Cubed3's Reviews
Even with their linear nature, the gameplay of these games is the high point in the series, offering loads of customizability and the ability to plan out the next move. Use your own strengths or reduce weaknesses - anything is possible. Unfortunately, the characters never really bond, at least not in a way that truly binds them together - not even thematically.
Tiny Barbarian DX is a great throwback adventure that tries to blend the best of both worlds, with clever platforming stages and challenging bosses that threaten to destroy many Joy-Cons. Fortunately, the game is very forgiving, by offering unlimited lives and constant checkpoints on nearly every single screen. With shiny diamonds to find, coins to collect, and food to regain health, the campaign is heavily reliant on its point-based system to extend the longevity of this game's playability. If bragging rights for high scores doesn't sound interesting, though, then playing through the campaign once is enough to fill in that longing void for the 8-bit and 16-bit games of old.
Brawlout attempts to fill a niche that is currently not occupied on the Switch. Unfortunately, being plagued by a rushed launch, it is not fully polished and feels lacking in content. Combat, the main focus of this platform fighter, feels clunky and requires a fair amount of tweaking before it's "just right." Paired with a handful of bugs and questionable mechanics, competitive players might not be satisfied with the current status of this title, but more casual players or those who want a party game with friends can find some enjoyment to be had here.
They are both well worth the purchase even now that they are not free anymore.
While it may be easy to disregard Blossom Tales as a simple Zelda clone, the amount of charm and effort put into making it wholly unique, while honouring its inspiration, is both admirable and deserving of attention.
Even Mario Party die-hards will struggle to find much to enjoy in this rudimentary compilation. There are occasional glimmers of nostalgic genius, but they are few and far between when compared to the plainness of the side modes, brevity of the single-player campaign, and length of the list of dud mini-games on offer. It's a fun distraction for a couple of hours, but Mario Party: The Top 100 lacks the replayability of a mainline Mario Party title, making it a hard sell in the face of its more complete-feeling siblings.
It's a bold claim, but Final Fantasy IX is the best PS1 era Final Fantasy, and easily one of the best the series has ever produced. With it being on PS4 and PC, even if you don't want to visit a garage sale or local game shop to grab a PS1, you can now play one of the best RPGs ever created. While it manages to only just fall short of greatness, it does so with a level of grace so memorizing, it's hard to believe sometimes. If you still aren't convinced, just play to the final cutscene. That should convince you just fine.
It is really depressing to play a game like Hyakki Castle. It has some things that could have made it a good game in a vastly underrepresented genre. It got the atmosphere just right, which is one of the most difficult things to nail perfectly. However, it is dragged down by many things that while independently does not ruin a game, it destroys the game when combined. Bad mouse and keyboard controls would not ruin a game, but the painful process of making gamepads work with the game does as it is almost mandatory to use a gamepad to enjoy the game at all, and do not even get started on the hunger system that makes exploring, which is one of the core pillars of enjoyment in the genre heavily, punishable. In the end, while it is easy to want to like Hyakki Castle and see how it could have been a great game, it is too hard to not see that it isn't a good game.
Not much happens in the final episode of Life is Strange: Before the Storm, and, at first, it doesn't seem to matter as, instead of any new stuff, it's the "feels" that are in the spotlight this time around. The only true problem seems to be the sleep-inducingly slow pacing of it all, something that sort of ruins the end of this prequel.
Abstract and downright mesmerising, Embers Of Mirrim is one of the most impressive platformers this generation.
Initially stepping into Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon, it feels even worse than the first outing. It's retreading the same ground with the story, but doing it with an inferior overall plot and some cringe-worthy writing for the dialogue. The gameplay is highly repetitive, both on exploring the world and on the generic mash-y gameplay, but, despite all the negatives, there's actually some fun to be had here. The large amount of side-quests and the varied mixture of support characters make revisiting areas to find all the little secrets enjoyable.
Curse of Osiris doesn't really do anything to enhance the Destiny 2 experience, aside from the new raid and some nice quality of life upgrades.
Tadpole Treble is an enjoyable, well presented rhythm game, with a wonderful composition mode, full of great moments and creative level design, with fairly good replay value. Its extent falls short, and there's room for making the rhythm aspect more engaging, but neither of those flaws overshadows its overall amusing and memorable experience.
Pinball FX3 leaves some things to be desired on the technical side of things, which can only be hoped to see fixed in the near future through an update since it looks and performs rougher than even its predecessor on the Wii U and, at least in terms of performance in handheld mode, worse than on the 3DS. Nevertheless, Pinball FX3 is an excellent way to experience original virtual pinball tables in this day and age, if not the go-to and indispensable way of doing so. Fans of pinball and/or Zen Studios' previous efforts in that area should then definitely give this new hub game a flip, but bear in mind the current technical limitations that are hard to fathom and which are yet to be resolved.
As a conclusion (possibly for good) to Minecraft: Story Mode Season Two - Episode 5 is still strong, never becoming close to a chore to play. It's just a shame that it ended up being one of the weaker points of the season.
An extremely challenging rhythm game that fans of DJMax will adore. It is no fault of Superbeat: Xonic itself, but the asymmetrical design of the Switch controls means this can take some getting used to, particularly if having played extensively on PS Vita or elsewhere, but being able to play in tablet style with touch controls and the Joy-Con removed eradicates that entirely. The only problem at time of writing is that the touch controls seem bugged. A patch is on the way, which will hopefully mean Xonic will be an essential purchase for Switch rhythm fans.
Absolutely sublime platform action from the team behind Banjo-Kazooie, et al. Yooka-Laylee is everything fans have been waiting for, transporting gamers back to the 3D adventure heyday of the Nintendo 64, but bringing a wealth of updates with it to help it feel not just familiar, but also equally fresh. Between Super Mario Odyssey and this, Nintendo Switch owners are certainly being given some amazing treats in the first 12 months of the system's lifespan!
What was already a fantastic package just got even better. The simple premise of cutting out shapes to solve puzzles is just as engrossing as it was upon release, and the addition of new puzzles for both single-player and multiplayer antics, as well as being able to revisit older puzzles with new pre-made shapes, make Snipperclips Plus: Let's Cut it Out, Together! the ideal treat for Nintendo Switch owners this Christmas...and beyond.
Elite: Dangerous feels a bit like a lifestyle choice, honestly. Getting good at piloting and traversing this universe takes almost as long as a full length game in and of itself. For those who endure, there's some exciting things happening in space, but for the rest, the price might be too high. This is clearly an example of a niche game, a remarkably thorough space sim that requires patience and tenacity to unearth its many secrets.
The End is Nigh is chock-full of content that any hardcore platformer will enjoy. There are hundreds of tumours to collect, and over a dozen game cartridges to search for, along with nonlinear paths that require some exploration to find. The controls are wonderful, and besides a minor adjustment period, feel precise and responsive. Complete with multiple environments and hundreds of levels, the journey to unite Ash with friends and his favourite video games is a rewarding one that is definitely worth checking out.