Justin Nation's Reviews
I’ve personally had a great time playing Steredenn and would immediately recommend it to anyone who enjoys intense shooters and roguelike sensibilities. It’s a combination of bullet hell, crazy power-ups (you can get a sword that lets you stab enemy ships), and risk-reward decisions that most often ends in complete failure but still puts a smile on my face. If you’re up for pushing yourself, and don’t mind the taste of defeat, I heartily recommend it.
All said while the number of levels is a bit on the short side I, Zombie has quite a lot to like about it, especially at it’s very budget-friendly price. The mix of action, puzzle, and strategy elements is novel and can be challenging in places. While I wish there were more of the levels where you remotely control your zombies to bring your army towards you I found their inclusion to be a particular stroke of genius and am hoping people are inspired to make more of them. Assuming the community at least modestly supports the game with new levels I think it is a great value and well worth giving a look.
While the themes and subject matter the game is supposed to be trying to tackle are interesting the implementation of the product itself is poor without question. There are absolutely brilliantly-told stories using simple mechanics, a few that I’ve reviewed recently, that prove you can do a lot with a little. Unfortunately North’s ambitions didn’t extend to its execution, leaving instead a forgettable mess trying very hard to make a point.
If you’re a big run-and-gun fan there are very few titles on the platform that I hold in as high regard as Bleed 2. The action is intense, character movement is fluid, and there’s something new thrown at you at every turn. Perhaps more critically with multiple skill levels and a pretty lenient continue system the game is also surprisingly fair, and thus accessible, to gamers of just about any skill level. That isn’t to say beating the game on Easy is a cakewalk, you’ll still need to earn it, but with so many games that default only to brutal it is great to see a game that scales down effectively.
All said I was very pleasantly surprised by World Conqueror X and even impressed. While it isn’t everything this age-old Civilization fan was hoping for I realize that’s an extremely high bar for anyone to even attempt to reach. While its city management and world building are lacking it does a very respectable job of playing as a strategic World War 2 sim and is absolutely the only game in town if that sort of thing appeals to you. Add in the layer with leveling up your base units and managing various generals from throughout history and it is a pretty polished product strategy fans should check out.
While many times I find throwback titles like this to be tedious, failing to inject enough modern touches into classic gameplay styles, once I got rolling I found A Hole New World to be very satisfying. With some creative level layouts, a diverse set of enemies, and some memorable boss fights the developers behind it put very visible effort into giving you an incentive to forge on and get through the tough sections. If you’re itching for a mix of the old, new, and the unexpected A Hole New World is easy to recommend.
Taking it all in Mulaka is an attempt to do something fascinating, to use a video game as a vehicle for helping to preserve cultural history, and then manages to turn it into a compelling gaming experience. Rather than ending up being held back by using this as its base the folks at Lienzo have blended it together in a balanced way to be sure it serves all interests effectively. The result is an exploration of culture through a very competently made game. I look forward to seeing how they proceed from here after this promising start.
In some regards you could believe that any lesser combination of these modes could have been a stand-alone game so kudos to the developer for taking their idea and running with it to the fullest. While the style of play isn’t revolutionary each mode has enough variety that switching between them regularly kept everything feeling pretty fresh and challenging. With its presentation being clean and polished, a well-implemented hook, and a diverse set of challenges spanning a load of puzzles if you’re looking for something to test your mind it’s a solid option.
In order to help keep things a bit more exciting there are a few racing modes to choose from as well...
Having never heard of Little Triangle to this point I was a bit surprised at how challenging and deep it is. With very solid platforming mechanics, some challenging level designs, secrets practically everywhere you look, and some very challenging boss fights it is has a substantial amount of content for its price of admission. If you’re an old-school 2D platforming fan you owe it to yourself to give it a spin.
While there are various layers and trappings that sit on top of it to further complicate matters that’s what sits at the game’s core...
The time I spent working through the story of Subsurface Circular feels well-spent. I’d say it is just about the right length, neither being frustratingly short or passing a point where it felt like a chore to see through to the end. The story, its eventual choices at its conclusion, and the characters you talk to along the way were all well fleshed out and refreshingly different. If you don’t mind doing some reading while you play it is worth checking out.
Overall I had a blast with Bridge Constructor Portal and because of its very effective, and full, use of a terrific license it really goes to the next level for me. Using practically every element possible from those games it successfully manages not to be stale or predictable, instead there’s generally a new surprise around every corner. Married with controls that are spot-on perfect whether in docked or handheld mode, a sense of humor, and an unlimited budget I’m not positive how it could have been much better. Highly recommended!
Thoughtful types who enjoy a good head-scratcher and can take their time to execute will likely find Toki Tori 2+ to be a delight. It’s bright, cheery, colorful, and chock full of its own unique flavor of puzzle platforming that’s not for the faint of heart. People who err on the side of action will more likely want to consider giving it a pass though since you’re more of a facilitator than an action start in this adventure. All that said it’s a unique offering on the Switch and will provide hours of puzzle-solving enjoyment with a formula I haven’t seen before.
Overall Twin Robots: Ultimate Edition is a well-made platformer that could easily serve as an introduction to the genre. Whether playing with a friend or by yourself the relatively gentle slope of challenge does end up hitting its stride, getting a bit harder as you get to the end, but it does take a while if you’re a platforming veteran before pulling out some more challenging scenarios. The result isn’t a thrilling game but that one should work well for the proper audience.
The Final Station was a surprise of a game that absolutely snuck up on me and that’s primarily thanks to the story. The action is engaging and can be a challenge but with every new note you find or comment you hear a survivor make the desire to understand this world, what has happened in the past, and what is happening now grows. With a runtime that is just about in the sweet spot for this experience at a handful of hours (though quite a few more if you play the add-on story) The Final Station is a pretty satisfying bite of indie goodness on Switch.
In the end Nightmare Boy offers up something thoroughly different from a visual standpoint and can be quite challenging, just not always for the right reasons. If you give it some time it does pick up momentum and you can get into a groove but when you hit the spots where you're not sure where you're going, things understandably drag quite a bit. Probably only recommended for the most die-hard Metroidvania fans who have blown through what's already available on the system, show patience with Nightmare Boy and some fun can be had with it.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how engaging Radiation Island is, especially as someone who typically doesn’t find the genre interesting. It seems to have a very accessible and friendly crafting system, isn’t too hard or easy, and allows you to take your own pace whether that’s suicidally aggressive or simply taking your time. If you’re not familiar with the genre or are a fan who is willing to perhaps pull back on your expectations Radiation Island is worth the trip.
Overall, if you’re receptive to what I would consider a very honest and genuine study of someone going through a difficult period in their lives and being faced with challenging decisions I’d say it is a worthwhile experience. It explores relationships both good and bad, the pain and burden of feeling guilty for decisions you make, and the process of personal discovery. Add in that it is done through an ingeniously clever mechanism of someone’s lost phone and it is a narrative treat unlike anything I’ve experienced before.
All said if you’ve been looking for something on the scarier side for your Switch, Layers of Fear: Legacy serves up a grim story with some disturbing images and jump scares along the way. While it gets off to a very slow start once things begin to change and the truth of what has happened begins to reveal itself in general it’s a fun ride from that point on. In general terms the sense of dread and the feeling you get while walking through the house reminded me most of the classic Eternal Darkness, to the point that I was waiting for a bust to turn and watch me as I went by. While it’s certainly lacking in action the quality of the presentation helps to compensate nicely. There’s currently nothing else as chilling on the Switch.