Tag: Reviews - Page 41
Review Fernz Gate - A Retro-Style RPG With Some Interesting Ideas
When worlds collide
You’ve really got to feel sorry for developer releasing a traditional RPG on Nintendo Switch in the wake of Octopath Traveler. Square Enix’s throwback summer release may have had a few niggling issues, but it took all the things we loved from the glory days of Final Fantasy and made them feel fresh and new once more. Fernz...
Review SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy - A Sexy Street Fighter That's Perfect For Beginners
Girls aloud
Rest assured, SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy knows exactly what kind of game it is. Which is handy considering it’s being released in 2018, where any sort of game with this much of onus on unrealistic cup sizes and objectification is likely to have the social media mobs banging at the door, pitchforks in hand. Thankfully, it’s a game...
Review The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season - The Perfect Intro To Telltale's Classic Series
The beginning of the end
It’s almost frightening to think it’s been almost six and a half years since Telltale first brought The Walking Dead to life in a new and exciting interpretation; the game that finally took its choice-driven narrative template and made those consequences truly consequential in a world where a single decision could...
Review Planet Alpha - A Truly Mesmerising Puzzle-Platformer That You Should Download Now
An odyssey to another world
There are so many games out there that wear their inspirations proudly, pinned to their breast like a badge of the highest honour. For some, it ends up showing just how lacking their imitation ultimately is (take Fall of Light: Darkest Edition’s love for Dark Souls, for instance), but for a select few that obvious love...
Review Yo-Kai Watch Blasters - A Spin-Off Done Right, Even If We've Had To Wait A While
Blasting makes us feel good
When it comes to most of the best games coming out of Japan, we dedicated Western fans are often left waiting years to finally getting our hands on them. Three years, in fact, when it comes to this particular (and very popular) Yo-Kai Watch spin-off. And considering the series’ third full entry entirely avoided a...
Review Moonfall Ultimate - A Failed Attempt To Update Sega's Golden Axe For The Modern Age
Hack. Slash. Repeat.
A good 18 months in and Nintendo Switch isn’t struggling for content - especially when it comes to role-playing games. Be they turn-based affairs or action-RPG romps, owners of this plucky hybrid machine have a buffet of long-form adventures to gorge on. So when a new entry tries to hack and slash its way into this packed...
Review Into The Breach - The Turn-Based Pacific Rim Simulator You've Always Wanted
Right at home on Switch
"It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not weakness. That is life.” That nugget of wisdom comes not from Confucius or Machiavelli, but from Star Trek: The Next Generation's Captain Jean-Luc Picard. It’s difficult to think of a game that exemplifies this sentiment better than Into The...
Review Claws of Furry - Yet Another Couch-Play Classic, But Solo Players Should Beware
Scratching that brawling itch
Originally set for a release in January 2018, the co-op brawling of Claws of Furry has finally emerged from its developmental dojo and onto Nintendo Switch. But has that nine extra months in the oven helped this indie prospect add an extra edge to those titular weapons, or is this just another arcade brawler destined to...
Review Victor Vran: Overkill Edition - The Perfect Diablo III Appetiser On Switch
ARPG overkill
Diablo III is coming to Switch this December. We all know this. You could spend the next few months gawping into space, imagining how great it'll be to play Blizzard's seminal ARPG on the go. Or, you could snap out of your stupor and get warming up those looting muscles with a highly creditable alternative. Victor Vran: Overkill...
Review Fall of Light: Darkest Edition - A Shambling Dark Souls Wannabe You'll Want To Avoid
The night is dark and full of errors
A dark and dreary medieval world. Lots of obtuse and cliched references to dark forces and evil people doing predictably evil things. Slow melee combat with a focus on stamina management. Shrines that become spawn points when you die. Enemies that revive every time you’re resurrected. Sound familiar yet?...
Review Out of The Box (Switch eShop)
If your name's not down, you're not coming in
Video games revolving around performing a day job - and one that’s very likely to be different to a real-life profession, to boot - have proven to be popular with well-known franchises keeping the genre alive year on year. Ever fancied being in charge of a whole medical unit? Then check out Theme...
A fresh lick of paint
de Blob 2 is not only the second game of its series, but also the second port of the franchise to arrive on Switch; de Blob – the predecessor – made its way to Nintendo’s latest console just a couple of months ago. The first Switch port brought the original 2008 Wii game to a brand new audience with a shiny lick of...
Review Lifeless Planet: Premiere Edition (Switch eShop)
Lost in space
On its barren surface, Lifeless Planet: Premiere Edition is a difficult game to quantify. Is it a sandbox exploration title? A walking simulator? A puzzle-platformer? A sci-fi adventure with a splash of horror? In truth, it’s an amalgamation of all these things, but it only ever dips its toes into these creative sources and ends...
Review Hyper Light Drifter: Special Edition (Switch eShop)
A modern classic, updated
Two years on from its original release, Hyper Light Drifter might not feel quite as unique in both its art style and the relentless difficulty of its combat - especially in the company of Dead Cells and so many other pixel art indies - but that doesn’t mean this acclaimed hack ‘n’ slash odyssey has lost any of its...
Review Little Dragons Café (Switch)
Lovable Characters, lengthy Load Times
For some time now, the Nintendo Switch has been sorely lacking in the life simulation game department. Of course, there’s Stardew Valley – easily one of the greatest titles to grace the console – but the obvious absence of instalments in the “relaxation” genre has left many fans feeling disenchanted...
Review Freedom Planet (Switch eShop)
Gotta go fast!
When producing a work of art as an homage to something that came before, there always exists the danger of the new product doing the job a little too well. It could very well be that the new product perfectly matches its inspiration beat for beat, yet it still feels hollow because it’s missing a soul of its own. Fortunately, Freedom...
Review Realpolitiks (Switch eShop)
Diplomatic impunity
If the recent successes of Element and Bad North have taught us anything, it’s that the deep mechanical function of strategy games doesn't often work well when ported wholesale to a new platform. When you’re porting such a title, you really need to keep in mind the technical restraints of a console - and especially the...
Review The VideoKid (Switch eShop)
Gotta get back in time
You don’t have to have lived through the ‘80s or the ‘90s to enjoy the familiar faces you’ll encounter in the star-filled suburbs of The VideoKid - after all, most people are going to know the Ghostbusters or the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when they see them - but there’s a palpable thrill to playing a...
Review Spectrum (Switch eShop)
Limited palette
Is a platformer still a platformer when you don't actually jump on any platforms? That's just one of the (rather pointless) questions we found ourselves pondering whilst playing Spectrum. It says a fair amount about the general Spectrum experience. For one thing, that question references the fact that this is an odd sort of...
Review God Wars: The Complete Legend (Switch)
Strategy? Tactics? Stractics!
As we await next year’s ‘proper’ Fire Emblem entry on Switch, strategy and tactics fans have several alternatives in that nebula of sub-genres to tide them over. Between games like Mercenaries Saga Chronicles, Disgaea 5 Complete and The Banner Saga trilogy (or even Mario + Rabbids
A game of cat and meow-se
The indie boom of recent years has opened the doors for smaller studios to swoop in to the weird and wonderful spaces once occupied by the vibrant but now tragically dormant gems that larger studios were willing to take creative gambles on. Farewell Advance Wars, and hello WarGroove. Sayonara WipeOut, and Konichiwa, FAST...
Review The Messenger (Switch eShop)
Go, ninja, go!
Twenty-five years ago, a bright-eyed elementary school student whiled away time in class doodling crude pictures of ninjas in his notebook, completely unaware that such pictures would grow into a lifelong passion project. Indeed, The Messenger is the culmination of decades of daydreaming and prototyping, slowly being refined down into...
Review Blade Strangers (Switch)
Beginner's Fight Club
When it comes to the world of virtual fisticuffs, few genres offers as much nuance and space for creativity and flair as the 2D fighter. It was here that fighting games were born after all, and as the years have passed this two-dimensional melting pot has refused to cease bubbling. Instead, it’s evolved into something far...
Review Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate (Switch)
Let the hunt begin, again!
Everything changed for Capcom’s Monster Hunter series in January 2018, which saw the successful release of Monster Hunter: World on the PlayStation 4. Not only did the series change platforms from Nintendo’s family to that of Sony’s (a reversal of the situation that took place only a few years beforehand, when it...
Review Night Trap - 25th Anniversary Edition (Switch eShop)
An impressive re-vamp
“In the past years, some very violent and offensive games have reached the market, and of course I’m speaking about Mortal Kombat and Night Trap.” It was 9th December 1993, and the then-president of Nintendo of America, Howard Lincoln, was giving a statement at a US congressional hearing on violent video games. Mortal...
Review The Banner Saga 3 (Switch eShop)
Journey to the destination
The final chapter of the Norse-inspired journey comes to a close, with the decision-making - as always - up to you, the player. As told in the previous games, a series of events have built up to the current collapse of the world. The sun has stopped revolving, the gods are dead, the ancient stone-armored Dredge have...
Review The Banner Saga 2 (Switch eShop)
On the road again
There’s no secret behind what a sequel is meant to do - it’s there to continue and expand upon existing foundations laid by the first entry in a series. The Banner Saga 2 does exactly that. Apart from the tutorials reacquainting you with how the game operates, it doesn't take long for the proceedings to get underway. ...
Review Space Ribbon (Switch eShop)
Gotta go... slow?
Imagine firing up Mario Kart (pick one) for the first time and being dropped directly onto Rainbow Road, but a 25cc version with no items. And you’re driving a Morris Minor. Welcome to the opening of Space Ribbon. Released on PC in 2016 by Liverpool-based developer Onteca, this racer’s biggest problem is the first impression it...
Review Prison Architect: Nintendo Switch Edition (Switch eShop)
Grand slammer
Video games have treated us to all manner of simulation jobs over the years. We’ve built hospitals, maintained zoos, tilled farmland and even built roller coasters that were definitely not safe for anyone to ride. But what about building and running your very own prison? Now that’s a whole other kettle of incarcerated fish. Do you...
But who is the dreamer?
Right at the very top, let’s address the elephant in the review: from the moment you select Shio’s icon on the Switch’s menu screen, Celeste will probably be playing on your mind. Although Shio first appeared on PC last year – well before the other platformer’s debut – it, too, presents a determined character...
Review Tiny Hands Adventure (Switch eShop)
A true dinosaur
In recent years, 3D platformers have experienced something of a renaissance in the modern game industry, with the likes of Yooka-Laylee, Super Mario Odyssey, and Crash Bandicoot: N-Sane Trilogy making a notable impact on sales charts and the general conversation surrounding games. Though the appetite is clearly there for these sorts...
Review Bad North (Switch eShop)
Heathen chemistry
If the recent releases of Jotun: Valhalla Edition and The Banner Saga Trilogy have taught us anything, it’s this: the Vikings make for the most bloodthirsty of heroes. But what if the tables were turned, and it was you defending against the reaving Norsemen? The sound of a ghostly war horn roaring in the distance. Longships...
Review Flood of Light (Switch eShop)
Wet, but not so wild
In life, there are many things that just don’t mix. Gulping down some lovely orange juice after brushing your teeth or consuming alcohol with easy access to social media/text messages (trust us, it’s best left in your pocket!) are prime examples of this, but in the case of Flood of Light, water and fire are no match for each...
Review Kero Blaster (Switch eShop)
A ribbeting throwback shooter
Sometimes, when things are going awry and the world finds itself in desperate need of a hero, only a bipedal frog armed with a blaster will do. Okay, technically it’s a company called Cat & Frog Inc. that needs assistance and our ‘hero’ is actually an employee, but why ruin the moment? Turns out C&F Inc...
Review Morphies Law (Switch eShop)
Mass murder
Morphies Law’s premise is a satisfyingly simple one, but much like Splatoon 2 - a game Swiss developer Cosmoscope has clearly taken a great deal of inspiration from - those arcade wares hide plenty of depth should you care to delve deeper. Here’s how it works: shoot another player and the body part you hit will shrink, while the...
Review The Walking Dead: The Final Season (Switch eShop)
Done Running, indeed
After all this time, it’s a strange and melancholy thing to see Telltale draw one of its many choice-driven interactive stories to a definitive end. After all, this was the franchise that put the California studio back on the map, with a fine-tuned formula that took everything that made Robert Kirkman’s original comic story...
Review Next Up Hero (Switch eShop)
Lives long enough to see itself become the villain
No one likes kicking the bucket in a game. Whether you’re licking your wounds in a beat-’em-up or lamenting a mistimed jump in a platformer, death is the constant that keeps us coming back for more with respawns, ‘Game Over’ screens and more. But what if popping your proverbial clogs could...
A prayer for the dying
The term ‘old-school’ can often be a poisoned chalice when it comes to the pantheon of the FPS, but every now and then a title emerges from the crowd that captures the brutality and unrelenting action of the classic corridor shooter. It’s time to acquaint yourself with the righteous violence of Polygod. Make no mistake...
Review Manual Samuel (Switch eShop)
Blink and you’ll miss it
Upon firing up Manual Samuel – a game which released on other platforms back in 2016 – you’re immediately informed by the cod-British narrator that Sam is a total brat. An ultra-privileged upbringing has created a man with zero empathy who lacks the most basic social graces. His douchebaggery leads to a concussion...
Review Tetra's Escape (Switch eShop)
Attack the block
Ever wondered what would happen if gaming grandaddy Tetris decided it didn’t want to spend the rest of its days dropping blocky shapes down an endless chute? Where would it go next? Try its hand as a first-person shooter perhaps? No, too predictable. A fighting game cameo? No, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has already reached full...
Review Red's Kingdom (Switch eShop)
A tough nut to crack
Red’s Kingdom is one of those games that, despite being released on iOS devices originally, really does lend itself to the Switch’s slightly beefier portable setup. Almost everything about this puzzle adventure appears to have been designed for portable play, but the package is strong and well polished enough to make the...
Review CastleStorm (Switch eShop)
Our arrows will blot out the sun
The RTS genre is a tricky one to pull off correctly on consoles due to the limitations imposed by the much smaller number of available buttons on a controller. Still, games like Pikmin have shown that it can be done smartly, and there are ways to infuse RTS elements into another genre, like Tower Defense, as...
Review Robbotto (Switch eShop)
Robo Bobble
Once upon a time, in an era where arcades were the verdant breeding grounds of gaming’s next big thing, there was a little game called Bubble Bobble. This cutesy platformer from Taito followed the adventures of Bob and Bub, a pair of diminutive dragons who used the power of bubbles to dispatch their enemies in adorable fashion. It...
Review Cosmic Star Heroine (Switch eShop)
A JRPG that moves at light speed
Agent Alyssa L'Salle is the kind of peppy, grown up, consummately capable protagonist we so rarely seem to get in JRPGs these days. She's not the type to wallow in melancholy or self-doubt, or even to stick around in one place for too long. In fact, she's the perfect front for Cosmic Star Heroine - a game that pays a...
Review Guns, Gore & Cannoli 2 (Switch eShop)
Brains, Nazis and a whole lot of fun
The first Guns, Gore & Cannoli blasted its way onto the Nintendo Switch in December of last year, and although the run ‘n’ gun, zombie apocalyptic title was met with a mostly fair reception by fans and critics alike, there was inarguably room for improvement. Now, Crazy Monkey Studios brings the...
Review 2064: Read Only Memories INTEGRAL (Switch eShop)
Back to the future
Author Bruce Stirling one defined cyberpunk as being a combination of "low-life and high-tech". 2064: Read Only Memories INTEGRAL certainly earns that description, but it also shoots for something a little loftier and more idealistic. This retrofuturistic point-and-click adventure game tackles weighty (and familiar) themes like...
Identity crisis
From beginning to end, State of Mind is a game of polarising contrasts. It has an intriguing sci-fi setting, but a story that tries to make one too many social commentaries and ends up muddled as a result. It uses low-poly character models, but boasts some of the most impressive environmental textures and lighting we’ve ever seen...
Review Prehistoric Isle 2 (Switch eShop / Neo Geo)
Fancy-looking retro shmup action
1999’s Prehistoric Isle 2 sees dinosaurs on the rampage because it’s a video game and that’s just the sort of thing that happens. It’s up to you (or you and a friend) to jump into an attack helicopter and fly through six stages, blasting the dinosaurs back to extinction whilst also trying to rescue people...
Review Unexplored (Switch eShop)
Crawling in the dark
While Unexplored finds itself in plenty of company on Nintendo Switch - the console is currently inundated with various takes on the procedurally generated roguelite - Ludomotion’s cyclic experience manages to offer something a little bit different. Yes, it’s top-down. Yes, it’s a dungeon crawler. And yes, it’s...
Review The Inner World - The Last Wind Monk (Switch eShop)
The greatest teacher, failure is
Released day-and-date with its predecessor on Switch, The Inner World - The Last Wind Monk continues the quirky, comic adventure of the hapless-yet-endearing Robert and his sassy counterpart, Laura. This is an iteration on the point-and-click original with all its character and humour (and inscrutable puzzles), plus...
