Switch eShop, Switch Game Reviews scoring 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6/10
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...
Gore-trait Of Ruin
The genre blend of Metroidvania and Soulslike is a tried and true combination. And it makes sense; two styles of game with a deep focus on exploration and strict difficulty were bound to cross paths. Games like Salt and Sanctuary, Blasphemous, and — of course — Hollow Kn
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 Nadir: A Grimdark Deck Builder (Switch) - Stunning Visuals Can't Disguise Its Shortcomings
We're on the highway to Hell
Taking a trip to Hell has never looked quite so good as in Nadir: A Grimdark Deck Builder. The stunning visuals are enough to pull you in, while the card mechanics take seconds to learn yet provide a constant challenge. There are a lot of solid points to Nadir, but technical shortcomings and some bizarre design decisions...
Review Colossal Cave (Switch) - An Obtuse, Outdated, Unfriendly Reimagining Of A Fascinating Text
Horrible history
“You are standing at the end of a road before a small brick building. Around you is a forest. A small stream flows out of the building and down a gully.” Those are the opening sentences of the foundational 1976 text game Colossal Cave Adventure. Originally created by Will Crowther and extended by Don Woods, it ran on a...
Mini Review Trek To Yomi (Switch) - Arrestingly Cinematic, But A Trek All The Same
Slog to the Nether Regions
Years in the making, Trek to Yomi is the vision of indie developer Leonard Menchiari, backed by Polish studio Flying Wild Hog and publisher Devolver Digital. Essentially a side-on slash 'em up, its hook is its spectacular aesthetic: feudal Japan and the samurai code recreated through cinematic camerawork in striking black...
Mini Review Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection (Switch) - A Great But Gouging, Exploitative Package
It really makes you wonder
Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection gets a lot right. It features six great titles in the series, with complete region variations and all their alternate console ports, from arcade to SG-1000, to Master System, Mega Drive, and Game Gear — 21 titles in total. It has a bevy of in-game options for finely tweaking the image...
Review Sports Story (Switch) - A Long-Awaited Sequel That's Sadly Not Up To Par
"The thrill of victory... and the agony of defeat!"
Back in 2017, the Switch library was still in its infancy and this relative lack of competition led to indie projects like Blossom Tales and Blaster Master Zero having far more visibility than they perhaps would in the current, more crowded marketplace. Another big early winner on the eShop was...
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 The Punchuin (Switch) - A Pleasant, Punchy Puzzler That's Light On Content
Fists of Furious Feathers
In a world of annual releases and mandated sequels, The Punchuin, the latest release from Shin'en (Fast RMX, The Touryst), feels like a real passion project. It's a charming love letter to puzzle game fans with an incredible amount of heart put into it. But despite that, once you start peeling back the layers, you’re left...
Review The Outbound Ghost (Switch) - A Heartfelt But Ultimately Thin Paper Mario-Like
Pale imitation
Described by developer Condradical as "Paper Mario + Undertale" on the game's Kickstarter page, The Outbound Ghost garnered some attention with its aesthetic and gameplay along with its premise: the residents of the town of Outbound all quite suddenly died. Many of them have lingering burdens that keep them from moving onto the...
Mini Review Resident Evil 7 Biohazard Cloud (Switch) - Pretty Horrific
Cloudy with no chance of fun
Note: This Cloud Version of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard was tested on 100MB UW Broadband over WiFi and wired ethernet cable, along with a 5G mobile connection. The launch of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard back in 2017 was a revelation for fans of the franchise. After the lukewarm reception to Resident Evil 6 and decidedly...
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...
Review Paper Cut Mansion (Switch) - Great Visuals Mask Paper-Thin Roguelite Gameplay
Doesn't stack up
Toby, it seems, is having a very bad day. He’s found himself stuck in a mansion, investigating the strange happenings within it and why he seems to be trapped in it. Paper Cut Mansion is all about uncovering the truth behind the unusual surroundings and surviving long enough to make it to the next floor. There is an attempt to...
Review Wavetale (Switch) – Wind Waker Meets Platforming For A Cruisy But Bumpy Ride
Water water everywhere
Ah, water. Calming, tranquil, fun. You’d struggle to find a game that doesn’t have some body of water in it. But Wavetale dives into the deep end. This adventure title from Thunderful sees players exploring by walking, running, and gliding on water. Initially released for Stadia, it has now spread to PC and consoles. For...
An ambitious title that just misses the mark
The world wasn’t ready for Romancing SaGa when it was first released back in 1992. It wasn’t until the PS2 remake in 2005 that the title would make its way to western shores, where it quickly gained a passionate following among fans of its non-linear storytelling, expressive characters, and...
Mini Review Super Kiwi 64 (Switch) - An N64-Style Platformer Ripe With Tricksy Energy
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Right first time—it was a bird
Super Kiwi 64 feels like it’s up to something. There's a tricksy energy about it that’s impossible to ignore. Players of Siactro’s earlier games might be expecting that, but this isn’t just more of the same. Super Kiwi 64 is weird in its own special way, presenting a fresh guided...
Review Soccer Story (Switch) - A Football Adventure With Plenty Of Extra Time
Yes, it's quite like Golf Story
It's a very normal part of the gaming industry for an out-of-the-blue smash hit to define a subgenre and, in the process, inspire a number of similar games. When Golf Story arrived on Switch in 2017, taking the RPG slant of Game Boy Color's Mario Golf and pushing it in new directions, it set a particular tone for...
Review Warp Drive (Switch) - An F-Zero-Inspired Racer With Promise And Performance Woes
Show me ya moves!
Fun fact: if F-Zero GX—the last home console game in Nintendo’s seminal futuristic racing series—were a person, they would be old enough to vote now. Indeed, it’s been far too long since we’ve gotten a new F-Zero, which has led to copycats filling the void as best as they can. Some of these, like Fast RMX or WipEout Omega...
Mini Review Sword Of The Vagrant (Switch) - Solid But Unremarkable Hack-And-Slashing
Vanillish
After launching on Steam in 2017, O.T.K Games’ The Vagrant has finally released on consoles with the new alias Sword of the Vagrant. The game is heavily inspired by the games of Vanillaware; renowned developers of games like Muramasa: The Demon Blade and Dragon’s Crown. This inspiration can be seen straight away with the wonderful...
Review Front Mission 1st: Remake (Switch) - Impressive Visuals, But A Slog On The Battlefield
Best pray to the RNG gods
As the saying goes, war never changes, but this is only partly true of the Front Mission series, which puts players in control of a group of wanzer pilots as they try to outmanoeuvre the opposing side. The first game in the series has seen a whole host of remakes and releases, with the latest, Front Mission 1st: Remake,...
Review Resident Evil 3 - Cloud Version (Switch) - Disappointingly Constrained And Very Short
Do the staaaaaars shine?
Note: This Cloud Version of Resident Evil 3 was tested on 100MB UW Broadband over WiFi and wired ethernet cable, along with a 5G mobile connection. Following up Resident Evil 2 — whether it’s the 1998 original or the 2019 remake — is no easy task. Indeed, in the run-up to the launch of the PlayStation 2, Capcom found...
Review RWBY: Arrowfell (Switch) - Passable Action Platforming With Buried Potential
Not the Grimmest of outcomes
About a decade ago, Rooster Teeth launched a new anime web series called RWBY, which went on to spawn a reasonably successful media franchise. Yet—aside from a rather unfortunate hack ‘n’ slash game that bombed—RWBY’s only representation in video games consisted of a handful of mobile games and cameo...
Rolling the dice
One of the only real criticisms we levelled at the recent Mega Man Battle & Fighters, a re-release of a Neo Geo Pocket Color title included in this new package, was that nobody had bothered to translate the content from Japanese. It was an issue exacerbated by a fan translation already existing online for those willing to go the...
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...
Clever girl(s)
Few franchises captured the minds of children everywhere like the original Jurassic Park film did in 1993; it kicked off an entire dinosaur craze while maintaining much of the novel’s poignant message exploring the perils of genetic engineering. Jurassic World – 2015’s revival starring Mario Chris Pratt – had nowhere near the...
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...
Mini Review Save Room (Switch) - RE4 'Inventory Tetris' Writ Large, Though Not Large Enough
Packing heat
Ever thought inventory management in 2005’s Resident Evil 4 is like a game in its own right? Well, in the internet age, everything happens eventually, so here's that game. In Save Room from Fractal Projects, you have a limited and specifically shaped inventory space on the left and a load of guns and stuff on the right. Simply slot...
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...