Robots Under Attack! may not be bringing any terribly new ideas to the genre but what it does, it does well. The clean and clear aesthetic along with clever level design accomplishes what it sets out to do: provide a short and thoughtful experience. Whether you’re looking to kill a few minutes on the bus or wanting a brain workout before bedtime, figuring out how to blow up a bunch of robots is a satisfying use of time.
The retro era style of graphics and gameplay that’s best enjoyed in short bursts is a good fit for the mobile platform. It may not be as exciting as a flamethrowing guitarist chasing down folks escaping from a post-apocalyptic dictator, but it's still a refreshing take on a genre looking for a new lease on life.
While the switch version of EQQO is probably not the ideal way to experience this story, it is a cute and small game that is great for someone who is looking to play something in short bursts. Take your time getting adjusted to the controls. If you take on a chapter each night, you will more than get your money out of it. Just don't go in and expect a full top-down Zelda dungeon experience.
If you picked up Alliance Alive the first time around, whatever that experience was for you will likely be repeated on the Switch. To those whose main interest is the battle system, if grinding for moves and abilities is your thing, this remastered is a much prettier and convenient version to play.
The most interesting segments get interrupted with puzzles that mostly feel like a way of extending the play time. I also ran into a few performance issues like puzzles becoming unresponsive which required a reboot and a chapter restart. I think the developer is on the right track but for this particular game some more polish and better or more relevant puzzles would have gone a long way at creating a more entertaining experience.
I don't expect to come back to this title in the future, but if you're in the market for a quick experience where you don't need to think too much and just have some silly fun then Conga Master Party might be right for you.
A number of different modes, including a franchise campaign, challenges, and tournaments, provide a variety of play options, but ultimately the gameplay just isn't all that compelling. As a silly multiplayer game that you're looking to have some dumb fun with a group of friends, Super Blood Hockey succeeds. For a hockey experience worth sinking countless hours into, the wait continues.
I ignored the power ups when I could and I have a store full of unused tickets to purchase clothing. Minigolf when properly designed is exciting enough that the missions and power-ups become a distraction, hopefully as more courses are developed by the community, the focus stays on creativity. Nothing is more satisfying in minigolf than coming up with an insane geometric plan that is pulled off with a mix of both skill and luck.
Not everyone will have the same aversion to the combat style utilized in Mages of Mystralia, but on a personal level I felt that it overshadowed the rest of the experience. To get the most out of the gameplay the focus will need to be on the spell crafting, a unique and clever mechanic the developer deserves praise for. If you have a higher tolerance for cheap deaths than I do, it's possible you could enjoy this action-adventure title much more than I did.
After a few short tries to get a handle on the combat and learning to traverse the dungeon, I began consistently making multi-level runs. The unfortunate part, is that those runs really weren't increasing in enjoyment the further I ventured. With the ever increasing amount of roguelite titles to choose from, I think I would rather just play one with better combat and a better crafted dungeon.
Between the emotional roller coaster of the story and the constant jump scares, my heart had about as much as it could take. For those that do enjoy the genre and won’t be triggered by the subject matter, Yomawari: Lost in the Dark feels like a terrific game to make the hair on your arms stand on end.
Even though many of the design decisions left me scratching my head, ultimately my takeaway is that Made in Abyss: Binary Star Falling Into Darkness is a satisfying experience for fans of survival style video games.
Enjoyment of Fallen Legion largely comes down to whether fighting battle after battle continues to feel fresh and if the prospect of panic inducing boss fights elevates your heart rate in a good way. The story is interesting and learning the fate of both Rowena and Lucien provides a degree of motivation to continue but certainly isn’t enough if combat becomes to feel like a slog.
Locomotion may not be reinventing the wheel, but does serve as a wonderful addition to the current catalogue of puzzle games on the Nintendo Switch. The calm background music adds to the pleasant and serene vibes that radiate from the screen, providing a decent escape if you’ve had a particularly frustrating day.
Without looking through nostalgic-tinted goggles, Jedi Academy seems pretty dated, especially compared to more modern titles such as Jedi Fallen Order or the Force Unleashed. But growing up with the Jedi Knight series has given me an appreciation for the old ways of playing as a Jedi. Just like Shadows of the Empire, the comfort of playing an old classic Star Wars title overcomes the janky controls and dated graphics. These titles may not be canon, but now that Jedi Academy is on the mobile Nintendo Switch, this game will now be with me, always.
Cloudbase Prime may not have a whole lot of substance with its simple graphics and minimalist design, but the final experience is still greater than the sum of its parts. Dialogue is written with some well-received levity that provides light comedic breaks in between catapulting from column to column. Replayability is certainly up for debate since the levels are fairly simple in scale but at least for a period of time the experience of catapulting around a 3D environment in Cloudbase Prime is a decent amount of fun.
Lord of the Rings: The Adventure Card Game is charming, if stunted by some inconsistent voice acting and less polished user interface. While some might have wished for player-versus-player options included, the single-player focus allows the card game to hone-in on its core strength – engaging narrated storytelling tied into a solid card game foundation. If you are a lone ring bearer rather than part of a fellowship, this could be a precious experience to you.
The biggest draw for me was the challenge of figuring out the best strategy for survival. After that first successful journey my interest suffered frostbite until it succumbed to hypothermia only a few hours after that. I'd still recommend playing it but just like trying to play pond hockey on a negative forty day, it probably can only last a few hours.
Apart from the dated combat, Shining Resonance seemed to have the right elements to be a success but just missed a certain chemistry to really hook me in. Fans of previous titles in the series and seasoned RPG players may find the enjoyment that alluded me. I wouldn't tell you to avoid this game, but there's a whole lot I would recommend before it.
iTunes: The Thirsty Mage