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Overall while Heart & Slash has some issues, the most concerning being that it is currently a bit crash-prone, it does a fairly good job of applying roguelike concepts to a brawler. While permadeath is obviously a guarantee the fact that you can carry over upgrades between games is a great benefit and since you’re consistently rewarded with new gear unlocks you’re heavily encouraged to continue to take on fights that are tough. If you love a stiff challenge and are willing to be patient with it Heart & Slash does pay off with some hard-won fun.
Overall I found that Max’s mix of play styles and moderate level of challenge made for an enjoyable romp. Puzzle-solving generally is of the kind that makes you feel pretty smart when you work out what you need to do and there generally seems to be a little room for variation on how you may approach things at times. Overall if you’re looking for a solid adventure with a blend of things to do it is easy to recommend.
In the end The Deer God plays out as an odd collection of concepts that just aren’t working together in harmony. Blend this with a spiritual theme that generally seems to be discarded quickly aside from things like when you die with bad karma you can come back as something like a porcupine and it is hard to really put a finger on what the design goals and final messages for the game are. Perhaps it is meant to be profound and leave you to ponder the question yourself further? For me I just decided to move onto something else.
As a whole The Next Penelope looks like a racer but plays out in a way that blends in elements of adventure and relies on strategy in a variety of ways. If you’re struggling in a particular level the issue will usually revolve around over-use of your powers and running too low on energy so judicious use of both should always be on your mind. While it may not be an experience for everyone if you’ve been looking for something different to throw several hours of unexpected challenges at you The Next Penelope delivers.
In the end Troopers offers a fair amount of content that will likely have its fans, it’s just that those people are probably not the same ones who enjoy the more intense examples of the genre already on the Switch. There’s fun to be had here and across the multiple campaigns in the game you’ll be asked to survive a fair variety of mission types even if most are just asking you to shoot things ultimately. If you’re down for a slower-paced and enjoy getting a chance to blow some stuff up, and don’t mind doing a bit of grinding along the way, Tiny Troopers Joint Ops XL may be a good fit for you.
Mom Hid My Game isn’t meant to be taken seriously and in many ways it is less a game than it is a series of bizarre skits. With that in mind it is more difficult to score than usual. Approaching it in terms of gameplay there’s not much to speak of so it would struggle. However, keeping in mind its apparent goals I’d say it has executed them extremely well and if you’re looking for a very “out of left field” piece of entertainment for a few hours I’ll happily recommend it.
Crawl is an absolutely brilliantly-designed mutliplayer game without question. While you can’t completely stop a player with runaway skills from always winning the game tries very hard to keep everyone in a balance, at least when it comes to opportunity. If you’re stuck as a spirit for most of the game you’ll absolutely have the most lethal monsters, so hopefully with even a little skill that will then open the door to becoming the hero. Once someone is able to crack Level 10 the tension amps up and just getting to the Portal room becomes its own challenge, but then once you face the final boss know that your friends are going to work together to try to bring you down. At some point someone will finally get the gear it may take to finally win but the likelihood is that multiple people could have gotten a crack at the final fight by that time. I love the design of the game, and would absolutely recommend it to anyone who is able to play consistently with some friends of roughly equal skill. For those who would only be able to play it alone it can still be a challenging roguelike of sorts, just understand you’re losing the soul of what makes the game extraordinary in the process.
Starting with the core gameplay it’s clearly inspired by Smash from a concept and controls standpoint but there’s no doubt it targeted a more competitive play experience than a casual one...
In the virtual pinball wars on Switch where it concerns the engine as a whole I’d say Pinball Arcade, at this time, comes up a but short. Thankfully, for true pinball fans everything is more likely to come down to individual tables they enjoy and in that respect the Stern Pinball Arcade collection is well-chosen and represents a number of distinct styles from over the decades. If you’re looking to satisfy your itch to play on tables from over the years it represents them well, though you may want to explore buying them individually or in their bundled packs rather than retail depending on what you’re most interested in.
With Yooka-Laylee I think there are two distinct audiences that need to be spoken to for the summary. For major fans of the classic Rare look and feel there are a lot of joyful notes that Yooka-Laylee hits and as long as you don’t set your expectations too high you should enjoy it. For people who are less familiar or enamored with classic collect-a-thons it’s a bit harder to recommend, especially now that the long shadow of Mario Odyssey is hard to ignore. Even if it may not be everything I was hoping for Yooka-Laylee is an earnest title that shows a lot of love and reverence for the classic Rare titles that have obviously inspired it, I just wish it had done more to additionally forge out its own path.
As a whole Enter the Gungeon is every bit a best-in-class roguelike shooter on the Switch. Not only is the core gameplay wonderfully intense yet tightly controlled but touches like a well-implemented teleportation system in the map prevent your adrenaline levels to have a chance to subside. The bosses all have their own feel and most have quite a personality to go with their toughness. All things considered if you’re a roguelike shooter fan in the least you would be doing yourself a great disservice not giving Gungeon a spin.
Overall One More Dungeon is an interesting take on how to make a roguelike dungeon crawler that has a look and feel all its own. I appreciate what it is trying to do, and some aspects of the design were unexpected. Unfortunately as a whole there are also elements that feel unrefined and not necessarily complete. With a patch or two I think it could still have room for improvement but as it is I’d say it is likely an acquired taste, even for roguelike fans.
Considering it is a free download, and comes with a feature-complete, fully-playable table that has no time or play limit, there shouldn’t be much holding you back from checking Pinball FX3 out. With a multitude of available tables to purchase that will appeal to a wide variety of tastes, both in terms of table style and theming (including many popular licenses), you’ll then be able to add to your collection as you choose. As a lifelong pinball fan who has played through the many generations of digital pinball games from the beginning it has been a fascinating evolution to watch. Zen has really hit its stride now both in terms of the quality of its engine and the diversity of the tables it offers to own the crown for the best overall digital pinball option out there on any platform.
Overall if you’d told me that I’d thoroughly enjoy a stealth game I would have thought you were crazy until I played Never Stop Sneakin’. Its arcade-like sensibilities, consistent push for you to keep moving, and completely silly story sequences have made me a believer though. If you’re coming in hoping for something big and broad you won’t find it here, it is a tight and action-oriented stealth title with a simple but effective hook... and also well worth giving a look.
Touchscreen controls are better but also have 2 problems, one of them for now crippling...
While many games have tried to emulate the look and feel of Gauntlet over the years I don’t think any that I’ve played have nailed it quite as well, overall, as Hammerwatch...
While I appreciate Bleed's style and energy my quibbles with its control consistently stood in the way of me liking it more...
When Party Planet was announced I’ll admit to feeling some level of nervousness. Game packs like this have a history of crashing and burning critically even while they may be widely purchased by families in search of something to play together. I’m happy to report that overall I found the collection of games offered to be pretty impressive, even if often derivative, and fun to play both solo and with the family. The diverse selection of games should, in terms of both style and skill required, practically guarantee that there will be something that just about anyone, no matter the age, should enjoy.
For the pretty budget price what you get out of Phantom Break: Battle Grounds Overdrive is a beat-em-up with more depth than you'd expect but that I doubt most people are capable of fully extracting either. I think for an average gamer they'll be able to latch onto enough that it can a fun distraction but with the way the challenge ramps up with bosses a few levels in it may be aggravating as well since the game doesn't slowly ramp you up into fully realizing the skills available to you. If you're up for a challenge and think a somewhat complex fighting system in a beat-em-up sounds appealing it may be right for you though.
While Vostok Inc isn’t a terribly complicated game there’s an element to it that can get its hooks into you. I’d say in a way that’s very similar to something like Stardew Valley you can get into a pattern of habits that are somewhat relaxing. Blow up asteroids, upgrade planets, get in some fights, upgrade your ship, take out a boss, move onto the next galaxy and repeat. The addition of the game’s very strange sense of humor at times as you’ll interact with the representatives from each galaxy helps keep things light as well and many of the game’s seemingly infinite achievements are laced with comedic undertones as well. I started playing Vostok Inc expecting to have some silly fun, the fact that it turned out to have some depth and hidden surprises throughout was just icing on the cake.