Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for August 11th, 2020. As has been the case on most days lately, there’s not really any news to talk about today. But we do have a brief guest review of Megadimension Neptunia VII from Mikhail, a Mini-View of King of Fighters R-2 from yours truly, a new release to look at, and the usual sales lists that make all of our hearts flutter. Let’s get into it!
Reviews
Megadimension Neptunia VII ($29.99)
Compile Heart’s Hyperdimension Neptunia series has had loads of games release with many seeing enhanced releases on the PlayStation Vita that were subsequently ported to PC. There are loads of games and spin-offs in the series and remakes but few games are actually easy to recommend to newcomers. Megadimension Neptunia VII (pronounced ‘vee-two‘) from Compile Heart and Idea Factory debuted on PS4 before it was ported to PC. It is easily one of the best games in the series and one many people got into the franchise with.
Unlike prior games, Megadimension Neptunia VII is actually three parts, each with their own title screens and everything, that gel together for a complete experience. It is also the first mainline game in the series to arrive on Switch. Sadly, the transition hasn’t been great. Megadimension Neptunia VII runs at a smooth 60fps on PS4 and feels very responsive across the game’s updated combat system. On Nintendo Switch, the game can barely maintain 30fps and often drops much lower during movement and even in some combat instances.
It isn’t as bad as some of the worse ports on the console, but the frame rate gave me motion sickness in some open areas. If you can stomach the performance issues, this is a good Neptunia game to try, and it’s the first time this has been made available on a portable system after the games started skipping the Vita with the move to PlayStation 4 and PC. Given the option, I would recommend getting this on another platform though. -Mikhail Madnani
SwitchArcade Score: 3/5
Mini-Views
King of Fighters R-2 ($7.99)
It’s fantastic to see SNK finally mining some of its back catalog outside of the NEOGEO hardware. The NEOGEO Pocket Color has a lot of great games that we’ll hopefully see more of as this line of releases continues, and they’re not all fighting games. Still, it makes sense to put your most popular foot forward, and for SNK that means King of Fighters. R-2 shares much of its look and feel with the previously released Gals’ Fighters, and is by and large just as fun. You can expect a similar range of options in the emulator, including a scan of the manual and a rewind feature. Still no save states, unfortunately. There’s a lot to do here between unlockables and the Making mode, but it all naturally hinges around the battles. Enjoyable enough, especially with a second player.
SwitchArcade Score: 3.5/5
New Releases
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Familia Myth Infinite Combate ($39.99)
Arrrrgh, stop making such stupidly long titles! My formatting… look what you’ve done to my beautiful boy! Blah. Anyway, this game is based on a popular light novel series of the same name, though it’s generally known as DanMachi because even though stuff of that length looks fine on the cover of a book, no one wants to keep saying it. This is an action-RPG with visual novel elements, fittingly done by the folks at Mages. They’re famous for their visual novels, so hey, good match. They’re not so famous for action-RPGs, however, and you know what? It shows. The whole thing feels like a bit of a cheaply-done nothingburger, but I suspect fans of the brand will be content enough with it. And that’s what really matters, right?
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
It’s a small list of new sales today, but what’s there is pretty good. West of Loathing is awesome, and I’d hope most of you already have it. Tools Up! is an enjoyable multiplayer game for those looking for something of that ilk. Zen Studios is having a sale on a bunch of its releases, including the excellent RPG Operencia: The Stolen Sun and the delightful Star Wars Pinball. You’ll also find a bunch of the extra table packs for Pinball FX3 are discounted right now, in case you want to fill out your collection. In the outbox, the main thing to note is that Pokken Tournament DX is ending its sale following last week’s free trial. It probably won’t be on sale again anytime soon, so grab it if you want it. The rest of the outbox will likely be back around again before too long.
Select New Games on Sale
Star Wars Pinball ($17.99 from $29.99 until 8/17)
Operencia: The Stolen Sun ($17.99 from $29.99 until 8/17)
Dread Nautical ($11.99 from $19.99 until 8/17)
Deployment ($0.99 from $9.99 until 8/17)
Infinite Minigolf ($5.99 from $14.99 until 8/17)
Black The Fall ($4.49 from $14.99 until 8/30)
Wanderjahr ($3.88 from $9.99 until 8/30)
Disco Dodgeball – Remix ($4.49 from $14.99 until 8/17)
West of Loathing ($6.38 from $11.00 until 8/26)
Soap Dodgem ($0.99 from $1.99 until 8/27)
Crazy Strike Bowling EX ($2.88 from $9.99 until 8/30)
Fobia ($1.99 from $9.99 until 8/30)
BDSM ($15.99 from $19.99 until 8/17)
Edgar – Bokbok in Boulzac ($9.49 from $18.99 until 8/17)
Brotherhood United ($4.89 from $8.99 until 8/24)
Hardcube ($2.10 from $7.00 until 8/17)
Tools Up! ($13.99 from $19.99 until 8/24)
Death Road to Canada ($7.49 from $14.99 until 8/26)
Freedom Finger ($8.99 from $14.99 until 8/20)
Cattails ($6.74 from $14.99 until 9/1)
Animus ($3.99 from $7.99 until 9/1)
Animus: Harbinger ($3.99 from $7.99 until 9/1)
Croc’s World Run ($0.99 from $5.99 until 9/1)
Crocs World 2 ($0.99 from $5.99 until 9/1)
Jewel Rotation ($0.99 from $5.99 until 9/1)
Airfield Mania ($0.99 from $5.99 until 9/1)
Bullet Battle Evolution ($7.49 from $14.99 until 9/1)
She Remembered Caterpillars ($0.99 from $11.99 until 8/26)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Wednesday, August 12th
Asterix & Obelix XXL 2 ($8.99 from $29.99 until 8/12)
ATV Drift & Tricks ($4.99 from $34.99 until 8/12)
Brawlout ($7.99 from $19.99 until 8/12)
Broken Lines ($17.49 from $24.99 until 8/12)
Card Game Bundle Vol. 1 ($3.59 from $23.99 until 8/12)
Clumsy Rush ($1.04 from $4.99 until 8/12)
Drift Legends ($4.99 from $9.99 until 8/12)
Dyna Bomb ($1.39 from $1.99 until 8/12)
Ego Protocol: Remastered ($1.99 from $4.99 until 8/12)
Garfield Kart Furious Racing ($11.99 from $29.99 until 8/12)
Ghost Sweeper ($3.49 from $4.99 until 8/12)
I, Zombie ($0.49 from $4.99 until 8/12)
Indie Darling Bundle Vol 2 ($5.24 from $34.99 until 8/12)
Indie Puzzle Bundle Vol 1 ($5.99 from $39.99 until 8/12)
Match ($1.99 from $9.99 until 8/12)
Metaloid: Origin ($4.89 from $6.99 until 8/12)
Nerdook Bundle Vol. 1 ($4.49 from $29.99 until 8/12)
Plague Road ($0.99 from $15.00 until 8/12)
Pokken Tournament DX ($41.99 from $59.99 until 8/12)
Slain/Valfaris Bundle ($13.99 from $39.99 until 8/12)
Slot ($1.99 from $9.99 until 8/12)
Snakes & Ladders ($1.99 from $9.99 until 8/12)
Sniper ($1.99 from $9.99 until 8/12)
Spot The Difference ($1.99 from $9.99 until 8/12)
Trax – Build it Race it ($2.99 from $14.99 until 8/12)
That’s all for today, friends. It’s ridiculously hot here today. The temperature is about 38 degrees Celsius right now, and with humidity taken into account it is 47. For you Americans out there, that’s about 117 degrees Fahrenheit. Yeesh. What I wouldn’t give for a freak snowstorm right about now. Anyway, I hope you all have a terrific Tuesday, and as always, thanks for reading!
