For people who didn't play through the DLC on the Wii U version, or want a portable version of Hyrule Warriors that doesn't feel like a one massive compromise after another, Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition is essential.
Conan Exiles is enjoyable enough, but it does reveal some fundamental weaknesses in the survival genre; it's not one that can be tuned effectively to storytelling, and that means that if you're using a storytelling property, such as Conan, you're going to need to exhibit a great deal over control to bring the necessary focus into the experience, and unfortunately the developers weren't able to quite get there with Conan Exiles.
Three games in, and Koei Tecmo really understands how to make a dynamic, exciting One Piece Warriors game. The teams behind these Warriors games are also clearly comfortable with the Nintendo Switch as a piece of hardware, and One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 might be three years old now, but the Switch "ultimate edition" really is the ultimate edition.
Hello Kitty Kruisers isn't a great game from an adult's perspective, and that's a bit of a wasted opportunity as there are plenty of adult Kitty fans out there. But where most games made for children are brutally bad, I don't think Kruisers is that. In fact, I think the developers have cleverly stripped back the elements of a kart racer that children struggle with, while leaving the elements that they're inclined to enjoy.
Crypt of the Serpent King's only redeeming feature is that it hasn't crashed and corrupted my PlayStation 4 hard drive yet.
Dragon's Crown Pro is a direct port of a really wonderful game, and it's still the most sublime, brilliant fun, and it only gets better the more people you share it with.
Timberman Vs is such a confused and poorly thought out game, I wouldn't recommend it if it was free
This game is a strong contender for my favourite game in 2018 to date.
It's time to broaden the horizons, but in the meantime, Half-Genie Hero Ultimate Edition is as good as platformers get on the Nintendo Switch.
Because the understanding on how to make FMV games really function is still underdeveloped, there are still structural issues that creators are clearly struggling with, and Late Shift is very much a product of this.
Well done to the developers for taking the roguelike to a genre that I would never have expected it would pair up with, and then executing it as well as any dogfighting flight simulator out there. But, while the loot grind is generally enjoyable, and the randomised missions help keep the missions from becoming rote, Sky Rogue does struggle to give you a reason to care about any of it.
SkyPeace was made with the very best intentions, of that I'm certain. But even though the game punches above its weight in terms of presentation for its monetary price, it's still asking for the player's time, and even though it's modest with what it asks of you there, too, it's just not giving enough in return.
The heavy reliance on nostalgia does wear thin and lose its comedic appeal, and from there you're only left with a workable, but very limited, turn based combat system, and not much more.
In contrast to its beautifully elegant and minimalist cousin, Proteus, which I referred to at the start, Rememoried is hauntingly beautiful and has a far greater depth of emotional substance. But it is begging us, as players, a little to hard to embrace it and recognise its genius.
Drive on Moscow might just be the most niche title on the PlayStation 4. But the historical accuracy and the way that the game has taken one of the most important military campaigns through World War 2, and turned it into something so fascinating, makes it very, very worthwhile.
Megadimension Neptunia VIIR is an odd duck, being sold heavily on the VR features, even though they are so overtly tacked-on, but whatever the development story behind that, Compile Heart has gone back and substantially improved the gameplay engine, to the point that this is genuinely one of the better JRPGs out there.
Mutant Football League is a cheap and poorly executed arcade sports game.
Go into it in the right spirit, though, and with absolutely no words it tells one of the most powerful stories you'll find on the Switch.
While it's not a game that's going to turn too many heads or win awards, anyone who likes their really cerebral experiences will love spending hours trying to eke the most out of the favourite football team.
You may well find Gal*Gun 2 to be offensive and intolerable. But that's all the more reason to experience it and discuss it, and because it's backed by a really good light gun experience that is bigger and (on balance) better than its predecessor, this game is one of the most playable and interesting transgressive franchises the Japanese industry has ever produced.