Game Topz (gamtopz@gmail.com)

Fans of Phantom Blade: Executioners can now start gearing up for the second Closed Beta Test of the “kungfupunk" action title on mobile. Independent developer S-Game is letting players get first dibs on the game ahead of its release, giving them the opportunity to experience the stunning artwork inspired by traditional Chinese paintings along with the game’s intriguing plotline. Players can sign up for the second CBT from now until August 11th, with the test beginning on August 18th. CBT2 will feature more content including an extra character – in particular, in addition to Mu Xiaokui and Soul, players will be introduced to the “Chord". This “Instrument" of the Organization boasts ranged attacks to help with crowd control or to provide much-needed buffs. CBT2 also adds physical depth to stages using dynamic 2D, along with extra environmental hazards like traps and hidden treasure. Players can also explore stages with branching paths to spice things up. If you’re k

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for July 28th, 2022. It’s mighty Thursday today, and we’ve got a big-pants list of new games for you to check out. A few really interesting ones, a few really bad ones, and a whole lot of in-between. We’ve got summaries of all of them, as always. After that, it’s time for the ever-present lists of new and expiring sales. Let’s get into the mix! New Releases Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 ($29.99) After six long years and a few spin-offs, Azure Striker Gunvolt is back with a third game. Gunvolt and newcomer Kirin blaze into this adventure, and the fact that it’s designed for the Switch instead of the Nintendo 3DS means you can look forward to some juiced-up action in more ways than one. Despite the new hardware, fans of the previous Gunvolt games will find this game fits like a comfy pair of shoes. Koumajou Remilia: Scarlet Symphony ($29.99) It’s another Touhou Project game, this time biting off of the Castlevania series

In April of last year during a Nintendo Indie World Showcase, Annapurna Interactive revealed Hindsight , the new game from Prune developer Joel McDonald. A narrative exploration game, Hindsight follows an adult woman who revisits her childhood home, seemingly to sort through all the belongings following the loss of a family member. Everything around this home holds some sort of meaning for her, and triggers memories of her childhood. The really unique part about Hindsight is that you will be able to explore the environment from any angle, and if you adjust things in just the right way certain objects will almost spring to life as they reveal another memory from the woman’s past. It’s really clever. Previously we knew that Hindsight would be heading to iOS, Switch, and PC but we didn’t know when that would be, but today during Annapurna Interactive’s latest digital showcase they revealed that the game’s launch is just around the corner on August 4th. Here’s a brand new trailer.

Backbone and PlayStation just announced and released the Backbone One PlayStation Edition. This new officially licensed controller by PlayStation for iPhone has design tweaks to match the PS5 aesthetic featuring PlayStation face buttons on the Backbone One controller. The Backbone One PlayStation Edition price is $99.99 just like the regular mode, and it includes the same perks barring Xbox Game Pass as expected. Watch the trailer for the Backbone One PlayStation Edition controller below: I’ve been slowly moving over to using a DualSense controller with all devices including when I use my Steam Deck “docked" over HDMI on my monitor. This announcement and release is timed well as I’ve always wanted to get a Backbone One. If you’d like to grab it, many retailers are putting it up for purchase, with it available on the official Backbone website here . The only thing I don’t like so far is that this has asymmetric sticks. I would’ve preferred a PlayStation licensed controller have

Following its reveal back in September last year, Legend of Solgard and Rivengard developer Snowprint Studios’ tactical strategy game Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus has been confirmed for worldwide release next month. With many different factions included at launch from the Warhammer 40k universe, the developers are promising stunning graphics in Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus across its PvE and PvP gameplay. Pre-registration is also live for both iOS and Android with more content planned post release including new factions, massive Guild vs Guild wars, and more. Watch the new Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus trailer below: While Warhammer 40,000 Tacticus was in soft launch in several countries on Android before, it is no longer in soft launch as we covered before. You will not need to wait too long to play it because Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus releases on August 15th worldwide for iOS and Android. Pre-registrations are live on the official website for iOS with Android pre-registration l

Well, it was inevitable. After making plenty of lists of the best games of each genre on the Nintendo Switch, I have now turned my eye to mobile. And I am starting with my old stomping grounds, the noble JRPG. Being a sage fellow, I know that the appeal of premium JRPGs and free-to-play JRPGs are quite different, so I’m going to be making two separate lists. I’m also making a rule that a particular franchise can only have one entry on the list, because we all know what would happen otherwise. Do note that these are simply my favorites, so if you have any that you feel should be on this list please comment below and help others find them. Oh, and the list is in no particular order. With all that said, let’s get on with it! FINAL FANTASY VII , $15.99 Let’s get the big guns out of the way first. It’s hard to go wrong with any of the Final Fantasy games on mobile, but Final Fantasy VII remains one of the most popular in the series for good reason. The graphics may be a little quai

Tinytouchtales has been around for a decade now, and in 2015 they really struck gold with the release of Card Crawl , a Solitaire-style spin on the card-based roguelike dungeon crawler. It remains one of my favorite games of all time, and since its release there have been a handful of other games from Tinytouchtales that take place in the same universe as Card Crawl and feature a similar aesthetic and even many familiar characters. One of those Card Crawl -adjacent games was 2017’s Card Thief , which took a stealth-based dungeon crawling game and blended it with a path-drawing card game. Now the developer is preparing to launch their newest game in the Card Crawl Extended Universe, and this one is almost like a blend of Card Crawl and Card Thief . It’s called Card Crawl Adventure , and here is its latest trailer. Can I just say that I love how the beginning of that trailer pans across the various booths where you can play other Tinytouchtales games before you settle in in front of

This week’s new ACA NeoGeo classic from SNK and Hamster is the classic sports game Soccer Brawl ($3.99) that follows The Last Blade , Mutation Nation , Robo Army , Art of Fighting 3 , and more on both iOS and Android. Soccer Brawl is a soccer game that debuted back in 1992. It has teams from eight different countries competing for the championship. Set in the near future, this game features robot players with many possibilities when it comes to attacking. As with prior releases in Hamster’s ACA NeoGeo series, these new versions have many modern conveniences as detailed in Shaun’s reviews of other games that you can read below. Check out a screenshot from the Android version of Soccer Brawl ACA NeoGeo below and the trailer for the console release here : Check out Soccer Brawl ACA NeoGeo on the App Store for iOS here and Google Play for Android here . As with prior releases on mobile, this costs half of what it does on consoles. If you’ve not heard of the series or seen it in act

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for July 26th, 2022. It’s very, very quiet today. I don’t know if some weird guy is hunting a rabbit or what, but there’s not much going on. I have a review for you of the latest effort from indie developer Terarin, summaries of the somewhat dull pair of new releases, and the lists of new and expiring sales as always. Let’s see what we’ve got! Reviews & Mini-Views Raging Blasters ($14.70) Indie developer Terarin makes shoot-em-ups that I happen to like a lot. Quite a bit of what he likes to pack into his games are the kinds of things I enjoy, and Raging Blasters is another one that hits the mark very well. In a lot of ways, it’s a very conventional vertical shooter. You’ve got your spaceship, a bunch of popcorn enemies in various formations, the occasional bigger target, an array of interesting weapon pick-ups, and lots of big bosses that will put your skills to the test. There are a couple of less common points he

Last time, we looked at the best premium JRPGs on mobile. As promised, I’m back with another list of great JRPGs to play on your mobile device, this time covering the free-to-play side of things. The rule is the same: each franchise only gets one entry on the list, lest Final Fantasy dominate all thirty spots of this ten-game list or something. I’m also going to be a little loose with that “J" in JRPG. Perhaps it is best to think of these as JRPG-style games? JRPG- ish ? Do note that these are simply my favorites, so if you have any that you feel should be on this list please comment below and help others find them. Finally, the list is in no particular order. With all that said, let’s get on with it! Genshin Impact , Free Yes, I’m starting the list with Genshin Impact . Let that set the pace for this little endeavor. Is it Japanese? No. Is it a traditional JRPG in style or form? Not really. But if you enjoy JRPGs and don’t mind all of the things that come with a free-to-p

Following the release of the brilliant Into the Breach that hit iOS and Android through Netflix Games, two more games arrive on the service today. These will be published on the App Store and Google Play by Netflix and allow access once logged in with an active Netflix Subscription. The first game is the BAFTA award winning Before Your Eyes that makes its mobile debut through Netflix. It released last year on Steam and promises an accessible game with an emotional narrative. I haven’t played the PC version, but will try out the mobile release this weekend. It uses your phone’s camera to detect blinks and glances for the narrative which is an interesting mechanic. Watch the trailer for it below: The second game releasing today which should be rolling out right now is Mahjong Solitaire . Given how popular the game is, I was surprised that I only played mahjong thanks to Yakuza games before. The Netflix release of Mahjong Solitaire also has something for Stranger Things fans. It i

Following pre-orders and pre-registrations going live last month with a release date announcement, Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent () can now be downloaded on both iOS and Android. If you’ve not kept up with it, Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent is the newest mobile game from Square Enix to release outside Japan, and it is a mobile exclusive prequel to the superb JRPG Octopath Traveler . Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent is set in the same universe as the main console and PC game with characters from that showing up. With more playable characters than the console/PC game and the same gorgeous HD 2D aesthetic, Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent is one of the best looking traditional JRPGs on mobile. If you pre-ordered or pre-registered for it, you can download it now. Maintenance is still on, and will be until 10 PM today (EDT) which is 2:00 (UTC) tomorrow. If you’d like to get it now, you can get download it on the App Store fo

We’ve been covering the hilarious physics-based sandbox simulation experience Totally Accurate Battle Simulator for years now, sadly due to how clones popped up trying to make some money with the official game not being available for sale officially on any platform barring early alphas. Fast forward over half a decade later, indie studio Landfall Games’ Totally Accurate Battle Simulator is hitting mobile officially through XD Inc. This announcement took place at the TapTap Presents showcase over the weekend. The official FAQ for the mobile version of Totally Accurate Battle Simulator confirms that it will be a paid release as well. Watch the Totally Accurate Battle Simulator mobile trailer below: Totally Accurate Battle Simulator is in development for mobile at XD Inc and it is also planned to hit consoles through Landfall Games. There will be crossplay between iOS and Android, but not across mobile and PC/console as confirmed in the FAQ linked above. Mobile mod support will

Over the weekend, the TapTap Presents showcase aired with many announcements and updates for games on mobile. These include new ports, updates on existing games, and more. X D Inc revealed that Torchlight Infinite is releasing this October in open beta. The ARPG also revealed a new trailer showcasing Thea. Thea is a goddess with magical powers who joins the game alongside previously revealed characters. If you’ve not kept up with it, Torchlight Infinite brings the popular action RPG series Torchlight to mobile in a free to play experience focusing on loot, customization, progression, and more. It will also feature crossplay across iOS, Android, and PC. Watch the new Torchlight Infinite cinematic trailer below: Follow closed beta testing, Torchlight: Infinite will hit open beta this October on iOS and Android. You can pre-order the open beta release on the App Store right now. The Torchlight: Infinite release date is listed as October 12 on the App Store, but this should be tr

Lucas Pope’s award-winning “Dystopian Document Thriller" Papers, Please ($7.99) hit iPad back in 2014. It remains one of the best games on the platform, and one of the most essential indie games ever. Having originally played it on Steam, I was blown away by how good it felt on iPad, and even enjoyed it on PS Vita. That PS Vita version gave me hope for a potential mobile version, but we never did get one. Over the weekend, Lucas Pope announced that Papers, Please is not only coming to iPhone and Android, but it is a free update for existing owners of the iPad version. Papers, Please will be a premium release on mobile, and it arrives with an interface designed for smaller screens as shown in Lucas’ Tweet. Watch the trailer for the original game below: If you’ve not played Papers, Please yet, it has you controlling a border patrol agent who will decide the fate of many people trying to enter the fictional country of Arstotzka. It has loads of great writing, music, and me

When FTL: Faster Than Light creators Subset Games first announced their follow-up title Into the Breach back in 2017, I was positive it would come to mobile. After all, it was a turn-based strategy game which is a genre that just sings on the touchscreen, and given the critical acclaim that FTL received when it was ported to the iPad in 2014, bringing their new game to mobile seemed like a no-brainer, right? Right!? Well Into the Breach on mobile never materialized in the years since its original PC release, and while Subset never officially squashed the idea of that happening it certainly didn’t seem like a high priority. This week though my prayers were answered as Into the Breach finally did make its way to mobile devices, just not exactly the way I thought it would. It launched as part of the Netflix Games library, and thus one of the best games around is essentially locked behind a subscription service. I certainly have thoughts on subscription services, but I think it’