Sometimes there are games you load up where you come to the experience with no real knowledge or expectations, and within the first few minutes you find yourself in a space you’ve never seen before. Whether it’s the story taking an unexpected turn, or gameplay that leaves you feeling disoriented as if dropped in the deep end, pleasant surprises can be a lot of fun. At the risk of ruining said surprises for others I’ll thus try to not to get too detailed about Rose & Camellia Collection, since for me so much of the fun revolved around having my jaw drop or it prompting me to literally laugh out loud, something that doesn’t happen nearly enough in life.

The basic premise is that you’re a widow to a son in a wealthy family, doing all she can to ensure she’ll be able to survive. Coming from a more modest upbringing, the rest of his family seems to have little patience or regard for her, leaving her no choice but to take her fight to another level. Rather than merely sparring with them verbally, she is introduced to the concept of hand dueling, where 2 rival women will take turns trying to slap one another until one proves to be victorious. What follows is possibly one of the most unusual and often silly fighting games I’ve ever played, and since this is a collection of multiple games, that will lead to over 20 opponents to face with the weirdness generally escalating as you go.

Now, keep in mind that these fights aren’t terribly complex as you only have a limited number of options. These include a full-on slap, a feint, a dodge, a counter, and a grab move where things get crazy… with the rest all being amusing theatrics, some strategy, and each competitor’s own signature tells. The result is reminiscent of a watered-down Punch-Out, where you must learn the specifics of each hint that your enemy is about to strike, and then sometimes the specific timing for your dodge, which when executed correctly gives you a shot at a solid counter. You can play against a friend locally, but that’s more novel than fun for long. What really drives the experience is the outrageousness of the opponents you’ll face, transitioning from the expected to the more outlandish at times, but it’s good fun.

This is one of those titles that’s tricky to recommend as what you’ll get out of it greatly depends on your sense of humor and what you’re looking for. Yes, the gameplay (for what it is) can be compelling to a degree and it is pretty well executed whether using the touchscreen or the joycon motion controls. That said, its more simplistic nature would run out of gas relatively quickly if it weren’t for the bizarre high society soap opera narrative that continues to play out as you go. Kudos to everyone who contributed to getting this onto the Switch, as its style defies any reasonable sense of conventional wisdom for what should make its way through development. It may not be terribly deep, but it is absolutely a game you’ll remember.