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I should not be scoring a port of Yakuza 0 this low but the additions to the game were largely unnecessary. While I enjoyed my time with Red Light Raid, it was not worth all the negatives that were brought in alongside it. If you just want to play Yakuza 0 at 4k 120fps, then this is the port for you. Everything that made the original game great is still here, but if you want the best version of the game, then I’d steer clear of Yakuza 0: Director’s Cut.
I’ve wanted to play Cyberpunk 2077 for a long time now. I’ve had it wishlisted on both my PC and my Xbox, waiting for sales and a time when life gifted me with the spare time to do so. While the game has been on sale quite frequently, life hasn’t been as kind with giving me time to unwind with a game like this and the backlog is brutal, so I did not expect for Cyberpunk 2077 to be ticked off my list for the sake of a Nintendo Switch 2 review. For the most part, I didn’t feel hindered by playing it on less powerful hardware at all; in fact, in some ways, it provided me with more freedom and convenience. The performance is serviceable, but the mere fact that the game is running on hybrid Nintendo hardware at launch is an impressive feat for both CD Projekt Red and Nintendo. As previously stated, I wasn’t going to say much about the game itself, but to summarise it in just two words: it’s incredible. If you want the freedom of multiple control schemes and hybrid play styles, then the Nintendo Switch 2 version is a fantastic way to do that. But if you’re looking for more pretty lights, better textures and smoother frame rates, and being tied to a TV or PC monitor isn’t a deal breaker, then certainly opt to play the game on more powerful hardware. Regardless, either way, you can’t go wrong.
As a tech demo / ‘welcome to the console’ Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is happily an 8 or maybe 9 out of 10 experience. As a separately purchased piece of software, though? It’s not a game—a lot of it isn’t really trying to be ‘entertaining’ in a traditional video game way—but it is interesting, charming, and provides some memorable individual moments in its tech demos and minigames. Some will justifiably baulk at the price tag, but those who do pick it up and take it for what it is will end up appreciating the Switch 2 just a little more.
Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo will actually be the last game I review in the pre-Nintendo Switch 2 era, and what a way to bow out. Tight gameplay coupled with beautiful visuals makes for an absolute treat. Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo will be popular with Zelda fans, Metroid fans, nostalgia fans, and pretty much everyone who loves a good old-fashioned adventure.
Cattle Country is a serviceable farming sim that will likely receive some initial interest based on what it initially promises. However, once the initial beauty of its pixel art wears off and the southern setting gradually loses its meaning, what's left is a perfectly mediocre entry in a genre that hit the point of oversaturation a few years past.
Wow, a collection of some of Capcom’s best fighting games is phenomenal? Who would’ve guessed? Honestly, Capcom Fighting Collection 2 is worth getting just for Power Stone alone but there are a lot of really great games on here too. I think Capcom VS SNK 2 said it best: This is true love we’re making.
Wings of Endless provides great value for money and, as a result, is a low-risk weekend pick-up for most action-RPG fans; it’s a great effort by the tiny development team from Uruguay. There are other action-RPGs out there that perhaps execute the party mechanic more effectively (Astalon: Tears of the Earth springs to mind) but there is a lot to be admired here; the positives outweigh the negatives in Wings of Endless and that’s what matters.
Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is such a wonderful swansong for what may well become the best-selling console of all time. It reaffirmed just how convenient the Switch’s design is in its hybrid nature, highlighting aspects like portability and being able to quickly pop your console into sleep mode and pick it back up whenever and wherever—something we likely take for granted today. The developers at Monolith Soft have come such a long way since they first released Xenoblade Chronicles X on Wii U 10 years ago, and it shows. Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and both their respective story-based DLCs show that they’ve certainly put a lot of time and thought into how they explain mechanics, themes and UI elements while being able to learn from the very best over at Nintendo.
Not afraid to imitate its inspiration, the developers of Ogu and the Secret Forest have clearly gone whole hog and decided to just make a Zelda game but with a cute little duck as the main character, but who’s complaining! Ogu and the Secret Forest is the best Zelda-like I’ve played in a couple of years, and as long as you’re not put off by anything too cutesy Ogu and the Secret Forest is a must-have for any fans of the classic series.
BIOMORPH is a great option for anyone wanting to ease themselves into the metroidvania genre. Its biomorphing mechanic presents enough originality to make it stand out from the pack, and the added element of city-building also felt fresh. Overall, BIOMORPH is perhaps only second to Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist in the best metroidvanias I’ve played so far in 2025 on the Nintendo Switch, and that is an impressive feat as I’ve played quite a few!
Star Overdrive’s advertisement led me to believe the game was something akin to Airblade meets Tony Hawk Pro Skater but what I got was a poor excuse for a Ubisoft sandbox game and I’m very upset about it. More power to you if you enjoy these kinds of games but I have been sick of them for around 15 years. It really feels like the dev team wanted to make a cool hoverboard game, got around a third of the way through production and just decided to turn it into Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
It’s worth noting that Beyond the Ice Palace 2 is most definitely NOT a metroidvania, which the developers themselves haven’t claimed to be anyway, but I have seen many publications claiming that it is. That being said, it’s a solid platformer that will take you on a journey back to the good (or bad?) old days. Beyond the Ice Palace 2 will probably please most Castlevania fans because it’s punishing and visually faithful to the series that has inspired it. Hopefully we don’t have to wait 37 years for another game in the series!
I would love to give Cabernet a higher score; at its heart, it’s an excellent narrative RPG with thoughtful writing, interesting mechanics and a charming presentation. Unfortunately, to experience all that, you have to put up with a few too many bugs and crashes, and other rough edges besides. If you’re willing to overlook that, then you may well find yourself playing through multiple times, trying different choices and quests. But I’d recommend waiting for a few updates to smooth things out before you buy.
When you take into account the background of Momodora: Moonlit Farewell in terms of it’s tiny development team, then it’s a feat we must applaud. Sure, it’s not as expansive or in-depth as some of its counterparts, but it’s a great option for anyone who wants to try out a metroidvania without getting bogged down in complex stats and difficult bosses. I shall now be spending my upcoming weekends playing the Momodora series back catalogue, and that’s the highest praise I can give; Momodora: Moonlit Farewell was fun and beautiful, and I want more!
Despite my grievances, Afterlove EP sets out to do what it does and does it extraordinarily well; it's just that the entire time I was playing, I just kept thinking it would’ve been better suited as a movie or a short TV series. But with all that being said, I wish to give my condolences to the development team, as the lead director passed away mid-development. It must’ve been hard having that happen in the middle of making a game, especially one about recovering from the death of a loved one.
Am I too used to modern games? While I was playing Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, I truly felt like the game didn’t do anything wrong and was actually caught off-guard by some challenging sections that required platforming and timing, but I also felt myself losing focus often. If I’m playing a big gorilla, how come I can’t just slap the tikis away? Why are my rolls so short? I just felt like I needed to be able to do more. As someone that doesn’t have a lot of nostalgia for the Donkey Kong games, I feel like I may be able to ignore minor issues if I had great past experiences to look back on, but as it is, I’d say Donkey Kong Country Returns HD feels like a great entry game for people that are not used to platformers or games as a whole. It’s fun, potentially challenging, and undoubtedly good, but it’s nothing special.
I had high hopes for Urban Myth Dissolution Center. It had a super interesting premise that I was excited to play through. However, the monotonous gameplay and reading simulator really weren’t for me. If you enjoy detective-type games where you have to read a tonne of dialogue and the gameplay takes the back seat, then you would probably enjoy it more than I did. Urban Myth Dissolution Center isn’t a bad game, but also nothing to write home about. It’s a lukewarm game at best for me, and I’m sorely disappointed that it isn’t as great as I think it could have been.
ENDER LILIES remains one of the best metroidvanias I’ve played on the Nintendo Switch; is ENDER MAGNOLIA any better? Probably not, but it certainly isn’t any worse either. ENDER MAGNOLIA is more of the same awesomeness as its predecessor and is so beautifully put together that it almost brings a man to tears.
Overall, Cuisineer was an extremely fun and addicting game that had many things going for it. Even though the loading screens are a bit too much at times, the beautiful characters, deliciously detailed dishes, and the downright silly weapons more than make up for it. Make sure to pick up a copy of Cuisineer. It’s one for the (cook) books.
Touhou Luna Nights is rightly regarded as one of the best metroidvanias on the Nintendo Switch, whereas Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth was received considerably less positively due to it being more linear. I would say BLADE CHIMERA sits somewhere between the two. BLADE CHIMERA is a solid metroidvania that looks beautiful and has some genuinely exciting combat mechanics, and whilst it isn’t quite the triumphant return to form we were all hoping for, it’s certainly worth playing if you’re a fan of Team Ladybug’s previous games.