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GREAT - A heartwarming tale of a wolf who lies and a prince with curiosity crossed with a little stupidity comes to your Switch with hours of enjoyable gameplay. The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince is a 2D adventure title with puzzle solving aspects that reminded me of Ico from years back and that’s a very good thing.
GREAT - Reverie: Sweet As Edition creates a charming adventure that feels like a sweet ode to childhood. If you’re looking for a fusion of Earthbound and A Link to the Past, look no further. Side effects of playing may include wanting to visit New Zealand on your summer holidays.
WORTH CONSIDERING - The King’s Bird could have been something truly special, but middling controls, average level design, and infuriating difficulty will leave many giving up on it well before the ending. Some will no doubt cherish the challenge, but most would be better served looking elsewhere.
GREAT - Dragon’s Lair Trilogy is a collection of beautifully animated arcade classics that stand the test of time. They were great back in the day, and they play great on the Nintendo Switch. Everything from the classic arcade games has been preserved in the trilogy collection, and it even has some extra features, customizable options, and deleted scenes not used in the arcade versions.
GREAT - Glass Masquerade delivers an accessible, clever and elegant jigsaw puzzle experience with stunning art deco stained-glass pieces to be built. The game performs great on the Nintendo Switch utilizing both main control methods, and I only had one minor criticism of the gameplay. In the end, I’d love to see more content added to really bolster the lasting appeal for this game.
GOOD - Odallus does a good job replicating old-school 8-bit NES adventure games of yore. The lack of button mapping and the inability to remove the scanlines dampened my experience with the game, but it’s still a fun and challenging title that should appeal to veteran gamers.
WORTH CONSIDERING - Oniken is a solid 2D action/platformer and I had a fun weekend playing through it. However, it doesn’t do anything extraordinary or original. There are plenty of games that overshadow this, but the $9.99 price tag is perfect and for that affordable price, anyone who picks this up will surely get their money’s worth.
WORTH CONSIDERING - Dragons Dawn of New Riders makes for an easy to pick up adventure/RPG and an entertaining romp through the Dragons universe. It’s not going to blow any minds, but fans of the series will love its charming presentation, while younger audiences will appreciate the game’s accessibility and light-hearted style.
EXCELLENT - New Super Mario Brothers U Deluxe packs in a lot of content. It’s understandable to be hesitant to dive in at full price, however if you do you’ll be instantly reminded of the joy a Mario game can provide. If you haven’t played these games before it is a no brainer. Nintendo is as good as it gets in level design and control and this collection of the two Wii U games is a great reminder of this.
GOOD - When Ski Lifts Go Wrong is an entertaining game with funny predicaments that are often caused by the way you build your structures. This engineering puzzle game will appeal to a wide range of gamers and is an excellent fit for the Switch.
OUTSTANDING - Super Smash Bros. Ultimate delivers the definitive version of Nintendo’s popular party fighter with more characters, stages, and ways to play than ever before. Ultimate is a collection of gaming history from the last few decades with something for everyone. Every Switch owner should have this in their collection.
GOOD - At Sundown: Shots in the Dark is a fun multiplayer shooter in the tradition of many that have come before, but with one heck of a twist, ya varmints. This one should be great to break out at parties for some quick shooting action.
WORTH CONSIDERING - FutureGrind has a fair amount of effort in some places but comes up short in others. The gameplay is simple yet creative, the tracks are challenging, and the backgrounds and music really draw you into the game’s world. On the other hand, there’s a severe lack of content and the game never goes far enough with its premise.
GREAT - Airheart delivers a reasonably balanced roguelike experience with a dieselpunk art style that looks great on the Nintendo Switch. Gameplay comes in the form of twin-stick arcade shooting & collecting, coupled with a trial & error crafting system that I found to be a bit annoying, but not enough to detract from the overall game. If you’re in the market for a thematically different roguelike, this game has a nicely structured game loop that delivers hours upon hours of fun.
MEDIOCRE - On the surface Dragon Marked For Death ticked all the right boxes: beautiful sprites, colorful graphics, co-op action/adventure, RPG elements, and compelling story. After playing it became obvious the game offers a very shallow gameplay experience with repetitive combat, difficulty spikes, and bosses that just won’t die. The bottom line is that this one just isn’t all that fun to play.
MEDIOCRE - Bombfest is a physics-based brawler that, while visually cute, falls short of bringing much in the way of strategic gameplay, coming off far more random in outcomes than desired. There’s a lot of content that can be unlocked which is wonderful, but when it comes to new bombs, they just don’t stand out as meaningful, resulting in more of a bland execution than desired.
MEDIOCRE - Xenon Valkyrie+ is a bit of a mixed bag. It has plenty of cute visuals and fun gameplay, but it falls short in more important aspects like its level designs and replayability. If you just want some short fun then this would be worth considering. Everyone else should probably pass.
WORTH CONSIDERING - As a piece of visual art, Mind: Path to Thalamus is an experience that will have you in awe. The game side of things isn’t as rosy, with trial and error gameplay and a very weak and tacked on story. If those aren’t important to you then this one is definitely one to consider.
GOOD - Holy Potatoes! We’re in Space?! brings an easy to learn, but difficult to master turn-based strategy space game to the Nintendo Switch. It includes a quirky cast of vegetable-themed characters and plenty of puns to go with it. Gameplay can get repetitive as there isn’t a ton of depth, but this is mitigated by a slew of customization and upgrade options along with well-planned missions to create a solid experience.
GOOD - Rain World is one part cute, one part creepy, and another part frustrating survival game. The controls are not easy to master, and some will no doubt find the punishment of death in this game unforgiving. Still, those that like a challenge are sure to find something to like!