Overall, Battle Chasers: Nightwar is a solid port on the Switch with a great presentation and familiar gameplay mechanics.
It's easy to recommend Death Road to Canada to anyone who's into either zombies, roguelikes or both, as it comes with its pros and cons. If you hate roguelikes, you probably won't enjoy this one, but if you're on the fence, be assured that this is one of the best executions in recent times, even if just for the absurd story and setup.
South Park: The Fractured But Whole on the Switch is a flawed game with bugs, small performance issues, and long loading times. While the game is a fun but weaker successor to The Stick of Truth, it doesn't look great in its current state. Even with its flaws, it's still an enjoyable journey, but it's not worth the high price tag until most of the performance issues are addressed in an upcoming patch.
All in all, Brakes Are For Losers is a fun retro-inspired arcade racer. It doesn't excel anywhere, but it doesn't have to. It's a decent enough experience at a very low price point in case you're craving an isometric racing frenzy.
Overall, Typoman had an intriguing premise and managed to tell a decent story with great atmosphere, good visual design, and interesting puzzle mechanics. In the end, however, the title doesn't on many of the gameplay mechanics, with good but inconsistent puzzles and often awkward and awful platforming. Coupled with its short runtime, Typoman isn't bad, but it's certainly a long way from being as good as the idea and visuals behind it.
In summary, Bombslinger feels like a mix of several familiar concepts but manages to be greater than the sum of its parts. It's not perfect, with a steep difficulty setting and unfriendly amounts of grinding. The visuals are great, and the overall experience is fun, so you should pick up Bombslinger on the eShop for $12 — unless you hate roguelites.
Taken at face value, Toki Tori 2+ is an incredibly well-designed platformer with a distinct Metroidvania vibe. However, it is let down by its visuals and sometimes frustratingly slow progression and backtracking due to certain puzzle sections.
Gorgeous visuals, strong characters, and good writing make this a very engaging story for fans and newcomers alike.
Embers of Mirrim is a solid puzzle-platformer with atmospheric visuals and storytelling woven into interesting puzzle segments. It's rather short and can sometimes be frustrating due to a few shortcomings, but the overall package is quite fun and engaging to play through once.
Cat Quest offers cute visuals, solid RPG action, and an overall charming feline adventure, and it's best enjoyed in bursts to avoid the otherwise repetitive quest structure.
The Sexy Brutale is an intriguing game with good ideas and an incredible atmosphere. It is well worth your time, as long as you don't play it on the Nintendo Switch. Without the technical issues, the game would've garnered a much higher score, but this port struggles at every turn and is best left alone.
Fe is a short but enjoyable experience, but it never reaches the heights of other games that tackle similar interpretative game concepts. The platforming is hit-and-miss, the story is all right but not always emotionally engaging, and it's plagued with some frame rate stutters on the Switch. It's a treat for your eyes and ears throughout the five-hour story, and it features collectibles if you want to spend a few extra hours with Fe after the credits have rolled.
All in all, Mulaka takes a risk that doesn't pay off. The story and goal of the game are intriguing, but the gameplay and visuals just aren't there. It certainly does things right and will appeal to a few people, but the overall rough approach is noticeable in every aspect and holds it back.
If you can look past the steep entry fee and have no other platform to play it on, this will probably do. Otherwise, you're better off picking up one of the other versions, since offline play and portability are not much of a benefit for Payday 2 on the Switch.
In the end, Shu is a well-made platformer that is short but does many things right. It may not be the best, flawless or the most original game out there, but it's a fun and varied journey that's worth taking if you're fond of the genre.
The Escapists 2 is a well-made sandbox game and a fun continuation of the series. While the title gives you a good amount of freedom and tools to spend your time in fun ways, it can also get rather repetitive and overwhelming. The Nintendo Switch version mostly runs well, although the two-player limitation on local play is disappointing.
Aegis Defenders is a beautiful game with an intriguing concept and fun gameplay, but it can be rough around the edges, the platforming isn't necessarily something to write home about. Playing alone can feel quite stressful and unfair. Aegis Defenders is best when it pins you in an arena with a buddy at your side and waves of enemies to tackle. In those instances, it provides more than enough gameplay and fun to justify its $20 price tag.
Overall, Lost Sphear is a solid JRPG title. It incrementally improves upon I Am Setsuna, but players who didn't like that game likely won't like this offering, either. There's an imbalance that feels like it's punishing us for being good by making the game a tad easy on occasions. It feels like an indie game in length and ambition, since it tries out new things, but it falls short. The $50 price tag doesn't align with what Lost Sphear achieves, so this game is best for fans and nostalgia seekers.
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood is a solid puzzle game with some platforming elements, even if it isn't a particularly great platformer on its own. If you can look past the occasionally clunky controls and its inherent frustrations, you're in for a treat with the great level design.
The Pillars of the Earth: Book Two – Sowing the Wind has exciting twists and turns, and it showcases great character development for some protagonists. However, it stumbles when it comes to pacing and the overall gameplay concept. This episode's engaging and interactive story has us hoping that everything is leading up to a promising finale.