Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for November 12th, 2021. In today’s article, we’re checking out the rest of the releases for the week. Some really great ones today, friends. Obviously Shin Megami Tensei V is the big gun, but there are other games with smaller marketing budgets that are worth looking at as well. After we summarize all of those new games, we move on to the lists of new and expiring sales. There aren’t quite so many of those this week, but I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. My gut tells me that publishers are holding out for a big Black Friday sale, but time will tell. Let’s get into today’s goodies!
New Releases
Shin Megami Tensei V ($59.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
I’ve already done my review of this game, so regular readers will know how I feel about it already. But in case you missed it, here’s the short version. This is a wildly ambitious new take on the Shin Megami Tensei series that brings the world to life in a way we haven’t seen in an Atlus game before. Travel a ruined version of Tokyo and build a team of demons to aid you. Your goal this time is not to attack or dethrone god, but to achieve godhood yourself. Some tech issues can’t stop this from being one of the best RPGs on the Switch.
Hoplegs ($6.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
Okay, yeah, this is so stupid that it’s fun. You control a four-legged thing, and each leg is controlled by one of the four face buttons. You need to coordinate your actions carefully if you want to make it through the many obstacles in your path. You can play with up to four players via local multiplayer, and there is also a level editor so you can make your own challenges. Given the reasonable asking price, you may want to give this a try if you like to play quirky platformers with your friends or family.
Venus: Improbable Dream ($9.99)
SwitchArcade Highlight!
Look, I know the art in that screenshot isn’t exactly mind-blowing, and indeed from a presentation standpoint I would say that Venus: Improbable Dream is serviceable at best. But I think when it comes to a visual novel, at least for me, the story is the most important thing. And Venus: Improbable Dream has a really good, well-written story. It follows a teenage boy named Kakeru who was born with a birth defect that he is incredibly self-conscious of. As a means of trying to help him make connections with other people, he’s placed in an after-school music club. He meets a disabled girl named Haruka there, and a friendship is born. You’ll have to make choices as you play, and what you do will send you along to one of multiple endings. It’s heart-wrenching stuff, but it is absolutely enthralling. If you enjoy visual novels, you’ve got to get this one.
Gynoug ($6.99)
Ratalaika Games has another classic Genesis shoot-em-up for us this week. North American readers may remember this one better under the title of Wings of Wor. Gynoug (pronounced “jee-no-g“) is a side-scrolling shooter where you play as a winged angel warrior who must battle a grotesque army of demons to save the world from their vile machinations. This is using Ratalaika’s now-familiar emulator, and offers most of the same options as other releases like Cotton 100% and Gleylancer. You get a selection of cheats right off the hop here, so you can easily tour your way through this otherwise somewhat tough game. I’ll have a review of this one early next week for you.
A Pretty Odd Bunny ($4.99)
I don’t see what is so odd about this bunny. Oh wait, it likes to skulk around and ambush pigs to devour them? Okay, that is pretty strange. This is a 2D stealth platformer where you need to reach the pig at the end of each stage. But you can’t let your fellow rabbits catch you, so you’ll have to get there sneakily. You get eighty levels set across four different worlds, with extra challenges and hidden coins to tackle on top of that.
Pukan, Bye-Bye! ($4.99)
It wouldn’t be a Friday without at least one five-dollar Switch platformer. This one uses a low-color style to lend its action a retro feel, but the game is very much modern in practice. It dedicates most of its eShop description to saying how difficult it is, and yeah, you’ll probably die a lot. Plenty of dirty tricks in here. If you’re into that kind of punishment, you’ll probably get your money’s worth of laughs out of this.
X-Force Genesis ($7.00)
If you want to do a shoot-em-up on the Switch these days, you had better bring your A-game. There are so many fantastic shoot-em-ups on the platform, and many of them are under ten bucks. X-Force Genesis, I’m sorry to say, just doesn’t have what it takes to hang. It can’t seem to decide which sort of classic game it wants to be like, and it ends up adopting elements that really don’t fit together well. At times it feels like a broken bullet hell shooter, and other times it feels like a particularly vicious Euro-shmup. Granted, I’ve played a lot worse and this is at least an earnest effort, but I can’t really recommend it.
Amazing Princess Sarah ($8.00)
Imagine a Castlevania-style gothic side-scrolling action game, but with Super Mario Bros. 2-style enemy throwing. That’s basically what Amazing Princess Sarah aims to offer, and it does a fairly decent job of delivering on that. It’s probably a bit too repetitive for its own good, and could stand to either be a little shorter or offer more varied gameplay, but it is what it is. It feels a whisker better than “five-dollar Switch platformer” level, so I suppose it’s priced about where it should be.
BeatTalk ($17.99)
Hmmm. I’m not sure if any you readers have a need for something like this, but whatever. We summarize what comes. This is basically an English language pronunciation practice game for Japanese speakers. It might be of use to others studying English as well. It tries to teach proper pronunciation through a variety of rhythm-based minigames. It contains forty speeches and it’s not afraid to be completely off the wall. I just can’t see a wide audience for this in the West, but hey, stranger things have happened.
Mercenaries Rebirth: Call of the Wild Lynx ($19.99)
There are apparently rumors afoot about a certain popular isometric tactical RPG making its return. If you don’t care to wait for a tomorrow that may never come, you can continue to scratch your itch with the latest in the Mercenaries series. There are a couple of new mechanics in this all-new story, but for the most part it’s the same reliable, if somewhat generic, tactical RPG gameplay.
Chess Brain ($3.99)
Ready for more chess puzzles? I hope so, because I don’t think QUByte plans to let up on these anytime soon. In this one you move a King piece, trying to reach the goal square. You have to program all of your moves at once, anticipating the movements of the other pieces. There are thirty puzzles in total, with business starting to pick up somewhere around the tenth one.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
Lots of WB Games sales, that’s for sure. But there isn’t anything too odd about that, even if some of these are at very low prices. A few of the games from 10tons are on sale, like Neon Chrome and Tesla vs Lovecraft. Those are quite fun. Dicey Dungeons is so cheap I can’t see how you couldn’t buy it. Also note the reasonable prices on some Kairosoft games like Game Dev Story. Have a careful look through the list, and don’t forget to check the outbox on your way out the door.
Select New Games on Sale
LEGO Harry Potter Collection ($12.49 from $49.99 until 11/16)
LEGO City Undercover ($5.99 from $29.99 until 11/17)
LEGO Worlds ($5.99 from $29.99 until 11/17)
LEGO Ninjago Movie Game ($7.49 from $49.99 until 11/17)
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 ($5.99 from $29.99 until 11/17)
LEGO The Incredibles ($8.99 from $59.99 until 11/17)
LEGO DC Super-Villains ($8.99 from $59.99 until 11/17)
LEGO Jurassic World ($7.99 from $39.99 until 11/17)
The LEGO Movie 3 Videogame ($5.99 from $39.99 until 11/17)
Scribblenauts Mega Pack ($5.99 from $39.99 until 11/17)
Scribblenauts Showdown ($3.99 from $39.99 until 11/17)
Mortal Kombat 11 ($12.49 from $49.99 until 11/17)
Cars 3 Driven to Win ($5.99 from $39.99 until 11/17)
Bakugan: CoV ($12.49 from $49.99 until 11/17)
Neon Chrome ($4.49 from $14.99 until 11/18)
Tesla vs Lovecraft ($4.49 from $14.99 until 11/18)
Time Recoil ($4.19 from $13.99 until 11/18)
The Bear and the Admiral ($4.49 from $14.99 until 11/18)
Xenoraid ($2.99 from $9.99 until 11/18)
Lost Dream ($3.49 from $4.99 until 11/19)
HOLY COW! Milking Simulator ($6.99 from $9.99 until 11/19)
QB Planets ($4.89 from $6.99 until 11/19)
Unbound: Worlds Apart ($14.99 from $19.99 until 11/19)
Elli ($1.99 from $7.99 until 11/22)
Word Mesh ($2.79 from $6.99 until 11/22)
Monster Blast ($3.19 from $7.99 until 11/22)
Bubble Shooter FX ($1.99 from $3.99 until 11/22)
Radon Blast ($1.99 from $3.99 until 11/22)
Dicey Dungeons ($3.74 from $14.99 until 11/24)
Chess Brain ($2.99 from $3.99 until 11/26)
UBERMOSH:BLACK ($1.99 from $3.99 until 11/26)
Lost Artifacts: Soulstone ($3.99 from $9.99 until 11/26)
Arcade Fuzz ($1.99 from $3.99 until 11/26)
Space Elite Force ($1.99 from $2.99 until 11/26)
Vasara Collection ($1.99 from $9.99 until 11/26)
Swarmriders ($1.99 from $3.99 until 11/26)
Spooky Chase ($1.99 from $4.99 until 11/26)
Daylife in Japan: Jigsaw Puzzle ($1.99 from $3.99 until 11/26)
ASMR Journey: Jigsaw Puzzle ($1.99 from $3.99 until 11/26)
War Solution: Casual Math Game ($1.99 from $3.99 until 11/26)
Savage Halloween ($1.99 from $4.99 until 11/26)
Chess Knights: Shinobi ($1.99 from $3.99 until 11/26)
Missing Features: 2D ($1.99 from $3.99 until 11/26)
Aery: Calm Mind ($4.49 from $8.99 until 11/29)
Aery: Broken Memories ($7.49 from $14.99 until 11/29)
Aery: Journey Beyond Time ($4.99 from $9.99 until 11/29)
My Little Dog Adventure ($4.99 from $9.99 until 11/29)
Life of Fly ($7.49 from $14.99 until 11/29)
Air Bounce Jump n Run ($2.99 from $5.99 until 11/29)
Game Dev Story ($7.00 from $14.00 until 12/1)
Oh!Edo Towns ($8.40 from $14.00 until 12/1)
Pocket Stables ($8.40 from $14.00 until 12/1)
Pocket Clothier ($8.40 from $14.00 until 12/1)
Tropico 6 ($27.49 from $49.99 until 12/1)
Railway Empire ($21.99 from $39.99 until 12/1)
Inversus Deluxe ($2.99 from $14.99 until 12/1)
Baobabs Mausoleum Ep.1 ($2.99 from $5.99 until 12/1)
Baobabs Mausoleum Ep.2 ($3.49 from $6.99 until 12/1)
Baobabs Mausoleum Ep.3 ($2.99 from $5.99 until 12/1)
Baobabs Mausoleum Grindhouse ($9.99 from $19.99 until 12/1)
Myths of Orion: LftN ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/1)
Where Angels Cry ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/1)
Where Angels Cry: TotF CE ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/1)
The Man With the Ivory Cane ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/1)
Tales From Dragon Mountain ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/1)
Tales from Dragon Mountain 2 ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/1)
Immortal Realms Vampire Wars ($15.99 from $39.99 until 12/1)
Caveman Tales ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/1)
Kingdom Tales ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/1)
Kingdom Tales 2 ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/1)
The Last Days ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/1)
Kaptain Brawe: Brawe New World ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/1)
TENS! ($2.49 from $9.99 until 12/1)
Zotrix Starglider ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/1)
Glam’s Incredible Run ($1.99 from $7.99 until 12/1)
Green Phoenix ($1.99 from $3.49 until 12/1)
Rainbocorns ($6.49 from $12.99 until 12/2)
Island Farmer ($2.39 from $2.99 until 12/2)
The Kids We Were ($12.79 from $15.99 until 12/2)
Crowdy Farm Rush ($1.99 from $5.99 until 12/2)
Sales Ending This Weekend
7th Sector ($9.99 from $19.99 until 11/13)
A Winter’s Daydream ($2.99 from $5.99 until 11/13)
Active Neurons ($2.49 from $4.99 until 11/13)
Active Neurons 2 ($2.49 from $4.99 until 11/13)
Active Neurons 3 ($2.49 from $4.99 until 11/13)
Arkan: The Dog Adventurer ($2.49 from $4.99 until 11/13)
Blood Waves ($4.99 from $9.99 until 11/13)
Breeder Homegrown ($2.49 from $4.99 until 11/13)
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)
Drowning ($2.00 from $2.99 until 11/13)
Escape from Life Inc ($4.99 from $9.99 until 11/13)
Escape from Tethys ($4.99 from $9.99 until 11/13)
FishWitch Halloween ($14.99 from $19.99 until 11/13)
GraviFire ($2.49 from $4.99 until 11/13)
Invisible Fist ($1.99 from $9.99 until 11/13)
Legends of Amberland ($9.99 from $19.99 until 11/13)
Mind Maze ($2.49 from $4.99 until 11/13)
North ($2.00 from $2.99 until 11/13)
Rainbow Billy: Curse of Leviathan ($20.99 from $29.99 until 11/13)
Rift Keeper ($4.99 from $9.99 until 11/13)
Rise of Insanity ($2.99 from $9.99 until 11/13)
Stellatum ($4.99 from $9.99 until 11/13)
The Mooseman ($3.49 from $6.99 until 11/13)
The Tower of Beatrice ($2.99 from $5.99 until 11/13)
88 Heroes – 98 Heroes Edition ($5.99 from $29.99 until 11/14)
Anthill ($3.99 from $9.99 until 11/14)
Bridge Constructor Portal ($5.99 from $14.99 until 11/14)
Bridge Constructor TWD ($3.99 from $9.99 until 11/14)
Conga Master Party! ($1.99 from $9.99 until 11/14)
Curious Expedition ($7.49 from $14.99 until 11/14)
Curious Expedition 2 ($14.99 from $19.99 until 11/14)
Dead End Job ($4.24 from $16.99 until 11/14)
Decay of Logos ($7.99 from $19.99 until 11/14)
Doodle Derby ($1.99 from $7.99 until 11/14)
Earth Atlantis ($1.99 from $14.99 until 11/14)
Flipping Death ($3.99 from $19.99 until 11/14)
Giga Wrecker Alt. ($9.99 from $24.99 until 11/14)
Holy Potatoes! A Weapon Shop?! ($4.49 from $14.99 until 11/14)
Holy Potatoes! We’re In Space?! ($4.49 from $14.99 until 11/14)
Holy Potatoes! What The Hell?! ($7.50 from $15.00 until 11/14)
In Between ($1.99 from $11.99 until 11/14)
Liberated ($5.99 from $19.99 until 11/14)
Lonely Mountains: Downhill ($11.99 from $19.99 until 11/14)
Ninja Showdown ($2.99 from $14.99 until 11/14)
Pode ($12.49 from ($24.99 until 11/14)
Pumpkin Jack ($13.49 from $29.99 until 11/14)
RICO ($7.99 from $19.99 until 11/14)
Rigid Force Redux ($6.66 from $19.99 until 11/14)
Safety First! ($1.99 from $2.99 until 11/14)
Say No! More ($9.99 from $14.99 until 11/14)
Silver Chains ($9.99 from $24.99 until 11/14)
Slime-San ($4.79 from $11.99 until 11/14)
SteamWorld Dig ($2.49 from $9.99 until 11/14)
SteamWorld Dig 2 ($7.99 from $19.99 until 11/14)
SteamWorld Heist Ultimate ($4.99 from $19.99 until 11/14)
SteamWorld Quest: HoG ($9.99 from $24.99 until 11/14)
Stick It to The Man ($2.39 from $11.99 until 11/14)
Super Blackjack Battle 2 Turbo ($1.99 from $7.99 until 11/14)
Super Treasure Arena ($1.99 from $9.99 until 11/14)
The Coma 2: Vicious Sisters ($5.99 from $14.99 until 11/14)
The Coma: Recut ($5.99 from $14.99 until 11/14)
The Game of Life 2 ($23.99 from $29.99 until 11/14)
The Inner World ($2.39 from $11.99 until 11/14)
The Inner World: Last Wind Monk ($2.99 from $14.99 until 11/14)
Tied Together ($1.99 from $14.99 until 11/14)
Toby: The Secret Mine ($1.99 from $11.99 until 11/14)
Trailblazers ($5.99 from $29.99 until 11/14)
Truberbrook ($9.89 from $29.99 until 11/14)
Vambrace: Cold Soul ($8.24 from $24.99 until 11/14)
That’s all for today and this week, friends. Next week is Pokemon week, with the remakes of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl incoming. We’ll have to see what other games pop up on the radar, but I can’t imagine it being a quiet week because those just don’t happen in the game business in November. I hope you all have a great weekend, and as always, thanks for reading!
