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Poker Club on Nintendo Switch does a good job at providing a truly immersive poker simulation. Unfortunately the entire package of Poker Club isn't great. The incredibly poor AI will teach you nothing in offline mode and the overall slowness of all action makes for a boring experience. Playing online is even worse, as players can take an impossibly long amount of time on each turn. It's just painfully slow enough that you'd likely be better off just playing poker in real life.
The Prince of Landis is a short game with a fun world that doesn't misuse any characters or space. Not much in terms of gameplay, but the storyline is entertaining.
On the one hand, I can say Westone's arcade "treasure" was worth the wait when viewed as a piece of gaming history. But, as an ININ Games published release in 2021, not as much. Once the warm fuzzies wear off, you're left with a short game with little replay incentive due to a lack of online leaderboards. Combined with a lack of both standard and extra features, I'd wait for this $19.99 release to get a sizable discount unless you're an arcade fanatic who has someone readily available for two-player co-op.
Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain is a fun way to exercise your mind, with short and sweet activities presented in a cute and cartoony way. It plays similarly to previous entries, but it's still enjoyable, especially for new audiences. Or even if you've just missed Dr. Lobe's style of brain training.
While the races are thrilling, the lack of any features found in other racers, such as sliding or braking, prevents you from building skills to master the game. Most times, it feels like you win on sheer luck. Coupled with the fact that the tracks all feel relatively the same, the experience gets stale fairly quickly.
Night Lights is an enjoyable puzzle platformer with unique gameplay mechanics. However, while it's different for the puzzle genre, the game itself quickly gets repetitive.
Creepy Tale 2 retains the dark and foreboding style of the original, with a longer story and mostly more intuitive puzzles to solve. If you're a fan of point-and-click games with horror elements, check it out.
While it's reliance on randomness can make the game annoying at times, Loop Hero is a rare treat Switch owners should check out. It's unique blend of RPG adventure and deck building mechanics provide you with a gaming experience you won't find elsewhere. It's addicting gameplay loop keep you going back for more and constantly making you say "just one more turn."
While not the best point-and-click adventure game in the land, Lone McLonegan is worth a playthrough if you're into the puzzle/adventure genre. The $9.99 asking price comes with pleasantly quirky visuals and music, slightly odd puzzle solving, and some funny dialogue.
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is a great game. I would like to give it top marks, but in spite of all the good design elements, cool soundtrack, and very good dialogue and voice acting, the Switch's cloud version connection issues are a problem I can't just overlook.
Little Bug is a great game all around. It has an immersive world through vivid graphics, appropriate music, and fun gameplay mechanics.
Tandem: A Tale of Shadows is a cute, clever puzzle game with a distinct style and engaging challenges, which could benefit from a more fully realised narrative.
Om Nom: Run doesn't try to be anything more than it is and does a standard job at being an endless runner. Does it do enough to stand out among free endless runner apps that you can download in seconds on your smartphone or tablet? No, it doesn't.
Serenity Forge has had a hand in bringing some of my favorite games to the Nintendo Switch. But Date Night Bowling feels like an unfinished proof of concept and failed to hold my interest. It's a bush league release with much room for improvement. One could argue that it's a better alternative than going to a real-life alley and running the risk of catching COVID. But given that choice, I think I'd rather skip bowling altogether.
If you're the type who likes to relax with the calming sites and sounds of an ocean life documentary, Beyond Blue will allow you to get more interactive with it. The educational and narrative moments don't fully gel with the undersea exploration, and the visuals get murky on the Switch, but that won't matter when you're exploring these deep, safe waters.
Grow: Song of The Evertree is reasonably compelling for the first few hours. But in juggling a lot, some of its more commonplace elements are uneven. While the story sings a familiar tune and long load times add up, this is still a worthwhile adventure with many surprises. Just be prepared for some feeling of recognizable repetition as you play at your own pace.
The gameplay is faultless in what it does, but Gynoug doesn't do anything to stand out. If you are nostalgic towards the game or those alike, you'll get much more out of this than someone brand new to Gynoug. Unfortunately, I was the latter.
The Legend of Tianding is a beautiful sidescrolling beat 'em up that deserves to receive more attention than it's getting. Its comic book art style carries through from the story to the gameplay. The action is fast-paced, the level designs well thought out, and the boss battles are challenging but fun. If you're a fan of kung fu movies, you need to add The Legend of Tianding to your library.
Death's Door is a fun and unique action-adventure game with appealing scenery and music. You can pick it up and play on the go, and although the controls require skill, it's easy to master.
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are fine enough remakes for reliving some memories and sharing them with the next generation. But beneath the glow of nostalgia, there's a carelessness about their build that makes them fall short of expectations.