SwitchArcade Round-Up: ‘Dragon Quest XI S’, ‘Ori and the Blind Forest’, and Today’s Other New Releases, Plus Tons of Sales on Square Enix Titles and More

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for September 27th, 2019. Today we have a gigantic list of new sales with some really great stuff in it and a bevy of new releases to look at. In a fun turn of events, I seem to have developed tendinitis in my right hand, so I’m skipping the news today. In summary: those Atelier Dusk games are coming West in January, DOOM and DOOM 2 got updates to fix the lighting and music issues, the first Bloodstained performance patch is coming in November, and House of the Dead 1&2 are getting Switch remakes. Now let’s get to the goodies!

New Releases

Dragon Quest XI S: Definitive Edition ($59.99)

SwitchArcade Highlight!

The incredible eleventh installment of the grand-daddy of JRPGs has finally made its way to Switch in a new Definitive Edition. At least until the next edition, anyway. Play the game in 3D or in a classic 2D style. Visit the worlds of other Dragon Quest games in some mini side-quests. Enjoy the slightly less-bad music as it’s now symphonic instead of synthesized. Or ignore all of those new things and just enjoy one of the best JRPGs from the last several years. I’ve only played through the Nintendo 3DS version up until now, so I’m very excited to go through this one.

Ori and the Blind Forest – Definitive Edition ($19.99)

SwitchArcade Highlight!

The latest hot release on a Nintendo platform by … (checks notes) Microsoft Studios is an enhanced port of the outstanding action-adventure title Ori and the Blind Forest. The original game is a wonderful, gorgeous, engrossing non-linear platformer, and this port does it complete justice. An absolute must-have, and I can’t believe I’m getting to play this little treasure on a handheld game system. More than that, I can’t believe it’s running this smoothly on a handheld game system. Whoever did this port deserves a bag of cookies.

Soulslayer ($9.99)

SwitchArcade Highlight!

This is a visual novel set in ancient China. You play as Yao Xiu, a young woman from a noble family. The only option open to her is through marriage, but on the eve of her wedding she is killed. Her eyes open and she finds herself at the beginning of the day she died, stuck in a time loop. She’s told she has three chances to save herself before her final demise. Gather hints, make the right choices, and try to find your way to the best ending. An interesting setting and good premise makes for an adventure fans of the genre will want to check out.

Freedom Finger ($14.99)

SwitchArcade Highlight!

A cheeky shoot-em-up where you play as a flying hand with middle finger extended. The art definitely looks good and the concept is interesting, to say the least. And hey, we could use more comedic shooters in general. Being that your ship is a giant hand, you can grab enemies and chuck them or use their weapons for your own. There are 36 levels and you really do traverse a wide range of locations. There’s also a surprisingly awesome soundtrack backing it all up. I’d have to spend more time with this to say whether or not it’s a genuine classic in the making, but from what little time I’ve had with it, I can at least say it’s stupidly fun.

Dragon Quest I ($4.99)

Don’t get me wrong: I love the Dragon Quest series and I have a soft spot for the first game in spite of its age. I run through this game every year because why not? But Square Enix really could have treated this better. They took the mobile version, which already had some visual issues, slapped a high-res filter on some but not all of the graphics, picked a crummy font, and called it a day. Is it still a good game? Yes. Should you play it elsewhere if you can? Also yes. Is it worth picking up if you have no other options? Begrudgingly, yes.

Dragon Quest II ($6.49)

That last paragraph basically applies here, but with one amendment. I feel that the changes made to the mobile version of the game that were also carried forward here make it the best way to play Dragon Quest II in spite of how rough it looks. I’d again recommend the mobile version of the game over this one just because it has more consistent visuals, but I would recommend this version over the NES and GBC versions just because I prefer the way the later versions handle one of the later dungeons. This isn’t as pick-up-and-play friendly as the first game nor as deep and satisfying as the third, but it’s still pretty good.

Dragon Quest III ($12.49)

Sigh. Now this one, on the other hand, didn’t have such a bad-looking mobile version. Not a great-looking version, mind you, but it looked a lot better than the first two. And yet they did the same thing here where they made some of the sprites high-resolution and stuck them on low-res backgrounds, which makes the whole thing just look cheap and junky. And like the mobile version, there are no monster animations in battle. Even the Game Boy Color version had those! This is a great JRPG, and if you have no other way to play it, I suppose this is fine. But really, any other option is better.

Dreaming Canvas ($4.99)

This is a first-person adventure game where you explore stylized settings, listen to quotes from famous painters, and paint worlds whenever you find a canvas. If that sounds like a very ambitious concept for a five dollar game, I think you may be right. I can’t find much info on this one and I haven’t been able to try it myself, but it looks a little, um, under-funded. If you catch my drift.

Car Mechanic Simulator Pocket Edition ($19.99)

I know what you’re thinking: this looks an awful lot like all those other simulator games from Ultimate Games. Yes, yes it is. But somewhere out there, there is an audience of players who can’t get enough of these things, and I assume they’ll be happy with this one too. Fix cars, sell cars, improve your work shop, make money. That’s the cycle. It certainly isn’t my thing, but if it’s yours, have at it.

Arcade Archives Scramble ($7.99)

There are always a few things to take into consideration with a new Arcade Archives release. First and foremost, is the game still fun? In Scramble‘s case, I’d say… yes, to an extent. It’s a very early shoot-em-up, one of the pioneers of the genre, so it feels pretty old, but I think it’s enjoyable. Second, does it have historical value? Absolutely. No contest there. Third, is there a more economical way to get your hands on this game? Yes, it is available in Konami’s Arcade Classics Collection, which gives you several other games for only a bit over double the price of this game alone. Unless you really don’t want the other games on there, I’d pass on buying this stand-alone release. It’s even by the same developer, Hamster.

EA Sports FIFA 20 Legacy Edition ($49.99)

FIFA 20! Updated kits, clubs, and squads! A few new stadiums! Absolutely nothing else changed from last year’s version because EA knows they can cut corners and people will take whatever they toss out because, hey, where else are you going to get your licensed soccer fix on Switch? What makes this all worse is that FIFA 19 had a lot of problems, so using it as the basis of all of these games going forward on the Switch is a real kick in the butt. Oh well, do what you must.

Sales

Ha ha ha, holy smokes. That’s… what do you even do with a list of sales like that? It’s massive, and there are so many great games in there that you’d have to be rich to buy them all. Slightly less rich than usual, but still! Square Enix’s sale is great, and I think Collection of Mana is on sale for the first time. Blazing Chrome goes on sale at just the right time to take advantage of Contra‘s epic fumble, and Slay the Spire is celebrating its recent update with style. Just… buy what you have to, I guess. At least there’s nothing overly pressing in the outbox?

New Games on Sale

The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa ($11.99 from $14.99 until 10/16)
Blazing Chrome ($11.89 from $16.99 until 10/14)
Gear.Club Unlimited 2 ($23.99 from $$59.99 until 10/16)
Super Chariot ($5.99 from $19.99 until 10//16)
Warp Shift ($1.99 from $9.99 until 10/14)
Conduct Together! ($14.99 from $19.99 until 10/14)
Final Fantasy VII ($11.19 from $15.99 until 10/13)
Final Fantasy IX ($14.69 from $20.99 until 10/13)
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD ($29.99 from $49.99 until 10/13)
Final Fantasy XII ($29.99 from $49.99 until 10/13)
Final Fantasy XV Pocket ($17.99 from $29.99 until 10/13)
Collection of Mana ($26.79 from $39.99 until 10/13)
Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon ($27.99 from $39.99 until 10/13)
Romancing SaGa 2 ($18.74 from $24.99 until 10/13)
Lost Sphear ($29.99 from $49.99 until 10/13)

I am Setsuna ($27.99 from $39.99 until 10/13)
World of Final Fantasy Maxima ($19.99 from $39.99 until 10/13)
Shadows of Adam ($11.99 from $14.99 until 10/16)
Shakedown: Hawaii ($14.99 from $19.99 until 10/10)
Degrees of Separation ($3.99 from $14.99 until 10/10)
Surfingers ($0.49 from $4.99 until 10/16)
Elevator… to the Moon! ($1.50 from $15.00 until 10/15)
Valley ($10.99 from $19.99 until 10/13)
Monument Builders Rushmore ($3.49 from $6.99 until 10/9)
Thumper ($9.99 from $19.99 until 10/4)
Troll and I ($2.99 from $29.99 until 10/10)
NeuroVoider ($6.99 from $13.99 until 10/13)
Pan-Pan A Tiny Big Adventure ($2.99 from $4.99 until 10/16)
Road Redemption ($13.99 from $19.99 until 10/13)
SteamWorld Dig ($2.99 from $9.99 until 10/11)

SteamWorld Dig 2 ($9.99 from $19.99 until 10/11)
SteamWorld Heist: Ultimate ($5.99 from $19.99 until 10/11)
SteamWorld Quest ($18.74 from $24.99 until 10/10)
Darkest Dungeon ($17.49 from $24.99 until 10/13)
Aegis Defenders ($9.99 from $19.99 until 10/13)
Ultrawings Flat ($9.99 from $19.99 until 10/3)
Apherion Cyberstorm ($2.99 from $14.99 until 10/13)
Aqua Kitty UDX ($3.59 from $8.99 until 10/14)
Hollow ($1.99 from $9.99 until 10/16)
Steredenn: Binary Stars ($4.99 from $12.99 until 10/13)
European Conqueror X ($6.99 from $9.99 until 10/16)
Darkwood ($11.99 from $14.99 until 10/13)
Slay the Spire ($19.99 from $24.99 until 10/13)
World Conqueror X ($6.99 from $9.99 until 10/16)
Zombillie ($0.49 from $4.99 until 10/16)

The Adventure Pals ($7.49 from $14.99 until 10/13)
Masters of Anima ($6.79 from $19.99 until 10/14)
Shelter Generations ($9.99 from $19.99 until 10/16)
Don’t Starve ($7.99 from $19.99 until 10/13)
Mark of the Ninja ($11.99 from $19.99 until 10/13)
Jotun: Valhalla ($4.94 from $14.99 until 10/13)
Wizard of Legend ($9.59 from $11.99 until 10/13)
Knights of Pen and Paper +1 ($8.99 from $14.99 until 10/13)
Yesterday Origins ($11.99 from $29.99 until 10/9)
Flashback ($5.99 from $19.99 until 10/9)
Flat Heroes ($6.69 from $9.99 until 10/13)
Iconoclasts ($11.99 from $19.99 until 10/14)
Flipping Death $5.99 from $19.99 until 10/11)
Shio ($5.19 from $12.99 until 10/13)
Gnomes Garden 3 ($2.99 from $4.99 until 10/6)

Danger Mouse: The Danger Games ($3.99 from $4.99 until 10/16)
Bastion ($2.99 from $14.99 until 10/13)
Transistor ($3.99 from $19.99 until 10/13)
Wandersong ($11.99 from $19.99 until 10/13)
Party Crashers ($3.75 from $15.00 until 10/13)
Will: A Wonderful World ($10.49 from $14.99 until 10/16)
Butcher ($4.99 from $9.99 until 10/13)
Golf Story ($9.89 from $14.99 until 10/13)
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime ($8.99 from $14.99 until 10/3)
Volgarr the Viking ($6.99 from $9.99 until 10/10)
Axiom Verge ($17.99 from $19.99 until 10/2)
Spelunker Party! ($11.99 from $29.99 until 10/13)
Party Golf ($2.99 from $14.99 until 10/13)
Syberia ($8.99 from $29.99 until 10/9)
Syberia 2 ($8.99 from $29.99 until 10/9)

Syberia 3 ($14.99 from $49.99 until 10/9)
Syberia 1 & 2 ($13.99 from $19.99 until 10/9)
Teddy the Wanderer: Kayaking ($0.99 from $9.99 until 10/16)
Teddy the Wanderer: Mountain Hike ($0.99 from $9.99 until 10/16)
Bad Dream: Fever ($0.99 from $9.99 until 10/16)
ATV Drift & Tricks ($13.99 from $19.99 until 10/9)
MudRunner – American Wilds ($23.99 from $59.99 until 10/14)
Nairi: Tower of Shirin ($6.99 from $9.99 until 10/13)
Rock Boshers DX: Director’s Cut ($2.79 from $6.99 until 10/14)
Toki ($11.99 from $29.99 until 10/9)
Sundered: Eldritch ($9.99 from $19.99 until 10/13)
Clouds & Sheep 2 ($6.69 from $9.99 until 10/10)
Diggerman ($0.49 from $4.99 until 10/16)
Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle ($9.99 from $19.99 until 9/30)
Splasher ($5.99 from $14.99 until 10/13)

Crypt of the NecroDancer ($3.99 from $19.99 until 10/13)
Sky Force Reloaded ($4.99 from $9.99 until 10/13)
Sparkle 2 EVO ($0.49 from $4.99 until 10/16)
Farming Simulator ($19.99 from $49.99 until 10/14)
Koi DX ($2.99 from $4.99 until 10/16)
Stick It to The Man ($2.99 from $11.99 from 10/11)
Plague Road ($1.00 from $15.00 until 10/15)
Mecho Tales ($0.10 from $0.99 until 10/15)
Mecho Wars: Desert Ashes ($1.00 from $10.00 until 10/15)
War Theatre ($1.00 from $10.00 until 10/15)
Super Star Path ($3.99 from $4.99 until 10/16)
Bot Vice ($7.99 from $9.99 until 10/16)
Percy’s Predicament Deluxe ($3.59 from $5.99 until 10/10)
Solstice Chronicles: MIA ($11.99 from $14.99 until 10/16)
City of Brass ($9.99 from $19.99 until 10/14)

Iron Crypticle ($3.99 from $9.99 until 10/14)
The Next Penelope ($1.99 from $12.99 until 10/13)
The Knight & the Dragon ($4.99 from $9.99 until 10/10)
Aggelos ($10.49 from $14.99 until 10/13)
Lines X ($0.39 from $0.99 until 10/15)
Lines Infinite ($0.79 from $1.99 until 10/15)
Hyperlight Ultimate ($3.49 frrom $6.99 until 10/14)
Dead in Vinland – True Viking ($22.39 from $27.99 until 10/3)
Vektor Wars ($0.99 from $9.99 until 10/10)
Songbird Symphony ($15.29 from $16.99 until 10/13)
Tap Skaters ($3.34 from $4.99 until 10/16)
Terrorhythm ($6.69 from $9.99 until 10/16)
Grave Keeper ($6.69 from $9.99 until 10/16)
Doughlings: Invasion ($7.49 from $9.99 until 10/9)
Agent A: Puzzle in Disguise ($11.99 from $14.99 until 10/14)

Button Button Up! ($10.79 from $11.99 until 10/3)
Candleman ($12.74 from $14.99 until 10/16)
WRC 8 FIA World Rally ($44.99 from $49.99 until 10/16)
Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom ($29.99 from $39.99 until 10/17)
Thimbleweed Park ($9.99 from $19.99 until 10/14)
New Star Manager ($15.99 from $19.99 until 10/14)
Icey ($6.99 from $9.99 until 10/13)
Abzu ($13.99 from $19.99 until 10/13)
Unruly Heroes ($12.99 from $19.99 until 10/14)
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons ($11.24 from $14.99 until 10/14)

Sales Ending This Weekend

Demolition Crew ($1.50 from $2.00 until 9/28)
Monkey Business ($4.99 from $9.99 until 9/28)
Robox ($4.99 from $9.99 until 9/28)
Selma and the Wisp ($1.09 from $9.99 until 9/28)
Alteric ($2.49 from $4.99 until 9/29)
Balance Blox ($1.49 from $2.99 until 9/29)
Battle Group 2 ($0.79 from $9.99 until 9/29)
Blood Waves ($6.99 from $9.99 until 9/29)
Bubble Shooter ($1.49 from $2.99 until 9/29)
Car Mechanic Manager ($1.19 from $3.99 until 9/29)
Car Trader ($1.19 from $3.99 until 9/29)
Cinders ($13.99 from $19.99 until 9/29)
Crash Bots ($6.49 from $9.99 until 9/29)
Deep Ones ($2.49 from $4.99 until 9/29)
Distraint: Deluxe ($4.79 from $5.99 until 9/29)

Drowning ($1.94 from $2.99 until 9/29)
Grass Cutter – Mutated Lawns ($5.24 from $6.99 until 9/29)
Lichtspeer: Double Speer ($3.99 from $9.99 until 9/29)
M.A.C.E. Space Shooter ($2.49 from $4.99 until 9/29)
Marble Power Blast ($1.49 from $2.99 until 9/29)
My Memory of Us ($10.49 from $14.99 until 9/29)
OVIVO ($5.24 from $6.99 until 9/29)
Perry Pig Jump ($1.49 from $2.99 until 9/29)
Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs ($12.49 from $24.99 until 9/29)
Riot – Civil Unrest ($4.99 from $19.99 until 9/29)
Sigi ($3.24 from $4.99 until 9/29)
Sky Force Anniversary ($4.99 from $9.99 until 9/29)
Solo: Islands of the Heart ($11.99 from $19.99 until 9/29)
Spencer ($3.49 from $6.99 until 9/29)

Super Star Blast ($2.49 from $4.99 until 9/29)
Swamp Defense 2 ($1.49 from $2.99 until 9/29)
The Count Lucanor ($2.99 from $14.99 until 9/29)
Timber Tennis: Versus ($0.99 from $1.99 until 9/29)
Unbox: Newbie’s Adventure ($5.99 from $29.99 until 9/29)
You Died but a Necromancer Revived You ($5.84 from $8.99 until 9/29)

That’s it for today, friends. And this week, come to think of it. I’m going to rest my hand and hope it’s not too damaged, and that means I probably shouldn’t play any games this weekend. Yeah. Seems likely. Anyway, I hope to see you all back here next week, and as always, thanks for reading!