Switch Game Reviews
Review Chronicles Of The Wolf (Switch) - A Spot-On Castlevania Tribute That May Test Your Patience
A Metroidvania with claws
Chronicles of the Wolf is a tough game to review. A decade or so ago, 2D Metroidvanias were rarer, but they now represent one of gaming’s most enduring and best-developed genres. But how do I assess a production like this that purposefully ignores many of the design changes that made the genre more accessible? This meaty...
Review Front Mission 3: Remake (Switch) - Didn't Get The Love & Time This Tactical RPG Deserved
Wanzer more unto the breach
Every time I pick up the Front Mission series, I am rooting for it. Mechs (wanzers, in this case) are always cool and I always love a good tactical RPG. However, Front Mission 3: Remake doesn’t just manage to put me off with its deeply frustrating combat mechanics; it feels like a haphazard and even insultingly bad...
Mini Review Locomoto (Switch) - On The Right Cosy Track, But Has A Few Train Faults
Tickets, please
I thought Locomoto would be the perfect game for me amidst the Switch 2 chaos. With all the excitement of opening new games and speeding around the track in Mario Kart World, I needed something much slower, calmer, and cosier. And, for the first five hours, Locomoto slotted into that role perfectly. You're the conductor of your own...
Review Gex Trilogy (Switch) - A Happy Throwback That Couldn't Be Any More '90s
Enter the '90s
Note. Gex Trilogy isn't playable on Switch 2 via backwards compatibility at the time of writing, although a patch has been submitted to Nintendo for review, according to Limited Run. We'll update this note when we hear more. Dimitris Giannakis’s Carbon Engine is back on behalf of Limited Run Games, and, despite some previously...
Review Rune Factory: Guardians Of Azuma (Switch) - A Bold Reinvention That Pays Off
It'd be rune not to
Rune Factory’s first entry arrived to a welcoming fanbase almost 20 years ago, and players have signed on for the adventures of a string of amnesiac protagonists, equal parts fighter and farmer, ever since. Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma delivers on the promise of the series with another hero mysteriously connected to the...
Review Capcom Fighting Collection 2 (Switch) - A Cracking Collection Of Top-Class Arcade Fighters
A Dream(cast) collection
We love Capcom Fighting Collection 2! There, that's the review done. Seriously though, this is a particularly strong lineup of actual arcade Bangers (yes, with a capital B), that doesn't have anything approaching a full-on weak spot across a stellar roster of classic titles, so it's not really a surprise, is it? Indeed,...
Sirei-iously good
Back in 2018, a new studio called Too Kyo Games was formed, with the main creatives behind it being Kazutaka Kodaka (the creator of Danganronpa) and Kotaro Uchikoshi, the director of the Zero Escape games. Four projects were unveiled as part of the studio’s reveal, and while three of them saw release over the following years,...
A Lunar landing
Love and miracles. These are two words that get thrown around a lot when talking about video games, particularly our childhood favourites. But with the Lunar Remastered Collection, these are two words that feel more than appropriate. A combination of rights disagreements between co-developers Studio Alex and Game Arts and the...
Good time Gals
Inti Creates is a fascinating development house that has spent the past few years crafting throwbacks to beloved genre archetypes. The team tends to take a specific model and iterate on it across several titles. Aside from Comcept's infamous Mighty No. 9, Inti has a strong history with the Mega Man series, and another beloved template...
Review Star Overdrive (Switch) - Uneven But Ambitious Open-World Hoverboarding
The boards do work on water
In much the same way that modern society pines for the flying cars they have always been promised, the modern gamer yearns for hoverboards in their open-world adventures… or they should - because it’s a lot of fun. Last year’s Gori: Cuddly Carnage featured a floating board as both transport and weapon, and now...
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Robot Jox
We were somewhere around 20 hours into Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, on the edge of thinking, 'This is all very familiar,' when the really feeling it began to take hold. As fun as Xenoblade Chronicles X is in its opening six chapters — and it's up there with the rest of the series in this regard — things only really...
A new day dawns
Atelier has always been one of the more niche JRPG franchises out there, but it started to gain much more widespread appeal with the significant success of the Ryza trilogy over the past few years. Now that Gust has closed the book on Ryza’s adventures (for now, anyway…), it’s come time to see if they can maintain that momentum...
Read the rune, Konami
Few RPGs, or video games, deal with war and hope in the face of tyranny like the Suikoden series. Konami’s prime RPG series, created by the late, great Yoshitaka Muriyama, is beloved by those who have played them – particularly the first two. They’re about the underdogs, about those who want better for their country, and...
Review Omega 6: The Triangle Stars (Switch) - A Fun Throwback Adventure From A Nintendo Veteran
Rock, Paper, Scissors...in space
Takaya Imamura has designed some of the most iconic characters across Nintendo’s history. Joining in 1989, his first major gig was creating the look of F-Zero’s Captain Falcon. Moving on to The Legend of Zelda series and Star Fox, he is also responsible for the unique art direction of Majora's Mask. After...
Review Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection (Switch) - A Comprehensive Round-Up With A Few Real Winners
Duels in the crown
One of the most striking elements of Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection, which celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game, is the sheer number of Yu-Gi-Oh! video games that came out between 1998 and 2004. The Early Days Collection includes 14 games just from Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance titles, some...
Review Sid Meier's Civilization 7 (Switch) - An Incredible Game That's Not Quite Ready
Short of Civilliant
Most games with numbered sequels tend to iterate and grow on their previous instalments. After all, you don’t want to alienate your audience by upending key systems and creating a substantially different experience from what they’re used to, it just makes sound economic sense. Change things just enough so that it rides that...
Let's do the time warp again
On Western shores last yast year, Falcom started a fresh arc in its long-running flagship franchise with The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak, breathing new life into the series while offering a great jump-in point for newcomers looking for a place to start. With the overall Trails series rapidly nearing the...
Review Tales Of Graces f Remastered (Switch) - The Characters Steal The Show In This JRPG Classic
f yeah
The Tales series is one of those JRPGs that sometimes flies under the radar. It doesn’t typically get the same hype as Final Fantasy or Persona, but Bandai Namco has been consistently putting out solid Tales games for 30 years. Tales of Graces f Remaster continues that tradition, bringing one of the best entries in this franchise to modern...
Review Guilty Gear -Strive- Nintendo Switch Edition (Switch) - A Fine Port & A Bold New Step
Smell of the game
Since Guilty Gear first arrived on Sony’s PlayStation in 1998, singeing the air with furious guitar shredding, it’s always been a head turner. While graphically, its goth-rock anime stylings have dazzled with each iteration, Arc System Works’ foremost achievement is in managing to differentiate itself from Capcom’s heavily...
Mini Review Taito Milestones 3 (Switch) - Third Time's A Charm
Getting better all the time
The Taito Milestones series has already witnessed two collections (the '3' at the end of the Taito Milestones 3 is a bit of a giveaway), but the odd thing with this series is that the quality has arguably improved with each offering, rather than diminishing as the best games are featured early on. As we noted with the...
Review Star Wars: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles (Switch) - Uncivilised But Not Unenjoyable
"Now I am the (re)master"
Always two, there are. No more. No less. Master Yoda's wise words may have rung true for the Sith, but it couldn't be further from the rate at which Star Wars games were being pumped out in the early 2000s. Some showed promise (Episode I: Racer, Battle for Naboo) while others were as dull as The Phantom Menace's trade...
Review Donkey Kong Country Returns HD (Switch) - Aping A Retro Classic
That's what you get for not hailing to the chimp
It’s not unfair to say that the gaming landscape was somewhat different when Donkey Kong Country Returns first fell into our laps in 2010; 2D platformers were a rare breed, and ol’ DK himself hadn’t arguably had a mainline entry in his series since 2004’s Jungle Beat. Back then, the title said...
The long-awaited remaster of the remake
Way back in 1989, Nihon Falcom released Ys III: Wanderers from Ys for various PC-based platforms and eventually consoles like the Genesis and SNES. This 2D side-scroller was well-respected in the community and eventually acted as the basis for 2005's 3D reimagining, Ys: The Oath in Felghana, though this...
Review Fairy Tail 2 (Switch) - Hurt By Its Breakneck Pace, But Still A Step Up
Second time's the charm?
A few years ago, Gust Studios—the popular Atelier RPG factory—decided to do something a little different by putting out a licensed RPG adaptation of the Fairy Tail anime and manga. It wasn’t a particularly great game, but it wasn’t too bad either, and it obviously did well enough with its audience that a sequel was...
Sting like a Wii
It’s been six years since the first Fitness Boxing was released, during which time we’ve had two main games and two spin-offs based on Fist of the North Star and Hatsune Miku. Now it’s time for the third proper entry in the series, and thankfully regular Fitness Boxing players will find some new stuff in here to freshen up...
Dimengeon divers
Hironobu Sakaguchi needs no introduction. The “father of Final Fantasy” is an industry titan, arguably untouchable in the video game pantheon. But, since 2004, Sakaguchi has been at the helm at Mistwalker, his development studio which has a knack for slightly twisting the traditional turn-based RPG affair. Over the years,...
Review Life Is Strange: Double Exposure (Switch) - Not Quite Picture Perfect On Switch
Double trouble
The Life is Strange series has been an interesting diversion from Square Enix’s typical MO of putting out endless takes on RPGs, instead offering heavily narrative-focused stories exploring the trials of various people who develop supernatural abilities. This series' strong storytelling has garnered a loyal fanbase, it’s also...
Review LEGO Horizon Adventures (Switch) - A Beautiful But Basic Build Of Sony's Series
Machine obsolete
In a situation that echoes the reveal and subsequent Switch launch of Ori and the Blind Forest from Microsoft, we admit to feeling a tad shocked at the revelation that Sony’s LEGO Horizon Adventures would not just be released on PS5 and Windows, but also Nintendo’s humble hybrid. Sure, this isn’t the full-fat Horizon...
Review Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake (Switch) - Square Doesn't Drop The Ball, Just Some Frames
The wait is finally over
A few years ago, Square Enix announced it would be doing a remake of Dragon Quest III in its popular HD-2D engine, but this was then followed by a lengthy period of radio silence where its development status seemed uncertain. While they were at it, the developers decided to go ahead and remake the first and second Dragon...
Review Mario & Luigi: Brothership (Switch) - Easily The Best Mario & Luigi RPG Yet
Gonna get yourself connected
As the very first Mario & Luigi RPG to be released on a full-fat home console, we've been champing at the bit to discover whether or not Nintendo would capitalise on the extra grunt of the Switch to serve us up the biggest and best turn-based Bros. romp yet in the form of Mario & Luigi: Brothership. We had some...
