Starbit's Reviews
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet dares to venture into open world exploration, a decision with a lot of potential and which by itself is praiseworthy. However the game's difficulty balance - or lack thereof - causes unexpected problems on what is supposed to be a free world and ends up recreating an informal hierarchy of choices. Pokémon fans have many things to enjoy here, and co-op gameplay is one of the game's best assets, but the overall performance and technical issues end up creating frustrating moments for everyone. If Scarlet and Violet make use of good ideas, they needed more work before getting released
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Graviter makes the player intervene over the force of gravity across a series of levels and with its simple and welcoming interface and easy-to-learn mechanics, players will be fully prepared after just a few minutes of gameplay. Even though there aren't many reasons to revisit previously completed levels, Graviter is a great challenge that feels like a steady progression towards the end, and it imprints on the player a marvelous sense of satisfaction when the hardest levels are completed.
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The game's tasks and incentives to attract more visitors are great fun, and its colourful visual environment and good performance helps with creating a more enjoyable experience. Its lack of tutorials and the way it throws players right into the action will make it less welcoming for those who are not experienced in the genre, however.
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The open world levels that encourage players to invest in exploring them and very enjoyable local co-op multiplayer, as well as the gorgeous graphics and kicking soundtrack all help make this one of the best beat'em ups on the Nintendo Switch and one that fans of the genre will duly cherish.
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SD Gundam Battle Alliance is a competent action RPG that's chock-full of content aimed at hearty Gundam fans, and they are certain to enjoy what's on offer, with the game's immense amount of fan service, fun and simple combat, and enormous amount of robots to discover, a marvelous celebration of the Gundam series. Taking a few steps away from the fandom, the somewhat repetitive missions and a plot that doesn't fascinate become more visible, but with this being an effort obviously targeted at Gundam fans it's fair to say they will enjoy the work that went into Battle Alliance the most.
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The greater focus on the development of vehicles and characters is a very welcome improvement, as it makes the exploration and overall gameplay more enjoyable, and helps consolidate this as the ultimate version of Metal Max Xeno. On the other hand, it's less clear why several plot elements were sacrificed, and the game's performance could use some work, but that doesn't stand in the way of Reborn's overall qualities.
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Rune Factory 5 marks the first new chapter of the simulation RPG series after a long hiatus and this new arrival on the Nintendo Switch brings very appealing characters, a good combat system and some interesting gameplay mechanics. Unfortunately its biggest weaknesses are difficult to overlook, namely when it comes to its performance and poor graphics, as well as to repetitive spaces to explore. While it is possible to get used to these shortcomings, they remain impossible to understand and in several cases make the experience less enjoyable than it should be.
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Aeterna Noctis brings a metroidvania experience influenced by several of the main games of the genre, with a complex level design, a long lifespan, and a well implemented visual environment. If experienced players will feel right at home, those with less time and fewer hours on their back around metroidvania games will find the high difficulty level off putting, and while the game's gentle pacing works great for the exploration it also risks making some players lose their momentum as they move around Aeterna Noctis' long lifespan and maze-like levels.
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Beacon Pines is an experience that will have its players cross a fairy tale and find words that will cause shifts to the events on the plot. With less emphasis on action and more on narrative discovery, Beacon Pines treats its players to a charming visual world and an exquisite soundtrack, while its environment flows between an adorable kid-friendly world to something more disturbing and menacing, and the game does all this naturally. One of the best indie gems to make its way to the Nintendo Switch catalogue.
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Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars brings together two reputed series with a lot of fan service thrown in to give us a platforming hack and slash with comically good writing and a visually interesting world. At the same time, its high expectations fall short as the game's unimpressive lifespan and repetitive action and characters mean that it won't leave a big marking in the world of action games.
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It Takes Two manages to bring the most important elements of co-op gaming and wrap them in an experience that brings players together into fully exploring the dynamics of their relationship towards solving puzzles and overtaking obstacles along the way. Featuring vast worlds with plenty of variety and creative challenges, It Takes Two also does wonders for less experienced players thanks to a very accessible gameplay that welcomes everyone. A true classic and benchmark for cooperative gaming.
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Featuring an experience that drips with more quality than is usually expected when it comes to indie games, Kukoos: Lost Pets could benefit from an improved camera, but as it is this is a marvelous and very welcome addition to the Nintendo Switch catalogue.
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Primal Light scores points when it comes to the visual ambiance and art style portraying a horrific, evil world. Its level design is less thrilling, though, and combined with enemies that get tiresome too quickly, the levels end up feeling like a burden, with the bosses providing a welcome highlight. Its punishing difficulty will put off less experienced players, though.
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Soccer Story joins the roster of sports-themed RPGs, and this one will put players on a quest to save football from a tyrant corporation, which may or may not be based on a real world organization. With that said, the game's puzzles are fun and the open world is nicely presented, but the game's biggest flaw concerns its main point of focus: playing football, which feels too simplistic and features opponents that are too erratic. Soccer Story could be a much more unique game in its kind but the lack of attention dedicated to the sport that inspired it leads to an experience that won't captivate fans.
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In this unusual take to stealth action, the players will have to clean up crime scenes after the gruesome actions occur but before the law can catch them. With its marvelous art style and sountrack, and an accessible and fun experience, Serial Cleaners' biggest flaws are its rather easy difficulty for experienced players and repetitiveness that settles in after a couple of hours, but which can be averted by playing in short sessions.
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Splatoon 3 represents a step forward in the series. It takes everything that made the previous two games memorable and delivers it in slicker, more fluid and more dynamic ways. It also opens more possibilities for solo gaming while maintaining the rich and lively online experience. Truly the best treatment the Splatoon series could get, its third chapter is another landmark in the Nintendo Switch catalogue.
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Oddworld: Soulstorm Oddtimized Edition brings the latest chapter in the Oddworld series to the Nintendo Switch and with it come the outstanding, immersive plot, a wide world to explore and a very demanding series of puzzles and obstacles to overcome in a very fitting way with the Oddworld name. At the same time, some of its underlying issues regarding more frustrating points such as the use of trial and error brought on by some instances of level design have not been fully dealt with, but overall this is a very welcome addition to the Nintendo Switch catalogue and one that is certain to appeal to Oddworld fans.
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Pac-Man World Re-Pac brings back the 1999 original and successfully adapts its visual world as well as control mechanics to our day, thus making a great effort at modernizing Pac-Man's platformer effort. While these are very welcome steps the game's foundations remain steeped in their time and as such, the levels are rather similar and with no links between them, while the camera is somewhat limited, in elements that are reminiscent of the original game's era. All in all, Re-Pac is a fun if by no means profound experience that will please fans of one of gaming's most iconic characters and of 1990s platformers.
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The game features intuitive gameplay mechanics and a charming self-deprecating humour that mocks the genre's most common clichés. That does not suffice, however, as One True Hero is unfortunately affected by a series of flaws and execution problems with regards to its graphics and overall experience, as well as by an uninspired level design. Perhaps a future update can correct its most pressing issues but as it is, One True Hero is a game with good ideas tarnished by a frustrating execution.
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Cursed to Golf is a fun and surprising game that brings together golf, platforms, puzzles, and roguelike elements. If this seems very unlikely, it all works and fits together nicely, with a very creative approach to a comically macabre plot, a high difficulty level that makes players think carefully about each stroke, and a mechanic that changes the properties of the ball. A lovely piece of gaming that's more than welcome to the Nintendo Switch catalogue.
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