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Everything about Space Jam: A New Legacy – The Game feels as cheap as its price. What’s here isn’t really bad, but it isn’t good either, and it’s over before you know it. If you’re desperate for something to play and need to kill a half-hour, you can do worse. Free is definitely a competitive enough price. Otherwise, if there’s anything in your library or on Game Pass for subscribers that you’ve been meaning to get to, you’ll do a lot better to spend your time playing that.
There’s room on the market for mindless action, especially when it can be played with friends. I’m glad a game like Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance is on Game Pass because that’s the perfect way to get a group of friends playing together. I just wish that once they gathered, they had something better to play. Unfortunately, despite some parts of the game looking and sounding nice, there’s little else to recommend it. With awful AI, weightless combat, an unengaging story, and loot that feels inessential, the entire game is a slog. The biggest fans of Dungeons & Dragons may find a bit of fun with friends, but they deserve better than this.
Backbone gets off to a great start and it definitely has a lot to say. Great visuals and a stunning soundtrack made me want to give it the benefit of the doubt, to ignore its issues. As it goes on though, Backbone loses everything that made it interesting in its early hours. What replaces it is so different that its hardly even the same game. Different doesn’t have to mean bad, but the changes and ideas thrown around in the second half are too underdeveloped to overlook. Perhaps a sequel can allow the development team to further delve into its many themes. I liked enough of Backbone that for most of its running time I was enjoying myself. In its current state though, it’s hard to enthusiastically recommend.
Empire of Angels IV is a perfectly fine game. But you may have noticed that’s a recurring theme of this review; the combat is okay, the story is okay, and the artistic direction is okay. The game does everything just fine, but it doesn’t particularly excel in any one area. If you’re looking for a nice casual game with a pleasant level of challenging content, but aren’t looking for anything deep and engaging, I think you’ll enjoy this game. You can pick up and play whenever without really forgetting much of the story or what you’re doing.
This is absolutely a game worth playing for any tactical RPG fan.
Paradox Error is so concerned with crafting a meta, fourth-wall-breaking experience that it completely neglects the platformer genre’s fundamentals. It is as dull as it is frustrating. Aspects of its design are unnecessarily hostile to the player. There are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of better platformers out there. Aside from a morbid curiosity, there’s little reason to suffer through this one.
Mario Golf: Super Rush isn’t an unplayable game. The core golf is actually quite good, despite some changes, which will have a mixed reception from players. Almost everything around it, however, is either poorly thought out, lacking any personality, or lacking in content. Perhaps down the line, more content will fill it out enough that you can have fun playing only the parts which work, but Camelot has a lot of work to do to get this one to par.
A strikingly immediate game that covers dark subjects most titles wouldn’t dream of approaching, Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! left my jaw on the floor multiple times. I won’t tell you why, or when. You’ll know when you get there. I was at times happy, sad, and truly horrified. I feel bad even telling you that this game isn’t what it looks like, because even that gives away more than I want you to know going in. This is a game that just keeps opening up as you dig deeper and one that even now I can’t stop thinking about, even if a part of me wishes I could.
ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos is by far one of the most impressive visual novels I’ve ever experienced and sets the bar for how the genre should work in VR. I’ve never felt so completely and utterly immersed in not only a game and its world, but in an anime. From the larger-than-life story to the amped up music and visuals, ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos took my breath away time and time again, pushing the limits of what I knew about VR visual novels. If you have a VR headset, a little bit of patience for a slow-burn story, and 20 – 30 hours to really get into everything it has to offer, you’re more or less obligated to pick up ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos.
Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX places me in a bit of a difficult position. On the one hand, I feel fairly confident that fans of the original game will be able to come into this and receive a heaping helping of soul-warming nostalgia. The graphical updates are pleasing to the eye. The updated music may not always carry the game’s tone that it is playing over, but it still sounds great. And there are even a few added levels and slight tweaks to previously existing ones to surprise players. For those people, my numeric rating would be more likened to a 4 out of 5. However, for folks like myself that are experiencing this for the first time for any reason other than a history lesson will be confronted with annoying controls and a somewhat serviceable but unexciting adventure that, in this reviewer’s opinion, didn’t quite stand up to the test of time.
Scarlet Nexus does so much right that it’s a shame some of these troubles hold it back. They feel like the sort of things tied up in creating something new, problems that exist due to a lack of budget or different groups working on the game not being entirely on the same page until later in development. Still, despite these flaws, Scarlet Nexus brings an impressive new world to life while featuring deeply engaging combat. That’s no small thing. Fans of the genre will find a game well worth their time. I only hope that in a few years, we’ll be playing an even stronger sequel which irons out these nagging issues.
Despite any perceived difficulties experienced in Narita Boy, all can be forgiven if you enjoy a world that immerses itself completely in the tech of a bygone era. There’s something to be said about racing against the digital wind on a CRT-horse in a pixelated world that looks like the SNES Star Wars game but feels like that infamous Battletoads level. If you know that exact vibe I’m talking about, you gotta check out Narita Boy. After all, the fate of the Digital Kingdom rests in your hands.
Honestly, there’s very little I can find in the way of criticism for this game. It’s stunningly gorgeous, intuitive and creative, and a delightfully unique little puzzle-platformer. The game is beautiful and oddly moving, considering the complete lack of dialogue. If you need something a little different from your standard platformer, give Out of Line a try.
Pathway has a lot to offer. It’s got aspects of a tabletop roleplaying/board/resource management/strategy game all in one. And while that may sound like a confusing mash-up, it’s executed quite well. Really, my biggest complaint is the steep difficulty curve, as each mission seems significantly more difficult than the one before it. While there are options to reduce the difficulty, even still it felt needlessly hard at times. The last thing I’d like to mention about this game is something I haven’t encountered before: the ability to turn off the violence against the dogs in the game. Sometimes you will be attacked by dogs, and there is an option that when you defeat them, rather than dying, you can have them simply run away. As a lover of doggos (especially my derpy dog, Link), I found this to be a wonderful addition to the game.
I suppose it’s fitting that Zed should be the protagonist of Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny because, much like a zombie itself, this game feels lost and incomplete. I know I’ve been harsh, but none of this has been fun for me. I wanted Disgaea 6 to be the best Disgaea yet. But it isn’t. What makes this even more ironic is that Disgaea 6, by normal SRPG standards, is fine. It’s really not bad at all. But Disgaea games have never been “normal SRPGs.” They’re Disgaea games. And, as far as that’s concerned, Disgaea 6 can’t so much as hold a candle to its predecessors. That’s not something that I can overlook so easily, especially after a six-year wait.
Fossil Corner takes an extremely simple scientific concept and turns it into an utterly addictive puzzle mechanic. Sure, it gets repetitive and maybe doesn’t offer much in terms of fossil diversity, but I dare you to tell me that you can just play one round (newsflash, you can’t). If you’re looking for a puzzle game that you can zone out to after a stressful day, Fossil Corner is your game. Just… keep an eye on the clock if you intend to go to bed at a decent hour.
As strange and unprofessional as it sounds, I’m going to tell you that Song of Horror is only getting a sub-par score because the developers allowed such a dangerous bug to both exist and hang around as long as it already has. The game itself is an incredible homage to classic horror games with just the right amount of modern-day infusion to allow things to run smoothly (when they are running, that is). Bug-free, Song of Horror is scary for all of the right reasons and is absolutely worth checking out. However, in its current state, I’m not so sure that it’s scaring players in the way that it intends to. At least the PC version supposedly works just fine!
If you have friends to play with regularly, I think this Tokyo 2020 is a great option for you, despite inconsistent event quality. There are enough good ones to have a great time, and you can make your own playlists to avoid the bad. For others, though, this is a more difficult recommendation. The single-player modes can be plenty fun, but there’s a lot of sitting around to get to those bursts of enjoyment, and its simplistic nature likely won’t hold your attention for long. I wish I could be confident the online modes will provide a way to keep the fun going, but early signs aren’t favorable. This is the sort of game I once called a great rental. Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 may not win the gold, but at the right price, it could squeak out a bronze.
Honestly, I have very little criticism for Roguebook. You can feel the inspiration from earlier deck-builders, but it’s very much its own thing. Unique combat mechanics, gorgeous visuals, and addicting exploration make for a roguelike deck-builder that’s polished and keeps you going back for more. And you’ll definitely want to go back for more and more, as you’ll unlock additional cards and skills that will help your future runs. I’d also like to note that the developers received some pretty heavy criticism for making what seemed like a fairly significant chunk of game into DLC that was available the same day as release. In what I thought was an integrity move, they announced that they’ll be releasing the Apex Predator Pack for free, and anybody who purchased it can request a refund. Just something to keep in mind if you’re seeing this particular criticism of the game.
So, should you add Mushihimesama to your Switch library? If you’re a fan of the shoot ’em up genre, I’d say it’s a no-brainer. It’s an exhilarating ride that will put your skills to the test. But you don’t have to be a shooter veteran to enjoy what the game has to offer. The Novice Mode dials back the challenge considerably and serves as a great tool for dipping your toe into what the Bullet Hell genre is all about. If you’re curious about Cave’s shoot ’em ups or are a veteran flyboy looking for a robust addition to your Switch library, don’t hesitate. Mushihimesama is a must-buy.