Press-Switch

Synopsis:
Press-Switch is a visual novel that follows an innocuous high school boy by the name of Calvin Hintre, whose life changes dramatically when he finds finds himself in possession of a device known as the DSM. An enigmatic doohickey capable of body swapping, mind control, transformation, possession, gender bending, and more. This naturally opens up a vast array of opportunities to Calvin, allowing him to turn his relatively humdrum life into something far more exciting… and potentially devastating. From an initial starting point, the title lays the groundwork for a vast array of different stories and possibilities that are being periodically built upon by the game’s sole developer, who goes by the aliases of Skiegh and Trigger. The game is free and is available to download here.

History:
The first public build of Press-Switch was released amidst the TFGamesSite forums in 2012 as an ambitious little visual novel that took assets from eroge game developer Bishop, a grab bag of music from other Visual Novels, and fenagled them into an entirely original entity that centered around an assorted cast. Over the years, and through periodic updates, the title gained a cult following that became very pronounced in 2014 with the release of Version 0.3b. However, following the release of that build, Trigger ran into assorted creative issues, largely attributed to his fixation on a single route, limiting his motivation and drive to continue development. This led several Press-Switch fans to begin production on their own collaborative visual novel known as Student Transfer.

Then, on October 10th, 2017, over 3 years after the last update, Trigger released Version 0.4a, which delivered a great deal of new content, characters, and general zaniness. Having the latest complete though, Trigger reassessed where the game was and where it was going, eventually deciding that due to inconsistencies and issues they have with much of the game’s minutes, and its programming issues, that they would restart development with Version 0.5a, which released on March 7th, 2018.

This new build and revised continuity have been iterated upon in each successive update. At least until Version 0.5c’s release on May 7th, 2019, after which the game underwent another delay until the release of the disconnected non-canon Press-Switch off-shoot Illia’s Mansion on April 8th, 2021. Development on the next version continued until October 17, 2022 with the release of Press-Switch Version 0.6a. This version restored content from v0.4a and the Elena route from v0.3b.

Throughout early December 2023, there was a controversy surrounding Press-Switch and statements made by its creator, Trigger. Details surrounding this controversy and this writer’s thoughts on them can be found in this article, released on December 9, 2023.

Reviews:
Press-Switch Version 0.6a Review
Illia’s Mansion Version 1.0 Review
Press-Switch Version 0.5c Review
Press-Switch Version 0.5b Review
Press-Switch Version 0.5a Review

Flowcharts:
In addition to reviewing each iteration of this project, I have also become its go-to “Flowchart Girl,” creating elaborate flowcharts meant to guide players through this game because, oh boy, it gets messy at points. My apologies if some of them are a bit messy (especially the earlier ones), and if you find any errors in any of these flowcharts, please notify me.

Press-Switch Version 0.6a Flowchart
Press-Switch – Press-Stitch Flowchart
Illia’s Mansion Version 1.0 Flowchart
Illia’s Mansion Version 1.0 Easter Egg Flowchart
Press-Switch Version 0.5c Flowchart
Press-Switch Version 0.5b Flowchart
Press-Switch Version 0.5a Flowchart
Press-Switch Version 0.4a Flowchart
Press-Switch Version 0.3b Night Flowchart
Press-Switch Version 0.3b Day Flowchart

Press-Stitch:
Dedicated Press-Switch fan and programmer Mariana Latynina created the Press-Stitch tool that patches older content content into Press-Switch v0.5c. The patch adds in various routes from v0.3b and the entirety of v0.4a. I prepared a flowchart for the content available in this patched version of Press-Switch, which you can find in the flowchart section below. However, with the release of Press-Switch v0.6a, this project is considered irrelevant.

Useful Links:
Press Switch TFGamesSite and Download Page
Press-Switch TFGamesSite Forums
Press-Switch v0.4a Download Links – 4Shared Mega
Press-Switch v0.3b Download Links – 4Shared Mega
Narrated playthrough of the scrapped predecessor to Illia’s Mansion
Press-Switch Discord Server