Staff Profile
- Username
- SwitchVogel
- First Article
- News/Features
- 1,401
- Reviews
- 225
- Avg. Review Score
- 6.9
- Article Comments
- 82,444
- Total Articles
- 1,626
Review The Last Remnant Remastered - An RPG With Fine Ideas Scuppered By A Lack Of Clarity
A remnant of a different time
You’d be forgiven if, when watching the surprise announcement of The Last Remnant Remastered coming to Switch, your first thought was “What?” Though the The Last Remnant has largely been forgotten in the current gaming industry, it once hopefully represented the future of Square Enix, with the president of the...
Nothing hollow about this one
Sword Art Online has been around for quite a while now; what started in 2002 as a simple light novel series has gone on to span a multimedia franchise including several books, manga adaptations, video games, movies, and – yes – an impending live-action Netflix series. It was only a matter of time before the...
Review PixARK - A True Survival Horror, And Not In A Good Way
Let this one go extinct
In 2009, the gaming industry was forever changed when a humble indie game called Minecraft was first made available to the public, introducing the world to a new genre of sandbox gaming that would go on to be cloned and mimicked to death in the ensuing decade. One of the most recent offshoots of this concept is PixARK, a...
Review Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth - The Last Picture Show
You'll find me in the matinée, the dark of the matinée...
Atlus has been one of the strongest supporters of Nintendo’s 3DS handheld over the years, keeping RPG fans busy with a total of seventeen stellar RPGs from the company. These releases have been coming at a consistent and reliable pace since the 3DS’ first year, so it's only fitting that...
Review Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack - A Fine Platformer That's Over All Too Quickly
"Indescribable... Indestructible! Nothing can stop it!"
Many of you are no doubt familiar with DrinkBox Studios for their work on the Guacamelee! games, but prior to their crazy luchador Metroidvania endeavours, the company was known for another platformer series about, well, blobs. Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack was originally published as a...
Review Atelier Lulua: The Scion of Arland - A Captivating Concoction That JRPG Fans Will Adore
Double, double, toil and trouble...
In 1997, Gust corporation kicked of the Atelier series, which would go on to span a whopping twenty-two platforms (including the WonderSwan) across the thirty-seven titles that comprise the series. Unlike your standard JRPG, Atelier games are typically not concerned about the fate of the world or something serious...
Review Redout - A Slightly Rough Port Of An Otherwise Decent Wipeout Wannabe
Seeing Red
One of Nintendo’s most popular (and amusingly, least supported) franchises is the F-Zero series, which popularized the concept of high-intensity, low-gravity racing. In the void created due to Nintendo’s reluctance to release more games in the series, plenty of other ‘me-too’ titles have released, such as Wipeout and FAST, and...
Review Venture Kid - A Workmanlike And Forgettable Mega Man Clone
You're not gonna go far, kid
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery; if that is indeed the case, then few games are more overtly flattering to the classic Mega Man series than Venture Kid. This new release from FDG Entertainment isn’t shy when it apes the concept of Capcom’s legendary series, and while it does a reasonably...
Review Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age - This Is How You Handle A Remaster
Vaanderful
2006 was an interesting time for the Final Fantasy series, as Square returned to a single-player driven entry in the series after the MMO experiment of Final Fantasy XI. The development of Final Fantasy XII was rocky to say the least, as its protracted five-year development cycle cost Square close to thirty-five million dollars and its...
Review The Swords of Ditto: Mormo's Curse - A Roguelike Take On Zelda
Alright, let's do this again...
Those of you that go to the trouble of connecting the ‘timeline’ of the Legend of Zelda series are no doubt aware of how there’s a sort of meta-narrative at play, in which the hero and villain are locked in an endless battle that reignites when they’re both reborn in new generations. The Swords of Ditto:...
Review Picross S3 - More Of The Same, But We're Not Complaining
Now with colour!
There are three constants in this world, it seems – Death, Taxes, and Picross sequels. Nintendo’s long-running puzzle franchise has now seen a whopping 33 entries and shows no signs of stopping, even though little has changed in the core gameplay of the main entries. But perhaps that’s the primary strength of Picross;...
Review Final Fantasy X | X-2 HD Remaster - Two Games In One Remarkable Switch Collection
The final word on these fantasies
2001 represented an exciting time in video games, as the industry began a shift to newer hardware and started to move past the growing pains of figuring out 3D game development in the previous generation. As the tenth mainline entry in the series, Final Fantasy X had a lot riding on it, as all waited with...
Review Katana ZERO - A Razor-Sharp Action Platformer That Everyone Should Play
A much-needed shot in the arm for sidescrollers
The '80s was a decade that modern media seems to be overly enamoured with, to the point that it becomes almost tiresome to see yet another game or movie that makes its '80s influence a big selling point. Often, these works merely pander to nostalgia, going after the low-hanging fruit in an effort to...
Review Metagal - A Mega Man Clone That Comes With A Mega Problem
A Wily attempt at mimicking a classic
There’s an old saying that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, yet while there’s certainly something to be gained through being inspired by a previously existing work, a new work generally must add something to the mix to keep things fresh and interesting. If the new work fails to add anything...
Review Nuclear Throne - Fans Of Enter The Gungeon Should Check This One Out
Totally rad
One of the top ten best-selling indie releases on the eShop to date is that of Enter the Gungeon, a super-tough twin-stick roguelike that’s great for local co-op sessions. However, those of you that regularly play on the PC may be aware that Gungeon was actually not the first notable game to execute the concept of a twin-stick...
Kweh! Kweh!
Esoteric and sprawling as it may be, the Final Fantasy series has always been unified by certain persistent themes, images, and music tracks, and one of the most recognizable of these continuities is that of the chocobo, the goofy-looking species of bird mounts that show up in most of the main games. Over the past few decades, Square...
Review Final Fantasy VII - A Timeless RPG Classic That's Nonetheless Beginning To Show Its Age
Better late than never, right?
The release of Final Fantasy VII in 1997 was a watershed moment for both Square and the role-playing game genre as a whole, forever changing the status quo moving forward. After the previous six games had seen a release on Nintendo platforms, this marked the first time (of many) that Square’s flagship series would be...
Review Blaster Master Zero 2 - Pure, Retro Platforming Goodness At Its Finest
A masterclass in retro game design
In the early days of the Switch eShop, one of the first indie darlings to resonate with audiences was Blaster Master Zero, an enhanced remake of the NES classic. What began as an already solid remake quickly grew into something much more substantial thanks to a series of paid content drops and free updates that...
Review Fate/Extella Link - One Of The Best Musou Games On Nintendo Switch
Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love
Musou fans have been a bit spoiled this generation, with many great releases in this niche genre coming out for the Switch, some of which are from the Big N itself. One of the more middling Musou games from the early days in the Switch’s life was Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star, which married that...
Review DELTARUNE Chapter 1 - A Welcome Successor To Undertale That Plays It A Little Too Safe
A strong opening to a promising adventure
Toby Fox had certainly stumbled onto something special when Undertale was released in 2015; the seminal post-modern RPG garnered quite the cult following for its quirky humour and disarmingly dark themes, which went a long way towards cementing its unique identity. Now, a few years and several ports later,...
Review Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn - A Timeless Classic That Feels Right At Home On 3DS
A quality port cut from the same cloth as the original
Much like its infinitely versatile mascot, the Kirby series has always been comfortable in taking many forms; Kirby has starred in several roles that diverge significantly from the copy-ability platforming of the mainline series. Kirby’s Extra Epic Yarn – an enhanced re-release of the...
Review Swords & Soldiers II Shawarmageddon - A Goofy But Charming Take On Real-Time Strategy
Till Valhalla!
It could be argued that no developer has yet managed to successfully translate the traditionally complicated gameplay of the RTS genre to consoles, all due to the lack of available buttons and a mouse to quickly navigate menus and units. Still, that hasn’t stopped many developers from trying, and the experiments performed in pursuit...
Review Ape Out - A Short But Oh-So-Sweet Action Title That Every Switch Owner Should Play
Ape escape
It’s interesting how modern times have created something of a renaissance in game development, with more developers than ever now producing new games, yet these games, in many ways, feel like they’re becoming gradually more homogenous. Ape Out pushes back against this trend in the best kind of way, crafting a distinctive identity for...
Review RemiLore - An Endearingly Sweet RPG Experience That Might Leave You Wanting More
Got a sweet tooth?
In the modern game industry, it feels like there’s quite a continuous push for ‘event games’, like the sorts of action titles you see plastered over advertisements and social media just about everywhere you go. What doesn’t often get talked about is the market for less intense games; the sorts of experiences more geared...
