Switch Game Reviews
Review Labyrinth Of Galleria: The Moon Society (Switch) - A Deep, Dense, Devastating Dungeon Crawler
Moon's haunted
Though the JRPG has remained the de facto king of the RPG space for the last few decades, one could argue that the popular genre would never have existed were it not for DRPGs. What started in eons past with titles like Ultima and aimed to translate a traditional D&D gameplay experience to the screen has given way to more...
Review Redemption Reapers (Switch) - An Uneven Tactical RPG With A Fantastic Soundtrack
Fails to live up to its hype
When we first loaded up Redemption Reapers, we were in love with the aesthetic of the game. A dark and gritty tactical RPG with surprisingly good-looking cutscenes and haunting music was exactly the palate cleanser we needed after playing through Fire Emblem Engage. While those strong points never get old during this...
Review Digimon World: Next Order (Switch) - A Repetitive, Open-World Grind For Die-Hard Fans Only
The only way is Easy Mode
Just like any franchise that’s been going as long as it has, Digimon video games have had plenty of ups and downs. Digimon World: Next Order was first released in 2016 for the PlayStation Vita, with a PlayStation 4 release making its way to the West the following year. Since then, it has enjoyed enough of a cult following...
Review Clive 'N' Wrench (Switch) - A Banjo-Kazooie-Style Throwback That Hits All The Wrong Notes
Monkey see, monkey don’t
There is little argument that Switch has become one of the premier consoles for 3D platformers. From a host of classics from the 'Golden Age', such as Banjo-Kazooie and Super Mario 64, to incredible brand new experiences, like Kirby and the Forgotten Land, and brilliant indies such as Lunistice, there is a 3D platformer...
Dream Weaver
If you’ve had a gander at our list of the Best Kirby Games Of All Time lately (or read our original 9/10 review from back in the day, more to the point) you’ll know that we hold Kirby’s Return to Dream Land in high regard around these parts. A return to classic Kirby action after a few less successful deviations from the norm...
Review Octopath Traveler II - A Confident Follow-Up And One Of Switch's Finest RPGs
Eight roads diverged in a wood, and I... well, I took them all!
A year after the Switch released, Team Asano—who made its name on the Bravely Default games on 3DS—released Octopath Traveler for the Switch. The fascinating HD-2D art style immediately grabbed people’s attention, while the clever implementation of classic JRPG gameplay quickly...
Review Tales of Symphonia Remastered - A GameCube Classic That Shows Its Age On Switch
Dwarven Vow #108: Let sleeping dogs lie
Though it’s never quite had the popularity of the Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest franchises, the Tales series has set a good reputation as the ‘other’ classic JRPG series that’s consistently maintained a decent quality for quite some time now. Back in 2004, Namco (no Bandai yet) was only on the fifth...
Review Theatrhythm Final Bar Line (Switch) - A Magical Musical Romp Through Final Fantasy History
Feel the Theatrhyhm
If there’s one thing pretty much everyone can agree on, it’s that the Final Fantasy series has some incredible music. With a 35-year legacy and around 100 games bearing the Final Fantasy moniker, it’s not surprising that the music from the series is some of the most recognisable in video game history. Theatrhythm, then, is...
Review Metroid Prime Remastered (Switch) - A Long-Awaited And Stunning Return Of A Legend
Prime example
It’s difficult to believe now, but there was once a time when the notion of a first-person Metroid game seemed unfathomable. Prior to the release of Metroid Prime back in 2002, the franchise had been confined to the 2D realm, with complex environments full of secrets and hidden equipment that bolstered your abilities and combat...
Review The Pathless - Slick, Open-World Traversal Transitions To Switch Solidly
A Link to the Path
Having hit it out of the (water) park with its debut ABZÛ in 2016, Giant Squid landed The Pathless on PS5 just as the console launched in November 2020. The game provided the kind of audiovisual spectacle that would satisfy early adopters hankering after something to show off their next-gen kit, so you’d be forgiven for...
Review SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake (Switch) - The Best SpongeBob Platformer Yet
Across the Spongeverse
A few years ago, Purple Lamp Studios released SpongeBob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated, a solid revival of a 3D platforming classic from decades past. Sales for that remaster were evidently robust enough to justify development of an all-new sequel, as SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake was announced a...
Review Fire Emblem Engage (Switch) - Relationships Get Sidelined By A Thrilling Combat-First Focus
School's out
It's been almost four years since the hugely successful Fire Emblem: Three Houses stormed onto Switch and reignited our passion for Intelligent Systems' long-running tactical RPG franchise. Here was a game that deepened the relationship and social sim aspects and captured the hearts of gamers who revelled in three separate campaign...
Review WRC Generations (Switch) - Rough-Looking Rallying With Too Many Compromises
It's the end of the road
It’s only taken 11 games to figure it out, but publisher Nacon has finally realised that numbering its WRC games has perhaps started to get a little ridiculous. As such, this sequel to WRC 10 has ditched the numbering system, and goes by the more approachable title of WRC Generations. It’s an interesting time to finally...
Review Aliisha: The Oblivion Of Twin Goddesses (Switch) - A Co-op Puzzler That Demands Two Switches
It takes two (Switches)
At first glance, UNDERSCORE and Joy Brick's brand new puzzle adventure, Aliisha: The Oblivion of Twin Goddesses, shows plenty of promise in how it's been designed from the ground up for two players to indulge in lots of cooperative sleuthing action that makes full use of the Nintendo Switch's unique range of abilities. Here...
Triumph or Die
Jitsu Squad is a beat 'em up heavily inspired by '90s classics like belt-scroller Final Fight and fighter Marvel vs. Capcom. You control the titular squad as they seek to stop the evil demon Origami from getting his hands on the Kusanagi Stone, a legendary MacGuffin which grants godly powers to anyone who can attain it. After a...
ACTIVATING COMBAT MODE
In the mid-2000s, Nintendo may have easily dominated the handheld gaming space with the DS and its incredible lineup, but never let it be said that the PSP didn’t have its fair share of absolute bangers. One of the most memorable PSP titles was Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, a prequel to one of the greatest games Square’s...
Review Dragon Quest Treasures (Switch) - A Trove Of JRPG Goodness, Perfect For Beginners
Taking the JRPG formula back to basics
The Dragon Quest series is a staple in the JRPG community, continually churning out games of varying quality for more than 35 years. The latest entry in this seminal franchise is Dragon Quest Treasures, a spin-off from the mainline series, with many of the standard Dragon Quest tropes packaged into one of the...
Mini Review Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass Wave 3 (Switch) - The Best Set Of Tracks Yet
This is more like it!
Nintendo is back with another wave of eight courses for the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass, bringing us to the halfway point of its overall road map. Now we're up to a total of 24 new tracks over six unique cups, but so far, the output has been a bit mixed: we’ve had some bonafide classics like Coconut Mall and...
Review Kukoos: Lost Pets (Switch) - A Charming 3D Platformer Perfect For The Whole Family
Going Cuckoo for Kukoos
Despite the Nintendo Switch’s reputation for being a family-friendly console, the number of truly kid-focused games on the platform are surprisingly few and far between. And if you take licensed games out of the discussion, the number falls even more. Currently, outside of some notable titles like New Super Lucky’s Tale...
Review Astronite (Switch) - 1-Bit Metroidvania Adventuring With A Dash Of Dark Souls
The full Spectrum
Astronite looks like it hails from the ZX Spectrum, and that’s precisely its goal. Touted as a “1-bit Metroidvania”, it’s rendered in stark black and white, with thin line art and all the evocative hallmarks of PC gaming's bygone age. It even features little floppy disk icons at its save points and old-style telephones at...
The world is your Cloyster
If there’s one thing we always hope for with a brand-new Pokémon generation, it’s a sense of childlike wonder. Of course, it’s not always a guarantee, especially with a formula that has been followed consistently for the last 26 years, but we always start a new generation with our fingers crossed that we'll be...
Review Smurfs Kart (Switch) - Not As Smurf As Smurf, But Surprisingly Smurf
Not half as Smurf as we'd Smurfed
When it comes to karting games, you can either try something new in an attempt (and likely failure) to reinvent the genre, or you can play it safe and just take notes from Mario Kart. Smurfs Kart has absolutely no qualms about going with the latter option, with barely a shred of originality to be found in its game...
Review Cobra Kai 2: Dojos Rising (Switch) - A Good Idea Very Poorly Executed
Full of Kreeses
The magical appeal of Cobra Kai as light entertainment is that it’s totally aware of what it is: garbage. It’s Sunset Beach crossed with Saved By The Bell, driven by the one-note parody of Johnny Lawrence being stuck in the '80s. For anyone old enough to remember the original Karate Kid movies, there’s a throwback attraction...
Review Doraemon Story Of Seasons: Friends Of The Great Kingdom (Switch) - Familiar Farm Sim Fun
Planetary exploration has never been so chill
The first Switch Doraemon: Story of Seasons launched in 2019 and was praised for harmoniously combining the cast of the much-loved children's anime with the relaxing gameplay of one of the most well-known farm sim franchises, and while it may not be the most obvious combination, its beautiful art style...
Review Tactics Ogre: Reborn (Switch) - A Decent Remaster Of A 16-Bit Strategy Classic
Onions have layers, ogres have layers
Within the Final Fantasy brand, one of the most famous sub-series is the Ivalice Alliance. Set within the fictional land of Ivalice, the handful of projects that comprised these games were marked by their focus on a more grounded setting that explored the dramatic politics of a magical medieval world. However,...
Graft from the past
Atari, and its exuberant founder Nolan Bushnell, were 1970s trailblazers who formed, established, and pioneered the video game industry. Brushing a near-century of mechanical coin-operated gaming aside and barging pinball into a dusty corner, Atari became the focal point of bars everywhere with Pong in 1972. It was the dawning of...
Review Sonic Frontiers (Switch) - A Bold But Ultimately Failed Attempt At Something New
Blue sky blues
Sonic Frontiers had a bit of a wild ride ahead of its release. Since the initial announcement and subsequent trailer reveals, public opinion of the blue blur’s latest outing has been all over the place, going from lingering dread to a more optimistic “hey, maybe this will actually be okay, after all”. Well, after sinking over 20...
Review Sifu (Switch) - Sloclap's Kung-Fu Epic Revives Itself On Switch
Yes, it has a hallway scene
Sifu launched this past February on PlayStation and PC and quickly built up a passionate core following due to its hard-hitting action and interesting core 'ageing' mechanic. Now, nine months later, Sloclap’s martial arts brawler has arrived on the Switch with a solid port that doesn’t sacrifice anything that made the...
Review Harvestella (Switch) - A Promising Genre Hybrid That Needs Some Watering
Sowing seeds
These days, it feels like games are very generally cast into either the ‘Indie’ or ‘AAA’ categories, regardless of genre. Square Enix has been a major publisher that’s notably been pushing back against this dichotomy by putting out several games that are smaller in scope than something like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, but have...
Review Aeterna Noctis (Switch) - An Ambitious Metroidvania That Doesn't Quite Hit The Mark
Hollow-like
Coming from Spanish studio Aeternum Game Studios, Aeterna Noctis first launched on PlayStation 5 last year, and has now made its way to Switch. Luckily — barring load times — the conversion to Nintendo’s hybrid wonder is solid, with a stable frame rate. Aeterna Noctis is a Metroidvania clearly inspired by the greats of the genre...