Justin Nation Avatar Image

Justin Nation

Windsor, PA
The Nindersect
Nindersect

Favorite Games:
  • Rocket League
  • Neon Abyss
  • Wreckfest

4488 games reviewed
70.8 average score
71 median score
43.6% 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!
6.2 / 10.0 - Flat Kingdom
Apr 1, 2022

It's always cool to see new ideas emerge in the indie space, and Flat Kingdom delivers that both visually and in general terms of gameplay with its papercraft looks and shape-shifting main character...

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9 / 10.0 - DYSMANTLE
Mar 31, 2022

While I’ve been able to be objective about survival games in order to attempt to give them an appropriately fair shake reviewing them I’ll freely admit that in general I’m typically not a fan of them...

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7.8 / 10.0 - Princess Farmer
Mar 31, 2022

When you try to tackle coming up with a new and exciting take on the action puzzler space it's a bit of a tough deal given the already well-established big players in the space...

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Mar 31, 2022

As a huge fan of titles like Wing Commander and some others back in the day I developed a love for dogfighting games quite some time ago (obviously)...

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Mar 31, 2022

While I'm always down to check out games that venture out on their own towards a new type of experience there's no denying that it's a risky proposition...

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6.2 / 10.0 - Broken Pipe
Mar 31, 2022

When you take a classic and well-known game and make some changes to it the biggest risk you take is that you lose something in translation...

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6.1 / 10.0 - Floogen
Mar 31, 2022

Quite some time, back in the SNES era, there were some games that featured claymation as their animation style and, at least briefly, it was a thing...

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8.5 / 10.0 - Agent Intercept
Mar 30, 2022

Looking back at my days in the arcade games there were a few titles that were legendary in their coolness and reputation, but honestly never quite felt fully realized either...

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Mar 30, 2022

As a lover of games that take their own path that leads in the direction of Weirdville the name of this title alone had my attention...

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Mar 30, 2022

The NeoGeo Pocket conversions coming to Switch are always a bit fascinating and tend to be a surprise in some way, with a few of them having been stand-outs as not just great representatives from that surprisingly-powerful system but just as solid games in general...

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8.6 / 10.0 - WRC 10
Mar 29, 2022

Having always been more of an arcade and combat racing kind of gamer, titles that are more simmy have always been a challenge...

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5.9 / 10.0 - Ikai
Mar 29, 2022

Joining a number of other titles that have put themselves into the psychological horror category on Switch, Ikai is at least consistent with many of them in terms of overall quality...

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8.3 / 10.0 - Kao the Kangaroo
Mar 27, 2022

While there's no question that the traditional mascot platformers for the most part went the way of the dinosaur quite some time ago, I'll gladly admit that every once in a while it's great to take one for a spin when well-executed...

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7.5 / 10.0 - Ultreia
Mar 25, 2022

Pairing a grieving robot who starts out in search of revenge for the loss of his father but may instead find enlightenment with a pretty traditional point-and-click adventure makes for a bit of an odd mix but that’s what you get in Ultreia...

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7 / 10.0 - Taqoban
Mar 25, 2022

Ah, the classic box pushing puzzler, a flavor I've become quite familiar with over the years but, and not always for good reasons...

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Mar 25, 2022

With a preponderance of puzzlers populating the eShop, people who are passionate about their pastime may be perplexed when perusing the pile of potential titles to pick up...

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6.7 / 10.0 - Devastator
Mar 25, 2022

This is a tough one for me, as I don't like to review games for what they aren't, but while there's so much on Devastator's side when it comes to the look and general feel of its twin-stick shooting somehow it doesn't quite seem to live up to its potential...

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8 / 10.0 - A Memoir Blue
Mar 24, 2022

I’ve been impressed so far this year that story-driven games on the Switch have continued to show up in force, but most of all that we’ve had a few that have been so touching without the need for any dialogue at all...

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7.1 / 10.0 - Imp Of The Sun
Mar 24, 2022

If you're a fan of platformers, whether more casual, challenging, or somewhere up the middle the Switch has you covered...

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When you’re dealing with budget games it can be difficult to set a fair bar for what to expect when you put them up against more polished, but also more expensive, fare...

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