1 year ago
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Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for June 1st, 2023. Well, here we are. The first day of the last month of the first half of the year. Where does the time go? At least as far as May is concerned, it went to Zelda for me. But today is a new day, a day filled with Etrian Odyssey, and that means I think I know where my June is going to go. We’ve got summaries of all the new releases for today, plus the usual lists of new and outgoing sales. Let’s get to them, shall we?
New Releases
Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection ($79.99)
Etrian Odyssey HD ($39.99)
Etrian Odyssey II HD ($39.99)
Etrian Odyssey III HD ($39.99)
RPG fans, rejoice! The excellent Etrian Odyssey series comes to Switch with these HD remakes of the first three games. These are awesome, challenging games that just kept upping the ante with each new installment, and trying to buy the Nintendo DS cartridges now can get very expensive indeed. The signature mapping feature doesn’t work as smoothly here as it did on the DS, especially if you’re playing docked, but it’s as good as it can be. Plus, you can use auto-mapping if you don’t want to deal with it. I’ll have a review for these soon, but as someone who has been a big fan of this series from the release of the very first installment, I’m quite satisfied.
Killer Frequency ($24.99)
Team17’s latest certainly seems intriguing. It’s a horror comedy where you play as a local radio host who the citizens turn to for help when a murderer is on the loose. The police chief is already dead, you see. They’ll call in, and your decisions and quick thinking will either save them or condemn them to death. The whole thing has a cheeky 1980s slasher film vibe, so don’t expect things to be taken too seriously. I like the look of this one, even though I don’t normally like horror games much.
Project Nightmares Case 36: Henrietta Kedward ($19.99)
Phew, and some people thought the jump from Final Fantasy III to Final Fantasy VII was a lot to take in. Here’s Project Nightmares Case 36, which may or may not be the thirty-sixth game in its series. It’s an indie horror game, and one that is running a little on the pricier side as these things go. It’s a fairly brief game and do be warned that it has plenty of jump scares. Reviews are decent but not great over on Steam, so we’ll have to see if the Switch crowd takes to it.
Arcade Archives Tetris the Absolute the Grand Master 2 Plus ($7.99)
That’s some title. Some title. Well, here’s another way to play Tetris on your Switch. This is the second in Arika’s Tetris The Grand Master series, aimed at more veteran players of the game. I’d grab this over the first one if you can only pick one, but most Tetris players are probably going to be more comfortable with more approachable versions like Tetris Effect or Puyo Puyo Tetris 2. If you find all of those too easy? This one’s for you.
Boxville ($9.99)
An adventure game of sorts set in a city made of boxes populated by a bunch of old cans. One day, a big earthquake results in the disappearance of Blue Can’s friend, and he goes on a search to find them. His journey may even lead him to find out the cause of the recent disasters striking the peaceful city. It certainly has a cool sense of style going for it. It’s also one of those games confident enough to provide a demo, so feel free to give it a try if you’re intrigued by the premise.
GyroGunner ($7.20)
This is a multidirectional shooter where your goal in each of the seven stages is to clear out the enemy bases by blasting away everything you can. If you take too many hits, you’re out. Completed stages can be replayed at your leisure in the free mode, and if it’s a bit too tough you can play on the casual difficulty setting that was added for this version. No power-ups, no health pick-ups, just you and your chopper against the world. Looks solid to me.
Aery – The Lost Hero ($9.99)
Another Aery game, and there isn’t really anything I need to say about these anymore. They’re all essentially the same in terms of structure and gameplay, so it all comes down to if you want to slam down a tenner for some new chill environments to fly through. I’ve had my fill, but if you haven’t then here you go.
Japanese Nekosama Escape The Sweets Shop ($9.99)
Speaking of series where I don’t have a lot new to say, here’s another Japanese Nekosama Escape game. This one is set in a sweets shop, and structurally it works like all of the others. So as I said for Aery, if you want more of that kind of thing, here you go. If you don’t, then… don’t buy it? I don’t know, I’m not your accountant.
LotionSamurai ($2.99)
Okay, so first of all, the only supported language here is Japanese. Second, this is bonkers. Nobunaga Oda has been captured and transformed into a Lotion Samurai. He can’t even walk anymore, but he’s so slippery that if he kicks off a wall he’ll fly forward at rapid speed. The idea is to bounce off the walls as fast as you can, killing ninjas an making your way to the goal. Online leaderboards allow you to compete with others to see who is the slickest player. Definitely the oddest way to spend a few bucks today.
Constellations ($4.99)
A fairly chill puzzle game where you connect the stars to make the constellations. There are more than one hundred levels to play, plus a random level generator to keep the party going should you deem it necessary. Might be what you’re looking for today, depending on your mood.
Korokoro Harley ($3.00)
A very simple game about a hedgehog who rolls around at the speed of… well, a slightly faster than normal hedgehog. I can’t really think of any comparison points here, sorry. Imagine a hedgehog but faster. He rolls around when you move the stick, and his spines come out when you press the button. You can use them to break obstacles, but you can also use them when you need to slow down. This looks almost okay for three bucks, really.
Legendary Tales: Cataclysm ($6.99)
Hidden object adventure time, with a relatively reasonable price tag attached. I’m past being able to generate anything new to say about these, so I’ll do fans of the genre a courtesy and just leave a note here and move on.
So Much Stuff Collector’s Edition ($14.99)
Yes, this is the more usual price for a hidden object game. This one includes some minigames, like the one pictured above. For fans of the genre who don’t want or need a story attached and just want to get right to the object hunting.
Powers of Hex ($0.99)
Well, it’s a buck. It’s a Mega Man-style platformer, and it’s a buck. Choose your stage, defeat the boss, get a new power from some entity named Elfvis, and repeat until all your powers are restored. I wouldn’t expect a whole lot from this, but I also can’t say you won’t get a whole four quarters of entertainment out of it either.
Hidden Bunny ($0.99)
Another game that costs a dollar, this one a hidden object game. It’s… not quite as fancy as the others that are releasing today. But if you just want to find some bunnies, this will offer that at a minimal price.
Move The Box: Classic Block Puzzle ($9.99)
Move the pieces, make matches, try to clear the field. You’ve seen it before, you can find about a thousand free mobile games that do it, and you should not give Megame ten bucks for its lukewarm take on it.
Mad Road – Apocalyptic Shooter Survival Killer ($9.99)
Some junk from VG Games. Like most of their stuff, it’s the kind of thing you could find for free on your mobile device if you looked around even a little. You know where to leave it.
Highway Traffic Racer – Car Racing Simulator ($4.99)
More junk from GOGAME CONSOLE PUBLISHER. Another racing game, in fact. And it’s terrible, as you would expect. Leave it in the bin where it belongs.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
Not a whole lot here yet, friends. I’m sure that will change by tomorrow, or even by the time you read this. I have nothing in particular to call out save that shooter fans should grab SophStar on sale while they can. It’s a great one. Anyway, check those lists. You never know what you’ll find.
Select New Games on Sale
Just Shapes and Beats ($13.99 from $19.99 until 6/5)
Roundguard ($6.22 from $19.99 until 6/8)
#Funtime ($3.16 from $14.99 until 6/8)
Fracter ($2.17 from $6.99 until 6/8)
The Ambassador: Fractured Timelines ($3.16 from $14.99 until 6/8)
Deleveled ($2.11 from $9.99 until 6/8)
Sail Forth ($15.59 from $19.99 until 6/8)
Drunken Fist 2: Zombie Hangover ($3.99 from $7.99 until 6/16)
Crisis Wing ($3.99 from $7.99 until 6/16)
Bot Gaiden ($9.74 from $14.99 until 6/16)
Super Chicken Jumper ($3.24 from $4.99 until 6/16)
Rick Henderson ($3.99 from $7.99 until 6/16)
Seduction: A Monk’s Fate ($3.99 from $7.99 until 6/16)
Super Woden GP ($7.79 from $11.99 until 6/16)
Fates of Ort ($5.99 from $14.99 until 6/21)
Pixel Boy Lost in the Castle ($1.99 from $4.99 until 6/21)
Qube Cross ($4.19 from $6.99 until 6/21)
Cattails ($1.99 from $14.99 until 6/21)
Dungeon Shooting ($2.49 from $4.99 until 6/21)
Battle & Crash ($2.49 from $4.99 until 6/21)
Caterpillar Royale ($2.49 from $4.99 until 6/21)
Void Scrappers ($2.99 from $3.99 until 6/21)
Kao the Kangaroo Bundle ($16.49 from $32.99 until 6/21)
The Forbidden Arts ($2.99 from $14.99 until 6/22)
Figment 2: Creed Valley ($18.74 from $24.99 until 6/22)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Friday, June 2nd
20 Ladies ($2.99 from $4.99 until 6/2)
4×4 Offroad Driver 2 ($6.49 from $12.99 until 6/2)
Afterimage ($22.49 from $24.99 until 6/2)
El Gancho ($3.49 from $6.99 until 6/2)
Farm Tycoon ($1.99 from $19.99 until 6/2)
Golazo 2 Pixel Soccer ($7.99 from $15.98 until 6/2)
Little Disaster ($3.99 from $4.99 until 6/2)
New York City Driver ($7.79 from $12.99 until 6/2)
Pretty Girls Escape ($4.19 from $5.99 until 6/2)
Pretty Girls Speed ($3.59 from $5.99 until 6/2)
Project Starship X ($2.49 from $9.99 until 6/2)
Queeny Army ($2.49 from $4.99 until 6/2)
Rayland ($2.99 from $4.99 until 6/2)
Rule No. 1 ($2.99 from $5.99 until 6/2)
Rune Factory 5 Digital Deluxe ($29.99 from $59.99 until 6/2)
Shotgun Farmers ($5.99 from $9.99 until 6/2)
Sophstar ($6.49 from $12.99 until 6/2)
SturmFront: The Mutant War ($2.99 from $9.99 until 6/2)
Takotan ($2.79 from $6.99 until 6/2)
The Letter: A Horror VN ($7.99 from $19.99 until 6/2)
The Pinball Wizard ($3.19 from $7.99 until 6/2)
Tricky Thief ($3.49 from $4.99 until 6/2)
Warhammer 40k Shootas Blood & Teef ($13.99 from $19.99 until 6/2)
That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back with the remaining releases of the week, plus whatever sales and big news come in over the course of the day. I have to go to the hospital tomorrow to get something quite concerning checked, but I should be able to whip up the article for you anyway. I hope you all have a great Thursday, and as always, thanks for reading!
English (US)