Latest Reviews
Review Ageless - Not Quite The Next Celeste, But Worth A Look All The Same
Another hidden gem?
Though it still certainly occupies a niche, it’s been fascinating to see how 2018’s seminal Celeste has begun to influence the design of platformers in the time since its release. That unique blend of approachable but punishing gameplay and a surprisingly emotional story was something that had never really been done before,...
Review Crysis Remastered - A Technical Miracle And One Of The Best Shooters On Switch
Switch Mode Engaged
Of all the big-name ports that have arrived on Switch thus far, there's something about Crysis that makes it feel a little extra special. Here is a game that absolutely beasted even the most high-end PCs when it released back in November of 2007 with its GPU-melting graphics – light-years ahead of everything else at the time...
Review Creaks - A Masterfully Told Dark Fairytale Packed With Clever Puzzles
Finely oiled
Amanita Design has made quite a name for itself producing distinctive, visually alluring and extremely intuitive point-and-click adventure-puzzlers for PC and mobile. Across the likes of Botanicula, Samorost and Machinarium there's an evident shared love for the absurd and a predilection for charming wordless narratives. Now, the Czech...
Mini Review Monster Prom: XXL - A Silly, Knockabout Experience That's Perfect For Parties
John Hughes' worst nightmare
While going back to school is certainly not a desirable concept, it would certainly hold more appeal to find it populated by literal monsters, rather than the lousy figurative ones who made school life so difficult. Thankfully, Monster Prom: XXL offers a welcome opportunity to right those wrongs and ask a fantasy...
Mini Review Neversong - A Lovingly-Crafted Metroidvania Which Sadly Ends Too Soon
Nightmares and dreamscapes
Neversong is an atmospheric adventure game from developers Atmos Games and Serenity Forge, in which a young boy by the name of Peet is searching for his kidnapped girlfriend, Wren. Set in various mysterious locales, the game is primarily a Metroidvania in design, but one which strikes a nice balance between narrative and...
Review Lost Wing - A Beautiful Score-Based Challenge That Almost Touches Greatness
It's OK, you can get it back
Some games are really difficult to review. This isn't self-important whining, we promise. Okay, maybe it is. A bit. But it's true – there are so many games out there that slot into their genre or type so neatly, so functionally, that sometimes one will come along where we found ourselves wondering what on earth there...
Review Dex - A Compelling Cyberpunk Mash-Up
Augment your Switch with this cracking cyberpunk chronicle
Gaming and cyberpunk go hand in cybernetically-augmented hand. Like dystopian peanut butter and electric jelly. Our beloved medium has always been well-served with the genre, from Megami Tensei to Shadowrun to Deus Ex all the way up to the forthcoming Cyberpunk 2077. While it's not
Review Waifu Uncovered - A Puerile Pin-Up Shooter That's Surprisingly Satisfying
Saucy shooter
One has to admire a developer who gives their game a title that lets you know exactly what to expect from the experience. Waifu Uncovered, a new release from the delightfully named developer One-Hand-Free Studio and indie/niche publisher eastasiasoft, does indeed boast a fine selection of attractive female characters and the gradual...
Review Panzer Paladin - A Joyfully Unpretentious And Exuberant Action Title
Battling mythical creatures? That's a paladin
Big. That's probably the best word to describe Tribute's latest action platformer. Big and chunky. Everything's bold, brash and refreshingly straightforward. Of course, there's no shortage of pixel-heavy games on the Switch, but there are few that feel quite so immediate and responsive. Joymasher's...
Review 1993 Shenandoah - One For Hardcore Amiga Fans Only
27 years in the making
To own a Commodore Amiga in the late '80s / early '90s was to be part of something truly special. You might have been lucky and previously stumbled upon a ZX Spectrum or Commodore 64 at home, but you had to use your imagination to make those arcade home conversions look, sound and play anywhere near the real deal. The Amiga...
Review Vigor - Stealthy Scavenging Marred By Technical Issues
Bohemian Rhapsody?
Bohemia Interactive's Vigor, originally released on Xbox back in August of last year, finally arrives on Switch in this paid Founder's Pack edition - with a free to play version due sometime before the end of this year - and what we've got here is a pretty decent looter shooter premise with some good ideas thrown into the mix,...
Mini Review Rez Plz - Not Quite A Game To Die For
In need of a jolt
Searching for a dose of that old The Lost Vikings magic on your Nintendo Switch? We'd love to push Rez Plz forward as a blood-soaked candidate, but unfortunately there are just too many sore points for our liking. In this co-op puzzle-platformer, you'll find yourself guiding a pair of wizard twins through a SNES-era fantasy world...
Review Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus - A Rare Gem In The 40K Video Games Catalogue
In the grim darkness of 2020, there are still good games
Bulwark Studios' Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus throws players into the great big metal shoes of Magos Dominus Faustinus, chief commanding Tech-Priest aboard the monolithic Ark Mechanicus, who's just discovered a mysterious signal emanating from deep within the bowels of the planet Silva...
Review CrossCode - The Zelda-Like RPG You Never Knew You Wanted
A Role Playing Game Game
A little over five years ago, a new studio named Radical Fish Games unveiled its dream concept for a new game. Called CrossCode, it promised to merge the RPG trappings and graphical style of '90s SNES RPGs with the world and puzzle design of the Zelda series. An ambitious goal, to say the least, and one that approximately...
Review Paper Mario: The Origami King - A Puzzling Battle System Can't Kill This Funny Adventure
You'll be creasing with laughter
The Paper Mario series has seen more ups and downs over the years than the lid of Picasso’s pencil case, with Nintendo and developer Intelligent Systems trying their best to nail the formula again. A large number of Paper Mario fans believe GameCube title Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is the best game in the...
Review Neon Abyss - A Fun Romp, Even If It Doesn't Glow With Originality
It's Abyss of alright
The Binding of Isaac begat Enter the Gungeon, which begat Neon Abyss: you could almost end this review there. Neon Abyss is so similar to Enter the Gungeon that we were fairly taken aback at first. Being a side-scroller, though, it's actually closer to its less-beloved spin-off Exit the Gungeon. So yes, this is another...
Review Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 - Another Faithful Tribute To The Classic 2D Castlevanias
A classic Castlevania by any other name
During the 2015 Kickstarter campaign for Castlevania spiritual successor Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, one of the reward tiers promised a retro-styled prequel minigame. Nobody really knew what to expect at the time, but three years later it resulted in Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon. Developed by Inti...
Old friends, new console
Nearly two decades ago, the Nintendo fanbase was graced with Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town, the first entry in the series for the Game Boy Advance. Offering up a low-key and easily accessible gateway into the farm sim genre, it quickly garnered a following and earned itself the reputation of being one of the better...
Review Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise - A Fun Game, In Disguise
That game you like is going to come back in style
Let’s get the bad (though perhaps unsurprising) news out of the way first: from a pure technical perspective, Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise is a train wreck. Anyone who can't handle unstable framerates, crude character animation, moiré-like patterns and other visual artifacts or...
Mini Review kuso - An Accessible Yet Challenging eShop Gem
The least appropriately-named game of all time?
The sheer purity of kuso is almost disconcerting. A simple 2D platformer with no major traversal mechanics besides running and jumping, it's quite a difficult sell to the seasoned platform veteran. You have the ability to drop checkpoints instantly (a little like Ori and the Blind Forest), which means...
Mini Review Superliminal - A Mind-Bending Visual Puzzler With A Powerful Message
Well seasoned perspective
Ever since Valve’s iconic puzzler Portal launched back in 2007, we’ve seen a number of developers put their own spin on the genre, including ChromaGun, The Witness, and The Talos Principle. Superliminal is one of the more successful efforts; a mind-bending jaunt into a mysterious facility that turns out
Mini Review The Almost Gone - An Abstract Experience You Won't Be Able To Put Down
When life flashes before your eyes
The Almost Gone is a point-and-click puzzle game in which you investigate a variety of different locations presented as miniature dioramas. The story plays out as you piece together clues and examine objects, and it’s one that doesn’t shy away from tough subjects, such as alcoholism. It’s an abstract...
Review Ultracore - DICE's Lost 1994 Run And Gun Shooter Is Reborn On Switch
A roll of the DICE
Back in the forgotten, misty year of 1994, a game called Hardcore (developed by Digital Illusions, now better known as DICE) was previewed in game magazines for Mega Drive, Mega CD and Amiga. Then, thanks to the encroaching next generation of consoles, publisher Psygnosis canned the title when it was borderline completed. And now,...
Mini Review Across The Grooves - A Time-Travelling Tale That's All About Relationships
Time after time
Across the Grooves is an interactive graphic novel that puts you in the shoes of Alice. Having lived a relatively normal existence thus far, Alice’s life is turned upside down when she receives an odd package from her ex, Ulysse. A vinyl record is contained within, and when Alice plays it, she’s launched back into the past to...
Joe Hawk's Rising
If you've ever indulged in a little of Redlynx's Trials series, tried your hand at some Tony Hawk's Pro Skater or dabbled a little with Hello Games' Joe Danger on last-gen consoles, you'll have a good idea of what Urban Trial Tricky is attempting to aim towards. Tate Multimedia has created a messy mish-mash of all three here, with...
Review Outbuddies DX - Offers Lots To Love, But The Failings Of This Metroidvania Bring It Down
With buddies like these...
You can’t move for Metroidvania games these days, and given that a huge percentage of these are indie games with retro-style graphics, we propose a new subgenre called Retroidvania. Outbuddies DX fits rather nicely into this new pigeonhole we just created, and we can safely say that of all the Retroidvania games we’ve...
Review Catherine: Full Body - The Ultimate Version Of A Surreal Cult Classic
A Rare Vintage
One of our absolute favourite games from the last console generation, Atlus' Catherine is a sublimely stylish mix of visual novel, dating simulation and fiendish block tower puzzler that tells a captivatingly warped story whilst constantly challenging its players with its clever and rewarding platform puzzle elements. Originally...
Review Infini - A Clever Spatial Puzzler That Looks Like No Other Game You've Played
To Infini and beyond
There's a mind-boggling degree of variety out there on the eShop right now, with multiple genres and virtually all tastes catered for in one way or another. But there isn't much out there that's downright weird. Or nothing that even approaches Infini, in any case. The world of games is a pretty conservative place when you...
Review Biped - A Polished, Nintendo-Style Experience That's A Little On The Short Side
The true walking simulator
The simple act of walking in video games is rarely, if ever, a challenging endeavour. It’s more likely that we’re asked to perform more complex moves like jumping, punching, or kicking, but walking is more of an immediate, automatic action that we probably take for granted. Biped flips this concept on its head, and...
Review Yes, Your Grace - A Curious Mix Of Kingdom Management And Medieval Adventure
Red weddings and royal whodunnits
Modern European royalty has things easy. Without any form of meaningful power to wield, all they have to deal with is intra-family bickering and the odd scandal. The regal protagonist of Yes, Your Grace has to deal with all this, plus a kingdom on the brink of bankruptcy, starvation, and a drug epidemic. Oh, and...