Nadir: A Grimdark Deckbuilder succeeds in delivering a visually beautiful experience, but the game around these gorgeously metal images doesn't feel like it had the same care as the art design. It is frustratingly difficult, a fact exacerbated by the inconsistently presented information and issues around how the game's controls were ported to the Switch. This is a game that feels unfinished, despite the visual flair it offers.
Despite having some fun wrinkles on the tactical RPG formula, Redemption Reapers is too frustrating in its early levels to justify the thin plot and undeveloped characters. The music is the only consistently stellar part of the game, which is let down by uneven visuals and poor gameplay balance. You're better off looking elsewhere for your tactical RPG fix on Switch.
There is fun to be had in Farming Simulator 23: Nintendo Switch Edition, but those who find it will need to be intimately familiar with the farming process. This version feels like a significant downgrade over the PC edition released in late 2021 and has some gameplay quirks that hinder the actual experience of running a farm. Unless you are desperate to take your farming on the go with the Switch, there are better entries in this series out there to play.
The good points of Mugen Souls Z are certainly there, but it does its best to keep them from you for entirely too long. With a tutorial that drags on for hours, a frustratingly repetitive plot, and walls of dialogue that feel endless, only the most dedicated fan will have the patience to enjoy the game. Unless you love grinding and crafting more than plot, this is probably one you should avoid.
The combat kept us from enjoying Front Mission 2: Remake due to its over-reliance on dice-roll luck to succeed, but the plot has some decent story beats if you aren't bothered by obvious localisation errors. We did enjoy the customisation options of the Wanzers, but battles felt slow and dull when the RNG gods weren't on our side. Just like with the first game, this one will service longtime fans of the series and its combat adequately if they can overlook this remake's rough edges.
Rose & Camellia Collection gets away with a lot of its technical imperfections simply because of the strength of its concept and its solid presentation. The music and art style will keep you interested for at least a few hours – which is all it will take to complete the story mode. However, the bizarre anime logic can't distract you from the frequent loading screens or the frustratingly imprecise controls. This one is worth picking up, but only if you catch it on a good sale.
If you're a die-hard Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba fan, you and your friends might find enough enjoyment in Demon Slayer – Sweep the Board to get you through a game or two. However, the underwhelming and forgettable minigames, glacial pace of the gameplay, and connection issues that made online play unusable for us greatly overshadowed this party game's positive points.
Melody of Memory is a competent if simple rhythm game that serves as a solid recap of the series for existing fans, making it a worthwhile purchase if you’ve followed the escapades of Sora, Donald, and Goofy through the years. However, it does showcase how impenetrable the plot has become, but even seasoned fans will get enjoyment out of the confusion. Its what we’ve done all this time anyway, right?
Digimon World: Next Order is an open-world RPG that's too much of a grind to recommend. While the music and graphics have their charm, they're totally overshadowed by the unbalanced difficulty, highly-repetitive training mechanics, and some very strange design choices. Unless you're a die-hard Digimon fan with untold patience, this one is best left alone.
Molly Medusa: Queen of Spit takes a great idea and, unfortunately, fails to deliver on its promise. The throwback camera is a mistake and needed far more refinement, and the controls feel clumsy as a result. Molly's lack of reaction to her curse takes away any emotional impetus or impact from the plot. There is a potential gem here, but despite a handful of inspired ideas, it feels antiquated and is very difficult to recommend, at least in its launch state.
Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai suffers from a chronic lack of focus. The vibrant visuals and fun combat can't make up for the fact that you'll spend hours doing little more than watching static images tell the plot of the anime. The result is a game that will frustrate action RPG fans with a lack of action and fails to do justice to the story it is trying to tell. Unless you're desperate for a new Dragon Quest game to play, you're better off just watching the anime and skipping this spin-off entirely.
We wanted to enjoy Ebenezer and The Invisible World far more than we did. The combat is solid and the platforming is tight, with the right balance of accessibility and challenge. Combine that with a fun concept and art that does a great job of recreating Dickens' iconic novel and it should be a recipe for greatness. Unfortunately, a host of bugs ranging from slightly annoying to game-breaking sucked the Christmas cheer right out of us. Future patches might fix these issues and give us the game we know is hiding just beneath the surface here, but that game isn't here at launch.
These faults, combined with imprecise touchscreen input and frustratingly implemented cursor controls for the Switch port, undo any goodwill the charming, medieval-manuscript-inspired visuals or Renaissance faire-esque music might have imparted. The map editor offers some fun tweaks to the core gameplay but can't save the game from its design flaws and interminable lag. It's a shame, but in its launch state, Rising Lords simply isn't worth picking up.
Waifu Impact makes the mistake of assuming that the promise of fan service is enough to carry a game through its runtime, however short. This game takes the Fortnite formula, dips the character controls in digital treacle, strips it of the multiplayer aspect that makes that game fun, and doesn’t add anything worthwhile. It feels more like a proof of concept, with no story or characterisation to speak of. Most importantly, it just isn’t fun to play. Even for the low price from the eShop, the joke here wears thin within half an hour
For me, the highest praise I can give Persona 5 Strikers is that it feels like a worthy sequel to one of the greatest RPGs of all time. Whether it’s the music, the visuals or the triumphant return of a near-flawless cast of characters, it has brought me incredible joy. Ryuji is still dumb and loyal as ever. Makoto is still scary and hot. Yusuke is still weird. And Futaba remains an adorable little gremlin to protect at all costs.
All this isn’t to say that the game isn’t worth playing. Whether you are a fan of the original or you are experiencing it for the first time, Skyward Sword HD is a Zelda game worth playing as much as any other. However, it doesn’t wipe away the issues that the original had completely. The various quality of life issues that are implemented in this version only serve to highlight the issues that plagued the original — and the fact that some of those issues require more than a simple “quick fix” provided by a remaster like this to resolve.
The developers succeed at making the game look and feel like Demon Slayer, but unfortunately that isn’t quite enough to make the game good enough for a universal recommendation. Hardcore fans will likely get a kick out of it, but for the more casual fans, this may be one to pick up on sale down the line.
Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers is a very good game and an excellent stand-alone sequel to the original. It features a solid cast of characters and plenty of pizza bagel-related facts mixed in, but the thing that I found most exciting was the way the writing had evolved since the first one. This is an ambitious game, with a narrative design that takes risks at almost every corner. Once again, I find myself excited by both the world and the story on offer from the developers at Fiction Factory Games.
The game leans into the classic JRPG trope of starting slow, forcing you to sit through multiple long cutscenes before the world opens up for you. It doesn’t quite reach the limits of my patience, but there are multiple stretches of at least 20 minutes where I never even touched the controller. The world-building is good and I’m excited to play with these characters. I just wish the game didn’t take so long to let me get there.
If you’re looking for a horror game to play, Yomawari: Lost in the Dark is a solid example of atmospheric storytelling and tackling daunting subjects without hammering the point home too much. It plays great on the Switch and benefits from the console’s portability. Playing with headphones in and in a dark room really adds to the tension. You can also grab it on Steam and PlayStation consoles.