Adam Riley's Reviews
Darkestville Castle never hides the source of its inspiration, but it matters not as this is no mere cheap imitation, instead proving to be a love letter to the classics in the point-and-click genre. It easily matches some of the best of yesteryear, whilst retaining a fantastic fresh feeling, bringing along very inventive puzzles, plus a humorous and engaging script, all wrapped up in a gorgeously presented package. Hopefully, this is not the last time Cid Threep…sorry, Cid the Demon gets to go on a zany adventure.
Microids has done an excellent job of porting the classic point-and-click adventure to Switch. Kate Walker's epic first adventure in Syberia is every bit as gripping today as it was 15 years ago when originally on PC, and it fits perfectly on Nintendo's system, boding well for the impending releases of Syberia II and Syberia 3. Hopefully this is the first of many point-and-click adventures brought across to Nintendo Switch.
The ending to Little Nightmares: The Hideaway is very creepy indeed, and looks to tie things together with the exploits of Six from the main adventure, perhaps in the next piece of DLC. For now, though, this finely crafted puzzle-platform-adventure is highly enjoyable and truly gripping and tense in places. More laidback than The Depths, though, this makes for a better experience overall as the whole atmosphere can be appreciated more. A few minor gameplay hiccoughs cannot take away from the fact this will definitely be a few quid well spent, and hopefully the wait for the next episode is not too long.
Nicalis brings one of the toughest and addictive gaming experiences from almost every other format to Nintendo Switch, and the transition is seamless. With dastardly levels of difficulty, a quirky aesthetic, and an absolutely sublime soundtrack that has definitely stood the test of time, the major drawback comes from how short the experience is. Once accustomed to overcoming the challenges faced, there is not much left to do after rescuing everyone. Hopefully, an expanded successor is on the way.
The coming together of two fantastic platform adventures, and a decent enough puzzle entry, means that Mutant Mudds Collection is well worth checking out for those that are up for a very strict challenge. It has some drawbacks in terms of how smooth the lead character jumps, but the majority of the game is so well constructed that those loving retro style outings will quickly become accustomed to the games' approach and quickly fall for its classic charm.
Extremely well voiced, highly amusing for the majority of the adventure, complete with smart puzzles that mimic the best of the genre, and all for the grand price of…nothing! The Adventures of Nick and Willikins proves to be a highly entertaining piece of point and click adventuring goodness that definitely deserves a lot more attention, as well as an expanded sequel.
Fun for all your friends and family, Kirby Star Allies is a Kirby-by-numbers, sticking to the formula that has worked for so long, and proves to be just as fun as ever before. Mixing in the four-player element makes for some hilarious antics, and the augmented powers that can be utilised make for some extremely exciting scenarios. The only drawback is the age-old concern of things being a bit simpler than desired, but HAL has packed in plenty of entertaining content to appease fans new and old alike.
What a way to end the Little Nightmares saga! Tarsier Studios has taken its original fantastic experience, and split up the core concepts to craft some sublime DLC episodes, and this final one, The Residence, brings with it some real thrills and chills, whilst also delivering on the puzzles front. Admittedly shorter than the previous two, yet more satisfying overall, it leaves gamers thirsty for more, with an eventual sequel hoped for.
The Adventures of Bertram Fiddle: Episode 1: A Dreadly Business is a breath of fresh air in the point-and-click genre, bringing with it fantastic art work and excellent voice acting, along with tough-but-not-overly-so puzzles, a wonderfully intuitive inventory and control system, as well as bucket-loads of charm and personality. Spiffingly good work, ol' chap!
Beckett is a surreal experience, but a wonderfully unique take on the point-and-click style adventure that makes the delivery of the gripping story far more digestible for a wider audience.
Unforeseen Incidents is a complete breath of fresh air in what is fast becoming an over-crowded genre once more, standing head and shoulders above many other point-and-click adventures available. With its perfect mix of macabre and comical scripting, as well as the highly engaging puzzles and entertaining fetch quests it throws the player's way, the hours really do fly by despite this being one of the longer journeys on the market right now.
From the gorgeous settings, to the wonderful narrative development, and the smart implementation of sharp puzzle elements, Nihiliumbra is an absolute joy to play.
Even after such a long wait, and with a hazy memory of the past titles, Dreamfall Chapters Book One: Reborn proves to be a major success, working just as well, in fact, as a standalone product thanks to the Story Recap option filling some blanks for newcomers and the writing being clever enough to not leave fresh faces bewildered. Smooth controls, stunning visuals, and fantastic audio direction all make for a special adventure, albeit one with one or two fetch-quests too many included. Conversation threads may prove too wordy for some, yet others that are eager to get lost in the lore, and learn more about the world they are stepping into, will be exhilarated. This is definitely not for those wanting to rush through to the end; taking the time to savour the overall excellence of the package is ideal - feel the love that has been poured into it, and get ready for Book Two: Rebels.
Dead Synchronicity tries to stand out from the crowd with its aesthetic style and succeeds in almost every area, despite starting off somewhat slow, confusing, and even a slight bit frustrating. With a stellar voice cast to drive home the weight of the macabre story at hand, a delightfully dark setting, and a slew of impressive puzzles further into the journey, any initial concerns over navigation confusion and a shorter than expected length given the price-tag are overcome, resulting in what is actually a superbly fresh take on the genre that deserves the attention of any traditional point-and-click adventure fan.
For all its drawbacks in terms of relying on the gamer to actually put in the effort to enjoy the experience, Super Mario Maker is a fresh approach to the old 'RPG Maker' mould, taking the key elements that any 'build-a-game' title requires and then making sure that there are sufficient in-built goodies to give those less inclined to while away the hours making new content a sense of value for money. Additionally, the online element for stage sharing, as well as potential for new extras to be unlocked via DLC, ensure that Nintendo's anniversary project will certainly not be resigned to a fate of 'dust collector' or 'drinks coaster' anytime soon.
République Episode 4: God's Acre may not quite hits the highest of highs set in Episode 2: Metamorphosis, but it does attempt to freshen up the core concept, as well as bring in some more puzzle elements, as well as heap on plenty of extra layers for those already engrossed in the story. Ditching the multiple guards approach for one where there is just a solitary big monster with lots of surrounding noise hazards was a risky move, but it has been pulled off very well indeed.
Without a doubt, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. is just as solid an RPG adventure as its predecessors, avoiding the pit that Partners in Time fell into with its multi-character approach. Paper Mario slots into this new romp perfectly well, although there are times where the 'Paper' world is not exploited as much as fans may have wanted. Nevertheless, the laughs are still there, as are the innovative 'Bros.' moves for battles, more than making up for the incessant mandatory 'Toad Hunt' mini-games included. This may not be Mario & Luigi at its best, but it still rises high above the recent Paper Mario entries and will keep fans of the series entertained until the end of the impressively lengthy adventure.
It may start off slow, but Shardlight quickly develops into a truly gripping adventure, filled with high levels of intrigue on the story side, complete with some thoroughly inventive puzzles, and the trademark touch of class that WadjetEye Games brings to the genre, making best use of the Adventure Game Studio engine. There can be a bit too much back-tracking early on, but the balance is right, overall, preventing frustration from creeping in, especially thanks to the areas to visit being so close together and the intelligent map system in place, meaning that it is not too tough to revisit places to find things that were initially missed. All-in-all, this is another strong addition to WadjetEye Games' line-up.
Both Maniac Mansion and its sequel, Day of the Tentacle, are highly regarded even after all this time, and with good reason. This remastered edition of the second title is a welcome return for a highly enjoyable - and comical - point-and-click romp that would otherwise be completely overlooked in today's modern gaming world. Even in this form it might well be shunned just because of its genre, but that would be a mistake. It may no longer be King of the Hill, but it is still a mighty fine adventure, filled with smart quips, amusing one-liners, and some crafty puzzles.
Activision and Toys for Bob have once more delivered a highly entertaining adventure, filled with hidden goodies galore, and an amusing script, on top of an extremely solid platforming escapade. Newcomers may grow frustrated at the amount of content locked behind 'pay walls' ('toy' walls?) but the core story has enough meat to keep early Nintendo Switch adopters satiated; as for long-term fans with a large toy collection, this is superb.