This week, Nintendo unloads a dump truck full of promising new games onto the Switch. The titles span big franchise entries like Mortal Kombat 11, colorful indies like Katana Zero, and massive content updates like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s 3.0 update.
Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen is my most anticipated game of the bunch. Capcom released the original Dragon’s Dogma in 2012 to mixed reviews. Many critics and fans had trouble connecting with the game, which borrowed concepts from masocore series like Dark Souls and open-world role-playing series like Elder Scrolls. Between then and now, however, Dragon’s Dogma established a cult following that appreciates the game’s quirkier bits that aren’t really like anything else.
I had a chance to play a large chunk of Katana Zero as a judge for the Independent Games Festival. It’s an oddball mishmash of grimy dialogue sequences and gory sword combat. The elevator pitch is Hotline Miami crossed with a 2D platformer, but its creator’s ambition seems to extend beyond that logline. The game digs into the idea of time, both as a combat mechanic and a narrative device.
I loved Cuphead when it launched on Xbox One and Windows PC, and it’s only grown on me since then. The game has a reputation for being brutally difficult, but I think it’s better paced and more forgiving than most folks assume. That is to say, don’t let the difficulty scare you away. I’m curious how its precise controls will translate to Joy-Cons. I might need to start packing a Pro controller when I travel with my Switch.
Here’s the full list of games launching this week on the Nintendo Switch eShop:
Also new this week in Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch:
- Active Soccer 2019 – Available April 19
- ALPHA – Available April 19
- Arcade Archives TIME PILOT
- Beyond Enemy Lines: Covert Operations – Available April 23
- BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL! – Demo Version
- Cafeteria Nipponica
- Construction Machines Simulator – Available April 19
- Cuphead
- Dawn of Survivors
- DayD: Through Time
- Deponia – Available April 24
- Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen – Available April 19
- Hell is Other Demons
- Iron Snout – Available April 19
- Katana ZERO
- Mortal Kombat 11 – Available April 22
- Moto Rush GT – Available April 19
- Our World Is Ended.
- Risky Rescue
- SlabWell: The Quest For Kaktun’s Alpaca
- Slime Tactics
- Sudoku Relax
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – Version 3.0
- the Knight & the Dragon
- The Padre
- Voxel Shot for Nintendo Switch – Demo Version – Available April 22
- You Died but a Necromancer revived you – Available April 19
*Full version of game required to use DLC. Sold separately
