Worth Playing
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Carrion is a fun one-and-done game and not much more than that. The concept of playing as the monster in the vents is a cool one, and Carrion executes the fantasy fairly masterfully. Unfortunately, it runs out of tricks before too long and is only saved from tedium by the short game length. It's worth a playthrough if you like the concept, but don't expect anything genre-defining. There's a lot of potential in the concept, and perhaps a Carrion 2 will give us something with more meat on its … amorphous horrifying frame.
The concept for Cannibal Cuisine is fine: a grotesque spin on the Overcooked formula with some quality of life changes. However, there are enough issues here to sap away any enjoyment from the concept, especially if this is your first exposure to this type of party game. Unless you're a veteran of these games and want to deal with the artificial challenge, it'd be best to leave this one alone and opt for the more polished titles in the genre.
In a medium that so desperately craves additional content, Phantom: Covert Ops isn't a bad purchase for VR owners who are hungry for more games, but it's by no means a banner release for 2020. With games like Boneworks, Half-Life: Alyx, and The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners this year, the bar for VR games has risen exponentially. There's an exhilarating VR experience struggling to break the surface of this title. Phantom is holding itself back from breaking loose and taking the excitement to the next level. Hopefully nDreams has enough success with this game to carry its vision into a sequel.
If you have thick skin and an unquenched desire to solve stealth puzzles in the Wild West, Desperados III is the best real-time tactical stealth game that I have played in a long, long time.
Othercide is a flawed but generally fun strategy-RPG. It has some balance issues and an annoying UI, but beyond that, it does everything that it sets out to do. It's not as difficult or punishing as an XCOM title might have been, but it may be a good replacement for those who like the strategy game style without the punishment of losing so much when you die. Be prepared to do that a lot, since death is in many ways the only way to advance in the game. Overall, I had fun with Othercide, but it's the kind of game where my opinion will likely improve after a couple of patches.
If you can put all of that aside or appreciate Destroy All Humans! in a state that is undoubtedly close to how it played back in the day, there is a lot of fun to be in the PS4 remake.
Paper Mario: The Origami King might not be the sequel to The Thousand Year Door that some people are hoping for, but it's a darn fun game. It's witty, charming, fun to play, and has a soundtrack that can't be beat. Its low difficulty and the combat sometimes overstaying its welcome can drag down the experience a little. It's still a delightful experience for fans of Mario's adventures.
Overall, Dex is an excellent take on a cyberpunk Deus Ex game, and it managed to accomplish that with a smaller development budget.
Gorn has aged reasonably well. Sure, there are bigger and prettier games available, but few of them match the almost cathartic and brutal fun that Gorn so innately delivers. It works well enough in PSVR to warrant a purchase if you're OK with its limitations. The controls are frustrating and more limited on PSVR than elsewhere, and visuals are clearly a step down, but the core experience is still intact. If that fits the bill for you, it can be a blast, so ready your fist and blade and enter the arena. Just don't lose a limb.
If you're a fan of first-person shooters on the Switch and have an affinity for the classics, you should have Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour.
Moving Out is a joyous experience. The chaos is ever-present, but the chill approach ensures that everyone is having a good time instead of gradually wanting to tear each other apart. The number of levels is just right, and the presentation is appealing. It serves as a perfect complement to other co-op titles and belongs in the library of anyone who enjoys the genre.
Pixel Ripped 1995 is a short but sweet experience that tugs on your nostalgia heartstrings in all the right ways. While it is very short and the quality of included stages varies, it is a distinct experience that's very much in line with its predecessor, Pixel Ripped 1989. If you were fond of the previous entry, getting the sequel is a no-brainer, since it mixes up the formula in a variety of ways while retaining its strengths. Its shortcomings don't detract from the otherwise wonderful experience that Pixel Ripped 1995 manages to create with surprisingly little effort.
If you liked Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, then you will like Curse of the Moon 2. It's more of the same, but in the best way: more levels, more characters, a cleaner interface, and lots of balance tweaks to make everyone play a bit better. You should check out Curse of the Moon first, since it's an excellent game on its own, but if you have a hankering for '80s Castlevania action, then Curse of the Moon 2 will give you everything you need.
In the end, Dogurai makes for a nice enough retro throwback that can act as a snack between meatier titles. The game isn't too difficult, but it is simple to understand, and it apes the mechanics of older games well enough to earn that challenge. The length of the game is buoyed by the presence of two endings and a new character, while the aesthetic fits perfectly for those who want to treat the Switch as a portable rather than a home console. At $5, Dogurai is certainly worth it for those who want to scratch that retro action platforming itch.
When the credits rolled after the final scene, I felt like I was in a movie theater and ready to applaud. I got to binge-watch and play the samurai story of my dreams. For anyone else who's ever picked up a long, empty wrapping-paper tube, held it with two hands a few inches apart, and swung it like a samurai, I have good news: We found it. We've got our game.
There's a solid adventure game in Beyond A Steel Sky. The puzzles make sense and ease newcomers to the genre, the story is mostly on point, and the writing is robust. Whether you're a longtime fan of the original or just coming to its world now, there's plenty to enjoy in Beyond. The multitude of technical gameplay and presentation issues make it difficult to eke out all of the joy you can from the title. If you can deal with all of that, then you'll find a fine adventure game to sink your teeth into. Otherwise, you might want to wait for a few patches to see if the issues get ironed out.
While not overly amazing, Relic Hunters Zero: Remix is a fun roguelike twin-stick shooter. The campaign length feels just right, and the abilities brought in by the character roster make the game feel fresh even after logging multiple playthroughs. There's a great sense of progression, and the extra modes give the game some legs. It's a good complementary game to the other twin-stick roguelikes that are on the Switch.
All in all, Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is the ideal Story of Seasons experience. It may lack some of the unique ideas from later games in the franchise, but it captures the fun of farming simulators. It can be repetitive and too easy to earn money, but you'll hours spending hours exploring mines and perfecting your crops. Additionally, the Switch version retains the portability of the original GBA title, so FoMT is an excellent Story of Seasons experience for newcomers and long-term fans alike.
Red Wings: Aces in the Sky surprised me. I went in with low expectations and found a fun arcade shooter that does a lot of things well. It works as advertised and can provide some fun but short-lived action moments that detail the story of the Red Baron during WWI. Fans of the subject matter will certainly get a few decent hours out of the game, but the experience is severely held back by a lack of variety in almost all areas. If you're not into WWI or arcade shooters, Red Wings probably won't keep you entertained for too long, but it is a solid experience that does most things well enough for a quick rush of adrenaline on your Switch.
I cannot help but feel that, while Marvel's Iron Man VR is better than I feared it may be, it limits itself and prevents itself from being a standout title for the system. The fun combat and movement system are held back by repetitiveness, its story is frequently interrupted by massive load times, and progression is almost nonexistent. When not coated in iron, the world around us is pretty but offers little interaction or incentives to explore on your own. Iron Man VR feels restricted by its game design to be little more than a fun wave shooter, when it could have been much more. It is still a very fun game to play in VR and it's one of their better titles, but it never even scratches the heights that it so clearly aimed for.