Justin Nation's Reviews
Strangely enough this isn't my first rodeo, back in the day I wrote for the N64HQ as well as a few other outlets on freelance gigs but then when the HQ closed I decided to step it up and started The 64 Source. As the first word of a follow-up system to the N64 began to swirl I then decided to venture out into completely new territory and started OperatioN2000, where I had very little regular reputable news to share. With no other options I decided create my own content focused on profiling key developers and their current relationship with Nintendo or "dream games" where I saw opportunities for Nintendo to dust off classics or recently-made games and do something new with them on improved hardware.
This was all going pretty well until my wife and I decided to have our first child and I then decided that it was time to hang it up and focus on my family. As I closed down both sites I did decide to partner with Billy Berghammer, another former N64HQ writer, who had created his own site, PlanetN2000. We agreed to move over the relevant content from the older sites to his and on top of that I had taken a grad school class in programming in ColdFusion and decided to offer to code the front-end and back-end for a new version of his site. Through these efforts the newer and more complete Planet GameCube was born! While I would occasionally contribute to that site, helping do things like working out Louie the Cat doing rumors and other odd things, I eventually decided to stop as my family obligations grew.
While I had continued to follow Nintendo through both the Wii and Wii U eras my TV time was limited enough that I began playing more PC games again. It is in the PC space that I began to play a number of independent games and they started to be the games I enjoyed the most. Between their lower price, their often less traditional gameplay and approach, and their great variety I was hooked!
With the launch of the Nintendo Switch I was already excited by the possibilities. The portability factor alone meant that I would have far more options and places I could play away from the TV, and games like Breath of the Wild looked impressive. With my oldest daughter poised to start her senior year in high school and my youngest finishing out junior high I started to see an opportunity to get back into amateur games journalism once again with what is now Nintendo World Report as well but I'd initially just thought about writing some editorials periodically. Then, right before the launch of the system, Nintendo had their Nindie-focused presentation and I saw my two most beloved gaming worlds colliding. The games I had been playing on my PC could now be played in a portable way and on Nintendo hardware! Being the type who tends to work against the normal current the concept behind Nindie Spotlight was born!
While there are some cozy tendencies in its overall style, plenty of activities to engage in, and much to discover, Kynseed can also sometimes get too ambitious in its pursuit of excellence
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While there’s something satisfying about the game’s familiar style of play, whether solo or with friends, despite some tweaks the overall experience doesn’t feel terribly fresh either
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While an undeniably cozy experience, the bugginess and less developed aspects of play also make it tough to truly love at times
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There’s something to be said for new-school games that somehow capture the essence of the old-school while still feeling contemporary in the right areas
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While offering a family-friendly alternative to its horror-inspired asymmetric cousins, there’s fun to be had here, but its future feels more shaky
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A clever and pretty distinctive mix of Metroidvania-like maps and backtracking, but with a puzzle and platforming focus rather than worrying with combat
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Surpassing its predecessor in pretty well every way on the Switch 2, football fans have good reason to be excited after a long draught
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A cute and unusual mix of dog-loving vibes and storytelling with a rhythm game component that simply doesn’t work very well
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Undoubtedly aspiring to capture the feel and excitement of the Tony Hawk franchise, a lack of any onboarding, honestly feeling a bit too fast, and not much in the way of originality make it crash and burn
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While it has some novel and creative ways to use resizing items tied to puzzling, it also struggles to be satisfying
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A weird, wild, and wacky take on the Vampire Survivors formula that works out better than expected
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With a solid main story, plenty of space to explore, engaging combat, and a load of DLC to enjoy as well, this is an impressive package
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When there are plenty of tower defense games out there with a unique hook or some sort of personality, this falls flat
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While it may not offer up quite as much variety of some of its competition, there’s an undeniable charm and polish to this platforming adventure
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While it may be budget-friendly and offers a fair number of things to unlock, the vanilla gameplay lacks the oomph to make it worthwhile
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If you’re able to take into account that this is an older title, and perhaps are able to play with friends, this may not be a bad diversion for Tolkien fans
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While I had high hopes that this wild and crazy take on sports could channel some old-school Mutant League vibes, I’m wishing perhaps they’d stopped the jank at mere amateur status…
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While the twin-stick shooter junkie in me wishes that this budget hybrid of shooting and tower defense was quite a bit tougher, it still manages to have surprising appeal even with its overall simplicity
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The latest in what has seemed to be a string of gambling roguelikes, all seeming to be looking to grab some of the success of Balatro, CloverPit is fair, but ultimately feels limited
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An absolute mixed bag, featuring 2 reasonably good and distinctive RPGs, but then 2 lesser offshoot efforts that muddy the overall picture of quality for the package
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