Uninspiring, uninteresting and utterly unremarkable, Seven Knights: Time Wanderer is an extraordinarily tedious game that it's hard to recommend to anyone but the most die-hard fans of its mobile counterpart - particularly given how many other top-quality RPGs the Switch plays host to. Even if you're an ardent follower of the franchise, we'd argue your money is much better spent elsewhere.
Food Girls is a thoroughly likeable game that does its best with what it has, much like the girls in the street market. At times, its low budget and lack of polish is apparent — most egregiously with a couple of untranslated lines that are still in Mandarin Chinese — but for the most part, the heart, soul and passion of its developer shines through, creating an enjoyable, memorable and thoroughly comfy experience.
Ultimately it’s safe to say that if you enjoyed the first HuniePop, you will very much like HuniePop 2, because it offers more of the same — but better. Much, much better. The first game is still worth playing — if only to have the chance to get to know the fairy Kyu a bit better, since she claims she’s no longer allowed to jump into bed with her clients in this one — but HuniePop 2 improves on it in almost every way.
All in all, Natsuki Chronicles should be considered an absolutely essential purchase if you have the slightest interest in shoot ’em ups. Even if you’re not typically great at this sort of game, Natsuki Chronicles provides plenty of support to help you get better and make consistent progress — while if you’re a hardcore veteran, the game’s tougher difficulty levels coupled with the ability to turn off the various “helper” features will provide you with a stiff challenge.
It’s pure, psychedelic, completely surreal escapism that will help you forget the “real” world for a few minutes or hours — particularly if you have the means of immersing yourself fully in it with a PSVR headset and a good pair of headphones cranked up nice and loud. In the world we live in right now, experiences like this are especially important — and I know I’ll certainly be making good use of it whenever it all gets a bit much!
It’s not a game that demands hours of your time at once, nor one that has a vast amount of content to keep you busy in the long term — but it is a game that is fun to boot up once in a while when you fancy some straightforward arcade action that rewards you with the very pleasant sight of some awesome, kick-ass military and mecha girls for doing well.
The challenging, cerebral gameplay of Alice and You in the planet of numbers might not be for everyone, but the sheer level of charm on display in this game will inspire many people to make an effort to understand what is actually going on from a mechanical perspective. Allow yourself to get drawn in and there’s potentially hours of number puzzling fun to be had here; certainly a nice bit of light relief from the more chaotic, action-packed games out there.
The easier puzzles can be banged out in less than a minute once you know what you’re doing, while the larger puzzles offer more substantial challenges. And with more than 350 puzzles to get through — the majority of which can be found in the harder difficulty settings — there’s plenty of game here to keep you busy in the long term.
Mad Rat Dead is a prime example of Nippon Ichi doing what it does best between Disgaea titles: putting out weird games that about five people will play, but then those five people will happily talk enthusiastically about those games to anyone who will listen.
Delicious! Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire is a fun game — nothing more, nothing less. It is, as noted above, pure comfort food — something you can fire up when you just want to play a game to engage your brain a little bit, but you don’t want to immerse yourself in something complicated or narrative-heavy. The nature of mahjong solitaire means that it’s far from a mindless experience, and the dopamine hit from finally unlocking a new costume after several failed attempts is undeniable.
The core gameplay is solid and enjoyable, the optional extras are worthwhile and fun if you’re a retro gaming enthusiast — and they won’t be missed if you’re not — and the whole package is a great addition to the Switch’s library. I suspect people will still be playing this for quite some time to come yet, if Tetris 99’s enduring popularity is anything to go by!
This is the sort of experience open-world games should be aspiring to provide: not endless checklists of pointless busywork, but incentives for players to explore these intricately crafted environments. You should come away from an open-world experience at the very least feeling like you know your way around — and in more picturesque examples, having a strong desire to visit those places if only they were real.
As it stands, it’s a good example of how a video game can be used as a form of “interactive artbook”, where engaging with the “game” side of things allows you to explore the “art” side more deeply. I’d love to see more of this kind of thing — and I’d especially love to see this get some form of packaged release. Imagine a nice box set containing a selection of Yom books, perhaps a wall scroll, a soundtrack CD from the anime and this game!
It really is a perfect example of a modern developer completely understanding both the appeal of classic arcade games and their potential pitfalls, and providing us with a new one that is beautifully designed for play at home. It’s one of the best “modern retro” titles out there, and a great addition to the library of any gamer who just wants an experience that is pure fun from start to finish.
For now, Poker Pretty Girls Battle is a nice addition to any gamer’s casual lineup — particularly at this nice a price. While it’s never going to win any “game of the year” awards or anything like that, it was never taking aim for that end of the market — it’s simply an enjoyable game, nothing more, nothing less. And sometimes that’s all you want.
Rising Hell is a thoroughly lovely coffee-break action roguelike that is friendly to quick play sessions, but provides enough longevity to keep you coming back for more. Its relatively short individual runs make it an especially good game to have on hand for when you don’t have a lot of time but still feel like kicking some ass, and its varied unlockables mean that each run can feel markedly different from the last if you want it to.
Let’s make no mistake here, though; what we have at the time of writing is good. It’s a great R-Type game with some well-designed stages, the series’ iconic brutal but fair sense of difficulty, lots of unlockables and customisation and an absolutely banging soundtrack. It’s an excellent investment for any shoot ’em up fan — particularly if you’re a longstanding fan of R-Type — and it’s worth your time. It will be interesting to see how it develops from hereon, for sure.
The whole thing is a consistent delight to both look at and listen to — and this side of things in particular is one of the reasons I’m so surprised the game hasn’t enjoyed more buzz online since its release, since as you can hopefully see from the images on this page, it sure takes a nice screenshot!
Hentai vs Evil is not a game I’ll be playing all the time. But it is a game I know I will return to whenever I’m in the mood for exactly the sort of silly nonsense it has to offer.
Sumire is a delightful, heartfelt, honest and genuinely emotional narrative experience. At about three hours long, it’s a game best enjoyed in a single sitting — though it’s also worth noting that the game is very replayable to see how different choices along the way play out, and indeed how the whole thing concludes if Sumire finishes her day having favoured a particular type of karma. Is being a “good person” always the answer? Is Sumire herself justified in doing bad things after how she’s suffered? And what’s with all the crows?