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Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince is a lovely return for the series' 2.5D puzzle platforming. It tinkers with and broadens the gameplay options to be more welcoming, and levels can feel a little stretched out at times, but grab a couple of friends and stick it on Classic mode, and this will delight fans of those first two games.
Indivisible is far more than the sum of its parts. The full game lives up to the promise of the early prototype and is a fantastically original take on a mix of familiar genres. Aside from small issues with balancing combat in the later parts of the game and a frustrating end boss, there is very little here to criticise.
Super Neptunia RPG makes an earnest attempt at shaking up the formula of the Neptunia series. Unfortunately, major technical issues bog this game down at every turn, and even if they were fixed, the drawn out story and over-simplified combat would fail to equate to an enjoyable game. Super fans of the Neptunia series might find something worthwhile in this experience, but it's sure to be buried under ten tons of headache and frustration.
I wanted to love River City Girls. A modern side scrolling beat 'em up, from a proven developer like WayForward, with bright, bold visuals, and two kick-ass heroines should have been great. Instead, thanks to way too much repetitive grinding, River City Girls is a bit boring. Something I never thought I'd say about a game that has high school children hitting zombie cheerleaders with wrenches.
A functional and attractive sim that's the best serious Switch racer in a vacuum of serious racers. The genre itself has taken a step forward since the game's original release though, and seasoned racing fans will likely crave more excitement than Grid Autosport offers.
There's a calming sense of satisfaction to be had from Bus Simulator, though you'll have to work for it. This is the very definition of a slow burner - it's deliberately repetitive in a way that will irk most gamers, yet caters perfectly to a specific niche.
Hugely satisfying combat and some smart world design carries a decent Souls-like that feels like a solid, if safe, alternative for genre fans. The Surge 2 is competent, with flashes of excellence, but loses some of its own identity in the shadows of its inspirations.
Sniper Elite 3 Ultimate Edition acquits itself nicely on Nintendo Switch. It looks good, it performs solidly, there's a couple of nice tweaks made for the Switch, and there's a wealth of great stealthy sniping content to be found within this compilation. Really it's a fairly standard feeling port, but alongside the V2 remaster, it's a good excuse to revisit the series and see how far it's evolved.
Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey promised so much, but it ultimately isn't any fun to play. The lack of direction, the clumsy controls and unwieldy mechanics make this a huge missed opportunity that just doesn't hang together as an experience. The DNA of a great idea may be here, but it needs a significant amount of evolution before it can become realised.
FIFA 20 is pretty much what you'd expect from a new FIFA game. FIFA Ultimate Team continues to march on and grow, card packs and all, while the core gameplay has been tweaked, making attacking play feel great as you rip defences apart. The big new feature is Volta Football, and while it's a fun distraction, it's not quite as engaging as its FIFA Street predecessors.
Code Vein is addictive, yet frustrating. It's promising, yet unpolished. There are a lot of interesting ideas here that come together to craft a unique and engaging experience. I just wish that the flaws here weren't so glaring, because they keep Code Vein from being a great game instead of just a good one.
Dragon Quest XI is already an incredible JRPG, but this massively updated Switch release makes it almost mandatory. With new outfits, new quests, an entirely new 2D mode and a huge range of quality of life improvements, it's easy to consider this the best version of the game to play. The only thing holding it back from earning that title are some unfortunate visual and performance issues. A handy patch can fix the latter, but really the only reason not to prefer this version is if pristine graphics are your highest priority.
A lot of love and time has gone into Children of Morta, and the level of polish and complexity across its narrative and gameplay make it one of the most interesting roguelites to date. The difficulty curve and relative brevity of its story may put some off, but Children of Morta is a beautifully crafted, polished roguelite that deserves your attention.
At the end of the day – the long hard day of being a naughty little goose – Untitled Goose Game is something truly unique and special. It's a beautifully clean and simple puzzle game which will have you howling with delight, both when you play it through for the first time, and when you pass the controller to your partner saying, "You absolutely need to play this game where you're a naughty little goose…"
Utawarerumono: Zan is only for the most dedicated of fans to the series. Newcomers will be lost by the incredibly brisk and abbreviated story, and even though the combat is fun and the characters unique, there are just so many other Warriors-style games out there that provide fun gameplay and addictive action without slacking on the story. Hardcore Utawarerumono might get more pleasure out of this game than fresh faces would, but are sure to be just as disappointed by how thoroughly the story has been butchered.
With a quirkiness to it that stands out from the rest of the series, Link's Awakening still holds up beautifully well as a modern 2D Zelda game. Outside of some nagging performance issues, Link's Awakening is a wonderful remake of a Game Boy classic.
Daymare: 1998 feels like going back to visit a friend from school who still lives a youthful life free of responsibility. It's fun for a while, but you eventually realise that there is a reason you left that lifestyle behind. Were this released before Capcom's own Resident Evil 2 remake, its issues might not have been so apparent. Oddly stranded in time, this now feels too clunky for newcomers and is one for genre aficionados interested in the evolution of survival horror.
I've got very mixed feelings about Borderlands 3. Overall I like it and it's fun to play, but it could have been so much more and the writing feels like time traveling back to your high school days and being surprised and a little disappointed at how immature everyone is. Few things in life are as embarrassing as the person you were five years ago. If you're not embarrassed, then I'm sorry to say that you may well be the Borderlands 3 of your friend group; stuck in the past unable to grow or change in any meaningful way, relying on fart jokes as a stand-in for your personality.
I couldn't be happier about the return of the Ninja Warriors. The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors takes classic arcade action and updates it for a brand new era of ninjas. Combat is slick and addictive, and every level is more enjoyable than the last. Unfortunately, the ride just ends far too soon, and without any extra modes or stages to battle your way through after the credits roll, this is an excellent but ultimately far too short experience. I hope the Ninja Warriors stick around longer the next time they return.
eFootball PES 2020 may be a symbolic start of a new era for Konami, but it feels like not much has changed over last year's version of the game. In fact, it might even be that last year's version plays a shade better compared to this version. When PES 2020 works properly it is sublime, but issues on the pitch need addressed to really be considered worth upgrading.