Circle Entertainment to publish The friends of Ringo Ishikawa on Switch

Circle Entertainment has announced that it will publish the yeo-developed game The friends of Ringo Ishikawa on Switch. A release window has yet to be confirmed.

The friends of Ringo Ishikawa “is a beat ’em up experience combined with imaginative storytelling, fun minigames, retro-style visuals and a funky soundtrack.” It takes place duing the final year at high school in a Japanese town and based around gangs and delinquent life. Developer yeo says it’s an “existential open world beat’em up with some school sim elements”.

Here’s some additional information and a trailer:

CIRCLE Entertainment and developer yeo are delighted to confirm that The friends of Ringo Ishikawa will come to the Nintendo Switch. Its blend of stylish pixel-based visuals, beat ‘em up action, surprising gameplay and imaginative storytelling will be a perfect fit for Nintendo’s system.

The friends of Ringo Ishikawa is a game that wants you to ‘feel the story’; you experience the world and its activities as you see fit as you guide the protagonist through his final term at High School. Below is a summary from yeo:

“You should play it if:

1) You’re fond of good stories with strong dialogue (especially about growing up).

2) You’re a fighting game enthusiast eager to try out some new mechanics.

3) You’re into some yakuza-delinquent aesthetics.

Basically, the game is an existential open world beat ’em up with some school-sim elements. It has a little of everything: a town to explore, a day-night cycle, NPCs on schedules, battle grinding, school grinding, mini-games (ping-pong, billiards, video poker, a videogame console with one game…) and so on.”

Source: Circle Entertainment PR