Will Greenwald's Reviews
Fire Emblem Engage recalls earlier series entries by hitting familiar tactical notes, but it augments them with a cool, new team-up system. Its multiplayer modes need work, though.
Tactics Ogre Reborn is a thoughtfully updated port of a 2010 remake of a 1995 game. Contemporary tweaks let the strategy-RPG's story and gameplay shine.
Soul Hackers 2 is a decent Japanese role-playing game in the Megami Tensei meta-series, but decent isn't enough when you're competing against titans in your own family.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a massive JRPG with a unique story and deep combat that's tempered by all-too-familiar gameplay mechanics.
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes takes the story of Three Houses, tweaks it, and turns it into a satisfying Musou-style action game.
Vampire Survivors might look like Steam Early Access shovelware, but its depth and satisfying gameplay loop will keep you coming back for more.
Ghostwire: Tokyo is a horror-themed shooter that features a cool, ghostly premise and a lavishly rendered open-world Tokyo. However, it doesn't provide many scares or particularly engaging action.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land is the series' first real step into 3D action, and the game deftly makes the transition with its many challenges and secrets. However, there's less ambition on display than you might expect.
Puzzle Quest: The Legend Returns puts the classic 2007 puzzle-RPG on the Switch, with loads of content and some frankly baffling performance issues.
The first Puzzle Quest combined match-three puzzles with RPG elements to great success. Puzzle Quest 3 adds free-to-play mechanics to the pile and ends up with far less than it started with.
Horizon Forbidden West takes everything that made Horizon Zero Dawn an excellent action-adventure title, and adds more environmental variety and quest verticality to create an even better game.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus isn't the open-world Pokemon game fans have been waiting for, but it's still the most ambitious Pokemon experience yet, and a fun collect-a-thon in its own right.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl remake the original Diamond and Pearl for the Nintendo Switch. They're still lengthy, fun Pokemon adventures, but not much has been added, and even the remade graphics are showing their age.
Metroid Dread for the Nintendo Switch is a worthy holder of the title "Metroid 5," with a massive, gorgeous planet to explore and conquer.
Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania combines 300 stages from Super Monkey Ball, Super Monkey Ball 2, and Super Monkey Ball Deluxe into a single, massive package of entertaining and occasionally sadistic ball-rolling action.
Psychonauts is back with a charming, challenging, thoroughly entertaining sequel that will please 3D platformer fans and especially anyone who loved the first game.
New Pokemon Snap on the Nintendo Switch is a worthy follow-up to the N64's beloved photo game. It blends the classic gameplay with cool, contemporary touches.
Spider-Man: Miles Morales kicks off the PlayStation 5's launch by putting you in the web shooters of the titular new Spider-Man in a satisfying side story that covers much of the same terrain as its predecessor.
Horizon Zero Dawn's PC port lets you hunt robot animals and explore a massive post-apocalyptic world on your own computer, with consistent and reliable performance.
Paper Mario: The Origami King weighs down a fun adventure with an unsatisfying, puzzle-based combat system that misses the mark.