Justin Nation's Reviews
The question for you when considering Lichtspeer is whether you enjoy being challenged and whether you mind that the game ultimately revolves around getting very good at aiming and firing your speer. If you think you could say yes to both of these items there’s several hours of enjoyment to be had with the game, and you most certainly will be challenged over the course of playing it. If you finish the base stages you’ll be able to go for completing Game+ mode with even more enemies coming your way. If even that isn’t quite enough challenge for you feel free to take on the appropriately-named Rage Quit mode that will forcee you to complete the stages with no checkpoints. I tried and failed spectacularly, there’s always some bastard that breaks through at some point. For the right people I have no doubt Lichtspeer will be a good time, but I also would quickly say it isn’t for everyone.
Even though I’ve settled into what I believe my preferred weapon combination is I’ve continued to be either enticed or forced into changing it up in relation to the gear I find. Generally I’m not a melee guy but when you pick up a melee weapon with explosive damage you can’t help but give it a whirl every now and again. Weapons vary in range, accuracy, splash damage, and more… the fact that every few levels base weapons will begin to be more powerful than the rares you lucked into before means you’ll need to continue to take a hard look at your loadout in order to survive. From run to run I’ve gotten only a few levels in right after getting through the first few bosses so there’s just no knowing what the game will throw at you. With all of this in mind it is easy to recommend NeuroVoider to anyone looking for some satisfying and challenging action.
In its current state I really can’t recommend 36 Fragments of Midnight at all. When it is an endurance game and there’s any control-oriented inconsistency or obstacle all I can imagine is people sinking their time into something that they can’t ultimately control their own success in. With some patching to improve the situation it would at least move the game up a bit, but still nothing would stop it from being merely mediocre. In the end it is what it is and you could spend some quick bursts of time on it and have a little fun, just even in that area there are generally more compelling titles than this one on the Switch.
I actually have some familiarity with this game from the mobile space and I can respect it within that market as being reasonably good. Unfortunately, especially where control and complexity come into play, what works well there is generally pretty mediocre on the dedicated gaming hardware of the Switch where the competition has set the bar far higher. If you’re truly bored of Mario Kart and looking for something to kick around with off and on for a while, or are less bothered by floaty controls perhaps it will scratch an itch for you. Nonetheless I would have a difficult time recommending it for the majority of gamers out there.
While Kingdom: New Lands is hardly a perfect game the experience you get to undertake playing it is fresh and new, blending elements of tower defense with real-time strategy and resource management. As long as you understand the limits of what you can do and you’re willing to explore, experiment, and initially fail quite a lot it offers something unique and challenging to the Switch lineup.
Whether or not you decide to take the plunge with Semispheres will really come down to whether you’re in search of a relatively humble but enjoyable collection of puzzles that will occupy most people for several hours depending on your relative skills. Even as a puzzle game fan at no point did it feel like a “been there, done that” situation that can commonly happen with games that have little ambition. In the case of Semispheres it all began with a great base idea and that expanded into something charming and fun that you can enjoy for a while.
Summing things up Robonauts has a ton of things going for it in terms of presentation but when it comes to the control and the big picture of content it falls down pretty hard. Perhaps if there had been an advanced control option where I could take on the task of aiming myself I wouldn’t be as disillusioned and I’d spend more time being frustrated with myself not being up to the challenge rather than cursing where the game is choosing to aim at any given time. While the first few levels work and feel great once things get more crowded and chaotic it falls apart. I can appreciate a game that is difficult, challenging you to come back and perform better. When it is asking you to do so with one hand tied behind your back I find it much harder to find my enthusiasm.
Soldam has really surprised me over the time I’ve played it for review. While I’d started out somewhat skeptical of its very different mechanics once I passed a certain point (assisted by the Challenge mode) I began to more clearly see what it was doing and am fairly impressed by the way it all works. Old puzzle gaming habits are difficult to break and in order to be successful in Soldam you’ll need to develop an entirely new set of tactics for how best to contend with things like garbage pieces specifically. The high-pressure moments as your stacks get closer to the top are where the game shines, and you’ll need to think quickly, adapt, and perhaps have a little luck on your side to get out of it. The good news is that with the color-changing mechanic it is very possible you’ll be able to complete many lines in quick succession with only a few pieces, meaning that you’re never truly sunk unless you just give up. With its very different approach, terrific Versus mode, and fresh strategic challenges Soldam is a worthy contender for puzzle fans!
Quest of Dungeons, for many people, will initially live or die upon its looks unfortunately and if you enjoy a challenge that plays very well in handheld mode I encourage you to give the gameplay a look. Underneath the old school pixel graphics is a rewarding and challenging roguelike experience, one that will probably bring you closer to the original Rogue than anything else you'll play. The RNG (Random Number Generator) Gods are strong with this title, and though they are often quite cruel when things roll on your side it can be a great feeling. What's great is there is ample room for strategy and success (as well as humiliating failure, granted) as you encounter the biggest challenges in the game. Why settle for your fate when you have an opportunity to change it by being a tricky bastard? Quest of Dungeons has consistently surprised me with its adherence to the core roguelike formula, with all of its randomness, while also maintaining a consistent degree of challenge.
Quest of Dungeons has consistently surprised me with its adherence to the core roguelike formula, with all of its randomness, while also maintaining a consistent degree of challenge.
I would have a difficult time recommending it for the majority of gamers out there.
SteamWorld Dig 2 is a fantastic game that demonstrates the full potential of the seeds the original had planted. At every phase it is clear that the team behind it has grown in terms of both concepts and skill in implementation. For me playing it and writing this review has also made me reflect on the amazing rate that the indie development scene has matured and turned into the collective juggernaut we are seeing today. Not only are we seeing good games at lower prices, we are often seeing AAA quality and ambition as well. This excites me greatly and I’m looking forward to seeing what these team members, as well as their ambitious contemporaries, have in store for us next!
While the point-and-click adventure genre flagged and faltered a while back I think it coming back more “lean and mean” in indie form is probably the best way for it to find success again. Thimbleweed Park is simply an excellent game and puts the genre’s best foot forward to help find a new generation of fans. With so many great games on the Switch that ramp up the challenge and tension it is a great move in the opposite direction, providing an experience that you can take your time to walk through and savor… while giggling along the way.
Regardless of the extended features and modes what will ultimately drive whether or not you’ll get your value out of Conga Master Party is how much you buy into the core experience. If you enjoy the somewhat relaxed pace, the quirky scenes and characters, and the silliness of it all as you work to unlock more dancers then it could be a worthwhile purchase. Just be warned that the novelty factor can probably only hold you for so long before you’ll be looking for something a little more involved and diverse.
As long as you buy into the core gameplay being offered INVERSUS Deluxe delivers a great deal of value for the price of admission...
In the end Tower of Babel isn’t that bad of a game for the price of entry. If you enjoy the endless runner style the game does do a fair job of iterating on the same overall formula with a variety of traps and looks to keep it fresh. With a patch hopefully the issue with the limited nature of the leaderboards could be addressed and people could feel a bit more compelled to compete on them with their friends and others, understanding where they currently rank and how much harder they’ll need to try to climb higher in the ranks would really help sell the replay angle a game like this needs. As implemented it is just hard to recommend for more than fans of the genre though.
As a full package Sine Mora EX fills in a gap in the Switch line-up unless you’ve been indulging in the NeoGeo shooter ports, which are hit and miss overall. As a showcase of the visuals the Switch is very capable of producing, particularly in handheld mode, the game looks incredibly good. For people who aren’t big shooter fans it could be hard to call, especially given the asking price. Though the difficulty level has been tweaked to make it more friendly I’m not positive what the longevity on the game will be unless you’re looking to spend time becoming better at shooters as a whole. For more experienced genre fans it’s an easier sell as not only will you be able to get rolling and enjoy getting to know the game initially but you’ll then have a meaty amount of content to revisit, refine, and work to max out your scores with. While it may have some issues Sine Mora EX is still an impressive shooter and a welcome addition to the Switch line-up.
All in all while there’s nothing changing the fact that this is “just a casual game” there’s quite a lot of content to be played if you are a fan of the genre. Over the course of the main story campaign you’ll unlock new power-ups but you’ll also unlock 3 additional modes that provide more replay opportunities. They all will be variations on the same ideas, with only minor tweaks to the formula but they will throw challenges at you in slightly different ways and the unlocking of new levels at least provides you with continued challenges even after the pretty lengthy main campaign is completed. As a big fan of many classic PopCap casual games, and Zuma Deluxe in particular, I’d say that among its descendents Sparkle 2 is the most impressive and enjoyable by a fair degree. If you’re in search of something a little lighter than can be enjoyed in quick sessions between tasks it in an excellent choice!
If the main attraction Party mode in Astro Bears appeals to you, then you’re in luck as it at least does a reasonably good job of providing the means to play some matches with your friends. My kids were slightly more enthused with it than my wife or I were so there’s a chance that with a less hardcore gaming audience it could make a connection. Unfortunately the lack of any real options or alternative modes to change things up makes it an all or nothing proposition. If you really love Snake and games like it with every fiber of your being there may be a good match here for you. If not, I can’t recommend it.
For fans of the series the fact that there are no glaring issues with his new edition for the Switch will probably make it an easy game to pick up, unless your heart was set on being able to play the game in touchscreen mode. For people new to this series who are interested in a very cerebral type of puzzle experience it is an excellent entry in an already terrific series and should provide a substantial amount of content for most people at its reasonable price point. While not everything about this edition is what I’d hoped it is still one of the premier puzzle games on the market and it is well-represented in its first outing on the Switch!