Game Topz (gamtopz@gmail.com)

We’ve been covering SINoALICE for a while with the original Japanese release and the various announcements for the upcoming English version. After an indefinite delay for the original launch, Pokelabo has finally brought the game to players outside Japan as revealed earlier . The global version has two NieR collaborations coming as well beginning on July 16th with the NieR: Automata one and August 6th for the NieR: Replicant collaboration. Watch the trailer for the global version of SINoALICE below: Required specifications for SINoALICE on iOS and Android are detailed here . Today, the free to play RPG from the mind of Yoko Taro has gone live on the App Store here for iOS and Google Play here for Android. Maintenance is ongoing right now but it is expected to fully launch in a few hours with the in-game download available. I’ll have an interview with Yoko Taro, Shogo Maeda, and Yoshinari Fujimoto going live later today as well. Have you played SINoALICE through the Japane...

I’m not sure how this slipped by me for so long, but earlier this month one of my favorite mobile developers Neutronized posted a teaser for an upcoming game based in the popular Super Cat Tales universe. You may recall that back in early May Super Cat Tales 2 was updated with its third and final chapter , thus bringing the game’s story to a close about a year and a half after its original release. I also mentioned at the time that Super Cat Tales 2 being finished freed up Neutronized to work on more new games… perhaps even more Super Cat Tales games. I’m very happy that seems to be exactly what’s happening! This new game doesn’t have a title yet, but it’s a 2.5D style platformer where you travel up a mysterious tower and have the ability to fly. Check out this teaser. In a follow-up developer vlog , Neutronized goes into more detail about this new game and states that the entire concept is based on a dream he once had where he was outdoors in a field and had the ability to beg...

Ever since Apple launched their gaming subscription service Apple Arcade in September of last year, I’ve often wondered how the service is actually performing. There was tremendous buzz on launch from both critics and users alike, which is something I wasn’t quite expecting given the typically negative reaction towards the idea of subscription gaming from the traditional gamer audience. However, given that the App Store is overrun with free to play games that are often exploitative or lacking in any real substance, paying five bucks a month to have access to dozens of games that you know won’t feature a single advertisement or in-app purchase actually looked to be a pretty darn good deal to many people. With how big of a bang Apple Arcade launched with though, it certainly feels like it’s been whimpering along ever since. We’ve often talked on our podcast about how Apple’s approach to launching Apple Arcade didn’t make much sense. They heavily front-loaded the launch lineup with 50+ o...

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up. In today’s article, we’ve got a full review of SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated , plus a Mini-View of the first part of the Pokemon Sword & Shield Expansion Pass , the Isle of Armor . There’s also a bit of news to check out, plus summaries of today’s new releases including the epic RPG The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III . We round things out with a look at the latest incoming and outgoing sales, as usual. Let’s go for it! News Min Min is Now Available in ‘Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’ The latest character to join the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate , Min Min from ARMS , is now available for purchase and/or download. Along with her, new Mii Costumes from Fallout , Tekken , Splatoon , and ARMS are available. There are also new stages and some new music. Even if you didn’t buy any of the new content, you can update to version 8.0.0 to benefit from some new balance adjustments and othe...

GWENT: The Witcher Card Game (Free) launched on mobile through the iOS release before it finally arrived later on Android . Earlier this month, the Master Mirror expansion was revealed alongside an update. Today, the big GWENT: The Witcher Card Game version 7.0 update has gone live alongside the release of the fifth expansion for the game. Version 7.0 brings in the Master Mirror expansion with over 70 new cards but it also has a lot of balance changes and quality of life improvements. Watch the new developer video for the expansion below: Classic mode is now called Standard Mode. The Play Menu has been redesigned to improve the readability and user experience across the different game modes. This includes a description for each mode in addition to the current progression. The update also brings the new Disloyal keyword, changes to ability names and abilities, and a lot more. Read the full patch notes for the update here with developer comments on the changes. If you’re intere...

Stellaris from Paradox Interactive is a 4X grand strategy video game that debuted on PC platforms before arriving on PS4 and Xbox One later. Despite owning it on Steam for years, I finally got around to playing it on Xbox One and it definitely has a huge learning curve. After a few sessions of playing, I finally understood why people love the game and have been playing it on and off ever since. Today, Stellaris: Galaxy Command has launched worldwide on iOS and Android for free. The game originally launched in October but was pulled because it was discovered that the game used stolen artwork . After that, it had a soft launch in February this year. Watch the trailer for it below: Stellaris: Galaxy Command is based on Stellaris and features many of the original game’s features and mechanics. It is an open world strategy MMO featuring Stellaris ships with 3D graphics. Stellaris: Galaxy Command is free to play. There’s no shortage of free to play MMOs on mobile but I’ll give this...

Mobile gaming is in a very interesting place right now with the sheer amount of quality new games and ports arriving on iOS and Android. In an ideal world, a lot of these games would release on the same day on mobile as other platforms. Death Come True ($15.99) from Tookyo Games featuring Kazutaka Kodaka, the creator of Danganronpa , is the newest game I was looking forward to playing that arrived on mobile in addition to Nintendo Switch on the same day. It had always been announced for multiple platforms but having mobile come out before PC and PS4 is something I didn’t expect, but here we are. After a few months of waiting, Death Come True is finally here and the wait has been worth it for the most part. Death Come True sees you control Makoto Karaki within a hotel. He wakes up with no memory of how and why he is there. Makoto starts looking around and discovers an unconscious woman in the bathroom and is then interrupted by someone banging on the door. This is where the story ...

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for June 29th, 2020. In today’s article, we’ve got two full reviews: the grand strategy RPG Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia , and the blast from the alternate past Ultracore . There are a couple of Mini-Views to check out as well, along with summaries of the latest releases and a list of fresh sales to dig into. Plenty to see, so let’s get going! Reviews Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia ($49.99) Everything about Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia is so odd to me. Its publisher, Happinet, has been around for decades but has rarely had anything to do with video games. It’s a sequel to a one-off PlayStation release from 22 years ago, one that while good didn’t have a whole ton of people clamoring for a follow-up. It’s developed by Matrix Software, who haven’t done much more than ports for the last several years. The scenario for it was written by Kenji Terada, who wrote the first three Final Fantasy games but has do...

Hello everyone, and welcome to the week! It’s time once again for our look back at the noteworthy updates of the last seven days. We’ve got another mix of fresh updates to check out, including some popular free-to-play games and a few tasty paid titles. Big updates, small updates, and even a couple of very STUPID updates. Of course, you can keep an eye out for updates yourself using AppShopper or by participating in the TouchArcade forums. This weekly summary is just here to fill you in on the things you might have missed. Let’s go for it! Dr. Mario World , Free Dr. Mario World is not a terribly great game, but I’ll tell you one thing it delivers on: the STUPID . And I mean that in the most loving possible way. Let’s deal with the boring stuff first. New items that you’ll only see if you pay money, and the removal of an item you probably only saw when it was demonstrated. A Weekly Specialists feature that rewards you for having a particular doctor. Anyway, to the STUPID ! We’v...

WWDC 2020 has seen some fantastic announcements arrive for anyone interested in games on iOS and iPadOS. This ranges from new software improvements that will elevate games and also massive boosts to controllers on Apple devices. Barring those, Apple Arcade is getting a long overdue update on the App Store and one of the greatest RPGs is coming to iPad soon . Today, Apple revealed the Apple Design Awards winners for 2020 and it includes four games we’ve written about many times. Here’s the full list of Apple Design Awards winners for 2020 as revealed at WWDC 2020. Sayonara Wild Hearts It feels like Sayonara Wild Hearts from Simogo and Annapurna Interactive is always in the news these days. This maybe because the staggered launch across all platforms helps it get more press each time or because I keep seeing people post about the vinyl and the physical release on PS4 and Nintendo Switch. Simogo’s Apple Arcade exclusive on mobile is plain fantastic. Read my review of it here . I...

Pascal’s Wager ($3.99) from Tipsworks is something we have been covering and enjoying playing for a while with its post launch DLC and updates. The soulslike recently got its first expansion DLC in the form of the ‘Deep into the Dark Mist’ DLC which arrived alongside the big big 1.2.0 update to the game on iOS that had various improvements and enhancements. Pascal’s Wager finally arrived on Android as a premium release as well on Google Play and is still available at a launch discount on Android. Today, Tipsworks has released the soundtrack for Pascal’s Wager alongside an extended look at the recording and orchestrations for the game. Watch it below: You can check out the Pascal’s Wager Original Game Soundtrack featuring 21 tracks on iTunes here , Spotify here , and Amazon Music here . Hopefully the soundtrack gets a vinyl release in the future. I really like how they even got Jim Fowler for the game’s music. He worked on Bloodborne and many other games. Pascal’s Wager is...

Last week, Square Enix revealed how Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition would be priced on mobile in addition to confirming a demo for both PS4 and Nintendo Switch. The game was originally supposed to release on January 23rd this year for iOS, Android, PS4, and Nintendo Switch but was delayed . Over the weekend, Square Enix had a long gameplay showcase for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition on PS4 which had a lot of new gameplay but the highlight is around the 24 minute mark in the video that has the smartphone interface shown for the first time. Watch the extended Japanese gameplay video for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition below: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition has full cross platform online play and progression. It releases on August 27th for PS4, Nintendo Switch, iOS and Android. On iOS and Android, the game will be available for free and this free version will include the same content as the newly reve...

Recently, we learned that SNK is working on a brand new Metal Slug game for mobile platforms internally in Japan alongside a console game. This mobile game is not related to the Tencent one that was also revealed before. Over the weekend, Tencent’s Timi Studios who is also working on Pokemon Unite , announced a brand new Metal Slug game for mobile platforms. It is tentatively called Metal Slug Code: J . Timi Studios is working on faithfully recreating the classic Metal Slug gameplay for new and existing fan. Watch the reveal trailer for Metal Slug Code: J below showcasing some gameplay: I quite like the art and animations in the trailer above. SNK is no stranger to licensing out its IP to other developers and while some of the projects end up being not amazing, I have a lot of faith in Metal Slug Code: J after that gameplay video. Timi Studios games are excellent and I can’t wait to see how this Metal Slug game turns out when it arrives in the future. More details will be rev...

I’m not sure it will surprise anyone that this week’s episode is all about WWDC. Well, ALMOST all about WWDC. We do talk about a few new games. If you were hungry for some iOS 14 hot takes, ARM Mac hot takes, and similar… This is the episode for you. Apologies in advance if audio is a little weird, we had some minor technical issues that I tried pretty hard to fix in post. I only mention it because I’m a weirdo perfectionist. Don’t forget to shoot us emails with any questions, feedback, or anything else relevant or irrelevant to podcast@toucharcade.com . We read ’em all, and love decoding messages written entirely in emoji. As always, you can listen to us with the links below… And if you like what you hear, please subscribe and/or drop us a review in iTunes. Much appreciated! As a companion to this audio podcast, we also do a video version of the same show that is exclusive to Patreon which allows you to see us playing the games we’re talking about. Backers can view the most recent...