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Sparkle Unleashed is a decent puzzle game that works well as a casual time waster. The controls are tight, but the touch controls are clearly superior, making this a title you will want to play in handheld mode. The music, though well crafted, becomes repetitive due to a lack of tracks to pull from. The large amount of puzzles gives you a lot to play with, so fans of these types of games will more than get their money's worth.
Enter The Gungeon is an excellent example of a what a twin stick shooter should be and of a port done right. Its soundtrack and cool visuals are underpinned by an excellent control system and depth that keep you hooked.
Overall, I found The Coma: Recut to be an interesting but flawed game. The concept is fantastic but I think the gameplay is a little too on the unpolished side, odd considering this is supposed to be a polished remaster. The fantastic premise of being stalked in a malevolent high school is slightly squandered by unbalanced gameplay elements and the quick unveiling of how random and how too frequent the killer’s appearance is. It can become a chore to play at times and they really should have focused much more on building the tension of when the killer could appear, rather than them constantly turning up. I don’t claim to be any kind of game developer, but I think Devespresso Games should take this feedback and produce a more balanced and polished sequel that could actually be something a little special. As it is, The Coma: Recut is just too rough around the edges to recommend. It does have it’s good points, but it also has far too many flaws for it’s own good.
Procedurally generated games toe a fine line which must be walked very carefully in order to be fun. When you play a long level in which you will only find a few items, you don't want to find equipment which won't do you any good or simply be duplicates of what you always have. Finally managing to complete a level while only finding the same iron dagger that you start with then dying in the next level because you didn't have a stronger weapon is just frustrating. This game does not achieve that balance. It quickly gets repetitive once you realize that almost every play through will be mostly the same with just minor variations in items you will find, stage layout and enemy positions. It is simply not enjoyable to finally get through a somewhat long stage then die and have to repeat almost the exact same experience over and over. It would have been far better if players could save at the start of each level rather than beginning the whole game over again. Even the aforementioned mutations barely make a difference to the overall experience. Even at $8, I cannot recommend this game unless you have a great nostalgia for these sort of first-person dungeon crawlers. Otherwise, there are far better games you can spend your money on. I really tried to enjoy this game. I spent two weeks coming back to it playing it in both small doses and large, but in the end I just felt like I was wasting my time. Outside of the time I spent with it for this review, I do not see myself returning to it. I played other games for review that I did not personally like but still gave a good score to because of the merits of the game and how I could see other people liking it such as Tennis In The Face. But, I just can not justify doing that for One More Dungeon. In the end, I give it a 4.5/10.
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood is a game that has a lot of potential. The story is intriguing and rather well told, it has a beautiful art style, and the sound design is excellent. It has an interesting mechanic in the use of the magic marker, and the level and puzzle design is rather masterful. Unfortunately, the whole thing falls apart due to floaty, finicky and imprecise controls, and the performance issues are an immense hurdle. The game comes close to greatness, but its problems are too overwhelming for it to reach those heights and as a result you are left with a game that shines at times but offers poor overall value.
Overall Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King delivers on its promise in recreating a gaming classic and gives us an ode to one of the best games of all time. Could it have done a bit more to be different? Yes, though perhaps that is its strength - its not pretending to be a completely different game, rather it pays homage and adds a few small features that comes together as a fun experience.
At first, this game seems very simple and lacking depth, as you play more you begin to realise that there are many combinations of moves which are fun to pull off and combine together. All of this in a package which has great visuals, audio, tight controls and fun gameplay which is a decent price. The freestyle nature and music may not be to everyone's taste and it would have been great had there been a few more modes but overall it's a game which is fully recommended as it's very fun to play solo or with a friend.
Vostok Inc. is a fun little retro-inspired SHMUP which gives you the freedom to fly around solar systems as you please unlike most games from the genre which scroll automatically. It has a ton of resource management which will appeal to many fans of games like The Sims or Civilization. I don't personally like many shoot 'em up games, but thanks to the resource management and RPG elements in this game, I just couldn't put it down. And even once the game started to get repetitive, I started finding executives who gave me access to a great many mini games that pleasantly took me back to my childhood. While this game isn't going to blow people away with its visual prowess, storytelling capabilities or music, it will entertain most people who get it for a fair amount of time. I enjoyed this one quite a lot and will give it a very solid 8/10.
Steamworld Heist offers up over 10 hours of main campaign and its a blast, battles can become slightly repetitive as is normal with this type of tactical game but the fact that you are aiming, each ship is randomly generated and there is a strong story supported by excellent visuals and a toe-tapping soundtrack kept me engaged from beginning to end. Along with Mario vs Rabbids this is the best strategy game on the Switch to date for me and a must purchase.
Stikbold is a great party game, allowing six players to battle it out with simplistic controls that are accessible for all, regardless of age and gaming experience. The audio is superb, especially the music, and it has a coherent art direction. The game falls down a bit with a lacklustre story mode and character design, but most importantly the performance can be quite shaky. Overall you can't go wrong with Stikbold for a fun party game, though if you intend to play alone then there won't be much for you here.
Plague Road feels like a case of a great concept but poor execution. I would love to see Arcade Distillery make a sequel or spiritual sequel to Plague Road but invest far more resources into it to make a truly memorable experience. It has all the elements that could make it great: a lovely art style, a tactical grid to move your characters on in the turn-based battle system, a variety of great characters to recruit, an interesting setting and a great concept for the story. However, it doesn't deliver on most of these elements as they don't feel very fleshed out and start getting repetitive. I personally love grid-based battle systems such as Fire Emblem, and I really like it when developers integrate that concept into regular RPGs such as in Koudelka on the PS1 or Ash: Archaic Seal Heat on the Nintendo DS. As a result, I got a decent amount of enjoyment out of this title, but if you don't already have a predisposition to such games, then you might want to steer clear of this one.
I had no idea what to expect from Furi other than the fact I heard it was hard. That certainly does not put me off a game. What I wasn't expecting from this was the level of polish it had, the deep story it was trying to tell, a stunning soundtrack, beautiful visuals and boss designs and just how unique it felt mixing up some of my favourite genres all in one game. The game does have some frame rate issues which is a shame but not enough of a problem to ruin the experience. The gameplay is fun and solid and is a game which will present you with a mighty stiff challenge which is always fair and while difficult not impossible. Bare in mind that you will have to really work at it to complete this game and it will become repetitive and some may find it too much of a challenge but for those that enjoy Boss battles which are challenging there is a lot to like and recommend here.
Brawl has added it's own little spin on the genre by giving each of the characters their own unique abilities which can create some fun and chaotic gameplay with friends. Although I really enjoyed the comic book art style, the lack of story and single player gameplay has let this game down. As it offers no online gameplay on the Switch, it has limited itself to local co-op mode which isn’t going to suit many people. It would be a great pickup game for a group of friends wanting to chill and have a good time but other than that it would serve no purpose on my Switch.
SUMMARY The Escapists 2 has a fantastic premise and builds upon the original game, playing on the go is a great way to play and there are some great moments however I feel as though it gets a bit bogged down in menus and systems. The developer has missed the opportunity to give us a bit more back story for the character we play for each prison. Nevertheless its a creative and expressive game worth picking up if you like a sandbox game.
Energy Invasion’s blending of styles doesn't work. The gameplay is joyless, the music is terrible and it is visually unpleasant. In short, I cannot recommend this game to anyone, be it fans of Breakout style games or newcomers to the genre. With how competitive the game library on the Switch is, there are hundreds of other games more deserving of your money.
This is my favourite game on the Switch. I really loved Zelda and Mario, but neither one of those games managed to capture my attention nearly as much as this game did. I literally could not put it down for weeks. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 set itself as a cut above the rest on this platform primarily thanks to its magnificent story, fantastic music, its deep and cinematic combat system and its stellar art direction. This game is not perfect by any means. It has some issues such as its mediocre side quests and that the battle system can feel rather slow until you learn how to fully take advantage of it. It takes a hit in its visual fidelity while in handheld mode, but if that is a great concern to you then just play it docked. Despite some of these above issues, I have absolutely no qualms about recommending this game. It is a phenomenal experience that is worth being experienced provided you don’t mind a somewhat slow start.
InnerSpace aims to soar high and you have to give the development team credit for their ambition. As an experience I found the concept and exploration intriguing but in practice as a game there is a lot to be desired. The gameplay is not cohesive at times and the game can feel rather aimless. Overall, InnerSpace won't be for everyone but some will love its break from traditional game design.
Overall, Azkend 2 is a fun game, though it does have it’s flaws. The game avoids monotony by adding new factors to the gameplay, while never completely going on a tangent. The controls could use some improvements, perhaps having a sensitivity slider, but the game was never punishing enough to force players to not use analog controls. The game looks and sounds good, but it is also very similar to the Sparkle series. Despite a few flaws, Azkend 2 is a fun puzzle game that you may want to consider buying.
While this isn't a game that sets any new standards, it feels like a marked improvement over its predecessor, Tennis in the Face. With improved stage layouts, new collectable stars simplified yet more challenging gameplay and clearer goals, Baseball Riot is a satisfying follow-up. However, the art style, animations and sound effects have all been basically copied and pasted from the first game. If you played that game, then you will know almost exactly to expect in those regards. Much like with TITF, this game will appeal to people just looking for a small smartphone-type of game to pick up and play occasionally. It doesn't take long to beat the stages with the basic requirements, but if you are the type of player who tries to get the best rating possible on each stage, then there will be plenty for you here. While I felt like this game was an improvement over the original in terms of its gameplay, none of its other features were improved enough to affect the overall score. I'm going to give it the same rating with a very solid 7/10
World to the West is a decent sequel from Rain Games but I can't help feeling it could have been something more. Everything here is pretty well made and is of a decent enough standard. I thoroughly enjoyed the puzzles, exploration and finding out a little more about the four characters. I don't want to spoil the story but it wasn't as good as it could have been and was a lacking depth for me. The combat wasn't challenging and it felt like it was just there to slow you down rather than being a meaningful part of this game. Overall, it's a decent effort and an adventure you are sure to enjoy.