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Pretty Princess Party is, at its core, an incredibly casual game. It’s a low-stakes and low-effort title that lets the player use their creative potential should they decide to get involved. If you’re a parent looking for a safe title for kids to play to explore their skills and reaction times, this is a solid pick. Otherwise, I don’t really know who’s going to play this game. On a more positive note, It’s got fewer bugs than Cyberpunk 2077.
Mercenaries Blaze: Dawn of the Twin Dragons is a great entry in this SRPG series that takes retro systems and adds modern elements to make it stand proudly next to the greats. Its story doesn’t stick, but it also attempts to tackle some significantly difficult topics. Thankfully, the battle systems and accessibility options are sound and make this game a joy to experience.
Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend is a great piece of retro RPG history made readily available for modern gamers. The added options add a layer of accessibility lacking in the series, but it still retains its minimalistic design and leaves progression in the player’s hands. Bottom line, this is an amazing collection for RPG fans, and you won’t be disappointed spending an afternoon pretending your switch is a Game Boy and going on an adventure.
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light provides a look back at the humble beginnings of this SRPG series that continues to find new fans to this day. It shows its age in systems and visuals, but the added options to speed up the experience and save anywhere makes it accessible for non-seasoned retro gamers. This is a game that I’m glad made it to this generation, at least to preserve its official western release.
Tanuki Justice is an enjoyable and welcome retro release, one that recaptures the magic of ninja action games like Shinobi and Ninja Gaiden while adding some bullet hell shenanigans to provide a different type of challenge. There are some mechanical imperfections and omissions which do hamper the intended fast-paced ninja action. Still, the experience as a whole tends to shine through thanks to its vibrant presentation and strong level design.
Call of the Sea is a puzzle adventure that should be played by all fans of the genre. Its writing and environments are strikingly immersive as the player and Norah find themselves traveling deeper down this rabbit hole of mystery. There are moments of confusion in its design, but all the tools are present to explore this beautifully charming adventure; my only wish is that it was longer.
Immortals Fenyx Rising is an entertaining open-world title with tons of explorative depth, combative choice, and gorgeous visuals. The writing’s urgency to be as funny as possible is a bit of a turn-off, but beyond that, this is a standout adventure. While not a genre revolutionizer, Immortals Fenyx Rising plays to the genre’s strengths and can easily grant players dozens upon dozens of hours of great fun.
Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 is a brilliantly fun and addictive experience that all fans will quickly sink hours in. The game doesn’t deviate too much from its predecessor, but the campaign and Skill Battle mode provides hours of unique Puyo Puyo and Tetris enjoyment. Only hardcore fans may notice the updated systems, but this is still a very accessible competitive puzzle game for all fans of the genre.
Monster Sanctuary might not look like any monster-collecting RPG you’ve seen before, but its blend of genres creates a fun and exciting adventure for hours. The more you put into the game, the more you’ll find to love about it. I do wish there were easier ways to track navigation and some additional options to speed up the battles, but this is a genuinely fun game that shouldn’t go unnoticed.
Drawn to Life: Two Realms could have been a little more. The concept of making it into a puzzle platformer is interesting, but the challenges can go from a walk in the park to asking for advanced comprehension in an instant. Further, some small quality-of-life issues make progress feel slow and slightly cumbersome. Nonetheless, it can offer a good deal of fun for fans of the genre and people who have been dying to see the characters again.
Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure Pack is a quirky and adorable game that I wasn’t expecting to come west. The adventure itself is almost complete nonsense, and the gameplay is more mindless than fun. Still, the large list of playable tracks and the fun cast of characters make it charming in the most obscure way. I wouldn’t say it’s for everyone, but it’s also a game about talking Taiko drums, so I don’t know what else I expect.
Haven took me by complete surprise with its relatable characters and emotional love story. Gliding from island to island is endlessly fun and is a great way to take in its bright art direction. While there are some performance issues, the overall story and exploration had me hooked from beginning to end. If you’re looking for a romantic and fantastic narrative Haven has a beautiful world ready to explore.
Per Aspera offers a surprisingly emotional narrative that explores the thought process of an evolving AI programmed to assist humans in colonizing Mars. The symbiotic gameloop of creating structures and growing your presence on the surface while hitting key milestones is cathartic. I was easily immersed in this experience, but only after some trial and error trying to understand how it all worked due to a limited tutorial.
ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos presents some exciting advancements in the VR visual novel space. It excels in creating a world with characters you care about across some emotional and action field story beats. I think a lot of feedback was brought into this project from the developer’s previous games, which have made it a stand-out adventure title and a must-play for VR owners.
Morbid: The Seven Acolytes is a challenging game which generally incorporates both the good and annoying elements of a Souls-like experience. Still, it manages to stand out thanks to its strong dark fantasy presentation, rich Lovecraftian lore, and gameplay systems that offer methodical combat and plenty of features to make the adventure satisfying. It’s a difficult game, for sure, but it doesn’t forego quality-of-life features for the sake of being difficult, and so in this sense, many players outside of the Souls fandom can get something out of it.
Project Wingman is an amazing air combat adventure from a team of developers who truly love the genre. Its campaign is fairly predictable, and you may wish for more planes, but the gameplay is just too damn good to overlook. There’s a noticeable layer of quality found in each mission that transcends into the Conquest Mode, which will keep you coming back for more.
If you have casual experience with the mystery dungeon genre and desire more from it, I wholeheartedly recommend Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate. Once you let it in and embrace it, this adventure will pull you in with its endless replayability, stark gameplay depth, and charm. If you grow easily frustrated, however, and find yourself feeling disheartened by losing resources and progress quite significantly, a different mystery dungeon title will more than likely be your cup of tea.
Root Double: Before Crime * After Days is an engaging science fiction visual novel that I’d consider a must-play title in the genre, and the Switch version has become one of the best ways to experience it. Small systems hold it back from being better, such as confusing gameplay, suspension of disbelief breaking, and exposition dumping. Still, with its compelling narrative beats, engaging writing, and creative concepts, you’ll find it difficult to put this one down.
Chronos: Before the Ashes is a solid action-adventure that doesn’t overstay its welcome or try to be something that it isn’t. If you’ve played the VR original, you’ll find quality-of-life improves, but this is still the same challenging adventure that you’ll remember. The gameplay is tight, responsive, and consistently fun; there’s nothing more I could really ask for from an action-adventure game.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity excels at being both a lively and addictive Warriors title while also being a competent prequel to Breath of the Wild. The action highlights each playable character’s skills wonderfully while weaving in a strategy item system against bosses. Sure, some environments didn’t translate well to the action genre, but I can see myself returning to Hyrule again and again in this adventure.