Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for July 26th, 2024. In today’s article, our pal Mikhail gets the party started with a review of Let’s School. Let’s… read that! After that, we have a few releases to look at in order to close out the ledgers for the week. We finish things up in our usual manner by having a gander at the latest sales to hit the eShop, plus some of the discounts that will be wrapping up over the weekend. Let’s get to the weekend!
Reviews & Mini-Views
Let’s School ($19.99)
Let’s School is a school management simulation game where you take on the role of a principal trying to construct, design, take care of students, and much more. When I first saw a trailer for Let’s School, it looked interesting, but getting to know the team at Pathea Games was responsible for this made me more curious to try it out as a huge fan of My Time at Portia and Sandrock.
Right from the get go, Let’s School felt deep and impressive as a simulation and management game. It might be a bit daunting initially with how much is thrown at the player with the construction and designing aspects. Both come together nicely into the core gameplay loop that ensures Let’s School remains installed on your Switch to pickup and play when required. When I first started playing Let’s School, I was surprised at how much customization was already possible early on. If you aren’t a fan of the stress involved in management and simulation games, a sandbox mode is available in addition to multiple difficulty options. A custom difficulty is also available if you want to tweak things to your liking. Let’s School is a very accessible game despite its depth, but the only point of contention will be the font size on Nintendo Switch in the interface. I found it fine on my Lite and OLED Switch, but some might have issues with the interface.
I’ve not played Let’s School‘s PC release with keyboard and mouse to get a feel for those controls, but I did play it on Steam Deck using the handheld itself. I found the controls worked well, and the interface is similar on Switch. Expect radial menus while holding shoulder buttons or triggers to zoom here. Nothing out of the ordinary if you’re used to playing games in this genre on Switch. If you are new to the genre, Let’s School might be overwhelming initially not only with its controls, but also in its mechanics, but sticking with it is worth your time.
My main complaints with Let’s School on Switch have to do with how it looks when played docked and the load times being too long in parts. This feels like a handheld first experience, and one that works great on a portable with its controller UI and font even on Switch Lite (for me at least). Playing docked has even the interface not looking as crisp as it should. Outside that, I wish Let’s School had some touch support since I enjoy navigating some menus and panning around with touch controls in management games with this camera style.
If you have access to a Switch and Steam Deck, I would get Let’s School on Steam Deck for better performance and faster load times. Performance isn’t perfect on Deck either, but it is better than Switch. Despite the cutbacks, the Switch port felt a lot better than I expected all things considered.
Having now played them both, Let’s School and Two Point Campus are worth your time. If you already enjoyed the latter from its original release, I think Let’s School will be a nice compliment, and a fun management game in its own right. I just hope the developers consider adding some touchscreen support as games like this would benefit from the input option on Switch. -Mikhail Madnani
SwitchArcade Score: 4/5
Select New Releases
One Piece Odyssey Deluxe Edition ($59.99)
Imagine a One Piece turn-based RPG, one that got the job done without really going too far beyond that. And there you go! That’s One Piece Odyssey, sliding its way onto Switch with this Deluxe Edition. The Deluxe part of the name amounts to one extra post-game scenario, plus a number of character costumes. I’m sure some visual sacrifices have been made here, and they’re likely in line with what we’ve seen in other Bandai Namco Switch port-downs. If you’re okay with that and like One Piece, you’ll probably enjoy this. We might do a review of this one, but only time will tell.
Ringlorn Saga ($9.99)
A short little action-RPG inspired by classic Japanese examples of the genre. When the publisher says that, do they mean Ys or do they mean Hydlide? The answer is important! Looking at the screenshots, my hunch is Hydlide. But there’s nothing wrong with that, depending on your tastes. The presentation is designed to evoke the MSX, and that’s a fine aim. I’ll probably take a punt on this one and if it lives up to my hopes I will report back.
Monument: Invasion ($9.99)
Some reasonably priced first-person shooting action here, if that’s an itch you’re looking to scratch today. It’s not the fanciest dining around, and certainly the eShop description being identical to that of the first Monument is less than encouraging, but the original managed to find its fans and I am sure this one will too.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
1000xRESIST is at its cheapest price yet, and it’s an amazing game for anyone who enjoys a good story. The Sam & Max titles are also discounted in anticipation of the upcoming release of the third in the series on Switch, and they’re a pretty good time. Sol Cresta is cheap as chips and shooter fans would do well to pick that up too. Have a look through those lists, friends. It rarely goes wrong!
Select New Sales
Astebros ($5.19 from $12.99 until 8/1)
FX Unit Yuki: Henshin Engine ($3.59 from $8.99 until 8/1)
Demon’s Tilt ($9.99 from $19.99 until 8/1)
The World After ($3.99 from $9.99 until 8/1)
Okinawa Rush ($7.99 from $19.99 until 8/1)
Strayed Lights ($7.79 from $12.99 until 8/2)
Darkest Dungeon ($7.49 from $24.99 until 8/2)
Furi ($9.99 from $19.99 until 8/4)
Haven ($14.99 from $24.99 until 8/4)
Broken Sword 5: Serpent’s Curse ($7.49 from $29.99 until 8/4)
Arcadia Fallen ($9.99 from $24.99 until 8/5)
Unavowed ($5.24 from $14.99 until 8/6)
Gigantosaurus Dino Sports ($31.99 from $39.99 until 8/6)
Heaven’s Vault ($8.99 from $17.99 until 8/6)
Beacon Pines ($9.99 from $19.99 until 8/6)
Citizen Sleeper ($9.99 from $19.99 until 8/6)
Genesis Noir ($4.49 from $14.99 until 8/6)
1000xRESIST ($15.99 from $19.99 until 8/6)
Times & Galaxy ($17.99 from $19.99 until 8/6)
Machinarium ($4.99 from $19.99 until 8/6)
Lucy Dreaming ($15.19 from $18.99 until 8/6)
The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow ($9.74 from $14.99 until 8/6)
Paradise Killer ($5.99 from $19.99 until 8/6)
Tails Noir ($7.49 from $24.99 until 8/6)
Primordia ($5.24 from $14.99 until 8/6)
Psychic 5: Eternal ($15.39 from $21.99 until 8/8)
Fishing Break ($6.39 from $7.99 until 8/8)
Xaladia Rise of Space Pirates X2 ($8.99 from $17.99 until 8/8)
Scars of Mars ($17.99 from $19.99 until 8/8)
Snow Bros. Special ($15.99 from $19.99 until 8/8)
TEVI ($26.24 from $34.99 until 8/8)
Raiden IV x MIKADO remix ($11.99 from $29.99 until 8/9)
Raiden V: Director’s Cut ($8.99 from $29.99 until 8/9)
Doug’s Nightmare ($4.19 from $5.99 until 8/9)
A Little to the Left ($8.99 from $14.99 until 8/9)
Lair of the Clockwork God ($3.99 from $19.99 until 8/9)
Xuan Yuan Sword: MBtM ($9.89 from $14.99 until 8/9)
Sam & Max Save the World ($11.99 from $19.99 until 8/13)
Sam & Max Beyond Time & Space ($11.99 from $19.99 until 8/13)
Touhou Spell Bubble ($27.49 from $54.99 until 8/15)
Gigapocalypse ($1.99 from $9.99 until 8/15)
Sol Cresta ($8.99 from $17.99 until 8/15)
Sol Cresta Complete Set ($12.49 from $24.99 until 8/15)
Dr. Fetus’ Mean Meat Machine ($1.99 from $9.99 until 8/15)
Flutter Away ($7.79 from $12.99 until 8/15)
Coromon ($9.99 from $19.99 until 8/15)
EDF World Brothers ($13.99 from $39.99 until 8/15)
Dark Deity ($6.24 from $24.99 until 8/15)
Isekai Rondo ($9.74 from $14.99 until 8/15)
Blacksmith of the Sand Kingdom ($9.99 from $19.99 until 8/15)
Raging Bytes ($9.74 from $14.99 until 8/15)
Horrific Xanatorium ($5.99 from $7.99 until 8/15)
Glorious Savior ($11.24 from $14.99 until 8/15)
Cross Tails ($19.49 from $29.99 until 8/15)
Metro Quester ($12.99 from $19.99 until 8/15)
Frane: Dragons’ Odyssey ($6.49 from $12.99 until 8/15)
Runbow ($2.99 from $14.99 until 8/15)
9 Years of Shadows ($13.99 from $19.99 until 8/15)
Sushi Race ($3.99 from $7.99 until 8/15)
The Trotties Adventure ($5.99 from $14.99 until 8/15)
Nice Disc: The Last Hot Blood ($2.99 from $4.99 until 8/15)
Sales Ending This Weekend
Chants of Sennaar ($14.99 from $19.99 until 7/27)
Dordogne ($12.99 from $19.99 until 7/27)
Expeditions: Mudrunner ($39.99 from $49.99 until 7/27)
Missile Dancer 2 ($11.99 from $14.99 until 7/27)
Outbreak The Fedora Files ($9.99 from $19.99 until 7/27)
Warhammer 40k Boltgun ($15.39 from $21.99 until 7/27)
Warhammer Age of Sigmar SG ($6.99 from $19.99 until 7/27)
Backpack Hero ($15.99 from $19.99 until 7/28)
Batman: The Telltale Series ($7.49 from $14.99 until 7/28)
Dark Days ($2.79 from $7.99 until 7/28)
That’s all for today and this week, friends. We’ll be back next week with more new games, more sales, more reviews, and perhaps some news. Next week is my birthday, and I’m getting to the age where I don’t want that number to go up anymore. However, the only known way of keeping the number from going up is not recommended by physicians, so I’ll just have to bear with it. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and as always, thanks for reading!
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