Punch Club Reviews

Punch Club is ranked in the 34th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
IGN
Top Critic
6.5 / 10.0
Jan 15, 2016

Part Persona, part The Sims, and part Fight Club, Punch Club is deceptively deep, with a rewarding life simulation and RPG systems. It's bursting with personality, (though regrettably very little of that is its own) reliant on bygone eras and pop-culture references to establish its lighthearted and fun tone. Punch Club is tedious at times, thanks to an unfortunate level-down systems that artificially extend the road to the championship with grinding repetition, but its upgrades, stat growth, and more compensate with satisfying depth.

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68 / 100
May 24, 2018

Under a beautiful art, Punch Club it's a life simulator under a sport management sim appearance. You have to manage your time to train, work, buy food, work on your relations, rest... and fight. It's a shame that combats are automatic: if they were playable, probably the game would have been more fun to play.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

7 / 10.0
Jan 14, 2016

While Punch Club has a great hook, it has a real tendency to make you cross.

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Unscored
Feb 9, 2016
► WTF Is... - Punch Club ? video thumbnail
85 / 100
Jan 15, 2016

Punch Club is a game with a lot of personality. From its realistic gameplay to the little surprises it has tucked away, there's something special about it that will have you hooked. In spite of the moments that feel like a lot of grinding, it's an enjoyable title.

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80 / 100
Jan 23, 2016

Put it all together, and the easy and fun game you started to play soon becomes a pretty stressful rock-paper-scissors cycle that really demands your attention.

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6 / 10
Aug 13, 2018

Punch Club features an interesting mix of management, social simulation and some JRPG elements in a game that features an interesting gameplay and whose 16-bit resemblances include several 90s pop culture references. It doesn't fully materialize its promises, as it quickly starts feeling repetitive and at one point, it doesn't quite feel interactive enough to be an outstanding experience.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

6 / 10
May 24, 2018

Punch Club is an effective casual management sim with a well-observed 16-bit aesthetic, but its grindy hands-off mechanics soon start to grate. Here on Nintendo's flagship console, it just feels a little too remote and repetitive to be in with a genuine title shout.

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3.5 / 5.0
Jan 22, 2016

All told, Punch Club was a surprisingly deep and well-constructed simulation that kept me on my toes trying to manage the life of my unfortunate protagonist, Phteven (that's "Steven, with a 'ph'). While it wasn't at all what I expected, I found myself enjoying it more than I probably would have, had it been the brawler I anticipated.

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Jan 27, 2016

Punch Club provides a parody-filled look at one man ‒ your man ‒ and his rise to martial arts stardom. Managing his hunger, training regiment, and social life contains all the appeal of The Sims franchise, but punishing stat decay and RNG-heavy fights cripple Punch Club's lasting shot at fame.

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ACG
Top Critic
Buy
Jan 9, 2016
Punch Club Review "Buy, Wait for Sale, Rent, Never Touch?" video thumbnail
6 / 10
Feb 10, 2017

Punch Club has a fantastic soundtrack, great 16-bit art, and a good amount of content going for it. We can't help but state, however, that this game quickly evolves into a grind, and thus we only recommend it to committed fans of this genre. You'll spend a good amount of time tediously raising your fighting stats and tending to individual meters instead of feeling like you're making choices for your player's life. This isn't too bad in short bursts, but it makes the game feel more like a chore than fun at times, and the lack of Easy mode means stat gains are never permanent. The fights themselves are also rather dull and slow, especially early on.There's something glimmering in Punch Club, and it's a shame that it's not more fun for general audiences. Hardcore management fans should have a great time here, but we'd caution casual players to stay away unless they enjoy the tedium of everyday life.

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4 / 10.0
Jun 28, 2018

Although the concept of the game is pretty cool, Punch Club doesn't really provide a lot of entertainment. It does, however, inspire you to head to the gym and lift some real-life weights or perhaps run on a treadmill for an hour or so.

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Unscored
Jan 17, 2016

In the end, Punch Club looked like a fun, light-hearted sim game that ended up being a way better game than anticipated. It could do with a bit more in the way of interactivity, but it does present itself as a fighting simulator and not a straight forward fighting game. It delivers a lot more than it advertises, so these gripes are only so big.

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4.5 / 5.0
Jan 14, 2016

When writing this review, great care was taken not to reveal too much regarding the events that can occur in the game.

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7.8 / 10.0
Jan 15, 2016

Stylistically, Punch Club is a delightful tribute to '80s pop-culture and underdog sports dramas. At its best it's as exciting as watching a real sporting event and rises, believe it or not, to the level of interactive poetry about the struggles and temptations of everyday life. At its worst, it's a slog and a chore with little to keep you going but abstract icons indicating progress amid frustrating setbacks.

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5 / 10.0
Jan 29, 2016

A promising start leads to a dismal end. Punch Club's quality dips shockingly fast and leaves a bitter taste upon completion.

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7.5 / 10.0
Jul 4, 2018

80s vibe and many movie references will keep you playing this game, but the large amount of grind and repetitive campaign will start to bore you sooner than you hoped for.

Review in Slovak | Read full review

6 / 10
Jan 22, 2016

Punch Club looks colourful, atmospheric and gorgeous. It's almost like playing an 80's cartoon approximation of Rocky

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8 / 10.0
Feb 18, 2016

If you are looking for an excellent 16-bit fighter game then look no further than Punch Club as it's a hell of a lot of fun to play and sink some hours into.

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