Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for March 19th, 2024. It’s a relatively quiet Tuesday this week, and I’m feeling like I should have held back one of yesterday’s reviews because I don’t have a whole ton of stuff for you today. Well, there are two reviews to look at. EGGCONSOLE Ys II PC-8801mkIIsr and Kingdom Come Deliverance: Royal Edition, if you’re wondering. After that, we have just one new release to look at, but at least it isn’t in the Bin Bunch. Then we have some sales, including a few cool games at low prices. Let’s get to work!
Reviews & Mini-Views
EGGCONSOLE Ys II PC-8801mkIIsr ($6.49)
Second verse, largely the same as the first. At least as far as my thoughts on this particular release of Ys II go, anyway. Following on the release of the original PC-8801 version of the first Ys game a little while back, the EGGCONSOLE project now offers up the game’s sequel. These days, the games are often packaged together since they’re really two parts of one story and share a great deal of assets and mechanics with one another. As such, if you picked up the EGGCONSOLE release of Ys and had a nice time going through it, I’ll go ahead and recommend you grab this one as well.
For those who didn’t grab that first game, know that all the same major caveat applies here. Most of the in-game text is in Japanese with no option for English, so unless you can read the language, are willing to follow a guide, or know the game by heart, you’re going to run into a lot of language barriers as you try to complete your quest. I’ll throw an additional warning here that you really should play the original game before moving on to this one. As mentioned, this is the second part of one story. It builds not only on its narrative but also its mechanics, and in terms of difficulty it more or less assumes you’ve learned the ropes fairly well.
If you’re willing to take on the not inconsiderable task of playing through an action-RPG in Japanese, Ys II is a lot of fun. The music is excellent, and it’s surprisingly playable for a game of its time and place. That said, the language barrier is once again very real with this release, and that means that despite this being an enjoyable game and likely the only release of Ys II we’re likely to see on Switch, I can only give it a light recommendation.
SwitchArcade Score: 3.5/5
Kingdom Come Deliverance: Royal Edition ($49.99)
There are a lot of reviews of this game around, so I’m going to just speak to the quality of the port. This game wasn’t exactly a looker on more advanced consoles, and it certainly had its share of performance hiccups. This Switch version takes a lot of the hits you would expect it to. The resolution is lower, and the overall visual detail is noticeably reduced. Still, this is a rather solid port all things considered. The framerate is respectable relative to the other console ports, and it’s a very playable experience even if things get choppy in busier scenes. There’s a bit more pop-in than you would see in other versions, but compared to similar games on Switch it holds itself together admirably. Saber Interactive has pulled off some wild Switch conversions before, and this is another notch in its belt.
Kingdom Come Deliverance: Royal Edition brings the game to the Nintendo Switch in about as good a form as the hardware is capable of, thanks to the talented and experienced folks at Saber Interactive. While there is no mistaking this for the versions on more powerful hardware, this isn’t a bad way to play the game at all. It’s another “impossible port" to enjoy on the go for Switch owners.
SwitchArcade Score: 4/5
New Releases
MLB The Show 24 ($59.99)
Whoops, I forgot that the regular edition of MLB The Show 24 came out yesterday. At any rate, you can now get the latest edition of Sony’s well-liked baseball series without springing for one of the fancier versions. There are some new elements here, but by and large this series found its groove a while ago and continues to work within it. The best realistic baseball game you can get on your Switch, I’d say.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
A few things worth noting in today’s new list. Hello Kitty is probably better enjoyed at five bucks than it is at twenty, the excellent Siralim games are on sale, Atelier Ryza 3 has never been lower in the eShop, and Guardians of the Galaxy Cloud Version is almost cheap enough to punt on and check how your internet handles a cloud game. Pretty much nothing in the outbox, so feel free to focus on those new sales.
Select New Sales
Chasm ($6.99 from $19.99 until 3/25)
Hello Kitty & Friends Happiness Parade ($4.99 from $19.99 until 3/26)
Siralim 3 ($7.49 from $14.99 until 3/26)
Siralim Ultimate ($9.99 from $19.99 until 3/26)
Atelier Ryza ($23.99 from $59.99 until 3/26)
Atelier Ryza 2 ($29.99 from $59.99 until 3/26)
Atelier Ryza 3 ($38.99 from $59.99 until 3/26)
SnowRunner ($19.99 from $39.99 until 3/29)
Brutalism22 ($4.99 from $9.99 until 4/1)
Anima: Gate of Memories ($2.99 from $19.99 until 4/1)
Heart&Slash ($2.24 from $14.99 until 4/1)
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cloud Vers. ($14.99 from $59.99 until 4/1)
To the Moon ($7.19 from $11.99 until 4/1)
Finding Paradise ($7.19 from $11.99 until 4/1)
Shieldwall Chronicles: SotN ($1.99 from $7.99 until 4/1)
Right and Down ($2.99 from $9.99 until 4/2)
Rev Up! RC Grand Prix ($1.99 from $13.26 until 4/8)
Conduct Together ($4.99 from $19.99 until 4/8)
Fly Together ($3.75 from $15.00 until 4/8)
inbento ($1.99 from $4.99 until 4/8)
Super Dungeon Maker ($8.59 from $19.99 until 4/8)
Drive Drift X ($1.99 from $8.59 until 4/8)
Our Fantasy Quest ($3.99 from $14.00 until 4/8)
Desktop Soccer ($1.99 from $7.11 until 4/8)
Desktop Soccer 2 ($3.99 from $8.00 until 4/8)
Sushi Shot ($1.99 from $3.80 until 4/8)
Make It! Takoyaki ($1.99 from $3.00 until 4/8)
Geometric Brothers ($3.99 from $14.00 until 4/8)
Super Planet Life ($2.49 from $9.99 until 4/8)
Fairy Tail ($35.99 from $59.99 until 4/9)
Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse ($34.99 from $49.99 until 4/9)
Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water ($27.99 from $39.99 until 4/9)
Atelier Marie Remake ($34.99 from $49.99 until 4/9)
Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection ($26.79 from $39.99 until 4/9)
Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening ($44.99 from $59.99 until 4/9)
The Medium – Cloud Vers. ($19.99 from $49.99 until 4/9)
Blair Witch ($5.99 from $29.99 until 4/9)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, March 20th
Diamond Hands To The Moon ($5.59 from $6.99 until 3/20)
Hellstuck Rage With Your Friends ($5.59 from $6.99 until 3/20)
Isle of Jura Fishing Trip ($1.99 from $13.99 until 3/20)
Swords & Bones 2 ($1.99 from $9.99 until 3/20)
Tiny Dragon Story ($1.99 from $12.99 until 3/20)
Worms WMD ($5.99 from $29.99 until 3/20)
Yoku’s Island Express ($3.99 from $19.99 until 3/20)
Yooka-Laylee & the Impossible Lair ($2.99 from $29.99 until 3/20)
That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with more new releases, more sales, and perhaps some news. I don’t think I’ll have any reviews ready, but we’ll see. It was so windy yesterday that a piece blew clean off my father-in-law’s house. I’ll have to help deal with that, I think. Not today, though. I hope you all have a terrific Tuesday, and as always, thanks for reading!
