NintendoWorldReport
HomepageNintendoWorldReport's Reviews
Tsum Tsum Festival is not built to produce a competitive atmosphere, but is rather a heart-warming collection of mini-games. My husband, John, and I played most of the games in a cooperative mode because, frankly, it was way more fun. But if you're going to have John on your team for Bubble Hockey, for the love of Tsum Tsum don't have him guard the goal.
Aside from the clunky controls and tedious animations, nothing about the game is really offensive, but there's just no hook that managed to keep me invested up to the end. The aesthetic is overall eye-catching, but it can't hide the fact that Incredible Mandy is simply not that incredible. There's nothing wrong with a simple game, but simplicity only works if there's a high level of polish to back it up.
If you find yourself craving some puzzles and English accents, Mystery Journey is a game you should look into picking up.
Coming off the heels of the original and the Bayonetta games, however, there is virtually no reason to play this game unless you're truly curious. I enjoyed the four-hour adventure as a good distraction, but the glaring problems, such as the camera and story, left a bad taste in my mouth. There are certainly worse games to play, but if you're itching for a new game in the genre to play, you may want to look elsewhere.
It takes the fun original release and turns it into something pretty special. The Switch could be a fantastic new start for Lucky. Who knows, maybe he could have a crossover with another Nintendo fox someday. While the Switch has no shortage of great 3D platformers, New Super Lucky's Tale shouldn't be too far from the top of your list.
That being said, the real star of the show are the activities themselves. With 34 minigames to choose from, this is one of the most packed games in series history. It helps that the button controls work quite well, and help to sell the experience just that teensy bit more.
If I didn't have a pub's worth of RPGs on the Switch already to deal with, I could see myself putting thousands of hours into Disgaea 4 Complete+. The story is a blast, and the combat is addictive enough while also being a nice change from the huge maps of Three Houses. Right now, D4 is the best bet if you're looking for some humor to go along with your strategy, dood.
As stated before, if you’re not a fan of the genre as it is, Skullgirls probably won’t change your mind, but if you’re interested in fighting games or already enjoy them as a whole, this is one title you should probably pick up.
Even the Switch port isn't quite as good as RE4's, running at an inconsistent framerate that never manages to hit 60fps—sometimes not even hitting 30fps. I had a good time playing through a chunk of the game online with a friend, but playing on my own was just dull. It's probably true that RE5 was never going to live up to RE4's legacy, but now, a decade after its original release, I think it even fails to live up to its own.
In that sense, Ring Fit Adventure simply hits it out of the park and never looks back. I couldn't believe how well it scaled to my needs, which Nintendo deserves a lot of praise for. Spectacular stuff through and through.
Expect to spend about five hours playing through the story of Eliza, assuming that the solitaire minigame doesn’t end up becoming much of a distraction.
I do wish that your AI co-op buddy was a bit more competent, but that's a minor gripe. All in all, though, the time flew by and the smile stayed on my face through almost the entire playthrough. This action RPG promises a wonderful treat if you're looking for a pretty dense game.
After spending time with Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD, I'm still confused as to why this specific game was the pick to revive the franchise. The 10 mini-games included aren't that strong and the main game is mediocre at best, dragged down by the motion-focused level design and abysmal boss battles. On one hand, I was happy to play Super Monkey Ball again, but on the other, I wish I could play a better Super Monkey Ball game.
The Final Cut of Genesis Aladdin is the game-playing standout, featuring an array of refinements and improvements for a 25+ year old game. But the actual best part of this package is the Criterion Collection-like additions, specifically the bountiful interviews with the original developers. This is an essential entry into the greater view of video game history and I'm so happy that a collection like this exists.
Overall, I have pretty mixed feelings about Close to the Sun. I love the setting and the atmosphere, but the technical problems, chase sequences, and lack of story cohesion ultimately left me wanting.
The ScareScraper is a lovely time as well, though with content being strapped back for a singular, clean game mode. Players who want to continuously enjoy the game might be better off trying to 100% the Story Mode. The collectibles are nicer to deal with now, which makes exceeding those initial ten hours not even a problem. Oh, and that Slam attack is pretty incredible as well.
Let's Sing Country is a totally fine karaoke game that has a pretty lacking tracklist. It has made the conversion to Switch just fine as it's easy to read the lyrics even in handheld mode and the mobile phone app means you don't need microphones to have fun. However, there's just not enough songs to make it worth buying for most would-be singers.
But the bad puzzles are so incredibly frustrating and feel so much more difficult than anything that came before them that they overshadow the entire game. It never feels good to solve a puzzle through sheer trial and error, and while every puzzle game has one or two duds there are just too many in Kine to allow for the good puzzles to feel worth it. It's a shame that such a beautiful aesthetic was wasted on this, because the game is not nearly as exciting as the jazz riffs that accompanies it.
The overall case is somewhat neat and tidy - it won't take you much more than a few hours to solve the mystery - but the journey along the way is enjoyable. The voice acting and standout art and animation fits the distinctive characters very well, and with few exceptions, the puzzles and deduction sequences are engaging and brain-wrinkling. I hope this is the start of a new era in Detective Grimoire's career, because I wouldn't mind revisiting this world and gameplay style again soon.
Up until then, progress is smooth with excellently designed and balanced puzzles throughout. The docked controls are functional but handheld play is where Eyes of Ara really shines. If you're part of the ever more niche crowd who still enjoys clicking their way through a complex environment, reading journals, and solving deep puzzles, Eyes of Ara ought to satisfy.