After a successful run on other platforms, including a rise to Game Pass prominence as boasted by the publisher, Descenders is coming to Switch to entice more players with its downhill bike stunt gameplay. The indie hit will arrive on Nintendo's hybrid console on November 6, already a busy week for gaming now made a bit busier.
The game will be co-published by Sold Out and longtime publisher No More Robots and will receive physical editions for players who still like to take home some plastic with their purchase. Those who elect to pre-order the Switch version will unlock the Descent Lux Set, which includes glow-in-the-dark cosmetic items for your ride and rider alike, including a helmet, outfit, and bike. Even if you don't pre-order, you can later unlock these items through natural progression.
The appeal to Descenders comes by way of its freeform levels which offer a range of customization and improvisation. Players can create their own levels using a simplified terrain manipulation tool and get to the bottom any way they choose. It's a bit like Trials, but expect more tricks and a no-wrong-answers approach to the finish line. Crashing and resetting is quick and painless, even when the spills look bone-breaking to your avatar.
To date, Descenders has earned a 74 average on OpenCritic from 16 reviews, with most of those having come recently following the game's exit from Game Preview and Early Access and onto consoles and PC in full. Descenders has received a wealth of updates since its early launch, including Wipeout-like levels which bring more color and contraptions to the bevy of options.
The development team at RageSquid previously garnered the spotlight for creatively dealing with those pirating the game by giving them an unequippable Jolly Roger flag accessory, intended to be a mark of shame.
“Nearly 2/3rds of people who play Descenders pirated the game, and our multiplayer lobbies are filled with players called SKIDROW and CODEX,” No More Robots' stat-loving boss Mike Rose revealed on Twitter last year. “So RageSquid added a pirate flag to the bike of anyone who pirated the game, which *they can never unequip*.”
At least when the game hits Switch on November 6, players won't need to worry about being boarded by any grog-soaked, back-stabbing swashbucklers.
