Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for January 27th, 2021. We’ve got a few big news items to look over in today’s article before we go into today’s new releases. There’s a couple of nifty adventure games and a fun shoot-em-up in the line-up today, making for an unusually decent set of Wednesday releases. The sales, on the other hand, are no great shakes. But we’ve got the incoming and outgoing lists anyway, so do make a point of checking them. Let’s fly!
News
Celebrate Festivale and More in the Next ‘Animal Crossing’ Update
The next big update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons is coming very soon, bringing a new celebration and many new items to the game. Download the free update tomorrow, January 28th, and you’ll be ready to go on all of this stuff. The biggest part is the February 15th Festivale event, which sees you capturing colorful feathers and trading them for goodies. There are new Reactions available for a limited time, some new clothing at the Able Sisters shop from February 1st, and some seasonal items available from February 1st to the 14th celebrating everything from Setsubun to Valentine’s Day. Check out the trailer above for more details.
‘Dead Cells: Fatal Falls’ DLC Now Available for Purchase
The latest DLC for the amazing Dead Cells, Fatal Falls, is now available on the eShop for a peachy-keen $4.99. Team up with a new aerial ally as you make your way through two new biomes and battle a nasty new boss. This is mid-game content, but don’t take it too lightly because it’s still fairly tough. Motion Twin have whipped up a new animated trailer for the DLC that you can watch, and like previous efforts it makes me want a proper series already.
The Next ‘Super Smash Bros.’ Event Paints the Town Yellow
It’s time once again to find out the next weekend event in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It’s another Spirit Board event this time, and the featured spirits are yellow characters. And wow, looking at that graphic? There are some quality yellow characters out there. I love those little dudes from Wario Ware. Anyway, beat up on those spirits and you’ll earn more gold than usual, fitting the yellow theme. The event kicks off on Friday and runs for the usual three days through the weekend.
New Releases
Project Starship X ($9.99)
This roguelite vertical shoot-em-up puts a comical spin on Lovecraftian lore. The key feature is the “CRASH-KILL" which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Each run takes you through five levels pulled from a pool of fourteen, and procedural elements ensure that no two playthroughs are exactly alike. There are lots of interesting power-ups and gimmicks to keep you on your toes, making for a game that is quite unique among its peers. It’s a pretty fun shooter, but be careful if you’re photo-sensitive as it seems to be rather flashy.
The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav ($19.99)
This point-and-click style adventure game from Daedalic originally came out back in 2012, and is a generally well-regarded example of the genre. It’s based on the highly successful German pen-and-paper RPG that has sometimes been sold in English territories as Realms of Arkania. At a critical moment for the Kingdom of Andergast, all of the crows suddenly start behaving strangely, attacking people and being generally aggressive. This land is particularly superstitious, so the King tasks a young bird catcher with finding out what is causing these happenings. That catcher, Geron, soon finds himself wrapped up in an adventure beyond his imagination. Not a must-have or anything, but it’s a solid adventure game that does what you would want it to do.
The Dark Eye: Memoria ($19.99)
And here’s the 2013 follow-up to Chains of Satinav, offering similar gameplay and a whole new tale to play through. It picks up right where the first game left off, seeing Geron on an adventure to help someone important to him recover. He soon gets pulled into a mystery involving a princess who aims to become a heroic warrior. I personally find this one to be a big improvement from the first thanks to its richer story and better puzzle designs, and a quick look at the reviews seems to back me up on that. You wouldn’t want to play this without also playing the first game, but as a set I think they’re worth digging into for the adventure fan who hasn’t experienced them yet.
Curve Racer ($2.99)
Hey, it’s a Piotr Skalski game. The battle between him, Sabec, Pix Arts, and Ultimate Games is getting pretty fierce these days. So what does Piotr have for us today? It looks a lot like a lane-based endless driver where you pick up coins to upgrade your cars, use the typical assortment of power-ups, and collect map parts to open up new areas. Try to get the highest score possible. Simple, not particularly inspired, but I suppose it’s cheap if nothing else.
Baby Puzzle – First Learning Shapes for Toddlers ($12.99)
Sometimes the title says just about everything that needs to be said, but let’s roll with it anyway. Many readers probably had some simple puzzles when they were little ones. The sort where the challenge is mostly about recognizing shapes and doing a little basic pattern recognition. This game aims to provide a digital version of that experience, with a whole bunch of puzzles of varying levels of difficulty for very young children to complete. Personally, I think the real thing would be better here for the tactile feedback and greater emphasis on hand-eye coordination it offers, but I’m no doctor. It seems well-made enough for what it is, though I suspect you could find similar offerings for lower prices on mobile platforms.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
That’s a pretty small and largely unexciting list of new sales, I’ll admit. Indeed there is nothing on that list that I feel strongly enough about to recommend. The outbox is bigger but it isn’t much more interesting. Stock up on Two Tribes games, I suppose. Otherwise, feel free to hold on to your money pending tomorrow’s new releases and Friday’s sales.
Select New Games on Sale
Dirt Bike Insanity ($6.39 from $7.99 until 2/2)
Perfect Traffic Simulator ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/2)
Fantasy Tower Defense ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/2)
Fall Gummies ($1.99 from $7.99 until 2/2)
Chill Panda ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/15)
Deadly Fighter 2 ($1.99 from $3.99 until 2/15)
Infinite: Beyond the Mind ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/16)
Shakes on a Plane ($11.99 from $19.99 until 2/16)
Infliction: Extended Cut ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/16)
The Deer God ($1.99 from $7.99 until 2/16)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Thursday, January 28th
Animal Hunter Z ($3.99 from $9.99 until 1/28)
Battle & Crash ($1.99 from $4.99 until 1/28)
Bezier: Second Edition ($4.99 from $19.99 until 1/28)
BINGO ($1.99 from $4.99 until 1/28)
Caterpillar Royale ($1.99 from $4.99 until 1/28)
Chicken Police: Paint it Red ($13.49 from $19.99 until 1/28)
Collide-a-Ball 2 ($1.99 from $4.99 until 1/28)
Colossus Down ($16.19 from $17.99 until 1/28)
Destropolis ($4.79 from $5.99 until 1/28)
Dungeon Shooting ($1.99 from $4.99 until 1/28)
Fibbage XL ($5.99 from $9.99 until 1/28)
Home Sheep Home: Farmageddon ($6.49 from $9.99 until 1/28)
If My Heart Had Wings ($11.99 from $19.99 until 1/28)
INK ($2.24 from $8.99 until 1/28)
Ironcast ($6.49 from $12.99 until 1/28)
Lovekami -Divinity Stage- ($11.99 from $14.99 until 1/28)
Morbid: Seven Acolytes ($17.49 from $24.99 until 1/28)
Ping Pong Trick Evolution ($1.99 from $4.99 until 1/28)
Pirates: All Aboard! ($1.99 from $5.99 until 1/28)
Quiplash ($5.99 from $9.99 until 1/28)
RIVE: Ultimate ($1.99 from $14.99 until 1/28)
Spitlings ($9.99 from $14.99 until 1/28)
Subsurface Circular ($4.79 from $5.99 until 1/28)
Super Crush KO ($7.49 from $14.99 until 1/28)
Super Ping Ping Trick Shot ($1.99 from $4.99 until 1/28)
Swap This! ($1.99 from $4.99 until 1/28)
Swords & Soldiers ($1.99 from $7.49 until 1/28)
Table Top Racing: WT Nitro ($16.24 from $24.99 until 1/28)
Tallowmere ($3.49 from $6.99 until 1/28)
The Spectrum Retreat ($6.49 from $12.99 until 1/28)
Toki Tori ($1.99 from $4.99 until 1/28)
Toki Tori 2+ ($1.99 from $14.99 until 1/28)
Treachery in Beatdown City ($11.99 from $19.99 until 1/28)
Viviette ($6.99 from $9.99 until 1/28)
That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with the usual slab of new releases including Heaven’s Vault, Gods Will Fall, Citizens Unite!, and many more. Add in the latest sales, and that will probably do it. I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday, and as always, thanks for reading!
