The Switch 2 is just a week away, and there are more than enough new games on the eShop in the meantime to calm even the itchiest of trigger fingers.
Reviews of the tactical RPG Fuga: Melodies of Steel 3 – boasting an emotional tale along with a new combat system – are starting to surface, including an 8/10 from COG Connected. “It’s strange to play a JRPG with no world exploration elements, but Fuga: Melodies of Steel 3 offers the most options and replayability of the trilogy. The Fuga games have continually improved, while keeping the same core mechanics,” they said.
Team17 are also back with the side-on viewed pixel art RPG Nice Day for Fishing, which appears to have some Terraria-like elements. The premise is that an everyday fisherman NPC lands the role of an adventurer and must engage in fishing battles to save their village. Cattle Country looks set to offer an experience slightly similar, also featuring pixel art but based around living life on a cattle ranch. It’s being published under the Playtonic Friends banner.
There’s a spot of horror on the agenda too. The intriguing Submersed 2 – The Hive is viewed from first-person and takes place in an underwater facility. To escape you’ll need to gather resources and weapons, use computer terminals, locate survivors, and battles horrors of the deep. Sharks, mostly, from the looks of things.
Then there’s Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo – a 2D top down pixel art adventure starring a colourful bat armed with a yoyo, featuring a mix of puzzle solving, exploration, and platforming.
After hitting PC last year, the comical co-op four player party game Welcome to Empyreum is about to book a room on Switch. Set in a hotel (ah!) it involves such tasks as making beds, vacuuming, taking care of babies, and fumigating carnivorous plants.
This week’s eastasiasoft release meanwhile is Starlight Legacy, a love letter to Square-Enix’s 16-bit RPGs, with a turn-based combat system and a quest to save a post-medieval world.
Two Japanese SEGA Saturn games are also about to hit the Switch, both of which can be classed as obscure. STEAM-HEART’S Saturn Tribute is a 1998 vertical shooter with new features such as a rewind tool, while 1997 2D fighter ADVANCED V.G. Saturn Tribute sees restaurant waitresses on the rampage. City Connection are behind the duo, which are launching at slightly different price points. At around £15 neither are bank breaking.
Join us next week for Switch 2 hysteria, where we’ll strive to round-up every launch game. Currently 23 titles are due, including the two Zelda upgrades. The vanilla Switch gets a look-in too with Arcade Archives Ridge Racer, Undertale, and Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma.
New Switch eShop releases
Submersed 2 – The Hive – £17.99
SUBMERSED 2 – THE HIVE is a first-person science-fiction horror game, set in the harrowing depths of the Atlantic Ocean.
Enter the world of SUBMERSED 2 – THE HIVE and face the horror of being submerged at the bottom of the ocean.
Find resources and weapons, investigate terminals and secret documents, and discover the hidden truth in the underwater facilities where you are trapped.
Face your deepest fears and fight the terrible creatures that hide in the deep water.
Search for the last survivors in the underwater station and experience the events that will shape the destiny of the facility and all of humankind.
Fuga: Melodies of Steel 3 – £35.99
Explore new strategic features like Power Spots to unlock the Taranis’s hidden abilities and Assist Transmissions that allow you to interact with supporting characters. Discover secret events through the Akasha Panel, which lets you navigate a timeline to change your fate!
Step beyond despair, anger, and tragedy in Fuga: Melodies of Steel 3, where heart-wrenching decisions lead to the series’ most emotional and shocking story yet!
From the minds of Viva La Dirt League brings you an epic tale of fantasy, adventure and… fishing?
When the heroes of Azerim mysteriously vanish, an evil force threatens to take over the lands! Baelin the fisherman NPC must rise up to defend the town of Honeywood the only way he knows how! However, something’s different… Baelin’s no longer an NPC but… an Adventurer! Can you handle your new found responsibility?! Battle fish with precision timing and magic spells, upgrade your abilities, defeat evil and rebuild Honeywood.
Become a determined pioneer traveling west to start a new life. Make a home in the mountains, take on bandits, discover dastardly plots, build a farm, develop your town, and make friends with fellow residents.
Return to the style of 16-bit JRPGs in Starlight Legacy, a non-linear adventure inspired by genre classics! Set in a post-medieval world in the Evaria Kingdom, explore a vast kingdom created with lush 2D pixel art, a nostalgic turn-based battle system and non-linear story where the four provinces of the kingdom can be explored in any order of your choosing.
ADVANCED V.G. Saturn Tribute – £13.49
“V.G.” is a fighting game series that began with its first PC release in 1993. The game gained popularity due to its unique concept of waitress fighters, simple yet strategic controls, and visually striking heroines.
This version is based on the 1997 home console release, with additional new features added for a modern experience.
STEAM-HEART’S Saturn Tribute – £17.99
Originally released as a PC game in 1994, “STEAM-HEART’S” became a hit with its combination of numerous visual scenes featuring heroines and an engaging shooting gameplay experience.
This version is based on the 1998 home console release, bringing the classic back with modern enhancements.
Staffer Case: A Supernatural Mystery Adventure – £20.99
In Staffer Case, you’ll dive into documents tied to murder incidents and uncover contradictions between them in this innovative deduction game.
Set in a fictional London of the 1960s, where 10% of the population possesses psychic abilities, strange events known as “Mana Cases” occur frequently.
You’ll take the role of Notrick, a new recruit of the Mana Affairs Unit, solving complex cases beyond the ordinary.
Welcome to Empyreum offers a party experience like no other, bringing the best of party games to a unique setting: an enchanted hotel full of comical and improbable situations. Team coordination and communication are key to maintaining order and controlling the madness of this place, but remember, the customer is always right (even lazy sloths and candy-loving gummy bears)!
Ramen! Road to Mastery – £4.16
Make and serve as much ramen as you can before time runs out!
Pour the soup, boil the noodles, then add the right toppings!
Pay attention to the firmness of the noodles and fill each order correctly!
Superation is a challenging boxing rogue-like that combines a precise fast-paced boxing combat with the replayability and unlockables that rogue-likes offer in a 9 bosses boss-rush, all while exploring the self improvement philosophy.
Pinball Spire is a game unlike any other, a pinballvania blending together classic genres – and pinball. Conquer the titular spire as a brave, plucky little pinball called Pip, destined to step into the plunger and explore the inner chambers of a mysterious spire that appeared in their world overnight.
Ghost Frequency is a first-person horror game that puts you in the shoes of Mark, a seasoned ghost hunter from the PIT – Paranormal Investigation Team.
Alongside his colleague Emily, Mark investigates the mysterious disappearance of two teammates in an abandoned location haunted by a sinister presence.
Your mission? Survive the night and uncover the chilling mysteries lurking in the shadows.
Remnants of the Rift is a roguelite tactics game where you can pause, plan, and play. You are Morgan, dimension-diving merc, delving deeper and deeper into The Bast at the request of the factions looking to exploit this new reality.
You walk up to a ticket booth where only one ticket is left for you to take. You hand your ticket to the ticketmaster and enter the theater to watch the featured film. However, you soon realize that this theater is not normal when you are caught in an endless loop of films and sinister beings begin to show themselves.
Shikhondo: Youkai Rampage – £22.49
Continuing the long line of shoot’em up classics!
Boasts unique and charming protagonists, a variety of bosses with bizarre and fantastical designs, and waves upon waves of enemies to keep players on their toes!
The JerryMaya Detective Agency – £12.19
Unleash your inner detective in this exciting puzzle platforming adventure for kids and families! This interactive mystery game, based on the Swedish children’s books with the same name, invites young detectives to solve crimes, uncover clues, and explore the quirky home town of the detectives.
Another World Series -Slit Mouth Woman VS AOONI- £10.89
The first in the “Another World Series”, in which the protagonist solves a mystery while moving between different worlds.
Akashi Asanagi, a university student, wakes up on the 10th floor of an abandoned hospital.
While exploring the hospital, he encounters a blue monster called “Aooni”, and when he touches the mask that Aooni dropped, the hospital transforms into an alley, where he encounters a mysterious woman wielding a kitchen knife called “Slit Mouth Woman”.
Akashi is attacked by the two beings, but for some reason a battle breaks out between the Slit Mouth Woman and Aooni…?
Take flight in Paper Plane, a serene yet thrilling adventure where you pilot a variety of unique paper planes through beautifully crafted circuits across multiple levels. Soar through vibrant and diverse sceneries—peaceful valleys, misty mountains, glowing night skies, and sunlit canyons—each offering a different challenge and atmosphere.
Alex is persuaded by his childhood friends to reconnect on a fun camping trip together.
He feels superfluous in the company of students, and his confusion grows when the buddies venture further into the forest. Alex’s fears are well-founded, because in the remote wilderness the carefree travelers await something much more sinister than the usual dangers. Enter a nightmare in the dark caves to save your friends and unravel mysterious past events.
Enter Planet IX, a vibrant 2D pixel art simulation game where you build a thriving colony on a mysterious alien world. Face deadly creatures, uncover ancient secrets, and carefully manage oxygen and resources as you fight for survival in an unfamiliar land.
Vasilisa and Baba Yaga – £12.59
A spooky adventure where Vasilisa’s journey and service to Baba Yaga consist of a series of mini-games with a variety of gameplay mechanics.
You will go on a journey with Vasilisa to the land of the dead to obtain the power of fire, which only Baba Yaga can give. Vasilisa already has a magical helper — a doll given by her mother. But this is not enough to deal with the evil stepmother. It is necessary to pass the tests of the mistress of the forbidden forest and prove to her that Vasilisa is worthy to receive the power not only from her mother, but the mother of all mothers — Baba Yaga.
Ducks like to race, even in their own cars! Earn money by delivering food to fellow ducks in the city, then use this money to upgrade your vehicle. The better the vehicle, the better chance you have to win the race at the end of the day!
Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo – £17.99
Explore a vast urban landscape in this narrative-driven, 2D top-down platforming adventure!
In Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo, you’re a budding yoyo master facing off against enemies using the weapon you know best: your prized yoyo! As Pippit, you’ll be quite literally thrown into the shocking story of your auntie’s business empire, a soul-stealing mega-laser, and four dastardly crime bosses!
Each yoyo trick you learn will drastically change the way you look at the cityscape, and the battlefield! By chaining moves together, you’ll be able to explore secret areas and teach those baddies a lesson! Many challenges have multiple solutions — so come up with your own novel routes in this mouth-watering adventure!
Next week: Mario Kart World, Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition, DELTARUNE, SPLIT FICTION, Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut, Street Fighter 6, HITMAN World of Assassination – Signature Edition, Hogwarts Legacy, NOBUNAGA’S AMBITION: Awakening Complete Edition, Arcade Archives 2 RIDGE RACER, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, BRAVELY DEFAULT FLYING FAIRY HD Remaster, Sid Meier’s Civilization VII – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, Fortnite, Fast Fusion, Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS, Survival Kids, Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Switch 2 Edition, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Switch 2 Edition, Suikoden I&II HD Remaster for Nintendo Switch 2, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, Tales From The Arcade: Starship Murder, Q with VTubers, Ashwood Valley, Carrier Deck, Nurilogy 1000, Ping Pong Up, The Red Bell’s Lament, Narcissus, and Bunny Cubed.