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Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes has held up very well despite many similar games coming out in the intervening years. It offers a high level of depth in its battle system that keeps you coming back, and is especially well suited to the Switch's handheld mode that makes it easy to say "just one more battle."
Leaving the door open for future Mara adventures, I think that these characters really lend themselves to different genres and experiences. Even if I didn't pick up on many of the callbacks to Summer in Mara, I could tell that the developers really like these characters and this world they've created. Perhaps it's time to explore the RTS or RPG genre in Mara?.
In fact, if NIS decided to put out a sequel, I might be inclined to check it out because they have made a number of excellent RPGs in the past. It just feels like they threw in so many systems, meters, and mechanics that they forgot to put in something to compel you to keep playing. There are many better games out there in all of the genres that this one borrows from that despite interesting ideas, Monster Menu can't come together to provide a satisfying meal.
Pikmin 2 is a tough game to recommend, especially with the brand new Pikmin 4 featuring a much more successful version of its key feature, the caverns. The high difficulty requires a lot of investment from the player to overcome, and the lack of bespoke design underground makes the journey to overcome those obstacles too tedious to feel rewarding. Dedicated fans who want to be pushed into learning the intricacies of Pikmin's mechanics will find something special in the unique challenge, but pretty much everything else about Pikmin 2 has been pulled off much better in another game in the franchise.
Pacing and loading issues aside, the signature brand of storytelling that made the Danganronpa trilogy so refreshing is on full display here. I genuinely grew to adore the pairing of Yuma and Shinigami by the game's end, and that's a testament to how well both characters are written and voiced. There are some rough patches in this murder-filled mystery adventure, but it's a ride well worth experiencing.
Luckily the game is constantly auto saving so no progress was lost, but any crash is still frustrating nonetheless. Getting past those though, I found this second entry into the story of Edwards Island to be worthwhile. The world feels dark and mysterious, the voice actors are all killing their roles, and for those who have played the original game you will probably walk away feeling satisfied with at least one of the possible endings the game offers, I know I was.
Arland, Dusk, Mysterious, Ryza/Secret) is self-contained, so it's not necessary to play Marie before those other games. However, for fans of the series it's fun to see where it all started and how much Gust got right from the start, considering this is still a very fun, breezy JRPG to play. It makes me hope that other games in the series can be brought to modern platforms and that the Atelier series can continue to thrive!.
Despite its bloat, the game boasts a short 20 or so hours to complete and in a world of 100-hour games, and there's something to be said about a short but sweet experience. When the game is going, it feels great to play and has a compelling story, if not overwhelming to get started. Regardless of its dark and gritty war torn world, Fuga Melodies of Steel 2 provides a little bit of hope in the tactical RPG space.
Personally, I have enjoyed my time in Forgotten Valley and the experience of building a little family. While years can feel like they crawl by slowly, the progression you get to see as kids around the village get older and new people arrive in the valley is nice and satisfying to experience. I look forward to spending a lot more of my time in this sleepy little village.
This game is primarily geared to a younger audience, but even still if this type of relaxed experience suits you, I hope you accept the invitation to relive your childhood. And to parents introducing their kids to The Legend of Zelda, putting Lil Gator Game on ahead of Breath of the Wild might be a magical thing to see.
undefined.Overall, unless an update comes out to fix the glitches, either go buy the game on another platform or just go back to playing the original Railway Empire on Switch. With graphics the way they are, it probably is not worth the frustration of trying to get it to work. It is a shame as I see that they put work into improving the track laying system, but it just doesn't look like they put work into the Switch port.
But as a multiplatform game, the Switch is clearly struggling to handle it, which is odd as THQ Nordic ports on Switch tend to run on par with their counterparts on other consoles. Hopefully this isn't an annual release and it gets some post launch support to clean things up, because as of now it didn't meet the pre-launch goal of being a WWF No Mercy killer. It's more of a WCW/nWo World Tour - a good first effort with potential to be a classic, but it needs a bit more work.
I wasn't really feeling the romance elements in Charade Maniacs, though that may have been because I was trying to figure out the meta-story anyway. It's a solid read that I'll probably rip through again in a few months when they actually SLOW DOWN with these games.
It's also very enjoyable to spend a couple hours with one group in one area of the continent and then shift over to a different group to catch up on how their mission is going. The stopping points where the game forces you to pick up another protagonist's journey are natural and work well, and the combat and music are as engaging as ever. Any RPG fan who hasn't played a Trails game needs to find time to remedy that glaring oversight, and know that you'll have a captivating reunion-like experience waiting for you with Trails into Reverie. Even if it takes finishing a collection of 40-plus hour RPGs to get there.
Your mileage with the Switch port will depend on your individual tolerance for asset streaming stutter. For those looking for a smoother experience, the Xbox version (and presumably the Playstation port) can offer that. But the Switch provides a flawed though still highly enjoyable time overall.
If you're already familiar with this game, you won't be missing out on any meaningful extras by skipping this release, but if you are new to Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective it is a must play. It is one of those games that doesn't need a sequel or prequel but is a perfectly self-contained story that truly hasn't aged a day. I couldn't be happier that Ghost Trick has been brought back to life one more time.
It's not about speedrunning, collecting hundreds of objects, or even fighting any enemies. Instead, Smushi finds joy in the moments where you can just explore this big world as a tiny little mushroom, making it just feel great to play. For those wanting to have a brief but cozy experience for an afternoon, or if you want to introduce a younger player to what a 3D-platformer is all about, this is one indie you don't want to miss.
Harmony: Fall of Reverie is a fascinating and experimental exercise in how to write a branching narrative in a way that keeps the player occupied with more than just the occasional binary choice. The way it handles the path the player takes as they progress, especially with the mechanic of gathering crystals, is like nothing else that I have ever played. While it is a shame that the loading screen issues drag the experience down a bit, for fans of narratives in video games and the unique ways only a game can tell them, Harmony is well worth a look.
undefined.While I'm here, let me give a quick note on Pikmin 2: It's been a long time since I played Pikmin 2 so I didn't want to write a hasty review of it without really putting time into it, but as far as I can tell it also appears to be a straight port of the New Play Control version with the same control scheme on Switch as Pikmin 1. The single immediate change I could see was that the Duracell battery in the game's opening stage has been replaced with a fake generic brand, which probably applies to the other licensed real-world products throughout the game.
undefined.If you've ever played We Love Katamari or any version of the original Katamari Damacy, then you already know what you'll be getting into with We Love Katamari Reroll. It's an incremental improvement at best-both as a sequel to Katamari Damacy and as a port of We Love Katamari-but if that's all you're looking for then the end result will certainly be satisfying. Katamari is already such an unusual game that maybe its sequel doesn't need to be particularly groundbreaking, and since it's so rare for any Katamari game to be released at all it's absolutely a good place to start for anyone that hasn't gotten to experience the series' weird and wonderful vibes.