The Nintendo Switch just got a new free-to-play exclusive, and it’s a big deal for a very niche but dedicated fanbase. The New Denpa Men is the latest entry in developer Genius Sonority’s Denpa Men series. If you haven’t heard of that before, there’s good reason. The series debuted on Nintendo 3DS and has had several entries since, spanning out to mobile, but its most recent installments were exclusive to Japan. The Switch release brings the quirky RPG back west, which marks an exciting return for its cult following.
Or it should have been exciting, at least. As it stands, The New Denpa Men is a bit of a mess at launch. A laughable English localization, a frustrating online requirement, and some pesky microtransactions already have fans torn. While those are all issues that have bugged me during my first few hours with the release, I’m still finding some endearingly weird charm in the RPG. It feels like a return to a different era of Nintendo, where the company’s hardware gimmicks led to some welcome creative swings.
Like previous installments, The New Denpa Men is a dungeon-crawling RPG where players assemble a team of eight colorful cartoon weirdos and direct them in battle. The squad gains loot as they explore, including wearables that buff each one’s stats, resources, and decorations that they can place in their home base. There’s a hint of Animal Crossing to be found here with light town management and even fishing.
That’s a basic rundown, but The New Denpa Men is anything but normal. It revels in its bizarre sense of humor and truly strange gameplay hooks. Take the RPG’s catching system, for instance. To get new Denpa Men (each of which looking like a Teletubbie with a specific antenna denoting its magic ability), I have to use Wi-Fi signals to summon new allies. I then have to use my Switch’s gyroscope so I can physically aim at them and toss out a net. It’s the kind of out-there minigame that was popular on hardware like the 3DS, but has gone away with the more normal Switch. It’s a playful blast from the past, almost bringing back the unique joys of the 3DS’ Streetpass feature.
Gameplay hooks like that can take some getting used to, but I slowly came to enjoy them over the first few missions. Battles, for example, use a turn-based system not dissimilar to some Dragon Quest games that’s less about managing each party member’s actions and more about issuing group commands. At first, it feels thin. I can only direct everyone to physically attack or defend all at once, or use a more flexible command that allows them to use their magic power, like healing. Once I got the hang of that, carefully determining the right moment to spend my AP, I could see the appeal of the quick-paced system. Heavy RPG customization on each of my Denpa Men filled in any missing depth.
What’s less charming is just how messy the adventure can feel. That’s apparent immediately if you turn on its English translation, which feels like it was run through Google Translate. Enemies say things like, “Another stupid came all over the place trying to steal my jewel!” It’s so warped that it comes off as broken gibberish, which is disappointing considering this is the first entry to come to the United States in a long time. Granted, the translation does give it some undeniable charm. It’s a confidently off-kilter game and the alien dialogue almost feels intentional in that context. I won’t lie: I get a kick out of it all.
I can live with that flaw, but I’m a little less forgiving of its free-to play hooks. It’s a microtransaction-heavy game, where buyable jewels are needed to summon high-value Denpa Men or revive the party when they get knocked down. In my early hours, I found that even over-leveled party members could quickly fall to random critical hits. Since there’s no way to direct specific Denpa Men to guard, it’s a roll of the dice on each enemy attack phase. Whenever I’d wipe out, a pop-up would try to direct me to a shop where I could buy gems with real money. I quickly found myself at a wall as I either needed team revivals or more powerful Denpa Men to get through missions; both would require me to pony up.
Its always-online requirement is a thorn in its side, too. While that wouldn’t be much trouble in a mobile game played on phones with data plans, it’s not a great fit for the Switch. Even while playing at home, I found that every little action seemed to trigger a “connecting” screen to verify my Wi-Fi was working. If I opened a chest, I’d usually have to wait for a pinwheel to confirm I was online. When my Switch randomly disconnected from my Wi-Fi during one session, I was immediately tossed to a pop-up asking me to reconnect before I could do anything in-game. While I get need that in multiplayer focused games, it’s a frustrating restriction for a single-player RPG.
Those issues mean that I likely won’t get too deep into The New Denpa Men, but that doesn’t mean I’m not enjoying it at the moment. Even with its flaws, I’m drawn in by a wackiness that feels rare in video games these days compared to just 10 years ago. I used to play a lot more left-field projects like this, from Tomodachi Life to Streetpass minigames, and I’ve missed that eclectic spirit, one that embraced occasionally toylike potential of gaming hardware. If you’ve missed that too, you might find yourself joining the Denpa Men’s cult following.
The New Denpa Men is available now on Nintendo Switch as a free download.