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Super Mario Party Jamboree truly has something for everyone. Between its enjoyable smorgasbord of minigames, delightful lineup of traditional-style boards and exciting injection of fresh competitive and cooperative modes, this is a party you won’t want to miss out on. Biggest Mario Party? Absolutely. Best? After 30 hours and many laughter-filled evenings with friends, I’m thinking it’s very much in the conversation.
I miss the era of games Reynatis feels plucked fresh out of. The PlayStation Vita was my gaming awakening that defined my taste, and was a swan song of a particular era of Japanese portable games that were able to be experimental and weird on a low budget. The ambitions of the team far outshine the budget they were given, but there’s definitely something to like here. The combat is flashy and fun if not a bit simple, yet still outshines most other action games of this scope. The six playable characters are plenty customizable, and once you get into it there’s plenty of fun to be had. I respect Furyu continuing to fund creatives of all sizes with enough money to make their weird and cool games, and Reynatis is among their better titles. For those who are coming at this from an exclusively Square Enix fan perspective, however, I don’t know if you’ll be able to see past the blemishes. Maybe don’t play it on Nintendo Switch, though.
So, you see, it’s complicated. While we certainly had fun playing Jackbox Naughty Pack, its very existence at times feels questionable. For every laugh had at a sex-related question it left me wondering if we’d have just as much fun returning to the family-friendly entries. Plus, it certainly doesn’t help that Let Me Finish is a bad idea, crude or not. But then again Cookie Masterson does say the F-word… It’s tough but Jackbox Naughty Pack is… fine. While its implementation of crude ideas isn’t terrible by any means, I just hope the developer returns next year with Jackbox Party Pack 11.
After Princess Peach’s turn in the spotlight, Princess Zelda readily demonstrates that she is more than capable of saving her own kingdom. Grezzo should be incredibly proud of what they have achieved here, delivering a complete reinvention of what awaits us in a top-down adventure across the kingdom of Hyrule with an experience in which past and present collide that succeeds in repeatedly subverting your expectations.
While it might not reach the towering standards of other recent roguelikes like Balatro, I still had myself a ridiculously fun time and one I’m sure I’ll return to in order to again in the future for another cheeky run or two. Best of all is the fact that Peglin takes something familiar and gives it a unique and interesting spin, one that proves super successful making it an easy recommendation for Nintendo Switch owners looking for something to fill that Peggle void in their life.
The Castlevania Dominus Collection has made me realize that this specific era of Castlevania might be my favorite overall. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow used to be my favorite game in the series, but I’d be hard-pressed to recommend the other titles in that collection because they feel unfocused and unpolished. At the very least, there’s a pretty big gap in quality between them. Even if I’m not very fond of Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, I think this collection has a lot of value in it. This is when this specific kind of Castlevania game started to really branch out and experiment, with most of those experiments being very successful. This is the definitive way to play three of the most interesting Castlevanias, better than I ever dreamed they would be. I think the Nintendo DS being such an experimental console encouraged the original developers to try a lot of fun things, and I hope the feedback to these games is strong enough to make Konami want to revisit this style.
This collection offers a fantastic value for fans of the mystery genre, and even more for Ace Attorney games. Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor’s Gambit is one of the best games in this series, and worth playing the first just to get through. I probably won’t be revisiting the first game again, but I can’t stress how good its sequel is. So many presentation and visual improvements have been made to make these two Nintendo DS games feel modern, but they don’t feel lesser than their original versions. This is the definitive way to play these games in my eyes. I have a couple of issues, like how there’s no touch screen support for the Switch version, but outside of that, I think this is a must-play. We’re in a bit of a visual novel/adventure game renaissance right now, with a lot of old franchises coming back or receiving long-overdue localizations. Capcom gave these games the love they deserved, in a year where I’ve been primed to give them all the love I got.
I lost sleep over this game. I can’t stop thinking about it, and reminiscing about my favorite moments gives me chills. It’s haunting, funny, beautiful, tragic, and so very human. I did not know Nintendo was capable of publishing something like this, or funding it. This is one of the highest-budget adventure games I’ve ever played, and I’m saying this fully understanding that Type-Moon localized the Tsukihime remake months ago. I really liked the past two games, but this is a new favorite ADV game for me. If you are a fan of mystery stories and can put up with an interface many would call obtuse, this is a must-play. I know not everyone will think as strongly as I will, but I just need people to engage with this game. I need to talk long into the night with others about this game. I think it’s truly brilliant, I don’t think I’ll play anything quite like it for a long time. I’d love to be proven wrong, though. Prove me wrong, Nintendo.
As somebody who loves 2D Zelda, I am always searching to see what other games pop up of its type. Master Key wasn’t one that was initially on my radar. However, from the moment I picked it up, I instantly knew it was going to be one of the better ones. After rolling the credits, my initial impression turned out to be correct. With an unexpectedly dense map to explore, brilliant dungeons to conquer and secrets to be found, it scratches many itches. This is certainly not one to be slept on.
Despite a couple of gripes, I’d still say this is probably going to be the best version of Beyond Good & Evil. It at least has the strongest intersection between accessibility and quality. The game runs and looks quite good on the system, with the handful of framerate dips not really detracting from the overall experience. I’ll admit, the brilliant quality of Beyond Good & Evil is doing a lot of the heavy lifting here. The remaster overall is quite good, with this Nintendo Switch version just being solid, I’d say. This is a good way to play one of the coolest games from the sixth gen, but there are definitely better places to play this version. If you’re used to concessions made with these kinds of ports though, you’ll probably have as great of a time as I did. While I’m sure Nintendo’s handheld won’t be able to run the second game whenever that resurfaces, I’m certainly a lot more interested in giving it a go than I was before.
I’ll be honest, when Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition was first revealed it felt like the sort of ‘backup’ announcement you’d expect to see toward the tail end of a console’s life, doing the job of filling a gap during the quieter summer months in a rather unspectacular fashion. How wrong I was. Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition is a wonderfully put-together package, its 150 challenges so addictive to play, its presentation slick and implementation of multiplayer a surprise hit. Sure, we’ve seen these games repackaged over and over to the point of delirium, but when they’re done so in such a fascinating and entertaining manner… well… bring on Nintendo World Championships: SNES Edition is all I can say.
SaGa Emerald Beyond is a peculiar game. It aimed to streamline a lot of Scarlet Grace, but they might have maybe gone a bit too far. At the same time, I wouldn’t call it safe either. The cast and setting are wonderfully bizarre, reminding me of SaGa Frontier in the best of ways. I had hoped this would have strived to be more of an evolution, and in reality, it’s more of an iteration. I say all of this and acknowledge all these complaints, but I still genuinely love this latest take on SaGa. It is iterating on gold, and there’s so much I either haven’t been able to figure out yet or just didn’t have time to delve into. These systems with a higher budget in presentation? You’d have an all-timer. I adore this series and think this is a great entry point for anyone looking for a systems-driven RPG that strives to be different. It’s ironic that the upcoming Romancing SaGa 2 remake is looking to be a step forward in what this series is capable of, but for all we know Emerald Beyond is a final hurrah for this style of SaGa game. I’m not going to complain about two SaGa games in one year, either.
I’m not exactly sure why Luigi’s Mansion 2 was chosen for an HD remaster over the original, but after all is said and done I’m glad this game got another chance at life. Outside of the mission structure (which I even grew to like at the end), I never felt this carried over any of the negative connotations with it being a 3DS conversion. The gameplay feels fresh, and the controls rarely gave me any issues. Having a second thumbstick goes a long way in making this feel leagues better to play than the original. They haven’t really added anything substantial, so people who have played the original won’t be met with any new surprises. I had fun revisiting this charming ghost adventure, but I can’t say it’ll be worth it for every player given the steep cost. It does have me wanting to dust off my 3DS for the remake of the original and redownload Luigi’s Mansion 3. I’m back in a Luigi’s Mansion mood, and hope we get to see a fourth game on Nintendo’s next console.
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble is the best entry in the series since the original GameCube games with its spin dash move working amazingly well, 200 inventive stages that get truly challenging later on, a visual look so pleasing on the eye and the option to play any of its modes online.
Outside of egg farming being annoying, I’d say nothing about Monster Hunter Stories is inherently “offensive” but rarely is it truly amazing. The simplicity gets in the way of that, but I’d still argue that isn’t an issue. If you could only afford one of the two Stories games, I’d probably recommend its sequel. It’s quite impressive though to see how much they got right on the first go, and it shows just how flexible the Monster Hunter franchise can really be. If you have a younger sibling or child interested to start checking out family-friendly games in this genre outside of Pokémon, you won’t find one with as much polish as this one.
This is a great companion piece to the story they got to tell, exploring the ideologies of the cast further in fascinating ways that change up a lot of dynamics. It really does feel like they addressed most of the common complaints with the original, while not losing sight of the general tone that the fans appreciated. I’m left overwhelmed by all the little new things they added on top of the Shin Megami Tensei V I already loved. This simply tries to fill in the gaps of that game, and they did so to great effect. With a ton of new content available, especially for completionists, this is more than just being the definitive edition of Shin Megami Tensei V. Vengeance feels confident and strives to lock in the original game’s previously uncertain identity.
It’s been almost impossible to put stitch. down, its addictive grid-filling puzzles perfect for filling a spare ten minutes or winding down for bed or (as has often been the case) losing a good hour, determined to get that final 10% on an XXL-sized pattern. Not only a fun time but an important part of my day-to-day, providing a productive form of entertainment but also relief during those rougher periods, an outlet to ease the mind and refocus when I’ve needed something to get me back on track. Quite simply stitch. is personally an important game, the kind I hope Nintendo Switch (and its successor) continue to see more of.
Picross S Namco Legendary Edition is more Picross with a Namco skin and that’s totally fine with me. Still fun. Still challenging. Still rewarding. Long may Jupiter’s output of Picross continue and here’s hoping we see a Nintendo or Capcom-themed edition next.
With fourth-wall-breaking gags, a riotous storyline and a thrilling turn-based combat system, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door has it all. This fan-favourite GameCube classic has long deserved a second chance to take to the stage, and this is the perfect opportunity to marvel at its quirky treasure hunt – whether you’re returning to Rogueport or searching for the Crystal Stars for the first time.
Endless Ocean Luminous is worth the plunge, and, along with other experiences like Nintendo Labo and Game Builder Garage, demonstrates a commitment to broadening what Nintendo Switch can offer beyond simply being a “games” console. It’s a welcome change of pace from the regular bustle of modern-day gaming experiences, offering a relaxing underwater diversion that shouldn’t be overlooked.