Latest Reviews
Review RPG Maker MV - A Potent Game Creation Tool, If You Have The Patience Required
As long as you have a dream, anything is possible... within reason
RPG Maker MV on Switch is a bit of a different prospect than its massively popular PC counterpart. This, much like the 3DS version which released back in 2017, is a more console-friendly version that strips away some important aspects which avid users of the software may consider...
Mini Review Minoria - A Short But Sweet Metroidvania With Great Combat
Sister Act
Coming off the back of its previous game, Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight, Bombservice’s Minoria feels like a natural evolution in many ways. It’s a fast-paced Metroidvania with a sharp focus on aggressive combat, but also contains many staple tropes of the genre, including collectable items, hidden passageways, and unlockable...
Mini Review MO:Astray - A Grim And Gory Game Which Deserves A Look
Please sir, can I have some mo’?
If you’re not familiar with MO:Astray beyond its utterly weird name, then it's high time you start paying attention. Originally released on Steam back in October 2019 to little fanfare, MO:Astray is a 2D puzzle-platformer boasting unique gameplay mechanics, meticulously designed environments, and gorgeous...
Review Inertial Drift - A '90s-Style Racer With A Unique Drift Mechanic
Born Slippy
There are so many racing games out there nowadays that it takes something really out of the ordinary to stand out. Inertial Drift absolutely ticks this box, and while it isn’t an overwhelming success in every regard, its unique control system could result in a cult following nevertheless. Its main hook, as the name suggests, is its...
Review The Last Campfire - A Refreshingly Freeform Puzzle Adventure Packed With Ideas
S'mores the merrier
The Last Campfire is a delightful puzzle-stuffed adventure from the core creative team behind WiiWare favourite LostWinds. Where that game was made at Frontier, home to the universe builders of the Elite series, this new adventure was nurtured at Hello Games, home to the universe builders of No Man’s Sky. There’s something...
Mini Review Paradise Killer - A Murder-Mystery Case You'll Definitely Want To Crack
Paradise Is You
Much has been previously written about Paradise, a promised land supposedly filled with luxury and personal fulfilment. Everyone pictures it differently, but like many stories before, trouble has once again reared its ugly head inside it. Developed by Kaizen Game Works, Paradise Killer brings us a murder-mystery with a gorgeous...
Review Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars - Great Ideas Attached To A Rather Humdrum Game
Lacking bite
Palindrome Interactive has hit upon a number of pretty clever ideas with Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars. This pleasingly hammy/gothic foray into the world of turn-based strategy streamlines and simplifies a lot of the busywork of similar titles and adds a nifty card game mechanic that enlivens proceedings as you maraud around its map and...
Review Bounty Battle - A Reprehensible Indie-Infused Take On Super Smash Bros.
Indie Bin
Dark Screen Games' Bounty Battle is such a great idea. "The ultimate indie fighting game." Super Smash Bros. with a roster of pugilists from the cream of the underground scene over the past few years. The protagonists here hail from classics such as Dead Cells, Blasphemous, Axiom Verge,
Review NBA 2K21 - Ignore The Microtransactions And You've Got The Best Basketball Game On Switch
Hoops: they did it again
Say what you will about 2K Sports, but it certainly knows how to get the most out of the Switch hardware. NBA 2K21 is the fourth of its basketball games to find its way onto Nintendo’s system, and by this point, the spectre of NBA 2K18’s botched launch is a distant memory; these days, the series looks tremendous on...
Review Spinch - A Deliciously Enjoyable Sugar Rush
You'll never see colour the same
Fans of 2D platformers have got it pretty good on the Switch. Into retro stuff? Super Mario Bros. 3, Donkey Kong Country and Yoshi’s Island are just one cheap subscription away. Something newer from Nintendo? Well, you’ve got Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze,
Mini Review OkunoKA Madness - A Fine Rival To Super Meat Boy
A meaty alternative
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past decade, chances are you’ll be quite familiar with Super Meat Boy, even if you haven’t necessarily played it. Renowned for its slick controls and brutally difficult gameplay, it was one of the most prominent games to be released on the Xbox Live Arcade back in 2010, and...
Review Hotshot Racing - A Fantastic Ode To The Days Of Virtua Racing, Ridge Racer And Daytona USA
It's hip to be square
When you’ve made a game that pays homage to early polygonal racing games and you want to release it on the Switch, you’d better be certain it’s a good one. After all, considering the Switch has actual Virtua Racing on it, when you come at the king, you best not miss. The upstarts with the sheer gall to step onto the...
Review Gleamlight - An Appalling Bad Hollow Knight Clone
Twilight's Last Gleaming
Contrary to how it may seem, it's not very fun reviewing bad games. Sure, there's a degree of enjoyment in being mean, but the shocking secret of criticising games that aren't enjoyable? We still have to play them. Picking up the Switch and knowing we had to play more Gleamlight made the system feel ten times heavier...
Mini Review Ary And The Secret Of Seasons - A Cut-Price Zelda With A Unique Mechanic
Not to be confused with Ori
Jumping into Ary and the Secret of Seasons – an action-adventure title – we’re immediately reminded of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. We’re introduced to our heroine Ary, who, by playing with her toy figures, recounts an ancient story of an evil mage vanquished by a legendary warrior. Before too long, Ary is...
Review Lair Of The Clockwork God - A Humorous Attempt At Mashing Together Two Opposing Genres
Ben and Dan hit the road
Since this review was originally published, Lair Of The Clockwork God has been updated. While we, unfortunately, cannot revisit games on an individual basis, it should be noted that the updated game may have addressed issues detailed below and offer an improved experience. Ben and Dan are somewhat unsung heroes of gaming...
Review Moon - This "Anti-RPG" Shows Its Age, But Is Still Worth A Look
Fly me to the moon
It’s funny to think about how most RPGs absurdly handle the concept of ‘Experience’. Your hero’s quest is to fight the almighty dragon/dark lord/god at the end of the game, and usually, the game has your hero become strong enough to achieve that end by having them kill hundreds, if not thousands, of worthless mook enemies...
Review Manifold Garden - A Remarkable Spectacle Undermined By Benign Puzzles
Escher wonderful life
First-person puzzle games are not a fresh, new concept. The likes of RealMyst, The Talos Principle and Superliminal (amongst many others) represent the genre on Nintendo's venerable hybrid console, and they're a high bar to clear. We don't feel as though Manifold Garden quite reaches those highs, but it's a game with a lot to
Review Super Mario All-Stars - All That Glitters Isn't Necessarily Gold
Has this star begun to fade?
Now that SNES games are available on Nintendo Switch Online, we've decided to revisit each of them in a fresh review. Enjoy! On its mid-1993 bow, Super Mario All-Stars was greeted with the sort of rapturous praise usually reserved for pontiffs, or a new Daft Punk album. This was a compilation of a generosity...
Review Jump Force Deluxe Edition - A Textbook Example Of Style Over Substance
Jump Farce
Spike Chunsoft's Jump Force arrives on Switch more than a full year after its release on other platforms and it is, as it was then, a very mixed bag of anime nuts. Jump Force Deluxe Edition is an easy to learn, easy to master button-mashing brawler with a huge roster of over fifty characters from the illustrious archives of Shonen Jump...
Review Captain Tsubasa: Rise Of New Champions - Not Your Typical Football Game, But Fun All The Same
Manga-chester United
Captain Tsubasa has been around for nearly 40 years. Initially appearing as a series in the best-selling manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump in April 1981, he’s seen numerous comics, animated series, movies and, yes, video games over the years. It’s one of the most well-loved series in Japan and is credited with contributing...
Mini Review Best Friend Forever - A Hybrid Dating Sim That Doesn't Quite Work
Ruff around the edges
The dating scene can be an unpredictable, anxiety-inducing beast. What better way to alleviate this, then, than by introducing one of the most cheerful, loveable creatures on the planet to the mix: the beloved doggo. Best Friend Forever is effectively a hybrid game, splitting your duties between looking after your own pet dog...
Review Struggling - One Of The Most Aptly-Named Video Games We've Ever Played
Bringing frustration to a head
Struggling marks an important milestone in gaming. This reviewer has been playing games for more than three decades, but this is the closest we’ve come to physically launching our controller at the wall. You play as Troy, a gruesome two-headed mutant blob thing with two heads and two arms. If you’ve ever seen the...
Review Windbound - A Surprisingly Chill Survival Epic That Owes A Debt To Zelda
Bring me that horizon
The survival genre has been around for decades, but it seems that the rising prominence of indie game development over the last decade has led to survival games experiencing something of a renaissance, much like the Metroidvania and roguelike genres. Windbound – the newest release from 5 Lives Games – is the latest entrant...
Mini Review Boomerang Fu - Light-Hearted Chaos That's Great With Friends
Throwing sticks shouldn’t be this fun
The Switch is home to a lot of party games. This seemed like a given when the very first trailer for the console dropped nearly four years ago, and indeed it can often feel a bit overwhelming trying to find a decent party game in such a crowded space. Thankfully, then, we can heartily recommend Boomerang Fu if...
Review Takeshi & Hiroshi - A Short And Shallow Adventure Which Looks Better Than It Plays
Pleasant puppets, poor product
Originally released on Apple Arcade last fall, Takeshi & Hiroshi is one of the many smartphone games making their first jump to home console. The question remains, does an artistic experience designed for mobile gamers work on the Nintendo Switch? The answer is not as simple as one may think, as Takeshi &...
Review Raji: An Ancient Epic - A Refreshing Experience That Leaves You Wanting More
A Short but sweet tale
Since this review was originally published a patch has reportedly addressed or improved one or more of the issues cited. While we unfortunately cannot revisit games on an individual basis, it should still be noted that the updated game may offer an improved experience over the one detailed below. Hindu characters aren’t a...
Review Hypnospace Outlaw - A Clever Satire Of The Early Days Of The World Wide Web
Get your mouse and keyboard ready
Welcome to the Hypnospace Patrol Department, enforcer! Under the employ of Adrian and Dylan Merchant, owners of Merchantsoft and creators of Hynospace and the HypnOS, you'll spend the next dozen or so hours scrolling through the pages of an alternate reality version of 1990s internet which users access in their...
Review PGA Tour 2K21 - A Good Starting Point For Golf Fans On Switch
Can't see the Woods for the tees
There hasn’t been an official PGA Tour golf game on a Nintendo system since Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 chipped onto the Wii nine years ago. With Tiger's shine dimming over the years and EA seemingly ending its PGA Tour series in 2015 with an underwhelming Rory McIlroy game, that didn’t look like it was going to...
Review A Short Hike - A Landmark Game For All Ages
Walking on sunshine
Why do we play games? Exploration would seem to be the watchword, the catalyst for every element of the most diverse and interesting form of entertainment there is. It doesn't matter what you're exploring; all that matters is that it's happening. In the most traditional sense, you're exploring an unfamiliar, possibly mystical...
Review Linn: Path Of Orchards - Unfair Gameplay And Spotty Controls Ruin A Visually Striking Game
We can't put a spin on this one
It's obvious and often jarring when you realise that a game you're playing on your Switch is clearly designed for the simple taps and swipes of a mobile phone. Nintendo's handheld does have touch screen support, yes, but it's so underused (with exceptions, such as Anthill) that when a game like Linn: Path of Orchards...
