured in the trailer is so on-point that I can’t wait to hear the whole soundtrack. We still don’t know when it’s coming, mind you, but you know what? When it looks this good, I can wait patiently for a while.
New Releases
SUPERHOT ($24.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
The unique first-person shooter SUPERHOT makes a smooth transition to the Switch, offering up all kinds of stylish time-based shenanigans. The core conceit of this game is that time only moves when you do, so you can and should think carefully about your actions. This has the excellent side-effect of making you feel like a total bad-ass as you dodge bullets and line up precision shots. The game features an endless survival mode, a challenge mode, and comes packed with a bunch of cool extras. We’ll be doing a proper review of SUPERHOT sometime in the next few days, so keep watching this space. Well, not exactly this space. But this website, at the very least.
Hotline Miami Collection ($24.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
With Devolver Digital finding such a warm reception on the Nintendo Switch, it always felt odd that one of the most Devolver Digital-like games in its catalog was missing from the platform. Consider that hole plugged, friends. Hotline Miami Collection is now available on the Switch, bringing a brilliant game and its strong-but-not-quite-as-good follow-up to a whole new audience of players. With unique graphics, fantastic audio, and unbelievably fun gameplay, this set of top-down shooters is one to get for pretty much anyone who isn’t squeamish about violence.
RAD ($19.99)
Doublefine’s take on the roguelite action genre leans heavily into 1980s nostalgia, a trick that this particular 80s kid is really starting to get weary with. Oh well. The main gimmick of this one is that you’re exploring an irradiated wasteland and your XP gains come in the form of radiation. Get enough, and you’ll pop out a random new mutation that may or may not be useful in your current run. It has the usual array of unlockable goodies and characters we often see in games of this sort, but it feels like success depends even more heavily on luck than it usually does in a roguelite. The Doublefine sense of humor helps this one stand out a bit, but unless you’re really in it for the 1980s stuff there are a lot better examples of this genre that run a heck of a lot better on the Switch.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution ($39.99)
This is kind of the ultimate goodie box for fans of Yu-Gi-Oh, with over 9,000 cards to build your deck from and opponents and storylines drawn from just about every iteration of the franchise. Take on iconic duelists, meet old favorite characters, and play your trap cards to call dark magicians and what-have-you. You can also head online and play some matches against human players whenever the fancy strikes you. Yu-Gi-Oh!, its card game, and the video games based on them are all pretty well-known at this point, with 20 years of road behind them. Thus, I’m going to assume that most people reading this already know if this is something that appeal to them or not.
IN-VERT ($4.99)
This is a cute little platformer from the same developer that brought us Taimumari. You play as a little robot who has to make its way through more than 50 different levels. You can swap between two different versions of the level on fly, and indeed need to do this in order to make your way through them. It’s a simple gimmick that the game runs with quite well, and the whole thing fortunately ends before it runs out of ideas. In most respects this is a thoroughly average game, but you could do a heck of a lot worse with five dollars in the eShop.
Truck Racing Championship ($39.99)
Well, that footage likely doesn’t represent the Switch version. But what can we do? They didn’t put any screenshots up on the store yet. At the very least, it should give you the idea of what this game is about. Which is, unsurprisingly enough, racing trucks. Like most of the other racers from this developer, the reviews have been mixed on other platforms, and the Switch version probably isn’t going to turn things around on that front. Anyway, you get 45 official FIA ETRC trucks complete with their proper livery, 20 teams, 14 tracks to race on, and multiple modes in both single-player and local multiplayer. Mediocre though it may likely be, you’re probably not going to find a better truck-racing game on the Switch anytime soon.
Sales
Wow, there are a lot of really good games on sale today. Drinkbox’s stuff like Severed and Guacamelee is on sale often enough, but it’s never a bad time to buy them. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night still hasn’t seen much in the way of performance improvements in its patches, but the core game is still pretty fun in spite of its flaws. Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid‘s discounted price is probably a little closer to what the base game is worth, and with all the post-release updates it’s not a bad little fighter at all. Darkhorse pick: Super Daryl Deluxe is weird and fun, and certainly worth looking into for those who want something a little different from the norm. The outbox is big and has some neat stuff in it as well, but it’s definitely a lot of the usual suspects that should be back around in a month or two.
New Games on Sale
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night ($31.99 from $39.99 until 8/27)
Snake Pass ($7.99 from $19.99 until 9/3)
Severed ($7.49 from $14.99 until 8/26)
The Flame In The Flood: Complete ($5.99 from $14.99 until 9/3)
Energy Cycle ($1.01 from $2.99 until 9/8)
Energy Invasion ($1.01 from $2.99 until 9/8)
Energy Balance ($1.01 from $2.99 until 9/8)
North ($1.49 from $2.99 until 9/8)
Spiral Splatter ($2.49 from $4.99 until 9/8)
The Long Reach ($1.49 from $14.99 until 9/1)
Metropolis: Lux Obscura ($4.79 from $7.99 until 9/8)
Super Daryl Deluxe ($13.99 from $19.99 until 8/26)
Rogue Aces ($5.19 from $12.99 until 9/3)
Cast of the Seven Godsends ($1.29 from $12.99 until 9/1)
Smoke and Sacrifice ($7.99 from $19.99 until 9/3)
Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid ($11.99 from $19.99 until 9/3)
Manual Samuel ($3.99 from $9.99 until 9/3)
Velocity 2X ($7.99 from $19.99 until 9/3)
Guacamelee! Super Turbo ($7.49 from $14.99 until 8/26)
Guacamelee! 2 ($9.99 from $19.99 until 8/26)
The Swindle ($5.99 from $14.99 until 9/3)
The Walking Vegetables: Radical ($2.59 from $12.99 until 9/1)
Planet RIX-13 ($3.24 from $4.99 until 9/8)
Feudal Alloy ($13.59 from $16.99 until 9/8)
When Ski Lifts Go Wrong ($7.49 from $14.99 until 9/3)
Pumped BMX Pro ($5.99 from $14.99 until 9/3)
For The King ($14.99 from $24.99 until 9/3)
Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack ($6.99 from $9.99 until 8/26)
Hue ($6.99 from $9.99 until 9/3)
Mainlining ($8.99 from $14.99 until 9/1)
Serial Cleaner ($1.49 from $14.99 until 9/3)
Creature in the Well ($13.49 from $14.99 until 9/9)
Jumping Joe & Friends ($0.19 from $1.99 until 9/10)
Not Not – A Brain Buster ($0.49 from $1.99 until 9/10)
Northgard ($27.99 from $34.99 until 9/10)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Wednesday, August 21st
1979 Revolution: Black Friday ($3.59 from $11.99 until 8/21)
Aeternoblade ($10.49 from $14.99 until 8/21)
Agartha-S ($3.99 from $7.99 until 8/21)
Bad Dream Fever ($2.49 from $9.99 until 8/21)
Black Paradox ($7.49 from $14.99 until 8/21)
Blacksea Odyssey ($3.24 from $12.99 until 8/21)
Bleed ($3.59 from $11.99 until 8/21)
Bleed 2 ($4.49 from $14.99 until 8/21)
Cake Laboratory ($1.99 from $2.99 until 8/21)
Danger Mouse: The Danger Games ($3.99 from $4.99 until 8/21)
Diggerman ($0.49 from $4.99 until 8/21)
Don’t Die, Mr Robot! ($1.34 from $8.99 until 8/21)
Fall of Light: Darkest ($3.74 from $14.99 until 8/21)
Frost ($3.89 from $12.99 until 8/21)
Gear.Club Unlimited 2 ($23.99 from $59.99 until 8/21)
Glass Masquerade ($5.99 from $11.99 until 8/21)
Hacky Zack ($1.99 from $9.99 until 8/21)
Hollow ($1.99 from $19.99 until 8/21)
INK ($2.69 from $8.99 until 8/21)
L.F.O. -Lost Future Omega- ($3.99 from $7.99 until 8/21)
Letter Quest Remastered ($2.99 from $11.99 until 8/21)
Mario Tennis Aces ($41.99 from $59.99 until 8/21)
Monster Slayers ($7.49 from $14.99 until 8/21)
Mugsters ($7.49 from $14.99 until 8/21)
My Time at Portia ($20.99 from $29.99 until 8/21)
Nefarious ($4.49 from $14.99 until 8/21)
Odallus: The Dark Call ($5.99 from $11.99 until 8/21)
Odium to the Core ($0.49 from $4.99 until 8/21)
Omega Strike ($4.49 from $14.99 until 8/21)
One Strike ($0.49 from $4.99 until 8/21)
Oniken: Unstoppable ($4.99 from $9.99 until 8/21)
Oninaki ($44.99 from $49.99 until 8/21)
Overcooked Special ($9.99 from $19.99 until 8/21)
Overcooked! 2 ($17.49 from $24.99 until 8/21)
Paranautical Activity ($1.59 from $7.99 until 8/21)
Pipe Push Paradise ($4.39 from $10.99 until 8/21)
Planet Alpha ($9.99 from $19.99 until 8/21)
Raging Justice ($5.09 from $14.99 until 8/21)
Reverse Crawl ($6.49 from $12.99 until 8/21)
Robonauts ($0.39 from $3.99 until 8/21)
Sheltered ($10.04 from $14.99 until 8/21)
Shift Happens ($7.49 from $14.99 until 8/21)
Shikhondo – Soul Eater ($4.75 from $13.99 until 8/21)
Slain: Back From Hell ($5.99 from $19.99 until 8/21)
Slayaway Camp: Butcher’s Cut ($4.49 from $14.99 until 8/21)
Sparkle 2 EVO ($0.49 from $4.99 until 8/21)
Spartan ($0.99 from $3.99 until 8/21)
Spectrum ($2.99 from $11.99 until 8/21)
State of Mind ($13.59 from $39.99 until 8/21)
Strikey Sisters ($7.99 from $9.99 until 8/21)
Sudoku Relax 2 Summer Waves ($4.50 from $5.00 until 8/21)
Surfingers ($0.49 from $4.99 until 8/21)
Teddy the Wanderer: Kayaking ($0.99 from $9.99 until 8/21)
Teddy The Wanderer: Mountain Hike ($2.49 from $9.99 until 8/21)
The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human ($3.89 from $12.99 until 8/21)
The Coma: Recut ($5.99 from $19.99 until 8/21)
The Escapists 2 ($9.99 from $19.99 until 8/21)
The Escapists: Complete ($7.49 from $14.99 until 8/21)
The Room ($4.99 from $9.99 until 8/21)
Three Fourths Home: Extended ($1.79 from $8.99 until 8/21)
Uncanny Valley ($3.39 from $9.99 until 8/21)
Unexplored ($4.50 from $15.00 until 8/21)
Verlet Swing ($7.49 from $14.99 until 8/21)
Vertical Drop Heroes HD ($2.49 from $9.99 until 8/21)
Yoku’s Island Express ($9.99 from $19.99 until 8/21)
Yooka-Laylee ($19.99 from $39.99 until 8/21)
Zombillie ($0.49 from $4.99 until 8/21)
That’s it for today, friends. Be sure to check back tomorrow as there is at least one new release worth looking at. We should have even more news out of Gamescom, as well. I also wouldn’t be surprised if more sales kept trickling out, and if I have time there may be an RPG review in there. We’ll see, as usual. I hope you all have a great day, and as always, thanks for reading!
