Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for July 21st, 2023. In today’s article, we take a look at the remaining releases of the week. Turns out there are a fair number, and a handful of them are pretty good. Pikmin 4 is of course the big ticket, but you might find other things to enjoy. After going through all of those, we’ve got some sales to look at. New ones, expiring ones. Some good stuff in there, no doubt about it. Let’s get to business!
New Releases
Pikmin 4 ($59.99)
It’s wild to see a new installment in this series, but I sure won’t complain. This is probably the most approachable the series has ever been, removing the time limits and adding in an extremely helpful dog-like creature. Gather your Pikmin, explore the world, find treasures, and enjoy some very fancy visuals. I’ll likely have a review of this one, but there’s also a demo available if you want to have a taste yourself.
Sephonie ($19.99)
This one comes to us from the same folks who worked on Anodyne 1 & 2, Even the Ocean, and a few other things. If you’ve played those games, that alone should perk your attention. It’s a 3D puzzle platformer with a heavy emphasis on parkour, following the story of three biologists who get shipwrecked while on a research expedition. As they work together to deal with the terrain they find themselves on, their bonds grow stronger. At the same time, some trouble seems to be brewing. Mmm, mysteries.
Sword of Glory ($14.99)
A roguelite arena battling game for a single player. Travel to various cities, battle enemies in the arenas, upgrade your weapons and gear, eventually fail, come back a little stronger. I can see that the publisher has already given this a deep discount on day one, which isn’t exactly a massive show of confidence in the quality of a game. If the publisher doesn’t believe in it, it’s hard to ask me to do any more.
D-Corp ($17.99)
Hmm. This is a tower defense game with some light puzzle elements for up to four players via local multiplayer. It’s certainly colorful. I suppose the fact that it comes from RedDeer means it will have steep discounts. Maybe some special editions, and ultra editions, and fancy hat editions. I don’t know if it’s good or not, but there’s nothing I’m seeing here that would justify the full-price purchase. I’m not the captain your wallet troops, though.
Punch Club 2: Fast Forward ($19.99)
The fight management sim returns with this sequel. Set twenty years after the events of the first game, this one sees you in a neon cyberpunk-ish setting. Nevertheless, the broad strokes are the same. Train, get stronger, win fights, meet weird people, and repeat until you’re at the top of the fighting world. If you enjoyed the first game, you’ll almost certainly have fun with this.
YEAH! YOU WANT “THOSE GAMES," RIGHT? SO HERE YOU GO! NOW, LET’S SEE YOU CLEAR THEM! ($9.99)
Ah, now this is the kind of thing I like to see from D3 Publisher. I’m sure most people reading this site are familiar with the kinds of deceptive ads you see for mobile games. Pull the pin puzzles, parking puzzles, the ones where the knight or fish has to take on the bigger numbers to make their way up the ranks, the ones where different colored liquids have to be put in their own flasks, and so on. You download the game and it turns out to be a match-3 or plain old builder. What about the game you saw in the ad? Well, here you go. This is a collection of five minigames based on those deceptive ads, with each one having a number of stages to complete. It’s a bit ridiculous, but also a brilliant idea.
Otoko Cross: Pretty Boys Breakup! ($6.99)
Play Break Out with nine pretty boys, unlocking new outfits and background images so that you can make your own dioramas. Well, if you’re going to make a brick breaker, you’ve got to at least do something different to pull people in.
The Snow Fable: Mystery of the Flame ($7.99)
It’s a matching puzzle game with a story attached to it, featuring more than one hundred levels to play along with an infinite mode. It seems fine for what it is, and the price isn’t too egregious. I generally prefer to play games like this on my phone, but if you don’t mind hunkering down on a Switch matching puzzler, here you go.
Words of Wisdom ($4.99)
This seems like a decently-made puzzle platformer for the price. You’ve been captured by some weird jester and need to entertain him by clearing the various trap rooms he has prepared. Some of them are standard platforming challenges, while others will force you to think about what to do. The solutions can be very unconventional at times. An affordable decent choice for today.
Super Dinoblasters ($2.99)
I was ready to write this one off, but I see it’s from the same publisher as Toree 3D and Super Kiwi 64. I believe them to have a decent eye for affordable fun, so I am keeping this outside of the bin zone on a tentative basis. It looks like the lower end of the five-dollar Switch platformer category, and for once we’ve got something that looks that way and is actually cheaper than a fiver. Pocket change really, and I’m sure it’s at least amusing enough for that kind of bet.
The Bin Bunch
Ramp Car Racing ($3.99)
Hypertension ($2.99)
100 Doors Games: School Escape ($9.99)
Ring Racer ($4.99)
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
If you like Valis, today is your day. Both collections are at new low prices, and so are the individual games if you prefer to pick and choose. This sale might be celebrating the announcement of a third Valis Collection, which is going to require even deeper barrel scraping than the second one. Personally, I’d grab the first collection and then Valis IV by itself, but that’s just me. Lots of other goodies in there, such as Graze Counter GM for a tenner. Some decent stuff in the outbox too, so do check those lists.
Select New Games on Sale
Rush Rally 3 ($7.49 from $14.99 until 7/28)
Animal Revolt Battle Simulator ($4.49 from $14.99 until 7/28)
One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 Deluxe ($14.39 from $89.99 until 7/31)
I Am Dead ($7.99 from $19.99 until 8/1)
Gorogoa ($4.49 from $14.99 until 8/1)
What Remains of Edith Finch ($4.99 from $19.99 until 8/1)
Sayonara Wild Hearts ($7.79 from $12.99 until 8/1)
Maquette ($13.99 from $19.99 until 8/1)
The Pathless ($19.99 from $39.99 until 8/1)
Graze Counter GM ($9.99 from $14.99 until 8/3)
Murder by Numbers ($5.09 from $14.99 until 8/3)
Demon Sword: Incubus ($10.99 from $14.99 until 8/3)
Monobot ($5.19 from $12.99 until 8/4)
Gnomes Garden: Lost King ($2.09 from $2.99 until 8/4)
Vampire Slayer: The Resurrection ($1.99 from $2.99 until 8/4)
Super Night Riders ($3.74 from $4.99 until 8/10)
Turn Tack ($4.49 from $14.99 until 8/10)
Spectrolite ($8.39 from $13.99 until 8/10)
Ruvato: Original Complex ($4.49 from $14.99 until 8/10)
Snow Bros. Special ($16.99 from $19.99 until 8/10)
Lucy Got Problems ($6.39 from $7.99 until 8/10)
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl ($7.50 from $49.99 until 8/10)
Valis: The Fantasm Soldier ($10.50 from $15.00 until 8/10)
Valis II ($10.50 from $15.00 until 8/10)
Valis III ($10.50 from $15.00 until 8/10)
Valis: Fantasm Soldier Collection ($27.99 from $39.99 until 8/10)
Valis: The Fantasm Soldier (MSX) ($12.00 from $15.00 until 8/10)
Valis: The Fantasm Soldier (MEGA DRIVE) ($12.00 from $15.00 until 8/10)
SYD of Valis ($12.00 from $15.00 until 8/10)
Valis IV ($12.00 from $15.00 until 8/10)
Valis: Fantasm Soldier Collection 2 ($35.99 from $44.99 until 8/10)
Neo Atlas 1469 ($24.99 from $49.99 until 8/10)
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments ($8.99 from $29.99 until 8/10)
Sales Ending This Weekend
Blade of Darkness ($4.49 from $14.99 until 7/22)
Bruxa ($1.99 from $9.99 until 7/22)
Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator ($23.99 from $39.99 until 7/22)
Dessert DIY ($1.99 from $4.99 until 7/22)
EA Sports FIFA 23 Legacy Edition ($9.99 from $39.99 until 7/22)
Everybody, Hearts! ($3.00 from $6.00 until 7/22)
Fe ($4.99 from $19.99 until 7/22)
Hunting Simulator 2 ($3.99 from $39.99 until 7/22)
It Takes Two ($29.99 from $39.99 until 7/22)
Lost in Random ($5.99 from $29.99 until 7/22)
LOUD: My Road to Fame ($2.39 from $7.99 until 7/22)
Memorrha ($8.99 from $19.99 until 7/22)
Session Skate Sim Deluxe ($29.99 from $59.99 until 7/22)
Smash Reversi ($4.50 from $9.00 until 7/22)
Train Life: Orient Express Train Edition ($19.99 from $39.99 until 7/22)
TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 3 ($34.99 from $49.99 until 7/22)
Blasphemous ($6.24 from $24.99 until 7/23)
Demon Hunter: Chronicles from Beyond ($1.99 from $14.99 until 7/23)
Eventide: Slavic Fable ($1.99 from $14.99 until 7/23)
Ship of Fools ($9.74 from $14.99 until 7/23)
Thymesia: Cloud Version ($20.09 from $29.99 until 7/23)
That’s all for today and this week, friends. We’ll be back next week with more new releases, more sales, more reviews, and perhaps some news. I’ve been back into both PowerWash Simulator and Arcade Paradise this week, which has certainly been hurting my productivity. A nice break from the recent spate of heavy RPGs and simulation games, though. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and as always, thanks for reading!
