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 the warping mechanic at least adds a little more interest, this budget platformer still lacks the oomph to make it more competitive with its peers
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Given that as a kid I remember playing the likes of Madcap Marathon with friends, this puzzler has a great nostalgic quality and provides a healthy challenge to your planning and reflexes
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While in general I don’t tend to be a fan of anything that appears to be striving to be Souls-like, this more simplified take should have appeal to gamers looking for a challenge
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While there may be some mileage here for die hard Walking Dead fans, newcomers may feel a bit lost, and the gameplay can have a tendency to get tedious at times
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The game’s mix of platforming and some puzzling around which color moods you’ll be using at any given time help make it more unique, but its floatier-than-normal controls hold it back a bit
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A pleasant enough chill adventure, but that also makes it low on energy and sometimes having stretches that are dull
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Breaking from the normal world sim goals of building up civilizations or tearing them down, instead focusing on rebuilding the environment, it has some merit but also flaws
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While its construction and play are relatively simple, cozy, and satisfying, I also appreciate some smart design that shows an earnest effort on the part of the developers
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While there’s fun to be had in its more chaotic moments of destruction, the attempts to give it more structure and story beats feel like they bog it down
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While it may not be a groundbreakingly-good 3D platformer, and has some quirks, as an approachable family-friendly affair it works
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Another attempt to convert a tabletop strategy game that struggles
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The addition of some poker-based flavor to this roguelike deckbuilder at least helps it distinguish itself in a crowded space, but it also lacks some refinement
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For LEGO fanatics and lovers of all things Batman, this is a strange but entertaining amalgam of Batmans from every form of media and generation brought to life
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A somewhat casual hidden object-type game where you interact with everything via shots from your sniper rifle? How very American, weird, and somewhat entertaining…
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The concept of a very Gauntlet-esque action game you can enjoy with friends involving musicians is novel, but the gameplay itself simply doesn’t hold up
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While in truth it may be a box pusher at heart, its morbid setting and style at least help make it something a bit more entertaining
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Obviously refusing to take itself terribly seriously, this pretty basic oddball physics action puzzler can be fun, but doesn’t have too much variety to offer
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While you can respect its throwback mentality and style, what doesn’t feel quite generic and ordinary has a tendency to feel cheap and poorly-conceived
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A somewhat trippy and interesting ride where you’ll roughly be challenged with solving mysteries while navigating through people’s memories
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While it may be purr-fect for cozy casual gamers looking to track down every stray kitty hidden in the environment, it really has no fur-ther ambitions
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