Cubed3's Reviews
Gun Gun Pixies may not be the most challenging of shooters, it has issues that affect gameplay, and the fanservice will not appeal to all players - however, it rates highly in the fun department for moe afficionados, even featuring characters from Compile Heart and Idea Factory's famous Neptunia series which fits well in the story. It covers a range of issues young people and older ones face such as eating issues and sibling rivalry. The cheerful graphics coupled with the wicked sense of humour from all the dorm residents and the pixies themselves makes the game an enjoyable addition to the Nintendo Switch.
When it's good, Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit is really good. This love letter to Broken Sword and Gabriel Knight-style point-and-click adventures looks great, explores a part of world history that has rarely been touched, and offers plenty of great puzzle-solving that will make you feel like a modern Indiana Jones (or Robert Langdon). At its worse it fails to immerse players into its world, or seems keen on annoying players through puzzles that will test one's patience. Thankfully, while Tag of Joy's creation is very rough around the edges, it mostly leans towards the fun side of the scale.
Pretty much all the pieces for a good detective game are there, but Gamedec fails for a variety of reasons.
Underneath the humorous and colourful, comic-book like exterior of RESEARCH and DESTROY, lies a challenging, but at the very same time super-approachable turn-based strategy game, which also features a unique turn-based system, where everything you do spends actual, real-time seconds, forcing you to be quick on your wits, as well as your hands. Fun as it is, it suffers from repetition, with the constantly respawning monsters adding to that problem even more, marring the tactical aspect of it all.
The joy here is not exploring, fighting, or experiencing a carefully written plot. Seven Pirates H is pretty honest with what it is, so you'll get some tiny amount of fun, but it will be in the form of extremely-casual-friendly gameplay, sexual innuendo-fuelled imagery and dialogue, and anime funbags that grow and change with a little caressing. Does this make the game any less repetitive? Unfortunately not.
Chrono Cross was and remains a great JRPG that has its place in the pantheon of great classics. It's well worth playing especially for fans of the Chrono series who maybe had only ever experienced Chrono Trigger before. This is perhaps not quite as cohesive an experience as its predecessor was, because it plays in a way that's more experimental and not quite as refined, and its plot is a bit harder to follow. However, because of its plot ties to the great original and how it connects to it, it is essential to play for fans of the latter, and despite minor shortcomings that hold it back from being as big a classic, it's still well worth experiencing today. With that in mind, Chrono Cross: Radical Dreamers Edition, as a new release of this classic, is not all that it could or should have been on any platforms, including Nintendo Switch, due to a poor level of performance that's just inexcusable, given that other PS1 games just as demanding as this one made the transition so much better, at least performance-wise.
Aquanox Deep Descent is the "perfect" mediocre game. It does nothing bad, but nothing that good either. From the weak story, characters, and atmosphere, to the almost uninvolving gunfights, and unimaginative quests, this fails at being a big recommendation - especially to fans of the series. Oh, sure it has no competitors in the 'First-person Subaquatic Dystopian RPG' genre, but this doesn't mean it gets a free pass.
Nintendo Switch Sports is a fun sequel that does online right. Those looking for that throwback Wii Sports feel with solid online play will fit right at home. It's great with friends and family in the living-room, too. The main drawback, however, is the lack of content - Golf being absent at launch and returning sports. Nintendo Switch Sports is a solid start, with that familiar feel and the potential to add more content in the future.
Engaging characters and dramatic plot twists teamed with a stellar soundtrack make Mary Skelter Finale one of the best dungeon crawling RPGs on Nintendo Switch. Replayability will happen if the true ending is not reached as all will want the beloved characters to get their final happy ending, and also for the pure joy of being with such a unique lovable cast. Issues such as enemy visuals in battle and at times frustratingly difficult puzzles do not detract much from the overall enjoyment of the final title in the Mary Skelter trilogy whose traumatic start and heart-warming conclusion leaves a memorable imprint on gamers' hearts.
A fantastic and bombastic return to the galaxy far, far away, LEGO Star Wars The Skywalker Saga is a massively exciting game. It's by far one of the best LEGO games ever, returning the series to the heights of the early 2000's but propelling the series' technology and gameplay variety through the roof. Players will find a lot to love, whether a Star Wars fan or not, especially when enjoying the game with a partner or friend. This game is a must-buy title on any platform it supports and a killer app on Series X. True next gen fun, highly recommended!
It's not often that you find a Metroidvania that actually measures up to its models, while still managing to put its own attractive spin on the old formula. Record of Lodoss War -Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth- absolutely delivers and manages to capture the Symphony of the Night look and feel brilliantly, while still being its own title. There are only two real drawbacks that keep the experience from being perfect: performance can have dips, manifested with slowdown rather than dropped frames, but only in circumstances where it doesn't affect gameplay at all. Then, newcomers to the Record of Lodoss War universe will be left completely lost as to who the characters are, and how they relate to one another, making the story tough to care for. Everything else however feels perfect and proved memorable in a way that Konami's eponymous franchise always managed to deliver with its 2D incarnations.
In the words of AC/DC, if you want blood, you got it! Blood delivers on the promise of its name, offering one of the goriest first-person shooters of its generation (and not only). A couple of issues, like it's rough-around-the-edges mouse aim, occasionally irritating and/or boring levels, as well as a difficulty level that's a couple of kilometres too high, keep this from being the classic that it could be, but it's strong horror atmosphere, coupled with its fast-paced action (at least in 'Easy'), and comedic mind-set, makes it a solid cult classic, and a strong recommendation to old-school aficionados.
Continuing the startling violent theme coupled with many moments of raw emotion related to the utter awfulness of humanity, Death end re;Quest 2 certainly delivers for old and new fans alike. While aspects of the battle system could have been explained better, and elements of the voice overs be tweaked, overall it is a superb horror RPG on Nintendo Switch. Replayability will depend how much of a fan of the original players are, and completionists can happily use the skip event mode to make the second play through faster, along with the option of keeping weapons, attack skills, and character levels the same as the end of the first playthrough.
Forgiving it may be, but OlliOlli World has heaps of challenges to complete, and getting through all of the objectives in the last level is no easy feat. The new hand-drawn graphical art style makes it easier to have branching paths and a better sense of depth than ever before, which allows for grander levels and more mechanics to be added. The controls are simple enough, and quick reactions will be needed to fully master all the levels by stringing together one long-combo throughout. An absolute joy to play, and while it is different from the original two, its evolution was much needed to bring the title forward to the current generation of consoles.
Within Persona 4 Arena Ultimax players will find a more-than-decent fighter, that those experienced with Arc System Works games will like quite a lot. Persona fans will enjoy seeing their favourite characters once more, but be warned that the story hasn't been handled as well as one would expect.
For Sci-fi strategy fans Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector is a pretty good hit, even without any exposure to the lore. There is just a lot of good things to say about mowing down aliens hordes. There are some small, but ever-present issues that drag down an otherwise really good experience. The UI is particularly abysmal, and some parts of the game really drag on and bog down, but overall it's a pretty fun deal.
While the overall package is lots of fun, it's not without a few issues. The lack of a truly driving story is by far Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream's weakest point. Furthermore, progression is in general just slow throughout, with endless backtracking. The simplified alchemy system is a mixed bag. It does little to stray from the formula and will be picked up by players exactly for that. It would be nice to see Gust take some risks and really step out with some new ideas rather than re-hashes of the same thing over and over.
Halo is back to its best with Halo Infinite, tight controls, and seriously thirst-quenching gunplay that feels so intuitively satisfying. Traversal has been improved hugely by the addition of the grappleshot, allowing Master Chief to zip around at speed, as well as adding a unique element for multiplayer matches. A particular dampener has to be directed at the online multiplayer, which is riddled with cheaters, but, if they were to be removed then the multiplayer offers a solid free-to-play experience that is fast and frantic. Halo Infinite, alongside a number of other Xbox first-party titles is a great addition to Xbox Game Pass, and it is certainly a marquee game that warrants a subscription to the service.
Hal Laboratory and Nintendo smashed it out of the park with Kirby and the Forgotten Land, adding yet another gem to the already stacked Switch library. No, it's not the most challenging or taxing gameplay experience going, but that's not what one should expect from Kirby either. Perhaps it could be described as the perfect palate cleanser or antidote to those more difficult experiences - and more importantly, unlike those titles, doesn't require as many caveats to its recommendation. For those who enjoy their character designs round, this will likely appease, but at the end of the day, it's just… fun!
Credit should be given for Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin trying something different, and nobody could argue that it certainly is that. With a distinct lack of the plot and character polish, players approaching this as an RPG, can easily overlook this. With such excellent combat options and a real sense of fun throughout though, it more than stands alongside its peers in both the role-playing and Souls-like genres. Why it looks so bad, that's a mystery in itself…