Fans of indie games who have an active Nintendo Switch Online subscription are entitled to download the latest Game Trial which is the magical Eastward. This particular Game Trial will be available for you to download from the Nintendo Switch Online section on your Nintendo Switch home screen until 24th January, so you’ve got plenty of time to see if Eastward is for you. If you decide you like it, then you can purchase Eastward at a discount. You can watch a short trailer in the post below.
Eastward is the current Nintendo Switch Online Game Trial
I wish nso game trials were more like Xbox and PlayStation service it’s so crazy having to wait for 1 free game a month when you can easily just cycle through 5 or 8 games a month the switch has a pretty big eshop now, hoping that the next Nintendo console does better with online service perks because this is a pretty slow process and it’s the same issue with the other N64, GBA,GBC,SNES,NES, GENESIS (it’s funny to called this even part of the service due to how slow it gets updated with games).
One of the most entertaining games I’ve played on the switch. Gameplay is pretty straight forward. You have puzzles and occasionally have to kill someone or something, but the story is so freaking good. I have yet to play the DLC, but this reminder is going to push me to get it.
Beautiful looking game but that’s about it. It suffers from an identity crisis and doesn’t know if it wants to be Zelda, Earthbound, or Mario&Luigi RPG (and now the DLC is trying to add Stardew Valley to the mix). Combat pretty much devolves into stun enemy then spam attack button. Some story beats had a lot of potential but ultimately… idk… I want to call it “incompetently quirky”.
But hey, the good news is you can try it for free for yourself and form your own opinion.
The game play is definitely is mix of everything, but how come you didn’t like the story?
I feel like there’s a fine line between “weird” and “confusing” and the story was more of the latter. I remember finishing it and scratching trying to figure out what the story actually was and couldn’t figure it out. I searched online for explanations from people smarter than me and no one else really knew what was going on (this is shortly after it launched). Ultimately, it just didn’t feel satisfying and not entirely cohesive.
It had fantastic music, art, and style but yeah… if the gameplay was more fun then I’d probably be more willing to replay it again to try and figure out the story beats. First and foremost, it controls like 2D Zelda (it specifically felt like ALttP to me) but there’s really no uh… well, you have to worry about your positioning relative to enemies in Zelda when you attack but this was really just stun and spam attack to win. Let’s see… I also remember the cooking which was shamelessly like BOTW but clunkier. It also tried to emulate the limited inventory slots from BOTW. Switching weapons and bombs was a bit of a pain. Continuous points of no return which kinda hurts the Zelda completionist in me looking for health and item upgrades.
Honestly, I think the thing I liked most was the RPG arcade game you could play. It was sort of like a rogue-lite turn-based RPG and I could appreciate it trying to channel Dark Souls in it’s approach to lore with it’s figurines you could collect.
I don’t know. It’s a game I thought I would like, I wanted to like, but I just really… didn’t like it.
Honestly, everything you said was pretty much why I liked it. It took me back to the old Zelda games were only 2 weapons were equip able, yeah, it was a hassle, but that bit of effort gave it a nostalgic feel to it. the light hearted moments that reminds me so much of Mario & Luigi, the world that reminds me of Earthbound and Dragon Quest (btw, that’s what that light hearted RPG game was, a tribute to Dragon Quest.)
The music that was compose by Joel Corelitz, one of the composers of Halo Infinite and Death Stranding, man the OST is amazing in this game.
The feeling of a father (or protector) that did everything for his child, and then again did nothing like a clueless father would do, like keeping her alive at any cost but also making this poor child walk barefoot, until she’s finally given shoes by a mother figure that ultimately ends up “going away” leaving the father and child alone. I guess it was the father in me that loved that story (more of the lead up to the climax) that yes, ultimately doesn’t make any sense, but at that point I was invested to see my way to the end.
I do however see your point, and completely understand why it pushed people away, and left them… Unsatisfied, because towards the end it felt like too many stories were unfolding, tht never really got answers. I’m hoping for a sequel that explains everything or at least ties some lose ends. Or Maybe even the DLC does, can’t say for sure until I play it. 🤷
Just in Europe? :(
Yes! Yes! Yes!
I can finally continue my playthrough of the game to see if I want to buy it somewhere down the road. I never got far enough in the story to know if I want to buy & finish it. Best news I’ve gotten all week. Gonna have to put Biomutant on hold, though. Just another unfinished game to add to my backlog. Such has been my gaming life since 2020.
Also, if this is due to new DLC coming that the game is a game trial again, hopefully this means Cult of the Lamb comes back at some point this year.
This was a good reminder that I still need to play this game. I already own it.
Was this exclusive to a certain region? Because it’s not a Game Trial on my Switch.