Sonokuni, VGC’s BitSummit 2024 Game of the Show, is coming to Nintendo Switch
The Hotline Miami inspired action game is being developed by a Japanese hip hop crew
Sonokuni is coming to Nintendo Switch, its publisher and developer have confirmed.
The 2D action game was given VGC’s Media Highlight award at the BitSummit indie expo in Kyoto last year, and is set for release later this year.
The game was previously only confirmed for a PC release via Steam, but now publisher Kakehashi Games and developer Don Yasa Crew have confirmed that it will come to Switch “soon after” its PC release.
Sonokuni will be playable at the Tokyo Indie Games Summit this weekend, but for those unable to attend a free demo is currently available for download on Steam.
A 2024 release for Sonokuni was originally planned, but following a positive response at various shows (including VGC’s award) it was decided to delay the game to 2025 to make it as polished as possible.
What makes the game unique is that its developer, Don Yasa Crew, doesn’t have much prior experience in game development, because it’s actually a Japanese hip hop crew.
Inspired by Hotline Miami, the crew’s Don Sagawa decided to learn game development during the Covid-198 pandemic and created a top-down 2D action game where players have to perfect difficult action sequences using a variety of abilities.
“This may sound infuriating, but the combat is so satisfying, and the game is so conscious of the player’s free time that it never really is,” we wrote in our BitSummit Game of the Show article.
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“As soon as you die you hit a button and spawn right at the door to the room, there are no long checkpoints you have to play through again. It’s a die, try, die, try system and it nails the ‘one more go’ vibe with gusto.
“Then, on top of all this, there’s the small matter of a filthy, gritty J-hip-hop soundtrack blasting on loop in the background. When it all combines, and you finally manage to pull off a perfect run with the bass thumping and Japanese rapping ringing around your ears, you feel cool as all imaginable hell.”
