Justin Nation's Reviews
The value proposition for The Wardrobe leans heavily on how much frustration you’re willing to endure for the sake of the enjoyment of the ride. If you’re up for something fun and simply plan to hit a walkthrough when things get too obtuse (which will happen often) there’s certainly fun to be had. In addition, given the game’s price, the adventure takes a while to get through and has a lot of funny beats along the way. That said, not acknowledging how poorly the puzzles and flow of the game are designed would be a disservice, it’s sloppy at best and that makes recommending The Wardrobe a challenge.
Overall, if you’re feeling the need to mech up and have some destructive fun Assault Gunners HD Edition could be a good match for you if you temper your expectations. In terms of both presentation and overall action this feels like a last-gen game at best, but probably even further back than that. Its sensibilities simply aren’t very evolved, you’re going out to destroy everything in sight and doing so feels far more vanilla than you may expect. That said, for the moment there aren’t many options anything like it on the console for now so depending on the fix you’re looking for it could be a good fit.
In the end you’ll either embrace what Neverout is looking to offer with its more than 60 levels of first-person puzzling or you won’t. I can absolutely say that I’ve never played anything quite like it in general, let alone on the Switch, and though there are levels I was able to pretty easily work through there were others that gave me pause. Working through some solutions takes some trial and error as you work out how everything needs to be arranged but completing those levels then tends to be quite satisfying. If you can deal with the odd controls, and would like a new perspective on puzzling (literally), Neverout is a welcome change of pace.
Whether as a party game or a solo experience Runbow has an incredible amount to offer. Its controls very much fall under the simple to learn but tough to master banner, especially if you’re going to tackle the likes of the Bowhemoth mode. Small touches like the collection of indie darling characters included as unlocks are very much appreciated and offer a motivation to explore the game’s modes to find them all. Especially if you’ve got some friends or family with a competitive streak Runbow can be a lot of raucous fun!
For its novelty alone on the RTS-starved Switch Mushroom Wars 2 has some merit to it, and will no doubt make strategy fans who’ve felt poorly represented a bit happier. That said, this feels more like a stripped-down strategy experience overall, making the origins of the series coming from the mobile space not a great surprise. As long as the online community gets rolling it should be a worthwhile investment, but the more you’re likely to find yourself playing it in single-player mode the more likely you are to get a bit bored with the repetition.
In particular at its very budget-friendly price, Miles & Kilo is a wonderful and rewarding bite of intense and satisfying platforming fun. It makes you work to pass each level, you’ll generally be able to figure out how to be successful after a few tries, and the control is spot-on so when you fail you never feel like you have anyone to blame but yourself. The addition of the Kilo segments and the pretty well constant shifts in play style keep it from getting bland and overall I’d say its length feels perfect and satisfying. An absolute must-have for playforming fans!
As a whole Pocket Rumble stands up very well as an extremely budget-friendly fighter that has few frills but delivers what is most crucial. Looking and playing great whether in docked or handheld mode it’s light, easy to get into, and has a surprisingly-diverse roster with some very unusual characters. Throw in Online support that even competitive games with higher prices have been known to lack or implement with higher instability and it very much delivers a fair value for its humble price tag.
As a whole Yuso has a very cute and clean look that pairs up well with its tough puzzle goodness. What makes it work so well are the multiple layers of Yuso types, the rules that govern them, and the tricky way many of the puzzles have been crafted. Even ones that can appear to be simple can hide gotchas in how you’ll need to execute them to be successful. About the only caveat I would offer is that there’s nothing that clearly makes the Switch necessary for this experience, it would likely even scale down well onto a mobile phone and look good given its very clean look. That said, if the Switch is your preferred platform for puzzling it’s another very different option for your library.
Through the game’s 8 chapters and more than 90 stages you’ll be in charge of a growing roster of squids looking to fight back ooze-infected sea creatures who threaten them...
As a whole SpiritSphere DX puts a unique spin on a very classic game. The varied character play styles and modes offer up some great options for some light and fun competition (or cooperation) with a friend. That said, there’s no ignoring that the best way to experience the game is with another person and grinding the single-player mode really removes the majority of the magic of the experience. Throw on the somewhat aggravating method of unlocking all of the game’s characters and the game unfortunately gets in its own way a bit. If you’ve got people to play against with some regularity and are looking for a good pick-up-and-play (with Hand2Hand mode quite literally) game to enjoy anywhere SpiritSphere DX has its charms.
If you have an ability to think spatially and plot things out in your mind CubiKolor will be a worthy challenge to consider. There are times when the camera can be tricky as you try to get a good position and depending on how things are oriented you can sometimes move in the wrong direction but for the most part this is a well-implemented, if simple at its core, puzzle experience. If you’re been looking for a puzzle challenge quite different from what’s already available on the Switch, CubiKolor definitely stands out as unique.
While it can be fun recommending it is a tricky proposition. Overall I’d say spending some extra money and getting a full-on party pack would be your best bet, whether it is the one that includes Drawful or not. The relative price difference isn’t large and having some variety is really a better option. For people who may enjoy the original Drawful already whether you really need this one is probably most dependent on whether you think you’ll use the custom prompts or not. If not the value proposition dwindles a bit. There’s nothing wrong with the game, it’s just a very hit or miss proposition.
Kudos to Bethesda and the folks at Panic Button for, yet again, bringing a true AAA mainstream title onto the Switch with less compromises than I could ever have imagined. Gone are the days of Nintendo systems needing to settle for dumbed down or half-assed ports, Wolfenstein II screams quality and is an outstanding technical accomplishment. While that, in itself, would already be a great selling point it’s then the quality of the story (insane as it is), its characters, and its varied action set pieces that further set Wolfenstein II apart from its own peers. I absolutely cannot wait to see what Bethesda has in store for Switch owners next!
Even with the game’s other failings, compelling and tight combat could have been a real saving grace...
In the game you’ll play as Violet, a teenage girl who is in a hurry to grow up...
This is a world defined by a very different turn of events from World War II, one where the Nazis defeated the United States and dropped an atomic bomb on New York among other things...
As with all roguelikes I would imagine there will be a crowd that finds the mix of gameplay in Paranautical Activity entertaining and challenging in some way. Once you get into your groove you can certainly move through multiple levels and find success, with some random elements thrown in along the way so you’re never quite sure how things will shake out. That said in terms of FPS action this is a very shallow and generally dull experience reminiscent of unevolved gameplay from the same era that inspired the game’s visuals. Oddly-themed enemies and being different aren’t enough to save what’s ultimately uninteresting play.
In the end I see Figment being the sort of game that may vary wildly in how people feel about it. If you’re in tune with its themes and embrace everything it has to offer it’s really a beautiful and brilliant title, daringly doing everything its own unique way. If some of the elements just don’t pull you in it may play out very differently though. On the strength of its creativity and earnestness I happen to be a big fan and I’d encourage everyone to at least give it a look, it’s a pretty unique experience on the Switch.
Overall, though there’s a fair amount of content between both games and the production qualities are decent on the whole I found Anima: Gate of Memories to be aggravating in both of its forms in this edition. It’s possible I may not somehow be in their target audience but instead I choose to believe that despite whatever lofty goals they had for the title it just isn’t executed very well against its contemporaries. On multiple levels this feels like a game that could have found success one or two generations ago but as titles have broken through and proven what’s possible it now comes up lacking. If you’re interested in the property or are itching for some decent slashing action it has its moments but be warned it can be a bumpy ride.
In it you’ll play as a young boy who is hoping to save his lost family, and the rest of his village, after they’re all overcome by a mysterious illness...