Tim Bissinger's Reviews
The game idea is traditionally good, the story interesting, the puzzles good, the ideas and loving details abundant: I was about to recommend Tangle Tower as a real alternative to Professor Layton - when the game was suddenly far too early, far too abrupt and above all over with far too many open questions and logic holes. All the work and effort that SFB Games put into character drawing and building a great mystery in the first few hours suddenly coincides like a house of cards. Maybe it was due to a lack of time or resources - after all, there aren't even any puzzles left towards the end. Tangle Towers should be a little adventure pearl with its quirky characters, high-quality presentation and good puzzles - but it stumbles over a much too early, abrupt and illogical ending.
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Playtonic and Yooka-Laylee are successful in the second attempt and with one dimension less: The search for the Beettalions is a wonderful jump'n'run adventure that can keep up with Donkey Kong Country in its best moments and sets new standards in the genre with a great world map. What a positive surprise!
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Three Houses is a promising first step towards a new era for Fire Emblem, and a solid foundation for the next games to come. While it does lack challenge and depth in exploring the monastery, it excels in other areas, mostly in its rich and captivating universe, unique characters and advanced turn-based combat. The journey to the grand finale is long, but it's a memorable one that will please not just long-time Fire Emblem fans.
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Whether you're walking on the ground, the wall or the ceiling, in Etherborn this is all just a matter of perspective - and the game is wonderfully built around this unique idea of shifting gravity, offering complex level design and a great sense of scale. The only question, then, is why you're doing all of this, as the overarching story doesn't explain itself very well and leaves you with more questions than answers.
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Drag, Drop, Play - Super Mario Maker 2 builds on the great foundation of its predecessor on Wii U and expands it in any way imaginable, from new elements and settings over a brand new 3D World style to more modes and multiplayer. There's still room left for improvement, but Mario Maker 2 is a game that will eat up your time anyway - no matter whether you're playing it on a TV or using the touchscreen in undocked mode.
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Driving is fun, working together as a team is exciting, but the interesting ideas only really click after hours of training and learning - which might be a road too long for most people. Furthermore, compared to its strong predecessors, Team Sonic Racing lacks the charm of the SEGA All-Stars brand. This time, it's Sonic & Friends only - a premise much less creative and, and therefore much less appealing.
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Koral is a fascinating journey through the ocean that's less about entertaining with its simple puzzle mechanics, but rather about teaching and educating the player about the threats that this beautiful world is facing in the real life beyond the TV. While the game itself remains basic, its message is all the more important.
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SteamWorld Quest is another showcase for the creative talent at Image & Form who have crafted yet another charming robot adventure in a new genre, that, once again, manages to entertain with lovely characters, strong gameplay systems and slick presentation - even though the freshness wears off after a while of playing as the game relies a bit too heavily on its card-based battles and deck building.
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Trials was expanded from a wonderfully purist arcade title to a big Game as a Service - including Lootboxes, real money integration and embarrassing ingratiation with the Fortnite target group. So at least I don't enjoy trials anymore, although the playful core belongs to the best of the series. Too bad about the great level design.
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Baba Is You constructs a game principle of immense depth and complexity, which fascinates and occupies over many hours - and never loses its fascination. For all fans of puzzles: Baba is Win!
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Precise controls, fast and action-packed twin-stick shooting for up to four players on one console: Assault Android Cactus is simply fun.
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Tower Defense meets arcade action - and the mix works: X-Morph: Defense thrills with its chic presentation, thrilling battles and outstanding map design on the Nintendo Switch.
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Travis Strikes Again doesn't live up to the name No More Heroes or the talent of Suda51 and bores for almost seven hours with blunt action, uninspired level design and the eternal unwinding of the same processes.
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Double Cross doesn't do anything bad as a Jump'n'Run, but has hardly any charm, can't set its own mark in any way and is hardly worth mentioning on the Nintendo Switch compared to the strong competition.
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After Journey and Abzu, Gris is another extraordinary trip into a fascinating virtual world, which will stay in your head long after the finale - and, unlike the other two, also has playful qualities. Congratulations to Nomada Studio on this great debut project and a worthy end to the game year! Gris takes us on a four-hour emotional journey into a magical world whose colours, images and sounds hypnotize - and which, in addition to its audiovisual attractions, can also entertain us with interesting puzzles and games.
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This trip to Kanto is more than just a return: Game Freak and the Pokémon Company are finally taking their first small steps into the future and making Pokémon more open, lively and modern. This is the way to go!
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Starlink has a good playful foundation, but it has been sacrificed to a generic Open World approach and rampant recycling. Atlas is all about mass instead of class - it's a shame about the great Toys-to-Life approach.
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Pulsating beats, cool sayings, fashion as armor and the Joy-Con as pointer: The World Ends With You works very well on the Nintendo Switch despite the lack of precision in battle and will continue to impress in 2018 with its gripping story and incomparable style - whether you experience the adventure in TV or handheld mode.
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Luigi's first appearance as a ghost hunter hasn't lost any of his charm and is still a great pleasure in 2018 - but he's clearly the loser compared to his successor on the same console.
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Sinner steals ideas and art design from From Software and also fails on almost all other levels with a sluggish, delayed combat system, a miserable camera and bad technology. Nobody needs this cheap copy.
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