Between it's poor writing, sloppy controls, and lackluster exploration, Bookbound Brigade has a lot of missed potential. With how long and difficult a linear corridor in the game can be and exploration overall taking a backseat, it doesn't succeed very often as a Metroidvania. Meanwhile the bad characterization and juvenile writing kneecaps a framing device that could've been interesting enough to make up for the bland gameplay. I can't see myself ever returning to the game, and I don't have much reason to say anyone else should bother with it either.
As it is now, this game just isn't dumb enough or openly degenerate enough to have any real appeal. It's a dumb story that takes itself too seriously to laugh at but not seriously enough to be engaged in, and the gameplay is too boring to keep from getting old after just a handful of chapters. I cannot imagine who Panty Party's audience is because it seems to be trying to coast entirely on curiosity born from its bizarre high concept.
Comparing Tokyo 2020 to Mario & Sonic is not only unavoidable, it's also just weird. Mario & Sonic released in November 2019, and while Tokyo 2020 was always going to release a little later it was delayed a full year due to the real life Olympics being postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. With more than a year and half gap between the two video games, it's bizarre that the one that had so much longer to be worked on ends up feeling more rushed and lacking in comparison to its counterpart. Tokyo 2020 would be tough to recommend on its own merits, but placed next to Mario & Sonic there really doesn't seem to be any reason to choose the "Official" Olympic Games.
Farming Simulator 20 is a bit of a disappointment. As a newcomer to the series, I couldn't manage to find a hook to keep me playing before I was overwhelmed by the poorly explained gameplay loop, and with the draw distance as bad as it is, I can't imagine long-time fans of the series having a good time on Switch either. Agriculture is the backbone of society, but Farming Simulator 20 will not be the backbone of the Switch's library any time soon.
Even that weird cursed chair was pretty funny to see explained after the fact; I just wish it wasn't so intrinsically linked to some really frustrating and boring puzzles. If Pantsu Hunter had fully committed to being a visual novel like its final chapter instead, I'd probably like it a lot more. Unfortunately as it is, it relies too much on extending its runtime through cheap instant death puzzles without clear solutions to make me feel like I could appreciate the few things it does right.
There's so little depth to the puzzle solving that even now I struggle to really say anything about it that I haven't already said. The best solution is too often to just brute force your way through the puzzles with little finesse or cleverness. Perhaps there's an intentional meta-joke at play commenting on automation being able to push its way into jobs that humans could handle with more artistry, but all it leads to is a game that's as rote and monotonous as the average job that could be done by a robot.
Exploring the stages is fun, but all that fun starts to melt away when you realize just how little freedom you have to experiment with different character builds. The level up system is simply is not balanced enough to match the rest of the game's mechanics. It's just too frustrating to play Xenon Valkyrie. While you can probably figure out the exact way to optimize characters in order to beat bosses with ease, I can't really see a reason you'd want to.
undefined.Sadly I am much less conflicted on the quality of the Switch port in particular. While none of the problems are significant enough to truly prevent someone from enjoying this game, the fact that such fundamental problems from a previous version have not been addressed makes it difficult to justify this version over any others. I think it's worth seeking out and trying Danganronpa for yourself, but I can't recommend doing so by playing a port of the mobile version running poorly on Switch.
As a smaller budget game, the rhythm mechanics are decent enough, and once you unlock Full Action Mode the problems with freestyle mayhem completely disappear. Unfortunately, more freestyle mayhem means more performance drops, which means more missed button presses. Hextech Mayhem is a fine little game, but the fact that the best way to play just doesn't work sometimes and is only available after finishing the game, I'm not sure I can really recommend it to anyone that isn't a League of Legends fan that's really itching to see more of Ziggs in action.
At its best it feels just like the Wii game, and at its worst it's an obvious step down. There is some minor added content like cosmetics that are unlocked through new collectibles, but they simply can't outweigh all the problems introduced in this version. The original version of this game is a personal favorite to this day, but Sonic Colors Ultimate on Switch is just a disgrace that only succeeds at worsening Sonic's already poor reputation.
The rest of the game is merely competent at best. If the humor had been a bit more solid, or the story had a more distinct identity, it might be worth putting up with the rough edges. Sadly, Saints Row IV: Re-Elected would probably be better off getting primaried.
Crash Drive 2 is a decent game that doesn't exceed at anything in particular. The fundamentals are all there, like good controls and a lot of goals to work towards, but the gameplay loop is just too simple to be worth more than a few minutes of play at a time. If you just want something to play while you're waiting for the bus then you could do worse, but it's worth noting that the mobile version of the game is free on both iOS and Android. The game fits into the short-bursts niche that mobile gaming has carved out for itself, so perhaps it's best to pass on the Switch version; after all, you can't beat free.
Aside from the clunky controls and tedious animations, nothing about the game is really offensive, but there's just no hook that managed to keep me invested up to the end. The aesthetic is overall eye-catching, but it can't hide the fact that Incredible Mandy is simply not that incredible. There's nothing wrong with a simple game, but simplicity only works if there's a high level of polish to back it up.
But the bad puzzles are so incredibly frustrating and feel so much more difficult than anything that came before them that they overshadow the entire game. It never feels good to solve a puzzle through sheer trial and error, and while every puzzle game has one or two duds there are just too many in Kine to allow for the good puzzles to feel worth it. It's a shame that such a beautiful aesthetic was wasted on this, because the game is not nearly as exciting as the jazz riffs that accompanies it.
The aesthetic is incredible, and the map design of Cvstodia is solid and engaging. Unfortunately the game is too bogged down with a high difficulty level that is more tedious than challenging, dragging the entire experience down into something I can hardly bring myself to play. Blasphemous is a beautiful game that I wish I could enjoy more, but the extremely high difficulty of combat and platforming simply does not mesh well with the amount of exploration and backtracking needed from a world as expansive as this one.
There isn’t anything really bad about Sniper Elite V2 Remastered, but there also isn’t anything that’s particularly good either.
If you want a game to really push you to the absolute limits of memorizing a whole area to identify every hidden clue, then Viviette may be the game for you. Otherwise, it’s best to look elsewhere, since you’ll probably spend more time looking up solutions online than actually figuring them out yourself.
When everything is put together, Rise and Shine is incohesive, and no aspect of it is compelling enough in its own right to make the game more than the sum of its parts. It probably isn't a waste of an afternoon to play Rise and Shine, but it's probably better to do anything else instead.
It's a huge shame that The Swindle misses the mark so hard on its execution. The tools, upgrades, and challenges are all really fun to experiment with. There's a great game somewhere within the mess, but you'll probably stop having fun way before you manage to pull off the heist of a lifetime.
I give Ubisoft Montpellier a lot of credit for taking a level-headed look at a period of history that usually gets overshadowed, but the gameplay didn't get nearly as much attention as the aesthetics. If the puzzles had been more unique or interesting they could've propped up the story instead of dragging it down to mediocrity. Instead Valiant Heart turns one of the greatest conflicts in human history into a dull, repetitive chore.