Justin Nation's Reviews
If you’re down for some great action filled with pixelated blood and gore Butcher should be right up your alley. What it lacks in sexy graphics it makes up for in grit and intensity, so you shouldn’t necessarily discount it based only on how it looks in screenshots. Once you get on a killing spree and you’ve got some mechanized monstrosity moving around at the same time you’ll want to avoid it clicks… and there’s no other experience on the Switch right now that’s anything like it. Butcher won’t be a game for everyone but I’d imagine it will attract a cult following of people who took a number and and ready to be served something fresh and a bit bloody.
Overall as long as you buy into the core gameplay being offered INVERSUS Deluxe delivers a great deal of value for the price of admission. With ample single-player content in the form of Arcade and Versus mode map unlocks as well as cosmetic things like special trails, emoticons, or color schemes if you enjoy playing the game overall you have plenty here to make your way through. If you have a friend available either locally or online there are also plenty of ways to enjoy playing together. Even if you don’t have anyone to play with locally as long as there are people actively playing online when you’re out looking for someone to match up with you’re covered on that level as well. If you like a challenging mix of strategy and action packaged up in an attractive package INVERSUS Deluxe is a full-featured option.
Pankapu does seem to try to compensate with carrots to go with that stick in the form of the gorgeous artwork, glimpses of some greater story that you’ll want to fully reveal, and a pretty abundant amount of lore. Unfortunately those are mere baby carrots against practically a redwood tree full of aggravation. In many regards even though it has a very modern look its gameplay execution reminds me most of old 8-bit action / platformers with awkward and stilted controls mixing with level design that is in desperate need of tuning and rebalancing. I think it’s the irregular damage amounts you take that compound my irritation. Rather simply having you take damage of 1 from all threats they’ve gone back in and made variable tweaks so that your health gauge doesn’t mean very much at a quick glance, to know what you can survive from where you are in the level you’d need to pull out a conversion chart. None of this is to say that the game is impossible to beat, just that the process of doing so too often feels like a manufactured ordeal where your tools for being effective are deliberately compromised.
Overall I’m not trying to be negative about Golf Story so much as trying to clearly point out for people where the stumbling blocks are so they can see them coming and not let their high expectations get the best of them. This is an excellent golfing RPG with much more working in its favor than against it. It is full of humor, strange and quirky missions, and a lot of above-average though not perfect golf. When it is at its best it is an absolute joy to play but unfortunately when those moments fade it can make you reflect a little more on the moments where it begins to feel more ordinary. I would gladly recommend it to anyone who enjoys great games, enthusiastically if they enjoy classic 3-click golf. Just it is also important not to come into the game expecting a revolution, perhaps we can hope for it to get to that level in a sequel.
No matter how you may choose to play it I think Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime has a lot going for it both in terms of challenges and fun. Whether you need to exercise your ability to maintain strong team dynamics or to figure out the best strategies for you and your AI pet to be the most successful there are opportunities for both success and failure everywhere. Whether it is trying to get things right the first time by the seat of your pants or failing, regrouping, and coming back with an even better plan of attack there aren’t pressing stakes to worry about. You’re just trying to have fun with the situation being presented to you and to make the most of it. I think it is the light-hearted nature of Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime I like the most and though it probably better realizes its potential the more people you have to play it with there’s still a satisfying experience to be had alone if that’s how you roll as well. Recommended!
All told a game like Volgarr the Viking will either immediately appeal to your gaming sensibilities and desire to be challenged or it won't...
Putting it all together Binaries is a very well-made and presented action puzzler that, overall, sits pretty high on the challenging scale. If you enjoy some punishment in your games it delivers that handily and throws in some laughs to boot! If you’re not as hardcore about your gaming it would be a tough call as there’s no missing the difficulty of the game, though the humor and ability to choose different paths to avoid specific levels that give you pain do help make it at least a little more friendly to a wider audience.
Overall, especially once the grinding issue is properly addressed, I believe that Earth Atlantis has a place and is actually pretty unique among shooters I’ve played. The game is literally swimming with challenging boss battles, and while there are some that are easier than others the false sense of security the game lulls you into having will just make it sweeter when you take the bait and get surprised when one of them puts up a formidable challenge and kills you in an instant. For the moment I’d recommend starting in Easy Mode and getting the lay of the land, spending time backtracking is difficult enough with the way everything is laid out, you may as well take the opportunity to learn where things are, how the map flows, and roughly how the different boss monsters attack and behave so you can be more successful even before you hit the ground running on Normal difficulty. While Earth Atlantis can be frustrating at times it is also a well-executed shooter with loads of challenging content. If you’re not afraid to die quite a bit on the way to your ultimate victory I’d say it is worth giving a try.
All said Ninja Shodown may be trying its best but it simply isn’t very much fun to play. The control issues are very difficult to get around and they rob you of the opportunity to really enjoy the gameplay. There are a number of modes to choose from that do vary up the details but at the end of the day there’s no escaping the fact that the core experience is pretty flawed. This all makes it very hard to recommend for anyone but the twitchiest of gamers.
Stardew Valley is a game I came to adore on the PC and I’m thrilled that it is now on the Switch so it can be played anywhere. Within my family there’s so much love for this game that my oldest daughter specifically bought her Switch for this very reason. Though she has “finished” the game at least 3 times already, and is a walking encyclopedia of Stardew factoids, she still keeps playing. That’s the power of this game, and the sense of serenity that’s so easy to have when playing it, and it is why I’m giving it the first 10 I’ve ever awarded for this site. It truly is a modern classic, blending elements multiple games have touched on before and combining them in just the right ways to make something truly special.
I think the main thing for experienced gamers who are interested in Yono to reflect on before buying it is whether being challenged is essential or not. The harder you’re hoping to have to work to make your way through the game the more you’re likely to be disappointed. If, however, you manage your expectations and simply enjoy it for what it is Yono is a great and fun adventure while it lasts. A group I would certainly point the game out to would be parents of younger gamers. Since the starting point is very friendly to less-experienced players, the ramping up of challenge is very gradual and smooth, and towards the end it will raise the bar enough to motivate them to figure out a way to win it would be an excellent primer to more ambitious fare like proper Zelda games. Something of this nature, in that regard, is a rarity and helps raise the bar of my respect for it a little higher. What I’m hoping is that we’ll be able to see a sequel with a slightly older Yono who will then continue to face progressively more difficult challenges and perhaps a newer generation of gamers will be able to grow older and more experienced with him.
Ultimately, 88 Heroes is a title that lives and dies by its humor, and that statement has meaning on several levels...
Functionally I can’t really fault Squareboy with any major concerns but perhaps that isn’t the most ringing endorsement either. Though it is admirably put together and works perfectly well it is lacking in excitement and even I’d say in some heart. Having finished played it for hours I’m still really indifferent on the overall experience. It isn’t bad but it isn’t memorable. If you’re searching for something simple that is inexpensive and will consume some of your time with a generally moderate challenge, and are just a fan of the genre in its many forms, perhaps it could be worth your time though.
All said Tiny Barbarian DX is an excellent throwback-style title that celebrates what was great from that era without being satisfied to hide behind it. It builds on the style of play of many classic games and turns it all into something better, all while maintaining that signature difficulty that was so common in that era. What’s great, though, is that the challenge comes from well-crafted levels and not from wonky or inconsistent control. If you’re itching for something that will make you nostalgic or just want something to suck up a fair number of hours with varied side-scrolling hack-and-slash gameplay Tiny Barbarian DX delivers!
Ultimately 88 Heroes is a title that lives and dies by its humor, and that statement has meaning on several levels. It isn’t only that many of the heroes aren’t very useful, a compounding problem is that since almost all of them are unique in some way as a player you often have very little basis for how this character “works”. There’s no real opportunity to “git gud” with them or understand their nuances, you’re just going to run at your problems head-on and hope that your luck and reflexes will help you win the day. Granted, as you play through the game there’s no doubt you’d begin to work some of these things out but since the gameplay is relatively shallow once the surprises and jokes wear thin I’m not so positive the action itself holds up on its own to keep you compelled. I enjoyed my time with the game to a degree and some of the referential humor is a lot of fun but once you contemplate your third or fourth run and you’re looking to really play and beat the game as your priority nothing is going to stop some of the problems from seeping in.
I’ve actually been enjoying Neon Chrome for quite some time on the PC and am thrilled that it has finally made its way to the Switch, even moreso that it has come over quite flawlessly. Beating the Overseer is no easy feat but what I love the most about the game is that it continues to scale itself up even past that initial victory and you’ll be able to continue to test your skills and your load outs against consistently formidable resistance. In some ways it is when all of the skill options are finally available to you that the game most comes to life, throwing exciting challenges at you and demanding that you give it your full attention to persevere. While I’ve played many roguelike shooters and enjoy them all I hold Neon Chrome up as one of my absolute favorites for multiple reasons.
What’s strange with UNBOX is that with the somewhat unfinished feel of some elements of the game I often wondered if it was intended to be a “physics game” along the lines of Goat Simulator and others where the intent is to have a weird feel to everything. If that were the case, though, the other essential part of that genre is a degree of humor and over-the-top ridiculousness to help compensate for the many shortcomings the game has otherwise. Since it is pretty well played straight throughout (random bad jokes involving boxes not counting) I don’t think that was the intent here so it brings me back to feeling like the game combined a not-great concept for making a viable and fun platformer with too little time spent to make the game the best it could, smoothing the rough edges that would come with a game where you’re moving a box around and trying to make precision jumps with it.
Overall Wulverblade is an absolute masterpiece of a game and for people who have been bemoaning the lack of quality beat-em-ups available it should provide many hours of meaty combat and carnage. To enjoy it you’ll need to overcome falling into old and sloppy habits and learn to work with all of the moves and nuance made available to you. Your reward will be a very viscerally satisfying and overall bloody good time, with some crazy surprises you won’t want to miss out on!
Overall, Wulverblade is an absolute masterpiece and for people who have been bemoaning the lack of quality beat-em-ups it should provide many hours of meaty combat and carnage. To really enjoy it you'll need to overcome falling into old habits and committing to learning all of the moves and nuance made available to you. Your reward will be a very viscerally satisfying and overall bloody good time, with some crazy surprises you won't want to miss out on.
Overall Rogue Trooper Redux, even with the overhaul, is very hard not to see as a game trapped in its original time. If you have great deal of nostalgia for the original, and don’t mind the possibility of your rose-colored memories being ripped away, it will probably be worth giving a look. Since, for the moment, there aren’t any games of this kind on the Switch people who are ready to start killing may find it to be a good fix as well. For just about anyone else I’d say they’d need to think it over carefully as it isn’t, for the most part, up to modern genre standards.