I had been looking forward to playing Ary and the Secret of Seasons since the game was announced. Unfortunately, I’m left feeling disappointed in the game. I do like the swapping of seasons mechanic to solve the puzzles. Once the game is updated and if the glitches are successfully removed I do think Ary and the Secret of Seasons would make a great family game for the whole family to play together. As the game is at the moment with its frequent framerate drops, stuttering and glitches which actually put you off playing the game. I can’t, in all honesty, recommended it as a fun and entertaining experience currently.
The focus in Windbound is definitely more on the survival side, with you keeping protagonist Kara alive in this rogue-like game. The game also takes the survival genre in a new direction by providing endless replay-ability options thanks to the procedural world, and dynamic because of the modular craft you can build. As each time you play the size of your boat changes depending on what resources you can find on the islands, these dictate the type of boat you can build. There is something quite satisfying about building your own boat and setting sail across the sea into unknown territory in Windbound. I’ve found the game to be very entertaining and a lot of fun to play.
Giraffe and Annika is packed full of charm, a little childlike innocence, and a few rhythmic battles that break up the questing. They make up the unique title that Giraffe and Annika is and though I enjoyed the game I didn’t find it much of a challenge. Which bring me to the conclusion that Giraffe and Annika would be a fantastic game for a family with younger children to play-through together to discover the Islands of Spica. Alternatively, an adult can enjoy the game as well but don’t expect much of a challenge in any part of the game, just a chilled out experience.
I do think Skully has lived up to my expectations. I will leave my frustration behind as I find most platform games frustrating at times while playing them, it’s the nature of the genre. Skully is a very enjoyable game and the puzzles are a lot of fun. Set in beautiful environments, with great voice acting and humour. If you are a fan of the genre, Skully is definitely a game you should consider adding it to your Nintendo Switch library.
Merchant of the Skies is a neat trading simulation game, with relaxing game play. Though I don’t think the game allows for much of a replay after you have finished the campaign mode. There is a sandbox mode to play around with, but once I’d played and completed the campaign mode I’d basically completed everything the game has to offer. There isn’t anything particularly new in the game, however, the gameplay that Merchant of the Skies offers is engrossing and an enjoyable experience all the same.
You can control Brightstone Mysteries: Paranormal Hotel either by the touchscreen or the joy-cons. I played the game using both control systems and they both work well. My personal preference after trying both controls was to use the touchscreen controls and these I found to be intuitive and responsive. While the story is quite intriguing and some of the puzzles can be a little challenging to complete you won’t find anything new to the genre in Brightstone Mysteries Paranormal Hotel. That’s not to say that it should be overlooked as it does offer a decent puzzle game for fans of the genre to pass a few hours of time with.
Mittelborg: City of Mages has a pretty interesting premise, it’s a real pity that that is all it is. It plays like a straight port from pc or mobile. What art there is in the game looks well, I just wish there was more of it instead of a static image of the city. The translation of the text needs work to help the game story along and help to make it more interesting for the player. There are bigger and better simulation, strategy games to choose from on the eShop sadly this isn’t one of them.
Kingdom Rush is very well balanced, charming and with enough difficulty in it to even keep the veterans of Tower Defence games coming back for more. And with the extra modes and challenges Kingdom Rush offers the player a lot of content for replayability. Kingdom Rush is a classic example of tower defense, it combines elements of old and new and brings it to the Nintendo Switch as a very fluid battle simulator. Really, if you’re looking for a solid, amusing and satisfying Tower Defense game you should pick this one up.
Wreckin’ Ball Adventure is a simple and straightforward title that provides entertainment for only a few pounds in the eShop. I think it would make a great game to play with the family, its easy enough for children to be able to pick it up and play. Even if you can only play Wreckin’ Ball Adventures in single player, you will find this a decent puzzle game to while away a few hours on.
Locomotion is a very well crafted puzzle game. Packed full with humour and it’s very enjoyable to solve puzzles that really do leave you with a sense of accomplishment upon completing them. You can see the love developers Polyfox have put into their game as you play through it and they should be proud they have made such a cute, enjoyable experience for the player. Locomotion is priced very reasonably in the eShop and I see no reason whatsoever not to roll this super entertaining puzzle game on to your Nintendo Switch to let of some steam with Locomotion. That leaves me only one thing to say, my score for Locomotion is…. a choo choo fantastic…
Though this Paper Mario: The Origami King isn’t an RPG, and more of an Adventure game it is still a brilliant game. It is a game full to the brim with delightful writing, lots of humour, bright vibrant colours, old faithful characters and laugh out loud moments for the player. While it follows the Paper Mario formula in some aspects, it does more to re-imagine the series then not. Paper Mario: The Origami King is a worthy contender in the Paper Mario series, and is the perfect game to immerse yourself in for a wonderful crumpled, creased and folded adventure.
I have really enjoyed playing Conjurer Andy’s Repeatable Dungeon for this review and I will continue to play the game as I’m no where near the end of the dungeons. In fact, when writing the review, having to check something in the game, I found it extremely hard to set the game aside to continue writing. I love ‘the push your luck’ mechanics in the game and having to decide if I should risk one more floor of the dungeon when my team is low on HP. Yes, there is repetitive gameplay but it’s not the sort of game that is meant to be played for hours on end. It’s a fantastic quick fix game, the sort you would play in between something more heavy. Conjurer Andy’s Repeatable Dungeon should have pride and place on everyones Nintendo Switch.
For The House of Da Vinci 2 I feel that the developers Blue Brain Games have certainly improved on the game from its first outing. Though I didn’t actually count the number of puzzles in this game (who would?) it felt like there where more puzzles to solve. And it didn’t feel as much like a clone of The Room game as the first House of Da Vinci game did to me. All in all if you like The Room games, do yourself a favour and try out both the House of Da Vinci games. I’m sure you will find them fun and enjoyable with many fulfilling puzzles to puzzle over. One last word of advice: don’t be like Paula….remember to use the Oculus Perpetua!
I’m slightly disappointed in The Great Perhaps. The game expands no further on Kosmos’ feelings that lead to his declaration at the start of the game of not wanting to live. I think it’s a missed opportunity. The non-responsive controls when switching off the lantern can quickly turn into a very frustrating experience, while watching Kosmos die through no fault of your own. The story, while interesting, comes to an abrupt halt at the end of the 3 hours or so it takes to complete the game. I guess that leaving the story on a cliffhanger at the end leaves the door open for a Great Perhaps 2. We shall have to wait and see on that one.
The Forgotten Land is an enjoyable game, though there isn’t anything new as such in the gameplay that we haven’t seen before. However, that does not make it a bad game by any means, sometimes staying with a tried and tested formula is a good way to go. I liked the variety of different games, such as the card game that I wasn’t expecting to play in a match 3/strategy game, and I think it was a great idea to include them to break up the play a little and stop the dreaded repetitive feeling setting in that can happen in other games of this genre.
Railway Empire is a deep, engrossing simulation strategy game. Once you get the hang of the controls and the finer points of running a mega railway empire, you’ll spend many hours playing with trains. For train enthusiasts this is the game you need and for those of us that are looking for their next strategy simulation hit then look no further than Railway Empire! That only leaves me with one thing to say before I rush off to carry on building my vast rail empire across the UK and transport some much needed meat to those hungry folk in Kilkenny, my score is Two Thumbs Up.
If you’re a first timer to the series or revisiting the ages of Myst again, this edition on the Nintendo Switch is definitely worth a replay or a first time visit to Myst. And with the added bonus of the Switch’s portability, you can take it with you where ever you go. If you have never played Myst, well, now is your opportunity to delve into the mystical and mysterious world of Myst. This is still a great game to play if you love exploration and puzzle solving.
The visuals in The House of Da Vinci are beautiful and striking, dark corners and moody lighting all add to the atmosphere of the game, it really is a class looking game. The music and sound effect are on par with the graphics, as you manipulate a puzzle there are various clunk and clank sounds from the machines. Again, all this adds to the atmosphere and complements the gameplay. As for the control’s, The house of Da Vinci can be played using the Joycon’s or the touchscreen. Neither system is 100% perfect, the touchscreen does work but there are times when it can be sluggish and other times it can be overly sensitive and can overlap with other areas when your trying to focus on one particular place. The style of writing in Leonardo’s notes is reminiscent of the era the game is set in, however I found that the font the notes are written in make it slightly harder to read and decipher on the Nintendo Switch screen. There is no getting away from the fact that The House of Da Vinci is very similar to The Room. The story is a bit flimsy and at times some of the puzzling does feel like a direct copy of The Room. That’s not to say it’s not an enjoyable game as it is and if you enjoy playing this genre of game, why not give The House of Da Vinci a try.
Dread Nautical has a Lovecraftian horror theme, though it’s subtle it’s there. There certainly wasn’t anything in the game that I found to be scary as such, maybe a little bit more horror added to it would help in this area. The core gameplay goes round in a loop, start the day, roam the decks, find resources, and try to survive. After a few runs I found this got boring pretty quickly, there isn’t much variety in the style of the decks on the ship and after a while they all feel much the same. The tactical combat is nothing unusual that hasn’t been seen before and I recommend looking else where if that is the genre you’re looking to play.
Turmoil is a really fun little game, Yes it can get repetitive but it is fantastic for jumping in and out of and playing in shorter bursts. It does have a few niggles with the controls as I’ve mentioned, however these problems are small and you do get used to them. Do you fancy becoming rich, well, my advice is to take up the challenge in Turmoil and you never know you might strike it lucky and find some Oil that is, Black Gold. Texas Tea come a-bubblin up through the ground!