Yvonne van Geloven's Reviews
The My Universe games are aimed at kids, and I’m sure the young ones will love taking care of their Baby Dragon. It’s fun to see what Dragon Baby you get to take care of, though I do wonder if the gameplay loop doesn’t get boring after you’ve delivered a series of dragons. Still, I hesitated whether to add an I Like it a Lot to this review of My Universe – My Baby Dragon. Ultimately, I chose a slightly lower I Like It because the controls didn’t sit well with me.
If you expect a visual novel with cute guys or girls and lots of romance, Long Live the Queen isn’t it. Don’t be fooled by the title image, as not all is pink and rosy. It is a novel alright, but it is a story that has you making mainly political choices. Elodie has to deal with betrayal, civil wars, assassinations, invasions, and magic… Who knew leading a kingdom could be so difficult? You can’t be a universally loved queen, you will have to make tough choices. Some will hate you, some will think you are doing okay. And all neighbouring countries try to influence you to benefit them. If you like a story where you have to build stats and have trial and error lead you to various endings, this one is for you. This is not an easy game, and if you want to reach all endings, you will have to play the same parts over and over again. There is a skip button, however I do wonder if players will be engaged enough to search for all endings. Make sure you have a notebook handy to jot down the choices you make and save often. That way, if Elodie meets a bad fate, you can still reverse it!
I was curious to see if such a tiny game could entertain me, and it certainly did. I like the idea of giving budding developers the chance to bring their work to a bigger audience in this way. They can show their hard work without having to spend years on a full fledged video game production. I do feel the price is a bit high, but the funds are used to add additional content for upcoming updates to Lotus: The Self Made Witch. If enough funding is reached, we might even see the release of Lotus on Steam and Google Play!
Although I did like my time spent in Dairoku: Agents of Sakuratani I have to say I was expecting more. And I don’t think it was just due to my wanting to play another Café Enchanté. They could have done so much more with the main storyline and with the battles they introduced. I felt that an intriguing plot was missing. A missed chance. Overall I have thought hard if I would go for a rating of I’m not sure, or an I like it. In the end I decided on the rating below as I must say the love interests and the side characters were fun.
My Friend Peppa Pig is aimed at very young children, and I would imagine it will be huge fun for them to be a part of Peppa’s world. The gameplay is simple, so you can even let your youngest play the game alone, they only need to press one button. However, playing this together will surely delight your child and make for some good quality time. If this game was aimed at a slightly higher age group, I would say that it gets repetitive and you can’t skip scenes you have seen before. Combined with the price point it might not be a good choice for children age 6+. But seeing familiar faces and places from the popular TV show is key here, as is the exploration and being a part of it. So if you have a huge Peppa fan in your home, My Friend Peppa Pig will be a good present for the upcoming holidays.
Catty & Batty: the Spirit Guide challenges you to find the solution to guide the Spirits to their home. There’s no one solution to make it work, instead, you are challenged to think up your own. It’s nice that each level is different, obstacles don’t overstay their welcome. Personally, I could have done with less simple graphics, but I have to give kudos to the developer for the fact that it’s all hand-drawn. Overall, a good little puzzler.
I feel there’s nothing wrong when a game copies a popular gaming series, as long as they make it a worthwhile adventure. I feel the developers of Nexomon have done that. The graphics are cute and colourful, the soundtrack reminded me of the Pokémon tunes and it was a nice change to catch a different kind of Mon. Nexomon doesn’t come with all the frills and extras in gameplay that make Pokémon games amazing, but it does bring back challenging battles and a good storyline. The only serious niggle I have is the catching rate combined with the price of Nexotraps.
Love Colors is a good game for those times when you don’t feel like doing difficult battles or go on an epic quest. Love Colors offers relaxing gameplay by filling the squares of a grey and white image and turning it into a bright and lovely image. Be aware there is no real gameplay in this, nonetheless, it’s very soothing to do after a very busy day. And if you want to play it together with friends or family you can do so too. Tackle the 150+ images in the base game, or go for the more intricate images in the DLC. It’ll keep you painting by numbers for quite some time.
I must confess at first I just couldn’t find my stride in the game, for which the controls were mainly to blame. But Chef’s Tail tells a sweet story about the after life, making it a green lush place and cooking dishes to relaxing back ground music. If you like simulation games with questing, gathering and interacting with the spirits that populate the after life, then this may be a game for you. I do feel some bugs need to be repaired. What would make this nice game a great game is changing the controls on the Switch.
So, how does May’s Mysteries: The Secret of Dragonville hold up to the Professor Layton games? Well, when it comes to the puzzles, this is a welcome game for games who can’t wait to dive into so many mind benders. What let’s the game down in comparison is the way you live the adventure. Like in Layton, there’s a lot to read and there are many characters to meet, but the scenery in the Layton games was much more alive and interesting. It made you actually feel like you had joined Layton and Luke, and I missed that feeling when I followed May. Still, if you loved Layton you will find enough to like in May’s Mysteries: The Secret of Dragonville. Plus, the game comes at a very attractive price point and offers a huge amount of content too. So if you like logic puzzles, don’t mind to read a lot and maybe reminisce about the olden days of Layton on the DS, then this game should have a place on your Switch.
Harvest Moon: One World isn’t part of the long standing series of games that went on under the name Story of Seasons in the West some years ago. Nevertheless, it focuses on the same game idea and audience. While I’m not sure it’s a good idea to seek competition with Story of Seasons by releasing in the same month, I did like my time in One World. Is it as good as as Story of Seasons games? No it’s not. In comparison the world feels empty and the characters a bit flat. The dating scene could use some sprucing up too. But judged on its own by this farming simulation fan I can honestly say I enjoyed it. The developers tried out some novel ideas, like the Expando-Farm. And not having to bother with scrolling through your pocket for the right tool: the game always does the right action at the right time. An excellent range of various crops and a new way to get your seeds. The farming itself really felt fresh to me. So even though I wonder if the price point isn’t a bit high and the opinions on the internet vary quite a bit on Harvest Moon: One World I must say it kept me playing for quite some hours. But I want to add, keeping my comments above in mind, the game should have been offered at a significant lower price point than the competition’s game.
The game might get repetitive after a while as there are no other sim elements included, though leveling up and the constant stream of new items does keep you interested. Keep in mind that Pretty Princess Party is primarily aimed at a younger audience, but if you are looking for cute and colorful laid back gameplay you might be interested as well. I’m pretty sure it will make a fine addition to many Christmas stockings!
As I mentioned in the intro, I was looking for a Style Boutique-like game. Fashion Boutique does have a bit of store management included, but it lacks stock management. You don’t shop for clothes keeping an eye on fashion trends. In this game, you make the clothes yourself by doing mini-games. That can get repetitive but luckily once a pattern is mastered, you don’t have to do the mini-game for that particular item anymore. The game has wide variety of things to unlock and expand, and works hard to keep the gamer entertained. It’s visually not as pleasing however, and feels a bit empty and rough around the edges. In the end I do like the game, keeping in mind its intended younger audience. You can easily fritter away the hours while working on your stock and keeping your customers happy. I do feel that the American price is fair, but the European price point is a bit high for my taste.
It’s a pity the game is let down by the translation. It feels like they didn’t pay enough attention to that, giving it a good translation would make the game much more enjoyable. Which brings me to my conclusion: I’m a bit torn. If you like fashion and you are into the anime style, then I’d say this is a good game. Not a great one, for that it needs more spit and polish. If you want your fashion game more along the lines of Style Boutique, then maybe this isn’t the one for you. Still, SELFY COLLECTION is very much about making combinations with the 5,000 items you can collect and about making your own avatar amazing. Even though I’m more on the Style Boutique side, I like the dress up factor.
What influences my opinion is that this is, after all, a platformer at heart. The challenges got more difficult the farther I went in, to a point where I despaired of ever progressing. But, it doesn’t seem fair to reflect the fact that I’m awful at platforming gameplay in the final verdict. So I will say: if you like platformers and like a bit of food for thought, this is a great game. If you are bad at platforming, then you may have to find someone in your family to help you along in tight spots to enjoy the entire story.
The music is Batu ta Batu is good, something of the contemplating kind, sometimes more rousing. I must admit I turned the sound down in endless mode, only made me more rushed. The game’s graphics are fairly simple and the gameplay looks easy. The game is harder to master then it looks though. If you are a fan of these puzzle games it offers a lot of fun gameplay and lots of content.
To be honest, they are all pretty much the same aside from the touristic value. So if you are new to the series and want to see if it’s for you, I’d say go for the first game, A Paris Tour. Just for the sole reason of pricing: the first game is now € 4,99, the second € 6,99 and this one € 7,99. I’m having fun playing the puzzles again, but I would have liked it if they had introduced something new. It’s the same modus of porting the game as is to the Switch, with the same problem of the super responsive button. But if casual gaming is your thing, the kind of little puzzle that will accompany your morning cup of coffee, then I’d say give it a try. I feel it will be money well spent for hours and hours of logic gameplay in the Travel Mosaics series.
The Nintendo Switch has a large collection of logic puzzles in its library. Games for when you don’t feel like button mashing, don’t feel like tending the farm or jumping from platform to platform. OmoTomO is a new addition to the eShop, one that not only helps you exercise the grey cells. Plus, it’s also designed to feel like you are in a Zen garden: time for some peace and quiet!
Over the years I have been known to enjoy my management games: simulation games where time is of the essence and trying to manage your own business in the best way and fastest way you can. Somehow, most often the action takes place in a restaurant of sorts, serving customers their food, prepping it as quickly as you can and make sure the customers leave happy. In 2019 three games that follow that same formula came to the Nintendo Switch: Food Truck Tycoon, Burger Chef Tycoon and Pizza Bar Tycoon. Now, the three games are bundled into one and have landed once again on the Switch. Let's see how these management simulation games hold up!
If you like Sokoban-inspired puzzles, then Sokobalien is a great buy. For the price asked, you can have the game on your handheld device and take it with you. A great pick-up and play puzzler!