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If you're not a fan of multiplayer games, then once you've beaten Lethal League Blaze's story mode and arcade mode, there's little to entice you back into the fray. Nevertheless, the gameplay itself is remarkably versatile, allowing newcomers to get stuck right in whilst more seasoned players can tinker with the game's many intricacies. Throw in an amazing soundtrack and some fantastic cel-shaded visuals, and you've got a competitive game that's engaging in terms of both its presentation and its instantly accessible gameplay.
Unless you're a fan of the anime, Kill La Kill: IF is not the game for you. While the story mode is beautifully presented, it's not as lengthy or engaging as the hours-long experiences offered by other arena fighters. While the potential of an Arc System Works arena fighter sounds promising, this 3D fighting game ends up being a bigger disappointment than many of its contemporaries. The visuals are pristine, the animation is gorgeous, but everything else feels barren. Kill La Kill: IF feels like a budget title – too bad it costs $50.
With support for all manner of local and online setups for co-op and competitive multiplayer – and lots of extra DLC content bundled in – this is a rewarding yet potentially intimidating simulator that's only really diminished by a lack of official licensing and a proper training mode.
There was a lot riding on it, but we can confidently say that Fire Emblem: Three Houses has managed to live up to the hype and will stand as a highlight in the series for years to come.
If you haven’t played Skulls of the Shogun in any form over the past six years, we still can still heartily recommend the single-player campaign as a generous and devilishly fun slice of turn-based strategy action that perfectly suits the Switch, particularly in handheld mode.
Pawarumi is a tough-as-nails shmup with a unique central mechanic that takes time to master. Stick with it though and you'll be rewarded with a slick, fast-paced shooter that looks and sounds amazing and will test your skills to the max. There's really nothing else like it out there right now and, even with slight reservations over the difficulty, a lacklustre story and paucity of game modes, this is an easy recommend for fans of the genre looking for a proper challenge.
Fantasy Strike isn’t going to blow anyone away aesthetically and its arcade mode is a little barebones. However, in terms of gameplay, it absolutely achieves what it sets out to, offering fun and accessible fighting action to newcomers whilst at the same time possessing enough technical depth in its roster of characters to keep more seasoned fighters interested.
Automachef is absolutely not for everyone; it's a puzzle game that overwhelms you from the start and only piles on more complexity as you progress through its 45 stages. There's a degree of satisfaction to be found in spending hours putting together large, elaborate automated set-ups, troubleshooting their flaws then finally seeing them work as intended, but you need to put in a hell of a lot of work for that payoff and for many the toll it takes on the old noggin won't be worth it.
As long as you're playing it docked and willing to put the time in to master its helium-light handling, Rise eventually reveals itself to be a rewarding and visually fantastic arcade style racer with an interesting Challenges mode. Its slightly blurry handheld visuals and the complete lack of multiplayer are disappointing, but persevere with its slippery steering and the payoff is a fun – if unforgiving – solo racing game.
There’s very little here to attract players who have already braved Dead In Vinland’s wilds, but even without support for touchscreen play, the titular isle still has plenty to offer new settlers.
It doesn’t take very long for Lust for Darkness to overplay its hand and reveal just what kind of horror game it really is; for all the shock value of seeing some Giger-esque creature with an overtly phallic head or yet another doorway shaped like genitalia, you realise it’s just that: hollow grotesquery employed for the sake of making you cringe.
Tiny Metal: Full Metal Rumble surpasses both its predecessor and the recent Wargroove to become the number one Advance Wars clone available on Switch right now.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order isn't a groundbreaking, narrative-heavy reinterpretation of the comic characters you know and love, but then again neither were the first two games. In that regard, it's a very faithful sequel that mines the vast roster of characters from the comics while including plenty of nods to the current state of the more modern Marvel Cinematic Universe. While it doesn't do anything particularly new or outstanding, it embraces the brainless fun of its brawler combat with gusto, and it's at its absolute best when played with a team of player-controlled supers.
Etherborn looks fantastic, sounds incredible and revolves around a brilliant game mechanic that initially feels like it's going to lead to some clever puzzles but ramps things up far too quickly and engulfs you with frustratingly complex stages while you're still trying to find your feet. There's still a great game in there, but you'll need to have the patience of a saint to stumble up its 90-degree difficulty curve to find it.
While God Eater 3 has taken a bit of a knock in the visuals department, it’s a sacrifice that’s more than worth it for mostly consistent performance and a steady framerate.
Attack on Titan 2: Final Battle is a real oddity. There’s a lot of new content introduced as part of the expansion - much of it adding real depth and replay value to an already sizeable package - but changing the approach to how you experience season three (specifically without the character you created and used through the two previous ones) does create a schism between Final Battle and the rest of Attack on Titan 2.
Streets of Rogue isn't the cheapest of rogue-lites available on the eShop, but years of developmental evolution in Early Access have resulted in the final product making it to Nintendo Switch, and while we do feel the asking price is a tad high, the amount of content you get far surpasses what you're probably expecting. RPGs are at their best when they give you a world where you can be anyone and do anything - Skyrim has built its legacy on that very concept - so if you want to be a werewolf, or a scientist, or a bartender, then this is the game for you.
Hyperlight Ultimate is a great little arcade shooter that was good on 3DS and now arrives on Switch in a much more complete and satisfying form. The subtle gameplay tweaks here help make things a little less hardcore than in the original game, but this is still pretty tough stuff that comes highly recommended to fans of the genre who like a stiff challenge, so long as they stay away from Panic mode.
Should you buy Terraria on the Switch? Well, that’s a rather nuanced question. On one hand, you have a stable version of an enjoyable, content-rich sandbox classic that can be played both at home and on the go, with that latter option proving to be an intuitive take. On the other hand, the current lack of local co-op is pretty damning for many, especially given that this Switch version is selling for a notably higher price compared to other modern versions.
On its own, Paradox Soul is an average Metroidvania that will keep you reasonably entertained throughout its fairly short duration thanks to its creepy art direction and atmospheric soundtrack. But when you look at it next to some of the more accomplished examples of the genre on Switch, its repetitive nature and uninspired cover-shooting mechanics hold it back from being truly recommendable.