My final thought is that Gal*Gun: Double Peace is the best one I’ve played out of the series, and I don’t know what that says about me, the world, or anything else. It’s perfectly encapsulated: a full game from start to finish takes a little over an hour, you unlock a ton and it really challenges you to be a good shot.
If you sincerely want to play the original, go get the original: it’s free, and it aligns with your memory significantly better. If you want to force a game on your kids because “I played this as a child!”, then get Chex Quest HD and be prepared to apologize later. But if you or a family member are curious as to what the hell caused this to be unleashed upon the world, then buckle up and dive in: it’s about to get soggy.
I can see What Lies in the Multiverse becoming a well liked puzzle game for a wider audience with just a little bit of exposure, and I hope it does. It’s got the heart, the mechanics are simple but solid, and the handling allows for enjoyment even on the Nintendo Switch. It never reaches the level of complexity that I found with Braid or Fez, but it kept the narration moving in a way that let me dive into the puzzles while still feeling satisfied and activated.
This is a truly randomized dungeon crawler with low stakes and low gains, good presentation but barebones gameplay, and appeals mostly to those who love Japanese indie titles. Approach with caution, but don’t be surprised if you find it to be a great pick-up-and-play title for every once in a while.
All those laurel wreaths of indie accolades mean nothing in the full scope of it all, because it’s only based off of seeing the end result and playing a portion of the game. Though the total playtime is less than three hours, it could be as little as 90 minutes if the execution was more humane and player-focused instead of posture-based. It’s a damn shame, and I’m sad that it took a beautiful concept and delivered it in the most minor key possible.
What I loved the most was that Infernax did something that almost no retro-inspired game has done up to this point: it took me back. It made me appreciate and get excited over the exploration and discovery like no other game has in decades. It didn’t just look like a game from my childhood, it felt that way, and it drove me to keep going forward, to find out more, to see what I could do and even if I had the power to do it.
While it’s far from the worst visual novel I’ve ever played, I think you need to want something sweet and lusty in order to fully enjoy it, and I have a hard time getting into that headspace while holding my Switch. Come for the premise, stay for the game icon of two women kissing on your Switch home screen, and then enjoy a ton of maid outfits that only fulfill a fetish incidentally, not purposely. But please remember: if a woman kisses you and then demands you go out in a storm to look for her doll, something has gone wrong with your life.
This is a game where I wish the Nintendo Switch had a true multitasking system, because I would 100% run EGGLIA: Rebirth in the background while I planted my crops in Sakuna and did my daily challenge in The Binding of Isaac, then returning to EGGLIA to harvest my berries.
Castle Morihisa is a pretty facade with some unique ideas and the skeletal integrity of an arthritic horse. It might carry you a short distance, but it’s going to collapse, and definitely before you get to where you want to go. Some players might find satisfaction in conquering a game that feels stacked against them, but that’s just not my cup of tea.
As much as Popslinger ticks all the boxes for me – great setup, banging soundtrack, beautiful aesthetics – it just isn’t fun. It turned from a game into a chore, one where I felt obligated to try and go further and see more to justify where I was. I think, with some gameplay tweaks, this could be a really successful game. As it stands, however, Popslinger just doesn’t hit the high notes and leaves the player feeling pretty flat.
Here’s what I’d say: if you’re the type of person who consumes this sort of pulp-grade mystery story, then you’ll have a fun time. There’s enough meat here to spend a full day with, the ambience of the voices and music are good, and the first time through the pieces make sense. If you’re looking for a long-time investment with a game, you seriously need to look elsewhere.
KEMCO has partnered to create something special, and I have walked away from this with a brand new lens through which to view their creations. It’s fun, it’s challenging, and it’s engaging. Although, if they want to patch in a toggle for timer elements (they have toggles for both combat and golf difficulty), I think it’d make everything just that much cleaner. RPGolf Legends is, hands down, my favorite title that KEMCO has ever published, and this is a clean drive into a beautiful birdie for players everywhere.
I’m trash at bullet hell games, but I love to try and I love to fail. Castle of Shikigami II makes me feel like a glorious disaster, and it’s so much fun in the process. It’s got the heart and excitement of something visually-novel adjacent, and it’s got the chaos and erratic heartbeat moments of a proper danmaku. Take some time and dive in, but be warned: it’s hell, and a controller is not going to be your friend. Get ready to ride the keyboard, cowboy, we gotta save Tokyo.
I went into Horatio Goes Snowboarding with an expectation on where the game would take me, but I never expected a cross between Papers, Please and I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. Philistines will only see a simple arcade game, but I’ve peeled back the curtain to witness the true message within, and it’s a glorious indictment of the world around us.
I like to walk away from games with something to take away, something to remember my playing by. Unreal Life has left me thoroughly disquieted, filled with ideas about what it means to connect, to be a part of someone’s life. How much our own illusions can protect us from what might seek to harm our livelihood, and how fragile a person can be, even if we feel the change is minor.
It’s fun, it’s replayable, it’s frustrating as all hell when you just can’t get the right movement card to get out of a sticky spot, and it keeps drawing me back in to prove that I’m not a loser. I may keep getting killed during missions, but I’m doing it with style, and that’s all anyone can ask of me. Okay, they can ask that I complete the mission and not die, but hey. Baby steps.
It’s well designed, it’s approachable, it’s clearly explained both in plot and gameplay and it’s quite open while still being directed in where the game is going. To be honest, I might pick this up on the Switch at some point in the future. I don’t think sitting down and playing Archvale for long stretches of time is the best way to enjoy all of the havoc the game brings, but having bursts of dungeon action in between other activities and then focusing when you’re in the overworld for longer, more relaxing explorations is the key recipe to success.
If you are a huge fan of games that never seem to end – Animal Crossing springs to mind – Grow: Song of the Evertree is a exceedingly charming title that brings you on board, whole hog, and gives you endless reasons to stick around. If, like me, you want a game to give you play in bite sized pieces, the servings get too meaty very fast, and you’ll quickly fill up on Grow without having room for more. It’s an excellent experience, but it’s simply too much: I have to take a step back and imagine that Alaria flourishes without me.
While I don’t think there’s anything here that’ll dethrone a current favorite, it’s still fun, and that’s more than I can say for some. It ain’t Ikaruga, but it’s a solid game for seven bucks, and definitely worth your time.
Next Star Rebels is an ugly but necessary forced marriage between two warring factions in order to preserve the whole. If you only had a rocket building game without the context as to the how or why items are introduced, you’d get a visually impressive but somewhat pointless game. Kerbal Space Program is more for the hardcore creators, and Next Space Rebels is for those of us with no great bearing on physics or angles, but are willing to learn through trial and error.