Nintendo Wire
HomepageNintendo Wire's Reviews
Life Is Strange: True Colors tries to tell a mature story, one of grieving and self-loathing, how it transforms our lives and others, how we come not to find relationships but build them with those around us. But for all of these themes, it scarcely succeeds at capturing any one of them. It can be compelling, captivating, and charming at one moment and forcefully maudlin at others. It tries to capture the full rainbow spectrum of human emotions, every last hue and shade that makes up the complexities of ourselves. But it only has four colors.
Though pieces of its are familiar and taken from long standing genres, in uniting them with the series’ panache and pixels we get something unique to pick up and play again and again. Though I might be content to set it aside for now, that fine tuned gameplay and infectious soundtrack have made sure I won’t be gone for long.
Even with those shortcomings for the new addition, I’d still recommend Danganronpa Decadence just on the strength of the series itself. If you’ve ever been curious and passed on their PS Vita debuts outside of Japan, I’d encourage grabbing at least one of the main entries to see what makes them so beloved by their fans. Hopefully whenever the next school year begins, the Switch will remain another home for all this delightful despair.
Really, that’s the question at the core of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl’s identity. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a necessary game, as it doesn’t change things up in a meaningful way. With Legends on the horizon, it might be tempting to skip it all together. What it is is a very familiar and self contained game. With all the interconnectedness of Pokémon GO, Sword and Shield, and Pokémon Home; it’s nice to have something that feels removed and “complete” on its own. That might take a little cognitive adjustment on what “complete” means when it comes to Pokémon, but for me personally I never felt like BDSP was missing anything essential.
While it does a solid job recapturing the magic, that does come with some of the same shortcomings that have lingered within the series for decades. Within this context, though, I’m more willing to accept them. After all, this retro reunion stated pretty clearly what its goal was, and it absolutely hits that mark. No rolling the dice on this one, Mario Party Superstars is a sure thing.
Shin Megami Tensei V succeeds in not just living up to that legacy, but being a glorious RPG in its own right.
While it falls just short of being a masterpiece, Dread proves itself worthy of Metroid’s legacy with high fluidity, some fantastic setpieces, and a few particularly killer robots.
It takes a stroke of genius to make a game as codified in the collective unconsciousness as Tetris unique again, and yet here we are. It doesn’t reinvent the squares nor does it rest comfortably within the expected. Instead, it becomes something that’s more suited to modern expectations and sensory enjoyment. I urge you to approach Tetris Effect: Connected not with an open mind but instead an empty one, letting it take the lead and trusting we’re all in its good hands together.
In reviving the best entries and elements and putting them on modern consoles, Sega has given AiAi the best 20th birthday present a monkey could ask for.
This is an impossible game to rate on a numbered scale. The score below ultimately reflects an arbitrary placement, one that makes the game seem merely middling when it’s really like a full-course meal that was delicious but an absolute pain to work through. Eastward is far from the YIIK class of terrible “Earthboundlike” games, and certainly deserves more attention than that mess. If you have a lot of patience, this is an easy recommendation. And if you have none, I would stay far away. I’m not sure if I’ll ever head Eastward again, but the journey will always remain fresh in my mind.
For my money, WarioWare: Get It Together! works as a continuation of the series but doesn’t push it forward in a truly meaningful way. Some of the faults of the previous release are still present, leading me to think they might be here to stay with the current direction. Still, after years of experimentation and a fresher style since Gold, it’s nice to see the team’s still got it where it counts – the microgames, and the weird wonderfulness that Wario and his team can bring.
At its core, Sonic Colors is still a great game and one of Sonic Team’s best in recent memory, but it’s not quite as refreshing in 2021 as it was in 2010.
If you’re new to this rainbow-blood-soaked world you’ll be missing some context on certain characters (even Travis Strikes Again is essential for full comprehension), but this also manages to be one of the best examples of a creator putting themself into their work despite some frustrations along the way. When that creator is Suda51, you can’t afford to miss it.
Spelunky 2 may not make the kinds of waves that its predecessor did, likely as a consequence of the growth of indies and roguelikes in general. Don’t let that trick you into thinking it’s any less addictive and enjoyable. If you ever think you’ll just play for a bit you’re sure to lose yourself in these lunar caverns, driven by the seemingly infinite possibilities and risk of death. Even if you may never see everything it has to offer, you’ll never feel like you’re missing out with this nearly perfect sequel.
NEO: The World Ends with You manages to hit its streets running by maintaining everything interesting, unique, and enjoyable about the first game. The changes in hardware and playable characters have tweaked things slightly, but it feels like positive growth that improves the series or at least puts a fresh, wicked twist on it. Following up on a cult favorite game over a decade later is no easy feat, but Square Enix have done it as well as I could imagine.
In this day and age, stories about kindness, compassion, and taking care of each other in spite of our differences is something we could all use more of, and Button City delivers just that in an adorable, low-poly package that’s sure to become an eShop gem.
What’s left in Skyward Sword HD is a fantastic journey with beautiful and varied locations, puzzling dungeons, memorable characters, and one of the best stories in the Zelda series. It’s nice to finally have a traditional 3D Zelda game on the Switch (albeit a remastered one), and if you’re hungry for a Zelda game that does what a Zelda game does best, I cannot recommend Skyward Sword HD enough.
Samurai Warriors 5 doesn’t break the mold set by its many, many forebears, but it still manages to polish its edges, becoming a striking, feature-rich action game.
Eldest aims to replicate the Soulsborne experience in its own stripped down way. Don’t mistake “stripped down” to mean it’s light or superficial, though, as Fallen Flag Studio have crafted something all their own through a gush of blood and gorgeous pixels.
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles will likely be as remembered for the journey it took to even be officially released in English as the journey of Ryunosuke Naruhodo himself – and both are worth it. The sheer grandiosity, excellent writing, and overall package make it one for the ages