GameSpew's Reviews
Still Wakes the Deep: Siren's Rest takes you back to the Beira D 10 years later, exploring the wreckage as it lies on the sea bed. It's an incredibly clever way to introduce an expansion, and the Beira D is perhaps even more eerie and atmospheric than it was the first time around. I've loved every moment with it — I just wish it was a little longer.
If you missed Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army when it originally released on PlayStation 2, this remaster should prove to be a treat. Featuring a revamped combat system, full voice acting, and more, Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army almost feels like a new game, and its mix of investigation, combat and demon-collecting is both engaging and rewarding.
TRON: Catalyst gets off to a good start, promising varied gameplay and a neat time-loop mechanic. The trouble is, it soon devolves in a dull affair with way too much repetitive combat, and the time-loop mechanic is mostly wasted.
For the most part, Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S is the same game as it was when it released back in 2020: a great deal of fun for fans of both Tetris and Puyo. But the addition of a new mode and the implementation of Switch 2's excellent GameShare functionality make this absolutely the best version yet.
Absolutely heaving with personality, it's clear a lot of heart and soul has gone into making Date Everything. Its characters are beautifully brought to life, but trying to meet everyone (which you'll want to do) can feel a bit of a slog.
Hugely inspired by Castlevania, Chronicles of the Wolf offers a fairly lengthy gothic adventure where players explore a dark, interconnected world to take down an evil menace. It looks nice, has a great soundtrack and is mostly fun to play, but there are some balancing and design issues that hold it back from greatness.
Rooftops & Alleys: The Parkour Game lets you live out your parkouring dreams across numerous environments. There are time trial and trick rush events to complete, but they can be frustrating thanks to finicky controls and mechanics. This is a game best enjoyed simply chilling out with others.
One of my favourite roguelikes of recent years, Lost in Random: The Eternal Die takes the world of 2021's excellent Lost in Random and turns it into something new. It's a whimsical, action-packed adventure, with combat that feels smooth and satisfying. Even facing the game's ferocious bosses is seriously exhilarating. It's just a shame there's not a little more variation between runs, but that's to be expected.
Bundling up the base game along with two years' worth of characters, stages and more, Street Fighter 6: Years 1-2 Fighters Edition is a must-have for fighting game fans who have picked up a Switch 2. While new modes such as Gyro Battle and Calorie Contest are a bit gimmicky, the only real disappointment here is fights in World Tour playing out at 30fps.
Being a simulator, Star Trucker won't be for everyone; flying through space making deliveries sounds simple, but in actuality there are lots of plates to spin. Those that get on with it will likely find themselves engrossed, however, but it does verge on becoming a little repetitive.
Sonic x Shadow Generations feels right at home on Switch 2. Both Sonic Generations and the new Shadow campaign look fantastic, and performance is solid, making these fast-paced platforming experiences a joy to return to time and time again. It's just a shame there's no upgrade path for those who already own the game on the original Switch.
In most regards, Mario Kart World is the best entry in the series yet. There are a wealth of characters to race as and lots of vehicles, with many more to unlock, and the courses are absolutely brilliant. On top of that, a Mario Kart game has never felt so good to play. It's just a shame that its open world feels like an afterthought for the most part, and that it's so expensive.
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is an open-world action RPG that fans of the likes of Skyrim are likely to fall in love with. It has some technical issues and bugs that can annoy, but they're easy to overlook thanks to its enjoyable and rewarding gameplay systems as well as a genuinely interesting story with important choices to be made.
An adventure game with puzzle, stealth and horror elements, The Midnight Walk isn't all that complex mechanically. Its dark, intriguing world will grab your attention, though, and you'll soon come to love your companion, Potboy, making you want to see your journey through to its end. If you have the required hardware, you can play in VR, too, which is a nice touch.
Copycat is a game that tackles some serious issues, but its characters are hard to warm to and will make you angry at times. Still, being a cat and doing cat things can be fun, despite clunky controls and uninspired gameplay.
You likely won't have played anything like Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo before. Combining puzzles, combat and adventuring, this game is an utter joy — and using a yoyo as both a weapon and a tool never gets old. Well written and incredibly accessible thanks to its difficulty options, this is a true indie gem.
Spray Paint Simulator is rewarding and relaxing in the same way that PowerWash Simulator is, with you bringing new life to a range of objects and locations. Some jobs are better than others, though, and it can be finicky when it comes to completing some smaller part of jobs, but it's still thoroughly enjoyable on the whole.
There's fun to be had with Elden Ring Nightreign, especially if you're a skilled Elden Ring player who loves a challenge or can get a good team together, but it does have a range of issues. The fact that there's only one map means repetition quickly creeps in, for example, and the Relic system simply doesn't feel as impactful as it should. Being a multiplayer-focused game, the lack of cross-play is also egregious.
EA sports F1 25 features the usual iterative improvements when it comes to visuals and physics, and LIDAR technology has been used to make a number of tracks as accurate as can be. But it's the return of Braking Point as well as a substantial overhaul of My Team that really makes this an impressive package, and a must-have for both casual and ardent F1 fans.
Take God of War, Dark Souls and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, put them in a blender along with some new elements such as being able to craft weapons and target specific body parts, and you have Blades of Fire. Its map design can be devious at times, and its enemy placement a little questionable, but overall it's an engaging, and rather epic, adventure.