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I’d go as far to say that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is one of the greatest movie-based games I’ve laid eyes on, certainly in recent years. If you forget the IP for a moment, then it’s still an enthralling and immersive adventure game whichever way you look at it: epic set pieces, gorgeously detailed levels and some of the most fun I’ve had in a game for a while. There are rumours of a sequel but nothing confirmed at the time of writing; please, MachineGames, do the decent thing!
What I will say about Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is that it’s much more memorable than many of its previous entries. I remember playing through Yoshi’s Crafted World fondly, but after the credits rolled, I found myself struggling to remember any memorable moments. Finding new creatures and discovering the many different ways you can engage with them leads to plenty of memorable ‘a-ha’ moments, and that’s what it’s all about. It also helps to give the Yoshi series a profound point of difference among Nintendo’s slew of other platformer franchises, so I’m all for the multi-coloured dinosaurs exploring the avenue of gameplay.
Constance is a fine metroidvania which is well-paced, well-designed and beautifully drawn. The combat is a bit meh; however, some will view that as being more accessible but some will view it as lacking ambition. Whichever way you view it, I would personally recommend Constance to any metroidvania fans who love a meaningful story and/or don’t want a massive time sink.
Shadows of the Afterland should be recognised as a top-tier point-and-click adventure on the Nintendo Switch. It was a fun (if at times moribund) experience which looks great and is faithful to its inspiration, but it will only appeal to fans of the genre and not a whole lot more.
Man, this one hurt me a bit. I was really hoping I’d love this game more than I did. And it’s not like I hate it either! The characters and story in Tales of Berseria keep me extremely engaged, but the actual gameplay part annoyed me deeply for so long that I couldn’t fully forgive it. Is the game much more fun by using the exp bonuses and the option to just turn off encounters? Oh yes, tremendously, but I just can’t feel good about the solution being “just don’t play this part; it sucks” rather than some more positive changes. It’s a remaster, people, come on! It has been 10 years! If you have already played and enjoyed the original Tales of Berseria, this doesn’t have anything new to make it worth your while. If you are a new player like me, I’d never suggest playing the original over this version.
Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is filled with a sea of wild scenarios hindered only by one’s imagination – it's just a shame that it can often take so long to get to its most magical moments. The island motif is certainly a nice touch, providing the player with the autonomy to mould the space to fit the scenes in their minds. But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows on an island paradise; due to certain decisions likely decided on during meetings with Nintendo’s legal and marketing departments, Living the Dream often fails to recapture the magic of previous entries.
Mullet MadJack is a game about vibes, which I can only describe as being immaculate. It’s such a simple gameplay loop with a constant forward momentum that helps it overcome problems shooters traditionally have on consoles, especially the Switch. It’s hard to miss things when they’re right in front of you and you’re only ever running forward. Despite the motion sickness and photosensitivity problems that handheld mode can exacerbate, at least in my experience, and despite the irritating micro-bump in load times, it’s still a smooth and enjoyable experience on the Switch. Now, whenever the dark, corporate future-now is getting you down, you can easily whip out a dark, corporate future-past – and kick shoot it in the face!
Pragmata is a poignant game that tells a heartwarming story wrapped up in a science fiction horror action game. And while that could have described a handful of past games, Pragmata’s hacking mechanic sets it apart from its previous competitors. As the credits rolled, I found myself itching to go again, and that’s a huge compliment from me as I rarely play games more than once. And yet, while I enjoyed my time with it from start to finish, its minor annoyances keep it from being a 10, and the performance for the admittedly impressive Nintendo Switch 2 port then keeps it from being a 9. And while an 8 is a great score in a review, it is perhaps the most optimistic 8 I’ve ever written.
Darwin’s Paradox is a respectable entry in the slew of games inspired by classics like Limbo and Inside, and while it shows glimpses of something special, it never quite reaches the same heights. And while the game is, for lack of a better term, good, the current state of the Nintendo Switch 2 version only highlights its foibles. Overall, a 7 feels apt; it does a lot right and is enjoyable for the most part, but its start-and-stop nature and unfortunate performance challenges on Switch 2 keep it from being elevated any further.
All in all, Kena: Bridge of Spirits is an intoxicating adventure that I couldn’t put down. The heady mix of exploration, adventure, puzzle-solving and accessible but challenging combat is moulded together by Ember Lab fantastically well. The news that a sequel, Kena: Scars of Kosmora, is coming out shortly makes me incredibly excited!
When taking the whole experience into account, The Midnight Walk is a lot of style over substance that isn’t actually that much fun to play, which can work for some. Certainly, I’m sure there are some teenagers out there playing this game right now who are preparing to craft their entire personalities around it for the next few years to come. These things come in cycles, you see. But much like those same teenagers years later when reflecting on their blunder years, as I look back on my time with The Midnight Walk, I’m already struggling to recall specific details and why they were meant to be so important. In time the cycle will continue, and another “cute horror” game will emerge to remix the familiar into something vaguely new and neat. By then, your embers will most likely have been forgotten, little Pot Boy.
While the Bellabel Park addition is generally quite lacklustre, it can’t be argued that it’s simply an add-on to a flawless game. All of the main issues with the original have been fixed in this Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, and playing through Super Mario Bros. Wonder for a second time gave me the warm and fuzzies like I was playing it for the very first time.
Spilt Milk Studios has made such a cute, cosy game set in a fantasy world. I love all the named NPCs and all the different races that come to your store. However, the trash left behind by the titular Trash Goblin has left a bit of a stench on the Switch port of this title. I do genuinely recommend exploring the life of running a trinket store, just maybe not on the Switch.
The Zooseum DLC is an excellent addition to the base Two Point Museum game. The same silly fun with some excellent new mechanical additions; it’s a great reason to pick up Two Point Museum again and dive back in.
One of the best Pokémon releases of all time, and the potential of what fans are able to build in Pokémon Pokopia has yet to be fully realised. One of the cutest and most adorable games is as you watch Pokémon live their lives in the environments you had a hand in building for them. Pokémon Pokopia is a must-buy for any Pokémon fan and that's not an understatement.
Quite simply, no one does it better than Capcom. The sheer amount of care and thought that has gone into the game design and the level design in Resident Evil Requiem is staggering, and that’s before you mention the sound effects, the art, the music, etc. It’s just such a polished piece of entertainment and the move to the dual-genre approach is a bold one that will please most gamers. Don’t let this doddery old fool put you off; Resident Evil Requiem is the first true AAA sensation on the Nintendo Switch 2 and is the beginning of an exciting future for Nintendo players.
Minishoot' Adventures is a near-perfect game on its own merits and kind of exposes the way the review score sausage is made. It may not be on the same scale as some other games or as deep, but for what it sets out to do, it does it near perfectly. When a game purports itself only as a literal mini adventure and then delivers on that in a cute little package, how can I respond with anything other than the following: Fix your map screen, and we’ll talk about the missing point.
We’re at a weird stage with Bethesda where we’re reviewing their titles not because it’s something new they’ve released but because we’re ranking them as competing versions of themselves. In that sense, Fallout 4: Anniversary Edition for the Switch 2 is a great port and a fine example of a polished Bethesda product. If you’ve always wanted to play Fallout 4 and are now at a busy time in your life where you might want to chunk up that playtime a bit, this might be the best version for you.
I feel like this was less of a review and more of an ”I love Monster Hunter Stories“ declaration, but somehow, Capcom managed to take what was already a brilliant game series and elevate it in a way I didn’t think was possible. The nuance of the story, the environmental elements and the new monster types could teach people in our world a lot. If you played two and enjoyed it, then you need to play Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection.
Blue Prince is an incredible experience that has captured a significant amount of my time since I first played it. It does an amazing job of keeping you hooked with the mystery that you unravel while giving players a beautiful art style to explore. The Switch 2 port gives players a way to play on the go and lose track of time before getting in trouble because they've spent 40 minutes on a 30-minute break. I personally can't help but recommend Blue Prince; it's one of the best things to do on a budget.