Switch Weekly - Mario + Rabbids Spark Joy

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Issue #‍305 | October 23, 2022 · Slow it down

Hey, issue #305 of Switch Weekly here with your Nintendo update.

Last week I shared some thoughts with you regarding the Bayonetta 3 pay dispute and the resulting drama circulating off the back of it. Since then it's evolved somewhat, with further details and rebuttal's emerging and corroborated. My takeaway from all of this is that I probably jumped the gun on taking what I saw at pure face value — it's a messy and rather murky situation all round, and at this stage its a case of which details of the various accounts you choose to put confidence in. I still think Kamiya's Twitter behaviour in general is telling. Plus, as Jon Cartwright said over on Twitter, no matter what — the lesson isn't to ignore people when they're claiming to be exploited. Taking time and waiting for the detail to emerge is often tricky in a world of hot take tweets....

Anyway, more links on this in the issue below, along with a bunch of other great reads.

As for next week, well, it is officially spooky season — as a lot of the near 50 games hitting the eShop over the next seven days are M for mature and kinda scary. 😅 Bayonetta 3 is of course, the long-awaited highlight.

Before I go, I wanted to note that I've been doing this newsletter for six years now! My thanks to all of you for continuing reading. If you enjoy my weekly updates, you can become a patron for $1 a month, or buy me my morning coffee for tomorrow.

Cheers,
Chris ✌️

REVIEW Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope — "a fun-filled exploration that shows what can happen when Nintendo decides to share its toys. While it's not the biggest leap a sequel has ever made, an incredible soundtrack, great visuals and witty writing make it one of Switch's best games of the year.". Here's another review from Pure Nintendo.

Jordan Middler // VGC

▶ Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope - Tech review - A worthy sequel? — This technical look at Ubisoft's latest highlights the worthwhile tradeoffs made for this ambitious follow up.

Digital Foundry // YouTube

REVIEW Persona 5 Royal — As my survey data has shown, Switch owners have been clamouring for proper, mainline Persona games on Nintendo's hybrid for years — thankfully it seems this port of the now six year old game is rock solid, as most reviews praise its performance. A 50-hour epic that's a "worthwhile investment". Here's another review from Nintendo Life: "one of the very best RPGs of the last decade".

Holly Alice // Gfinity

Nine things you should know before starting Persona 5 Royal

Julia Lee // Polygon

A tense pay dispute overshadows Nintendo’s upcoming Bayonetta 3

Jason Schreier // Bloomberg

The Bayonetta 3 pay dispute highlights the precarious conditions voice actors work under — Missing public knowledge about the complexities of the VO industry led to unhelpful discussion about what good working conditions should look like.

Malindy Hetfeld // gamesindustry

What Bayonetta 3’s drama tells us about the market for video game voice work

Kyle Orland // Ars Technica

Bayonetta 3 voice actress Jennifer Hale asks fans to be kinder following abuse

Ed Nightingale // Eurogamer

REVIEW Jackbox Party Pack 9 — "has more hits than misses".

Ozzie Mejia // Shacknews

REVIEW New Tales From the Borderlands is too impatient for its own good — Note: This is based on the PC version.

Grayson Morley // Polygon

Resident Evil 2, 3 and 7 Cloud lock in Switch release dates — ...with Village landing next week.

Liam Doolan // Nintendo Life

Nintendo takes steps to protect staff from growing problem of customer harassment

Steven Le Blanc and Masami M // Sora News 24

PREVIEW An hour with Pokémon Scarlet and Violet suggests they might be too vast for their own good

Chris Tapsell // Eurogamer

PREVIEW Scarlet & Violet might actually be Pokémon’s Breath of the Wild

Ari Notis // Polygon

Tunic is the game of the year that no one’s talking about — "Let’s not be too hasty to crown Elden Ring. This Zelda-inspired indie title is a worthy front-runner."

Reece Rogers // Wired

Please don’t buy a $100 cloud game for your Nintendo Switch

Oliver Brandt // Vooks

Best Switch horror games for Halloween

Chris Penwell // Nintendo Link

🎮 Upcoming Releases

All releases are digital, Europe & U.S. unless otherwise stated.
Release data sourced in collaboration with Switch Scores.

⭐️ = Ones to Watch · 📦 = Physical release · 🎮 = Demo available

Mon

Howloween Hero — A trick-or-treat adventure about a puppy on a mission to score candy. (Already available in U.S.)
⭐️🎮 Pompom: The Great Space Rescue — Hamster side-scroller platformer. Looks good. (Oct 25 in U.S.)

Tue

Ducky Quacky — Budget 3D platformer with 20 levels.
📦 Miraculous: Rise of the Sphinx — Ladybug and Cat Noir explore Paris in this adventure game.
Super Mabus Mania — Collect retro games in this arcade platformer.

Wed

Dire Vengeance — Heavy-metal 2D action platformer with tough demon boss fights.
Escape String — Send input commands to a robot in this 2D puzzle game. (Oct 27 in U.S.)
Hot Springs Story 2 — Hotel sim with hot springs aplenty. (Oct 27 in U.S.)
Insomnis — First-person horror with focus on story, exploration and solving puzzles to advance through a terrifying mansion. M for mature.
⭐️ Robotry — Physics-based platformer without a jump button.

Thu

⭐️ A Winding Path — Hand-drawn adventure about finding the beauty of the world and enjoying the little things.
Alterity Experience — A 'closed door' 'unexplained phenomena' first-person adventure based in northern California.
Arkanoid - Eternal Battle — Brick breaking arcade action with online multiplayer.
📦 Asterix & Obelix XXXL – The Ram From Hibernia — 3D action adventure set in 50 B.C.
Bones of Halloween — Budget first-person 3D shooter set in a creepy forest.
Brewmaster: Beer Brewing Simulator — A rather detailed looking craft beer sim. M for mature.
Buddy Simulator 1984 — This looks to be an interesting retro styled text adventure. Described here as 'heartwarming horror meets Undertale'.
Cubic Parking — A minimalist parking-based puzzle game. No cars though.
📦 Dariusburst CS Core + Taito/Sega Pack — Scrolling shooter. Physical version is a limited release.
Delivery Driver: The Simulation — 3D sim, a real prime choice.
Hidden Paws Mystery — Find 100 cats scattered across 20 islands.
📦 Horse Club Adventures 2: Hazelwood Stories — Show off your dressage skills, and other horse stuff.
Isekai Harem Saver — Bishojo visual novel. M for mature.
⭐️📦 Oddworld: Soulstorm — 2.5D side-scrolling puzzle platformer.
📦 Paradigm Paradox — Otome visual novel.
Pixel Artist — A chill pixel take on paint by numbers.
Rule No. 1 — An arena-based FPS with a "dash of rogue-lite randomness". M for mature.
Saturnalia — Third-person roguelite horror adventure. Play as four characters across an intergenerational storyline tied to the haunting traditions of an ancient village in Sardinia, Italy. M for mature.
📦 Signalis — Dystopian future survival horror. M for mature. Physical release is Japan only, for now.
Solitaire: Classic Card Game — Yep.
Temple of Horror — Escape dangerous beings in this scary action adventure game. M for mature.
⭐️ The Pinball Wizard — Fantasy adventure meets arcade pinball.
The Table Game — A collection of board games, including hanfuda, blackjack, shogi, and others.
Vereda: Escape Room Adventure — First-person 3D puzzle 'undercover agent' adventure.

Fri

⭐️📦 Bayonetta 3 — First announced in 2017, the Umbra Witch returns. M for mature. Physical release.
📦 Charon's Staircase — Bury the past of a 'tyrannical government' in this first-person horror mystery. M for mature.
📦 CoComelon: Play with JJ — The world's second most-subscribed YouTube channel, in videogame form.
⭐️ Factorio — Build and maintain factories and manage resources. Has online.
Live by the Sword: Tactics — An "unashamedly old school" tactical RPG.
🎮 Resident Evil Village Cloud — You can download this demo now ahead of the full cloud release. M for mature.
Silenced: The House — Visual novel with plenty of "horror and despair". M for mature.
Sophstar — A "proper arcade" vertical shoot'em up inspired by genre bests of the 90s.
📦 Yomawari: Lost in the Dark — Explore a haunted town and search for missing memories in this puzzle adventure.

Sat

Halloween Shooter — Arcade shooter featuring zombies, mummies and scary aliens.

Sun

Midnight Remastered — A remastered version of the 2017 web horror game.

⚡️ Quick Links

Mario Party 1 & 2 are coming to hurt your hands on Switch online Nov 2nd.
Oddworld: Soulstorm is out next week, here's some fresh footage.
Just in time for Halloween, the Alan Wake remaster is out...now.
Digimon World: Next Order is coming to Switch in February.
Nintendo Switch Sports is fixed and back online.
3D platformer Clive N Wrench, inspired by Spyro/Banjo, is coming next year.
ARK: Ultimate Survivor Edition has been pushed back a few weeks.
Square Enix's Harvestella is getting improvements based on player feedback.
Playful adventure game Pilgrim is coming to Switch very soon.
Paper Mario fans may wanna check out this 'Flynt Buckler' Kickstarter.
One of the biggest Zelda Wiki sites on the web has reclaimed its independence.
Of course you want to see Link running around Super Mario 64 levels in BotW.
The producer on the new Silent Hill game sure knows horror: they worked on Luigi's Mansion.

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Key phrases

video game voice work precarious conditions voice actors REVIEW Jackbox Party Pack six year old game proper mainline Persona games tense pay dispute hot take tweets ambitious follow up Steven Le Blanc pure face value other great reads next seven days good working conditions Rabbids Spark Joy Switch release dates

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