As Nintendo embraces the indie gaming space like never before, the eShop faces an influx of schlock coming through any quality approval system. In this case, it seems the quality of a title was not the only thing to have Nintendo step in and pull the game.
Final Swordis an independent action RPG that released on July 2 via theNintendo eShopfor Nintendo Switch. Published by HUP Games,Final Swordis actually a port of a mobile game. While it would usually be part of thenumerous bare bones “asset flip” gamesto hit digital platforms,Final Swordfeatured a specific song that caused Nintendo to step in.
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Japanese Twitter user MossarilyOBJECT posted a video of the game to Twitter after finding a familiar and famous song. Accompanying the barren landscape ofFinal Swordis a track that strikes an extremely similar tune to “Zelda’s Lullaby” composed by Koji Kondo. The song has been featured throughout theLegend of Zeldafranchise and is considered one of the more iconic and recognizable songs of Nintendo’s extensive catalog.
The video has been viewed over 400,000 times, garnering significant attention which likely caused Nintendo to take notice. Website Japanese Nintendo found that just four days after launch and two days after mossarilyOBJECT’s tweet,Final Swordwas no longer available for purchase on the Japanese eShop. Searching now on both European and North American eShops also display an error message meaning it is no longer available in any region.
WhileFinal Sword’s removal from the eShop shows Nintendo is willing to pull games, it speaks to a greater problem with the eShop in general. Nintendo has embraced a much more free system of allowing Indie games on the platform regardless of quality. It is starting to face similar criticism as Valve’s Steam platform over asignificant lack of quality control standardsover the last decade. WhileFinal Swordwas an egregious example, there are many other games that slip through the cracks with misused copyrighted content.
While Nintendo continues to have an issue with quality assurance on smaller indies, that does not mean the platform is devoid of fantastic games across the development spectrum. TheeShop is currently having a Summer Salewith significant discounts on popular and celebrated games. So whileFinal Swordmay not be available, there are plenty of other and much better options.
Final Swordis no longer available for purchase on the Nintendo Switch platform but is available on mobile devices via the Google Play Store.
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