Hey light readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Spherical-Up for April 1st, 2024. It’s Easter Monday! It’s April Fools! However right here at TouchArcade Towers, it’s simply one other day. We’ve bought a bunch of opinions for you in the present day, buddies. Our pal Mikhail takes a cautious take a look at Not Tonight 2, whereas I’ve bought my takes on Pepper Grinder, Felix the Cat, and One Final Breath for you. After that, we check out the brand new releases of the day. Not essentially the most bumper of crops, I’m certain you’ll be able to guess. We end issues up with the same old lists of latest and expiring gross sales. Let’s get going!
Critiques & Mini-Views
Not Tonight 2 ($19.99)
No Extra Robots is again with one other Swap port of one in all its PC video games in Not Tonight 2. I assume this implies we’re one step nearer to Slayers X hitting Swap however solely time will inform. Earlier than digressing additional, Not Tonight 2 is a follow-up to the unique Not Tonight: Take Again Management Version on Swap, and is an attention-grabbing tackle that components with three tales, mini-games, and a few Papers Please thrown into the fray. As a sequel, I like what it does, however some facets won’t hit as laborious relying on what you’re on the lookout for.
It had been some time since I performed the unique recreation, and attempting out Not Tonight 2 on PC jogged my memory of how good it was. I didn’t end the sport on PC although. I made a decision to attend for a console launch. When No Extra Robots introduced the Swap launch, I knew it might be value ready for, and it has been for essentially the most half having now performed it.
In case you’ve not performed Not Tonight earlier than, I like to recommend getting it first, or grabbing the bundle of each in the event you’re interested in these video games. As No Extra Robots‘ first sequel launch so far as I’m conscious, Not Tonight 2 is sort of a bit extra formidable, and I feel it’ll be a like it or hate it form of recreation for followers of the unique. I ended up extra optimistic on it by way of the totally different tales being instructed. Some may be turned off by the humor inside the extra critical tales, however I all the time love that in a story.
In Not Tonight 2, you’ll discover, make selections, undergo a variety of dialogue, and play minigames. As I stated earlier than, it has additionally been impressed by the superb Papers Please. The builders describe Not Tonight 2 as an “American document-checking highway journey, fusing a time-pressure RPG with a politically charged, darkish comedy the place each choice issues”. That’s fairly lengthy however an correct abstract of the sport. That is accompanied by an important visible fashion as nicely.
Not Tonight 2 has a couple of efficiency hiccups on Swap that aren’t large points in comparison with it working completely on Steam Deck, nevertheless it wins in controller help. I couldn’t get the PC model on Steam Deck to work with out the digital cursor no matter utilizing the Deck itself or an exterior controller. The Swap model performs nicely throughout the board, however I would really like touchscreen help as a result of journey video games like this profit from the choice of tapping to maneuver round or deciding on issues. Mainly the best management scheme for Not Tonight 2 could be a mixture of controller and contact/digital mouse help.
For some followers of the unique, Not Tonight 2 would possibly really feel erratic in some methods, however I loved it nearly as a lot as the unique on Swap. I like to recommend it to followers of the unique and people who take pleasure in Papers Please. It simply wants some efficiency enhancements in sure areas. -Mikhail Madnani
SwitchArcade Rating: 3.5/5
Pepper Grinder ($14.99)
I like Pepper Grinder. It is aware of what it needs to do, and it does that factor with out fussing round, then has the courtesy to finish earlier than it runs out of concepts. To honor it, I’ll attempt to make my overview equally environment friendly. First, the issues I like. The drill-based mechanics are intelligent and lead to some fast-paced, thrilling platforming. The visuals are interesting. I loved discovering the secrets and techniques in every stage. The problem curve felt fairly good outdoors of some hiccups. It’s even enjoyable to replay the phases.
Second, the issues I didn’t like. The boss battles aren’t excellent. I discovered them tedious and irritating, and I used to be by no means pleased to see one. And whereas I appreciated that the sport didn’t drag itself out too lengthy, I really feel like the sport ended slightly faster than I’d have ideally most popular. There was undoubtedly room to maintain going slightly longer right here and discover some ideas extra.
Pepper Grinder is an pleasurable, distinctive platformer with a zippy tempo, attention-grabbing mechanics, and a few cool stage designs. The boss battles are a bit clunky and solely subtract from what’s in any other case a really tight expertise. It’s additionally value noting that the sport is sort of brisk in its run-time, so do take that into consideration earlier than shopping for. I personally suppose it ends slightly too quickly, however that’s not a horrible drawback for a recreation to have.
SwitchArcade Rating: 4/5
Felix the Cat ($24.99)
Definitely a curious pull, however not one I’m solely against. In some unspecified time in the future Konami purchased Hudson, including its catalogue of titles to its assortment. Konami has sufficient to take care of in its personal library, not to mention throwing a big one like Hudson’s to the combination. So anytime I see a Hudson recreation get a rerelease, I’m pleased. That it’s a licensed one this time makes it much more welcome. More often than not video games with a license get handed over, particularly when it’s a license that doesn’t precisely put butts in seats anymore. With all that taken into consideration, I’m glad to be Felix the Cat on my Swap.
The title doesn’t have the phrase ‘assortment’ in it, and whoever made that decision was most likely proper. There are three video games in right here, technically talking, however while you get proper right down to it you’re actually simply getting one. Again in 1992, Hudson launched Felix the Cat for the NES. It was form of a tie-in to the 1989 film and a part of an tried revival for the older-than-Mickey kitty. Then, in 1993, Hudson ported the sport to the Sport Boy. We get each of these video games right here, together with the beforehand unreleased Japanese Famicom model. The Famicom model doesn’t appear to have any variations from the NES one other than having Japanese language as an alternative of English. The Sport Boy model cuts out some phases and stage items however in any other case intently resembles the NES recreation. So sure, actually only one recreation.
How is that recreation? Not too shabby, actually. It’s very a lot a Hudson platformer, all the way in which right down to a life meter/timer that ticks down and must be periodically restored by selecting up meals gadgets (milk, right here). On the similar time, it’s additionally post-Tremendous Mario Bros. 3 and has clearly picked up some classes from that recreation. The controls are tighter, and the sport is significantly extra honest than earlier Hudson video games. Maybe too honest, because it’s a somewhat straightforward recreation even by trendy requirements. I suppose the essential factor is that it’s enjoyable, and it’s. Felix’s Magic Bag of Tips is put to full use right here, and also you’ll get to utilize a wide range of talents as the sport goes on. It by no means actually flies as excessive because it most likely might have, nevertheless it’s an pleasurable recreation to run by way of a couple of occasions. The Sport Boy port can be value a spin or two.
It’s all powered by Restricted Run Video games’ Carbon Engine, and it’s very a lot in keeping with its different releases utilizing that wrapper. The emulation will get the job carried out, and you may make use of a rewind characteristic and a save state on every recreation. That’s about all you get, so don’t go on the lookout for cool extras to contextualize these video games. It’s about as fast and soiled because it will get, and I feel that brings us to the proverbial elephant within the room right here: the value. Not one thing I like to think about when doing opinions, as costs can and do fluctuate, however I’ll say that at this preliminary worth level, I might anticipate slightly extra meat on the bone. There are as many video games right here as we might have, so maybe that extra meat might have taken the type of some historic goodies? I don’t know, however the bundle feels a bit too skinny right here total.
In case you’re on the lookout for an official technique to play the NES Felix the Cat, that is definitely essentially the most reasonably priced manner to take action. It’s a pricy cart within the aftermarket, so having it broadly out there once more together with its Sport Boy counterpart is welcome. The sport itself is a satisfying romp, albeit not far more than that. Nonetheless, I can’t assist however want there have been some extras right here. Each recreation has a narrative behind its creation, and telling this one would have helped make the bundle extra particular. Alas, we simply get the sport and a pair variants of it in a plain brown bag. Not dangerous, nevertheless it might have been so a lot better.
SwitchArcade Rating: 3.5/5
One Final Breath ($17.99)
There have been occasions the place I felt that One Final Breath would possibly actually take off and attain the potential it was scratching at throughout its comparatively temporary run time. There’s a sure magnificence to the sport’s desolate environments, with nature reclaiming deserted constructions. The sound design is sort of good, too. A couple of puzzles, notably those that contain the primary character Gaia utilizing her nature powers, have been pleasurable. However these have been vivid spots in an journey that far too typically feels rote and too opaque for its personal good.
You’re left to your individual gadgets to determine how the whole lot works on this recreation, however there luckily isn’t an excessive amount of to it. You may run, crouch, and have a context-sensitive “use” command. It’s as much as you to determine what you’ll be able to and may’t work together with, easy methods to take care of risks you run into alongside the way in which, what it’s good to do to proceed, and so forth. Plenty of the time it entails slowly dragging crates round. You’ll most likely die so much when you attempt to type issues out. The graphics, whereas wanting good on their very own, can generally be laborious to visually parse. I fell to my dying so much that manner. You’ll simply reappear on the final checkpoint although, so work out what you probably did improper and maintain transferring.
One Final Breath has some good qualities, however they’re counter-balanced by pacing points, uninteresting puzzle designs, and an total extra of vagueness. There’s some non-compulsory content material to assist prolong issues, nevertheless it finally ends up feeling like a chore to finish. Among the sights and sounds are value experiencing, however I discovered myself tired of this recreation at the least as typically as I discovered myself entertained.
SwitchArcade Rating: 3/5
New Releases
What They Don’t Sea ($4.99)
A cute little platformer about exploring the ocean to seek out algae samples for some form of new power undertaking. Make buddies with the pleasant creatures, keep away from the unfriendly ones as a lot as attainable, and keep watch over your air provide. One cool factor is that the developer, Workforce Atlantis, consisted of a bunch of center faculty women. They first got here up with the sport on the Women Make Video games summer season camp, although this was again in 2019. They labored with some skilled builders to shine up their unique idea, and the results of that’s what we’ve right here.
The Bin Bunch
Drift Pressure Xtreme: Final Automotive Simulator 2024 ($9.99)
Bungee Run ($0.99)
Labyrinthia Nightmares: The Journey of Little Fluffypuff ($11.99)
Bubble Bunny ($2.99)
A number of Issues Collector’s Version ($9.99)
Alien Invasion ($9.99)
Gross sales
(North American eShop, US Costs)
Look, I didn’t write a overview of Berserk Boy, however in the event you like difficult 2D motion video games like Mega Man X then you definitely’ll undoubtedly have an excellent time with it. Now you can seize it at a stable low cost. The Trine video games are at their lowest costs but, and if you wish to get your Castlevania on in Useless Cells there’s a reduction for that. The outbox is somewhat small, so give {that a} look when you cross on by too.
Choose New Gross sales
Berserk Boy ($16.00 from $20.00 till 4/9)
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope ($19.79 from $59.99 till 4/11)
Trine Enchanted Version ($3.44 from $14.99 till 4/12)
Trine 2: Full Story ($3.90 from $16.99 till 4/12)
Trine 3: TAoP ($4.59 from $19.99 till 4/12)
9 Parchments ($4.59 from $19.99 till 4/12)
My Pretty Daughter ($2.99 from $14.99 till 4/15)
My Pretty Spouse ($5.99 from $14.99 till 4/15)
Pan’orama ($9.99 from $19.99 till 4/18)
Teppo & the Secret Historical Metropolis ($3.99 from $7.99 till 4/19)
Celebration Associates ($1.99 from $7.99 till 4/19)
Toodee and Topdee ($4.99 from $19.99 till 4/19)
Forrader Hero ($3.99 from $4.99 till 4/19)
TT Isle of Man RotE 2 ($5.99 from $59.99 till 4/20)
Fashionable Fight Blackout ($1.99 from $7.99 till 4/20)
Useless Cells ($12.49 from $24.99 till 4/21)
Useless Cells: Return to Castlevania ($7.99 from $9.99 till 4/21)
DREDGE ($17.49 from $24.99 till 4/21)
Transferring Out 2 ($14.99 from $29.99 till 4/21)
Gross sales Ending Tomorrow, April 2nd
Amongst Us ($3.25 from $5.00 till 4/2)
Clue ($3.99 from $19.99 till 4/2)
Golfinite ($1.99 from $12.99 till 4/2)
Monument ($1.99 from $7.00 till 4/2)
Proper and Down ($2.99 from $9.99 till 4/2)
SUPERHOT ($12.49 from $24.99 till 4/2)
The Cub ($8.99 from $14.99 till 4/2)
Untitled Goose Sport ($9.99 from $19.99 till 4/2)
Warhammer 40k: Dakka Squadron ($9.99 from $19.99 till 4/2)
That’s all for in the present day, buddies. We’ll be again tomorrow with extra opinions, some new releases, extra gross sales, and possibly even some information. I had a pleasant Easter weekend, even when we are able to’t actually do a full-on celebration right here in Japan resulting from lack of supplies and elements. There was chocolate, there have been eggs, what extra do you want? I hope you all have an impressive Monday, and as all the time, thanks for studying!
