SwitchArcade Round-Up: Today’s Nintendo Direct, Full Review of ‘EGGCONSOLE Star Trader’, Plus New Releases and Sales

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for August 27th, 2024. In today’s article, we kick things off with a bit of news. After that, we’ve got one review for you to snack on. Just my look at the latest EGGCONSOLE release from last week, and the regulars probably know how that’s going to play out. After that, we have just one new release to take a gander at. Luckily, it’s a good one. We finish things up with the usual lists of new and expiring sales, and they’re okay as well. I have no idea what’s in that Direct tonight, so maybe it will make for a more exciting Tuesday? That is a mystery I cannot solve as I write, but you already know the answer to as you read. Let’s get into it!

News
Check Out Today’s Nintendo Direct/Indie World Showcase

As recently prophesized by the once-in-a-while-correct insiders, Nintendo has scheduled a Nintendo Direct for August at nearly the last minute. We’re getting 40 minutes in total, split between a Partner Showcase and Indie World Showcase. Don’t expect any first-party stuff, and definitely do not expect anything about the Switch’s successor console. As you read this, the presentation should be long since finished. You can watch it above, and I’ll summarize the most important points tomorrow.

Reviews & Mini-Views
EGGCONSOLE Star Trader PC-8801mkIIsr ($6.49)

It always comes down to two questions with these non-translated EGGCONSOLE releases. First, how is the game itself? Second, can it be enjoyed without understanding Japanese? Star Trader is an interesting game, though not what I would call a great one. Falcom fused a Japanese-style adventure game format with some side-scrolling shoot ’em up stages, and it doesn’t do either of those things amazingly well. The adventure game side at least has some nice art, and it’s interesting to see a shoot ’em up try to tell a story in this way. You’re mostly talking to people and picking up quests, the successful completion of which will earn you money you can use to upgrade your ship. This is important, because you’ll need to keep that cash coming in to stay on top of the action segments.

As for the shoot ’em up parts… well, the PC-8801 wasn’t very good at scrolling the screen smoothly. So what you get here is a very choppy experience, and one that I’m not sure would even be all that great if things were moving at a normal clip. I’m not sure which part of the game is meant to serve the other, but in the end Star Trader is more interesting than it is good. Which naturally brings us to the second question. As you might expect, the adventure game segments are text-heavy and require some informed input from the player to achieve the best outcomes. If you can’t understand them, you’re not only missing out on half of the game, but you’re likely hobbling yourself for the other half because you’ll fail to earn enough credits to keep your ship up to date. You can brute force this one better than some EGGCONSOLE releases, but it’s not going to be a good time.

Star Trader is an interesting piece of gaming history, showing a developer working outside of the lane we usually associate them with. Unfortunately, what joy could be had from poking at this curio is severely dampened by the fact that there is a ton of Japanese text in here that most Western players won’t be able to read. You might still get something out of messing around with it, but it’s hard to recommend it with much vigor.

SwitchArcade Score: 3/5

Select New Releases
Crypt Custodian ($19.99)

A top-down action-adventure game about a recently-deceased cat named Pluto who, after a bad meeting with the Afterlife Guardian, is banished from the palace of the afterlife and sentenced to eternally clean. Dang. Explore, fight enemies with your broom, meet weird characters, battle bosses, expand your abilities, and so on. You know how this kind of game works. You know what? This is pretty good. If you enjoy this genre, I’d say you should give it a go.

Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)

If you like colorful shoot ’em ups with some quirky mechanics, I recommend checking out the Dreamer games and Harpoon Shooter Nozomi. I’ve enjoyed all three of them. Over in the outbox, buy 1000xRESIST. Do it. Other things to consider: Star Wars games, Citizen Sleeper, Paradise Killer, and Haiku, the Robot. Maybe some Tomb Raider, as a treat. Check those lists!

Select New Sales

Return ($10.49 from $13.99 until 9/2)

Summer Daze: Tilly’s Tale ($2.99 from $14.99 until 9/9)

Please Fix the Road ($5.99 from $9.99 until 9/9)

Ticket to Ride ($26.99 from $29.99 until 9/9)

King ‘n Knight ($9.59 from $11.99 until 9/9)

Spiritfarer ($7.49 from $29.99 until 9/9)

Harpoon Shooter Nozomi ($6.98 from $9.98 until 9/16)

Like Dreamer ($5.99 from $11.99 until 9/16)

Cosmo Dreamer ($4.10 from $8.20 until 9/16)

Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate ($8.99 from $59.99 until 9/16)

Gluck ($5.59 from $6.99 until 9/16)

Love Love School Days ($4.19 from $10.49 until 9/16)

Ugly ($6.79 from $19.99 until 9/16)

Replik Survivors ($3.44 from $4.99 until 9/16)

Sales Ending Tomorrow, August 28th

1000xRESIST ($15.99 from $19.99 until 8/28)

Citizen Sleeper ($9.99 from $19.99 until 8/28)

Genesis Noir ($4.49 from $14.99 until 8/28)

Haiku, The Robot ($9.99 from $19.99 until 8/28)

Heads Up! Phones Down Edition ($1.99 from $39.99 until 8/28)

Legend Bowl ($18.74 from $24.99 until 8/28)

MythForce ($14.99 from $29.99 until 8/28)

Paradise Killer ($5.99 from $19.99 until 8/28)

Star Wars Battlefront Collection ($28.00 from $35.01 until 8/28)

Star Wars Bounty Hunter ($14.99 from $19.99 until 8/28)

Star Wars Episode I Racer ($7.49 from $14.99 until 8/28)

Star Wars Jedi Academy ($9.99 from $19.99 until 8/28)

Star Wars Jedi Outcast ($4.99 from $9.99 until 8/28)

Star Wars KotOR ($7.49 from $14.99 until 8/28)

Star Wars KotOR II: Sith Lords ($7.49 from $14.99 until 8/28)

Star Wars Republic Commando ($7.49 from $14.99 until 8/28)

Star Wars The Force Unleashed ($9.99 from $19.99 until 8/28)

Super Mutant Alien Assault ($1.99 from $9.99 until 8/28)

Suzerain ($4.49 from $17.99 until 8/28)

The Pale Beyond ($9.99 from $19.99 until 8/28)

Times & Galaxy ($17.99 from $19.99 until 8/28)

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered ($22.49 from $29.99 until 8/28)

That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow to talk a bit about whatever was in that Direct, plus have some new games, sales, and perhaps a review or two on top. I hope you all have a terrific Tuesday, and as always, thanks for reading!