Roguelites are everywhere and there’s a million to play at this point, this generation alone. Knight Vs Giant: The Broken Excalibur may not be the best of them, but it’s a fine game all the same. The controls are fluent and responsive, and it’s fun to sit down and play for a run or two. The runs don’t feel overly different from one to the next the way they can in other games of the sort, but that’s only a small issue. Overall a fun experience and an easy game to pick up and play for 20-30 minutes at a time when you can find a small break.
Whenever anyone asked how Borderlands 3 was running on Nintendo Switch, my response was “about as good as you expect.” That was quite early on. My response now would be “get ready to take breaks,” not because you’ll need to take a break from the game, but the sudden pauses will make you take a break, and they get worse the further you go. If you have any other way to play Borderlands 3, that will be a better option. If you only have a Switch, the game is fine and can still be enjoyable, just be ready to exercise some patience.
I love my casual little farming games, and Rune Factory always scratches the itch for me. Even though numerically we’re going backwards from the other games already on the Nintendo Switch, Rune Factory 3 Special is a very welcome addition to the platform and a healthy return for the Nintendo DS game. With less emphasis on combat, although there is plenty of it there should you want to make it a focus, it feels a lot more casual and focused on relationship building.
That’s it. That’s Marvel Snap. To be totally honest, this has been my go-to mobile game for quite a while now, and playing it on PC was neat, especially getting to see better (bigger screen) versions of all the animations.
I enjoyed AK-Xolotl and think it deserves most the same love other games in the genre get. Sure it might be easy to glance over because of how many roguelike/roguelites there are, but at this point surely you’ve done everything there is to do in Enter the Gungeon and want to play something similar, so here’s your chance. The idea of being able to build various characters that have different stats, like The Binding of Isaac has for its characters, is a great implementation. I hope if this game does well there’s more to add in the future, but if not then it’s still a fun experience and a great game to play “casually” (as casually as you can play a bullet-hell) for a run or two at a time.
As a fan of Overcooked, Moving Out 2 should have been right up the alley of many fans. The thing is, it feels like it tries to play the same way, just as a moving company. The reality though, is it misses every single mark by a long shot. It’s not that it’s a particularly bad game, it plays as it says for the most part (I have had a couple instances of stuff falling out of the map and never respawning), it’s just overly boring to play alone, and just as boring to play with people. It’s not a party game like Overcooked and it’s not overly cooperative, so it’s hard to say what the aim was, if there even was one.
Adore is a cute little game that might scratch the monster collection itch, but at the same time there are so many games like Temtem that just do it so much better. If you’re looking for a budget game, Adore might be just what you’re looking for with plenty of replay-ability and the rogue-like concept. Outside of that though, this game is most likely a skip for most people who have the option of other games.
Overall, I have really enjoyed my experience with WrestleQuest. There are a lot of great influences that this game takes from that work well and blend smoothly together. The gameplay is fun, the art style is adorable, and there’s a lot of zany fun to be had with it. Hopefully, with the small delay that the game had, plenty of people will still give this game a chance, because it’s worth it.
It’s been ten years since Pikmin 3 and twenty-two years since the original game. While it might not be a household name, Pikmin is one of Nintendo’s most consistent titles. Each game gets better and better, but might be overlooked simply because of the look or design of the characters. Given all four games are now available on Nintendo Switch, if you have any interest in the series, what’s a better time since it all culminates in the best game in the series, Pikmin 4.
Oaken looked interesting from the get-go, but unfortunately falls flat with limited ability to change how each run feels. After one or two runs, you’ll have a very good idea of exactly what this game is. If you’re hoping for a new Slay The Spire, keep looking as this likely won’t hit the spot. It definitely didn’t for me, and I gave it a very fair chance, probably a few more runs than I needed to do to make sure I wasn’t missing something.
Burnhouse Lane is a great little puzzle game to keep you on your toes. Everything can be a clue as to how to solve a puzzle, and the amount of cats is great for someone like me. There are some negatives, but all in all, it’s a great experience with a really good story about depression, despair, and acceptance. As a whole, the positives massively outweigh the negatives.
It was great to play through the first Battle Network for the first time, and having these games available again as a whole. While I still have a GBA, I have only been able to get my hands on Battle Network 5 for it, and being an adult now, it’s hard to hold only for too long having much longer fingers. I’m glad I can sink hours upon hours into this series that I’ve always adored, but it’s even better people will be able to experience this series for the first time. These are definitely the definitive versions of these games, making it the ideal launching place for everyone else to get lost when you’re simply told “I wonder if someone can help” and you need to Google what the hell you’re supposed to be doing.
The sound mixed with the hand drawn art makes for a very clean look and feel in Teslagrad 2. Between that and the gameplay, which has some flaws, but is still pretty good, there is a lot to like in this long-awaited sequel. Teslagrad 2 looks great, sounds cozy, has a ton of interesting puzzles, even more so if you’re looking for all the collectibles, and as said before, the only real issue is how floaty it can feel in some cases, something you can get used to after a while.
Lunark was a game that intrigued me at first, given the style and the teams behind its development. Unfortunately, at every turn, it did nothing but let me down with its overly forced story, and nothing to keep any interest in it in terms of presentation and gameplay. The longer I spent in this world, the less invested I was in its story. These beats were few and far between, with nothing like notes or diaries left around to fill out the story and world. There was nothing in the gameplay to keep me invested as well. All in all, it was unfortunately just a bland game that thought it was more interesting than what it actually ended up being.
I really enjoyed Nuclear Blaze, a lot more than I could have ever imagined at first. Despite not being exactly a new release (it was originally launched on Steam nearly two years ago), it feels at home on the Switch. This brand new release on consoles is the perfect opportunity to check it out and give it a go. By and large, it’s already deeply enjoyable on a basic first run, but things get a lot more challenging and engaging once unlocking the “Hold My Beer” mode. You will shout at the game, but won’t be able to put it down.
With some good DLC, Have A Nice Death will be the next big indie roguelike people talk about with the same love and respect that Dead Cells or Hades get.
Void Terrarium 2 is a fun experience. Much like the Mystery Dungeon games, its gameplay loop is an ideal pick for portable play, be it Switch or Steam Deck, but I still had a good time with it on the PS4. Each run can be quite quick and give you new things to collect and craft in the hub, giving it a surprisingly arcadey, “pick up and play” vibe. It’s a great game if you like dungeon crawlers in general, for it offers a lot of variety to the original formula. It’s a natural progression from other games in the genre, and a great progression from the first game for fans that checked that one out.
The long and short of it is that Risen is a fun action-adventure RPG. It is very rough around the edges, not to the extent of some other games in the genre that came out around the same time (looking at you, Two Worlds), but it has charm. If you’re a fan of Oblivion, or Skyrim, and want to see another game that has a similar style, this might be a good pickup.
It would be overdramatic to say that Neptunia: Sisters Vs. Sisters broke me. Instead, more accurately is it just bored me to no end. The style of the game and everything it’s doing seems like it should make for a fun experience, but the execution is miles off the mark. Based on previous games, this game would be looking to be about twenty hours of gameplay total, if that’s the case, I would be willing to barter that only the biggest of Neptunia fans will stick with it the whole way through, because even Final Fantasy XIII felt like less of a slog.
There could definitely be some balancing with the weapons, and bosses, as the bosses can feel like way more of a challenge than any of the enemies depending on your setup. That said though, it’s a very okay game with a lot of potential so maybe in the future with a few balance patches, it could stand on its own two feet for Hades fans waiting for the second game.