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As previously mentioned, I don’t even think this is Aspyr’s fault. Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles is just a terrible game at its core, so all the polishing treatment in the world wouldn’t have fixed its many, MANY problems. It’s a clunky, hilariously ugly, and poorly designed beat ’em up which, at times, feels so janky and unpolished, it almost becomes a funny experience.
I like it, not love, and I’m not confident I’ll even think about it after a couple of weeks. If games were still in rental shops, I’d say pick this up for a rainy afternoon and return it the day after, but, with such a low price, I’d just say grab it when you’re ready for a slice of melancholy. It’s a clever bit of frission, but I don’t think it’ll leave a mark on your soul.
I really enjoyed Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders‘ core premise, and I honestly think this game has a lot of potential… as long as it is able to maintain its servers filled up for the foreseeable future. It’s a really fun racing game, set in a unique locale for today’s standards, but considering its paultry amount of content and dangerously barren single player campaign, it will live or die based on its multiplayer population.
DreadOut: Remastered Collection is not a perfect series, and this remaster still shows that time hasn’t been kind to it. However, I have a soft spot for horror games based on Asian Folklore, and this Fatal Frame-inspired adventure is at the very least worth a go. Full of charm and interesting ideas, but often stumbling in execution. Just be prepared for a game that is occasionally frustrating.
It’s still a good game. It did not wow me, and I honestly think there are much better games in a similar vein out there (and for a fraction of the price), but Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is a decent remaster of a well-put platformer. I just don’t think that, just like many other recent Switch outings, it justifies its really steep pricetag.
As it stands, Antonblast feels like it should do everything right. In reality, it feels quite hollow. There’s no real relatability to the characters. The game is fine and everything, and the way it’s laid out makes sense even if it does kind of hide levels from you for some reason. Still, there’s a lack of real spirit that doesn’t make it fun beyond just the fact it plays well. It’s really frustrating because when a game does a lot right, but still feels really bland at the same time. Just playing well at this point doesn’t make a game great, and that’s the only place where Antonblast truly succeeds.
I really tried to appreciate the fact another classic gaming franchise from the earlier days of the medium was finally making a comeback, cementing its legacy, but I had a miserable time playing Montezuma’s Revenge: The 40th Anniversary Edition. It’s buggy, confusing, and uninspired. It’s easy to forgive the clunkiness of the original, since it was released more than 40 years ago, but we expect quality of life enhancements from a fully-fledged remake. There are none.
Rally Arcade Classics features a neat premise that’s a perfect fit for portable gaming PCs and, hopefully at a later date, the Nintendo Switch, but bear in mind that, despite its name, I don’t think it’s particularly “arcadey”. Sure, the physics and controls are more easygoing than any WRC game out there, but the reality is that its campaign is really long and repetitive, demanding way too much dedication from people who were just expecting to grab a little racing game to play a few arcadey rounds. It’s more of an entry-level racing simulator.
No multiplayer and an underwhelming (and voiceless) protagonist make Dynasty Warriors: Origins feel a bit less content-heavy than its predecessors, but it retains the core aspects that make a Musou game so much fun in the first place. Do I think that some of the new features Omega Force has decided to focus on are pointless? Sure, I personally wouldn’t have tried to make the progression and pacing feel as glacial as one from a JRPG, but I won’t say I didn’t have my fair share of dumb fun with Origins. Unlike its disastrous predecessor, it is a really fun experience, putting the franchise back in the spotlight in a good way.
There is not a single positive thing about Night Shift Nurses as it exists. It’s a horrific concept with the execution of someone diving into an empty pool. The graphics are fine because you don’t have to see anything, the writing creates a desire for illiteracy and the moral of the story is that God is dead and visual novels killed Him (or Her!). I would rather spend twenty dollars to have someone fly a drone with a box cutter on it into my stomach, because it would hurt less and be a more interesting story.
In some aspects, it’s probably the best 2D Zelda ever made. It has some of the best dungeons in the series, and it’s full of creative ideas. I just feel like some of its main gameplay features actively hinder it more than make it stand out. It’s just a flawed game, something you rarely see coming from this franchise. Still, if you can put up with an admittedly disappointing combat system, I wholeheartedly recommend giving Echoes of Wisdom a go. It’s the return to a traditional formula you’ve been asking for, and it’s one of the most charming Zelda adventures to date.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is an absolute Indy classic that perfectly sits itself between Raiders and Crusade for the best Indy adventures. MachineGames stays 100% faithful to Indiana Jones and for some that may be good or bad. For me, this is exactly what I wanted in an Indiana Jones adventure, and while I would like maybe a bit more fleshed out combat, and some smarter AI, I couldn’t ask for a better world trotting adventure.
Sorry We’re Closed is one hell of a game. It throws a ton of ideas into a blender and comes out with a retro-action horror quite unlike anything else I played. It has such a great concept and stunning visual style that really sets it apart from the competition.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is just what the franchise needed; a better contained story with some excellent characters. Quite a few decisions actually carried some serious weight, which can vastly affect the outcome of the game. There are multiple endings, and yes, plenty of your companions can die, so there’s a huge replayability factor. The pacing is well-balanced and the combat is a delight, making this game a blast to play from start to finish. Don’t listen to the nay-sayers; if you’re a fan of this franchise, then you simply can’t miss Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
Combine all this with a solid soundtrack, excellent voiceover work and the trademark silly humor of Compile Heart’s ridiculous character creations, and Tokyo Clanpool is one of the better dungeon crawlers I’ve gotten on the Switch. While exposition can take a while and the plot is a little run of the mill, it’s got heart and it’s cute, and I seriously thought the added mechanics were inventive. It takes a lot to run right alongside an Atlus mechanic and not be too samey or grotesque in your inspiration, and Tokyo Clanpool has done it.
Nightdive has, once again, to no one’s shock, delivered another stellar remastering effort. Whilst The Thing is far from being considered a perfect game (for some, even a straightforward “good” game), or even something I would have personally chosen to get the remaster treatment, it’s still a solid title that did its best to recapture the essence of the movie. If anything, I am glad that Nightdive went the extra mile to remaster something that wasn’t exactly good, but surely needed to become widely available once again; it felt like finally being able to experience a forgotten piece of video game history.
Being one of the lowest of the Mario and Luigi games is still like scoring a C+ in sushi quality in the heart of Tokyo. It’s not that your product is bad, it’s that other products are far, far better. Brothership is decent and has some really fun concepts, but there are others, already in place in other games, that I like far more and detract from my interest in continuing to explore Brothership beyond the end game. I celebrate the return of the series, and hope that the sales and the acclaim from others foster another chance at bat for wherever Nintendo steers its ship next.
Ys X: Nordics is, hands down, one of my favorite entries in the franchise thus far. I really enjoyed the “Vikings meets pirates” theme, the characters, the naval encounters, and without a shadow of a doubt, the fast-paced and cathartic combat system.
As far as free-to-play practices go, UFL never fully tried to convince me that it was necessary to spend additional money on it in order to fully enjoy it. In fact, I didn’t expect to play it as much as I did; it’s grindy as hell, but skill-based matchmaking and the fact you need to actually learn how to play the damn game in order to succeed made it a very fair and engrossing football experience, even if it’s lacking in modes and a bit of polish. There’s a lot that needs to be improved, but as it stands, I’m quite pleased with UFL.
Is it fair to say that the best aspect about Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind is its fanservicey appeal? It’s nostalgic, it made me feel like a kid in the 90s once again, but there’s more to it than just a gratuitous shot of retro-tinged dopamine. It’s still a fantastic beat ’em up with great production values and fluid controls, as well as vehicular combat sections which truly make it stand out. It’s the right balance between being pure nostalgic fun and a high-quality party brawler.