Rogue Legacy 2 is a masterwork in taking something already great and elevating it without getting lost in ambition and abandoning the core interest. It’s Mega Man 2. It’s LeChuck’s Revenge. It’s freaking Super Smash Bros. Melee. This is the way all sequels should be, and I’m ecstatic to finish my review so I can go back and play it again.
So everything is being given to fans here. As many songs, as many characters, as many different ways to play and enjoy and remember as possible. This may very well be the swan song for THEATRHYTHM, but it is an impossibly wonderful last act. My only hope is that we might, someday, see a PC port so that fans can continue to keep it alive and, perhaps, give justice to the songs that were forgotten (Gau and Shadow, I’m sorry). But, as it lies right now, there is nothing left to give but a standing ovation.
Whether you have only touched upon the Playstation 4 and later titles or dabbled in mobile game hijinks; if you’ve owned every Nintendo title since inception and still have four Gameboy Advance adapters for your Gamecube; if there’s even a shred of you that remembers brute forcing through the original with a party of four Fighters, then I have to let you know: this game is for you.
For decades, I’ve chased the high that games of my childhood delivered, but I could never quite scratch the itch. But the combination of elements – the discovery, the combat, the upgrades and the world itself – made me excited to dive into Minishoot’ Adventures each and every time. It hits upon all that I love and does it with grace and aplomb, and I cannot recommend this game enough. A treasure in a modern world of titles, it doesn’t do retro through pixel graphics or bananas difficulty: it’s retro because it makes you feel like a kid again.
So go, good people of the Switch. Go enjoy Mario Party Superstars. It’s a brilliant entry point for those who didn’t play the old ones, and it’s a welcome revival to those who remember the classics fondly.
Sometimes there’s an update or a DLC that changes a game forever and finally makes it accessible to the people at large. Repentance is not that DLC. If anything, Repentance can and will scare off newer players who feel like they’re just getting their bearings when a flood of new stuff comes screaming in. But, for long time players, this is the parting gift they were all waiting for.
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.
It’s a feeling that can only come from this particular idea playing out as a video game, to be something that combines the best elements of a choose-your-own-adventure book, a 1980s coming of age movie and the moment-to-moment tension of Oxenfree. I cannot and will not stop praising this game, and I earnestly believe this is one of my favorite gaming moments in the past decade. Thank you.
In the end, the fantastic story gives the perfect gift to players: curiosity about the world we live in and questions about what it means to be alive. If a visual novel can cause you to question existence, it’s doing something right.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is easily the best new 2D Mario in a very long time, and it’s really fighting for my number one or two spot. Recency bias has it going head to head with older titles, but that’s the great part: you don’t have to decide. Each game brings something to the table, and Wonder’s new everything – enemies, power ups, level design – keeps it brimming with potential all the way to the very end.
Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore could have just been a solid joke title with everyone in on the punchline and then the developers would have laughed all the way to the bank. Instead, we have a banger of a title that is both artistically wonderful and plays like Shantae meets Rygar. It’s not just buffaloing ahead to watch the cutscenes: it’s getting better and finding satisfaction in exploration, response and style.
I can safely say that, with or without the additional horsepower, the QoL updates, the very real and massive expansion, and the entire new game arc makes Shin Megami Tensei V – Vengeance the biggest package I’ve ever seen from an SMT title. It might not have the three hundred hour target of something like Persona 5 Royale, but it does have a sprawling, captivating, and positively enthralling appeal that gives you all the demons and none of the dating aspects.
This is not the end of my time with this game. I have gotten the True Ending, but I’ll be returning. God willing, there’s a Switch port in the future so that I can bring this title around and take it apart from moment to moment. If they ever want to do a voiced version, I’ll be auditioning for Mark’s teacher. If a limited edition is announced, I’ll be saving my pennies. There is a world where this game doesn’t leave a mark on my being, but I’m not there. This world hasn’t ended yet. Take your time, come in with an open mind, and engage in a life not your own. The joy and sorrow of Until Then leaves an indelible mark on your soul, and I am better for it.
I can’t believe how nostalgic I felt for a game I’ve never played before. Engrossing, engaging and constantly evolving, players can expect to squeeze every bit of fun out of every second that they’re in the world of Bakeru. I’ll understand not loving it to the degree I do, but I’d be shocked to find someone who didn’t at least have a good time.
Slay the Princess: The Pristine Cut is a game without peers and without comparison. It’s a visual novel for players who want to stay for a long time and hear, feel and grapple with a massive undertaking. It’s not nearly as long as some visual novels, but it has a tangibility and density that makes it a meal with every single interaction. There are so many variations to discover, so many lines of dialogue performed, but you won’t even know how many until you get your first “real” ending.
Cupid Parasite was enjoyable from beginning to end, which is not something I can often say about this style of otome. Top notch voice work, enthralling soundtrack, excellent design and solid story beats that kept me locked in and even made me laugh out loud.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim should be tried by everyone. If you’ve got a Switch and literally thirty minutes, try it. Give it a genuine go and see what happens in the first half of the hour long tutorial. If you aren’t at least mildly intrigued, fair enough, walk away. But if you can enjoy that thirty minutes, you’re on the hook for hours upon hours of fighting, upgrading, exploration, beautiful design, amazing soundtrack and just some of the tightest coding the Switch has had the privilege to house. You cannot go wrong here, and I cannot recommend it enough.
I can’t powerwash my home. My apartment is tiny, has grass floors, and is on the 6th floor: nothing about it says “high powered water will make this better.” But with Powerwash Simulator, I can pretend. I can clean up things that have been neglected and ignored, and I can make them pretty again. I can relax and know that I’m doing a good job of bringing zest back, and I don’t even care for whom I’m doing it. It’s the ultimate simulation, one where I’m happy with what I’ve done and have zero cares as to why I did it. Because I could.
I think it’s worth the trip. Labyrinth of Galleria doesn’t just have excellent game mechanics and some cute artwork, though it certainly has those in spades. More importantly, it has a fantastically paced story that slowly pulls you in, giving you more and more to think about and keep in mind, before using your own investment against you. It’s superb tale spinning, and I haven’t seen this level of involvement in a dungeon crawler in a long time. Don’t let the mystery of this cursed dungeon slip away: there’s so much to discover in the Galleria.
In an ocean of games both great and small, Mr. Sun’s Hatbox breaks the surface and gives an astonishing display of joy, irritation, irreverence, and nuanced detail. I am deeply pleased to have played, and sincerely hope that I find even more reasons to continue plumbing the depths of these mad missions.