Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for February 14th, 2024. It’s Valentine’s Day, and nothing says love like video games! Probably! Don’t quote me on that, though. With that said, we do have some games for you to enjoy. Pretty good ones, for a Wednesday. We also have a little news to check out. So we’ll do that, head to the new games, and finish it up with the usual lists of new and expiring sales. Let’s get to the love*!

*games

News

Ys X: Nordics Releasing Fall 2024

NIS America just announced that the newest installment in the awesome action RPG Ys franchise will release this Fall for Switch, PS5, PS4, and PC platforms in the West. I’m quite surprised by this because I thought it would arrive in 2025 going by the usual timeline. I even bought the Japanese edition on Switch last year to play. Either way, this is good news for everyone and we are getting a brand new Ys game in Fall 2024. I hope NIS America releases details for the limited edition because I will be on that. -Mikhail Madnani

Nintendo Shows Off the ‘Splatoon 3’ Side Order DLC

The second wave of the Splatoon 3 DLC, Side Order, is just about upon us. Indeed, we’re just under a week away from its February 22nd launch date, and in light of that Nintendo has offered up a video that runs through some of the things you can expect. In this single-player campaign you play as Agent 8, who wakes up to find Inkopolis has been drained of all of its color! The Spire of Order awaits, and it’s filled to the brim with waves of enemies to defeat. Your only companion is a drone that claims to be Pearl? Hm. Mysteries abound. If you feel like solving them, you’ll need to grab that expansion pass and get ready for next week’s launch.

New Releases

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft ($29.99)

The first three Tomb Raider games come to the Nintendo Switch in style with this set of remasters from Aspyr. You can play the games in a style similar to the originals, or enjoy new spruced-up graphics and modernized controls if you’re having trouble going that far back. There’s the odd bug here and there, and the modern graphics are sometimes too dark, but otherwise this is a great way to play these classics. Runs a treat on the Switch, too. Check out our review from yesterday.

Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore ($19.99)

What an odd thing this is. Personally, I have never played the Zelda games on the Philips CD-i. I have never played a CD-i at all, in fact. But, like many of you I suspect, I’ve seen the goofy animated cutscenes quite a lot over the years. Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore is an homage to those games, and the cutscenes certainly evoke the style correctly. I think something went amiss here, however, because the game is actually a pretty fun side-scrolling adventure. Isn’t it supposed to be bad? All joking aside, this game turned out to be better than the joke I was expecting. Look forward to my review soon.

Lords of Exile ($19.99)

And here’s another cool game today. This is a linear action game done up in a classic style, and it’s rather good. You’re on a quest for revenge and need to slice and dice your way through eight stages. Each one is capped off with a boss battle, and once you topple them you’ll get a new skill to carry into the next stage. There are two different characters to use, each with their own distinct play style. I’ll be reviewing this one soon too, but I can say that if you like the look of it, you’ll probably like the game.

Meta Meet Cute!!!+ ($17.99)

If you’re going to tread on a well-trodden path, then I suppose it can’t hurt to try to mix things up. This is a romance visual novel, but it’s very meta. Lots of fourth wall breaking. Can you romance the desk? Maybe. There are three main routes and apparently something like twenty sub-routes, and I am sure there is plenty of silliness to be found within. Well-suited for those who are tired enough of this kind of thing to seek something novel, but not so tired of it to abstain from the genre completely.

The Bin Bunch

My Name is Mayo 3 ($1.99)

Sales

(North American eShop, US Prices)

Nothing too wild today in the inbox, I think. Some good games, but ones we often see on sale. Never a bad time to add Donut Dodo to your collection, though. Over in the outbox, the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster sale is finishing up, and so is the latest sale from Onion Games. Indeed, I would say the outbox is where the main action is today. Give both lists a look anyway.

Select New Sales

Cynthia: Hidden in the Moonshadow ($11.19 from $13.99 until 2/20)
Football Manager 2024 Touch ($39.99 from $49.99 until 2/22)
Invisible Inc ($4.99 from $19.99 until 2/26)
Mark of the Ninja Remastered ($4.99 from $19.99 until 2/26)
Don’t Starve ($4.99 from $19.99 until 2/26)
Death Road to Canada ($4.49 from $14.99 until 2/28)
KarmaZoo ($6.99 from $9.99 until 2/29)
Sentry City ($3.49 from $4.99 until 3/3)
Murtop ($3.49 from $4.99 until 3/3)
The Legend of Gwen ($3.99 from $19.99 until 3/3)
Donut Dodo ($3.49 from $4.99 until 3/3)
Gunpig: Firepower for Hire ($3.49 from $4.99 until 3/3)
Galacticon ($3.49 from $4.99 until 3/3)
Sakura Gamer ($4.99 from $9.99 until 3/4)
Starlight Drifter ($13.39 from $19.99 until 3/4)
Sakura Alien ($6.69 from $9.99 until 3/4)
Sakura Neko Calculator ($2.49 from $4.99 until 3/4)
Favela Zombie Shooter ($3.99 from $7.99 until 3/6)
King Jister 3 ($2.69 from $5.99 until 3/6)

Sales Ending Tomorrow, February 15th

Amabilly ($3.49 from $4.99 until 2/15)
Black Bird ($13.29 from $18.99 until 2/15)
Bob the Elementalist ($3.49 from $4.99 until 2/15)
Boost Beast ($1.99 from $9.99 until 2/15)
Chemically Bonded ($6.99 from $9.99 until 2/15)
Citizen Sleeper ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/15)
Crossroads Inn: A Fantasy Tavern Sim ($9.99 from $19.99 until 2/15)
Cyber Citizen Shockman 2 ($4.19 from $5.99 until 2/15)
Dandy Dungeon: Brave Yamada ($13.29 from $18.99 until 2/15)
Eastward ($14.99 from $24.99 until 2/15)
Eat Beat Deadspike-San ($4.19 from $6.99 until 2/15)
Evil Diary ($3.49 from $4.99 until 2/15)
Fashion Police Squad ($14.99 from $19.99 until 2/15)
Fearmonium ($9.09 from $12.99 until 2/15)
Final Fantasy ($9.59 from $11.99 until 2/15)

Final Fantasy I-VI Collection ($59.99 from $74.99 until 2/15)
Final Fantasy II ($9.59 from $11.99 until 2/15)
Final Fantasy III ($14.39 from $17.99 until 2/15)
Final Fantasy IV ($14.39 from $17.99 until 2/15)
Final Fantasy V ($14.39 from $17.99 until 2/15)
Final Fantasy VI ($14.39 from $17.99 until 2/15)
Frogun ($8.99 from $14.99 until 2/15)
Garlic ($7.49 from $14.99 until 2/15)
Gotcha Racing 2nd ($3.99 from $9.99 until 2/15)
Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R ($3.74 from $14.99 until 2/15)
Help Will Come Tomorrow ($1.99 from $19.99 until 2/15)
Hirilun ($6.99 from $9.99 until 2/15)
Hypnospace Outlaw ($6.99 from $19.99 until 2/15)
Inferno Climber Reborn ($3.49 from $13.99 until 2/15)
Love Kuesuto ($3.49 from $4.99 until 2/15)

Mon Amour ($6.29 from $8.99 until 2/15)
Mononoke Slashdown ($4.19 from $6.99 until 2/15)
moon ($13.29 from $18.99 until 2/15)
Murder is Game Over ($3.49 from $4.99 until 2/15)
NeonPowerUp! ($3.49 from $4.99 until 2/15)
Nowhere Prophet ($2.49 from $24.99 until 2/15)
Of Mice and Sand Revised ($4.99 from $9.99 until 2/15)
Othello ($1.99 from $4.99 until 2/15)
Petit Petit Petit ($7.79 from $12.99 until 2/15)
Pirates on Target ($3.49 from $4.99 until 2/15)
Runnyk ($3.49 from $4.99 until 2/15)
Sail Forth ($13.59 from $19.99 until 2/15)
SnowRunner ($19.99 from $39.99 until 2/15)
Steel Defier ($2.49 from $4.99 until 2/15)
The Amazing American Circus ($3.74 from $14.99 until 2/15)
The Last Hero of Nostalgia ($16.24 from $24.99 until 2/15)
This is the Zodiac Speaking ($1.99 from $12.99 until 2/15)
Velocity Noodle ($4.54 from $12.99 until 2/15)
Worldless ($15.99 from $19.99 until 2/15)
Zomborg ($3.49 from $4.99 until 2/15)

That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with the list of Thursday releases, plus whatever sales and big news items roll in. You never know, eh? Sometimes things drop out of the sky on us. At the very least, we’ll have a lot of new games to sort through, and that’s usually enough for a decent Thursday. I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday, and as always, thanks for reading!