Publisher and developer Nicalis, Inc. has announced it is teaming up with Japanese developer Studio Saizensen to bring Umihara Kawase Fresh! to the Switch in both North America and Europe. The game will arrive on 9th July and will also receive a physical release in the US for $39.99.
The latest entry in the popular Japanese platformer series promises to offer a "fresh" new chapter, with plenty of open-world platforming gameplay, requiring the young chef named Kawase to use her fishing lure as a grappling hook. Here's a bit more about the story and gameplay direct from the PR, along with a teaser trailer:
Kawase is a traveling chef who has embarked on many magical adventures in the past. In Umihara Kawase Fresh!, she will put her navigating, grappling and cooking skills to the ultimate test as she completes various quests and discovers the secrets of Kingness, a town that is new to her yet somehow familiar.
Players will need to jump, climb, swing and slingshot their way across platforms all over town in order to clear goals and reach a specific destination to advance to the next quest. Each completed quest can be replayed in Time Attack mode, where a timer is added to let players compete for the best times in online leaderboard rankings.
Along the way, Kawase can use the lure to collect enemies and various food ingredients to store in her magical backpack. Combining ingredients with special recipes creates dishes that can be consumed to earn temporary special abilities, like jumping higher or being able to survive underwater for a longer time. The game also includes two additional playable characters: Cotton from the scrolling shooter Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams and another storied character yet to be announced.
Nicalis and Studio Saizensen have previously collaborated on the crossover fighting game Blade Strangers (which also featured Kawase) and the hack-and-slash RPG Code of Princess EX. The upcoming Nicalis release Crystal Crisis will also include Kawase as a playable character.
Is this a game you would be interested in adding to your Switch collection? Have you played any of the previous entries in this series before? Tell us down in the comments.
Comments 30
Well that looks unique
I’m not sure how many people care about this, but I’m stoked. I love the yum yum games!
That's... different. Cute character design though.
I wanted to like the 3DS game, but I could never get the hang of the controls.
Nice. Need this.
Does anybody know if this is a completely different game then SAYONARA UMIHARAKAWASE++?
This looks really cool. Not a definite buy, but one to keep an eye on.
Been looking forward to this one, so it's a buy for me on the same month as Dragon Quest Builders 2.
Will definitely grab this, as Ive always been a fan. But I really need Crystal Crisis to hurry up. Not that Im hurting for games, I just really want that one. Funnily enough, just archived Blade Strangers today. Great game, but with DBFZ, and MK11 around the corner, it wasnt going to be played much longer.
Every time Nicalis chooses to publish another game for Switch that isn't 1001 Spikes... It hurts my feelings.
This is a great series. Umihara kawase games are so difficult, but so rewarding. I usually don't prefer hard games, usually play easy or normal difficulty when there's a choice, but have found it satisfying to get familiar with the fishing lure platforming mechanic. I like, and still play, the 3ds game even though it inexplicably runs at 30fps. The Vita version is better, and this Switch game should run at 60fps like the Vita. I wonder if 2 player coop or competitive could be fun with this game?
Wow. That’s a pair of big... eyes.
Looks charming as hell! That being said, Nicalis' pricing means I won't try it out just because, only if it gets stellar reviews and a price drop. It's a weird publisher approach given how well games like Stardew Valley and Hollow Knight are selling.
@Wanjia cool. I only came to know about the series after Blade Strangers. I ordered a vita copy of Sayonara from strictly limited games but this might come out first lol
Yessssssssssss this is amazing, Japanese pre-order cancelled.
@sketchturner 1000000000000% agreed, when will they give us a physical. They even teased it inside the Tiny barbarian box if i recall correctly.
@faint SFC classic updated, yes please
@citizenerased I'm the same, I haven't bought any Nicalis titles as they are hugely overpriced. When you can get titles like Hollow Knight and Stardew Valley for $15 but Nicalis want $30 for Tiny Barbarian you know something's wrong.
I think I might still get the Japanese version. It was confirmed to already support English, so a 3-month delay for this is a little much.
Also, regarding the price: The game costs about 50$ in japan, not counting shipping, so Nicalis is kind of giving us a deal here. That's not my gripe with this though.
Why is it always Nicalis?! They never release stuff physically in Europe. I'm still trying to get a reasonably priced copy of Blade Strangers!
That close up on her belly was a bit weird. I'm sure my teenage self would have loved it though
@Tandy255 Once you do grasp the game’s physics though, the exploration and experimentation opens up dramatically. It’s such a unique feeling platformer and world.
I’m very excited and looking forward to the sequel’s physical release, personally
@Tandy255 Yumi's Odd Odyssey (I had to open my old 3DS to remember the name) was a difficult game to figure out and master the mechanics. Fortunately the levels were short. I liked it enough to get decent at it and I had a good time (Antraxx777 just beat me to the post.
The original level art has translated reasonably well to 3D, though it's about as disparate as ever at the same time, even without the weird photo backgrounds.
@RainbowGazelle PlayAsia sells Blade Strangers for an okay‘ish price. They also put this game on sale very often. Got it for 36 Euros, shipment included.
zoom in on her belly
Well that's a new one.
@Lando_ Oh, that's not bad. I'll check them out. Thanks!
Life? Money? Hunger? It'd seem they decided to land this one solidly in Platformer territory instead of Puzzle. That's probably for the better for sales. Series veterans can challenge themselves to No Damage runs while everyone else enjoys a game that chills the @#$! out.
Have the Japanese release preordered.
I have the 3ds entry...and it was a nightmare to play. I'll skip.
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