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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.
Having come from playing Stray on the PlayStation 5, you can tell that the Switch version tests the system’s limits from time to time. If you don’t mind the visual and performance downgrade, playing on the Switch is fine. Though I would wholeheartedly recommend playing on another platform to get a deeper experience of what the game has to offer graphically. Regardless of the platform you play on, Stray is the cat’s meow, and something I feel everyone should experience playing at least once.
Speaking as a fan of the franchise, despite some of its more disappointing moments, Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind is the most fun I’ve had with a Power Rangers game in a long time. On top of that, this might be the most faithful Power Rangers game since Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid. You can really feel the love the developers have for the franchise and it had me grinning ear to ear the entire time.
I’ve never played The Maze of Galious and I find myself wondering if some of the limitations in Pampas & Selene are just inherent of them being overly faithful to the design of a game released in the late 1980s. That being said, the nostalgia value should override this concern for most fans of the era. There are of course better co-op metroidvanias out there, but reviving late 80’s action games is a niche that Fran has thus far perfected, and Pampas & Selene is no exception.
Yakuza Kiwami highlights the Switch’s ever-growing age; a game this iconic should not be running this poorly. Don’t get me wrong, I gave the game a high score because I still believe Yakuza Kiwami is an amazing experience that everyone should play, but if you can, play it on anything other than the Switch.
So what can I say about LEGO Horizon Adventures? Well, it’s all, sort of, meh. Perhaps my view is tainted somewhat by having played the originals first? Or maybe I was supposed to do that? I’m not sure. But while this could be a good entry point for younger audiences to familiarise themselves with when they’re old enough, it feels like many kids seeing their parents play the actual games would feel a tad insulted by this watered-down iteration. It’s hard to say who this game is for, but it’s certainly not for me.
Dragon Quest III HD 2D Remake is a wonderful reimagining if you know what you're getting yourself into. It's a beautifully stark contrast that demonstrates just how far the series has come, for better and for worse. Having this remake feels like walking into retro-themed arcade in 2024; you have a lot of respect for how far games have come and are really excited to play them, but after a surprisingly short amount of time, you find yourself wanting to go back to playing the newest entry released in this decade.
When a dormant series returns after almost a decade of silence, it's understandable to be nervous, especially after some wide-ranging review scores. While it may not stand up to the series’ peaks, it sets a wonderful framework for what we fans can hope to be the long-term resurrection of the franchise. I also wish that the game was 5-10 hours longer, but perhaps that's a consequence of entering my 30s; I just don't have the spare time that I once had.
Despite not having played any Broken Sword games before, playing Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars – Reforged has made me incredibly excited for Parzival's Stone and hopefully there are plans to 'reforge’ Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror as well. Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars – Reforged is a timeless classic that has received a lick of paint. Sure, it feels a bit outdated in some respects but there will always be a place for games like this with modern gamers. Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars – Reforged remains a masterpiece and makes me proud to be British!
As a Mario Party title, Jamboree does exactly what it needs to do by providing a platform for friendship destruction while adding in a few new features to test them. While definitely more of a party game, the majority of its features are able to be played online if you have a stable enough connection. For any fan of Mario Party, I’m sure you already have this title in your library, but if you’re on the fence, I can personally recommend it’s worth picking up, especially if you have kids in your household.
While there are a lot of negatives, they’re all tied to only one aspect of Farmagia; the rest is quite enjoyable. Due to the complexity and fuzziness of the mechanics, players may find themselves bashing their heads against a brick wall, but at least the fun characters and farming make up for its shortfalls. The thing is, even if they fixed the combat and made it tighter, I think it would only ever become a good game, not a great or amazing one.
Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven is a welcome addition to the Switch’s library. It's not for everyone, but if you like your JRPGs, then you will have a good time. It’s open-ended nature and generation-skipping gameplay make for a novel and entertaining wrapper to some classic turn-based battling. A high-quality and considerate remake, which hopefully paves the way for more.
Japanese action RPGs are a dime a dozen and I can say from experience that most of them are pretty average. REYNATIS is no exception. At best, REYNATIS is an okay game with a boring story but at worst, it is an excruciating experience. I’m sure my experience would’ve been smoother if I played REYNATIS on anything other than the Switch but we review Switch games here, so my hands are tied. As an aside, I’m also a little annoyed that this game just took the same plot I wrote for my first Dungeons & Dragons campaign and made something so bland with it.
Speaking as someone who doesn't usually enjoy Sonic games, this game is phenomenal! It combines so much of what makes Sonic The Hedgehog great, with a wide range of classic Sonic, early 3D Sonic, and the franchise's future. Shadow Generations is so masterfully crafted that, with the recent successes of the Sonic The Hedgehog movies, the franchise truly is experiencing a renaissance era that suggests a bright future ahead of it.