Bad North

 Switch
User Score
7.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 46 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 46
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 46
  3. Negative: 9 out of 46

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  1. EnduroDoug
    Aug 28, 2018
    6
    I really like the visuals, the controls, and the music and sound effects. I don't even mind the scaled down gameplay. But what really irks me is how difficult the game gets all of a sudden toward the late stages and, to be honest, after three runs of 2+ hours, I don't know if I care enough to try again. I really want to complete the game, but another 2-3 hours of play, just so I canI really like the visuals, the controls, and the music and sound effects. I don't even mind the scaled down gameplay. But what really irks me is how difficult the game gets all of a sudden toward the late stages and, to be honest, after three runs of 2+ hours, I don't know if I care enough to try again. I really want to complete the game, but another 2-3 hours of play, just so I can suddenly get wiped out with nothing to show for it doesn't really interest me. If I could have even resurrected one Commander for the following play-through, it would have made it much more enjoyable. And MUCH more replayable.… Expand
  2. SSCheetah
    Sep 6, 2018
    6
    Kinda cool but unfortunately not quite worth the money.

    The visuals are good (aside from the character art, ugh) but I dislike the inconsistency between beautiful 3D maps and cheap-looking sprites for soldiers. Sounds are pretty good, a bit clunky at times but simple and very fitting for the game. Gameplay-wise the core concept is amazing. Aside from slightly awkward camera    Kinda cool but unfortunately not quite worth the money.

    The visuals are good (aside from the character art, ugh) but I dislike the inconsistency between beautiful 3D maps and cheap-looking sprites for soldiers.

    Sounds are pretty good, a bit clunky at times but simple and very fitting for the game.

    Gameplay-wise the core concept is amazing. Aside from slightly awkward camera controls the gameplay is brilliant: you control four units with three types to select from each with their own uses and tactically defend your island. It's a lovely idea and the the way you control your troops is quite fluid, not perfect but pretty good.

    Where this game falls apart is the insane difficulty level toward the end. As other users have said already there is no sense of reward when you put hours into a long and difficult campaign to just lose in the third last island, and then that's it. Game over, start again; no rewards or unlockables to make your next playthrough different. A "tactical rogue-lite" is how it's advertised so maybe I should've known better because I struggle with the idea behind rogue-likes... But the permadeath simply makes no sense in a game like this and after one play through with nearly unbeatable odds at the end you really don't feel like trying again. This game might be great for people who are happy to practise over and over again to do a no deaths speedrun in Celeste, or who love rogue-likes. But for the average gamer who wants to retry a level after losing, it's really frustrating and off-putting. I guess putting yourself in the mindset of an arcade game or an endless runner, where you are just lasting as long as you can until you fail, might help a little bit, but it's weird because there actually is a final island and a game could last a couple hours (you can save and continue though). Basically IMO it'd be so much more fun if the permadeath was optional or the difficulty was toned down even just on the final 3 or 4 levels. Definitely worth a go though if you are content with the mindset that it's like Tetris or something and you're just seeing how far you get, not actually thinking about "winning."

    On the plus side, there were a few game-breaking bugs that the developer promptly patched. The game is still being worked on by its developers and that's really encouraging to see.    … Expand
  3. TheSeahorse
    Aug 23, 2018
    5
    Why this game had to be a rougelite I will never understand. It would work perfectly fine as a game you play with levels that you can redo and then a hardmode with permadeath but no, they had to make both difficulties permadeath.

    It adds nothing to the game, just frustration. You don’t get any rewards per run or anything like it. It’s the worst kind of rougelite. It’s so frustrating    Why this game had to be a rougelite I will never understand. It would work perfectly fine as a game you play with levels that you can redo and then a hardmode with permadeath but no, they had to make both difficulties permadeath.

    It adds nothing to the game, just frustration. You don’t get any rewards per run or anything like it. It’s the worst kind of rougelite.

    It’s so frustrating when you’ve played for three hours (easy three hours too) and then a new enemy you’ve never seen before comes in and whoops your ass since you didn’t know his attacks. Now you gotta do it all over again.

    It sucks because the game is super good and fun.

    Make it possible to retry levels on normal and it’s a 8/10, but now... it gets the boot.    … Expand
  4. redhott
    Sep 1, 2018
    3
    i dont think that it is a bad game, it is just too shallow? can we say that? ive read a destructoid article on bad north, and it is exaclty how i felt. its too shallow, too underdeveloped, too cheap? not enough meat on the bone. it should be for free or $5 perhaps imo. and i hope that those super positive reviews on metacritic are not fake accounts of the dev really because this game is noi dont think that it is a bad game, it is just too shallow? can we say that? ive read a destructoid article on bad north, and it is exaclty how i felt. its too shallow, too underdeveloped, too cheap? not enough meat on the bone. it should be for free or $5 perhaps imo. and i hope that those super positive reviews on metacritic are not fake accounts of the dev really because this game is no way that successful so far… Expand
  5. MedusaMadman77
    Aug 21, 2018
    9
    I'm only a few hours in, but I absolutely love this game. Probably some of the best touchscreen controls I've come across on Switch. It's great in short bursts and easy to learn. If you like tranquil but hectic experiences (a bit like Kingdom), then Bad North is worth the money.
  6. Nathan7934
    Sep 6, 2018
    9
    For what this game is, and what it advertises itself to be, it's very solid. It's great for some quick and easy fun, and the Switch is truly the ideal platform for this type of game.

    The touchscreen controls are very solid and the game play feels spot on, with satisfying animations and movements. The progression is a little lackluster, but what it lacks in simplicity it makes up for by    For what this game is, and what it advertises itself to be, it's very solid. It's great for some quick and easy fun, and the Switch is truly the ideal platform for this type of game.

    The touchscreen controls are very solid and the game play feels spot on, with satisfying animations and movements. The progression is a little lackluster, but what it lacks in simplicity it makes up for by being very satisfying and noticeable. No small percentage min-maxing, when you purchase and upgrade the results are immediately seen and felt.

    The rogue-lite structure suits this game well, as the varying terrain always leads to one having to think of their most viable strategy before the game even begins.

    Bottom line is that if you want a game that's fast and easy fun with some progression and an easy learning curve than this is for you. My only gripe is that the price seems a little too high for what is offered, so maybe wait for a sale if it doesn't immediately speak to you.    … Expand
  7. S3XU4LH34L1NG
    Mar 24, 2021
    4
    it just didnt keep me entertained. Visually its pretty nice. The pacing, controls and gameplay are just a bit off for me. Played for an hour and uninstalled
  8. patrduha777
    Oct 24, 2022
    10
    put simply, this game is fun !!!!
    i switch the blood off ,great option
    this game relaxes me a lot, and i ENJOY THIS MINIMALIST STRATEGY WAR GAME
    i spent more than 200 hours, cant stop playing it in switch ps5 an xbox
    NEED MORE GAMES LIKE THIS AND DLC
  9. drlowdon
    Sep 8, 2023
    6
    Bad North is essentially a tower defence game with the goal of each level being to defend a small island from invaders, rougelite elements force the play to restart or reload a significantly earlier checkpoint upon defeat.

    Initially I did quite enjoy this title, but with each level/island playing out in virtually the same way, it quickly became pretty repetitive and with runs lasting 2+    Bad North is essentially a tower defence game with the goal of each level being to defend a small island from invaders, rougelite elements force the play to restart or reload a significantly earlier checkpoint upon defeat.

    Initially I did quite enjoy this title, but with each level/island playing out in virtually the same way, it quickly became pretty repetitive and with runs lasting 2+ hours I had no desire to continue playing after just my first defeat.    … Expand
  10. squashedrex
    Dec 24, 2018
    2
    Played for 2.5 hours and felt bored the entire time, it's insanely slow. The mechanics are also a bit contrived, no pause button but selecting a unit semi pauses, pain in the ass and made me throw away two runs due to the clunkiness. GOG need a refund policy like steam. Not even worth the $10 or so I paid on sale.
  11. fullyilly
    Sep 10, 2018
    10
    Hands down my favourite game of the moment.

    I've sunk at least 20 hrs into this since picking it up and I'm eager to keep playing. The feeling you get when you execute a great battle plan is just amazing. When you reach the end of a final wave with all your troops alive and all the buildings saved, you're treated to such a sense of accomplishment. On the opposite side of that, the    Hands down my favourite game of the moment.

    I've sunk at least 20 hrs into this since picking it up and I'm eager to keep playing. The feeling you get when you execute a great battle plan is just amazing. When you reach the end of a final wave with all your troops alive and all the buildings saved, you're treated to such a sense of accomplishment.

    On the opposite side of that, the feeling of dread that you get when you see boats filled with the big brutes is freaky and that feeling you get as you realise your tactics haven't worked and your entire army is about to get decimated is horrifying (meant in a good way).

    The styling and art direction as a whole is sublime. The minimalist art style and sound design is just a joy to behold. I cannot recommend this game highly enough and I've never really played a game of this ilk before.

    Grab it! Worth every penny.    … Expand
  12. syce16
    Jan 22, 2019
    7
    Bad North is a fantastic little adventure that tells the story of a small group of warriors that are fighting to save the small islands they live on from invaders. Bad North has some beautiful art, solid music, and a very addicting gameplay formula. The game does fall short in some areas mostly in providing the player with more variety in customizing their units. Overall however the gameBad North is a fantastic little adventure that tells the story of a small group of warriors that are fighting to save the small islands they live on from invaders. Bad North has some beautiful art, solid music, and a very addicting gameplay formula. The game does fall short in some areas mostly in providing the player with more variety in customizing their units. Overall however the game is incredibly charming with a great simple combat that strategy game lovers will fall in love with.

    The art style of Bad North is absolutely beautiful throughout the journey. The islands are randomly generated and always come out looking beautiful. The colors are soft and pop really well with the fog that surrounds the island. The further you get into the journey the more character the islands get. I remember thinking earlier on that I thought I had seen everything the islands had to offer until I landed on an island that had red grass and a huge cemetery throughout the island. Each time I landed on an island I was general looking forward to seeing its design and always took a bit before starting to admire the great layouts that they game created. Another piece of the islands that I really admired was how the weather could change the island. Rain and wind as well as thunderstorms give the islands even more character and beauty.
    The music in the game compliments the art style and gameplay really well. The songs are intense but don't take away from the beautiful nature that these battles take place on.

    The game makes the player protect the island from invaders that come in waves. The island is setup in a grid system similar to other strategy games but really analyzing the island and finding the best spots to hold make a huge difference in your ability to fight off the invaders. The main goal is to protect the houses and other buildings found on the island. Each house, depending on the size, provides the player with points that they can spend on upgrading the different platoons. The standard units can be upgraded to new classes like archers and infantry. The different classes have strengths and weaknesses that add to the strategic approach the player must take to each battle. The game is set to ramp the difficulty up as the player progresses like most rogue like titles. As you upgrade your units to archers the incoming waves also obtain archers.
    Really learning how to use each unit and figure out where they will do well on each island creates a great deal of strategy to this game that seems quite simple at first glance. The developers also added skills and items that you can give to your platoons to create another interesting layer.

    Bad North has many parts of the game that are absolutely lovely and make it a title that I would suggest strategy lovers should buy for their Switch. There are some places where the game struggles though. The combat feels simple enough to pick up but, can get a little tiresome with how forward it can be. The upgrade system provides a great layer to the combat but with only one branching choice on which class the platoon should be it feels a bit unfinished. I also feel like the game could benefit from an explanation of the journey. The story isn’t at all important to the game but, I think it would add to the narrative of the battles if we knew who these warriors were and why they are fighting. The bad parts of the game are small complaints when looking at the game as a whole and shouldn't sway anyone from picking up this fantastic title.

    Bad North’s simple game play and beautiful world give a great adventure that pulls you back for more even after your first failure. There are small things that don’t feel fully fleshed out that hold the game back from being something truly great but, they don’t stop it from being a true joy to play through.    … Expand
  13. Bunterboy
    Sep 19, 2018
    7
    So the core mechanics of this game - the RTS vibe - are great but what's missing is a sense of progression. I know that this is supposed to be a roguelike and what comes with that is the frankly unnecessary difficulty, random stages and starting again but after an hour or so it's just doing the same thing over and over again. I like the game, a lot, however there is only so many times youSo the core mechanics of this game - the RTS vibe - are great but what's missing is a sense of progression. I know that this is supposed to be a roguelike and what comes with that is the frankly unnecessary difficulty, random stages and starting again but after an hour or so it's just doing the same thing over and over again. I like the game, a lot, however there is only so many times you can do essentially the same thing without any actual progress or development.… Expand
  14. blunderfuljoe
    Jun 30, 2019
    8
    Plausible Concept’s Bad North is a run-based real-time strategy game with light resource management, and a beautifully simple Viking aesthetic. A run of Bad North revolves around controlling 4 Commanders on an island to prevent attackers from burning and pillaging the buildings. Losing all your deployable units will abruptly end your game, forcing you to start from the beginning. EachPlausible Concept’s Bad North is a run-based real-time strategy game with light resource management, and a beautifully simple Viking aesthetic. A run of Bad North revolves around controlling 4 Commanders on an island to prevent attackers from burning and pillaging the buildings. Losing all your deployable units will abruptly end your game, forcing you to start from the beginning. Each instance of Bad North is in it of itself, with nothing transferring over from one game to the next.

    You control your Vikings from a top-down angled view of the island, using the Switch’s right joystick to rotate the island. The objective remains the same no matter what island you land on, repel enemy invaders and prevent them from razing buildings, but defending an island is always unpredictable. Each run is randomly generated, meaning the type of invaders that land at shore and from which direction is never predictable. Bad North keeps you constantly on your toes, never allowing much time to breathe. Selecting units to move or to use skills will drastically slow down combat and movement to give you more time to make decisions. The touch screen on the Nintendo Switch made it easy to quickly control each individual Commander and move them to defend.

    I often found myself deep in thought, trying to come up with a perfect plan. I would imagine my Spearmen holding particular points, even thinking of where they would retreat if anything went wrong. Keeping in mind the different classes, perfect positioning is key to enable the class skills like the Swordsmen’s Plunge ability, where they can leap from high-ground onto enemies below or the Spearmen Pike Charge skill. I ended up staying far away from the Archer class because they never felt particularly useful against enemies in the later stages of a run, so I opted to use a combination of Spearmen/Swordsmen for my Commanders. Situations in Bad North could ironically go south pretty quickly. Making a wrong move, or moving your units too late can lead to them being slaughtered, an outcome that isn’t easily rectified. All the mechanics built around recovering come at a cost. Healing your units makes them take time away from the battlefield, crippling your defensive abilities, and running away leaves you vulnerable against the enemy archers, who always seem more useful than my own.

    It’s in the rogue-like elements that Bad North loses some of its luster. With nothing carrying over from each instance of Bad North, once you lose, it’s game over. This only feels worse as you begin to realize that even a single mistake can end a campaign. With no real feeling of investment to each game, you start to look for other things to gravitate to but will be disappointed by the lack of compelling motivation. Commanders don’t have distinct identities and can only otherwise be known through their clan banners. The mistakes that lead to their deaths left a more lasting distaste in my mouth than their actual loss—Losing just means starting over. But despite these sufferings, I kept on, striving to reach the final island, only to realize that it didn’t feel different from any of the others I had stopped by before.    … Expand
  15. Seraj03
    Oct 8, 2018
    10
    For an indie, this game just keeps dragging me in and making me want to play more. With it's maxed 3 minutes per island, this is a pickup and go which is literally defining the switch. With different classes to choose from and findable items, it's one of those games that you actually wanna play again, which is rare for most people. Overall just a beauty for a simple indie title.
  16. G4Y_NIGG4
    Sep 20, 2018
    8
    Realistic review: This game is simple but great RTS. There are only 3 classes, a hand full of enemy types, but that is enough to make a brutal and satisfying experience. Levels are different (randomly generated) each playthrough.
    People who love easy to learn - hard to master game mechanics should buy this game. People who want a exciting scripted campaign, complex systems and a lot of    Realistic review: This game is simple but great RTS. There are only 3 classes, a hand full of enemy types, but that is enough to make a brutal and satisfying experience. Levels are different (randomly generated) each playthrough.
    People who love easy to learn - hard to master game mechanics should buy this game. People who want a exciting scripted campaign, complex systems and a lot of variation should stay away from it.    … Expand
  17. Eprom
    Jan 1, 2020
    8
    Easy to learn strategy game with a beautiful minimalist art style. Get it when it is on sale.
  18. LAROR01
    Mar 11, 2022
    10
    A truly fantastic game. The "5" to "7" reviews are mind boggling. Message to reviewers hating to restart the campaign: there is a menu option for level re-starts! lol. The difficulty curve is gradual, with some tough characters added in that can admittedly destroy your whole crew. That said, even not using level restarts, the game features checkpoints, so you can save after five to sixA truly fantastic game. The "5" to "7" reviews are mind boggling. Message to reviewers hating to restart the campaign: there is a menu option for level re-starts! lol. The difficulty curve is gradual, with some tough characters added in that can admittedly destroy your whole crew. That said, even not using level restarts, the game features checkpoints, so you can save after five to six levels or so. I finally bought it on sale in 2022, after hesitating because of the common 7/10 reviews. Nintendo life gave it a 9/10 and it's so deserved. Easy mode is too easy for me. I beat normal mode using level re-starts. That was incredibly fun and helped me get situated. Now I'm halfway through a perma-death run on Normal. It's so tense and exciting. Can not put this game down for three days straight now!… Expand
  19. mattmakesshoes
    Jul 22, 2022
    9
    Really cool rogue like RTS comprised of procedurally generated small maps where battles from 30 sec to about 2 minutes unfold. There are minor upgrades that carry over between playthroughs, but I personally would’ve liked there to be more. The gameplay is very satisfying and surprisingly deep. Recommend to anyone who likes the RTS genre
  20. sloomo
    Dec 19, 2022
    9
    I recent bought three games and this is the best of the three. It is better than sparks of hope and also better than deaths door. It’s fun. Simple. Relaxing.
  21. bnan_j
    Jul 24, 2023
    1
    Nice art style and unique mechanics. Comes with one of the cheapest trope though: difficulty curve suddenly shoots upward at the final third of the game all of a sudden to keep you from finishing it. If you don't get lucky, you will end up wasting a few good hours on nothing.

Awards & Rankings

75
#75 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. PLAY! Zine
    May 13, 2019
    80
    A great game for "on the go“ for those that like to relax, then think and then rip their hair out in frustration.
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  2. Nintenderos
    Sep 21, 2018
    80
    The artistic quality and the simple but complete mechanics make Bad North an essential game for those who love RTS. Simply beautiful.
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  3. Nintendo Insider
    Sep 11, 2018
    80
    Small flaws like the lack of customisation and differing styles in enemies can be overlooked if you treat the game as it comes. Bad North is a game that manages to balance the fine line between puzzle game and simulation delivering a tactical roguelike which constantly feels refreshing.
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