Justin Nation's Reviews
As a whole Crashlands may be the most friendly and mainstream survival-ish game I’ve played. It manages to incorporate all of the elements of the genre with exploration, challenging combat, and a pretty extensive crafting system but has also generally left out the aggravation. It’s possible that genre purists would turn their nose at this but I think it could also be an excellent title for slowly introducing a new audience to what the genre has to offer without scaring them off quite so quickly. If you’ve ever looked at survival games from afar but have been hesitant Crashlands is extremely approachable while still not easy by any means, it just won’t punish you as heavily for your mistakes as is typical with most titles in the genre.
As a game that you can enjoy with a group of friends (the more the merrier) Full Metal Furies is a unique take on a beat-em-up, peppering in some ranged characters elements of action RPG progression as well. It’s smart, sassy, and really forces you to work together to get through some tough spots that will require coordination. Unfortunately as a solo experience it suffers and ends up almost being a completely different game in the process, relatively forcing you to favor use of your melee characters and then hoping your ranged ones don’t become liabilities when you use them. If you have a group that’s looking for an action-based challenge with personality it’s a solid choice though.
While I’m not sure people who aren’t either “vintage” gamers like me or folks who have an appreciation for video game history will have a great deal of incentive to pick it up, the SNK 40th Anniversary Collection delivers just about everything I could want from such a package. It provides both an opportunity to immerse yourself in the game industry and its rise through the eyes of this one revered company and to enjoy a completely arcade-accurate experience by playing these classic titles.
While its appearance is relatively humble the gameplay is surprisingly deep and surpassed my expectations. I’d approached it as if it would have simpler mobile-like mechanics and it does do a better job than that. About my only major complaint aside from the presentation would just be that there were sports where I’d set things in motion and then would have to wait to watch as everything got queued up. There is a fast forward button but even with that in effect there can be times when the game drags a bit. However, since even with the size of the Switch library this sort of game is an oddity it’ll likely be worth a look for people who enjoy their city building, just perhaps a little watered down overall, if nothing else by the lesser complexity of the time period.
Overall if you’re a massive Steven Universe fan this should be a pretty easy call, the bugs aside it’s a pretty well-made game that takes you on an adventure with pretty well the entire cast. If you’re less familiar with the license not everything may make a lot of sense but the mechanics of the core gameplay, combat, and leveling system are good enough to warrant a look. Just be warned in any case that you’ll likely hit some bumps along the way with glitches so be sure to save periodically to minimize the impact when they hit.
Already having played quite a number of games with a similar set-up on Switch I’m sort of down the middle with Deru. Both in terms of the aesthetics and ambient music it is a subdued and even beautiful experience, which is a plus. The puzzles are certainly varied and some even may seem overwhelming at first as you try to figure out what you’ll need to do to get through them. Even once you have your plan in place execution is critical and this isn’t set up to be a cake walk by any means. However, in terms of overall creativity, diversity, and requiring outside of the box thinking to push you it isn’t quite in the same league as something like Death Squared, so it’s quite good but not at the top of its category.
What’s really weird is the depth of mobile roots this game has, with a wide variety of unlockable characters to play as or weird balls to use. I can’t imagine the majority of people out there would unlock even a fraction of what’s available before giving up on this title. Just a shred of nuance or control would have been appreciated, too many times I was able to hit my opponent with ice or something else to stop them only to then have my player hit the ball right to them. Simplicity can be good and even fun but I think it was a terrible choice here, at least at this extreme degree for a sport where I have a minimum set of expectations.
The real issue here is just there isn’t very much to sink your teeth into past the initial novelty of it all. Enemies simply aren’t that interesting, most fighting is a bit button mashy, and while the camera is mostly tolerable when fighting against monsters that die quickly in the more extended boss fights it’s almost like a third opponent as you try to keep everything together. If you’ve got a dinosaur-obsessed younger gamer they may enjoy simply stomping around and knocking things out for a while but even though the theme is fun the lack of variety and overall funkiness of the total package bring on an extinction of interest pretty quickly.
With as many bullet hell shmups as I’ve played over the years, including ones that have dabbled in different perspectives of various kinds, I’ve simply never played anything like Astebreed. It’s visually full of detail that you’ll blow by and struggle to appreciate as your screen is full of targets, but for all of that intensity the gameplay rarely has any hitches. Once you get the controls in order it’s smooth sailing and feels very natural, even as the game constantly shifts perspective and style on you. While I couldn’t really tell you much of anything about the story, there’s certainly one there, just since it plays out while you’re desperately trying to stay alive I’m not sure you’re really meant to digest it more than in passing. If you’ve been looking for something different and intense in a bullet hell shooter, Astebreed is a solid choice.
Overall, if there’s any piece of you that has a love for a rock-solid arcade shooting experience The Bug Butcher is a wonderful surprise with an extremely fair price. If you’re an old-school gamer like me you’ll likely appreciate the nods to Pang’s iconic style but if you’re not familiar with that title it will probably just feel like a shooter with bouncing enemies that you’ll need to carefully destroy to get maximum results. Throw in global leaderboards, an ability to slowly enhance your skills, and a pretty surprising variety of weirdo bugs to deal with and it’s a very good time. While I don’t expect my high scores to last for long, it was a lot of fun getting them.
In particular if you were a bit fan of Road Rash and are itching for some of that unique satisfaction of taking people out as you go Road Redemption does have its moments and can be fun in bursts. With any amount of sustained play the formula’s lack of any real depth is difficult to miss though. In theory Online play could help to further sustain interest but two nights in a row at what I’d consider pretty prime time I’ve yet to see a single person to play with, aside from the fact that there being a sustained community for this title past the first week or two would be doubtful when there’s so much to play out there. As a bit of nostalgia or a quick burst of violent fun it may have some appeal but in general it runs out of gas far too quickly.
If the typical local multiplayer shooting fare has seemed to get a being tired and dull I’d tend to agree, the genre has been in a bit of a cookie cutter rut on the whole for a while. Varion is a breath of fresh air and not only looks pretty fantastic, it also changes up just enough to help it stand out in the gameplay department as well. So the next time you’re searching for something a bit different to play against some friends when you get together it’s well worth a look.
I believe that the intent is to make a satirical point and goof on that state of the industry but there’s nothing clever or insightful here, only bland and generic levels with very little to do and next to zero entertainment value of any kind. Satire and higher-order humor typically works to mock the subject of ridicule by running circles around it in some way by showing wit or subverting expectations (where are you The Stanley Parable?). In this case the game simply seems to wallow in mediocrity and then half-heartedly attempt to justify that by claiming that’s meant to be clever comedy.
On the whole this really covers the core experience and I’d consider that to be a love it or hate it proposition. If you don’t mind cheap deaths and will continue to find the many forms it takes amusing as you try to trip through the veritable minefield in every segment between checkpoints this may work for you. However, if after a while you think your patience may run thin as you can’t quite memorize where you need to stand or jump or dodge out of the way at a given moment it will likely grate on your nerves instead.
With a visual style that feels inspired by a combination of The Binding of Isaac and Hotline Miami, with its unusual pixel art style and use of neon colors in places, it does have a shooting feel of its own but it’s pretty simple overall...
While it hasn’t aged particularly well, especially trying to follow such a strong title as Dead Cells which really took everything this game does and amped it up significantly, I very much appreciate Rogue Legacy’s vision and approach. While it may not have been the first roguelike by any means it’s the first title I personally remember showing me the potential for the genre and turning me into a fan. If you don’t have nostalgia for the title directly, or aren’t very curious about earlier roguelikes, you can pass this one up. However, if you’re a true roguelike fan you owe it to yourself to see an early pioneering title that should help you to understand how far the genre had come.
In terms of downsides the biggest issue is that for all of its quirks it plays a bit generically in the end. There are simply a ton of great twin-stick shooters on the Switch and The Walking Vegetables may have some visual style but its gameplay is firmly in the middle of the road. I wish the skills would have thrown a bone earlier on, as perhaps that could show the potential course for how things could continue to develop and change but for the most part they simply take too many runs to gain access to so they’re didn’t do much to help. If you’ve burned through the other shooting options and are looking for a fix The Walking Vegetables works well as a healthy snack but doesn’t quite work as a main course.
If you’re down for a somewhat unusual narrative where you’re a very active participant, able to hit characters from a variety of angles to tease out the truth, The Shapeshifting Detective may appeal to you. As long as you walk in with the expectation that there’s only so much room for player choice it may not be too disappointing. Compared to previous titles as a whole this entry feels a bit more jerky with the camera work and isn’t quite as cohesive, but it is certainly a novel experience with some decent acting propping it up. To get a taste for it’s style it is definitely recommended that you check out some video of the gameplay first to see if it suits you.
All in all Moonlighter is a refreshing mix of multiple game styles that kept me coming back for more. The dungeons keep changing things up and while they start out intimidating with experience and better gear you’ll begin to become more confident and capable. The shopkeeping aspect may not be nearly as thrilling but the reward of determining the optimum price for each item is its own reward, especially when you’re then able to bring back high-priced items and know you’ll be able to rake in the gold coins that you can then use to further improve your situation. It has a very satisfying loop and has enough diversity in its combat options that it’s likely just about anyone can get sucked into this hero’s adventures.
After being introduced to what’s happening with a ridiculous premise that then has no real bearing on the action that follows at all you’ll be thrown into playing with minimal direction...