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Fatal Frame 2 isn't quite the home run some may have hoped for, but it's an overall enjoyable and worthwhile experience that I'd suggest picking up at some point.
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is another strong entry in this series, and deserving of a place at the top table alongside a number of other excellent RPGs on Switch 2.A well-told story, an intriguing world and some excellent mechanics ultimately overshadow the usual (for this series) balancing issues and performance wobbles. If you want to collect 'em all within a charming Monster Hunter setting, this game will keep you busy for a long time.
Tales of Berseria is still one of my favourite entries in the series, thanks to its excellent story and charming cast of characters. The gameplay is as fun as ever, and it's aged well since its debut nearly a decade ago.This remaster offers plenty of new features for those who've already experienced the game, and they're an extra cherry on top for newcomers. Beyond those quality-of-life additions, the port itself doesn't exactly go above and beyond, but if you're looking to play this game on the go, you can't go wrong here.
If Blue Prince were only about finding Room 46 and nabbing your inheritance, it would be a neat little puzzler with some fun twists along the way. For those who dive in headfirst and keep track of everything else it throws at you, however, it is so much more than that. Rarely has a game made me feel more clever, more lost and more elated the deeper into it I ventured, and still some question marks remain over its deeper mysteries.Minor technical drops and a lack of cross-save features aside, this remains a superb achievement and one of the finest head scratchers I've had the pleasure of playing. If you've read this far, you've already read too much! Just go and play it already!
Ratcheteer DX may not break new ground, but it's a genuinely charming, lo-fi action-adventure that feels perfectly suited to the Switch eShop. It boasts clever and engaging gameplay, an evocative chiptune score, and its five-hour runtime feels just right. A little more platforming forgiveness and this would be an easy recommendation. As it stands, it's still a very good one.
A visually intoxicating journey across an alien world, as full of cute critters as it is murderous robots. Planet of Lana 2 builds on the original game with a wider scope and worthwhile mechanical changes. The mix of stealth, platforming and Mui-based puzzles keeps Lana's journey feeling fresh throughout.
It's easy to get retro fatigue when every month brings another wave of throwbacks. Scott Pilgrim EX, however, is a reminder of why this genre became so popular in the first place. The spirit and execution come together in a way that feels fresh rather than forced.There's real pick-up-and-play value here, whether you're going solo or just messing around with friends. You don't even need to be a fan of Scott Pilgrim to enjoy it. After all, getting a bunch of friends together to battle the forces of evil with martial arts and giant turnips is about as universal as it gets.
All told, this FireRed & LeafGreen re-release is undoubtedly a lazy way to celebrate 30 years of Pokémon. For the asking price, Game Freak and The Pokémon Company could've included some extra goodies, like a hard mode or online functionality.Still, this is the most convenient way to experience the charm of the original Kanto adventure, and going back in time to see how much the Pokémon series has grown gave me a newfound appreciation for all the catchin' I've done over three decades, and all that there is to come. Now give us Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver, please.
Pokémon Pokopia is the freshest Pokémon experience in a long time, bursting at the seams with charm and content that rewards both curiosity and creativity. It's an easy game to get swallowed up in, even with a few gameplay and progression issues that need ironing out.But as a first go at something different for the franchise, it's a big win. I don't know how Pokémon has stayed away from this kind of structure for so long, and I'd easily take a dozen more.
The Disney Afternoon Collection is a delightful throwback to the '90s, offering up eight mostly great games across the NES and SNES. While you could potentially skip one or two, the lineup represents a particularly prolific period for Capcom, one in which licensed games were - contrary to much of the competition - actually worth your time and money.With a handy rewind feature and the sort of supplemental material you've come to expect from Digital Eclipse, this is a great compilation that deserves a second chance on Switch 1 and 2.
Resident Evil Requiem sets a new benchmark for a series that has been pretty consistently great for the last decade or so. By combining classic survival horror with the more action-focused gameplay of RE4, the result is an experience paced to perfection. Add in a lore-heavy narrative and copious easter eggs, and you've got what might be the ultimate expression of Resident Evil.There are a few minor visual hiccups along with some inconsistency in frame rate during busier moments, but the fact that we've got a brand-new flagship RE game running well on Switch 2 should be celebrated. The lack of a Mercenaries Mode feels like a missed opportunity, but I've got my fingers crossed that it eventually shows up.
If you’re a super fan of the original game and want every possible version of it, the package totally delivers. But considering how many Rayman games there were, including its sequels and spin-offs, it would have been nice to at least have had Rayman 2 included.
Caves of Qud has a devoted following for good reason. Its world is vivid despite its graphical style - the wonderful music helping out - and its rapid turn-based gameplay is addictive. The hardcore roguelike approach is brutal but makes each run special. This is at odds with the main thread of an RPG quest, which demands that every run is aimed at the same goal. However, that tension provides an energy that's hard to resist. It's compressed a little uneasily onto Switch, but can be made to work.Maybe not legendary status on Switch, then, but a tale worth passing down to another generation of console players.
The platforming elements of Love Eternal are delightfully frustrating fun with a limited set of mechanics put to creative and clean use. Multiple levels had me holding my breath, gritting my teeth, and cursing the wayward god who founded the whole endeavour.The hand-drawn levels are as beautiful as their challenges are frustrating. Unfortunately, an overly ambitious narrative coupled with a strange mid-game shift mars the game's myriad charms.
Blazblue Entropy Effect X's convolution will be a turn off for some, and for others a dream. There are some questionable design decisions in its lack of a visual combo counter, diminutive sprites, and stop-start upgrade screens, and the average action gamer will feel swamped by its narrative and overload of possible configurations. At the same time, it's an undeniably impressive in scope: a mathematical formula of character building that's as flexible as it is complex.Boomers should probably step away, but for those who live to mine roguelikes to the nth degree, it's something of a treat.
It’s still well worth your time, though, even if it doesn’t match up to the original. As for performance, everything runs perfectly fine on the Switch, with some lovely DS-inspired static images throughout along with excellent, mysterious music. Similarly, I experienced no hitches on the Switch 2, so if that’s your platform of choice, you’ll be fine there.
Super Bomberman Collection showcases some of the very best gameplay that Bomberman has to offer. Between the various games on offer, there are dozens of hours of exciting couch multiplayer battles to be had, demonstrating that it doesn't take the latest and greatest tech for a game to simply be fun to play with others.Though the lack of native online is disappointing, the great gameplay coupled with some robust museum content that honors the legacy of these games makes this one a no brainer-especially given the relatively cheap price. If you're looking for another game you can pull out on game nights with friends, I'd highly suggest you pick this one up.
It may have all the same bones as the original version, but Ys X: Proud Nordics on Switch 2 is undoubtedly the way that this landmark action-adventure title deserves to be experienced on Nintendo hardware. Not only are the visuals improved, but the major performance bump makes everything from striking down enemies to simply navigating menus an absolute joy.The new gameplay additions, ranging from new story scenarios to tough-as-nails dungeon crawling, are nice to have as well, even if they ultimately feel like a small speck awash in the sea of gameplay variety that Ys X already contained. This enhanced version's siren song may be too faint to lure back anyone who forged through the original release, but newcomers and prospective fans owe it to themselves to answer the call and embark on the definitive version of this grand adventure.
If you’re at all a fan of the more RPG-focused Mario RPGs, you owe it to yourself to play Escape from Ever After. It may be over a bit too quickly, but the writing, charm, and gameplay mechanics all come together to make for something you won’t want to miss.
I Hate This Place is a game that oversells itself in the trailer and undershoots on the Switch, but still manages to be very enjoyable. The performance issues, visual compromises, and pared‑back crafting leave their mark on much of the experience, yet the core loop of sneaking, crafting, and blasting through strange supernatural threats has enough bite to carry it.When the action flows, it's easy to see what the developers were aiming for. It just depends on whether you're willing to look past the rough edges to enjoy what does work.