We can thank the lovely people of Japan for this week’s biggest Switch releases, with a trio of titles coming from well-known Japanese studios. Without these, we’d be looking at a very quiet week indeed.
Yurukill: The Calumniation Games offers an intriguing mix, being part murder mystery and part bullet hell shooter. Review scores are generally positive, being a mixture of 7s and 8s. “I’m not sure whether to think of Yurukill as a decent shmup with a good adventure game attached, or a good adventure game with a decent shmup minigame inserted into it. Perhaps it doesn’t matter, as the two disparate flavors taste great together all the same,” said Siliconera.
Spike Chunsoft’s AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES – nirvanA Initiative launched in the US last month, and again, reviews are mostly full of praise. This too is a murder mystery, only with more of a visual novel feel. “If you enjoy adventure games, you’d be doing a disservice to yourself if you skip AI: The Somnium Files nirvanA Initiative. It is one of the best adventure games in years, and easily one of the best games of 2022. The way it manages to be accessible to newcomers and improve on the original mechanically is commendable,” said The Mako Reactor.
Then there’s Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series from Bandai-Namco, offering two full remasters of the PlayStation platformers Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil. The recent demo suggested we’re in for something faithful but a bit clinical looking, lacking visual sheen.
Two very different sports games are on the agenda also. INSTANT SPORTS All-Stars launched on Monday(!) and offers American-themed sports mini-games including baseball, basketball, bowling and…burger tower. Matchpoint: Tennis Championship favours realism and is something of a departure for Torus Games – a studio best known for children’s licensed titles.
Other new releases include the deck-building roguelite Overrogue, Mega Drive first-person shooter package Zero Tolerance Collection, horror adventure Quintus and the Absent Truth, and the 2D platformer SuperDuck, which proudly boasts of starring ducks, ducks, and more ducks.
New Switch eShop releases
Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series – £TBA
Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series brings back “Klonoa: Door to Phantomile” and “Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil” remastered in one collection to fans new and old. Get ready to set off on an adventure to save the world. Released initially in 1997 by Namco, Klonoa is a side-scrolling platformer featuring a colorful character roster and vibrant game world, it’s up to you as Klonoa to embark on a journey to save Phantomile.
The graphics have received an elegant revamp while Klonoa’s beloved world and classic gameplay have been faithfully preserved. The remaster also features an adjustable difficulty level, allowing franchise newcomers to delve right into the action, and long-time fans to get reacquainted with ease.
Matchpoint: Tennis Championship – £TBA
The season starts now – grab your racket and become the world’s next tennis champion! Your opponent is on the court and the crowd waits for a promising challenger for the grand finale… Are you ready for Matchpoint?
INSTANT SPORTS All-Stars – £19.99
In INSTANT SPORTS All-Stars, you can play a variety of feel-good activities directly inspired by All-american favorite sports!
A Tree has fallen and blocked the main road, luckily enough there is a kind lumberjack that could clear the fallen tree for a small favor.
Go on a mission to find and rescue the lumberjacks best friend who has gone missing deep in the woods. Can you solve the puzzles and get lumberjacks friend out of the forest?
Quintus and the Absent Truth – £8.99
Alan Shaw’s daughter is missing, and the only one capable of helping him locate her may be a small mouse named Quintus. Join this odd pairing on their search for answers, using the differences in their size as an advantage.
Quintus and the Absent Truth is a horror-themed adventure told in first-person perspective. Puzzles that Alan and Quintus encounter often require you to work out which character to use for the task at hand. Do you need Alan’s height to reach buttons, switches and items that are out of Quintus’ reach, or is a hole simply too tight for Alan to fit through? Only by working together can they discover the truth that they seek.
Secrets of Magic 4: Potion Master – £16.19
Victoria is back and she’s not alone. Her brightest student, Beatrix, wants to become a Potion Master. You are called upon to help them out. Embark on this magic quest through the Forbidden Forest, where Victoria and Beatrix can find the most extraordinary ingredients for their potions. But be warned, you will encounter haunting creatures in this magnificent forest. Immerse yourself in the mysterious world of witchcraft with Secrets of Magic 4: Potion Master.
Railways – Train Simulator – £4.99
Railways features minimalist and artistic elements merged in an immersive experience where the perks of a train trip are emphasized: astonishing landscapes observed at slow pace. Each level will bring a new challenge to the track, more chaos and of course clever moves from your side. All aboard! This train is ready to depart!
This is a train simulator where patience is a virtue. In order to succeed, you need to wait for the right moment and use your train management skills to drag the trains from one railway to another. But be careful or trains will crash!
Do you think you have the skills to be a railways master?
Co-op Experience!
Every level is full of chaos and mystery, so completing those paintings will be harder than it sounds. Players need to coordinate and collaborate to make sure the paintings are completed before the timer runs out.
Will you work together to complete your masterpiece? Or will you get in each other’s way and ruin what you’ve been working so hard to achieve?
Versus Mode!
Compete against your friends in versus mode both locally and online to prove once and for all who is the best painter of all time.
Get the classic “Matchsticks – Coffee Break Club” and challenge your mind by moving, adding, and removing matchsticks until you find the correct solution. Improve your memory, logical, and spatial thinking on your own time. How many tries do you need to solve each level?
Also included is “Math+Sticks – Coffee Break Club”, a puzzle for math lovers where your mind will be constantly challenged at every level. Math puzzles include addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, square roots, and much more. We’ve been taught not to play with fire, but this game’s matches won’t burn you!
SuperDuck! takes you on a brainy adventure to bring the ducklings back home. Explore the levels, find a way out and guide the ducks to the exit using the objects at your disposal.
Understand is an experimental puzzle game in which every level has a different ruleset.
Each dot below the screen represents a rule.
You have to figure out their meaning through trial and error, then draw a line satisfying all rules.
Forklift Extreme is an exeptional physical experience – forklift, operator and in-game obstacles are physics based so watch out not to destroy anything if not needed.
Customize your lifter and your driver aswell. Choose from many available skins, colors and types. Unlock new forklifts by completing challenges and achievements and search for hidden treasures on the levels to unlock new skins. Make your forklift unique!
Japanese NEKOSAMA Escape The Local Train – £7.49
The Third Japanese NEKOSAMA Escape series!!
Game system
This game is an escape-the-room game(mystery-adventure game).
*Point the screen with a cursor to solve riddles, and this game goes on.
In the underworld, where creatures of all shapes and sizes live, a Selection Battle is announced to decide the next Overlord. Complete labyrinths and collect crystals to achieve the title of Overlord!
Proceed through dungeon-like labyrinths building up your card deck in a roguelite style! There are up to 5 different labyrinth themes based on card genres like poison or graveyards. Enjoy a different deck experience each time you visit the labyrinth as the number of cards increases. Over 300 types of cards and 150 types of treasure await you, so combos and combinations are up to you.
Let’s conquer the labyrinths and become the next Overlord!
QUByte Classics: Zero Tolerance Collection by PIKO – £8.99
Zero Tolerance is an old school arena shooter that will bring back the felling of adrenaline to the player while taking out the bad guys (bad aliens in this case) with guns, grenades and even laser guns.
The name Zero Tolerance refers to an elite squad specially trained composed by five members that are available to choose in the beginning of the game, each one with their own unique weapons and skills that completely changes the way you play through the levels in the game.
The QUByte Classics version includes 3 games: Zero Tolerance, Zero Tolerance Underground and an unreleased demo called Zero Tolerance Beyond, which can be unlocked by finishing one of the two other games.
Zero Tolerance was originally developed by the first independent game developer, Technopop, and published in 1994 by Accolade. Technopop was funded by Randel Reiss, who is the owner of the “Zero Tolerance”.
AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES – nirvanA Initiative – £53.99
Six years ago, the right half of a corpse was discovered. The left half was never found…until six years later, completely fresh with no signs of decay. Now, Special Agents Mizuki and Ryuki, along with their AI partners Aiba and Tama, are tasked to solve the bizarre Half Body serial killings while unveiling the mysterious plot known only as the Nirvana Initiative…
Yurukill: The Calumniation Games – £35.99
Accused of a horrific crime you didn’t commit, you find yourself in Yurukill Land—a mysterious amusement park filled with life threatening attractions you must survive if you desire freedom. Writer Homura Kawamoto, best known for his hit title Kakegurui, writes a twisted and multifaceted story that will keep you wanting more. In addition to an in-depth story, Yurukill also features shoot-‘em-up gameplay by renowned developer G.Rev, and online leaderboards allowing players to see how they rank among the competition.
Humanity succumbed to the power of an intergalactic alien empire, but managed to organize itself and establish a resistance army. Join the peace-seeking rebels and help them defeat the evil that haunts the Earth.
Formula Bit Racing DX is a fun arcade racing game that’s influenced by the classic arcade racing games of the early 90’s. Each curve and each lap in Formula Bit Racing DX recreates classic arcade gameplay and offers you unbound speed limits of fun. Full throttle and enjoy!
Featuring the fast and exciting gameplay that the genre is known for, Formula Bit Racing DX captures the essence of the old school racing games with crisp low poly visuals, retro soundtrack and high speed action. Start your engines and prepare for the craziest and most addictive racing game ever. Fast-paced racing game with a fresh interpretation of the old school racing games.
Road of Death is a 2D shooter with elements of survival and rogue-like. After a terrible accident at the local nuclear power plant, huge areas of land were contaminated with radiation. Under its influence, many living organisms were mutated and became very aggressive. Now the whole world is in mortal danger. We’ve selected the best personnel to handle the situation, and you are one of them.
Your task is to get through the entire zone, perform various tasks and prevent a new impending disaster. Turn on your flashlight, pitch a tent, light a fire, and do whatever it takes to stay alive. On the way, you expect many enemies including hideous mutants, as well as heavily armed combatants who arrived in the exclusion zone to steal secret documents. But you can’t forget the invisible threat of toxic nuclear radiation!
The player is a talented gangsta magician. He has several abilities like flying, dashing, super jump; and also several magic attacks like fireball, freezing, electric shock. In addition to that, the player can use the power of his mind to move some objects. This is a puzzle-adventure game where the gangsta magician’s mission is to find the USA themed cone. Once it is found, the player gets an achievement and the level ends. There are several objects during these missions. In this world there are monster-like enemies who can breathe fire and flying turrets equipped with weapons.
In addition to that several deadly traps like lava, moving ball killers and death zones that kill the player immediately.
Next week: DC League of Super-Pets: The Adventures of Krypto and Ace, Time on Frog Island, F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch, The Quest for Excalibur – Puy du Fou, Xel, Pascal’s Wager: Definitive Edition, Table of Tales: The Crooked Crown, LOUD, Hell Pages, Universal Flight Simulator, SUPER UFO FIGHTER, Growbot, Vzerthos: The Heir of Thunder, Darker Skies, Superola Champion Edition, Pixel Game Maker Series JETMAN, Running on Magic, and Ambition: A Minuet in Power.
