Latest Reviews
Review Kirby And The Forgotten Land (Switch) - A Breezy Delight With Mario-Level Invention
Once more, with mouthfeeling
Well. It's finally here. In celebration of 30 whole years (!) of 2D and 2.5D adventures — with a little 3D sprinkled in for good measure — Kirby's first proper fully three dimensional mainline escapade has now arrived and, as long as you know exactly what to expect from the little pink puffball, it's an absolute...
Review Rune Factory 5 (Switch) - A Dependable Old Farmhand That Could Use A Spruce Up
Finally back in season
Farm sim games are rather difficult to mess up. Give players a welcoming town full of friendly residents, a field that they can till to make ridiculous sums of money, and a few side activities like fishing or mining to fill in any gaps, and you’ve pretty much got the basics covered. Rune Factory games have always nailed all...
Mini Review République: Anniversary Edition (Switch) - A Sneakily Intriguing Yet Flawed Experience
An obtuse angle on stealth
Don't you hate it when you're thrust into a totalitarian world of unrelenting fascist horror? For example, when you go outside? Ho ho! Just a bit of topical humour there. Sorry, we'll never do it again. Look, the point is, République — the game whose Nintendo Life review you are currently reading — is about escaping...
Review WRC 10 The Official Game (Switch) - Lots Of Rallying If You Can Handle The Visuals
Sliding into our DNFs
The WRC series on Switch feels to us a bit like a hammer made of sponge. We appreciate the effort that went into it and it sort of looks like the real thing, but it never really properly nails it. After getting off to a rocky start with WRC 8 on the Switch then delivering a slightly improved but still shonky sequel, the series...
Review Dawn Of The Monsters (Switch) - Superior Co-Op Kaiju Combat With Pacific Rim Vibes
Kaiju feel my heart beat fast, I want this to last
A belt-scroller starring kaiju and Tokosatsu-style giant mecha isn't exactly an original idea. SNK's not-that-great King of the Monsters series did it first, but here's the scoop — Dawn of the Monsters does it better, with a game that'll make you feel five hundred feet tall. And scaly. And...
The Tour begins
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the most popular game on Switch, the very definition of an 'evergreen' title. Aside from the Battle Mode and a few minor changes, however, devoted fans have been playing the same content since the Wii U original with its DLC content, a scenario that finally changes with the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe-exclusive Booster...
Review Gal*Gun: Double Peace (Switch) - One To Avoid Playing On Public Transport
Pervert party
Look, there’s nothing wrong with a little anatomical allure, generally speaking. Hell, many an impressionable teenager hit pause to glimpse Chun-Li’s undies back in the day, and Capcom knew it. Sex sells, and, like all commercial media, video game developers aren’t immune to slapping some greasy smut on-disc in the hope of...
Review Wife Quest (Switch) - A Bawdy Metroidvania That's Well Worth A Look
Sorry monster girls, but that boy is ours
The world is a dangerous place. One minute you’re out in your fields, farming to provide food for yourself and your wife, and the next you’re being accosted by a gang of monster girls who are dead set on stealing you away for themselves. That’s the fate of poor Fernando, who gets himself snatched away...
Mini Review A Musical Story (Switch) - A Trippy, Funk-Dipped, Oh-So-Groovy Rhythm Game
Funky see, funky do
Why is it that YouTube has lots of hits for “Guitar Hero blindfold” but none for “Guitar Hero earplugs”? It’s music – you don’t need to see it. With A Musical Story, Glee-Cheese Studio have taken a punt on the idea that music is something you do indeed listen to. What kind of music? With a brown-galore colour...
"We have Persona 4 at home"
Welcome to Atlus, Switch fans, the company that really doesn’t want you to play any mainline Persona games, but does want you to play their canon sequels. Last year, we got Persona 5 Strikers, a surprisingly great Warriors-style follow up to the seminal Persona 5. This year, we’re getting Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, a...
Review F-Zero X - The Best The Series Has To Offer
X gonna give it to ya
This review originally went live in 2016, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the release of F-Zero X on Switch, available as part of the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack N64 library. The original F-Zero on the Super Nintendo really blew gamers away with its stunning use of Mode 7 visuals, colourful graphics,...
Review Young Souls (Switch) - One Of The Best Beat 'Em Ups On Switch, Despite Hiccups
The Young Souls of brawlers
Nearly four years ago, The Arcade Crew and 1P2P revealed Young Souls, a promising new entry in the oft-overlooked beat ‘em up genre. Then in 2021, the game launched as a Stadia exclusive and… well, we all know how that went. Unsurprisingly, the studio soon set about porting the release to other platforms, and it’s...
Review Aztech Forgotten Gods (Switch) - Stylish But Compromised By Its Combat And Camera
An az-technical disappointment
Considering its instantly recognisable iconography, the Mesoamerican Aztec culture is one that has rarely featured in video games. We’ve seen games like Aztec: Empire, sure, but there are a lot more examples tied to periods like the Second World War, the American Revolution, and Ancient Rome, to name but a few...
Review Triangle Strategy (Switch) - Square Enix Plots A Total Tactical Triumph
Royal Rumble
When we previewed Triangle Strategy's opening hours just a few weeks ago we came away suitably impressed by its slick mix of choice-driven narrative, detailed world-building and satisfyingly strategic combat action. It's a setup that immediately engaged us, introducing a strong cast of characters, embroiling us in some fascinating Game...
Review Chocobo GP (Switch) - A Surprising Mario Kart 8 Alternative For Final Fantasy Fans
Tweet Racer
Note. Since this review was published, the game has changed quite a bit as Square Enix removed the Lite version and Mythrill shop microtransactions. While the base karting gameplay remains the same, please be aware that the experience described in the text below may differ in some respects from the game as it stands today. Square Enix...
Review Taito Milestones (Switch) - An Oddly Meagre Collection Of Coin-Op Classics
A muted celebration of an important developer
A small "Powered by Arcade Archives" message sits in the corner of Taito Milestones' dual-purpose title/game select screen, a subdued seal of quality there to let players know the emulation within is of the same standard we've come to expect from Hamster's prolific series, with all the usual features...
Review The Legend Of Zelda: Majora's Mask - Magnificent, Unique, And Worth Revisiting
Okay, campers, rise and shine
This review originally went live in 2016, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the release of Majora's Mask on Switch, available as part of the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack N64 library. The Zelda games have a lot of fans and there's also been plenty of opportunities over the years to revisit...
Review Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist Of The Mysterious Dream (Switch) - Another Intoxicating Blend
Dare to dream
Before Ryza came onto the scene and changed up the Atelier game, many would agree that the previous darling of the series was Atelier Sophie. Evidently, Gust thought so too, as it decided to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the series not with the inevitable conclusion of the Secret trilogy, but with a rather unexpected sequel...
Review Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection (Switch) - Ageing Classics And Glitches Galore
Ah, Desmond
One of the Nintendo Switch’s biggest supporters from the begining has been Ubisoft. Games like Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition, and Starlink: Battle for Atlas show the developer's commitment and how its partnership with Nintendo has blossomed over the years. However, it wasn’t until relatively...
Review Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece For Cloud (Switch) - A Great Series That Deserves Better
Not like this
Note: For more details on the games in this cloud version package, check out our individual reviews for Kingdom Hearts 1.5 + 2.5 ReMix, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, and Kingdom Hearts III + Re:Mind. For an overview of the Integrum Masterpiece collection of all those games, read on.
Review Kingdom Hearts III + Re:Mind - Cloud Version (Switch) - Shot Through The Heart
Re:Mind us not to buy this
And so we come to the end – for now – of Tetsuya Nomura’s iconic and in-no-way-confusing Kingdom Hearts series. Additionally, then, this is the end of our excursion into the nebulous Cloud; pun extremely intended. Yet, of course, for all the shade we throw at the concept of Cloud Versions and the myriad flaws they...
Review FAR: Changing Tides (Switch) - Mindblowing Moments Of Scale, Detail, And Discovery
Sail away, sail away, sail away
As game fans, we all believe deeply in going from left to right. If we waste a whole day gaming, and feel like we’ve got nothing done, no one can deny we did at least go from left to right. And if a game’s story is limp and can’t find any import for its platform contrivances, it can at least fall back on the old...
Mini Review Raging Blasters (Switch) - Another Fantastic Shmup We'd Love To See In The West
Compile killer
It’s just as well one can never have too many shoot-'em-ups, because, no bones about it, Raging Blasters is absolutely fantastic. A Japan-only release on Switch (though available on Steam) that's magically entirely in English from top to bottom, this is the kind of indie-gaming labour of love that deserves a great lungful of...
Review Ocean's Heart (Switch) - Charming 2D Zelda-Like With Obvious Nods To Minish Cap
The Legend of Talia: The Wind Wannabee
When someone talks about spiritual successors in the video game industry, a few names immediately come to mind. Stardew Valley, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, and Yooka-Laylee all aimed to bring back genres synonymous with long dormant franchises. If a spiritual successor exists to bring back something...
It's not just your connection that'll Drop
And so it goes on. With Square Enix uploading all of the past Kingdom Hearts games to The Cloud, naturally the enthusiastically-titled Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue has arrived – another compilation, this time bringing one full game, one four-hour teaser for Kingdom Hearts III and another...
Review Voice Of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden (Switch) - A Fine Follow-Up To Yoko Taro's Cosy Card RPG
Fast and fabulous
Well, that was fast, wasn’t it? Not even four months ago, Square Enix released Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars, which proved itself to be an enjoyable, relaxing, and interesting take on a classic JRPG from creative director Yoko Taro and his team. The title subtly hinted at the possibility that there would be more entries...
Review River City Girls Zero (Switch) - An Authentic, Endearing 16-Bit Brawler Romp
Hit and run
The first entry in the convoluted Kunio-kun saga, localised in 1986 as Renegade, is considered the progenitor of the scrolling beat-em-up. While later efforts would evolve its arena-based model into the classic belt-scrolling format we know today, it was Technos that established the genre’s significant hallmarks: damsels in distress,...
We put Cloud in your cloud
We begged for this, you know. We begged on our damn, dirty knees for Kingdom Hearts to come to Switch. Not Melody of Memory, that's a half-measure. We wanted the full shebang, 1.5 + 2.5 ReMix. And now we've got it... in the most cursed form possible, a Cloud Version. Don't worry, we're not going to spend the whole review...
Review Monark (Switch) - A Solid SRPG From Veteran Shin Megami Tensei And Persona Devs
Freud would be proud
Not even a year ago, FuRyu revealed a curious new game called Monark that was heavily marketed as being the lovechild of several ex-Atlus staff who were instrumental in the early days of the Shin Megami Tensei and Persona series. Monark has certainly managed to deliver on that promise, as this is a title that retains the dark...
Mini Review Grapple Dog (Switch) - A Cracking GBA-Style Platformer, With Echoes Of Go! Go! Beckham!
"What's Updog?" finally has a coherent answer
A long time ago in 2002, long before many of you were even born, there was an obscure little Game Boy Advance platform game developed by Denki based on the football man David Beckham. It was called Go! Go! Beckham! Adventure on Soccer Island and, quite frankly, it was magnificent. Why are we bringing up...