Bayonetta 3 stands defiant in its absurdity

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Issue #‍306 | October 30, 2022 · Murky no more

Hello, Chris here with issue #306 of Switch Weekly — your Nintendo update. I hope you are doing well.

Another week, and another wrinkle in the ongoing Bayonetta 3 drama. We now seem to have a clearer picture of what has gone on in this messy voice acting spat. Details around pay have been clarified and corroborated — it's now somewhat obvious that Hellena Taylor wasn't wholly accurate with her initial account of how things went down. Many called into question Taylor's personal political views and was using that as some form of justification for her not getting fair pay — now, irrespective of how questionable you may find an individuals political views, that doesn't stand in the way of them being paid fairly. However, now that we can safely assume she wasn't completely honest about things, it's given this story a whole other weird angle: Taylor has since doubled down on the initial allegation, and encouraged folks to donate any "boycott" money to a list of charities, one of which is an anti-abortion group. It's one thing to ask fans of the series to boycott a game on fair pay grounds, but it's another to then ask them to donate that cash to a shitty charity. Any goodwill she may have had has now quickly dissipated. Anyway, as a result I've made a donation to the U.S. National Network of Abortion Funds. I imagine now that the game is finally out, most of the energy here has been spent — either way, it's the last mention of it I will be making here at the top of the newsletter. Turns out the game is good! Reviews are in the issue below.

In other news, car salesman Elon Musk finalised his purchase of internet doomscrolling hotspot Twitter this week. I've been on the service a long time (since 2007) and have made many friends and professional connections on it over the years — it's a site that I use a ton and makes up for a huge part of my time online — for better or worse it's the first thing I check most mornings. Why am I mentioning it here? Well, I use it every day to find great writers and folks in the Nintendo space to share their work here in this very newsletter. There's now some fear that things are all about to change — as such, I wanted to share this excellent piece from Nilay Patel at The Verge, which does a superb job of outlining Musk's very new reality.

Now, next week we've got around 30 games landing on the Switch. The full list of what is hitting the eShop is below for you as ever.

Finally, just a scheduling note: I'm going to have to make some boring web host changes over the next week or so, and as such, there may be some disruption to the newsletter. I'm hoping to avoid missing any issues, but consider this a heads up if you don't see Switch Weekly land in your inbox next week.

Huge thanks for reading.

Cheers,
Chris ✌️

REVIEW Bayonetta 3 — "comfortably the weirdest game you’ll play this year [..] Where many western games yearn to be seen as the height of sophistication, craving the critical kudos of an HBO drama, Bayonetta 3 stands defiant in its absurdity. Like its predecessors, this is destined to go down as a cult classic – a dizzying dance of demon-dicing delight.". As a point of interest, Maddy Myers writing for Polygon "hated the ending", sharing that "if you ever wanted to believe that there was something deeper to Bayonetta’s story — some grander statement about femininity and sexuality and power dynamics — you’ll find the truth to be quite a disappointment". Here's a review round-up if you want to read up some more before making your decision.

Tom Regan // The Guardian

Bayonetta 3 is bringing out people's biphobia in a big way — A spoiler warning on this one btw.

Ty Galiz-Rowe // Gayming

Hideki Kamiya says he’s ‘forever indebted to Nintendo’ for Bayonetta 3

Jordan Middler // VGC

REVIEW Oddworld: Soulstorm — "Soulstorm on Switch hasn’t quite freed Abe and the Mudokons from the fetters of poor performance and archaic design".

Lowell Bell // Nintendo Life

REVIEW Signalis is a near pitch-perfect ode to Resident Evil and Silent Hill - This is one stylish looking sci-fi survival horror game. This Polygon review is based on the PC version — here's a Switch specific review that's also rather glowing.

Toussaint Egan // Polygon

REVIEW Factorio — "Despite some issues with the way the Switch port is presented and controls, these are minor issues in an otherwise stellar game".

Trent Cannon // Nintendo Life

REVIEW A Winding Path — "Wonderfully charming in every stretch of the imagination".

Alex Harding // Switchaboo

REVIEW Robotry — The local co-op make this "a perfect fit on Switch and one that could easily invade your game nights".

Jason Capp // Nintendo Link

▶ REVIEW Pompom: The Great Space Rescue

Nintendo Sphere // YouTube

The making of Live A Live, a groundbreaking JRPG masterpiece

John Szczepaniak // Time Extension

The inspiring story of the trans actress behind your favorite Pokémon's voice — "If you grew up watching Pokémon, Maddie Blaustein was likely the first trans person's voice you ever heard. Her story and impact are indelible". This story is from 2019, but it was new to me.

David Levesley // Them

How Splatoon fans discovered the secret of ‘F**k You’ Tuesday — Deciphering the game's fictional language reveals Easter eggs and lore.

Amelia Zollner // Polygon

▶ The Nintendo Switch is entering a pivotal time...

Spawn Wave Plus // YouTube

▶ Why horror games are good for you

GameSpot

Stuck in the mud: How a tiny, beloved driving game sparked a bizarre, decade-long feud

Rebekah Valentine // IGN

🎮 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

Sun

Midnight Remastered — A remastered version of the 2017 web horror game. (Oct 31 in U.S.)

Mon

⭐️ Amazing Chicken Adventures — Egg-rolling 3D puzzle platformer with Eastern European influence. Don't let the bland name put you off giving this one a look.

Tue

⭐️ Lonesome Village — Kickstarter success story lands on Switch. Cute puzzle / life sim.

Wed

Fantasy Blacksmith — Get smithing in this blacksmith/alchemy sim.
Hatup — Precision platformer with single-screen stages.
⭐️ How to Say Goodbye — Narrative puzzler that tells the story of a person who has recently been turned into a ghost, lost in an world populated by disoriented spirits.
⭐️ Master Spy — Stealth game meets precision platform.
Shatter Remastered Deluxe — Shiny brick-breaking arcade game.

Thu

Delivery Driver: The Simulation — 3D sim, a real prime choice.
Dragon Prana — Retro RPG with a nostalgic pixel art look.
Enoh — Survival horror, first-person game set in a school. M for mature.
Garfield Lasagna Party — Party game that's totally gonna be the Switch Weekly Discord's GOTY. 😉
Ghost Song — Atmospheric 2D adventure of "self-discovery, ancient mysteries, and cosmic terror".
Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch — A 3D open-world horseback adventure.
Mecha Ritz: Steel Rondo — Fast-paced retro-style arcade shoot'em up.
My Life: Riding Stables 3 — Stud farm horse sim.
⭐️ Pilgrims — Playful adventure gameby the team behind Machinarium and Samorost.
Pirated Code: Admin Edition — Space/AI visual novel.
QUByte Classics: The Samurai Collection — An action adventure with beat'em up combat and platform puzzling.
Run Box Run — Escape run party game with online.
Space Tail: Every Journey Leads Home — Astronaut dog space adventure.
Totally Accurate Battle Simulator — Battlefied sim with the 'wobbliest physics'. Online play.

Fri

7 Days of Rose — Romance visual novel.
Aeterna Noctis — A fantasy non-linear action platforming adventure.
📦 Bratz: Flaunt your fashion — Fashion design adventure.
⭐️📦🎮 Harvestella — Life simulation meets role-playing by Square Enix. (Physical release)
⭐️📦 It Takes Two — Award winning co-op platforming adventure comes to Switch. (Physical release)
Mission Commando — Budget-priced arcade Marines action.

Sat

ET Varginha — 2D alien adventure that describes itself as similar to Limbo. Something, something, phone home.

⚡️ Quick Links

Want some spooky games for Halloween? My buddy Jay has you covered.
Modern Vintage Gamer takes a look at the techincal performance of Bayonetta 3, and overclocks it too. Digital Foundry have done their usual technical review.
Apple has added support for Nintendo's range of Classic Controllers (NES, SNES, N64) to the iPhone, iPad, Mac, & Apple TV.
Once Stadia exclusive, Wavetale is coming to Switch in December.
The GTA Trilogy has been patched again, and this video updates us on how the game is now running on Switch.
N64 platformer Glover is coming to Switch soon.
R-Type Tactics I & II Cosmos is coming to the west next summer.
The Octopath Traveler II devs talk about the game's evolved use of HD-2D in this Famitsu interview.
This new fishing game sure looks like Animal Crossing.
Splatoon fans: Judd and Li'l Judd plushies are coming... to Japan.
This upcoming Kirby merch is adorable.
Take a look at this great fan-made Zelda-themed 2023 calendar.
As it's almost Halloween, please enjoy this Luigi's Mansion door...

💸 eShop Bargains

Here's a quick list of some current offers on the Nintendo eShop that caught our eye. Price tracking is provided via Family Gaming Database.

Dicey Dungeons — ~90% discount.
Descenders — 60% discount.
Bugsnax — 60% discount.
Death's Door — 50% discount.
Carrion — 50% discount.

Looking for more? Family Gaming Database has a full list of the Switch games that are on sale right now.

💌 Switch Weekly remains both accessible and sustainable thanks to the ongoing support of my amazing patrons, including:

PC, CapnGoat, SB, FrozenTrout, JR, MindFad, Greg, Michael Fairley, Chris D, Andrew E, Pobble, TomNinetyTwo, and others — why not join them?

Curated by Chris Brandrick

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Key phrases

messy voice acting spat US National Network boring web host changes personal political views individuals political views internet doomscrolling hotspot other weird angle fair pay grounds many western games

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