As Britain gets ready to leave the EU, one developer gest ready to launch a Brexit-based political adventure on Switch. What could have easily become a throwaway product, rushed out to capitalise on a landmark event, is apparently a decent game in its own right.
Not Tonight: Take Back Control Edition puts you in control of an immigrant living in the UK who’s forced to become a nightclub bouncer in order to make ends meet. As such, it’s your job to check IDs of various drinking establishments, ensuring people are of the ‘correct’ nationality to meet the standards set by each watering hole.
Critical Hit was impressed, handing out an 8.5. “Not Tonight is a bold puzzle game that’s unafraid to shy away from very serious issues while delivering a strong narrative, cathartic gameplay loop and consistently pretty presentation,†they said.
Five act adventure Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition, with its story of unpayable debts, is another of this week’s big releases. It’s on track to become one of the highest-rated games of the month, currently boasting an 83% Metacritic. “Kentucky Route Zero is a beautiful poetry generator in the body of a point-and-click adventure game. It’s frequently stunning to look at and beautifully written throughout,†said IGN before dishing out an 8/10.
Then there’s Coffee Talk, which involves precisely that – coffee and talking. As a barrister, it’s your job to serve warming cups of coffee while listening to the tales of the mystical folk. Nintendo World Report enjoyed it as much as a cup of joe on a brisk morning.
“Story-heavy titles like Coffee Talk survive on the strength of their narrative and characters, and it’s safe to say that both of those elements are as fresh and satisfying as that first sip of coffee in the morning,†they beamed.
Hypercharge: Unboxed is flying under the radar somewhat but worthy of attention – it’s a colourful, hyperactive, first-person shooter with action figures and household battlegrounds. Think along the lines of Toy Commander on Dreamcast, or the ‘90s movie Small Soldiers.
Scores include a 4/5 from Switch Player and 7/10 from Nintendo Life. “There is a lot to like about HYPERCHARGE Unboxed and it combines many elements to offer the variety of a rich kid’s toy box. Its dependence on online multiplayer could be its downfall, but here’s to hoping the community get behind it,†was Switch Player’s verdict.
On the sillier side of things there’s Speaking Simulator, which may sound disastrous but apparently proves to be an amusing diversion, involving robots learning to speak like humans. Joypad inputs open and close the mouth while the analogue stick controls the tongue and facial expression. Fail to match the prompts on screen, and you’ll end out spewing some very odd speeches. VideoChums felt it deserving of a 4/5, calling it “downright fun and laugh-out-loud stuff.â€
Striking while the iron is hot, the Switch also gets a surprise release of Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales – the card-based adventure with quests, dialogue choices, base building and more. It crams in a lot, and it gets most of it right. Being a surprise release, this new Switch iteration hasn’t received the review treatment yet. It scored highly on PS4 and Xbox One back in 2018 though. In fact, the Xbox One version didn’t receive a single review lower than 8/10.
Other new releases include Sisters Royale: Five Sisters Under Fire – a bold and cartoony vertical shooter from the creators of Castle of Shikigami III which we reviewed today – the neon-hued electro “racer†(to use the term lightly) Music Racer, and the twee looking Aviary Attorney: Definitive Edition.
We reviewed Music Racer on Tuesday and wasn’t impressed in the slightest – it’s full of odd and lazy design choices, being a score-chaser that doesn’t save scores, and offering nothing to work through. Funnily enough, the publisher behind it is about to drop an absolute belter next week…
New Switch eShop releases
HYPERCHARGE Unboxed – £19.99
HYPERCHARGE Unboxed tells the story of Sgt. Max Ammo and his epic mission to defend the HYPER-CORE. Your task is to fulfill his mission and prevent the HYPER-CORE from being destroyed. If it’s destroyed, you can bid farewell to your human friends. They’ll forget about you. It’ll be like you never existed. Do not let that happen. Work together and win, for the future of toys everywhere!
Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition – £20.99
KENTUCKY ROUTE ZERO: TV EDITION is a magical realist adventure game in five acts, featuring a haunting electronic score, and a suite of hymns and bluegrass standards recorded by The Bedquilt Ramblers. Rendered in a striking visual style that draws as much from theater, film, and experimental electronic art as it does from the history of videogames, this is a story of unpayable debts, abandoned futures, and the human drive to find community.
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales – £16.99
Thronebreaker is a single player role-playing game set in the world of The Witcher that combines narrative-driven exploration with unique puzzles and card battle mechanics.
Crafted by the developers responsible for some of the most iconic moments in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the game spins a truly regal tale of Meve, a war-veteran and queen of two Northern Realms — Lyria and Rivia. Facing an imminent Nilfgaardian invasion, Meve is forced to once again enter the warpath and set out on a dark journey of destruction and revenge.
It came from space and ate our brains – £13.49
A merciless alien species that feeds on human brains (duh) has invaded the Earth. Who can stand up to them? You, obviously! Save the world—or at least yourself. Send aliens to oblivion in It Came From Space and Ate Our Brains—a unique top-down arcade shooter.
Actual Sunlight – £8.09
“I know what you’re thinking: Why keep getting up, day in and day out, even though your life is going nowhere?â€
Notorious: Widely considered to be one of the bleakest and best-written experiences in indie gaming, Actual Sunlight challenges you to confront the life of Evan Winter: An overweight, lonely and severely depressed young professional.
Fear the words, not the reading: Presented almost entirely in text, a mixture of sharp observation and pitch black humor captures your interest from provocative beginning to shattering conclusion.
Prepare yourself: Actual Sunlight is a uniquely unforgettable adventure that will etch itself into you as one of the most difficult, haunting and beautiful experiences you have ever had as a gamer.
Music Racer – £6.29
Rush along futuristic, neon tracks. Gather beats, catch the rhythm.
The racetrack is created in real time based on the game’s music tracks. The speed and mood of each run are determined by the compositions chosen. Obstacles and awards are generated from the music. Get into the rhythm and collect as many points as possible.
Horse Farm – £17.99
Horse Farm – Create your own Riding Stables
Let yourself be enchanted by Horse Farm – a delightful horse game for equestrian enthusiasts everywhere! Build your own horse ranch, keep beautiful horses, pamper your hooved pals and give your guests a vacation they won’t forget!
Coffee Talk – £11.69
Coffee Talk is a game about listening to people’s problems and helping them by serving up a warm drink out of the ingredients you have in stock. It is a game that depicts lives as humanly as possible, while having a cast that is more than just humans.
Sisters Royale: Five Sisters Under Fire – £11.69
The first new game in 12 years from Alfa System, the team that brought you the Shoot ‘Em Up “Castle of Shikigami III” in the “Castle of Shikigami” series.
Five uniquely talented sisters are squabbling over which of them will marry the angel Yashin. Enjoy the heroic(?) strategies of all five!
Eclipse: Edge of Light – £11.29
Crash-landed on a sentient planet, you awake to discover a dreamscape world, filled with alien wonder and the remains of a betrayed civilization. You find a powerful relic, the Artifact, that can interact with ancient technology and grant you near-magical powers. Just what secrets does the planet harbor? What cataclysm befell its inhabitants? Using your jetpack-equipped space suit, investigate the ancient ruins to uncover the planet’s perplexing past.
Bookbound Brigade – £17.99
Bookbound Brigade is a new take on the established Metroidvania genre where classic stories and well-known characters get the video game treatment, and where the player gets to lead a colorful bunch of real and fictional heroes through a 2D side-scrolling platform-adventure in a quest to battle overwhelming hordes of monsters and bring order back to the literary world.
UORiS DX – £7.00
UORiS has become DX (Deluxe) and reborn!
Redesigned as it is cute. There are more types of fish blocks, and a mysterious huge block has appeared!?
The rules are simple, just align them side by side and erase them. However, when the head disappears, all the body except the line also disappears.
In the empty place, the upper block falls down an
Speaking Simulator – £17.00
Do you have a vague understanding of human interaction? Well this is the game for you!
Your mission is simple: Infiltrate a world of extremely trusting humans, speak to them, and convince them that you’re definitely not a robot.
The disgusting art of human speech is a mystery us. Somehow, just by waving a wet tongue around and stretching your lips a bit, words come out.
Just how does this work? We don’t know. But in this simulation you will have to learn quickly if you don’t want your face to explode.
CODE SHIFTER – £17.09
Our adventure starts at the video game company, Awesome Rainbow Corp.
Your aim as a staff member is to deliver a complete, bug-free game.
However, as your game nears completion, strange software bugs have started appearing.
Use the Code Shifter program in this side-scrolling action-platformer to defeat all the in-game bugs.
Skellboy – £18.00
Life was peaceful in the Cubold Kingdom until the king’s evil court magician got dumped by the princess. With his heart broken and his rage fueled, he called upon the evil spirits to resurrect the dead and the kingdom’s long forgotten monstrosities.
What he doesn’t realize in his fury is that he accidentally summoned an ancient hero as well… Skippy! Travel across the beautifully rendered kingdom of Cubold and take full advantage of your resurrected, skeletal body! Swap out body parts to acquire new abilities during your adventure or pick up a new weapon to vanquish the evil magician’s lackeys.
Onwards, Skippy, it’s time to be a hero once more!
Prison Princess – £15.09
Lead two captured princesses to solve puzzles and escape the Demon King’s castle.
Your actions alone as a hero will decide their fates, and your own!
A ghostly sliver of your former self, can you rescue the princesses?
A new escape game experience, with cute girls, puzzles, and ‘special’ events.
Never Again – £10.39
Never Again – Horror/first-person Quest. The main essence of the game is research locations and puzzles, plunging in the dramatic story of a little girl suffering from asthma.
The main character – Sasha Anders, a thirteen year old girl who awakens from a nightmare. The world seems to be upside down for her. Everything becomes so strange. The house is imbued with loneliness and longing and it seems strange to our character considering it was always dominated by love and harmony.
Ascendant Hearts – £8.99
Hayato lived an ordinary life until he wakes up one day with amnesia… and finds himself in a world closer to the video games he plays than the world he remembers.
Fetch quests? Skill points? Respawning after death? It’s all a bit much to accept. A mage named Shiori offers to help him find his way, and with her help, he learns how to fight monsters, perform fetch quests, and put items in a strange metaphysical space called an “inventory.â€
Aviary Attorney: Definitive Edition – £14.99
Take yourself back to 1848 in Aviary Attorney: Definitive Edition. Paris is on the brink of yet another revolution, and the prisons are overflowing with guilty and innocent alike.
One bird stands for justice amid society’s chaos.
Play the role of Monsieur Jayjay Falcon, a bird of prey with a good heart and questionable lawyering expertise. Join him and his witty apprentice, Sparrowson, as the two take on clients, interview witnesses, collect evidence and deliver justice to the guilty.
Ash of Gods: Redemption – £24.99
Ash of Gods is a tactical turn-based RPG with rich lore and detailed nonlinear storyline about three heroes facing an ancient mythical evil. Captain Thorn Brenin, the guard Lo Pheng and scribe Hopper Rouley don’t yet know that the Reapers have returned and are planning to drown the world in blood so they can awaken the slumbering gods.
Heroland – £32.99
You’re invited to a magical resort where anyone can be a hero—except for you. You just work there! Luckily, it’s on an island where dreams come true…for a price.
As a tour guide, your job is to lead “heroes” safely through the theme park’s dungeons. Customize strategies, repair weapons, and manage items to survive!
Recruit over 20 quirky characters, including upright knights, phantom thieves, high school girls, and one casually nihilistic otter/man.
Reknum – £4.49
In Reknum you play the role of the princess Cheri, who must advance through 6 different completely explorable zones, loot chests with crystals that will increase her passive skills in order to advance.
Each zone introduces different elements which must be evaluated in order to be able to advance, to examine how to advance, to examine the behavior of the enemies and to fight bosses.
Bridge Constructor Ultimate Edition – £11.99
Bridge Constructor Ultimate Edition includes the “Bridge Constructor” and both DLCs “Slopemania” and the “Trains” Expansion Pack!
In Bridge Constructor, you can become an accomplished bridge builder without any formal training. Play 40 different levels, and build bridges over deep valleys, canals, or rivers. Stress tests reveal whether the bridge you build can withstand the daily stress of continual use from cars and trucks.
Indie Gems Bundle – JRPG Edition – £17.99
This bundle includes Dungeon Rushers and Robothorium.
Dungeon Rushers is a 2D tactical RPG combining dungeon crawler’s gameplay and turn based fights.
Robothorium is a cyberpunk dungeon crawler with turn-based fights, where all your choices will have a direct impact on your revolution against Humankind. Deep Strategy, Crafting, Party Based management, Talents and so much more in this roguelike!
Not Tonight: Take Back Control Edition – £19.49
In an alternative Britain where Brexit talks have collapsed, an extreme far-right government has taken power. Citizens of European heritage have been rounded up and exiled. Forced out of your previous life, you find yourself in the midst of a booming gig economy, fighting to scrape by and return to the city you call home.
Milo’s Quest – £4.99
The young pupper, Milo, is enjoying his time in the park and sees a delicious bone to chew on! This bone is cursed and sets free the Evil King Old Skull. Now it’s up to Milo to go on an adventure to stop the curse!
Super Battle Cards – £5.39
Darkness has fallen on the kingdom. Vile creatures now roam the land they seek to conquer.
Our good king has been imprisoned, and his subjects robbed of their gold by the evil Ogre. He’s the strongest monster of them all! But thankfully he’s not that bright – you can outwit him!
Watch your step, as the road ahead is filled with traps and obstacles. No one is safe in the dungeons, and you will have to face it all – merciless monsters, wraiths and more!
Touchdown Pinball – £2.69
Get ready for Touchdown Pinball, a pinball machine where you’ll play an exciting match. Score field goals, touchdowns and show who is the greatest football player on this table.
Discover all the missions and secrets, including a secret arena match where your abilities will be tested.
Complete all the missions and become number 1 in the world or the best among your Friends, posting your high score on the online leaderboard.
Willy Jetman: Astromonkey’s Revenge – £13.49
Willy Jetman: Astromonkey’s Revenge is an arcade shooter full to the brim with action and shooting, inspired by the console classics of the 90s.
In the orbit of the planet Gravos there has been a terrible accident that has caused an environmental disaster, filling the planet with space garbage. Willy is a street sweeper whose mission will be to collect the garbage and take it to the recycling centres while facing countless enemies, but he will soon find out that his destiny is preparing more surprises than he could have imagined.
Super Tennis – £5.39
Simply tap in the right time to launch ball across the court! Fun quick matches awaits you in cities like Tokyo, Berlin, New York City and London. Unlock new characters to play and take part in various game modes.
Motorcycle Mechanic Simulator – £6.29
Find out how exciting the work of motorcycle mechanics is:
Perform repairs and gain experience
Buy licenses to repair new motorbikes
Take part in used motorbike auctions
Improve your workshop, its equipment and tools
Choose orders of interest from many available
Sparkle 4 Tales – £8.99
Begin the emotional journey and start as a small spark of life. Move out of the depths into the bright and peaceful place of grown species. Immerse yourself in the atmospheric surroundings from the beginnings of life, and the beautiful soundtrack to complement your experience.
Have a conversation with the Creator to determine your future. Will you grow into a peaceful being, a bloodthirsty carnivore or something in between? Explore the Void and find your destiny. Become a magnificent being and explore your potential in a unique story.
PHAR LAP – Horse Racing Challenge – £34.99
Make history and build a brighter future in PHAR LAP – Horse Racing Challenge!
CINEMATIC GRAPHICS showcase realistic horses and capture the action of the race with motion-captured animations.
ONLINE RACING lets you run in real time alongside other players.
BREED CHAMPION HORSES with an in-depth genetic breeding system.
PLACE BETS alongside your mates and watch the race play out in real time. Up to 8 players.
New Switch demos
- AeternoBlade
- Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
Next week: Knights and Bikes, The Turing Test, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics, Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame 3, Wide Ocean Big Jacket, KUNAI, Nerved, The Town of Light: Deluxe Edition, Marooners, Crash Drive 2, 7th Sector, SEN: Seven Eight Nine, and Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~.
