Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for November 1st, 2021. In today’s article, we have a whole bunch of reviews for you to start your month off with. Undernauts: Labyrinth of Yomi, Eastward, Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water, Black Widow: Recharged, and Negative Nancy are all in the review spotlight today. There are several new releases, including one very good one. We finish things up with the usual lists of new and expiring sales for the day, as we always do. Let’s charge on in!
Reviews & Mini-Views
Undernauts: Labyrinth of Yomi ($59.99)
First-person dungeon crawler RPGs are something you’re either into, or not. They’re typically mechanically dense, with a heavy gameplay to story ratio. Rarely flashy, often challenging, and not something you can really just casually dabble in. If you are into the genre, you’re probably familiar with Experience Inc’s fare. Games like Demon Gaze, Operation Abyss, Ray Gigant, and Stranger of Sword City were a staple of many a player’s PlayStation Vita diet with their dependable doses of adventure. Undernauts: Labyrinth of Yomi sits comfortably among that line-up, with plenty of twists to make it stand out.
The premise sees a mysterious labyrinth appear in Tokyo in the 1970s. It is filled with danger, and many who venture into it do not return. However, it is also filled with valuable resources, and thus there is corporate interest in making sure people continue to venture into it. It’s a meat grinder, but the suits don’t care and the people being sent in don’t have many other options, so away we go. You play as one such team who ends up trapped in the labyrinth and must make their way out, hopefully avoiding being eaten along the way. The main gameplay gimmick here comes in the form of Yomi Flowers, which allow you to create your own paths in the labyrinth.
It’s safe to say that at this point, Experience Inc. knows exactly what it’s doing with this kind of game. The basic gameplay structure isn’t going to deliver many surprises, but it’s all competently built and the Yomi Flower gimmick is a fun one. More than anything, it’s the story and atmosphere that make Undernauts: Labyrinth of Yomi stand out. It has one firm foot in the horror genre, but like most great horror tales it serves as a mirror on some of the more twisted aspects of our real society. If you find you can’t get into dungeon RPGs, Undernauts probably won’t change your mind. But it is a very good game, one that will likely please the taste buds of most dungeon-delving enthusiasts.
SwitchArcade Score: 4/5
Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water ($39.99)
In most ways that count, Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water is a fairly straight port of a 2014 Wii U game. Yet it somehow feels older than that, though not always in bad ways. There’s a decidedly old-school survival-horror feel to this game, a flavor that few games even attempt to create these days. You control three different characters who are exploring Hikami Mountain, an area known for suicides and supernatural happenings. They all have their own reasons to be there, and they’ll have to work together if they want to make it out alive. Like past games in the series, Maiden of Black Water‘s main gameplay gimmick is a special camera than can be used to attack the ghosts you’ll come across.
The camera makes encounters with spirits a lot less terrifying than they might otherwise be. Indeed, you can usually get the better of any ghosts you see with relative ease. The controls feel a bit awkward in that classic survival-horror style, but rarely so much that you feel at any serious risk. The atmosphere is spookier than the direct confrontations with the ghosts, and the moments where the spirits are toying with you are far more effective than when they actually come at you. The story itself is reasonably interesting, though the stiff performances hurt its sincerity in places.
Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water should please fans of the franchise who missed out on the game due to its previous Wii U-exclusive status, but not everyone is going to be pleased with some of its clunkier elements. While you aren’t helpless enough to make the game as terrifying as it could be, it’s certainly an unsettling and fascinating experience with plenty to offer those who want a hearty meal of fear on their Nintendo Switch system.
SwitchArcade Score: 3.5/5
Eastward ($24.99)
Eastward is comfortable and weird in a way that many games try to be but very few successfully nail down. It’s an action-adventure with an astoundingly lovely presentation, full of intriguing characters and interesting places to see and explore. It begins with a very mundane situation, but things soon quickly spin into a surprisingly grand tale.
The action is quite familiar to anyone who has played a few games of this genre before, and the game suffers from a few pacing issues that are made worse by how straightforward it tends to be mechanically. Still, that does little to diminish how excellent the game is overall. The strength of its main characters and the desire to see just what is coming next makes Eastward a very tough game to put down.
SwitchArcade Score: 4/5
Black Widow: Recharged ($9.99)
Some classic games can be updated more easily than others, and if Black Widow: Recharged is any indication the 1982 original was ripe for a new take. It doesn’t hurt that Black Widow was a twin-stick shooter, a genre which has reached new heights of popularity on the back of the indie gaming boom. The additions here are almost identical to those of Centipede: Recharged.
There are tons of new power-ups, a new mission mode that tasks you to complete various challenges, local co-op play for all modes, and online leaderboards for just about everything. You also have a new ability that you can charge up that allows you to take out a bunch of enemies at once. The vector-like stylings of the Recharged line are a perfect fit for Black Widow, too. It’s the best Recharged game so far, and an enjoyable twin-stick shooter in its own right.
SwitchArcade Score: 4/5
Negative Nancy ($14.99)
If you liked Say No! More, you should at least consider Negative Nancy. It’s taking a slightly different approach to a similar idea, where you have the choice to say no or say nothing to the various events and characters you come across. Some of those situations are mundane, and some are absolutely ridiculous. It’s essentially a choice-based story where everything boils down to the same binary decision. It’s through the series of decisions that you make the story your own.
The writing is sharp, the situations are amusing, and there’s a certain primal appeal to saying no to people. There are multiple endings, so although each playthrough is rather brisk, there’s quite a lot to see here. If you like the concept, you’ll probably like Negative Nancy.
SwitchArcade Score: 3.5/5
New Releases
Kathy Rain: Director’s Cut ($14.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
The excellent Kathy Rain makes its way to the Switch in this Director’s Cut, bringing its brand of point-and-click adventure to the platform in style. So what’s new for Kathy Rain veterans? Not a whole ton, but there are some new scenes, puzzles, and bits of dialogue. Some dangling plot threads have been addressed, but by and large it’s going to seem very familiar if you’ve played the original game. If you haven’t, or if you simply want to play it again on your Switch, then I’d recommend grabbing this.
The Legend of Tianding ($19.99)
Step into the shoes of a famous Taiwanese folk hero in this side-scrolling action game. Liao Tianding is something of a Robin Hood-like figure from the period when Taiwan was under Colonial Japanese rule. In this game, you do all of the things you would associate with such a person: rob from the rich, give to the poor, and try to stay one step ahead of the authorities. Quality combat mechanics mixed in with light exploration and some solid production values make this worth looking into.
Ekstase ($14.99)
This is a falling block puzzler that feels like a blend of Lumines and Tetris or Columns, depending on which mode you play. As in Lumines, you’re trying to make squares of one color from the multi-colored pieces that drop. A colored bar will clear away any squares that share its color as it passes. In one mode, you can rotate the pieces as they fall. In the other, you can’t rotate the pieces but can shuffle the colors. Not a bad little twist on a familiar concept, and one I can see myself putting some time into.
New York Mysteries: The Lantern of Souls ($6.99)
Another chapter in the New York Mysteries series of hidden object adventure games. This time journalist Laura James discovers yet another source of darkness threatening the city. There are more than fifty locations to visit, more than forty mini-games to play, and plenty of puzzles to solve. I’m sure if you like this sort of thing it will tide you over, but if you’re going to pick up one adventure game on Switch today about a heroine solving mysteries, this wouldn’t be the one I’d pick.
QB Planets ($6.99)
Kind of a puzzle-action game, this one. You visit more than one hundred planets that are shaped like Rubik’s Cubes. They twist like them, too. That’s the gimmick. You have to twist the planets to reach the items you need to collect, and you’ll earn medals based on how few moves you make on each. There’s a bit more to it than that, but that’s the basic gist of it. The presentation is charming, and if you’re into the puzzles you get a decent bang for your buck.
The Suicide of Rachel Foster ($19.99)
A narrative adventure that deals with some very uncomfortable topics in a horror-mystery type of experience. Reviews for this on other platforms weren’t that hot, mostly due to criticisms of how it handles its sensitive topics. Not really my kind of game even from the get-go, so I probably won’t be playing myself to see if I agree with that or not. But perhaps it is your thing, and you might enjoy exploring a very messed-up family’s dark secrets by making your way through a spooky hotel. If so, here is your way to do so on your Switch.
Neon Hell ($2.29)
Gametry has what is almost certainly an Android template flip for us here. It’s a platformer with 45 levels, and you can only play it in handheld mode as it doesn’t have support for button controls. Look, I kind of get it with the puzzle games Benjamin Kistler tosses out, but if you flip a platformer to the Switch and can’t be bothered to add button controls? Get out of here.
Nowhere Girl ($6.99)
This is a romantic comedy visual novel about a person who wakes up one morning with a ghost chained to their leg. The only way to free her is to fall in love with her. Of course, you do so knowing that your feelings may not be returned. After all, once she’s free she probably won’t stick around. Make your choices and hopefully you can find a good ending in it all somehow.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
If you’ve been waiting to stock up on Five Nights at Freddy’s games, today is apparently your day. There are a few other interesting games we don’t usually see discounted in the list, so do have a look through. In the outbox, I’d say that you should at least consider WayForward’s games. The Mummy Demastered and the two Shantae games on offer don’t go on sale so often that you should let them sail by without at least thinking about picking them up. Check everything out and see what leaps out at you.
Select New Games on Sale
Number Place 10000 ($2.94 from $5.89 until 11/3)
Ox LOGIC PUZZLE 1000 ! ($7.00 from $14.00 until 11/3)
KASIORI ($5.60 from $7.00 until 11/3)
Uchu Shinshuchu ($4.00 from $8.00 until 11/3)
Faraday Protocol ($19.99 from $24.99 until 11/4)
Coast Guard: Beach Rescue Team ($4.79 from $11.99 until 11/5)
Gas Station: Highway Services ($4.79 from $11.99 until 11/5)
Detective Driver: Miami Files ($4.79 from $11.99 until 11/5)
City Bus Driving Simulator ($4.79 from $11.99 until 11/5)
Brawl Chess ($1.99 from $9.99 until 11/5)
Haustoria ($7.79 from $12.99 until 11/5)
Under Leaves ($3.89 from $12.99 until 11/6)
Quadle ($5.29 from $7.99 until 11/7)
Five Nights at Freddy’s ($5.19 from $7.99 until 11/7)
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 ($5.19 from $7.99 until 11/7)
Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 ($5.19 from $7.99 until 11/7)
Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 ($5.19 from $7.99 until 11/7)
Five Nights at Freddy’s Sister Location ($5.19 from $7.99 until 11/7)
Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator ($5.19 from $7.99 until 11/7)
Ultimate Custom Night ($5.19 from $7.99 until 11/7)
Inexistence Rebirth ($5.84 from $8.99 until 11/7)
Xenogunner ($9.74 from $14.99 until 11/7)
Little Mouse’s Encyclopedia ($5.84 from $12.99 until 11/7)
Space Avenger Empire of Nexx ($9.74 from $14.99 until 11/7)
Tactical Mind ($1.99 from $2.99 until 11/8)
Youkai Poetry ($5.19 from $6.99 until 11/8)
Gaokao.Love.100Days ($6.99 from $11.99 until 11/8)
Reverse Memories ($5.19 from $6.99 until 11/8)
Soulslayer ($5.49 from $9.99 until 11/8)
Lily of the Hollow: Resurrection ($4.89 from $6.99 until 11/8)
CrunchTime ($1.99 from $3.99 until 11/8)
FunBox Party ($1.99 from $2.49 until 11/8)
Farabel ($1.99 from $9.99 until 11/8)
Mushroom Quest ($1.99 from $2.99 until 11/8)
Skull Rogue ($1.99 from $2.99 until 11/8)
Debtor ($1.99 from $2.99 until 11/8)
Pew Paw ($1.99 from $6.99 until 11/8)
Grood ($1.99 from $4.99 until 11/8)
Colorful Colore ($1.99 from $2.99 until 11/8)
Event Horizon ($1.99 from $5.99 until 11/8)
Dark Burial ($1.99 from $3.99 until 11/9)
Swordbreaker The Game ($1.99 from $4.99 until 11/9)
Dead Dungeon ($1.99 from $4.99 until 11/9)
Atomic Heist ($1.99 from $7.99 until 11/9)
One Person Story ($1.99 from $2.99 until 11/9)
Breathing Fear ($1.99 from $4.99 until 11/9)
Mad Carnage ($1.99 from $4.99 until 11/9)
Squidgies Takeover ($1.99 from $15.00 until 11/11)
Party Golf ($1.99 from $15.00 until 11/11)
Party Crashers ($1.99 from $15.00 until 11/11)
Charge Kid ($1.99 from $2.49 until 11/13)
Death and Taxes ($5.19 from $12.99 until 11/13)
Dreamo ($7.49 from $14.99 until 11/13)
Invisible Fist ($1.99 from $9.99 until 11/13)
Rise of Insanity ($2.99 from $9.99 until 11/13)
Legends of Amberland ($9.99 from $19.99 until 11/13)
Pode ($12.49 from ($24.99 until 11/14)
Math Classroom Challenge ($6.49 from $9.99 until 11/15)
The Demon Crystal ($2.49 from $9.99 until 11/15)
Pure Mahjong ($2.99 from $9.99 until 11/15)
Knowledge Trainer: Trivia ($2.99 from $14.99 until 11/15)
UORIS DX ($2.25 from $9.00 until 11/15)
Meteoroids 3D ($6.49 from $9.99 until 11/15)
Build a Bridge! ($2.99 from $14.99 until 11/15)
Postal REDUX ($4.49 from $9.99 until 11/15)
Archaica: The Path of Light ($2.99 from $14.99 until 11/15)
Sable’s Grimoire ($10.49 from $14.99 until 11/15)
Legends of Talia: Arcadia ($2.09 from $2.99 until 11/15)
Sakura Succubus ($6.99 from $9.99 until 11/15)
Sakura Succubus 2 ($6.99 from $9.99 until 11/15)
Sakura Succubus 3 ($6.99 from $9.99 until 11/15)
Sakura Succubus 4 ($6.99 from $9.99 until 11/15)
Mafia Slots ($2.99 from $5.99 until 11/15)
Guards ($1.99 from $4.99 until 11/16)
Cubicity ($2.10 from $6.00 until 11/18)
Horror & Adventure Pinball ($9.89 from $14.99 until 11/19)
Om Nom: Run ($3.99 from $4.99 until 11/19)
Halloween Snowball Bubble ($3.95 from $5.99 until 11/19)
Race Track Driver ($5.99 from $11.99 until 11/19)
Street Racing: Tokyo Rush ($5.99 from $11.99 until 11/19)
Mandalas ($1.99 from $3.99 until 11/19)
SHINRAI: Broken Beyond Despair ($11.99 from $14.99 until 11/19)
Hoplegs ($6.29 from $6.99 until 11/19)
Pixel Heroes: Mega Byte & Magic ($12.74 from $14.99 until 11/19)
Viviette ($4.99 from $9.99 until 11/19)
12 Labours of Hercules ($3.49 from $4.99 until 11/19)
12 Labours of Hercules II ($5.59 from $7.99 until 11/19)
12 Labours of Hercules III ($5.59 from $7.99 until 11/19)
Speedway Bundle Stock & Truck ($5.99 from $19.99 until 11/19)
Dungeon and Puzzles ($5.99 from $9.99 until 11/20)
Fight of Animals ($5.99 from $9.99 until 11/20)
Fight of Gods ($7.79 from $12.99 until 11/20)
Gerritory ($4.79 from $7.99 until 11/20)
Crash Drive 3 ($1.99 from $19.99 until 11/20)
#womenUp, Puzzles Dream ($2.06 from $5.99 until 11/20)
#NoLimitFantasy, Puzzles Dream ($2.06 from $5.99 until 11/20)
#Wish travel, Puzzles Dream ($1.99 from $5.99 until 11/20)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Tuesday, November 2nd
AeternoBlade ($4.49 from $14.99 until 11/2)
AeternoBlade II: Director’s Rewind ($5.99 from $19.99 until 11/2)
Battery Jam ($2.99 from $14.99 until 11/2)
Billion Road ($9.99 from $19.99 until 11/2)
Catlateral Damage: Remeowstered ($11.99 from $14.99 until 11/2)
Charterstone: Digital Edition ($14.99 from $24.99 until 11/2)
Crazy Strike Bowling EX ($2.99 from $9.99 until 11/2)
Crypt of the NecroDancer ($3.99 from $19.99 until 11/2)
Damsel ($3.49 from $6.99 until 11/2)
Deathtrap Dungeon Trilogy ($4.99 from $9.99 until 11/2)
Degrees of Separation ($5.99 from $19.99 until 11/2)
Dread Nautical ($4.99 from $19.99 until 11/2)
Eight-Minute Empire: Complete ($5.99 from $14.99 until 11/2)
Farm for Your Life ($4.99 from $19.99 until 11/2)
Farmers Co-Op: Out of this World ($11.69 from $12.99 until 11/2)
Fighting Fantasy Legends ($4.99 from $9.99 until 11/2)
Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle ($4.99 from $19.99 until 11/2)
Glyph ($13.99 from $19.99 until 11/2)
Gordian Rooms ($4.99 from $9.99 until 11/2)
Grandia HD Collection ($19.99 from $39.99 until 11/2)
Halloween Pinball ($2.00 from $2.99 until 11/2)
Haunted: Halloween ’86 ($2.99 from $9.99 until 11/2)
Hob: The Definitive Edition ($2.99 from $19.99 until 11/2)
Home: Postmortem Edition ($6.39 from $7.99 until 11/2)
Island Maze ($1.99 from $2.99 until 11/2)
Istanbul: Digital Edition ($9.99 from $19.99 until 11/2)
Moon Raider ($4.49 from $9.99 until 11/2)
Mummy Pinball ($2.00 from $2.99 until 11/2)
Mystic Vale ($10.99 from $21.99 until 11/2)
Override 2: Super Mech League ($9.89 from $29.99 until 11/2)
Oxenfree ($3.99 from $9.99 until 11/2)
Perception ($2.99 from $19.99 until 11/2)
Pine ($4.99 from $24.99 until 11/2)
Pirates Pinball ($2.00 from $2.99 until 11/2)
Rack N Ruin ($3.24 from $12.99 until 11/2)
Rivals of Aether ($14.99 from $29.99 until 11/2)
Rock of Ages 3: Make & Break ($7.49 from $29.99 until 11/2)
S.U.M. – Slay Uncool Monsters ($2.99 from $5.99 until 11/2)
Save Your Nuts ($4.99 from $9.99 until 11/2)
Shantae & the Pirate’s Curse ($9.99 from $19.99 until 11/2)
Shantae: Risky’s Revenge DC ($4.99 from $9.99 until 11/2)
Silver Falls Episode Prelude ($5.99 from $7.99 until 11/2)
Snake vs Snake ($2.79 from $3.99 until 11/2)
Spirit Roots ($1.99 from $6.99 until 11/2)
Spooky Ghosts Dot Com ($1.99 from $4.99 until 11/2)
Steam: Rails to Riches Complete ($14.99 from $19.99 until 11/2)
Steampunk Tower 2 ($2.99 from $9.99 until 11/2)
Super Jumpy Ball ($3.49 from $4.99 until 11/2)
Sweet Witches ($1.99 from $9.99 until 11/2)
Talisman Digital Edition ($9.99 from $19.99 until 11/2)
The Great Perhaps ($2.99 from $9.99 until 11/2)
The Jackbox Party Pack 2 ($11.24 from $24.99 until 11/2)
The Jackbox Party Pack 4 ($13.74 from $24.99 until 11/2)
The Mummy Demastered ($9.99 from $19.99 until 11/2)
The Persistence ($5.99 from $29.99 until 11/2)
The Wanderer: Frankenstein ($4.79 from $15.99 until 11/2)
The World Next Door ($4.99 from $9.99 until 11/2)
This Strange Realm of Mine ($1.99 from $12.99 until 11/2)
Torchlight II ($5.99 from $19.99 until 11/2)
Torchlight III ($9.99 from $39.99 until 11/2)
Total Arcade Racing ($6.99 from $9.99 until 11/2)
Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince ($5.99 from $29.99 until 11/2)
Volta-X ($1.99 from $19.99 until 11/2)
Wanderjahr TryAgainOrWalkAway ($2.99 from $9.99 until 11/2)
Weaving Tides ($19.99 from $24.99 until 11/2)
Werewolf Pinball ($2.00 from $2.99 until 11/2)
Worse Than Death ($1.99 from $9.99 until 11/2)
That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with more new releases, more reviews, and more sales. Maybe some news? Maybe. I have a lot of playing to do tonight to make sure those reviews happening for you, so I’m going to get to it. I hope you all have a magnificent Monday, and as always, thanks for reading!