Merry Questmas! Now Let’s Fill Out That Library!

Christmas has come and gone, and Switch after Switch was unwrapped this week. While the ranks of Switch owners swells with the new cadets, what might the RPG player want to explore and possibly add to their library? While we’ve had wonderful ports of classic titles like Star Ocean, Grandia, and even the majority of the later Final Fantasy games, what lesser-known offerings should we consider? Here’s what some of the guys had to say:

Rich: Golf Story and Blossom Tales.

Ben: Despite what Evan says, a KEMCO RPG wouldn’t a bad purchase… I also really like quest of dungeons for a budget rogue-like with decent RPG mechanics.

Jeremy: West of Loathing won our budget RPG award last year.

Evan: Despite what Ben says, you could do better than a KEMCO RPG. IMPLOSION and KAMIKO are both early, high-quality titles, and Crawl is a wonderful multiplayer experience.

These are all great picks. With what Ben said, there are a couple of KEMCO games that are really great for most players, including titles like Dragon Sinker and one of my personal favorites, Archlion Saga, which is a great game for people on the go that don’t have a lot of time to devote to a sprawling RPG experience but that still want a quality title. While KEMCO may not have the greatest reputation among all players, they do have some entries that are above average overall. With a style of mostly throwback games, there’s likely a KEMCO title out there for everyone.

Golf Story is one of the earliest RPG’s to come to the Switch, with a grand story and wonderful visuals that lend to the game’s overall charm. The world itself is well designed and the cast is incredibly humorous and quirky. Even gamers who aren’t a fan of sports games will fall in love with Golf Story. The title has a lot of small changes in gameplay throughout that keep things interesting, and the narrative itself is more than enough to keep players engaged. The title is part of an ongoing sale as of this writing, and can be found in the US eShop for $9.89.

Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King is a zelda-like adventure spanning 5 massive dungeons and around 15 hours of gameplay. The colorful sprites and retro graphics feel right at home on the Switch no matter if you choose to play in docked or handheld mode. As players adventure through the Kingdom of Blossom, they’ll pick up a multitude of items that change the way they solve puzzles and fight monsters. This game is also currently on sale in the US eShop for only $7.49

West of Loathing is a slapstick-comedy approach to the RPG world — with minimalist graphics and a hilarious narrative that spans the universe of Loathing, players will explore an open world full of laughs, quests, and puzzles. There are also over 50 hats, and a drunk horse, which is a total game-seller. You can enjoy the drunk horse for a measly $6.60 on the US eShop.

IMPLOSION is an isometric action RPG with some convoluted progression elements, but it features three playable characters with very unique play styles. Though many RPGs have been released since the Switch’s launch, IMPLOSION was one of the best-looking titles out there in the early days of the eShop, employing a gritty sci-fi aesthetic and some particularly brutal gameplay. It currently sits around twelve dollars on the eShop, and might be worth your time should you prefer an RPG with a less typical aesthetic. It’s a hefty title, however, weighing in just under five gigabytes of memory. Yikes! If you’re looking for something lighter, KAMIKO has been a staple of the budget-RPG group since the Switch’s launch, offering bite-sized, tight action-combat at an absurdly low price.

If you’re looking for an RPG everyone can play together, Crawl is a chunky, aggressive, and lunacy-inducing multiplayer RPG heavily reliant on multiple playthroughs for either co-operative or competitive fun. You’ll marvel at the expressiveness of its very simplistic character models as they utilize different weaponry to slay a cadre of monsters, though the real kicker is, the monsters you’re fighting are actually possessed by the spirits of your dead teammates! Crawl is an excellent example of a party game where each participant is constantly active, and it can be picked up for around fifteen dollars.

My budget pick will have to be Stardew Valley. Created by a one-man development team as an homage to classic Harvest Moon titles, Stardew Valley has gorgeous pixel graphics that detail a beautifully crafted world. While some friends of mine have lovingly called this type of game “Plant Corn; Get Waifu,” the premise is really that simple. You take over your grandfather’s old farm and settle into Stardew Valley, getting to know the townspeople while carving out a life for yourself. Perhaps you’ll fall in love, or perhaps you’ll be too busy destroying creatures in the mines. You can start your adventure in the valley for $14.99.

Now, should you be in possession of more than just a few dollars (perhaps you got an eShop card or some holiday dollars!) you may be so inclined to check out some of our titles featured in this year’s Switch Game Awards, Like Dragon Quest XI S, Atelier Ryza, The Alliance Alive, or Ni no Kuni. You can learn more about those titles in these full reviews:
DRAGON QUEST XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition Review
Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout Review (Switch)
The Alliance Alive: HD Remastered Review (Switch)
Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Review (Switch)

It’s a wonderful time to be a Switch owner. With a massive selection of games to choose from, and more amazing titles on the way in 2020, there’s no shortage of options to explore — and that’s one of the things we love to do the most. Which worlds will you choose to get lost in next?