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If you're down with all sorts of in-jokes and spent way too much time online in the late 2000s, you probably already picked up Treachery in Beatdown City. If you're still on the fence, it's a brisk experience with a unique style of gameplay, and the dialogue is as skippable as you need it to be. It's a good debut game from a studio I'll be keeping an eye on going forward.
Pair that with beautifully-crafted environments, vibrant colors, and a compelling story and you have a game that plays and looks great. If the performance was on point, this would have been one of the premier puzzle experiences in the first half of 2020. Still, A Fold Apart is one to pick up and play if you can look past the framerate issues.
Overall, it’s a solid package, but not good as a jumping-in point.
I found the quick and eye-catching combat to be both satisfying and exciting; you can even earn bonuses depending on how fast you defeat enemies and whether or not you take damage in the process. The character endings I saw felt a little lackluster, but I'm compelled enough by the presentation and the simplicity of the gameplay to run through the adventure again. It might not be the drastic departure that some remakes are, but the Trials of Mana remake is a wonderful RPG palette cleanser for Mana newcomers and veterans alike.
Seeing their health meters drop both galvanizes your resolve and heightens your dread; yes, you're edging closer to victory, but your opponent is about to ramp their attack up to 11. The 18 total bosses each present a unique and satisfying challenge, and if you find any of them too daunting, you can increase your damage by 2x or even turn on invulnerability. Fans of tough, bullet-hell style action sequences will be able to slake their thirst here, but don't go into it expecting much more than a solid boss rush.
With how consistent Jupiter's Picross quality has been over the years, it isn't a surprise that Picross S4 is very good. With just shy of 500 puzzles, it's worth your puzzling time. I just hope that in the future, Color Picross can have a bigger presence and maybe someday touchscreen controls can return.
Boot Hill Bounties would be considered a serviceable JRPG without the bugs. The visual glitches are just out-of-place, but the progress-ending bug in the opening tutorial had me worried every time I would open a menu or click through dialogue that my playthrough would be ended prematurely. Given that the story, systems, and mechanics are so familiar, it's a shame Boot Hill Bounties does nothing to make its versions unique or exciting outside of the trope-filled, spaghetti-western theme.
The idea of an open world to explore and goof around with friends is hampered by awful controls, an empty world, tedious gameplay, and a boatload of glitches. There are far better options for party games on Switch that will give you much less frustration, guaranteed. While the aim was clearly to deliver a goofy package, it seems the package never quite arrived.
The retro era style of graphics and gameplay that’s best enjoyed in short bursts is a good fit for the mobile platform. It may not be as exciting as a flamethrowing guitarist chasing down folks escaping from a post-apocalyptic dictator, but it's still a refreshing take on a genre looking for a new lease on life.
Even with a handful of mild problems, Billion Road is a fun local multiplayer board game on Switch.
There are little complaints on both ends, but none of them make the games uninteresting. That being said, there are long loading times afoot and games are a little on the darker side of things. If you have an eye for detail and are in for terrific time, then both 2033 and Last Night are journeys worth having.
Other than that, I came away from In Other Waters so pleased with the experience. While the action of playing the game is threadbare, the tone being set between the repetitive motions of exploration, your doctoral companion's calm demeanor, a serene and mysterious accompaniment, and the satisfaction of each new discovery makes for a divine experience. If you're looking for an interactive balm for your spare time or something to sate a sense of discovery without needing action-packed stimulation, sink into these waters and let them wash over you.
In terms of what is on offer for a veteran gamer or someone who is familiar with the franchise, you will find this is a lacking option with not a lot of change, variation, or improvements. Motion control issues hamper the experience for anyone going for full completion, and the rest of what you see will remind you of one of the Wii-era titles in the series straight from 2007. As a family game, Cooking Mama: Cookstar offers a serviceable experience for your children for an evening.
Gunbrick: Reloaded is just super fun and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a challenging but not punishing puzzle platformer. The standard levels and boss battles are charmingly difficult and the new isometric mode is a blast, the game just left me wanting more. Nitrome continues to show some great support for the Switch, and I personally can't wait to see what they have next up their sleeve.
Tharsis would be a game I would enjoy playing on a tabletop with some buddies, while drinking some beers, and enjoying our repeated failures. However, as a single-player video game, with only a few extra missions to take you out of the basic gameplay loop that is consistently frustrating, the overall experience has all the right parts but just leaves too much up to chance to be enjoyable.
This isn’t the next great shoot-’em-up, but it’s competent and playable and accessible. Galaxy Warfighter would be a great game to introduce a new player to the genre, but it’s just as good at being a background activity. Even though seasoned pilots should probably steer clear, there’s room in the galaxy for new or laid back cadets to take this one for a spin.
Its writing can be fun for its short duration, the voice acting is pleasant to listen to, and the music by Shantae and Shovel Knight composer Jake Kaufman is at the very least catchy. However, if you're not already a fan of the genre or even if you prefer more meat on the bones of the ones you play, this game likely isn't going to get you what you want. Its slow pace and short runtime may turn some players off, but if you're looking for a way to kill an hour or so it may still be worth a look.
Once again with this series on this platform, the nostalgia is strong with those who stick by this as an example of what gaming should be today, but new players should be aware of what this game actually is, so that their expectations can be properly tempered. Jedi Academy takes the foundation of its previous game and uses player customization to provide polish and a deeper engagement with the story in a 10-12 hour experience, but it falls short in providing meaningful options in both side missions and online play. If that earns your purchase, then the question remains: what kind of Jedi will you become?.
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I can heartily recommend this game to any Metroidvania-fan looking for a new challenge.