In a time where young people find themselves trapped in the familial home for much longer than their forebears through no fault of their own, Zagreus’ hellish plight is unexpectedly resonant. The very real struggle to simply strike out on one’s own and escape the shadow you were born under is eerily reflected in the roguelike structure of Hades. Repeated failure is crushing… until you figure out how to learn from it. Until you move forward, inch by inch. Until you win.
Tank Mechanic Simulator was conceived, designed, and released specifically to find me and trigger something of a crisis.
Pooplers is far from alone, as anyone who has had the misfortune of scrolling through the Switch eShop can attest. It’s just the game unfortunate enough to land in my crosshairs. Much like Steam, the Nintendo Switch eShop has been inundated with cheap asset flips, knock offs, and shovelware While Nintendo’s apparent refusal to exercise any measure of quality control is beyond the scope of this review, putting Pooplers into a wider context feels necessary. It’s a tiny part of a much bigger problem.