No More Heroes wraps and MLK in Fortnite

Your Nintendo digest for the week ending August 29.

Emargo.

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Switch Weekly

Issue 247 — August 29, 2021

No More Heroes III

Hey, Chris here with issue #247 of Switch Weekly and your Nintendo round-up.

This week saw the release of No More Heroes III and Baldo. Unrelated games of course, but they both seemed to have botched the handling of their reviews in some way or another.

The red flag was raised for No More Heroes III when it came to light that the review embargo (when coverage can go live) wasn't to be lifted until nine hours after the game came out. This is usually a big, bad sign that the publisher isn't overly confident in the product. A fair bit of backlash on this odd timing stipulation arose, and the publisher did thankfully change course, but only slightly. The publisher said the original embargo was set to minimize the chance of spoilers. Anyway, worry not — as reviews are now live, and SUDA 51s latest has been rather warmly received. More on that in the issue below. 

As for Baldo, from what I can gather journalists didn't even get copies to review until the day before release — as such I've got no review of the Switch version to share with you this week. Initial impressions don't seem overly generous though. I've seen it described as beautiful, but very unpolished, with bugs to boot. If you really wanted an easier way to try it yourself it is available as part of the Apple Arcade sub. A shame, as this looked the part. 

So yeah, embargos aren't going anywhere, but I think we can all read between the lines when situations like these occur by exercising a bit of caution. More tranparency all round on stuff like this can't hurt either! 


Next, I want to talk briefly about Fornite. Epic revealed a new interactive experience for the game this week dubbed 'March Through Time' — and it immediately drew criticism for not really hitting the mark. In essence this in-game experience focused on Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech, putting a digital museum of sorts into Fortnite, along with with a space to gather and watch the remarkable civil rights speech.

Fortnite, being the third place that it is, does have a varied history of creating largely compelling digital spaces for events, be that an in-game concert, or public relations special. This one however, didn't get it right.

For many I think the sheer juxtapostion of it all is what the sticking point is. I think the intent here is probably good, and Fornite (or similar) can no doubt be used as an effective digital education tool, but ultimately I think it's fair to say having a civil rights icon talking about racial equality in a silly cartoon shooter is generally objectionable; "tonal dissonance" is right. For what it's worth: The King Center was not involved

I'm all for games teaching history, but this is just one big grimace emoji: 😬


Right, so next week there's over 30 games coming to the Switch. Full list is below.

Finally, the newsletter will be taking a rare break next week. I'm heading away for a few days — I'd say to relax, but with a toddler I know it'll be anything but relaxing 😅 ...but hey, a trip to the zoo will be nice too. 😄

If you enjoy these Nintendo updates you can buy me a coffee to keep me going

I'll be back on September 12th.

Catch you then,
Chris ✌️

🎮 Currently Playing — Townscaper, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD, Button City

REVIEW No More Heroes III — "no one does strange like Suda 51 [..] incredibly memorable and fun to play [..] Go into No More Heroes 3 with an open mind and enjoy the ride." The Sixth Axis gave it a 9 out of 10, Nintendo Life scored it an 8, whereas IGN gave it a 6 saying it "feels like a punk band playing on busted amps duct-taped to hell". Fair to say your mileage may vary here. 

Chris Carter // Destructoid

REVIEW Spelunky - An indie icon and roguelite royalty, finally on Switch — "Nearly a decade on, Spelunky still has all the fundamentals in place and remains a great entry in the roguelike genre". Chris Plante, writing at Polygon, calls the Switch the best place to play both Spelunky and Spelunky 2.

Mitch Vogel // Nintendo Life

Townscaper — the chill city-design game — is out now on Switch — I've had my eyes on this little indie plaything for a while, and I was thrilled to see it's now available on the Switch. As any Sims or Cities: Skylines player will no doubt know, often the act of building a world (or house as it were) can be more fun than actually playing the main game, and so it goes here — Townscaper is simply a tool to play around with. I grabbed this instantly as it seems to be the sort of thing that scratches a certain itch of mine. 

Jeff Grubb // VentureBeat

Metroid Dread trailer reveals an iconic boss — I was kinda surprised watching this (very good) trailer for Metroid — as it kinda felt like Nintendo over-shared. If you want to avoid spoilers don't watch, but on saying that I'd argue it will be hard to avoid what's in this trailer between now and October.

Tom Phillips // Eurogamer

REVIEW Trigger Witch — "successfully combines a top-down RPG with a twin-stick shooter, creating a fun amalgamation of genres that works really well"

Jemma Casson // Pure Nintendo

REVIEW Wildbus — I thought this one looked interesting, but oh boy — this reviewer found it to be a frustrating experience summed up as "lackluster and unintuitive". This other, somewhat more favourable take, called it "surreal" and "janky".

Jordan Rudek // Nintendo World Report

REVIEW Quake

PJ O'Reilly // Nintendo Life

REVIEW Button City

Chris Brandrick // Switch Weekly

Switch Games Club: The Flame in the Flood — During September Switch Weekly Community patrons will be playing through roguelike survival game The Flame in the Flood. It's currently on sale on the eShop, and this post explains how you can join us on our playthrough. Please do. 🙂

Switch Weekly

 

🎮 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

Tuesday, August 31

  • CRASH: Autodrive — Sci-fi murder mystery comic adventure.
  • KeyWe — Co-op puzzler in which you play as two kiwi birds in a postal sorting office.
  • Lamentum — Pixel art survival horror game set in 19th Century New England. M for Mature.
  • 📦 Monster Harvest — A farming adventure game where the plants mutate.
  • 📦 Rustler — GTA but medieval. Time to steal a horse I guess.... M for Mature.

Wednesday, September 1

Thursday, September 2

Friday, September 3

 

⚡️ Quick Links:


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PC, CapnGoat, SB, FrozenTrout, JR, MindFad, Greg, Michael Fairley, Chris D, and others — join them.


Chris Brandrick
 

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