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As the Nintendo Switch 2 prepares to launch, its list of third-party games grows, including a trio of Sega and Atlus games that include classics and deep cuts. I got to play all three ahead of the Switch 2 release on June 5.
The three games -- Yakuza 0: Director's Cut, Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S and RAIDOU Remastered -- are odd bedfellows that represent distinct eras and genres among Sega's oeuvre. All three play well on the Switch 2, which is unsurprising given the console's rumored PS4-equivalent performance but still reassuring given the original Switch's limited capability.
Yakuza 0 is the marquee title of the trio for its role in the series -- a prequel to the original Yakuza and de facto entry point for new players that details the origins of fan favorites Kazuma Kiryu and Daigo Dojima. In addition to the story, Yakuza 0: Director's Cut includes a new mode, Red Light Raid, that lets you pick a character from a roster of Yakuza heroes and nobodies to brawl with successively harder rounds of enemy groups.
While dated compared with the sharp combat and graphics of the latest in the series, February's Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, Yakuza 0 is still a fantastic game and great to have on the new console. I only played it in docked mode, so I can't say how the game plays in handheld with a 1080p and 120 frames per second display graphics cap.
Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is a deeper cut, the third game in the Devil Summoner series within the Megami Tensei franchise, which was originally released for the PS2 in 2006. Though the game has been refreshed for modern consoles (the game will also be out on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC and last-gen systems), it preserves the charm of the era's games -- one where very little is explained and players have to figure it out for themselves. (I had to have a certain solution to a puzzle spelled out for me.)
Starring the eponymous Raidou as a detective assisted by demons he captures and can use to investigate denizens of his town or summon for battle in real-time combat, the game is a little slower and less dense than today's graphically-intense titles.
Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S is the opposite -- a contemporary puzzle game first released in 2020 for current and last-gen consoles, the re-release preserves the bright colors and frantic gameplay with a few new multiplayer modes. In our preview, Sega paired up gamers for 2-vs-2 puzzler matches where we tried to stay out of each other's way while clearing lines. For Switch 2, players can switch from Joy-Con mode to Mouse mode, which is precise enough but adds to the frenetic tension.
Watch this: I Attended the Public Nintendo Switch 2 Experience
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