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It may not be as pretty, deep and fluid as the bigger titles it aspires to be, but it definitely did take me by surprise with how much I actually enjoyed it. With its fair price tag and replayability hook, Implosion happens to be a great little bit on the side.
Miitopia will win you over with laughter, but not in the same baffling ways as Tomodachi Life once did. There’s little chance that you will play a wackier game this year, but Miitopia‘s undoing lies in how quickly repetition sets in. Quirky but lacking depth, there’s untapped potential for a grander adventure if Nintendo choose to revisit the idea.
In the end though, Hey! Pikmin is a solid game and a decent first attempt at bridging out the franchise to multiple genres. The Pikmin seem to have a lot more personality in this game than previous entries and you get to see a more playful side to them. It isn’t the longest game out there but there are plenty of things to do that will elongate the experience such as beating each level without losing any Pikmin, as that grants you a gold trophy and of course you can challenge yourself to find every single piece of treasure in the game.
Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star packs plenty of promise, but falls short in certain areas. Gratifying combat can’t outweigh an experience that is too readily prepared to let players sit and read through great lengths of text. When you eventually get to the action it can be spectacular, there just isn’t enough of it.
Summer is Splatoon 2‘s for the taking, Nintendo building on their refreshingly original idea to produce a sequel that makes improvements across the board. It won’t take long for the game’s tentacles to wrap around you, gleefully inking your turf for hours on end. With Li’l Judd lifting a flag to indicate the victor, Splatoon 2 presents a clear win for Nintendo.
I and Me is a charming and simple little time waster. There isn’t really any replayabilty found in this title unless you have had a bad day at work or have a sudden impulse for self-discovery, as the only real depth in this game is found within its fitting but questionable dialogue.
Human Resource Machine is a really smart game and one that makes you feel like both a mastermind at times and, well, quite the opposite too. It throws a unique spin on the puzzle genre which many fans will love but also at times grow frustrated at due to the difficulty spike.
I really wanted to like De Mambo. It’s oozing with great ideas and potential. Add that to a mix of inspiration from several beloved genres and you should get a dish that tastes of a classic indie title. However, it does seem that the chefs at The Dangerous Kitchen wrote a recipe down with a certain ingredient and stubbornly tried to force it to work in hope of a new flavour. A trait that even legendary developers can sometimes fall victim to.
As a multiplayer title, Astro Duel Deluxe is an absolute blast. It works gracefully in tabletop mode and brings the golden age into the 21st century on the Switch. You may not get hours of gameplay per sitting but I could imagine this being the go-to game to settle disputes within some circle of friends.
However, Little Inferno will not be everybody’s cup of tea and at some points, you will be really enjoying the experience and then all of a sudden think the opposite, it really is that kind of game. It’s a relatively enjoyable experience but I personally would try out the two other Switch games by the same developer first before becoming a pyromaniac in Little Inferno.
Ever Oasis presents a wonderfully captivating tale that, despite the sizzling desert heat, enchants like no other. Magical, entrancing and beautifully presented, it’s playful looks may scream with a childlike appeal but, make no mistake, this is an RPG with tremendous depth that all ages will enjoy exploring.
Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is an enjoyable experience and although Shantae doesn’t necessarily bring anything brand new to the table you can see the respect, love and polish the developers have for the genre that led them to create a game like this in the first place. With strong platformers already on the Switch such as Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment, Blaster Master Zero and Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap, Shantae: Half-Genie Hero stands strong and proudly amongst them.
ARMS can be seen as the boldest move that Nintendo has made in some time, and an absolute knockout experience to play.
I simply have to commend Lizardcube for the effort they have put into Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap, even if it is a remake. A lot of other companies that remake older games can learn a thing or two from this developer. It looks great, sounds great and still plays wonderfully too. It was a great game in 1989 and whilst maybe some of that greatness has now gone, because games have simply moved on since then, it is still certainly a really fun game and one that I did not want to put down from start to finish.
The King of Fighters '98 is a welcome addition to the Nintendo Switch library and kudos to Hamster Corporation for converting a classic on to the system so cleanly. With a deep gameplay mechanic and interesting character skill sets, it's a classic brought back to life with the convenience of the console.
Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers‘ greatest success is how well suited it is to Nintendo Switch. Setting the console in Tabletop Mode, detaching Joy-Con and passing one to a friend, it’s a reminder that there simply isn’t any experience like it, let alone the fighting legacy that it now becomes a part of. Whether a play on nostalgia or not, the result builds to a definitive version of a fighting great.
After looking to their past, Intelligent System has made a daring strike forward. The result is a resounding strategy experience, with Shadows of Valentia not only delivering a sensational remake but one of the greatest tales that the Fire Emblem series has ever told.
All of us at some point in our lives would have bought a much more inferior game than Kamiko that would have lasted a lot longer. But at the end of the day, if you get a better game at a very low price, regardless of how long the experience lasts, if you asked me which is the better deal of the two, I would go with Kamiko every day.
I had a number of incredibly funny moments during my time with the game. The presentation is spot on, it has some funny writing and it allows you to quite easily play an eight-player game because of the use of a phone as a controller, which isn’t something that you can say about many games out there. Just make sure you do have a stable internet connection, as it is required. Overall The Jackbox Party Pack 3, as a package, is certainly a compelling one and undoubtedly is a great addition if played with the right crowd.
I found Mr. Shifty to be a really fun and enjoyable game, that had a great core mechanic and played like one of my all-time favourite games. The challenge isn’t quite there however and it does get a bit repetitive the more you go on. There isn’t a great deal of replayability besides beating previous times, which isn’t enough to keep me coming back. But for those who want a short-lived but super slick and really fun game then I can certainly recommend Mr. Shifty to those people. It’s no Hotline Miami beater, but then again, what is?