Category: Reviews

Square Enix / Tokyo RPG Factory
Switch, PS4, PC (Switch version reviewed)

With an enormous new Zelda adventure available at launch, it’s understandable that Switch owners may not have been in a rush to buy another RPG that takes 25-30 hours to beat that they’d have to juggle alongside it.

Now that we’re nearly a month into the Switch’s life though, it might be worth giving I Am Setsuna another look if you haven’t yet done so.

Inspired by RPGs from the ‘golden age’ (the 16-bit era that brought us the likes of Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy IV), I Am Setsuna mixes old-school mechanics with polygonal visuals to give the traditional RPG style a more modern feel. Continue reading “I Am Setsuna (Switch) review” →

Nintendo / Nintendo EPD
Switch

“This should have come free with the Switch.”

When it comes to hot takes it’s hard to think of one that’s been more regularly bandied about. The combination of 1-2-Switch’s basic gameplay, its family-friendly focus and the increasing sense of entitlement among ‘gamers’ means nearly everyone and their Nintendog reckons this should have been the next Wii Sports style pack-in.

I don’t necessarily agree. While some gamers bought the Switch for its built-in two-player functionality, just as many (if not more) are solo gamers who bought it more for its handheld capabilities.

As such, if Nintendo had bundled 1-2-Switch with its console, you’d have had just as many complaints from other people moaning that they would have rather had the system without the game for a cheaper price.

What we have, then, is a game that half of Nintendo’s audience has no interest in, and the other half wants for free. No pressure, then. Continue reading “1-2-Switch (Switch) review” →

Arc System Works
Switch

“You are welcome, sir, to Cyprus. Goats and monkeys!”

That’s my favourite line of Shakespeare, that is. It’s from Act 4, Scene 1 of Othello, one of yer man’s great tragedies.

There are no goats in Othello for the Switch. And unless there’s an unlockable somewhere that I’m missing, there are no monkeys either. Just a load of black and white circles. Continue reading “Othello (Switch) review” →

Nintendo / SFB Games
Switch

When Nintendo first held its Switch preview events in mid-January, the general consensus was that Snipperclips was potentially the system’s secret weapon.

A co-op puzzle game that makes the most of the Switch’s JoyCon-sharing feature, Snipperclips put a smile on the face of anyone who tried it.

What remained to be seen, however, was how the game would perform outside of Nintendo’s controlled environment, and whether there was enough content in there to justify forking over your greenbacks for it.

The result is an emphatic yes… as long as you have someone to play it with. Continue reading “Snipperclips (Switch) review” →

Rayark Games
Switch, iOS, Android (Switch version reviewed)

Most consoles have a hidden gem at launch, that one game that doesn’t get the attention it deserves because the main launch title is getting all the plaudits.

For many the Switch’s hidden gem is Snipperclips, but that’s not completely ‘hidden’ in the literal sense. Connect your Switch online and among the many news notifications you get from Nintendo are numerous reminders that Snipperclips exists.

For me, the Switch’s true hidden gem – in every sense of the word – is VOEZ. Continue reading “VOEZ (Switch) review” →

The first part of this review is aimed at those who have never played the original standalone version of Shovel Knight before. For those who have and just want to know what’s new in the Switch version, scroll down to the ‘Treasure Trove features’ section further down the article.

Yacht Club Games
Switch, Wii U, 3DS, PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Vita, Steam (Switch version reviewed)

Fake 8-bit graphics are this generation’s cel-shading.

Much like the early 2000s were flooded with games with flat textures and people going “ooooh, it looks just like a cartoon (except not quite)”, today we’re flooded with games with basic sprite-based graphics and people going “ooooh, it looks just like an NES game (except not quite)”.

Most of these are all retro style and no substance, the product of an indie developer whose lack of creativity when choosing an art style is inevitably accompanied by a lack of creativity in terms of gameplay mechanics.

Every now and then, though, you’ll get a game which does actually offer more than a brief “come see how old I look, ha ha!” message.

Games like Super Meat Boy, Retro City Rampage and VVVVVV combine retro visuals with genuinely compelling gameplay to earn their price tag and appeal to gamers of all vintages. You can most definitely add Shovel Knight to this list. Continue reading “Shovel Knight Treasure Trove (Switch) review” →

Arc System Works
Switch

I played New Frontier Days: Founding Pioneers for 10 minutes on the Switch’s launch day, and decided that I would probably hate it.

As is often the case with resource management games like this, the tutorial is just a deluge of information, throwing loads of features at you under the false impression that if it walks you through performing each task once you’ll remember all the steps in the future.

I turned it off, angry, and put it aside to focus on reviewing the other Switch launch games first.

As far as first impressions go, “I’m so annoyed with you I want to play everything else first” probably isn’t the best. Continue reading “New Frontier Days: Founding Pioneers (Switch) review” →

Inti Creates
Switch, 3DS (Switch version reviewed)

I owned the original Blaster Master back when it was released on the NES.

It launched in the US in late 1988, but the UK didn’t get it until April 1991, by which point I was already fully aware how amazing it was thanks to import reviews in various British games magazines.

Those reviews didn’t lie. Blaster Master was such a revolutionary game for its time that even if you were to play it now it would fit right in with the slew of 8-bit style indie offerings you see these days.

Of course, now you don’t need to play the original, because Blaster Master Zero is here courtesy of Inti Creates, the brilliant 2D-focused studio responsible for the likes of the Mega Man Zero series on GBA, Mega Man 9 & 10 and the Azure Striker Gunvolt games. Continue reading “Blaster Master Zero (Switch) review” →