Cubed3's Reviews
The Great Circle is, by far, the best Indiana Jones media since The Last Crusade. While its story plays things a bit too safe, it's probably for the best after the last two contentious films (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Dial of Destiny). Indy works best when he's a young escapist character that men wish they could be. He shouldn't ever be depicted as old and tired, which has been a trend with many legacy characters lately. While Gina sucks as a deuteragonist, the overall adventure is so wonderful that it's easy to forget she spoils the puzzles. The gameplay is tight and well polished, offering classic action-adventure fun packed with puzzles, stealth, and battles to keep things fresh, all wrapped up in some of the cleanest, slickest production values out there. It's an absolute technical marvel on Nintendo Switch 2, and the gyro-aim options make it more enjoyable to play than on other consoles.
The nicest thing that can be said about Mixtape is that it has imaginative visuals and that the animation quality is pretty good. Adventure game fans won't find much intrigue or excitement because the experience is suffocatingly automated, and all the set-pieces offer no challenge. The biggest sin Mixtape commits is that it's ultimately insufferably boring and pretentious.
Gear.Club Unlimited 3 offers solid handling, a generous car roster, and welcome two‑player split‑screen support, yet the overall experience struggles to rise above average. Technical inconsistency across both visual modes, dated presentation, rubber‑banding AI, and a repetitive progression loop limit the game’s impact, while the absence of online multiplayer reduces its long‑term appeal. There are enjoyable moments, particularly in short sessions, but the Switch 2 debut of the series falls short of the standard set by Eden Games’ earlier work.
For its modest price, Easy Delivery Co. uhh... delivers on its promise and then some. It's a fine blend of relaxing and eerie mystique that drives the intrigue forward while having a simplistic yet addictive loop. The handling and driving mechanics, combined with the object physics, add a nice layer of depth. After all, it’s cool as hell and satisfying to drift with a stack of boxes in the trunk. There really isn't a single aspect to point to that doesn't work. It's the perfect kind of game to wind down to after work on a rainy night.
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is a bold and captivating puzzle game that stands out for its dedication to truly challenging the player. Not everything works; the story is pretentious and hard to care about, with the constant stream of puzzles to work on. It doesn’t help that the big reveal is pretty mundane, not particularly engaging, and veers toward cliché. What makes Lorelei and the Laser Eyes so cool is its distinctive audio-visual style, the open-ended nature of its puzzles, the dreamlike atmosphere, and the sheer boldness of some of its more obtuse puzzle designs that demand admiration.
Vampire Crawlers oozes charm both in its visual presentation and gameplay loop. It truly hits that ‘one more round’ feeling and knocks it out of the park. Whether the game will shape a new genre quite the way its spin-off predecessor did is probably unlikely. However, when it comes to card battling games – and that’s a very competitive field these days – Crawlers has already launched itself right into being one of the most impressive ones on the market. Playing it on the go with the Switch 2 is a bonus as it is the perfect match for taking a quick 15-minute break from work, or as a time sink on a plane or bus journey. Priced at a tenner, the guys at Poncle have also taken on board the benefits of a competitive price point at attracting both fans and casual gamers alike.
For those looking for the tightest combat system that encourages the player to use every tool in their toolkit, Akuma Rise is a fantastic title. For those looking for more than turn-based combat, it is better to go elsewhere. While Akuma Rise encourages world exploration, it just feels cheap and hollow beyond the mechanical aspects. The story is unengaging, and the women in the party are quickly reduced to little more than love interests. Their interactions beyond the honeymoon dialogue are constantly marked by bickering and jealousy. It removes what initially makes them likeable and haves them fit a tight, boring mould seen far too often in the genre. Great traditional combat saves what is otherwise an eye-rolling experience - but it really does carry it well, as it sadly has to.
Jupiter understands very well how to turn a simple puzzle game into something that provides not only hours of playtime, but also changes things up to make them interesting and fun. Couple this with a good dose of nostalgia via Konami retro titles, and there it is: the perfect, (mostly) relaxing, nostalgia-inducing puzzle game to fill your evenings!
OneShot: World Machine Edition is an unbelievable triumph of video game storytelling and adventure game design. It's simple enough that anyone can pick it up and figure it out, but it has enough depth to keep it interesting. Its strength lies in its atmosphere, storytelling, and the emotional connection players have with the characters, especially Niko. It’s an incredible experience that takes around five hours to complete, with even more time for those who explore the alternate endings, all for just a few dollars and often available on sale.
Sayonara Wild Hearts is a beautiful-looking and sonically dazzling work of art, yes...but like most arty games, it lacks a compelling hook. The very bare mechanics can be generously called "gameplay", in that there is moving a character on a screen and pressing button prompts, but there's no substance at all. Doing a perfect run and not making mistakes for a flawless music video should be a reward. It shouldn't have been given away to just anyone. Overcoming a "broken heart" is not easy in real life, and that should have been reflected in the gameplay.
For those who enjoy a straightforward revenge story with complicated combat, this is the game to play. There are no technical issues on Nintendo Switch; however, both story and characters seem to be a tad too predictable at times. Additionally, while combat promises interesting abilities and actions, the tutorials are too confusing to really get into it. Overall, Tales of Berseria Remastered lacks in its story and characters the most.
InKonbini has one rule and one rule alone: stress is illegal. Because of the liberating approach to life this management sim has…it turns out there’s not much managing to do. You’re not running a store, you’re vibing in it, restocking shelves just because it feels good to do so, while also helping the insane number of one customer find a can of [insert favourite Asian food]. There’s zero pressure, zero chaos, and honestly, barely a game. Everyone’s nice, nothing goes wrong, and problems probably took the week off. It’s a super-relaxing and charming vacation in a calm Japanese store. A very good one, but probably not for everyone.
Playing this excellent port of Resident Evil Village - Gold Edition in handheld is transformative. The whole experience is here with all of its fingers intact, though the same can't be said of the protagonist. For Nintendo fans who haven't had a chance to play this Resident Evil instalment, this is a fantastic entry point. With a few performance patches, it could well be one of the best ways to play bar none. Successfully following RE7, Village is a good jump off point for people looking for a less concentrated experience than RE: Requiem. Highly recommended horror gaming!
An adaptation of Lovecraft’s popular short story, The Nameless City focuses on exploration and foreboding atmosphere rather than action, while its mundane-yet-otherworldly visuals create effective tension during the hero’s descent into ruins he shouldn’t descend into. There are a few problems that make it a hard sell, however. Some, like a couple of visual flaws, are minor. Others, like the lack of depth when it comes to the gameplay, are a bit harder to stomach. Its brief runtime also leaves ideas underdeveloped despite occasional moments of genuine cosmic horror.
While the premise itself doesn't stand up to much scrutiny, Opus: Echo of Starsong is loosely interesting from a soft sci-fi perspective. The problem is the story doesn't go anywhere and most of the characters are annoying. For a story based on character interaction, when the interaction leaves the reader put off by the plot, there isn't much left.
The final part of the original trilogy looks and plays better than its previous two entries, but the cheap difficulty that was introduced sucks the fun out of Ninja Gaiden III. That said, the extra challenging US edition is now more beatable than ever thanks to save states and the rewind feature. By including the original Japanese version, too, there is every chance of getting through Ryu’s third NES adventure without the need to utilise the benefits of this Console Archives release.
While an interesting concept, Magin: The Rat Project Stories just falls short in every department after the beginning. The writing is so filled with profanities that it comes off as immature rather than adult. What is worse, though, is that the card-based combat system becomes repetitive because the game punishes the player for experimenting. Great concept on paper, but poorly executed.
Rogue Incursion can be an excellent Nintendo Switch 2 game if it gets a patch or two to address its technical hiccups. Mouse mode is completely broken and unusable, but the gyro-aim is effective and plays into the game's VR roots. Alien: Rogue Incursion - Evolved Edition is a pretty solid horror game despite its hang-ups and lack of originality. For its modest price, you can expect about five hours of thrills, and it’s solid enough to inspire hope for part two whenever that releases. If anything, a semi-episodic model like this, where a game is released in cheaper yet substantial chunks, shows that the approach can work, letting players enjoy a mostly complete experience without waiting years for a sequel.
A calming, creative experience built around the joy of arranging and personalising small spaces, the simple but cute look and relaxing atmosphere of MakeRoom make it easy to lose track of time while experimenting with ideas. It thrives when you let your own imagination free, as it's more focused on offering a gentle, low-pressure escape rather than gamey, structured goals. Sadly, the clunky controls, its somewhat cumbersome interface, and the lack of placement precision can interrupt the flow, making the experience feel less smooth than it could be.
Does Huntdown pass the test of capturing the spirit of the ‘80s, or is it just another neon-coated imposter? It passes - with flying colours, and probably a slow-motion explosion behind it. It has all the necessary ingredients: the excess, the attitude, the willingness to be completely ridiculous while still delivering something genuinely entertaining beyond the wonderful pixel art that dresses it all. It won’t eat up more than a week of your life (and that’s being generous), but some action games are just better as snacks rather than full meals.