Thursday is here, yet again, and with it, another Nintendo Download update for North America. As per usual, it brings a whole host of new games, extra bits of DLC, demos and maybe the occasional discount and deal. As always, be sure to add your votes to the poll below and leave us a comment sharing the games you'll be picking up (and why) this week. Enjoy!
3DS eShop
Detective Pikachu (Nintendo, $39.99) – Crack the case in this new detective adventure game by interacting with a unique, fully voiced Pikachu. As Tim Goodman, you’ll partner with self-proclaimed “great detective” Pikachu to solve strange occurrences all over Ryme City. Together you must investigate, take notes and meet up with other Pokémon to unravel the city’s greatest mysteries! The Detective Pikachu game will be available on 23rd March. Game in 2D. Read our review.
The Alliance Alive (ATLUS U.S.A, $39.99) – One thousand years ago, Daemons invaded the world of Humans. They subjugated Humanity and created the Great Barrier to separate the realms. Now the time for resistance has come. The Alliance Alive game evokes the nostalgia of JRPG greats with huge world exploration and intertwining stories of nine protagonists. The Alliance Alive launches on 27th March.
Switch eShop
Outlast 2 (Red Barrels, $29.99) – The Outlast 2 game introduces you to Sullivan Knoth and his followers, who left our wicked world behind to give birth to the Temple Gate town deep in the wilderness and hidden from civilization. Knoth and his flock are preparing for the tribulations of the end of times and you’re right in the thick of it. Outlast 2 launches on 27 March.
Castle of Heart (7Levels, $14.99) – CASTLE OF HEART, available exclusively for Nintendo Switch™, is a classic action platformer at the genre's best… and most challenging, with plentiful of new twists on formula to experience. The players take control over a cursed knight, turned to stone by the evil sorcerer's spell, but ready to prove that love and courage can conquer even the darkest magic. Available 23 March. Read our review.
Warp Shift (Isbit Games, $9.99) – Warp Shift is a unique puzzle game set in a mysterious world. It takes you on a marvelous journey that challenges your mind and stimulates your senses. Experience beautiful visuals, challenging puzzles and intriguing sound design. Available 27 March.
ACA NEO GEO WORLD HEROES 2 JET (HAMSTER, $7.99) - "WORLD HEROES 2 JET" is a fighting game released by SNK in 1994. It is the third title in the WORLD HEROES series. Sixteen heroes, villains, and other fighters have gathered to determine who is the strongest in the world. With dashes, back steps, and the addition of a counter system, you can enjoy speedy battles.
Arcade Archives MOON PATROL (HAMSTER, $7.99) - "MOON PATROL" is a side-scrolling action-shooting game released by IREM in 1982. Control a lunar rover as you jump to avoid obstacles, and move forward while defeating enemies that shoot missiles from above or rockets towards you. The goal is to make it through the Beginner Course and and Champion Course.
EAT BEAT DEADSPIKE-san (Arc System Works, $6.99) - "EAT BEAT DEADSPIKE-san" is a rhythm action game spin-off of the 2D-fighting game series, "BLAZBLUE", that features Dead Spike-san in a eating frenzy.
Gekido Kintaro's Revenge (Naps Team, $12.99) - A year has passed since the epic battle that decided the fate of mankind and claimed the life of the beloved Angela. Dark omens once again tell of the return of an evil presence. Ushi is the last remaining master of the ancient art of Shin-Ken, and he calls upon Tetsuo, his disciple and adopted son, to investigate some strange happenings in a faraway farming village outside the city.
NO THING (Forever Entertainment, $1.99) - NO THING is a minimalistic surreal action game set in a totalitarian regime of future. Tells the story of an office clerk who is sent with an important message to the Queen of Ice.
OPUS: Rocket of Whispers (Flyhigh Works, $8.10) - Throughout OPUS: Rocket of Whispers you will play as two survivors of an apocalyptic plague. Help them achieve the unimaginable goal of building a rocket, so they can return the deceased to their cosmic homeland through the ancient tradition of space burials.
Slayaway Camp: Butcher's Cut (Digerati, $14.99) - A killer puzzle game where you control Skullface, a psychotic slasher hell-bent on revenge. Slide this adorably demented murderer around hundreds of isometric puzzle levels to squash, flay, and decapitate hapless victims in this darkly comic homage to 80s horror movies. Read our review.
SOL DIVIDE -SWORD OF DARKNESS- for Nintendo Switch (Zerodiv, $7.99) - Vorg heard a rumor that the army of Satan was searching for treasures called Seirei stones which led him to think that the time for revenge has come. In addition, he also knows that one of the Seirei stones was entrusted secretly to King Silverna from Vorg's homeland, the Kingdom of Miltia.
Switch demos
Metropolis: Lux Obscura – Demo Version (Sometimes You, Free) – Jon Lockhart walked through the prison gates a free man, after spending years imprisoned as the supposed murderer of an old friend. He returned once more to the city where it all started intent on figuring out who it was that framed him for the murder and make them pay in blood for the crime. It'd take some work with the key witness dead, but that just meant he'd have to flush out every rat from hiding. Available 27 March.
Switch DLC
Pokkén Tournament DX Battle Pack Wave 2 – The Pokkén Tournament DX Battle Pack grants immediate access to Avatar items upon purchase and two waves of DLC as they are released. The Battle Pack contains two new Battle Pokémon and two new Support Pokémon Sets. With these Pokémon joining the fray, the battle is just getting started! Wave 1 released on 31 Jan, 2018, and contains Battle Pokémon Aegislash, a new Support Pokémon set featuring Mega Rayquaza and Mimikyu, and additional Avatar items. Wave 2 releases on 23 March, 2018, and contains Battle Pokémon Blastoise, a new Support
What are you downloading this week? (265 votes)
- Arcade Archives MOON PATROL
- EAT BEAT DEADSPIKE-san
- Gekido Kintaro's Revenge
- NO THING
- OPUS: Rocket of Whispers
- Slayaway Camp: Butcher's Cut
- SOL DIVIDE -SWORD OF DARKNESS-
- Detective Pikachu
- The Alliance Alive
- Outlast 2
- Castle of Heart
- Warp Shift0.4%
- Metropolis: Lux Obscura
- Pokkén Tournament DX
- Nothing for me!
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So that's your lot for this week. Be sure to leave a vote in the poll and a comment down below with your hot picks from this week's Nintendo Download haul...
Comments 87
My physical copy of Detective Pikachu is due tomorrow and I even secured a preorder for that massive amiibo.
And seeing as all the remaining first-party 3DS retail titles are ports or remakes, I think it’s safe to say this could be the last 3DS game card I ever buy.
You guys should include which games are on sale in these updates too.
Nothing for me this week!
First week in a long time I don’t see anything I want.
Admit you too did check both "Nothing for me" and "No Thing".
Like others here, not seeing any must haves this week. Which is great, as I can continue catching up on my backlog and/or wishlist. Or, you know, maybe actually be productive for once...
And while I REALLY want to get Detective Pikachu tomorrow (already have the amiibo pre-ordered), I highly suspect it'll find its way to Switch sooner or later. Maybe.
Funny that Metropolis: Lux Obscura is coming to Switch. On the PC, you can enabled the naughty bits and it turns into a porn match-3 game.
First time in a while there isn't even a demo I want.
Maybe Sol Divide. That's it
I expected more love for the Pika. Guess it would have been different if it were on the Switch too
What happened to Bad Dudes Vs Dragon Ninja?
@OnBeingHuman I’m not 100% sure but I think the sales don’t get listed til noon.
Yes, finally a week that I'm not interested in anything that is being released. Now the sale for this week will be a different matter all together.
A separate article for Games on Sale is better.
Only getting The Alliance Alive physical copy, not into digital unless it cost less than $10.
Getting Blastoise....WIT DEM LONG LEGZ!
Nothing for me, other than the Pikachu amiibo. I had to cancel Alliance Alive and Ni No Kuni 2 so I have to wait on those. Detective Pikachu I’m getting next month when I have no games to buy
Props to the 3DS mafia - think you guys beat the Switch this week. Hope we get a review for Gekido Kintaro's Revenge, though. Looks neat.
Nothing for me. Ni No Kuni 2 is going to demand all of my gaming time for a while. Looks so incredible.
I was excited for Manticore Galaxy on Fire but the release date was moved.
Moon Patrol! I love this arcade classic and its jazzy music.
MOON PATROL WITHOUT A DOUBT!! Sol Divide as well!!
actually two 3DS games and zero Switch games with the Manticore delay
Nothing, not even NO THING.
Well crap. Manticore got delayed to tba. Ugh. Was really looking forward to that. Still have my copy of Kirby to crack open tho, so it'll be a great weekend. Hope that noire puzzle game is decent. I'll pick it up too.
I’m heading back to ‘82 with Moon Patrol.
I killed Deviljho last night on Monster Hunter World. Saw nobody mention that... so i had to. So... I’m gonna kill him again, and click “Nothing For Me.”
No checkbox for World Heroes 2 Jet...saves folks from not checking it. A "Perfect" solution.
@Menchi187 Pushed to next week.
Really want to know what’s up with Wizards of Legend. It’s the one Indie I’m dying for
Sol Divide for me.
I somehow love 90's CGI graphics ever since i had that Donkey Kong Country VHS.
Also, any Psikyo shmup is a must-have.
Was Moon Patrol an IREM game? I thought it was Midway or Williams.
Anybody check out No Thing? The trailer intrigued me, but I can’t tell if it’s a cool game or just some nonsense.
@masterLEON I can't find any info on the delay online from some quick google-fu
I'm getting the physical version of Detective Pikachu tomorrow and I also have the Detective Pikachu amiibo ordered and it's supposed to arrive the 27th.
Thank you for listing 3DS releases first! Please continue in this manner. Each and every week shouldn't have a boatload of must-haves. Gamers need downtime and a chance to catch up with the backlog, man!
@KingMike
It is indeed an IREM game, but it was published in North America by Williams.
I watched the trailer for No Thing and it looks insane
This is the reason why the Switch got outsold by the PS4 in February in the USA. All this random stuff wont help vs big game releases.
No Thing is actually really good! I played it on Steam. It is a very hard 3D running game. A bit like the bonus stages in Sonic Mania. Mostly you press left and right and jump. And you die a lot. There is a weird vaporwave aesthetic.
@NESlover85: NOOOOO!!!! I did not see that news. Ugh.
Makes my splurging on Castle of Heart more likely notwithstanding Damo's thorough review.
I'll be reading some reviews later, mainly Castle of Heart; I thought that was called Stone Knight, or something.
Nothing this week, more time to get backlog caught up before dark souls releases.
I was interested in Manticore, but oh well...
I am getting moon patrol.
Kintaro's Revenge and Castle of Heart for me. Castle of Heart looks really good.
@thesilverbrick You never know. There could be a surprise announcement for the 3DS come E3.
@Prof_Yoshtonics Anything is possible, but I would think at this point that’s highly unlikely. Every 3DS retail title planned to be released this year from Nintendo is either a localization of an existing Japanese game, a port, or a remake that uses existing assets. Everything they seem to be pumping out for 3DS is designed to be released quickly and easily. It looks to me like they are trying to keep the 3DS on shelves and sell it without putting large amounts of development effort into it. They’re trying to coast on the existing library, while adding a “new” game here and there to keep it moderately relevant. It’s a smart strategy, but ultimately I expect nothing new or exciting from here on out. Nintendo is just trying to stall as the 3DS inevitably circles the drain.
@thesilverbrick Yeah, I agree. I did find it peculiar how many games are 2019 releases for it. I figured those Luigi's Mansion and Mario and Luigi remakes would come out this year. You could definitely be right but, this is Ninty we're talking about here. I wouldn't be surprised if they have at least one trick up their sleeve left.
Gekido for me, and I'm looking at some of the games that are on sale as well!
I actually got No Thing for free thanks with the Switch Gold Points program.
Tentatively Detective Pikachu, though I don't know if that'll be within the next week or not. I may even end up waiting. shrug
Is it wrong to assume that most of the eShop games are 2D games that could have worked on the SNES?
The Game Boy Color has a great Moon Patrol port (packaged with Spy Hunter), but it will be awesome to have it on the Switch.
Did NA get a sale like EU was getting?
@Crono1973 It probably isn't a fair assumption. Many go for that SNES look and sound, but there are a lot more tools, memory, and resources being used that just aren't available on SNES HW.
Technically they may be able to have SNES ports of their games, but they would probably have to make a lot of sacrifices. For example, the SNES Chrono Trigger cart was only 4MB of ROM.
EDIT: Updated ROM size.
I'd be interested in Detective Pikachu if it were available for the Switch. I don't own a 3DS and don't really have any intention of getting one, but the game sounds like something I'd enjoy.
@Tandy255 Well let me rephrase, can I assume that the feel of most of these 2D games would be similar to playing an SNES game.
Tell me I didn't buy a Switch to play 2D games.
Edit: Chrono Trigger was 4 MB.
@Crono1973 Ah, thanks for the correction. I had my units incorrect. 32 Mbit is what I looked up. You are correct, 4 MB.
@Crono1973 As to your other point, I am still not sure it is a fair statement. Many of these 2D games are also on Steam and PS4. The Switch does not stand alone in that regard.
Nevertheless, I know what you are driving at.
@Tandy255 I don't own a PS4 (my son has one but I never play it) and Steam is not a console I have to by upfront. I bought a Switch for me to play but...
Anyway, it's kind of funny how we have wrapped back around to mostly 2D games being released on all systems.
@Crono1973 To further your point - what do fans want most on Switch? The Virtual Console.
@Tandy255 Yes but I see that differently. Many VC games were the AAA games of their day, many of the 2D games today are just low budget wannabe's.
Buying Detective Pikachu from the eShop. Can't wait to try this one. It's my goal to never buy a physical copy of a game ever again, unless there's no other option (Labo).
Also looking forward to the Blastoise DLC.
@Tandy255: Whatever they're replacing VC with will be nice, but I really think most fans just want as many new AAA 1st party Nintendo games as possible.
@thesilverbrick are you interested in rpgs? The alliance allive on 3ds looks great
Nothing for me
OPUS for me and the demo.
Hmm, I guess I'm the only one that's planning on picking up Warp Shift?
It's a fun puzzle game that I played a bit of on iOS. I never got back to it because I just don't use my phone for games anymore.
Gonna play that pokken dlc.
Waiting for The Alliance Alive review. If it is like Legend of the Legacy I will not get. I hope it is good. My Switch has not been played for a while.
@Kang81 Glad you mentioned it! I had overlooked it. I will check it out.
Gonna be patrolling the moon at last. I'll get OPUS since I enjoyed the first. I'll download the Metropolis demo to see if I like it.
I just got NO THING for “free” (MyNintendo coins). What a fantastic little game for $2. It reminds me of Suda51 and Kreftwerk, which is definitely a good combo.
@imgrowinglegs It’s pretty solid for what it is, has 10 levels, unlockable trophies, a weird story and tight controls. Very good 1970s electronic soundtrack as well. For $2, it’s worth it.
@rushiosan SOLD. Both of your comments made me want this game more than the eShop info did, haha. I don’t usually even give $2 games a chance, but I’ll jump into this one.
Thanks!
@Tandy255
No problem, it really was a fun little puzzle game. Just go in expecting a mobile port and you should be happy with it. I don't recall it's price on iOS, but likely $3-$5 US.
@Oat You know, it’s really a shame that I’m not more into RPGs because there are just so many awesome ones out there for 3DS. Even though Nintendo’s putting minimal effort into its 3DS games from here on out, the third-party RPG scene on the handheld seems like it might keep booming for a while. Maybe it’s time I finally get into RPGs, haha.
@thesilverbrick I could recommend you some if you're interested. If you like easy going action rpgs I would recommend Fantasy Life or Ever Oasis. If you wanna try some strategy rpgs I would definitely recommend Fire Emblem Echoes or Awakening
The first OPUS game was an awesome little story. And so far, OPUS Rocket of Whispers is proving to be another excellent little story that seems to a kind of prequel of sorts. Or at least taking place in the same universe.
Castle of Heart seems to be getting more attention from reviewers than I expected. Is it because it's the only Switch exclusive this week or does it really look that interesting? I thought it'd be a mediocre game from the previews that would come and go without much notice.
@Oat I did play all three of the 3DS Fire Emblems as well as Ever Oasis. Loved them all. Fire Emblem easily holds my attention due to the episodic, chapter-based setup and Ever Oasis was nice in that it was mechanically simple and relatively short. My personal problem with RPGs usually comes in the length or overly complicated mechanics. I find myself starting them, making it decently far, putting them down for a little while and forgetting to come back. By the time I pick them up again, I have completely forgotten what has happened and feel like I have to start over again. I can’t tell you how many RPGs I’ve done that with. I might try Fantasy Life on your recommendation, though.
It’s funny, as much as I comment on the fact that the 3DS is on its way out, I do still play mine nearly every day. You can’t beat the convenience of putting it in your pocket and the fact that it doesn’t need a screen protector or travel case. I’d like to be playing my 3DS for the foreseeable future, and luckily for me there is such a massive library for the little console that I should be able to find new things to play for plenty of time to come. Thanks for the recommendation.
@Shy_Guy @dougphisig @Lizuka @VR32X @Vriess @UnknownReader @holygeez03 @wratih9 @Scrummer @Pablo17 @OnBeingHuman For any of you wondering, Europe got a great sale this week that we didn't get, but we did get a pretty good sale including some really good games. I'm getting a few of them
https://www.nintendo.com/games/game-guide?pv=true#filter/switch|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|true|-|-|-|-|featured|des|-|-
@thesilverbrick I actually have more or less the same problems as you with jrpgs. They're my favorite genre but a lot of jrpgs are way too long for their own good. A lot of them drag their feet in terms of pacing and even ones I like (ie Xenoblade) feel like they're unnecessarily complicated.
And I find myself playing the 3ds all the time. Truth be told there were times where I'd get kinda irked by you always asking for the 3ds to be retired. I guess it just came from me loving my 3ds so much and me constantly playing it 7 years after launch. It's such a convenient and fantastic system and I just love how it's getting support still even if it's minimal at best. I do hope that you enjoy Fantasy Life. It's such a fun game. Also let me know if you want to chat sometime. You seem like a very good person.
@Oat You just reminded me. I still need to grind up a few levels so I can beat the final segment of the first Xenoblade on Wii, haha. I still have both Xenoblade 2 and X ready to go once I do!
And your kind words really, truly mean a lot. I enjoy very much talking to people like you and sharing experiences. That’s the whole reason I joined this site. Positive, upbeat chats like this more than make up for the times I spend trying to defend logical points to people who are overly negative or even trollish. Thanks, my friend!
@thesilverbrick Have you tried miitopia, Rune Factory 4, monster hunter stories and/ or Yokai watch?
@Fred13 I am actually waiting patiently for My time at Portia,
Witchbrook (aka spellbound), Moonlighter, Re:legend release and whatever caught my attention during E3 to give my switch all the love. So for now, I am avoiding impulse buying.
@UnknownReader I played Miitopia (and loved it), but none of the others. I contemplated giving Monster Hunter Stories a try because it looked less daunting than traditional Monster Hunter games.
@thesilverbrick Yeah, Miitopia is fun. I don't like the traditional Monster Hunter. Try the MHS demo first. It's colorful and you can collect dragon, that's the fun part. (Yokai Watch has demo too). Give them a try before decide.
@UnknownReader Good to know there’s a demo of MHS. I somehow missed that. I’ll definitely give it a try. Thanks!
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