Starbit's Reviews
The game's presentation is worthy of praise, as is its concept, but the way everything is implemented ends up harming the gameplay experience. Mostly due to poor execution, it's frustrating to draw a fun and engaging experience from Within the Blade when most of its mechanics are in need to be reworked.
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Dragon Star Vanir lands on the Nintendo Switch with all its DLC included in this version, which is worth of praise, as well as a creative combat system and an overall interesting theme. Alas, this port is riddled with too many technical and performance flaws that make the experience more frustrating than it should be, plus the way the exploration in the dungeons ends up feeling too tedious. The final result is a game that could have turned out much better, but as it is Dragon Star Vanir on the Switch needs several improvements before it can be recommended to most players out there.
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Oxenfree II: Lost Signals does its job well when it comes to creating a mysterious ambiance, graphics and sound included, and capturing the player's attention to solve its mysteries. The downside is that its gameplay often feels too repetitive and monotonous, and a big part of its dialogue lines are uninteresting, which is unfortunate for a game that makes use of a lot of exchanges the main characters. In the end, the experience is a lot more linear than thought, but all this doesn't mean Oxenfree II cannot be enjoyed by fans of plot-driven narrative experiences with a taste for the supernatural.
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Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical consists of a visual novel (despite what its name suggests) based around music and its main characters are modern interpretations of Greek gods. All of this, plus its visually appealing graphics and art style, is very much worthy of praise. Where Stray Gods strays from its qualities is when players who are less keen on visual novels find themselves limited by the available choices, as the plot allows for little deviation from the main story. As far as its execution is concerned, some of the singing moments feel inconsistent, due to the voice actors' different renditions.
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he presentation does a marvelous job at transporting the players to the novel's settings, and at certain moments the game can feel more like a visual novel rather than a puzzle-adventure game. Some of the elements could use an improvement when it comes to adapting the game to a home console format, though, and sometimes the gameplay interruptions become too frequent.
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We Are OFK does not propose the dynamic kind of gameplay that most games do. Rather, We Are OFK is more akin to a biopic where the player follows the tribulations of a burgeoning music group, and it knows how to deliver on that. Its characters are fun to follow, and the dialogues are well written to keep the player's attention focused. Coupled with a stunning looking visual environment and art style, We Are OFK is certain to appeal to those willing to embrace an experience that's not based on interactive gameplay. Even so, more ramifications and consequences for the few plot choices available would be very welcome.
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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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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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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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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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With a very good control system and ways to guide new players, this new Mario Strikers knows how to integrate everyone. At the same time, there's a disappointing lack o content compared to the other games, and its single player experience feels too limited and quick to explore. The online multiplayer is an absolute joy and the main selling point, even if it's missing functionalities we've seen in other games, but solo players will feel like their experience is too short.
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Lamplight City is a point and click adventure that tries a novel approach with regards to its exploration, as the player can take the main events in any order and is allowed to fail specific objectives as the game's very flexible plot will adapt to such choices. In that regard, as well as its attractive art style, Lamplight City is an interesting game. Its puzzles suffer from a level of difficulty that ends up making them too simplistic though, and as such the challenge can get too repetitive but it nonetheless remains a game very much worth exploring.
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Monark presents us with an experience that draws inspiration from landmark RPG series while also hinting at a survival horror experience. It does a good job when it comes to its attractive art style, a flexible and smooth character development system, a challenging combat, and its plot with themes related to the human ego. Unfortunately the game's execution stands on the way to delivering a fine experience, and the frequent slowdowns that happen even more often during combat, as well as a simplistic level structure make this a game that's unable to stand up to its peers, even if it should not be disregarded by RPG fans.
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Earth Defense Force: World Brothers goes under a visual renovation and presents a new aesthetic that will help it becoming more popular with a wider audience. The gameplay experience remains the same compared to the previous EDF games, improved even, it can be said. At the same time, EDF's issues with performance have not made a lot of progress and the game's lack of a local co-op multiplayer that requires only one Nintendo Switch will make this a less attractive game for those looking for this kind of experience, especially given its relatively high price.
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Some of these are known classics, others are less resounding works. While the emulation is good enough to present a good, flawless experience comparable to the originals, there are several elements here that deserved better, namely the interface and additional information, which is very little and gives almost no insight into TAITO's rich arcade past.
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Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX is a competent re-edition of the two original games that gives some of its elements a more modern flair while keeping the series' main characteristics intact. While it's inevitable to find that some of the elements feel outdated, this is still a fun and creative experience, and one that will make long-time fans of these cult classics very glad to have them on a Nintendo Switch.
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Egglia Rebirth is a fun and accessible RPG with a peculiar premise but a simple enough gameplay that's best enjoyed in shorter time segments rather than in longer sessions. Its origins in mobile gaming are very much on sight but that doesn't mean it doesn't fit well in the Nintendo Switch catalogue, with plenty of humor, fun quests and a lovely art style.
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Based on diving and following different marine species and with a strong educational and contemplative component, Beyond Blue also provides a plot that lets players discover more about its lead character. Beyond Blue's simple gameplay and concept also ends up becoming its main shortcoming, as there could have been a lot more to this, especially regarding the exploration of the submarine world, and the game's graphics that fall behind the threshold of what is required for such an experience.
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