Featuring Cary Elwes of The Prince Bride fame, and following a script that truly puts the snark in Resnarkled, The Bard's Tale could talk its way out of any confrontation. Sadly, sub-par, boring combat, and a restrictive summoning system mean you'll be rolling ability checks with a negative modifier. If only The Bard's Tale was more proficient—should've chosen a wizard or a rogue.
Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town takes one of the better-remembered entries in this storied franchise and gives it a fresh coat of adorable paint. While feeling more casual, and a bit held back by its roots, this is the perfect return for anyone fond of the original release.
Mystery Dungeon titles are popular, but this one sadly offers a weak example of mechanics in comparison to the broader genre. From there, being able to go full Tamagotchi with a girl in a glass bottle was intriguing and kept pushing me through the tedious and difficult dungeon crawling. A powerful story, moody soundtrack, and amazing aesthetic round out an experience that has a solid support structure, but less than awesome baseline gameplay premise.
Radical Rabbit Stew is a thoroughly enjoyable experience from top to bottom. From the arcade, slapstick action of punting rabbits into bowls of soup, to the thought-provoking map puzzles, this action-puzzler offers a unique and interesting take on the genre, even with the sometimes repetitive nature, and boss fights that utilize overly similar ideas from world to world.
Offering some exciting couch co-op action, this one will definitely produce some laughs and good times, but the lack of variety in the controls limit the differences in the game modes, which is only accentuated by the bare-bones single-player offerings.
Neversong is a delightful experience from top to bottom, but it just gets in its own way too many times. From frustrating level design to some hit detection issues in combat, there's just enough of a lack of polish to be noticeable, but the incredible aesthetic, thought-provoking story and top-notch blend of puzzles and platforming create an experience I would definitely recommend for fans of the genre. It just isn't necessarily one you need to jump off the couch to pick up.
Crysis Remastered is an impressive showcase for the Nintendo Switch's true capabilities when ports are given the love and attention they deserve. Graphical downgrade aside, this title plays, looks, and feels great. Besides some aging mechanics and a so-so story, the gameplay loop of fighting through strategic engagement to engagement is addictive and invigorating, even if that means you'll have a better time ignoring the objectives to get to the next fight quicker.
Metamorphosis is a love letter to Franz Kafka, that, unfortunately, is in pretty rough shape on the Nintendo Switch. The stuttering, texture pop-in, and hard crashes overshadow an experience that could otherwise be described as generally enjoyable. Witty dialogue, challenging platforming, and the incredible sights to see from this pint-sized perspective would make it worth the issues in performance if it weren't also for the bland adventuring and jittery controls.
Best Friend Forever offers a fairly generic visual novel, with the only hook being one that fails to do anything truly interesting. The management mechanics are the lightest, most fleeting portions of the game, where you're bogged down with a rough control scheme that is quite frustrating. Even with the positives in inclusivity, too many shortcomings make this feel like it was built to be vanilla and given the toppings way later on.
An interesting title to spend some time in for the right price, Nexomon: Extinction will be something the Pokémon hardcore will want to check out, while everyone else might just want to find a Game Boy and their copy of Blue version.
ScourgeBringer offers everything you'd want from a roguelite experience. Fast-paced gameplay, amazing visuals and soundtrack, and understandable systems round out a truly enjoyable experience. Some button-heavy combat and hardcore difficulty aren't enough to damper the fun to be had in this top-notch action-platformer.
Descenders joins the reawakening of the skateboarding and cycling genres by offering a unique take on a specific form of cycling we haven't seen in a long time. While the gameplay is thrilling and does its best to stay interesting, mechanics that are at odds with each other mean you will be forced to choose between having that exciting arcade experience or maintaining the roguelite run through the sometimes intense difficulty. Whether taken seriously or just for fun, Descenders isn't consistent, and considering this specific port has some rough edges graphically, you may just want to focus on using it for its multiplayer.
Sniper Elite 4 takes its perch as the marquee, non-arcade sniping title on the market. Through its strategic gameplay, disgustingly explosive kill cutscenes, and jam-packed sandboxes, Sniper Elite 4 satiates the need for a World War II shooter, while not getting dragged down by the norms of the genre. Even with some technical hiccups and a less-than-likable protagonist, Sniper Elite 4 achieves, takes aim, hits its mark, and then some.
PHOGS! is as delightful as it is unique and entrancing. While the controls are a little tough to get the feel of for solo-players, teaming "pup" with a friend allows for an experience that, though mostly on the easy side, guarantees the player a thoroughly good time-especially in the boss stages.
Boot Hill Heroes, though an honorable attempt to make a retro RPG in the rarely-used Wild West setting, fails to hold up to modern standards. It also isn't a close enough homage to let those misgivings slide. A fine combat system and an on-point soundtrack aren't enough to get past the bland gameplay, trope-filled story, and old-school jank.
Tohu is a beautiful and fresh iteration on one of gaming's old school genres. Cursor-based movement in docked mode, a short playtime, and shallow story aren't enough to hold back the top-notch art and animations, intelligent puzzles, and incredible soundtrack from creating a memorable experience from beginning to end. For those fans of LucasArts and Double Fine, Tohu is worthy of your time, while probably not changing the minds of those who haven't discovered the secret of Monkey Island or defeated those dreaded tentacles.
Little Nightmares II successfully creates a series of titles that pair up splendidly. Through masterful environmental storytelling and world-building, Tarsier Studios steps up to the likes of Limbo and Inside to invoke a creepy, horror experience that will force its way into your memories. Even with some frustrating sequences and some perspective clunkiness, Little Nightmares II gets a helping hand with all the other ways it exemplifies the genre.
Cyanide & Happiness - Freakpocalypse is a perfectly serviceable point-and-click adventure that offers a lot of opportunities for laughter. However, unless you're a longtime fan of their comics, the jokes can regularly fall flat as they're pumped out in every sentence of dialogue. Between holding to basic mechanics and failing to impress past what is expected, Freakpocalypse forces you to focus on the negatives, even if there aren't that many.
Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time resurrects this classic series in an authentic fashion. While a modern adventure with maximum replayability is a godsend for fans, a lot of what made the original Crash games rough around the edges is also present in this iteration, with inaccurate platforming and frustrating difficulty. However, for those looking for a return to form for the Bandicoot, Toys For Bob has proven themselves yet again in this long-awaited sequel.
Even though the aesthetic, soundtrack, and intelligent dialogue create a package that looks outstanding, Rip Them Off fails to come together in its puzzle gameplay. While utilizing trial-and-error can have its merits, Rip Them Off's method of having the player learn a mathematic language that it then changes constantly just doesn't make for a fun gameplay loop. Lacking hard solutions and ramping up difficulty before you've been properly taught makes Rip Them Off a puzzle title that is hard to recommend.