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Justin Nation

Windsor, PA
The Nindersect
Nindersect

Favorite Games:
  • Rocket League
  • Neon Abyss
  • Wreckfest

4395 games reviewed
70.7 average score
71 median score
43.4% of games recommended

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!
6.5 / 10.0 - art of rally
Aug 12, 2021

Though the Switch has proven quite capable of bringing exciting experiences over from the other consoles or the PC space that doesn't mean all conversions are a success...

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6.4 / 10.0 - Tetragon
Aug 12, 2021

Starting out with Tetragon it felt like it had some potential promise...

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Aug 11, 2021

For me Curious Expedition 2 is everything I look for in a sequel outing...

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Aug 11, 2021

Elevator pitch time… so what if the goal was to make a game that fully embraces and meshes together intense slashing roguelike combat and… a dating sim?!?

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8 / 10.0 - Garden Story
Aug 11, 2021

When it comes to relatively chill adventures in more of a classic style the Switch has pretty great representation already and can now add Garden Story to the list...

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8 / 10.0 - Necrobarista
Aug 11, 2021

I realize that more often than not I’m a sort of wet blanket in the area of visual novels, especially those that allow little to no room for player agency...

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7 / 10.0 - Islanders
Aug 11, 2021

This budget title, at first glance, looked like it may be a sim of sorts... but if that's what got you excited, be warned, that isn't what you'll find here...

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8.5 / 10.0 - Black Book
Aug 10, 2021

Whenever you see new titles show up in a genre that seems to be currently having its moment you end up taking a moment to see what it has done to differentiate itself from the pack...

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7.5 / 10.0 - Button City
Aug 10, 2021

With its somewhat simple polygonal art, abundance of color, and undeniable cute factor, Button City is a moderately laid back adventure focused on you playing as a new kid in town who quickly befriends a small group of video game warriors at the local arcade...

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Aug 6, 2021

While this is a title that has been around for quite some time at this point, I’m surprised by how well it has held up both in terms of its great funky art style and its simple-but-challenging play...

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7 / 10.0 - The Last Survey
Aug 6, 2021

Interactive stories, especially ones that are artistically basic, are tough to score and evaluate fairly...

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Aug 6, 2021

Low-budget fare can always be tough to score since there's always a question of where to put the bar...

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6.4 / 10.0 - Bone Marrow
Aug 6, 2021

Taking the basic premise of mobile puzzlers like 2048 or Threes, Bone Marrow tries to throw in a little value-added RPG-ish feels to spice things up...

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6.3 / 10.0 - Zengeon
Aug 6, 2021

Starting Zengeon up there's a feel of real promise with a great animated opener, distinctive characters, and everything exuding a sense of style...

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5.3 / 10.0 - Spelunker HD Deluxe
Aug 6, 2021

While I had heard tales of the infamous Spelunker games and their inexplicably bad controls, until now I had never had the opportunity to experience them for myself...

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9.5 / 10.0 - Dodgeball Academia
Aug 5, 2021

While I’ll admit that when you mention a game with the name “dodgeball” right in the title you already have my attention, bear in mind that doesn’t make me an easy guarantee for positive feelings about the result...

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If you're a puzzle gaming fan, you're probably well-acquainted with the Picross franchise...

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8.7 / 10.0 - Haven Park
Aug 5, 2021

As much of an action and shooting game junkie as I am, looking for games that challenge me and provide thrills, a great game that moves in the precisely opposite direction can very much grab me...

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Aug 5, 2021

One thing I've learned over the years as someone both on the programming end of software and on the consumer end is that creating experiences that are "simple" by nature is often anything but...

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Aug 5, 2021

Games where dogfighting takes a central sort of role have been around for quite some time, and while there are some stand-out excellent titles like Everspace out there that can give you that fix on Switch they still feel few and far between...

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