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Kill La Kill:IF is a great first entry into the world of video games for the Kill La Kill franchise. It offers a unique roster of characters that each feel different to play and have captured the signature Trigger art style of the source material. Though the main story is on the short side so if you’re a player that just wants to play purely for the new story, then you may be best off waiting for a sale.
Even though it may look cute and targeted at children, there is a fully fleshed out RPG here with Dragon Quest Builder 2. It contains some really fun and addicting building mechanics and deep and likeable characters that will keep you entertained for a long time, which is good because the game is quite lengthy. This isn’t just a big sandbox to build stuff in and it’s certainly not ‘just another Minecraft clone’. If you enjoy JRPG’s and building games you’ll probably really enjoy Dragon Quest Builder 2.
Senran Kagura: Peach Ball is a really solid pinball game with a Senran Kagura coat of paint. The fanservice on offer certainly won’t be for everyone but if you can deal with that, you’ve got yourself a fun pinball game with highly interactive tables, bright lights and Vegas style visual stimulation. My only negative is that many areas of the game left me wanting more and could have been fleshed out in deeper ways. But this foundation has also left me pretty excited for future add-ons or a sequel game.
As a Stranger Things fan, I loved that there was something to jump into to continue living in Hawkins and adventuring with familiar characters after I rolled credits on season 3. Being able to freely move around Hawkins, collect items, beat up enemies, solve puzzles, converse with other key characters in the town and complete the numerous main and side missions brought a lot of fun. While it is still something I can only recommend to existing fans of the franchise, if you’re someone who enjoys the Stranger Things universe you’ll likely have a fun time with Stranger Things 3: The Game.
Attack on Titan 2: Final Battle expands the scope of the original game introducing new ways to traverse the battlefield and take down Titans. It also faithfully adapts the storyline of the third season of the anime. Players that play through these games just for the story missions alone may be left a bit disappointed but for those that enjoyed the gameplay loop of AOT2 and get a kick out of levelling up your character and unlocking new gear, you’re in for more of a good thing.
With plenty of weapons to find, powers to unlock and secrets to uncover Bloodstained will keep you adventuring through the castle for quite a while. If you’re into the Metroid-Vania genre you should definitely check it out. Igarashi has delivered a solid spiritual successor to his classic Castlevania titles but has also given Bloodstained it’s own two feet to stand on. I’d love to see where he decides to take this series next.
Octopath Traveler really is a love letter to the JRPG’s of old. It’s story narrative isn’t as strong as some of the classics, but it’s branching storyline, customisation options and complex, strategy based combat system provide a ton of fun and will keep you engaged for a long time, whether you decide to do one playthrough or many.
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age is another solid port and a welcome addition to the suite of Final Fantasy games making their way to the Nintendo Switch. Although it’s apparent that the game was designed some time ago, it still looks and runs great on the Switch and comes with some much appreciated quality of life improvements that assist in streamlining your experience with the game.
Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth is a fantastic game and a quality send off for the Nintendo 3DS. Best of all it treats the Persona license with a lot of respect and acts as a fanservice filled love letter to fans of the last 3 Persona games. If you like labyrinth based dungeon crawlers filled with great character interactions then there’s a lot for you to love in Persona Q2. And I do mean a lot, there’s easily enough content, ‘special screening’ missions and persona’s to fuse to keep you playing for over 50 hours.
If you’ve ever watched an action movie and thought you’d like to try your chances being the hero, piling up bodies as you make your way closer and closer to the villain then Blood & Truth is definitely something you’re going to want to check out. Thanks to it’s gunplay mechanic and it’s cast of characters I found it to be one of the most immersive VR experiences I’ve ever played. I was so engrossed in the game that I was physically ducking out of the way of incoming bullets and exploding debris while making my way through the stages. Blood & Truth offers an engaging 5 hour experience and is the exclusive that PSVR owners have been waiting for.
Throughout it’s 5-7 hour campaign Observation will take you on a thrilling journey and put you front and centre inside a space craft. Slowly uncovering the game’s mysteries by completing numerous puzzles. While I really enjoyed my time with Observation I would have loved for some of these puzzles to be more complex to solve. And while the environments on the ship look great No Code haven’t quite hit that AAA level of quality when it comes to the primary character models just yet. But they have definitely produced a quality title here and I’m really looking forward to see what the team puts out next.
Overall, Final Fantasy X and X-2 are very welcome additions to the Nintendo Switch. You get 2 great games in one package that together offer over 100 hours of gameplay. It’s a bit of a shame the games haven’t incorporated the new quality of life improvements that the Final Fantasy 7 or 9 re-releases have done but if you haven’t played through either of the games previously or want to jump back in with complete freedom of how or where you choose to play, you should definitely consider picking up these JRPG classics on the Switch.
If I was to sum up Rage 2 in a single word it would be ‘fun’. The gunplay feels so good and when chained together with Walker’s Nanotrite abilities you can have a real blast taking down the bandits and mutants that plague Rage 2’s wasteland. While I would have loved a more engaging story and deeper characters I did love the true open world and it’s visual diversity. It’s a big step up from the original Rage and if the team’s take on player feedback, Rage 3 is well on it’s way to being something amazing.
Bend have laid some really solid ground work here with Days Gone. It was their first console title in 12 years and if they continue building out the world of Days Gone, take on player feedback and fix the gameplay issues people are having issues with then the sequel game will be well on it’s way to being a title ‘freak’ out over. While there were some technical issues I encountered along the way and I didn’t encounter that ‘Sony level magic’ (which is a pretty high bar to hold things against) I did have a lot of fun with Days Gone surviving the ever-cruel world and doing it in my style.
As someone who has played every entry in the Mortal Kombat series since Mortal Kombat 2 I have no problems admitting this is the best entry in the series yet. It’s story mode is entertaining and pushes the lore of the whole Mortal Kombat universe forward. But outside of that, there’s plenty that will keep you coming back to the game whether you choose to play it’s numerous single player modes to continue to collect new gear or if you want to try your hand or play competitively online.
Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen is a really fun action RPG that can now come with you on the go. It does have a few technical issues but Dragon’s Dogma always has never been a perfect game on any platform when it comes to overall performance. For the asking price and amount of value on offer you won’t find a better party based action rpg on the Nintendo Switch. Fans of high fantasy will have a blast with this release.
The Walking Dead: The Final Season is a very satisfying ending. Without going into too much detail and spoiling things, it was moving to see that in a world so grim and full of monsters it’s still possible to have a heartwarming moment or two. And possibly best of all to see the book close on this series that began 7 years ago.
The Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy is a fantastic collection of crime solving visual novels. The collection includes the first 3 Phoenix Wright games and will keep you thoroughly entertained for a long time. The cases are even fun to replay if you’re already aware of the outcomes. If you’ve never played any of the Ace Attorney games before then there’s never been a better time to jump in and experience them.
Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ardyn closes the book on Final Fantasy XV by giving us some much needed insight into it’s main villain. I really enjoyed seeing the alternate perspective on events and wish more stories would use this form of story telling. The episode will take you around 2 hours to beat but you can easily double that if you want to see and do everything on offer in the episode, such as finding and beating the secret boss.
Final Fantasy 7 is considered an iconic classic for a reason. It’s story is deep and ahead of it’s time and features well developed characters and world lore. You’ll easily be able to sink over 100 hours into the game if you want to see everything that’s on offer, so there’s no arguing with the amount of value on offer for the asking price. Even though there are a few visual problems with the HD remasters I was willing to look past it and still thoroughly enjoy the game. This port is also the first that allows you to take the HD Final Fantasy 7 experience on the go.