SwitchArcade Round-Up: ‘Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door’, ‘Wizardry’, Plus Today’s Other Releases and Sales

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for May 23rd, 2024. It’s Thursday, so we have a lot of new games to take a look at. Indeed, there are plenty of ways to go broke today. Not just all the good new games, and there are several, but also courtesy of a decent list of new sales. We’ve got summaries of the best of the new releases, plus the usual lists of new and expiring sales. Let’s get into the games!

Select New Releases

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door ($59.99)

The GameCube classic returns in this remake of the 2004 RPG. This was the last game in the Paper Mario series before the developers decided to get experimental with it, and as such it holds a special place in many people’s hearts. It’s a really good game, and if you haven’t played it before then this is a fine chance to make that right. I’ll have a full review of this one soon, but for now I’ll say that while there are a few things it could do better I’m pretty happy to see this out and available again.

Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord ($39.99)

This… is cool. Digital Eclipse has done a remake of the original Wizardry, and it’s all running on top of the original game code from 1981. You can even see the original running in a little window down in the corner as you play! The presentation has obviously been given a glow-up, and the interface has been streamlined to make the game easier to play. Not easier in terms of difficulty, mind you. This game is still a tough cookie, just less cumbersome. But if you want to play it like it was, you can turn off all the extra niceties and party like it’s 1981. I’ll be doing a review of this one, but as a fan of Wizardry and dungeon crawler RPGs in general, I can say that I absolutely love it.

Duck Detective – The Secret Salami ($9.99)

Like solving mysteries? How do you feel about waterfowl? Take out two ducks with one stone with this new adventure game. Inspect crime scenes, question suspects, and finger… er, feather the culprit once you’ve quacked the case. Not a terribly long game, but it’s oozing charm from every pore. I think our pal Mikhail might be taking a look at this one, but I’m not 100% sure. Feels like a Mikhail game, at least.

The Quintessential Quintuplets – Memories of a Quintessential Summer ($34.99)

The Quintessential Quintuplets – Five Memories Spent With You ($34.99)

If you like The Quintessential Quintuplets in either anime or manga form, Spike Chunsoft has a pair of games for you. Not happy with the girl who won in the canon story? Here’s your chance to rewrite things and bring your favorite into the spotlight. If I’ve got things sorted, one of these games is visual novel with choices while the other is a proper dating simulator, but I might be wrong on that. I enjoyed the manga series, but I’m not sure if I’ll have time to dig into these properly. We’ll see.

Eternal Threads ($19.99)

You’ve got a pretty interesting job in this one. You’re in charge of fixing corrupted timelines, and this time your work takes to you Northern England in May of 2015. Six people died in a house fire, and you have to manipulate things so that doesn’t happen. You can’t simply stop the fire, but you’re able to alter any number of other choices leading up to it. Some of them will only slightly affect the outcome, while others will have major consequences. You can even end up affecting the future of the characters beyond the act of saving their lives. This looks quite promising. I’ll have to give it a closer look.

Arcade Archives Chouji Meikyuu Legion ($7.99)

This week’s Arcade Archives release is, likely to the surprise of no one, a shooting game. But this is a fairly obscure one, Nichibutsu’s 1987 release Chouji Meikyuu Legion. It has a lot of unusual gimmicks and ways to score points, so it might be a fun choice for score attack fans who are looking for something they haven’t played before. There’s something to these Nichibutsu games. They’re not exactly good most of the time, but they’re interesting and earnest. Hard to dislike them.

Bread & Fred ($14.99)

Apogee, of all companies, has a new co-op 2D platformer for us to enjoy. Bread and Fred are two penguins trying to climb up a mountain, which isn’t something penguins generally do. They’re connected together by a rope, and they’ll have to take advantage of that to aid in their ascent. Be careful, though. The higher you go, the farther you could potentially fall. You can play with another player locally or via the internet, and if you go it alone one of the penguins will be replaced with a rock named Jeff. We’ll be doing a review of this in some form or another, so look forward to that.

Pine Hearts ($19.99)

If you’re looking for another one of those games where you’re just sort of chilling in a relaxing world unraveling a story, here you go. Pine Hearts is a park with plenty of things to do, and it’s all pretty low-pressure. That said, the story of the game deals a lot with grief, involving the loss of a family member. Explore, gather new tools and abilities that allow you to explore more, and see what surprises await. I think Mikhail is going to review this one, so look forward to that.

Ultra Foodmess 2 ($4.99)

More food, more mess, more ultra, more… more 2. There’s… look, it’s a sequel to Ultra Foodmess, okay? Up to four players can join in on the fun via local multiplayer, and there are ten new game modes to play. If you enjoyed the first game, this one is an easy recommendation.

Hauntii ($19.99)

A stylish twin-stick game where you can use your ghostly powers to command both creatures and objects in order to solve puzzles and deal with dangerous situations. Your goal is to collect what you need to build the Constellations, slowly uncovering the details of Hauntii’s past life. A rather mysterious adventure with a powerful atmosphere, and one that our pal Mikhail is going to talk to you about a little later on.

EGGCONSOLE Shin Maou Golvellius MSX2 ($6.49)

Oh hey, this is a good one. The MSX2 version of Golvellius is basically the ultimate version of the game, so it’s nice to see it join the EGGCONSOLE line. Expect all the usual features, which unfortunately means that the game itself is going to be an untouched, unlocalized Japanese version. I don’t think Golvellius has that much text anyway, and any walkthrough that works for the Master System release will apply here just fine. It will take a little courage to bite on it, but I think we’re all used to that with EGGCONSOLE by now.

Scarlet Tower ($4.99)

If you’ve ever found yourself playing Vampire Survivors and wishing there were a lot more flashing lights, is this the game for you! Scarlet Tower is yet another Survivors-style game, but it’s a well-made one that has obviously had a lot of effort put into its presentation. Might be worth it if you’re somehow tired of Vampire Survivors enough to look for a different game, but not so tired of it that you’re sick of the concept.

Soul Link ($5.99)

This is a falling block puzzler where instead of trying to make color matches or lines, you’re trying to make bridges between various locations. There are some physics to consider here, but it’s pretty easy to get the hang of how it works. The presentation is fairly simple but it works. Nice vibes overall.

Blade Jumper ($4.99)

An action-platformer where you’re trying to climb a tower for reasons that I’m not going to look up right now. Just know that there is a tower, and you’re trying to climb it room by room. You have a sword, which is useful because this tower is full of things that are trying to stop you from climbing it. You can also do this kind of slashing dash through the air that will help you move around and defeat enemies. Seems fine for a fiver.

Sales

(North American eShop, US Prices)

If you thought you were safe for a while from Arcade Archives sales after the ones that came up a couple weeks ago, you were dead wrong. Five more NEOGEO games, five more Namco games. As always, these sales are exceptionally rare and may never come around again, so fill your boots if you’re interested. The outbox also has some nice treats, including the Siralim games, the Alwa’s games, and Cathedral. Have a look through both lists and see what jumps out at you.

Select New Sales

Gum+ ($1.99 from $7.99 until 5/29)
Isle of Jura Fishing Trip ($1.99 from $13.99 until 5/29)
Carbage ($1.99 from $14.99 until 5/29)
Project Winter ($7.99 from $9.99 until 5/29)
Project Winter: Blackout ($5.59 from $6.99 until 5/29)
SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-Off ($4.94 from $14.99 until 6/3)
Raji: An Ancient Epic ($6.24 from $24.99 until 6/3)
One Last Breath ($15.29 from $17.99 until 6/6)
Pronty ($7.49 from $14.99 until 6/6)
ACA NEOGEO Baseball Stars Professional ($3.99 from $7.99 until 6/6)
ACA NEOGEO Metal Slug 5 ($3.99 from $7.99 until 6/6)
ACA NEOGEO Cyber-Lip ($3.99 from $7.99 until 6/6)
ACA NEOGEO Ninja Combat ($3.99 from $7.99 until 6/6)
ACA NEOGEO Samurai Shodown V ($3.99 from $7.99 until 6/6)

Arcade Archives Xevious ($5.59 from $7.99 until 6/6)
Arcade Archives Pac-Mania ($5.59 from $7.99 until 6/6)
Arcade Archives Baraduke ($5.59 from $7.99 until 6/6)
Arcade Archives Tank Force ($5.59 from $7.99 until 6/6)
Arcade Archives New Rally-X ($5.59 from $7.99 until 6/6)
Xenon Racer ($1.99 from $14.99 until 6/12)
The Serpent Rogue ($1.99 from $19.99 until 6/12)
Crown Trick ($4.99 from $19.99 until 6/12)
Yooka-Laylee & the Impossible Lair ($2.99 from $29.99 until 6/12)
Going Under ($4.99 from $19.99 until 6/12)
Bravery and Greed ($7.99 from $19.99 until 6/12)
The Knight Witch ($6.79 from $19.99 until 6/12)
Batora: Lost Haven ($9.99 from $24.99 until 6/12)
All-Star Fruit Racing ($1.99 from $19.99 until 6/12)
Blasphemous 1 + 2 Bundle ($26.99 from $44.99 until 6/12)
Moving Out 1 + 2 Bundle ($22.49 from $44.99 until 6/12)
Killer Frequency ($12.49 from $24.99 until 6/12)

Sales Ending Tomorrow, Friday, May 24th

A Void Hope ($12.79 from $15.99 until 5/24)
Alwa’s Awakening ($3.99 from $9.99 until 5/24)
Alwa’s Legacy ($7.19 from $17.99 until 5/24)
Asterix & Obelix Slap Them All 2 ($12.49 from $24.99 until 5/24)
Cathedral ($5.99 from $14.99 until 5/24)
Children of Silentown ($7.99 from $19.99 until 5/24)
Color Pals ($2.49 from $4.99 until 5/24)
Cyber Citizen Shockman 3 ($4.79 from $5.99 until 5/24)
Dino Ranch: Ride to the Rescue ($19.99 from $39.99 until 5/24)
Feeble Light ($2.49 from $4.99 until 5/24)
Football Manager 2024 Touch ($29.99 from $49.99 until 5/24)
Garfield: Lasagna Party ($15.99 from $39.99 until 5/24)
Inkulinati ($19.99 from $24.99 until 5/24)

Kraino Origins ($6.59 from $11.99 until 5/24)
Noob: The Factionless ($19.99 from $39.99 until 5/24)
NUTS ($3.99 from $19.99 until 5/24)
Pretty Girls Breakers ($2.79 from $6.99 until 5/24)
Pretty Girls Speed ($2.39 from $5.99 until 5/24)
Saga of the Moon Priestess ($4.19 from $5.99 until 5/24)
Sine Mora EX ($4.49 from $29.99 until 5/24)
Siralim 3 ($7.49 from $14.99 until 5/24)
Siralim Ultimate ($9.99 from $19.99 until 5/24)
Soundfall ($5.99 from $29.99 until 5/24)
Summer Catchers ($2.39 from $11.99 until 5/24)
Tallowmere 2 ($3.49 from $4.99 until 5/24)
The Sisters 2: Road to Fame ($20.09 from $29.99 until 5/24)

That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with the remaining releases of the week, plus whatever sales and big news items roll in over the course of the day. I woke up too early this morning and I have to attend a thing that will keep me out late tonight. Wish me luck! I hope you all have a thrilling Thursday, and as always, thanks for reading!