Miguel Moran's Reviews
Spend an afternoon playing this with them, and you might just end up helping them discover a fascination with the Olympics. Or Nintendo sports games. Hopefully both!
Gun Gun Pixies has a very specific audience, and many of those people are sure to have a good time with this game. Cute characters and a wealthy abundance of fanservice are here in spades. Unfortunately, I often found myself struggling with the repetitive gameplay and clunky controls too much to appreciate any of the good aspects of the game.
Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout reinvents the wheel on a series that felt like it was beginning to grow stagnant. Fresh combat and an engaging new protagonist help this entry usher in a remarkable new era for the long-running Atelier series, and other improvements like great Switch performance and gorgeous music are just icing on the cake. I never thought that Atelier Sophie could be out-done, but Atelier Ryza has thoroughly made the case to be my new favorite game in the series.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III the third 80-hour RPG in a series of equally lengthy games. If you're a newcomer, it's a daunting and probably foolish task to try and play this game. If you're a die-hard fan of the Cold Steel series already, you'll get plenty of satisfaction out of the continued plot development and engaging combat. Even the most dedicated of fans, though, are likely to be turned off by the dated visuals and confusing Legend of Heroes crossovers that mar an otherwise impressive story-driven JRPG.
What The Golf has created an absurd, hilarious, bite-sized experience that is always golf-adjacent and brilliant for it. The jokes and levels are a whirlwind of zany ideas, but the quick pacing and brief runtime of the game keep them from falling flat or getting tiresome. Despite an overworld that can feel a little repetitive, What The Golf? is full of hearty laughs and addictive gameplay that made me never want to stop playing.
John Wick Hex is the last form you might expect a John Wick game to take, but this unique, inventive puzzler kept my mind racing from beginning to end. While the gameplay and interesting story shed light on some important aspects of the film franchise, the sometimes punishing difficulty and surprising lack of focus on John Wick himself left me a little disappointed. This isn't a perfect video game adaptation of a film, but it's certainly the most original one I've ever played.
Super Neptunia RPG makes an earnest attempt at shaking up the formula of the Neptunia series. Unfortunately, major technical issues bog this game down at every turn, and even if they were fixed, the drawn out story and over-simplified combat would fail to equate to an enjoyable game. Super fans of the Neptunia series might find something worthwhile in this experience, but it's sure to be buried under ten tons of headache and frustration.
Code Vein is addictive, yet frustrating. It's promising, yet unpolished. There are a lot of interesting ideas here that come together to craft a unique and engaging experience. I just wish that the flaws here weren't so glaring, because they keep Code Vein from being a great game instead of just a good one.
Dragon Quest XI is already an incredible JRPG, but this massively updated Switch release makes it almost mandatory. With new outfits, new quests, an entirely new 2D mode and a huge range of quality of life improvements, it's easy to consider this the best version of the game to play. The only thing holding it back from earning that title are some unfortunate visual and performance issues. A handy patch can fix the latter, but really the only reason not to prefer this version is if pristine graphics are your highest priority.
Jedi Outcast is a fun trip down memory lane. However, newcomers are likely to be too put off by the frustrations and poorly-aged game design of an ultimately incomplete port of a once-incredible title.