October2023
Review Mineko's Night Market (Switch) – Cosy Fun With A Few Knots In The Fur
This little kitty went to market
Editor's Note: As described in the text below, a glitch towards the end of Mineko's Night Market prevented us from 100% completing the Switch review build at launch. An update for the game has reportedly fixed the issues we encountered, so while the text should be accurate for the most part, your experience may...
November2022
Review Ghost Song (Switch) - A Potent Mix Of Metroid And Dark Souls, But Maybe Not On Switch
Songs of praise
Over the past decade, the Metroidvania has seen a tremendous resurgence in popularity. And yet, it’s easy to forget how far we’ve come. If we rewind the clock back to the year 2013, the Metroid and Castlevania franchises were on ice and the indie Metroidvania scene was only just beginning to take off. That’s when Matt White...
Review Prodeus (Switch) - An Excellent DOOM-Style Shooter For Old-School FPS Fans
"We will send unto them... only you."
It’s interesting to look back and see how first-person shooters have evolved since the days of Doom. What once used to be a genre focused more on the single-player experience of exploring levels and killing monsters slowly turned into something more focused on multiplayer experiences. In recent years, it feels...
October2022
Review Signalis (Switch) - Brilliantly Tense And Surreal Sci-Fi Survival Horror
The signalis good
Survival horror games are tough to get right. Even giants of the genre like Resident Evil find themselves leaning harder into action or simple jump scares over time, but when it is at its best it is more tense than frightening. Signalis is one of the best survival horror games we’ve played and the perfect title for Switch owners...
Review Moonscars (Switch) - A Brutal, Beautiful Soulslike In Need Of A Performance Patch
Clayfighter
Everybody up for yet another Soulslike? Yeah, we thought as much. However, Black Mermaid's Moonscars has been turning heads since it was first announced due to its rather exquisitely detailed pixel art style. This is a deliciously dark 2D slasher with Metroidvania elements that reminds us a little of Motion Twin's dazzling De
September2022
Review Temtem (Switch) - An Innovative Pokémon-Like, With Depth And Grind In Equal Measure
Into Temtemtion
At the beginning of our Temtem adventure, we had every intention to review the Pokémon-inspired massively multiplayer game based on its own merit, steering clear of comparisons between the two as best we could. Developer Crema never shied away from where Temtem’s blueprints came from during its successful Kickstarter campaign and...
December2021
Review Archvale (Switch) - A Bruisingly Brilliant RPG And Bullet-Hell Blend
With a dash of Zelda for good measure
It really feels like we’re in somewhat of an extended ‘bullet hell’ renaissance, doesn’t it? As soon as developers realised that the sub-genre didn’t need to be confined to linear vertically scrolling shmups, we’ve seen fresh takes that inject new life into other genres. Archvale is a mashup of a...
November2021
Review The Wild At Heart (Switch) - A Gorgeous, Potent Mix Of Pikmin And Luigi's Mansion
Something borrowed, something new
The Wild at Heart feels like an amalgamation of some of Nintendo’s most unique gaming mechanics. Such a statement might strike fear into your heart, and we wouldn’t blame you. After all, many attempts by third-parties to imitate Nintendo’s design traits and tricks have fallen flat thanks to poor execution or a...
Review Unsighted (Switch) - A Fantastic Top-Down Metroidvania With A Warm, Vintage Feel
The final countdown
Sometimes a great idea needs time to mature. Just because a smart concept isn’t executed all that well, it doesn’t mean there isn’t an excellent game coming a sequel or two down the line. What’s incredible about Unsighted is that first-time indie dev Studio Pixel Punk has created the refined experience of a longstanding...
Review Unpacking (Switch) - An Emotive Experience, Beautifully Packaged On Switch
Living in a box
Videogames: pure escapism. Enact extreme, often immoral, experiences that you would never dare explore in real life: steal a car, murder hundreds of people, grow a moustache and stamp turtles to death. But Unpacking ups the ante: how would it feel to keep your cutlery in the second drawer down? Yes, a journey into the mind of a...
September2021
Review Dodgeball Academia (Switch) - Impressive Presentation, But Lacks Depth On Court
A True Underdog Story
It's very difficult to make school appealing. Persona gave it a go, and Lego Harry Potter took its best shot, but in general we just don't want to go to school ever. Dodgeball Academia is up against it from the off, but compelling gameplay could have brought it back from the brink of enforced educational apathy. Sadly, it's...
December2020
Review Wildfire - A Thoroughly Enjoyable Slow-Burn Of A Game
I am the god of hellfire, and I bring you...
Sidestepping any potential controversy about whether or not they exist or if their persecution is merely an expression of historical misogyny, I think it’s a universal truth that if you’ve got a Witch, you need to be able to burn it. It’s an alarming development, then, that Wildfire begins with the...
November2020
Review Carto - A Beautifully-Rendered Puzzler That Loses Its Way Too Quickly
Mind the map
Anyone who has ever played tile-matching, friendship-sabotaging board game Carcassonne will recognise Carto's main mechanic: square tiles must be placed according to the patterns on each side. If the patterns match the edge of another tile, they can be placed next to each other; a forest tile must border another forest tile, a desert...
October2020
Review Supraland - A Playful Platformer With Squandered Potential
A sandbox of missed potential
Sometimes a game’s overambition can be to its detriment, and Supraland is a prime example of this. The game is a disappointing tale of clear purpose and great ideas that, unfortunately, does not create an enjoyable product. While it is impressive that the game was created by only two developers, Supraland feels closer...
Review Ikenfell - A Magical Little Turn-Based RPG Adventure With Charm To Spare
Bewitched
There's certainly no shortage of turn-based RPGs available on Switch these days and an even greater number of retro-pixel indie efforts that present their strategic adventures in an increasingly overused 8 or 16-Bit graphical style. Honestly, we love them really but it can definitely feel a little wearisome at times prepping yourself to...
