Game Reviews scoring 9/10
Review La-Mulana 2 (Switch) - A Deep And Challenging Metroidvania For Your Switch
Passing the torch
As indie game development has massively ramped up over the past decade or so, there’s also been an equivalent rise in the popularity of the Metroidvania genre. We’ve seen countless fascinating examples of how elements of the genre can be bent or expanded upon to create amazing new experiences, but one of the finest examples of...
Review Afterparty (Switch) - A Hellishly Good Night Out, Without The Hangover
Hell yes
Night School made a relatively big splash with its 2016 debut Oxenfree, a ghostly story-based video game that set new standards on how dialogue can be executed in a game. The follow up to that title was always going to be an interesting one, then, as the question would be how Night School would iterate or, potentially, break away from the...
IMMORTALIZE!
Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late is the third iteration of the indie visual novel/2D-Fighter from developer French Bread which was first released in Japanese arcades all the way back in 2012. An update in 2017 added four new characters, a bunch of new modes and gameplay tweaks for console versions, and this latest iteration adds yet...
Review Rune Factory 4 Special (Switch) - The Definitive Version Of A Series Classic
"You're always welcome here"
The Harvest Moon series made quite a name for itself when it first released on the SNES in 1996, trading the typical combat-centric trappings of an RPG in favour of a much more laid-back and slower-paced focused on farming. Many sequels would follow in the coming years, and on the tenth anniversary, Marvelous produced an...
Review Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection (Switch) - A Superb Selection Of Retro Classics
A legacy to be proud of
Those of you familiar with the backstory of the ongoing development of the Mega Man X series may be aware that Zero – the sabre-wielding, long-haired secondary protagonist – was, in fact, the original design Keiji Inafune wanted to use for Mega Man. That idea got shot down because of how different Zero looks from the...
Review Metro Redux (Switch) - A Compelling Pair Of Amazing Horror Shooters
Apocalypse Now
Metro Redux unites a comprehensively overhauled Metro 2033 and its sequel Metro: Last Light in an excellent first-person survival horror package that's stuffed to the mutated gills with genuinely creepy stealth gameplay and a gripping story that sees protagonist Artyom make his way through the mutant-infested Metro deep beneath...
Review Metro 2033 Redux (Switch) - A Truly Astonishing Switch Port Of A Genre Classic
This is Sparta
When Metro 2033 originally released back in 2010, it was something of a graphical showcase that really put the latest consoles and custom-built gaming PCs through the wringer. Rebuilt from the ground up in 2014 for this enhanced 'Redux' edition in order to bring its visuals and gameplay more in-line with its sequel, Metro: Last Light,...
Review Two Point Hospital (Switch) - Arguably The Best Version Of An Acclaimed Modern Classic
A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
Harkening back to the “good old days” of Theme Hospital from Bullfrog in the '90s, Two Point Hospital wraps the same irreverent humour into a modern game that introduces a whole new generation to the joys of medicine. This is a game about managing expectations. Patients expect to be treated and...
Review Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition (Switch) - The Best Version Of The Best Devil May Cry
Three is the magic number
After the absolute mess that was Devil May Cry 2, Hideaki Itsuno returned to the fray in 2005 with this absolute banger, righting the wrongs of his previous effort, returning protagonist Dante to his righteously cocky self and letting loose with a no-holds-barred, non-stop action thrill-ride that, to this day, is as good as...
Review The Wonderful 101 (Wii U) - A Thrilling Assault On The Senses
Chaos and colour multiplied by 101
Editor’s Note: With The Wonderful 101: Remastered Kickstarter now in full swing, we thought you might like to read our 2013 review for the Wii U original. Playing The Wonderful 101 for the first time on "normal" difficulty is a stressful, headache-inducing experience that, nevertheless, delivers a genuine...
Review Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales (Switch) - A Superb Addition To The Witcher World
Cry me a Rivia
Once upon a time, the sheer notion of The Witcher appearing on Nintendo Switch in any form seemed a fantastical pipe dream. It didn’t even seem like we’d even get a version of Gwent, the card-battling spinoff based on the in-game card game of the same, never mind a full-fat version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition...
Finger lickin' good
Kentucky Route Zero begins simply enough. You assume the role of Conway, a grizzled delivery driver who, along with his dog, is in the process of taking a cargo of antiques to 5 Dogwood Drive. Somewhat lost, you pull up to a gas station on Route 65, Equus Oils, and speak to Joseph who sits quietly on the forecourt in an armchair...
Review Stories Untold (Switch) - A Chilling Horror That Toys With '80s Nostalgia
Stranger things have happened
Stories Untold is a chilling collection of four interconnected vignettes that make up a twisted little journey exploring the true nature of nostalgia and the very fabric of memories we all hold so dear. It examines how we remember and reconfigure things from our pasts and how digging down into what we, on the surface,...
Review To The Moon (Switch) - A Powerful Interactive Story You Really Need To Experience
Memories are made of this
Kan Gao's To The Moon is a game whose genesis was, according to Gao, the illness of his grandfather and how that event led him to consider that, when his time came, he might end up regretting decisions he'd made throughout his life. It's a consideration we'll surely all have at some point or another about a situation that...
A Gundam 40th anniversary party, SD style
It takes a certain type of western gamer to be a Mobile Suit Gundam fan. You probably got hooked into mecha anime and spent your youth glaring at import gaming magazines, making lists of Gundam games you would either never play, or end up doing so decades after their original release after some brave fans...
Review ESP Ra.De. Psi (Switch) - The Best Shmup On Nintendo Switch, Period
M2 ShotTriggers' Switch debut is a thing of beauty
Before we begin our review of ESP Ra.De. Psi, M2 ShotTriggers' latest triumph, here's a little history for those who may not be intimately familiar with ESP Ra.De. and its place within the pantheon of shooting games. In 1998, the blossoming shmup developing studio, CAVE, just finished delighting and...
We must believe in free will - we have no choice
In the beginning, there was light. The Talos Principle opens with a peaceful looking, beautifully serene and gentle flight above the clouds - though all is not as it seems. Onscreen text informs us that a program is loading - and it's here that the game's robotic protagonist awakens, in a seemingly...
Review Shovel Knight: King Of Cards (Switch) - A Worthy Swan Song To A Legendary Platforming Series
The closing chapter of five years of shovelry
Nearly seven years ago, Yacht Club Games launched the Kickstarter for Shovel Knight, thus beginning the long journey towards building one of the most recognizable characters in the indie gaming space. After a record-breaking response from the community, not only did the game receive the funding it...
Review Alien: Isolation (Switch) - One Of The Greatest Horror Games Of All Time Comes To Switch
Get away from her, you Switch!
Straight off the back of a fantastic port of Grid Autosport on Switch, Feral Interactive is back with Creative Assembly's survival horror masterpiece, Alien: Isolation. The game's been out and receiving rave reviews since 2014 so we guess the first thing you'll want to know is have they managed to squeeze all of this...
Review The Touryst (Switch) - A Visually Stunning Island-Hop That's Loads Of Fun
We're Going To Ybiza
Shin'en Multimedia seem to wield some sort of superpower when it comes to pulling perfect performance out of the Switch. Fast RMX, Its superb Wipeout-style future racer – which helped fill a gap in the console's launch when Mario Kart 8 Deluxe arrived late – was, and still is, a dazzlingly handsome beast that runs at a...
Review Luigi's Mansion 3 (Switch) - Gooigi Takes Ghost Busting To The Next Level
Drop dead gorgeous
Despite being the glimmering jewel of the GameCube’s launch, Luigi’s Mansion has enjoyed relatively few sequels for such a beloved Mario spin-off. The 3DS had a pop with a well-liked sequel, and the original got a second chance on the same system with a remake. Now it’s time for a true home console follow-up with Luigi’s...
Review Return Of The Obra Dinn (Switch) - A Beautifully Crafted Detective Mystery
Absolutely Kraken
Released to critical acclaim last October, Papers, Please creator Lucas Pope’s Return of The Obra Dinn finally arrives on consoles with quite the fanfare. After finding a dedicated audience willing to get on board with a game that on paper, probably shouldn’t ever have been as popular as it was, Pope’s narrative-based...
Return of the White Frost
Originally released on other platforms back in 2015, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt arrives on Nintendo Switch over four years later, and it's somewhat surreal to hold such a gigantic game in the palm of your hands. Ported over by Saber Interactive, this is The Witcher 3 in almost all of its glory. The same brilliant base game,...
Review The Alliance Alive HD Remastered (Switch) - This 3DS Classic Is Worth A Second Look
Back from the dead
Back in 2018, the 3DS was still receiving a slow, but steady trickle of new releases despite the Switch stealing the spotlight with its runaway success. Though many put away the old handheld in favour of bigger and better things, there were still plenty of excellent titles released in this period, one of them being The Alliance...
Review Yooka-Laylee And The Impossible Lair (Switch) - A Delicious Mix Of Donkey Kong And Zelda
Lair today, Kong tomorrow
It’s possible to beat Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair in under half an hour. Now, hold on a minute. Before you make a beeline for Amazon to start pricing pitchforks (it’s about £25 for a good one, if you’re asking), let us clarify. We said it’s possible. But there’s no way you’ll be able to manage it right...
Review Fight'N Rage (Switch) - Who Said The Side-Scrolling Brawler Is Dead?
Golden Act
As Fight'N Rage loads up, it mimics the boot sequence of an old arcade cabinet, going through its various system checks, verifying and okaying its RAM before throwing up its ROM number and region version. It’s a nice little touch in a game jam-packed with nice little touches. With a heavy (and totally optional) CRT post-effect that...
Review Ori And The Blind Forest: Definitive Edition (Switch) - An Unmissable Experience
A light shining the way
There was a time when a platform holder publishing games for a rival format would have been completely unheard of. Unthinkable, even! Yet, a bizarre chain of events has seen Microsoft Studios release a handful of games for our beloved Switch, including the likes of Minecraft and, surprisingly, even Cuphead. While Microsoft...
One for the ages
It’s fascinating to see how much the JRPG genre has changed over the years, as countless new studios and designers have come up with a seemingly bottomless amount of ways to riff on battle systems, narrative styles, and world designs. In many ways, one could say that a JRPG is judged by how well it subverts genre expectations, but...
Review The Legend Of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Switch) - A Magical Remastering Of A Series Highlight
Re-awakening
Originally released way back in 1993 for the good old Game Boy, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening has always been a little bit of a curio in the history of the long-running Zelda franchise. Originally planned as a straight-up port of the Super Nintendo’s monstrously successful A Link To The Past, this very first portable Zelda...
Review Sayonara Wild Hearts (Switch) - A Marvellous, Music-Driven Masterpiece
Pop goes the gleeful
The Switch isn’t exactly lacking in short, artistic games that grab your attention for a scant couple of hours, unleash all ‘the feels’ (as the kids say) then wander off into the sunset, leaving you dumbstruck at what you’ve just played. Gris, Gone Home and What Remains of Edith Finch are just three examples of Switch...
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