Az Elias's Reviews
If you have managed to hold out on getting into Street Fighter V and were waiting for the best time to dive in, well done! Champion Edition is the version to pick up.
Despite the DLC gripes and the heavy downgrade in visuals for this Switch port, Samurai Shodown really stands out from the crowd, and it's great to see the revival of a popular series return in such a good way on the gameplay front. It takes weapons-based combat and creates a smart system out of it, putting players on edge, and provides moments of pure bliss when bare knuckle comebacks are made. The strong Japanese style only adds to the appeal. It really could have done with a more fleshed out story mode, though.
Stylish, methodical, and encouraging attacking gameplay, this latest Under Night In-Birth title is as exciting as always, and Switch owners that have yet to try the series out are in for a treat, with plenty of modes, a lengthy visual novel chronicle, online play, and a varied cast of characters. Despite the array of balance and move tweaks, though, this just isn't enough of an improvement over the previous title, with only one extra character being introduced. This is still a top anime fighter, though, and a good alternative to BlazBlue.
Steins;Gate: My Darling's Embrace deserves credit for managing to retain a desire to spend more time with these characters, and runs with the humour and nerdiness in combination with the sexually natured and light-hearted narratives that Okabe ends up entwined in. It does the series justice by sticking to what makes everybody so appealing, but it is a very specific type of visual novel that doesn't get into any serious or dramatic situations. Understand what you're setting yourself up for and this is a fun alternate diversion to the original title.
More unlockable rooms with some further challenge would have been welcome, but The Turing Test passes on many fronts. Well worth a purchase - and launches at a great price, too.
Nine characters and a story scenario of a couple of hours for twenty quid isn't bad by fighting game standards. As such, this may be well worth the price for anyone still heavily invested in BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle.
Although an important piece of the story that sets up the true ending to Steins;Gate, it wouldn't be an absolute disaster for fans to brush over this one. The character writing is excellent, and the concepts and effects of AI in this world are intriguing, but the fact the story drags itself out for so long means it can be tough to get through this novel. Thankfully, quick saves and the very fact this is portable by nature help to make getting through much easier by picking it up for a bit before bed each night.
Not the entry fans of the series would have preferred to see get ported, but Banana Blitz HD is worth checking out for anyone that never played it on Wii, or those that just couldn't deal with the motion controls back then.
SoulCalibur VI tries to go back to its roots and mostly succeeds. It is far from being the game expected after waiting so long for the sixth entry, with low quality visuals, long loading times, and not much improvement over the same old combat, but if the return of old character favourites and that classic gameplay is what is sought after, this will do the job, with plenty to do for the solo player in story modes, although there is a lack of options outside of that.
Not Yoshi's best adventure to date, but it does a sufficient job of being a kid friendly 2D platformer with an appealing visual style that lends itself well to crafting some interesting levels. Sadly, things can get a bit tiresome, and older gamers may find themselves rushing through to the end of stages in no time. Seek challenge elsewhere, because you won't find it with Yoshi's Crafted World. The quality is there, as expected of a Nintendo-developed title, but it is too simple for its own good.
Both games still hold up well today, and, at the very least, Final Fantasy X alone can make this compilation worth the purchase, especially now it is portable on Nintendo Switch. Although this edition of Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster isn't as graphically impressive as other ports and is missing the PC boosters, it remains a highlight of the franchise and shouldn't go missed. Unskippable cut-scenes in this day and age is a huge negative, though!
The combat system has been tweaked just enough to keep things fresh for Dead or Alive 6, but there is this niggling feeling that the budget just wasn't there for this game, which is unfortunate, because there are plenty of modes and great characters to enjoy. A few too many aspects stand out as sub-par, though, leading to disappointment for many that have been waiting so long for the next entry in this franchise. Still a whole lot of fun and worth at least trying the free-to-play version out if curious, but it may be best to wait for the likely Ultimate edition.
The Path Home ends Shadow of the Tomb Raider's season pass with a whimper. The tomb's main puzzle isn't as difficult as it comes across at first, and the whole act is over in a flash, wrapping up a plot point that very few will care about. Now that all is said and done, the asking price for the full lot of content just isn't worth it. Wait for a heavy discount.
Nothing special once again for the next in line in Shadow of the Tomb Raider's season pass. A simple battle and a different, but not overly difficult, tomb work to pass the time, with a handful of decent rewards on offer at the end. It still does nothing to light up what has been a very average set of download content, though.
With another platforming and puzzle area to tackle before the main tomb itself, this could have been something that topped maybe all of the previous DLCs for Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Instead, The Grand Caiman is over too quickly, despite the decent tomb embedded in the volcano.
Although the story arc isn't anything to get excited about, this is one of the better DLCs to have come out for Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The Price of Survival features just enough variety with enemies and puzzles to make it worth a chance on its own, but still doesn't quite make the full season pass tempting enough.
Still one of the most captivating visual novels of all time, but Steins;Gate Elite might not be the absolute best way to experience this wonderful classic. The animated segments add a whole new dimension to the way the story is presented, and it is seamlessly pulled off to create a quite brilliant interactive anime of sorts, but the lower quality of the character designs compared to the gorgeous original artwork from the standard version takes a bit away from it all. Not enough to lose the impact and engagement this new interpretation delivers, and it is still a sure-as-heck must-buy for Switch owners that have no other means to play this title, but some players wishing to see the fuller endings and with superior art may want to opt for the PS Vita version if they can.
Given this should not be played until after experiencing the full visual novel, 8-bit ADV Steins;Gate immediately finds itself in a difficult position, as it fails to enhance the original in any shape or form. This extremely condensed version of the story adds nothing of value, and only serves as a nostalgic method of revisiting the universe in a retro format...which still doesn't capture even a part of what makes the characters and its world so special. It's just as well this is a freebie with Steins;Gate Elite orders, because it would be hard to argue a case for parting money with for it. Whatever you do, don't play this before the visual novel. No one deserves to have the real adventure spoiled by this pointless, but harmless, retro abridged version of events.
Other than porting BlazBlue: Central Fiction to Nintendo's platform, this seems to be minimum effort on Arc System Works' part.
Made out to be something bigger than it is, The Nightmare fails to deliver once again in what is a recurring theme for Shadow of the Tomb Raider's download content. The Croft Manor sequence could and should have been something much more than it was, and the tomb is another short and simple challenge. There are always signs of something good in each of these DLCs, but none have added up to anything great yet.