Staff Profile
- Username
- SwitchVogel
- First Article
- News/Features
- 1,401
- Reviews
- 200
- Avg. Review Score
- 6.9
- Article Comments
- 81,323
- Total Articles
- 1,601
Review Final Fantasy IX - A Strong Entry In The Classic Series Despite Some Rough Edges
PRINCESS!?!?
In January of 2000, Square (not yet merged with Enix) made big waves in the industry with the official announcements of its next three main Final Fantasy projects, each of which was being developed with different audiences in mind. Final Fantasy X was to continue pushing the series towards new horizons by releasing on a next gen...
Review Away: Journey To The Unexpected - A Colourful Roguelike Plagued By Bad Design Choices
Go away
On paper, roguelike game design sounds like a fantastic idea. Most small developers don’t have access to the finances or resources of big studios, so it takes considerably more time to produce a quality, lengthy video game. The shortcut, then, is that smaller developers can utilize procedural generation to make a little bit go a lot...
Review Iron Crypticle - A Smashing Tribute To The Twin-Stick Shooters Of Yore
A real thriller
Last year, Tikipod graced Switch users with the seminal Aqua Kitty UDX, a silly and extremely enjoyable take on the classic arcade game Defender which had that perfect blend of old-school design principles and modern game standards. Now, the developer has chosen to do a modern take on another arcade shooter classic, Smash TV, and the...
Review Etrian Odyssey Nexus - A Stellar Send-Off For A Beloved RPG Series
And for the 3DS itself?
Long before games existed as we know them now, ‘video games’ consisted of text-based adventures that demanded just as much imagination from the players as they did input. Dungeon crawlers were a popular genre at the time, one in which you guided a protagonist room by room through sprawling, confusing castles guided only...
Review Unruly Heroes - If You Loved Rayman Origins, You'll Love This
Born to be wild
Ubisoft made big waves in the industry when it released Rayman Origins, a triumphant return to the company mascot’s 2D platforming roots. Blending goofy humour with thrilling platforming sequences, it captured the hearts of millions, but perhaps the most stunning aspect of the release was the flash new engine that it ran on. UbiArt...
A bit of a drag
Inti Creates has made quite a name for itself on the Switch with quality titles like Mighty Gunvolt Burst, Blaster Master Zero, Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, and Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack all offering up some excellent retro run ‘n’ gun action. Going back further, however, the company put itself on the m
Review Wargroove - A Turn-Based Strategy Classic That Intelligent Systems Would Be Proud Of
Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war
Intelligent Systems has always been known for its strategy game IP, with Fire Emblem naturally being the most popular, but that esteemed series might never have made it West were it not for the more colourful and militaristic antics of the Advance Wars franchise. Unfortunately – despite its similarities to...
Review Caveblazers - A Middle-Of-The-Road Roguelike That Ends Up In The Shadows
Not exactly blazing the trail
At this point in time, the “roguelike” indie game has become a trite and overused thing; there are more roguelikes out there now than any human could possibly have the time to play, and a lot of them don’t really do much to try separating themselves from the pack. Enter Caveblazers, a Spelunky-esque new roguelike...
Tummy trouble
When the Switch came out nearly two years ago, few would've expected that Nintendo would still be supporting the ageing 3DS with new first-party software as far as 2019, yet here we are. Picking up the ball that the Paper Mario series has long since dropped, the Mario & Luigi series of RPGs has been a celebrated mainstay of...
Review Double Cross - An Enjoyable But Sadly Unmemorable Mega Man Clone
Sophomore slump
Back in darker times for Nintendo during the lifetime of the Wii U, the eShop was characterized by enormous content droughts where few worthwhile games were popping up between the major first-party releases. This opened plenty of space, however, for previously unknown indies to get a larger share of the spotlight, giving their...
Review Donut County - A Sweet Little Puzzler In Need Of Extra Filling
Short, but sweet
The modern game industry seems to be obsessed with the idea of constantly pushing the higher limits of how much content can be packed into a game, with both AAA and indie developers constantly finding new ways of making games that are exhaustingly long. Often, this leads to inevitable repetitiveness - do we really need sixty...
Review Sundered: Eldritch Edition - An Enjoyable But Challenging Take On The Metroidvania Format
The Call of Cthulhu has been heard loud and clear
The work of H.P. Lovecraft had a significant impact on culture in both the literary and broader world, leading to the creation of the cosmic horror genre which focuses on a certain kind of fear related to unknowable, dark deities. Sundered: Eldritch Edition aims to capture the heart of what made...
Review Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP - Short, Sweet But Perhaps Not For Everyone
A playable concept album
When done right, concept albums can represent the finest content that the music industry has to offer, tying together a set of songs into one continuous thematic experience that manages to be more than the sum of its parts. Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP is an evolution of the concept album, weaving the tracks of a...
Review Toast Time: Smash Up! - A Tasty Brawler That Needs Just A Little More Time In The Oven
A bit underdone
In the modern age of gaming, one must wonder if there’s still a place for the ‘okay’ games in a marketplace that becomes ever more crowded with quality content. The rise of indie game development and the production values of AAA game development have resulted in a world where players have neither the time nor the money to play...
Review Abzu - A Gorgeous And Thought-Provoking Journey That All Switch Owners Should Embark On
Breathtaking
Journey changed the game when it released back in 2012, bringing a distinctly serene experience to PlayStation owners that championed the experience of play, rather than the goal of conquering challenges. Journey generated all sorts of acclaim for its atmosphere and pace, so it comes as no surprise that Matt Nava – Journey’s art...
Review Nidhogg 2 - Crazy Couch-Play Combat Slightly Sullied By Poor Solo And Online Features
Absurdity at its finest
Fighting games have historically had a high barrier to entry, with new players having to face hours of getting their butt kicked before finally getting the muscle memory required to master the complex controls and inputs. Nidhogg – if it can even be considered a fighting game – changed that when it launched in 2014, with...
Review Brawlhalla - A Free-To-Play Smash Bros. Rival That Just Might Surprise You
Put 'em up
It’s rather surprising when you get right down to it that more games haven’t aimed to mimic Super Smash Bros. in how it approaches the fighting genre. Traditionally, fighting games are deeply enjoyable once you get to grips with them, but truly engaging when the game requires dozens (if not hundreds) of hours of studying frames,...
Review World of Final Fantasy Maxima - A Gentle Introduction To The Legendary RPG Series
Pretty honking good
Final Fantasy is a name that’s become synonymous with the JRPG genre; over the decades there have been dozens of mainline releases and spinoffs that iterate on the tried-and-true formula in unique ways. The latest entry in the numbered franchise—Final Fantasy XV—was a bit of a departure for the series, marking the first...
Girl power
Cellar Door Games put itself on the map with the release of Rogue Legacy, a critically lauded roguelike sidescroller that in some ways set a trend still being followed by indies today, but the studio later went on to release a new game, Full Metal Furies, to much less fanfare. There were plenty of factors that resulted in the studio's...
Review Rogue Legacy - Generations Of Challenge Packaged Up In An Irresistible Roguelike
A legacy to look up to
Though the Castlevania series has had a rather inconsistent and confusing run over the years, the one thing tying it all together is the famed Belmont clan, with a member of the family showing up in just about every game released in the series so far. That age-old battle between the forces of good and evil has spawned all...
Review Nickelodeon Kart Racers - A Poor Man's Mario Kart That Squanders Its Potential
"I'm ugly and I'm proud"
Over the years, Nickelodeon has amassed quite a varied and deep stable of entertaining cartoon franchises, with characters like Spongebob Squarepants and Aang becoming cultural icons that are recognized the world over. It stands to reason, then, that the company could produce a solid kart racer in the vein of Mario Kart;...
Review Dragalia Lost - A Deep And Rewarding Smartphone RPG That Might Just Surprise You
Sure to wyrm its way into your heart
There was once a time where consumers and Nintendo alike claimed that the company would never move into the mobile gaming space, but as times have changed, the Big N has decided that perhaps a few games wouldn’t hurt. It’s rather fascinating to see how Nintendo’s strategy in the mobile space has altered...
Review Transistor - A Towering Achievement That Comes Highly Recommended On Switch
Process this
Supergiant Games made its name when it released Bastion in 2011, producing an unforgettable RPG with a strong art direction and compelling story that would go on to become an indie classic in later years. It was a tall order, then, for the studio to follow that act with something that could raise the quality bar again; it’s tough...
Review Valkyria Chronicles - SEGA's Strategy Classic Still Shines Ten Years Later
Democracy is non-negotiable
For many Nintendo fans, last month’s Valkyria Chronicles 4 was their first experience with the franchise, and it no doubt was a pleasant one at that. Valkyria Chronicles 4 acted as a lovely return to form for SEGA's strategy series, but this was largely due to how the game essentially went back to the gameplay template...
