Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for July 22nd, 2020. In today’s article, we’ve got a handful of news items to go over before heading into the surprisingly robust bunch of new releases that hit the shop today. After that, there’s a fairly big list of new sales to go through, and the usual list of outgoing sales to make some final considerations on. Rather an unusual Wednesday, but I’ll take it. Let’s dance!
News
This Week’s ‘Super Smash Bros.’ Event Takes a Step Back
Well, here’s an odd theme for an event. This weekend’s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate event has been announced, and it will apparently celebrate Super Smash Bros. For Wii U/3DS, the previous chapter in the series. It’s a tournament event where only characters from those games can participate. Snake and Ice Climbers over in the corner having a good cry, then. Anyway, it kicks off on Friday and runs for three days through the weekend. You… should be able to find a character you’re comfortable with, I expect.
‘Update of Plenty’ is Now Available for ‘Dead Cells’
The latest update for Dead Cells has finally been made available for the Switch version of the game. Update of Plenty includes some major changes to weapons, items, and the overall game economy. Scrolls have been removed from ++ and S weapons, and made more plentiful on early biomes. Enemy damage has been reduced, and gear damage has been increased. The overall game difficulty curve has seen some changes aimed at making it a slightly smoother ramp up in attempt to avoid the spikes that would sometimes occur. Check out the video above if you want to get all of the details straight from the developer.
Accessible Fighter ‘Fantasy Strike’ Goes Free-to-Play
Remember Fantasy Strike? It was a one-on-one fighter with a lot of interesting ideas, but it seems like it didn’t quite take off as hoped, making online play a bit of a wasteland. Well, the game is now going free-to-play, at least as far as online matches are concerned. If you download the game, you’re able to play in casual and ranked matches online with the full roster of characters, including two new ones who just arrived today. Practice mode, solo matches against an AI opponent, and the daily challenges are also available for free.
If you want local versus play, online play with friends, boss rush mode, survival mode, and the arcade story mode, you’ll have to buy the Core Pack for $19.99. A Collector’s Pack with extra cosmetics and a one-year subscription to the new Fantasy+ service is also available, priced at $99.99. Fantasy+ costs $4.99 per month and gives a lot of benefits that I won’t be going into here. Existing owners are given access to the Founder’s Pack, which includes everything in the Core Pack plus a bunch of costume color sets. Will this be enough to save the game? Heck if I know.
‘Rocket League’ is Also Going Free-to-Play
Haha, I’m sure this is all nothing to worry about. Why am I tugging my collar? I’m not tugging my collar, you are! Anyway, Rocket League will also be going free-to-play in the not-too-distant future. Later this summer, apparently. Anyone who owns the game prior to the shift will receive all Rocket League-branded DLC released so far for free, a title that shows the year you first started playing, a whole bunch of Common items upgraded to Legacy quality, a Golden Cosmos Boost, Dieci-Oro Wheels, and a Huntress Player Banner. Those who have played online prior to today’s announcement will also received a Faded Cosmos Boost. Those rewards will come when the game makes the move to free-to-play, so don’t go digging in your mailbox just yet. There are other details, but there are still a lot of things we don’t know yet. That news will trickle out over the next few weeks, I expect. Anyway, this should liven up the online player pool, if nothing else.
New Releases
Rock of Ages 3: Make & Break ($29.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
A rolling stone gathers no moss, they say. Well, by now the quirky premise behind ACE Team’s unique tower defense series has lost some of its novelty, but the quality backing that premise has never been higher. In this third game, you can now make your own levels and share them with other players, an idea that adds a fair bit of longevity to the experience even after you’ve finished the hilarious campaign. With plenty of modes to play, multiplayer support for up to four players, and a variety of fancy boulders to choose from, Rock of Ages 3 is the biggest and boulder-est game in the series so far. I’ll have a review of this one sometime next week for those who want more details.
UBERMOSH: BLACK ($1.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
UBERMOSH: OMEGA found plenty of fans with its distinct style, tense action, and extremely low price. I don’t see any reason why its follow-up, UBERMOSH: BLACK won’t do the same. It’s a top-down twin-stick action with plenty of gore, primary colors, and close calls to enjoy. Make use of swords, guns, psionic powers, and anything else you can get a hold of in order to defeat your enemies. If you grab the game during its launch discount period, it costs only fifty cents, which is quite ridiculous. Definitely more of a short-burst type of game, but it does what it does very well.
Creaks ($19.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
Amanita is at it again with its latest puzzle adventure, Creaks. You may recall seeing this one on Apple Arcade, where it launched a week or two back. Well, this is the Switch version. It’s not substantially different in any way, so it’s still the same great game. The choice really comes down to whether you want to buy it outright here or, for the same price, subscribe to Apple Arcade for four months. That’s more than enough to beat this game and plenty of others. Whatever way you choose to go about playing it, I give this game a strong recommendation to all adventure game fans.
Neverending Nightmares ($14.99)
This is a psychological horror game inspired by its creator’s struggles with depression and OCD. Main character Thomas wakes up from a nightmare only to find that he is still in a dream. He must descend through the layers of the dream, dealing with manifestations of his inner demons. But what will he find when he wakes up? This game has been out on other platforms for a bit and the consensus seems to be that the story is very good and the gameplay is just so-so. It’s also apparently on the shorter side, for those of you who are concerned with runtimes. There are three different endings, offering a bit of replay value, though that first play is obviously going to be the most memorable.
Cyber Complex ($14.99)
This is a bit of tough one to wrap your biscuit around at first, but once you do it’s an interesting arcade-style strategy game. A little tower defense, a tiny dash of Pac-Man, and a healthy dose of idle tapper/clicker, all done up in a stylish package. It’s okay, though I’m not sure it has enough meat on its bones to keep me coming back. I’m also disappointed to see a game that debuted on other platforms a few years ago for ten bucks hit the Switch for fifteen, but when in Rome do as the Romans do, I suppose. The problem is that while I think this might be worth a punt at ten bucks, I really don’t feel it’s worth fifteen.
Aircraft Evolution ($9.99)
While the name might have you expecting some kind of realistic flight simulator or something, this is actually a side-scrolling action game. It’s set across four different eras, which is part of where the ‘evolution’ bit of the title is drawn from. The other part is probably that you can upgrade your crafts to improve their stats. Anyway, you fly through 40 different missions battling enemy defenses and trying to take out bases and other targets. It looks fine for what it is, but I can see it getting old fast. I don’t really care for how much clutter there is on the screen most of the time, and it seems like you’re not really meant to dodge everything coming at you. Perhaps you might feel differently about it.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
NIS America is running another sale on most of its titles, including excellent games like Disgaea 5 Complete, The Alliance Alive HD Remastered, and Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk. 505 Games has put some of its titles on sale, which means you can get the likes of Terraria and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night at a discount. Hey, Indivisible is on sale too. That’s cool. The outbox has a lot of the usual suspects in it, but take note of Shakedown: Hawaii and Burnout Paradise Remastered, which may or may not be on sale again anytime soon. Geez, Wednesdays don’t usually have so many tough decisions to make.
Select New Games on Sale
The Alliance Alive HD Remastered ($29.99 from $49.99 until 8/4)
SNK 40th Anniversary Collection ($19.99 from $39.99 until 8/4)
Labyrinth of Refrain: CoD ($24.99 from $49.99 until 8/4)
Destiny Connect: Tick-Tock Travelers ($23.99 from $39.99 until 8/4)
God Wars The Complete Legend ($14.99 from $39.99 until 8/4)
Lapis x Labyrinth ($9.99 from $29.99 until 8/4)
The Caligula Effect: Overdose ($24.99 from $49.99 until 8/4)
The Princess Guide ($14.99 from $39.99 until 8/4)
Penny-Punching Princess ($9.99 from $39.99 until 8/4)
Liar Princess & Blind Prince ($9.99 from $19.99 until 8/4)
Happy Birthdays ($19.99 from $39.99 until 8/4)
The Longest Five Minutes ($9.99 from $39.99 until 8/4)
Yomawari: Long Night Collection ($14.99 from $39.99 until 8/4)
Disgaea 1 Complete ($24.99 from $49.99 until 8/4)
Disgaea 4 Complete+ ($32.49 from $49.99 until 8/4)
Disgaea 5 Complete ($19.99 from $39.99 until 8/4)
Terraria ($20.99 from $29.99 until 7/29)
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night ($27.99 from $39.99 until 7/29)
Troll and I ($2.99 from $29.99 until 7/28)
Portal Knights ($13.99 from $19.99 until 7/29)
Superola & Lost Burgers ($0.99 from $4.99 until 8/10)
Last Day of June ($9.99 from $19.99 until 7/29)
Ninjin: Clash of Carrots ($1.99 from $9.99 until 7/28)
Dexteritrip ($0.69 from $6.99 until 7/31)
ABZU ($13.99 from $19.99 until 7/29)
Degrees of Separation ($1.99 from $19.99 until 7/28)
SlabWell: Quest for Kaktun’s Alpaca ($0.99 from $7.99 until 8/9)
Ding Dong XL ($0.09 from $0.99 until 8/10)
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons ($10.49 from $14.99 until 7/29)
Indivisible ($23.99 from $29.99 until 7/29)
Deer Drive Legends ($5.99 from $19.99 until 7/28)
Bear With Me: Lost Robots ($2.49 from $4.99 until 7/28)
Trine: Ultimate Collection ($19.99 from $49.99 until 7/28)
Trine 4: Nightmare Prince ($11.99 from $29.99 until 7/28)
Beast Quest ($11.99 from $29.99 until 7/28)
Override: Mech City Brawl ($23.99 from $39.99 until 7/28)
Zen Chess Collection ($0.99 from $3.99 until 8/4)
Cosmonauta ($0.49 from $0.99 until 8/4)
Super Bit Blaster XL ($0.09 from $3.99 until 8/10)
Magicolors ($0.49 from $1.99 until 8/4)
Book of Demons ($12.49 from $24.99 until 7/29)
Flatland Vol.1 ($0.99 from $4.99 until 8/4)
Journey to the Savage Planet ($23.99 from $29.99 until 7/29)
Little Triangle ($6.75 from $14.99 until 8/4)
Rooms: Anne & George ($7.15 from $14.99 until 8/4)
Alien Cruise ($3.60 from $11.30 until 8/4)
Isoland ($1.80 from $2.17 until 8/4)
Rain City ($6.00 from $7.58 until 8/4)
Agent A: Puzzle in Disguise ($1.99 from $19.99 until 8/11)
-Klaus- ($12.74 from $14.99 until 7/28)
Isoland 2 – Ashes of Time ($2.50 from $3.62 until 8/4)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Thursday, July 23rd
A Case of Distrust ($4.99 from $14.99 until 7/23)
Aces of the Luftwaffe Squadron ($3.99 from $14.99 until 7/23)
Bulb Boy ($2.24 from $8.99 until 7/23)
Burnout Paradise Remastered ($39.99 from $49.99 until 7/23)
Butcher ($2.99 from $9.99 until 7/23)
Cinders ($3.99 from $19.99 until 7/23)
Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!! ($6.49 from $12.99 until 7/23)
Cycle 28 ($1.39 from $11.99 until 7/23)
Darkwood ($6.74 from $14.99 until 7/23)
Dungeon Warfare ($3.39 from $9.99 until 7/23)
Feudal Alloy ($3.39 from $16.99 until 7/23)
Freecell Solitaire Deluxe ($1.34 from $8.99 until 7/23)
Ice Cream Surfer ($1.20 from $8.00 until 7/23)
Infectious Madness of Dr Dekker ($6.49 from $12.99 until 7/23)
Lichtspeer: Double Speer ($1.49 from $9.99 until 7/23)
Lifeless Planet: Premiere ($5.99 from $19.99 until 7/23)
LocO-SportS ($1.97 from $5.99 until 7/23)
MouseCraft ($6.99 from $9.99 until 7/23)
My Memory of Us ($4.49 from $14.99 until 7/23)
Neverout ($1.00 from $7.49 until 7/23)
Pillar ($2.39 from $7.99 until 7/23)
Pinstripe ($5.99 from $14.99 until 7/23)
Robothorium ($1.49 from $14.99 until 7/23)
Shakedown: Hawaii ($13.33 from $19.99 until 7/23)
SoccerDie: Cosmic Cup ($0.49 from $6.99 until 7/23)
Spy Chameleon ($3.99 from $7.99 until 7/23)
Subsurface Circular ($4.79 from $5.99 until 7/23)
Super Beat Sports ($10.49 from $14.99 until 7/23)
Super Daryl Deluxe ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/23)
The Path of Motus ($4.49 from $14.99 until 7/23)
Throne Quest Deluxe ($2.99 from $5.99 until 7/23)
Timber Tennis: Versus ($0.49 from $1.99 until 7/23)
Where Water Tastes Like Wine ($5.99 from $19.99 until 7/23)
X-Morph: Defense ($3.99 from $19.99 until 7/23)
Zombie Driver Immortal ($2.99 from $14.99 until 7/23)
That’s all for today, friends. Just think: the biggest days of the week are still ahead of us. That does not bode well for my poor typing hands, but it’s great news for Switch owners at least. We’ll be back tomorrow with a big list of Thursday releases, along with whatever sales and big news come along in the next 24 hours. I hope you all have a wild Wednesday, and as always, thanks for reading!
