‘Outer Wilds’, ‘XIIZEAL’, Plus Today’s Other Releases and Sales – TouchArcade
Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for December 7th, 2023. It’s a Thursday, that much is clear. But it’s a Thursday in December, and that means it’s going to be a little less showy than we might expect. There are a fair number of games today, and a few of them are worthy of your attention. But very little is going to grab your ears and slam your face down into a sloppy plate of awesome, you know? We’ve got summaries of all the games worth summarizing, plus the latest sales and expiring discounts. Let’s get to it!
New Releases
Outer Wilds ($24.99)
This Switch port of the highly-acclaimed Outer Wilds was announced absolute ages ago, and now it is finally here. This space-faring adventure sees you exploring a solar system that is caught in a bizarre time loop. You need to try to figure out the answers behind that problem by observing the planets as they go through the passage of time. Put your boots down on the surface and hunt around for clues, or maybe just enjoy a nice roasted marshmallow. The game itself doesn’t need much introduction, but our pal Mikhail will be reviewing this one to let you know how the port fares. Fingers crossed, but I’m not super hopeful.
XIIZEAL ($15.00)
If you’re a shoot-em-up fan who loved the Switch port of Deltazeal, you’ll probably be very happy to see XIIzeal come to the system. This game was originally released in arcades in 2002, and it certainly looks and plays of that era. One cool thing about this release is that it comes with recorded commentary from the creator that gives some rare insights into what the coin-op business was like for a small game company back when this game was made.
Arcade Archives Pole Position II ($7.99)
Oh yeah! Pole Position II! This was one of the games that just hung around forever at my hometown’s mall, and I think it was there until Daytona USA finally displaced it. Considering this game came out in 1983, that’s pretty wild. Anyway, this is basically the first game but with more tracks, and Hamster even went and got the proper licenses for the Fuji Speedway and Suzuka Circuit for this release. I mean, yes, most people probably won’t be able to get into an old racer like this, but it’s an important game and it’s still quite fun. Fantastic to see it in the line-up, fully intact.
Sunsoft Mahjong Solitaire -Shanghai Legend- ($17.99)
It’s another mahjong solitaire game, but at least this one comes from one of the original publishers of such things: Sunsoft. This release includes a couple of extra modes and a whopping three hundred stages of standard Shanghai to play. Sure, it’s pricier than some other options, but I think you get what you pay for here. It’s for mahjong solitaire die-hards, mainly. The kinds of people who would play through three hundred stages. Is that you? Because it’s certainly me.
Hiveswap Friendsim ($14.99)
This is a visual novel set in the Homestuck/Hiveswap universe, and while that doesn’t mean a single thing to me I’m not so lacking in awareness as to think it doesn’t mean a lot to others. This is also part one of the MSPA Reader Saga! I don’t know what that means, but maybe we’ll find out very soon? If you like visual novels and you like Hiveswap, you probably can’t go wrong here.
Pesterquest ($14.99)
Oh, well, here we go. This is part two of the MSPA Reader Saga. I like it when questions get answered quickly. This one leans more into the Homestuck side of it, and I’ll say the same thing I said about Hiveswap Friendsim. If you like visual novels and like Homestuck, this will likely be something you enjoy. You can buy both of these together for a discounted price, and it seems like if you want the whole story then that is the thing you should do.
Yukar From The Abyss ($24.99)
An otome visual novel about a young woman from the city who moves to the countryside to try to find some peace. After missing her train stop, she somehow finds herself in the world of the gods, all of whom are very smoochable. Which one will she smooch? That will depend on your choices, friend. Four hunky animal gods in total equals four routes for you to play, and each of them has three endings. Happy, er, hunting!
Dreamers: A Nostalgic Adventure ($29.99)
This game describes itself as a nostalgic adventure with a 90s vibe, and since I can’t find a whole lot about it outside of its eShop description and Steam page, I guess I will take its word for that. It seems to have some mini-games, and also no one has a face. Which is kind of weird. Not very 90s to me, that point. I was there, we had faces. There are three characters to use and a whole island to explore. I haven’t had a chance to play it yet, so I really can’t say if it’s good or not. What I can say is that it must use touch controls for something because it’s marked as handheld-only in the eShop. Well, I leave it to you.
Crystal Chip Collector e ($4.99)
A speedy platformer that screams “five-dollar Switch platformer” about as loudly as anything could. You have to race the clock in each of the sixty stages to collect all of the chips. It’s set inside a computer, so that’s cool. Not much else to say about this one, but if you feel like an affordable platformer today, here is one of those.
Nessy The Robot ($9.99)
I’ve played this one before on Evercade. It’s an actual NES game being emulated here, and like other Nami Tentou NES releases on the Switch there aren’t a whole lot of bells and whistles here. As to the game itself, it’s an okay side-scrolling platformer. Kind of buggy at times, but the game uses bugs as a meta thing so who knows if they’re intentional or not. I wouldn’t pay ten bucks for it myself, but you are the commander in chief of your own wallet.
Stone Age ($2.23)
I can’t quite sort out exactly what is going on here, but this appears to be an action game with some light RPG elements. You control a caveman and can build up your tribe as you level up. It’s two bucks. Well, two bucks and a few coins. I’m sure you can manage your expectations.
The Bin Bunch
Erogods: Asgard ($7.30)
City Driver: Car Parking Simulator ($9.99)
Hot Love Dreams: Classic Hentai Logic Puzzle ($9.99)
Defend The Base: Tower Turret Shooting Range ($9.99)
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
Not much here today, either. Calm between the storms and all that fun. You might want to pick up Assault Suits Valken Declassified if it’s of interest to you, as the price is quite fair for what you get. Not much in the outbox either. Well, that’s how it goes some days.
Select New Sales
Hyper-5 ($6.49 from $9.99 until 12/15)
Neko Journey ($6.49 from $9.99 until 12/15)
Teratopia ($3.49 from $9.99 until 12/15)
The Sorrowvirus: A Faceless Short Story ($5.24 from $14.99 until 12/15)
Laserpitium ($9.74 from $14.99 until 12/15)
Rayland ($2.49 from $4.99 until 12/22)
Mugen Souls ($31.99 from $39.99 until 12/22)
Under the Warehouse ($3.89 from $5.99 until 12/22)
EchoBlade ($4.99 from $9.99 until 12/22)
Assault Suits Valken Declassified ($9.99 from $24.99 until 12/26)
My Lovely Pets ($2.99 from $14.99 until 12/26)
Big Adventure: Trip to Europe ($2.39 from $11.99 until 12/26)
Big Adventure: Trip to Europe 2 ($2.99 from $14.99 until 12/26)
Big Adventure: Trip to Europe 3 ($2.99 from $14.99 until 12/26)
Detective Agency: Gray Tie ($2.99 from $14.99 until 12/26)
Detective Agency: Gray Tie 2 ($8.99 from $14.99 until 12/26)
So Much Stuff ($5.99 from $14.99 until 12/26)
Match Ventures 2 ($2.39 from $11.99 until 12/26)
Brightstone Mysteries: The Others ($2.99 from $14.99 until 12/26)
Brightstone Mysteries: Paranormal Hotel ($1.99 from $9.99 until 12/26)
Alicia Griffith: Lakeside Murder ($2.99 from $14.99 until 12/26)
Idle Zoo Park ($5.99 from $9.99 until 12/26)
Once Upon a Jester ($5.99 from $14.99 until 12/27)
Winds of Change ($5.99 from $19.99 until 12/27)
Darkwood ($4.49 from $14.99 until 12/27)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Friday, December 8th
Agriculture ($2.99 from $4.99 until 12/8)
Albacete Warrior ($4.99 from $9.99 until 12/8)
Depth of Extinction ($2.84 from $14.99 until 12/8)
Fluffy Milo ($3.24 from $4.99 until 12/8)
Lucid Cycle ($2.44 from $6.99 until 12/8)
Mina & Michi ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/8)
Pill Baby ($3.00 from $15.00 until 12/8)
Pretty Girls Breakers Plus ($3.49 from $6.99 until 12/8)
Ravva and the Cyclops Curse ($1.99 from $4.99 until 12/8)
Suhoshin ($9.49 from $18.99 until 12/8)
Thunder Ray ($11.24 from $14.99 until 12/8)
Totally Accurate Battle Simulator ($13.99 from $19.99 until 12/8)
That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow to close out the week with more new releases, more sales, and perhaps some news. I still have a lot of things to get done, but I can’t seem to find time to do them. Such is how it goes lately. I hope you all have a thrilling Thursday, and as always, thanks for reading!
