The monolith puzzles are enjoyable, but the narrative surrounding them doesn't serve as a worthwhile reward for their completion. If you're looking for a light puzzle-platformer with mostly attractive pixel art, Evan's Remains might be worth considering. If you want a more thrilling or satisfying narrative experience, keep searching.
Unfortunately, the design of the stages does no favors for the game's controls either, and so you're likely to spend a fair amount of time waiting to respawn or waiting for your teammates to slowly wind their way around obstacles. Cannibal Cuisine is worth a pick up if you're looking for more Overcooked but with a twist. Just be prepared to pick a few human hairs out of this soup.
The final boss is a bit of a letdown, but the leaderboards and unlockable ships add decent replay value. The accessibility options are robust, too, as we've come to expect from these classic SEGA re-releases. Although Thunder Force IV, which released as Lightening Force: Quest for the Darkstar is the better game, its predecessor still manages to bring a healthy dose of shoot-'em-up goodness.
Resolutiion ultimately provides more frustration than fun, and its efforts to stand out make it hard to decipher and at times too much of a chore to play.
The best way to describe Arrest of a stone Buddha is to think of it as a dream in video game form, and I mean the kind you wake up from and wonder: “What the hell was that?” The lack of control, direction, and agency that one experiences while dreaming are the closest approximation I can come up with. However, there is some wisdom to be gleaned from the hundreds of bodies this professional killer leaves lying in his wake.
Imagine playing a Zelda game where Link can only swing his sword once every two seconds! There are dozens of cards to unlock that can let you customize the characters, environments, and even music of a given Mash, but these are mostly single use and still don't make for a very fun time. There may very well be countless Mashes you can produce with the tools on offer, but they aren't different enough from one another. If you're curious and don't mind a variety of fairly shallow experiences, you might consider SuperMash-ing the eShop purchase button. Otherwise, maybe stick to the Monster Mash.
Enjoyable from start to finish and very hard to put down.
Ultimately, the dialogue and points system just wasn't engaging enough to keep me fully invested in the narrative, and its comedy leanings prevented the romance elements from feeling genuine. It doesn't help that the writing is littered with far too many pop culture and gaming references. Those who devour visual novels like Gauntlet would devour quarters might find Arcade Spirits worth playing through, but everyone else should probably cash in their prize tickets for something else.
If anything, the floppiness and bounciness of the characters make them more funny and charming. In addition, the colorful and light-hearted art style pairs well with the simple gameplay. The single-player experience probably isn't enough to justify a purchase, but if you can get multiple people together, Moving Out is another excellent local co-op title that you'll want to bring out again and again.
I found the quick and eye-catching combat to be both satisfying and exciting; you can even earn bonuses depending on how fast you defeat enemies and whether or not you take damage in the process. The character endings I saw felt a little lackluster, but I'm compelled enough by the presentation and the simplicity of the gameplay to run through the adventure again. It might not be the drastic departure that some remakes are, but the Trials of Mana remake is a wonderful RPG palette cleanser for Mana newcomers and veterans alike.
Seeing their health meters drop both galvanizes your resolve and heightens your dread; yes, you're edging closer to victory, but your opponent is about to ramp their attack up to 11. The 18 total bosses each present a unique and satisfying challenge, and if you find any of them too daunting, you can increase your damage by 2x or even turn on invulnerability. Fans of tough, bullet-hell style action sequences will be able to slake their thirst here, but don't go into it expecting much more than a solid boss rush.
This isn’t the next great shoot-’em-up, but it’s competent and playable and accessible. Galaxy Warfighter would be a great game to introduce a new player to the genre, but it’s just as good at being a background activity. Even though seasoned pilots should probably steer clear, there’s room in the galaxy for new or laid back cadets to take this one for a spin.
Its 10-12 hour runtime can provide some tense moments against challenging bosses, and four difficulty modes allow you to customize the experience to your liking. If you're looking for the next gripping narrative or memorable character moments, this is where Ara Fell trips up. If you just want a simple and recognizable JRPG experience to add to your Switch library, you could certainly do worse.
Every floor of the office tower feels fresh, and reaching the end of the game brought both great satisfaction and also that bittersweet realization that I was finished with another wonderful gaming experience. Minor issues such as not being able to control the camera and occasionally finicky controls fail to hamper a thoroughly enjoyable puzzle game. If you are looking for a charming, funny, and innovative new game to play while cooped up inside, Good Job! represents one of the best candidates for the position.
One Step From Eden is a good game, but it's sorely lacking in accessibility options. If you haven't measured your reaction time lately, you may want to do so before embarking on the perilous journey that is One Step From Eden.
While the music and sound effects are unremarkable, almost every stage presents a new and interesting challenge that would generally take a minute or three to solve. Those looking for a lighter, low-stress puzzle experience would do well to show Mekorama some love. I'll give it a B for effort.
The variety present here is great, but I can't help but feel like this main course is leaving me a little hungry. If you don't mind running through stages multiple times to achieve all of the objectives, or you're looking for a fresh and compact co-op game, Sky Racket is certainly worth a look. The amount of content and the controls do leave something to be desired, though.
Fortunately, many enemies respawn and save points refill your health and ammo, in addition to functioning as waypoints. Fanservice images pop up from time to time, but they aren't overly egregious and shouldn't dissuade you from a purchase. If you can look past its numerous imperfections, Dead or School is a satisfying and compelling albeit janky action-platformer that may be worth getting a hall pass for.
The gameplay is a little lacking in variety, but the characters and their world are vibrant and full of life. As you follow their ups and downs across these 12 vignettes, it's impossible not to root for each character to succeed in their quest for love. The in-game achievements give an incentive to explore more thoroughly, and the accessible nature of the game means anyone can enjoy it. If you're looking for the adventure game equivalent of meet-cute, schedule a date with Half Past Fate.
Underhero creatively weaves platforming, turn and timing-based combat, and adventure elements into a gorgeous and inspired experience. Even though it relies a little too much on circuitous paths and the slingshot weapon is frustrating to aim, it's hard not to smile the entire time you're playing Underhero. It's another in the long list of amazing, must-play indie titles that every Switch owner needs to take a long look at. If nothing else, who hasn't wanted to peak behind the curtain at the everyday machinations of an evil overlord and his scores of minions?.