It's another week, dear readers, and we have the Nintendo Download Update details for North America. There were various arrivals earlier in the week and now we have the formal update that is, as normal, rather busy and full of options. There are some varied and intriguing choices across the eShop, so let's get to it.
Switch Retail Downloads
Sonic Forces (SEGA, $39.99USD) - The long-awaited next entry in the 3D Sonic series, drawing ideas from the likes of Generations and Colors. In this one there are wisp powers once again, and in addition you also create and control your own avatar characters in some stages. We'll see how it shapes up on Switch in our review. Available from 7th November.
Farming Simulator: Nintendo Switch Edition (Focus Home Interactive, $49.99USD) - While it's easy to dismiss a humble farming sim, this series is surprisingly popular. Farming Simulator 17 attracted a whopping one million players within the first month of its launch. Even the German Chancellor Angela Merkel can't get enough of ploughing virtual fields. If that's your thing, this may be worth a look. Available from 7th November.
Switch eShop
Morphite (Level 77, $14.99USD) - Described as an "atmospheric exploration sci-fi shooter with platforming elements", Moprhite is a collaboration between Crescent Moon Games, We're Five Games and Blowfish Studios, and follows the exploits of Myrah Kale, whose life "takes a sudden turn when a routine mission develops into an interstellar adventure revealing her mysterious past and connection to the coveted substance Morphite." It looks intriguing and we'll get cracking on a review; in the meantime you can read our interview with one of the developers.
Perception (Deep End Games, $14.99USD) - Released on Halloween, this was a definite win for marketing and savvy timing. This only arrived on other platforms earlier this year and was received quite positively; it takes the first-person scary house trope and adds a twist. The protagonist is blind, so you can only see the surroundings in limited details and outlines, effectively using sound as your guide. This is an enhanced edition that includes three options for playing the campaign and various adjustments designed to improve on the original.
Super Beat Sports (Harmonix, $14.99USD) - This shares a couple of modes from a motion-focused title previously released on Apple TV, albeit this version has additional and new minigames. There are five games suited for between one and four players, and as you'd expect from a studio that once produced Rock Band titles these quirky sports games utilise rhythm gameplay. We'll get to the beat and bring you a review soon.
Chess Ultra (Ripstone, $12.49USD) - This aims to provide Switch owners with a substantial option to fulfil their chess needs. There are various tutorials, challenges and a few different boards, along with a variety of online and offline modes. Cross-platform play and a Switch exclusive desktop local multiplayer option stand out, along with the ability to setup online tournaments. We'll bring you a full review very soon.
Heroes of the Monkey Tavern (Monkey Stories, $9.99USD) - This one picks up the style of old-school first-person dungeon crawlers, with a mix of classes, enemies, puzzles and plenty of combat to tackle. It looks rather simplistic in footage but could, nevertheless, capture the stronger points of the genre; we'll work on a review to find out. Available from 7th November.
Sparkle 2 EVO (Forever Entertainment, $4.49USD) - A game that's earned some acclaim on mobile, it's focused on the gradual evolution you undertake as a small lifeform, with the goal being to 'transform into a magnificent aquatic being'. It looks intriguing, with the idea being that you have the freedom to explore and develop at your own pace. We'll evolve and let you know what we think in a review.
Wheels of Aurelia (MixedBag, $9.99USD) - A visually intriguing game that aims to blend a visual novel approach with 16 quickfire playthroughs. On paper it's a fascinating idea, but the execution struggles to align an interesting concept with an enjoyable gaming experience. We feel it fails to hit its mark, and said as much in our Wheels of Aurelia review.
Art of Fighting 3: The Path of the Warrior (HAMSTER, $7.99USD) - Despite the cast continuing to endure within The King of Fighters franchise, this title from 1996 was the third and last standalone entry in this series. It might be hard to believe with the Neo Geo being mostly populated by one-on-one fighting games, but this one actually does quite a lot to distinguish itself from the norm, starting with the control scheme and the way you can seamlessly string combos together. We'll let you know what we think of this ACA release in a review.
3DS eShop
Phil's Epic Fill-a-Pix Adventure (Lightwood Games, $7.99USD) - From a studio that's established a solid reputation for quality word and puzzle games, this focuses on picture logic. Described as a "mix of Minesweeper and Picross", you try to reveal large pictures by solving one grid at a time.
Hiding Out (Green Lightning) - Drawing inspiration from retro platformers, this looks like a simplistic title in which you hunt for photo parts. Available from 6th November.
New Nintendo 3DS eShop
Physical Contact: SPEED (Collavier Corporation, $4.46USD) - This series of rather simplistic multiplayer-centric titles continues its transition from Switch to New 3DS. We were left unimpressed with this card game in our original review.
Physical Contact: 2048 (Collavier Corporation, $4.44USD) - A variation on a well-known genre of number games often found on mobile, this suffers from a lack of imagination and poor presentation values, as we argue in our original Switch eShop review.
3DS eShop Demo
Style Savvy: Styling Star (Nintendo, free)
Wii U eShop
Tomeling in Trouble (HullBreach Studios) - In essence this is an action game that draws inspiration from the MOBA genre, albeit the arena-style battles are offline in single or local multiplayer.
Wii U Virtual Console
Power Golf (Konami, $5.99USD) - Konami's gradual and slightly surprising roll-out of TurboGrafx-16 games on the Wii U VC continues with Hudson's take on the grand old sport. Unfortunately we were rather unimpressed when we review this on the Wii Virtual Console.
As always Nintendo of America wants you to browse the eShop and check out the official sales and deals website for discount details.
There are some big choices this week - let us know what you'll be downloading in the poll and comments below.
Comments 70
I've been looking forward to Morphite for awhile now. Push Square seemed to hate it so I'm interested to see if NL has a different opinion.
Wasn't Chess Ultra coming out on the eShop today?
I'll wait for reviews on Perception. Otherwise, nothing for me.
Nothing this week but next week......my wallet begins to bleed!
Wait, Style Savvy : Styling Star is FREE for Europe version ?!
Sonic Forces loking good!!
Pleeeeeasse let sonic be good...
I'm sick of the 3ds VC drought. If they say they are continuing to support the platform for a while to come then why has the VC offerings for it been so scarce in the last year?!
uh I didn't think Styling Star was coming to NA....and yet we get the demo for the game......That is so weird...nothing for me unless I get something this weekend from my dad. He's coming down for my daughter's and my birthday.
@Anti-Matter it's a demo for NA, not europe
@flapjack-ashley It's meant to, yeah, but it's not there in the US. Still apparently hitting Europe today.
I have an unironic fondness of Style Boutique/Style Savvy.
I assume the full game of Sonic Forces will be longer than 60 seconds per session? 🙃
Sonic b goode....
@GameOtaku
Yep. It's so frustrating that the 3DS VC got an influx of support, a few months ago, with some pretty amazing titles that I would have loved to have seen released here! I held out hope for about a month, and then I realized that there is not much hope in them being released.
@Pokefanmum82 It is. NoA tweeted about it yesterday. It's coming to the eShop on Christmas.
"Run your own boutique & help customers become fashion icons in Style Savvy: Styling Star! Coming 12/25 exclusively to Nintendo eShop on #3DS"
@ThomasBW84 Ughhhhh I was looking forward to it today.
There's a demo for Heroes of the Monkey Tavern, I downloaded it last night but have yet to play it. It's supposed to be a good game though.
As long as I enjoy the demo I'll be buying that as well as hopefully Sparkle 2 Evo and Morphite.I'll wait for reviews of both although Sparkle 2 Evo seems to be worth a punt at that price. I'm intrigued by Farming Simulator too for some reason but that will be one for further down the line.
I would love to say I'll be downloading Sonic Forces but the demo was enough to put me off the game for good, regardless of reviews. All the demo done was remind me that I can't stand 3D Sonic gameplay,at least not since Adventure on the Dreamcast.
Hmm I think there is nothing for me. The new Sonic forces looks ok but not a day one. I will continue to plug away at Mario. Morphite does look interesting though.
Played the Heroes Of The Monkey Tavern demo last night and it was awesome so I'll probably get that and possibly whatever that Wii U game is because heck yeah new Wii U games.
I'm getting the physical version of Sonic Forces Tuesday and I might check out Sparkle 2 EVO since it looks similar to the game flOw.
Getting sonic. A little worried about it though.
A message to your wallets to the weeks to come.
@Pokefanmum82
Style Savvy was announced as an eshop only title for NA yesterday. Releases on 12/25. Ironically it is the European version as evident in the Brit speak but you can choose your currency in the demo
Wait!?! Nobody else wants Super Beat Sports? I'm all over that game!
According to Destructoid, Sega aren't sending out review code for Sonic Forces until the release date. That does not bode well...
Think I'll try a physical copy of Farming Simulator. I live out in the middle of nowhere in the Midwest, farming country. So, has some appeal to me.
I fully expect to see Forces get a lot of 6/10s and 7/10s from nitpicking critics. Don't care, game looks fun and I'm looking forward to day 1. Morphite looks great, Heroes of the Monkey Tavern looks very intriguing but I'll likely wait for a discount. The Sparkle 2 Evo looks fascinating as a casual wind-down game and the price is right. Good week for the eShop.
@leo13 I'm definitely gonna pick it up. Cant have too many unique rhythm games these days!
Why is Sonic Forces STILL not on the eShop?
Is it just me, or is the on the way to become the king of the rhythm genre very quickly?
I mean there's already Deemo, Voez, Dark Which Music Episode, Just Dance, that Conga Master game, now Super Beat Sports and soon Gal Metal, that breakdance/hip hop game from the last Nindie Direct i forgot the name of and Superbeat Xonic.
Anyway, this is just a observation, i personally don't care about the genre.
@DTFaux oh good, I'm glad I'm not the only one!
My first Nintendo Download week as a Switch owner! And there's nothing worth downloading lol.
@JayPley It doesn't come out until November 7th.
Maybe Super Beat Sports or the Phil game if they review well. But later cause Mario is taking all of my free time now.
I really want to buy Sonic Forces but then my senses kept telling me to just wait for Nov. 7, hopefully the truth about that game will ring by then.
Glad style Savvy 4 3DS is coming out now I don't have to import.
Been playing the demo on my Australian 2DS lately.
Now I actually have a reason to put $50 on the eShop LOL! 😊
Happy Gaming! ☺️
Aww. I thought that EVO search for Eden got a remake for a second.
@EmirParkreiner don’t forget Taiko no Tatsujin is on the way eventually.
I WANT Sonic Forces to be good, but I just don't have a good feeling about it. There's the $40 price tag, the lack of review codes for reviewers, and the demo which didn't really give me enough time to determine if I was even having fun. I hope the game doesn't make Sonic fall into another slump after Mania just pulled the franchise out of one.
I cancelled my Sonic Forces pre order after the demo, but I hope it turns out well enough for those that buy it.
Morphite looks cool
Style Savvy, wow, this MADE MY DAY! I'm so glad this is coming out in North America. What a delightful surprise!!
I'm very worried about Forces.
But let's be honest, we know that if you give it a mediocre or bad score, everyone would just pass it off because you played the Switch version.
@Darkthany You're a kind fellow.
@ThomasBW84 Chess Ultra did make it out on the NA eShop today. I'm glad, bought and downloading now. Wonder why Nintendo left it off their official notes.
@BanjoPickles My backlog of 3DS games is ridiculously large. So I'm honestly not complaining AT.ALL about the lack of games for it.
I'm actually relieved
I still see no sense in Konami putting TG-16 games on Wii U at this point- why wouldn’t they put them on the Switch...?? I think they would see better sales.
Oh that's right, I was supposed to download the Heroes of the Monkey Tavern demo... I'll give that a whirl as that game intrigues me. I forgot Sonic Forces came out this fast... it'll have to stay in my GameFly Q for now as I plow through Fire Emblem Warriors and get ready to get settled in for Super Mario Odyssey arriving today. Prolly by the time I beat FEW, LA Noire will be out and I'm NOT missing that one, so Sonic "may" just have to wait. Perception intrigues me so looking forward to a review, along with a Sonic Forces review.
@flapjack-ashley That's weird, I'll add it to the article.
I'm guessing that Sonic Forces is going to debut to terrible reviews. That they kept review codes from websites like this one until release day is a terrible, terrible sign. (If I were to guess it's because they're hoping to get a rush of day-one sales before the negative reviews hit.)
Looking forward to NLife's view, though I don't expect it to be higher than a six.
Not this week, but next week, prepare to be doomed.
Just Sonic Forces for me. Can't wait!!! XD
OCTODAD ON SWITCH NEXT WEEK! NO LIE http://nintendoeverything.com/octodad-dadliest-catch-coming-to-switch-possibly-next-week/
Chess Ultra for me, as soon as I get out of work.
Sonic force is going to be a physical purchase for me.
By the way Poi is fantastic, charming little platformer.
@Giygas_95
Famitsu gave it a 35 out of 40.
https://mynintendonews.com/2017/10/31/famitsu-sonic-forces-received-a-review-score-of-3540/
@Davidiam007 That's good to know. The street date has already been broken right? If it does turn out good I might download it...or maybe I should get it physical.
@flapjack-ashley I get that, but what about the digital download. So many other games pop up on the eShop weeks before they're even released.
@Captain_Toad I look at these titles and think "man, there's some good stuff here I might want to pick up." Then I realize I still have a ton of game left in Mario + Rabbids, Odyssey, Sonic Mania, and the half dozen games I picked up for pennies on the dollar at Wii U closeout sale. And, obtw, Rocket League, L.A. Noir, Doom, WWE, Ittl Dew 2, and about a half a dozen other games I want are coming soon. After many long months without new titles on the Wii U, this is a happy and completely unfamiliar problem.
Morphite will be better than No mans sky? Maybe equal? We will know soon.
@JayPley Most big retail titles release the same day digitally and physically (with very rare exceptions like NBA 2K18). It’s usually smaller indie titles that get delayed physical releases.
I was busy wrapping up Rabbids last weekend, so this weekend will truly be about Odyssey.
Sonic Forces physically. Shame on Konami for not giving us (or me... hehe) the Virtual Console games we REALLY want. No Castlevania DS Trilogy, no Adventure 2 or Legends, no Ghost Babel, no Rondo of Blood. It’s not like I’m willing to keep spending money on my Wii U and 3DS during Switch’s successful first year or anything. No. Just give us some Golf game. Maybe by next Halloween there won’t even be an audience on the Wii U eShop, and then they can drop the best games.
Art of Fighting 3 for me. Time to give it another shot.
Gotta Go Fast! Sonic Forces for sure and probably also picking up Nights of Azure 2 as i was too busy with Odyssey last week xD.
When is the next Arcade Archives Nintendo title dropping?
No Switch, therefore, I am not.
Keeping my eyes on Sonic Forces reviews. I'm kind of interested, & I have a friend who is a major Sonic fan. I don't know how it will turn out, but preferably good.
Whew, finally a quiet week when it comes to games I want. Nice to get a respite and work on my backlog a bit while funting for Odyssey's post-game moons (still haven't finished the excellent Golf Story).
Morphite, Sonic and Farming Sim for me.
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...