The unique action and dark story of Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory never quite come together in a way that justifies the game's $40.00 asking price. You can overcome the initial frustration with the inadequately explained combat controls, but getting past the game's repetitive nature will be a much tougher task.
Jotun: Valhalla Edition is a game of moments. It's like an album with a handful of brilliant songs surrounded by filler material you'd rather just skip. That's not to say it's not worth playing, especially at the attractive price of $14.99. The great moments make it worth it, but the gameplay between those moments can try your patience. As such, it'll just take some serious dedication to play it all the way through.
It's easy to overlook Max: The Curse of Brotherhood when searching for a good platformer, but don't. Some frustrating moments aside, it's a well-designed twist on the genre that's quite at home on the Nintendo Switch in terms of visuals and controls. Those who didn't complete it on other platforms will find the Switch's touchscreen eases much of the difficulty, and the $15 price tag ($30 for the physical copy) makes it a game that's easy to pick up between bigger releases. And if there's a lesson to be learned here, it's that you really shouldn't mess around with spells you find online. You never know which ones will actually work…even if they don't begin with “I wish…”
You're never going to rush home to play 12 Orbits, but at only $1.99 it's a fantastic game to keep on your Switch for the next time you've got friends over for a party. Playing with 12 people may not be optimal in portable mode with everyone crowded around the Switch (where the frenetic action is hard to follow in some game variations anyway), and it's a shame there's no online play available. Assign your Joy-Cons to a few pairs of players and let them gather around the TV, however, and the dip will likely get cold well before the fun runs out.
No matter how you play it, Layers of Fear: Legacy provides an astounding psychological horror experience right up to the point when you click on your painting that one final time. The relatively low $20 asking price more than makes up for my issues with the conclusion, especially since it includes the better ending of the Inheritance DLC. The jump scares were effective even on my second playthrough two years later, and I had fun playing it with my daughter. Her warnings of, “No. Just…no,” may have been valid as we stood looking down the stairwell into the darkened cellar, but as we, the developers at Bloober Team, and our troubled painter know, making the right decision doesn't make for good horror.
There's a lot more going on in this “walking sim” than is apparent at the start, both naturally and supernaturally. This contradicts the fact that, aside from the animals and the ghosts of the past, you are alone. Kona works hard to create a sense of isolation, making the experience much more effective if you're not surrounded by people helping you solve the puzzles or arguing against using a crowbar to fend off wolves when you have a gun in your possession (although that it is very sound advice).
I can therefore recommend Castle of Heart only to those who are up for an extreme challenge or who have something to prove to their punk children (or punk parents). It's a beautiful game and the development is almost flawless, but the rewards don't come often enough to help you past the game's brutal difficulty.
The fact that each level can be overcome in about 15 minutes or less makes Bridge Constructor Portal great for portable gaming on your Nintendo Switch. On the go, the convenient touch controls carry over from the mobile version (tap and drag to place your struts, zoom in for precise placement, etc.). Docked mode, however, is a bit more cumbersome.