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!
The moment you start it up there's not a single doubt that the people behind Kontrakt are fans of the highly-regarded and funky shooter Hotline Miami, but unfortunately that high bar also makes for a very tough act to follow...
Read full review
Hoo boy, where to begin with this bit of anime gal cheesecake mixed with what's ultimately highly generic play...
Read full review
With an unusual art style and even more unusual characters you’ll encounter on a remote island Mutazione just feels different than most any game I’ve played...
Read full review
Creating a great game is, no doubt, a serious challenge since conceptually there are so many areas they can go wrong in...
Read full review
Whenever you embark on a journey while raising your Jolly Roger on the high seas, pretty well everyone out there is going to evaluate the experience against the genre-defining Sid Meier’s Pirates...
Read full review
Blending together time management sims, an injection of Crazy Taxi road silliness, and (ideally) multiplayer madness, Very Very Valet is a unique title on Switch that can offer quite a bit of silly fun unlike pretty much anything on the system...
Read full review
If you’ve ever watched movies like the classic Jaws and found yourself vocally rooting for the shark, Maneater will likely be squarely in your wheelhouse...
Read full review
While traditionally people think of games as an active means of engagement and entertainment, over the years it has also emerged as a means of sharing narratives as well...
Read full review
“Walking simulators” that play out as horror titles on the Switch, more often than not, have tended to be a bit of a bust for me...
Read full review
The Switch has thankfully been blessed by a number of notable puzzle action titles, and more often than not each has chosen its own distinct path vin terms of style...
Read full review
In the past few years it has been a surprise to see the roguelike deckbuilder style of game go from the fringe to the mainstream...
Read full review
A little casual strategy action isn't always a bad thing, and if you like to peck out some commands to your workers to collect resources, build structures, and generally keep everyone happy Fate of the Pharaoh may be your jam...
Read full review
Whether you call them weirdo physics games, chaos sandboxes, or just a crazy time, games in the vein of the somewhat infamous Goat Simulator and its ilk are kind of hard to put a finger on...
Read full review
This is one of those titles where I'm a bit torn in terms of how I feel about it...
Read full review
There's nothing wrong with a decent budget puzzle platformer, in fact there are plenty of them out there in the eShop...
Read full review
Having endured a previous Outbreak title in the form of Epidemic, I'll say my enthusiasm for checking out Endless Nightmares was limited...
Read full review
As an old-school arcade fan I'll admit I've been a big fan of indie titles that have come to the Switch putting a twist on classic gameplay...
Read full review
Leisure Suit Larry is a franchise I’ve been with since the very earliest days pretty much...
Read full review
Realistic all-terrain driving games are an odd breed that has emerged in popularity in more recent years, and to date hasn’t been represented too well on the Switch...
Read full review