The first week of the year for new Switch eShop releases isn’t exactly a bad one at all, being busier than anticipated. Sure, the majority are belated conversions, but that’s par the course.
We’ll start with Iris.Fall, simply because it’s due a retail release in the coming weeks. It’s a noir puzzle adventure set across 2D and 3D planes bridged by shadows, focusing heavily on environmental storytelling. The PC version arrived to positive reviews in 2018.
“From start to finish it’s an engaging and well-polished experience that finishes on a high, before the demands of its tricky puzzling take too much of a toll. While the easily frustrated may wish to steer clear, this is a stylish brain-teasing trip worth taking,†said The Indie Game Website at the time.
Sense: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story is somewhat newer. This story-driven 2.5D horror adventure is inspired by Clock Tower and Fatal Frame, mixing cyberpunk with Cantonese folklore. While this may sound promising, the PC version – released last August – apparently suffered from bugs, a messy storyline and woolly mechanics, resulting in middling reviews. Hopefully, this Switch iteration has received additional work.
Then there’s Shadow Gangs, a former Xbox-only 2D action beat’em up that borrows heavily from SEGA’s seminal Shinobi. “In the grand scheme of things, Shadow Gangs is an accomplished reimagining of a seemingly forgotten series. While its gameplay is rooted in the past, the visuals have modern-day sheen – Shadow Gangs‘ HD sprites really pop out of the screen, and the environments are both varied and detailed. It’s far from perfect, but there’s plenty here to delight any classic Shinobi fan,†said GameSpew back in October.
Visual novel Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Heart of the Forest was given the review treatment by Nintendo Life, garnering a 6/10. The setting and rich atmosphere gained praise and the light RPG elements work well, but apparently, it’s let down by a short runtime and a rushed ending.
Choices That Matter: And Their Souls Were Eaten seems to be a decent alternative to the above. It too is a text-heavy affair, likened by many to reading a good book; one that’s hard to put down. It takes place in a fantasy steampunk world, where you play as someone with the ability to consume souls.
While it isn’t much to look at – think white text on black backgrounds – it does feature many choices to mull over. Digitally Downloaded felt it deserved top marks (5/5).
Aerial combat sims Top Gun Air Combat and Dogfight also go head-to-head this week, and no, the former doesn’t appear to be a licensed affair. The excellent, and much-loved, Rodland is the week’s Arcade Archives release, meanwhile, causing some much-needed celebration on social media. Cthulhu Saves Christmas and the low-poly third-person shooter Virtual Battle might be worth a look too.
New Switch eShop releases
Iris.Fall – £15.29
Fusing gameplay with light & shadow. The concept of light and shadow runs throughout the design of the game’s story, art and puzzles. Switch between light and shadow and pass through the two realities as you experience unique interlacing of black and white, as well as both 2D and 3D.
Zotrix Starglider – £8.99
Zotrix is an arcade space shooter inspired by early shooter games on arcade machines from 80’s and early 90’s.
Designed for all generations it contains levels with nice and colorful enemies while focuse is on the arcade element of the gameplay.
Chains of enemy ships are lining up one by one while you perform maneuvers to clear the perimeter and avoid being cleared out yourself.
Kingdom Tales 2 – £8.99
A long time ago, there was a kingdom ruled by a fair king, Arnor. His daughter Dahla was the most beautiful and clever in the land. Noble lords from many kingdoms begged the King for his daughter’s hand. No one was good enough for his Dahla. However, in absolute secret, young blacksmith Finn and Dahla were in love. Until one day their secret love was revealed! The king was furious!
Join the expedition of the King’s builders and architects on their noble quest! Explore, gather, produce, trade, build, repair and work for the well-being of all of your subjects. But watch out! The greedy count Ohli and his spies never sleep!
Shadow Gangs – £19.99
Shadow Gangs is an arcade style ninja action game.
The graphics are HD hand drawn and traditional style animated.
The soundtrack was made by a lead guitarist over a 5 years period.
You play the role of Dan the current ninja order master.
Your mission is to rescue your family from the Shadow Force crime organisation, whose members are known as the Shadow Gangs.
Use your ninja transformation ability and your special powers.
Venture over 10 levels, defeat the 6 bosses, save your family and defeat the Shadow Gangs.
Live The Legend Of Dan The Crimson Ninja!
Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Heart of the Forest – £13.49
Explore the myths and monsters of Europe’s last primeval wilderness. Play as Maia, who arrives at the ancient BiaÅ‚owieża Forest looking to explore her family history. Visit real-world places of mystery and power. Witness how nature clashes with technology and greed.
For the first time ever, you will be able to experience Werewolf: The Apocalypse on your Nintendo Switch. Heart of the Forest adapts the mechanics of the legendary title from the World of Darkness universe, emulating the experience of a classic role-playing session. It’s tailored for World of Darkness veterans and newcomers looking for an accessible entry into this rich, acclaimed universe.
Discover beautiful, distinctive collage art that combines hand-illustrated characters with pictures of real places to inspire your imagination. Make tough choices that often bring dramatic consequences.
They teach you to fear rather than to be angry, but fear solves nothing.
Rage gets things done.
Stardash – £7.99
Not just the looks of a classic game, also the gameplay of a classic platformer. This game is NOT EASY! you have an endless amount of lives, so you can quickly restart a level when you miss a jump, get hit by an enemy, get bitten by a plant, get hit by a spiky-ball, crushed by big statues, run onto spikes, get hit by a wasp, or any of the other many ways you’ll get stopped in your run.
BUT when you do complete a level, the rush you get will keep you coming back for more, and more, and more, and..
Unlock special temple levels by finding hidden keys, unlock a flip-mode by completing a level both within the time set, and also by collecting all the coins in a level.
Stardash is all about the gameplay thrown at you in awesome retro graphics and original chiptunes.
Sense – A Cyberpunk Ghost Story – £17.99
Inspired by classic adventure games and the origins of the survival horror genre, Sense – A Cyberpunk Ghost Story celebrates the slow, cerebral creep of dread instead of relying on over-the-top action or jump scares. With careful attention to pacing, atmosphere and storytelling, this futuristic tale seamlessly blends 2.5D exploration and problem solving with suspenseful ghost encounters that act as paranormal glitches in our own reality.
In Neo Hong Kong, 2083, a young woman named Mei Lin Mak is dragged into a maelstrom of supernatural horror. As she peers into the century old mystery, Mei is forced to question her perception of reality and her trust of her cybernetic eyes. Under the neon lights of a cyberpunk cityscape, the ruins of the Chong Sing Apartments hide a bloody secret illuminated by the traditions of Chinese folklore and innovations of the industrial future. If there is any hope of escaping this nightmare, Mei Lin must explore this complex, piecing together stories of 14 lost souls and discovering the truth of her own family curse.
Charge Kid – £1.79
Charge head first into… spikes! Then use your handy energy bullet to boost through obstacles and live to solve more puzzles in this 2D puzzle-platformer of deliberate charging!
Charge Kid is a game where each jump is a puzzle. You have to find clever uses of the mechanics and physics to “”solve”” each location by reaching the desired location. You have limited resources to make each jump. The game focuses on the puzzle aspect instead of precision-platforming. The hard part is figuring out how to use your resources to make each jump instead of the execution. But don’t get fooled! The execution is also hard, which means finding each solution is even harder!
Choices That Matter: And Their Souls Were Eaten – £4.99
And Their Souls Were Eaten
You have a gift. With your gift, the dead are never truly gone.
But what if there is a dark side to your gift? What if there are those who can pervert your talent, and alter the balance of life and death?
Travel across a steampunk 1830s Europe, where metal is magical, giving powers to those who wear it. Learn more about your ancient gift and what it means for you, your family, and humanity. Uncover the nefarious plot to destroy all life… and fight against time to stop your enemy from destroying everything you hold dear.
CHOICES THAT MATTER is a collection of epic text adventure games similar to the classic Choose Your Path Adventure books. Our interactive stories are some of the most complex in the this category. No one player can discover the entire story in a single play through!
Dogfight – £8.09
Take to the skies in a F18 – F22 – F35 fighter jets completing missions, dodging flak and engaging in deadly dogfights with enemy pilots.
Battle enemy fighters in mid-air dogfights using a machine gun or two different types of missiles.
Equipped for machine-gun and two type of missiles winning won’t come easy!
Dogfight is an easy to play yet realistic airplane fight simulator where the goal is to destroy the enemies in a limited time.
Dogfight above stunning realistic desert or mountain enviroments in three different levels of play, (easy, medium or hard).
Table Soccer Foosball – £4.99
Full 3D environment, hyper-realistic physics and 4 superb tables with really different characteristic make Table Footbal – Foosball the best table soccer game.
Virtual Battle – £5.75
Virtual Battle is an action game you can easily pick up and start playing!
Defeat enemies with a range of weapons and gimmicks in four themed virtual worlds.
Defeat a slew of enemies in Cyber World, Monochrome World, Rainbow World, and Real World, to be the last one standing!
Travel Mosaics 7: Fantastic Berlin – £7.19
Travel Mosaics – an absolutely beautiful and brilliant edutainment game for all ages is back with a new chapter! The adventurous Walker animal family are traveling to the great city of Berlin!
Travel Mosaics 7 brings you 140 new and unique nonogram puzzles. Сompared to classic nonograms, Travel Mosaics puzzles are color-coded, and each puzzle contains a hidden image that is revealed as you play! It’s amazing brain-jogging fun for everybody interested in the history of Berlin.
The game features cool souvenirs, customizable puzzle tiles, bonus levels and more: get ready for a fantastic holiday in Germany!
Cthulhu Saves Christmas – £11.39
The master of insanity, Cthulhu, has lost his powers (again!?) and the only way he can get them back is by rescuing Santa Claus from the League of Christmas Evil in this prequel to Cthulhu Saves the World!
Join Cthulhu, the Snow Maiden, Baba Yaga-chan, and Belsnickel as they build R’lyehtionships, fight the League of Christmas Evil, and catch the Christmas spirit! Fhtagn!
Espacio Cosmic Light-Seeker – £3.49
This space is full of magical characters too!
Enjoy the monochrome worldview with cute space animals.
What is the true nature of this space?
What awaits you in search of the light!
The appearance of your buddy Celluar is customizable!
There are also various item books, so try to complete them!
Top Gun Air Combat – £9.99
Nato armies are engaged in a 21th century conflict against Russian Federation Army.
As a Top Gun Pilot from US Air Force, you fly the best American Fighters (F18, F35, F22…) through multiple missions across battlefields around the world (Cuba, Lebanon, Ukraine…) in cooperation with your European Allies Aircrafts (Typhoon, Rafale, Mirage…).
You will be engaged in air combat against Russian Fighters (Mig 27, Mig 33, Su 37…).
Lock your targets, choose amongst different missile systems and riffle, shoot and forget!
Powered by a very realistic physic engine that makes the game highly playable, Top Gun Air Combat will make you feel real sensations of modern air combat.
Wacky Run – £1.79
Wacky Run is a cool and fun arcade game where you need to race against other people and acquire floorboards to use them for shortcuts. It’s a nifty and fun game you can play, one that’s incredibly fun and full of exciting gameplay ideas.
Every level is randomly generated, so you really need to use your wits and your tactics in order to win. The game is designed from the ground up to be very intense, full of exciting ideas and extremely rewarding.
Do you have what it takes to beat your enemies and find the best shortcuts? Try out Wacky Run today and immerse yourself into the ultimate racing battle as you try to win!
Maze with cube – £1.79
Maze with cube is a fun puzzle game where you need to guide your cube as you try to find the end of the maze. There are more than 100 levels to play through, each one with its own maze and unique gameplay challenges. You will need to test all your puzzle skills as you try to complete challenges and reach the next experience.
As you play, you will become better and better at puzzle games. Every new puzzle adds a higher level of difficulty, but it all increases gradually. So there’s a lot of fun to be had and a variety of exciting experiences for you to enjoy. All you have to do is to check out Maze with cube today!
Puzzle Plowing A Field – £1.79
Solve the puzzle in 50 extra levels.
The goal of the game is easy.
Go through all the areas without leaving any and without going through it twice.
Arcade Archives: RodLand
Something very bizarre has happened in the fairy village. What has happened to change the inhabitants from chummy chappies into fluffy fiends? They’ve only gone and kidnapped the beloved Mom of our angelic fairy heroes, Tam and Rit. She now lies captured in the top of the Maboots Tower waiting to be rescued. There’s only one thing for it: Tam and Rit must put on the Rainbow shoes given to them by the Elder, and armed with the rods of Sheesanomo, a gift from their Dad, must go and wop anything that moves on the head!
Next week: Rhythm Fighter, Life of Fly, WRITHE, and Danger Gazers.