World Conqueror X is a hugely rewarding strategy game. It's not as refined or committed to the history of the conflict as the more serious wargame fans would like, but then it manages to depict the truly complex, global conflict in a streamlined, accessible, and, for the most part, authentic manner. I am beyond delighted that the Nintendo Switch has something like this on it.
To say that The 25th Ward is niche would be an understatement, but that's what's so impressive about it. It respects the intelligence of its players, allowing them to wade through the feverish surrealism that the game often depicts, and melds that perfectly with a traditional noir thriller than Raymond Chandler himself would have been proud of.
Totes The Goat takes one of my favourite retro games, and does a decent job of modernising it.
Mulaka might not be your favourite game in 2018, but what you take away from it will be far more valuable than the couple of hours of entertainment you'll get from it.
There's nothing that actually redeems Hollow. It's a B-grade Dead Space clone that follows the "rules" of horror without actually understanding any of them.
Immortal Redneck is a blast of a game in a genre that we don't see enough of. It's not the first roguelike FPS that we've seen on PlayStation 4, and I wouldn't say it's the best, either. It does, however, have an exceptional aesthetic, clever level design, clean action, a decent difficulty curve, and plenty of longevity. A very worthy action game indeed.
For a debut game, Moss is a remarkably mature, intelligent, confident and purposeful game by Polyarc.
Despite the issues with balance, juvenile moments in the writing, and the occasional bug that suggested the ambition of the game slightly overextended its budget, Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet is the best video game entry in this particular franchise.
Superola is just a whole lot of nonsense that aspires to be a funny and entertaining game.
This won't be remembered as a particularly good remake, and it's tragic, because by itself, outside of the shadow of the game it's a remaster of, Secret of Mana has its charms.
I can see myself playing Premium Pool Arena a lot while on trips or during short breaks. It's a clean, efficient, and largely no-frills take on the game, and in all that it's pleasant and enjoyable. And that's really all that can be said about a game like this.
For every positive thing that Kingdom Come does with its storytelling, setting, and themes, it then lets itself down with childish writing, and then doesn't help itself out by being so ambitious that, even beyond the bugs, the game has structural issues that are difficult to ignore.
This is an intense, clever, thoughtful and intellectually challenging JRPG that should remind people that when it comes to this genre, visual presentation and even the gameplay itself aren't the drawcard. It's that story that counts, and Radiant Historia manages to achieve something truly remarkable in giving players a time travelling plot that is genuinely interesting and worthwhile.
The game's not going to draw the attention or community of "proper" fighting games, but Slice, Dice & Rice is distinctive, intelligent, rhythmical and, more importantly, intense.
It's never fun to play a game that's so fundamentally uninteresting that you really struggle to even watch the screen as you're playing. Fantasy Hero: Unsigned Legacy is a painfully generic and completely forgettable action JRPG, and there's just so much better stuff out there that deserves a port to this console that I'm almost offended that this one, somehow, was singled out for a release on the Nintendo Switch.
The developers haven't messed with the content. Because almost no one bought the Wii U, few people had the chance to play Bayonetta 2. With Bayonetta 3 on the horizon, giving people a chance to catch up is a really good idea on Nintendo's part. That's why these ports have been released, and they're that good that, even if you were one of the few with a Wii U, you may as well buy them again.
Koei Tecmo has done a remarkable job of telling the many stories of the many people that make Romance of the Three Kingdoms such a compelling book and period of history, and the beautiful cinematic consistency makes it the most perfect realisation of everything Koei Tecmo has been aiming for with this series since way back on the PlayStation 2.
There's so much raw content in this package that, as long as you're a fan of the standard tactics JRPG formula, you won't be able to help but get plenty of value out of this trilogy. And the standard tactics JRPG formula is so damn good that it's timeless. Making Mercenaries Saga itself functionally timeless.
All said, The Seven Deadly Sins is a fun anime franchise, and that sense of fun does translate to the game. It's not a perfect game by any means, and has some genuinely aggravating elements, though, and that means it is going to be one that only fans of the franchise are going to enjoy.
If the developers were to take the tower defence sections and spin that into an entire, dedicated game, Aegis Defenders could be really something worthwhile. That side of the game is truly enjoyable. But it's let down by trying to be something more than that, and the platforming and "exploration" elements just don't gel well with the good stuff to make this game as cohesive as it needed to be.