Mononoke Forest provides a surprisingly good time for a very small price tag. Bubble Bobble meets Animal Crossing, this delightfully quirky game is easy to pick up and shockingly hard to put down. While the story isn't anything revolutionary, it's entertaining, and the monster designs, particularly for the Hazard Mononoke, are stellar.
All in all, the Jackbox Party Pack 4 is a great party game bundle with far more hits than misses.
Episode 3, the final installment of Bear With Me, is the darkest and most narrative-driven yet, filled with surprising depth and humanity. What started out as a silly little point-and-click adventure game has retained all its quirks and charms while telling a touching story with themes of acceptance and forgiveness. It serves as an unexpected but incredibly satisfying end to a truly memorable gaming experience.
Golf Story is held back by a number of mechanics, some of which are not very fleshed out or enjoyable, the occasional glitch, and lots of quests which require skill and control of the game's often shaky mechanics. The story is entertaining enough, but the real charm of this game is the hilarity of its characters characters and dialogue. This really is a must have for any fan of golf games, but as an RPG fan, I thought this indie title only came in at par.
Terroir is an incredibly challenging game which incorporates the strategy, farm simulation, and tycoon genres. The lovely low-poly graphics and the atmospheric soundtrack make it easy to get lost in this world, especially as there's often not much to do other than wait for the weather to change. Much of the challenge comes from the randomness of the weather, so if you don't mind failing a time or twenty, you will find a great challenge in Terroir, and might even come to a greater appreciation of a good bottle of wine.
Battle Chasers: Nightwar is a gorgeous RPG, with expansive randomly generated dungeons, compelling combat, unique characters, and an amazing soundtrack. Teleportation across maps and within dungeons encourages exploration, and the ability to select dungeon difficulties, as well as the fact that essential game elements, such as crafting and fishing, can only be done inside dungeons creates meaningful replayability and naturally sends you crawling through completed dungeons again and again. Featuring animated comic panels, and avoiding long-winded lectures about history and lore, Battle Chasers: Nightwar is an indie game which delivers a top-tier JRPG experience.
While the lack of tutorial and clearly defined goals can potentially lead to frustration and some difficult first starts, Kingdom's simple controls lead you right into an incredibly engrossing game. The gorgeous pixel graphics shine on the Switch's screen, and the changing of day to night, and summer to fall is not only visually stunning, it's an ever present reminder that winter is coming. Based upon the principle that nothing lasts, with each new game Kingdom asks: How long can your crown survive?
I really can't offer a clear, concise explanation as to why this ridiculous game is so much fun, all I can say is that sorting cats has become the new competitive hobby in my office. Cat Sorter VR has somehow combined the adorable, the absurd, the repetitive, and the high pressure of a continually moving assembly line to create an inexplicably addictive virtual reality game which you really have to experience yourself to understand. It may not be a purrfect game, but it's more than worth the price tag.
Endlessly silly, strangely addictive, and easy to play thanks to the auto-battle feature, Miitopia is a delightfully ridiculous game which is perfect for the casual gamer in search of a reason to smile.
Ever Oasis offers a surprising amount of content in a fun, accessible game. Challenging yet forgiving battle mechanics mean that beginners can hack and slash away, while masters can focus on strategy and speed running. A diverse cast of characters with numerous abilities encourages playing with diverse parties, and the warp system enables lots exploration, creating replayability while making long slogs across maps a thing of the past. Easy to pick up, hard to put down, and overflowing with features, Ever Oasis really is a diamond in the desert.
Medusa's Labyrinth has made an art out of building tension, using a brilliant combination of setting, sounds and truly grotesque monsters to create several heart-pounding, white-knuckle, hold-your-breath and drop-your-torch moments. While this game perfectly sets the stage, this setting is tragically undermined by unclear controls which have not been well adapted to VR, nausea-inducing simulated motion, and the tedious chore of physically wandering blindly through an unmarked labyrinth.
The unexpected combination of the racing and wave defense genre, Radiant Crusade is a colorful, high speed VR shooter. While not suitable for anyone susceptible to motion sickness, be it from VR or riding in cars, this title is enjoyable enough in short bursts. A lack of both minimap and contrast between the game's glowing fauna and enemies makes it challenging to master, despite its easy and intuitive controls.
The Caligula Effect offers a fascinating story inside of a huge virtual world. Filled with heavy concepts, writer Tadashi Satomi weaves a complex story about human suffering, artificial happiness, and the lengths people will go to find inner peace. While not nearly as developed or immersive as Persona 5, the game's flashy graphics, star-studded soundtrack and solid story help to make up for what the game lacks in a depressingly shallow and unfulfilling social system, unclear objectives within dungeons and a rather tedious battle system.
Symphony of the Machine is the epitome of what a virtual reality experience should be. It nails everything from visuals to sound, from challenges to object interaction, all without a hint of motion sickness. This peaceful puzzler will calm your mind, challenge your brain, nurture your green thumb and leave you wanting much, much more. It's rather light on content, offering one to two hours of gameplay, but scores perfect marks in literally every other regard. While the short gameplay may be disappointing for those looking to squeeze every minute of entertainment out of their dollar, Symphony of the Machine is a must have for those dedicated apostles who seek to spread the gospel of VR.
1-2 Switch defied my expectations, providing an entertainment experience above and beyond that of what I thought was its closest counterpart, Wii Sports. It has a huge variety of games, some better than others, which appeal to both gamers and non-gamers alike. Although artificial restrictions placed on some games and game modes keep it from being as much fun as it could be, this is an excellent party game, and it's just as much fun to watch as it is to play.
Interkosmos is a short virtual reality experience which places you in the hot seat of a space capsule returning to Earth during the Cold War. Combining an incredibly high pressure situation with a great deal of humor, Ovid Works has crafted a truly unique, narrative-driven experience. While the game is only around 30 minutes long, it has branching storylines, two successful endings, and makes death incredibly fun with a whole host of ways for you to perish. It's highly interactive, it makes incredibly satisfying clicky noises when pressing buttons and flipping switches, and it's over the top, colorful, retro graphics make it a unique and fun experience. Climb into the Interkosmos cockpit, make history, and show the world that Major Tom has nothing on you.
Narcosis is a shining example of a virtual reality psychological thriller done right, and a is must play for any horror junkie.
Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns brings all the charm of the Bokujō Monogatari games, along with a whole new cast of characters animals, and a number of improvements. With a more colorful and stylized look than the previous game, a new part-time job system, and a revised, more strategic approach to tool upgrades, Trio of Towns is a welcoming, forgiving, and addicting game. One of the biggest Boku games yet, Trio of Towns is loaded with characters, features, and objects to unlock, and is a must-have for fans of life down on the farm.
Homebound is a virtual reality experience best saved for the daredevils and veterans of VR. Its controls are clunky, it has a habit of leaving you spinning in the most gut-wrenching of ways with little to no warning, and its story mode instructions can be frustratingly obtuse. That said, it gives you the opportunity to experience life on a space station, and gazing out the viewport can be a shockingly powerful experience. It's difficult to resolve these dichotomies, but at the end of the day, I felt that the experience it offered was more than worth its $8.99 price tag.
Dragon Quest VIII is a massive world with well over 50 hours of gameplay. It stands out thanks to stellar voice acting and a huge, quirky set of monsters to battle. While there’s plenty to do, both the plot and the majority of the characters are flat and uninteresting. The quicksave feature and the ability to increase battle speed are significant quality of life improvements over the original, making this a solid title sure to entertain JRPG fans, but the dated and grind-heavy mechanics can make it a bit of a slog.