Cubed3's Reviews
Whilst not a lot happens on-screen during tracks, the presentation is still lovely and vibrant, with colours and panels changing and shifting in time with the great range of music on offer. Although VOEZ doesn't really lend itself well to long periods of play, many of the tracks are short enough that it can be played in quick bursts now and then, perhaps unlocking the generic light-hearted visual novel in the process. Comfort is a point of contention, but the concept is so incredibly simple and appealing that just about anybody will be able to pick up and enjoy tapping away to these beats. A welcome addition to the genre and the Switch library.
While Touhou Genso Wanderer is not a game with wide mass appeal, it is exactly everything its fan base wants from a dungeon crawler.
Journey is a masterpiece, one that still holds up well years after it came out. It's indicative of the industry that there still doesn't feel like there's anything else like it. Many could call it the original walking simulator, but in reality, it was a game that proved that what we perceive as a game or not may be wildly wrong. It's hard to find an experience that can make being wrong so enjoyable.
Activision and Toys for Bob have once more delivered a highly entertaining adventure, filled with hidden goodies galore, and an amusing script, on top of an extremely solid platforming escapade. Newcomers may grow frustrated at the amount of content locked behind 'pay walls' ('toy' walls?) but the core story has enough meat to keep early Nintendo Switch adopters satiated; as for long-term fans with a large toy collection, this is superb.
There are exclusive titles on every console that epitomise the system; titles that are indelibly linked with that hardware through future generations. Adventures like The Last of Us, like Kingdom Hearts, like GoldenEye and Super Mario 64. Horizon: Zero Dawn stands worthily alongside these iconic releases. The story is enthralling, the open world is lush and inviting, the gameplay extremely addictive, and the sheer scale of it all is amazingly vast. Simply put, this is a phenomenal game.
The freedom imbued in the gargantuan and beautiful world of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands' Bolivia sure makes this a worthwhile purchase, but only if you plan to enjoy it with a couple of friends, and only if willing to put up with the standard issues of most sandbox titles, like repetition, repetition, and, most importantly, repetition.
A wasted opportunity. Some decent graphics and a couple of engaging puzzles aren't enough to save Dying: Reborn. The overreliance on safes, keypads and combinations highlight the developer's lack of imagination. This feels like a step backwards from the older low-fi titles from Konami and Capcom, who figured out how to make interesting and fun puzzles in horror games. While this version of Dying: Reborn is a better buy than the PSVR edition, it is not better by much.
The main problem with Switch - Or Die Trying is that it has clever ideas, but doesn't take advantage of them. Game mechanics, when they're not fully explored, are just gimmicks. If switching is integral, then it needs to have a presence in the entirety of the game, not just a portion. Maybe the switch could have more abilities, such as powering fans that push the hero where he needs to go. Ghosts could chase him, depending on whether he's a big I or a little i. This puzzle-platformer has a lot of untapped potential, and that's a shame.
Like many others of its ilk, New Frontier Days - Founding Pioneers is full of the types of mechanics that make for very addictive gameplay - the type that have that "just one more minute" gameplay. Despite how it makes the hours fly by, though, this is ultimately a boring grind with no real depth, no heart, and nothing special here. With the superb Stardew Valley on the horizon for Nintendo Switch, fans of these types of games should try holding out until then and give this one a pass. Heck, you would even be better off with Farmville to tide you over…
2Dark is mostly a triumph for Gloomywood. It is impressive and refreshing that a skilled user could play a survival horror stealth game that can be completed without killing anyone. Sure, sometimes accidents happen and a kid dies a horrible bloody death, which can lead to both horrific shock and bemused laughter... at the same time no less, but that is the weird and wonderful tone of 2Dark. Inane inventory system and difficulty spike aside, this is a very interesting and free-form survival horror that dares to be a little different. A humble little game that really tries its best to get people to invest in saving children and be heroic with no shred of irony.
Over the past several years, DRPG developer Experience has become one of the leaders of the genre. With titles like Stranger of Sword City Revisited it's easy to see why. The original game was already quite good, so Experience took all of the feedback to heart to craft a thoroughly enhanced version. The changes make the adventure more accessible, yet at the same time they don't push away fans of the original; in fact, there are now more options to consider and new challenges to overcome. All in all, while Escario is a pretty lousy vacation destination for working on that tan, it's still a thoroughly fantastic city to spend a lot of time in.
Death Squared needs to be congratulated for bringing much needed diversity to the couch co-op market. While there is a lot to like about how it approaches co-operative design, the player is often left, though, with the feeling that it would be a lot easier and simpler if they were to just solve the puzzles on their own. Although co-operative play is tense, fun, and rewarding for the most part, the temptation for one player to dictate the play and take control hampers any chance for that cheer to spread across all the people involved. What should be a test of mind and logic instead is a test of patience and will, which for some will be a delight but for others an arduous task.
Blaster Master Zero is a brief and faithful successor to Blaster Master. This may not be as hard as the NES game; it has modern conveniences like checkpoints and save files as it slavishly pays lip service to the classic. It does Sunsoft justice and perfectly captures that distinctive Sunsoft sound that they were known for in the NES generation.
The Secret Monster Society - Chapter 2: Time, Dreams and Underwater Travel picks up where the first chapter left off, improving in almost every way, including funnier quips, smarter (and tougher) puzzles, along with the same gorgeous visual style, superb voice acting, and amazing Banjo-Kazooie-esque soundtrack. It cuts off a bit quicker than expected, but for its low price there is definitely a fantastic ride here to get you through until Chapter 3 rolls around. There are still some quirks that linger from the first chapter, but hopefully they will be fixed ahead of the release of Chapter 3.
This year's edition of the Just Dance series lifts the game beyond its former releases thanks to its focus on treating players to various extras the more they play, as well as integrating the online component so smoothly. There will always be a tendency to jiggle the Joy-Con randomly - as with the Wii Remote in the past - in the hopes of cheating to get a decent score, but some of the fun factor is removed by doing that. Just Dance 2017 on Nintendo Switch is as close to perfection in the genre as possible, even if this version has lost some of the features included in the already released Wii U edition.
Yes, this is way too expensive; yes, it's in need of a decent amount of fine-tuning here and there; and yes, after getting a taste of a mini-game you have pretty much experienced everything it has to offer. However, while 1-2 Switch is not as good as it should be for a launch title, and although it gives a bitter tech demo aftertaste, it's hard to deny how fun it can be when gathering a bunch of friends ready to go bat-switch crazy with it.
What a hidden gem! Snipperclips: Cut it Out, Together is a definite must-buy on Nintendo Switch, showing off not just a fantastic idea with great puzzles, but driving home the team-work element that works so well on Switch thanks to its 'play anywhere, anytime' ethos. Sit with a friend, get family members involved, or even go it alone, play it in tabletop mode, portable, or even on the big screen - whatever the case, it all works perfectly. This is going to eat away at the hours, without a doubt. SFB Games and Nintendo have struck gold with this one.
It is refreshing to see something that feels fresh in a genre that often sadly feels all too similar, and the ingenious part is that the developer has simply taken familiar elements to do this. Anyone who has ever played any Magic: The Gathering-inspired TCG is going to feel right at home with the card structure, but the board adds much complexity in a form rarely seen in the genre. This complexity and single-player makes it a perfect game for both veterans and newcomers to the genre who want to dip their toes in the deep waters and get a fully competitive experience.
Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment is exceptional. It's always incredible to see what new ways Yacht Club Games is able to reimagine the same universe, and without fail, it does it in a way that makes the experience feel completely fresh. While the setting may be similar, Specter of Torment is so completely unlike the previous two games, both in setting and gameplay. Everything about it is absolutely addictive and impossible to put down, making it a perfect launch title for the Nintendo Switch.
Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey's story isn't going to impress and combat will rarely, if ever, offer any semblance of a real challenge but Gust has tucked so much care into the overworld and crafting that the plot and action feels inconsequential most of the time, and the tense free narrative is a nice concept that can easily be realised fully in the next instalment. Firis is far from a perfect JRPG or high point for the franchise, but it's an admirable effort that shows that Gust still has a few tricks up its sleeves eighteen entries and twenty years in the game.