Rose & Camellia Collection is a game that embraces its absurdity and delivers a unique experience to the Switch. It is definitely charming overall and enjoyable enough while it lasts. However, the creativity in concept doesn’t necessary translate to creativity in gameplay, and too many fights play out in pretty much the same way. Add in some imprecise controls and limited content and it winds up being a less enjoyable experience than it could have been. For players seeking a quirky, short-lived adventure filled with aristocratic slap battles, this collection may provide a few hours of entertainment. The $20 price tag does seem a bit steep for what it is, though, so it might be best to wait for these aristocrats to put on an estate sale.
Loretta is certainly an ambitious title that offers a unique narrative experience without a lot of close comparisons on the Switch. The atmospheric presentation is great and the dark, unsettling story provides a compelling reason to check out Loretta even with all the other issues. However, some technical issues, underwhelming gameplay mechanics, and a slightly uneven story prevent this from fully realising its potential. Fans of psychological thrillers and narrative-driven adventures should probably give it a chance. It offers a glimpse into a haunting world worth exploring as long expectations are tampered a bit at the door.
The comfort food of JRPGs, Alphadia Genesis is worth checking out for some classic genre conventions, but not really much else.
Super Dungeon Bros. is one of those games that is best described as inoffensive. It doesn't do anything wrong, but at the same time it doesn't do anything right, either.
The Sun and Moon is a perfect example of a very competently made game that lacks heart. There are some good ideas here and the platforming can be enjoyable in short spurts, but it is missing something to tie it all together. An occasional clever twist, or inspired level, simply isn't enough to carry the game through to the end, and everything starts to blend together after a while. The difference between The Sun and Moon and truly great puzzle platformers is the same as a meal cooked by a professional chef and one warmed up in the microwave. A little more time spent building up this experience could have made it truly remarkable, but instead it is just yet another puzzle platformer in a genre saturated by them.
Super Party Sports: Football is one of those decent time waster games people download on their phone to kill some time while waiting for the bus. It is also available on iOS, and, honestly, that feels like the perfect platform for it. On the Xbox One, this just feels slightly out of place, like it wandered in through the wrong door and everyone was just too polite to point it back in the right direction for fear of offending it. It is a perfectly alright game—a sort of basic puzzler that really doesn't have too many tricks up its sleeves—but it feels too basic to be on a console, and is too simple for anyone to sit down with it for any real length of time. It isn't a terrible game, but it certainly isn't a good one, either.
Even with an occasional twist on the well-established formula for match-three games, Azkend 2 never really comes up with anything to distinguish itself. It feels like a budget iOS title, and maybe that's because that's what it originally was.
For all the different ways it tries to dress itself up, Words Up! Academy is really just the same thing over and over again. That does not necessarily make it a bad game, but it is an extremely simple one based on one very specific type of puzzle. For fans of this type of puzzle, this would probably be worth the purchase, but it is hard to see anyone who isn't an extreme fan of word puzzles to get any sort of enjoyment out of this at all. Even those that are fans might have a hard time keeping interest the entire time, because this game is truly an exercise in repetition. It does a good job dressing up this one type of puzzle the best that it can, but ultimately this is going to be a niche title that really only appeals to hardcore word puzzle enthusiasts. Both of them.
EQQO is a really charming, interesting game that unfortunately all comes apart when you get around to actually playing it. The presentation is great, the story is wonderful, and it feels like this interesting little storybook is unfolding right in front of your eyes. It was a game that one will desperately try to like, but it keeps getting in its own way with awkward controls and boring gameplay. It is like sitting down and hearing a beautiful story that the storyteller keeps interrupting to burp every ten seconds, and it becomes harder and harder to focus on the story the longer things go on. It might be good enough for people that play video games primary for their story, or for those looking for a charming presentation, but those that actually want to play a solid game will have to look elsewhere.
Falling Skies is a turned based strategy game, and that is about the best thing that you can say about it. Competent yet wholly unremarkable, this is a title that fails to excite in any way and does nothing to distinguish itself from any of the other, similar titles on the market.
AER: Memories of Old is a game for people that liked the sailing in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, but didn't like the actual gameplay part of it.
Conan Exiles seems to always be flirting with a good idea, before dropping that and doubling down on being terrible. There is a lot of promise when the game starts out, and between the intense mood and solid survival mechanics, it seems like there might actually be a good time in store. However, in the sixty or seventy hours that follow, disappointment slowly builds until the whole adventure ends with a pitiful thud. The combat is dreadfully boring, and there are so many bad ideas that work against its core survival mechanic that it is a wonder the game stays interesting as long as it does. Destined to be exiled to the bargain bin, Conan Exiles is worth little more than a passing glance, and only for the hardcore survival genre enthusiasts.
Selfloss is a game that really should have been better. It feels like Cocoon or Unravel or one of those other elevated indie titles that critics love to throw laurels at. It dares to explore complex emotional themes within a richly imagined world. Its artistic direction and narrative ambition are great, and this feels close to offering a genuinely worthwhile experience. However, it never gets there. Even with all it gets right, this is a genuine struggle to get through. It is a poorly designed, glitchy mess that is equal parts brilliant and boring. Those willing to overlook its flaws will find a journey that is memorable and emotionally resonant. Unfortunately, it is a lot more likely that journey is going to get cut short and this is the sort of experience a lot of people will quit on before the credits roll.
I am still confused how the combination of The Odd Gentlemen and Neil Gaiman, two things that are excellent on their own, would up generating this monstrosity. It would be like if Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis committed to a film and then it turned out that film was Sharknado Versus Mothra: New Moon.
Daedalic has a strong back catalogue of really enjoyable adventure games, so if the urge strikes for some point-and-click goodness it would be better to just look through that and find anything else other than its disappointing most recent offering.
There is sadly almost nothing to like about Ninja Pizza Girl.
For all of its faults, the biggest one at the heart of Level 22: Gary's Misadventures is that it just isn't very much fun.
Virginia might appeal to those looking for a more artsy gaming experience, but in terms of actually being a game, it falls decidedly short. There is very little to do here, little to interact with, and even fewer things to experience. All of this is likely intentional and not necessarily bad on its own, as the game wants the focus to be on its story and storytelling. Unfortunately, though, it botches this as well, and the game fluctuates between being dull and confusing, with very little that is enjoyable in between. Some of the design choices appear to have been done to make the game artistically memorable, and on that front it succeeds, but overall, Virginia suffers because of it. Virginia may be for lovers, but Virginia isn't really for anyone.
Most games focus on the fun, but that really seems secondary to 3Souls - Episode I: Nelesa. While much is done to show off the different ways the GamePad can work, that's pretty much the only good thing there is to say about the experience. It would work wonderfully well if this was marketed as a tech demo for the hardware, but it is presumably supposed to be more than just that. As a whole, it is short, easy, uninteresting, and lacking any sort of major selling factor that would make anyone want to play it. Even at its bargain basement price on the eShop, it is hard to recommend this to anyone who isn't directly related to the people that worked on it. Its name might be 3Souls, but the games itself feels entirely soulless.
The concept behind Late Shift is not necessarily a bad one, but if you're going to design a game around an interactive story, it is crucial the story is actually well done. This isn't the case here, sadly.