Jeremy Rice's Reviews
Good, bad, or aggressively mediocre? Anything is possible when you pick up a KEMCO RPG. Let’s dive into Infinite Links and see where it falls!
Team Asano brings its latest HD-2D title to the Switch, in a tactical RPG inspired by Tactics Ogre and FFT. Can it possibly live up to its forebears?
Golf and RPG mechanics go together like a putter and the green. But is RPGolf Legends a hole-in-one?
Despite the developer’s efforts to modernize this nearly 10-year-old title, Liege Dragon fails to deliver an RPG that is anything but by-the-numbers.
Mittelborg, City of Mages offers a board-game inspired, roguelike-infused gameplay design, which completely falls flat in execution.
Come for the magical brick wall waifu, stay for the excellent combat, unique character progression, strong story, and bonus features galore.
We revisit one of the eShop’s earliest gems, a classic action-platformer and proto-metroidvania lovingly remade for the modern era.
What horror game lets you take control of the eldritch abomination sent to decimate an ungrateful population?
In Cat Quest II, return to Felingard for a new adventure. But things are pawfully different this time around, as a new doggy companion joins the fray. Fur real!
In Archlion Saga, KEMCO and Hit Point Co set out to create a self-aware budget RPG that strips away the fluff, getting to the core of the RPG experience.
Citizens of Space wraps many innovative features together into a mechanically engaging and entertaining RPG, that falls short in creating dramatic tension.
If you are a fan of the genre, it may be worth picking up on the cheap, but overall it never rises to the same heights as other 2D adventures available on the Switch.
Cat Quest is, without a doubt, one of the most charming and adorable games in the eShop library. And while its combat system and core gameplay can become a bit repetitive at times, its storytelling and brevity still allow it to be an enjoyable experience from start to finish.
Between the myriad of built-in options – the single player campaign, arcade, and puzzle modes – and the user-generated content that will assuredly continue to stream into the game's library, fans will likely find themselves coming back to Wargroove repeatably to see what new adventures may be in store.
Tangledeep is a game that drips not only with 16-bit nostalgia, but also a myriad of complex and interwoven game elements that offer hours and hours of replayability. All that would be moot, of course, if the core combat and exploration mechanics weren't so enjoyable. Thankfully, Impact Gameworks has created just the right balance of story, difficulty, strategy, consequence, and progression to keep players coming back, even after sinking multiple hours into each character. Tangledeep is without a doubt one of, if not THE best roguelikes to currently grace the Nintendo Switch.
Overall, how much you love BQM will depend largely on how much you like this particular type of game. Super Mario Maker, despite fulfilling the dreams of many, was not beloved by all. User-generated content comes with a mixed bag of benefits and pitfalls, masterpieces and cow dung. That being said, BQM provides a robust game-making system, with untapped storytelling potential and an ever-expanding library of clever dungeon designs and fresh ideas. While it certainly has a few hiccups, including some unintuitive tools and the occasional glitch or freeze, BQM's strengths far outweigh its weaknesses.
While Double Cross doesn't break any new ground in game development, it regardless offers an honest and engaging adventure from start to finish. What this game does, it does well, providing excellent art direction, satisfying platforming, a sometimes humorous, sometimes heartbreaking story, and just enough exploration and customization to encourage repeated playthroughs. This action platformer – infused with a measured dose of RPG elements – delivers on exactly what it promises: a fun adventure for $20 or less.
In all, Into the Breach is an impressively well thought-out package. Fans of tactical RPGs and roguelikes will find much to love – from the masterful gameplay/story integration, variety of combat options, or the myriad of achievements and unlockables. Having already put 30+ hours into this $15 title (while barely scratching the harder difficulty settings), I can confidently say I could easily put in dozens more without the experience growing stale. Into the Breach is without a doubt one of the finest indie games currently gracing the eShop.
Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom fully succeeds in its mission to capture the spirit of Wonder Boy 3 and successfully carry the franchise into the modern era. Every strength the original games had, the developers of Monster Boy went out of their way to expand upon or enhance. They have crafted a game world that is vibrant, lively, and full of riches to be discovered.
This roguelike stands as one of the best available among a myriad of challengers, and a must-buy for anyone who enjoys action RPGs or waxes nostalgic for the original Legend of Zelda. The progressive challenge of the dungeons and their floors never felt unbalanced or unfair, and the game's economy moves along at a satisfying pace, avoiding the feeling of grindiness or redundancy. The balance found in Moonlighter between dungeon diving and shop keeping creates an addictive gameplay loop that will keep you saying, "One more run. One more run."