Deceptively sweet graphics bely a terrifying tale full of extremely dark-humour-plot-twists in this mind-bending adventure. Before the Night certainly leaves a lot of questions unanswered and doubts of reality in this pet ownership tale, with few imperfections in the Nintendo Switch version. Playing after dark requires extra courage for those more easily frightened, horror veterans should be delighted by the experience.

Bloober Team's Silent Hill 2 Remake is an interesting game. It successfully freshens up the presentation of the original story while tastefully expanding the gameplay through a modern gaming frame. Their handling of boss fights, monster behaviours and puzzles makes this title a fun time through and through, despite the depressing nature of the atmosphere and story. The new takes on characters offer increased depth through new facial capture and the voice actors successfully revise some of the more complex, awkward dialogue exchanges in a manner befitting of the original title. Akira Yamoaka slays with a fantastic remix of the soundtrack and Ito does some masterful redesigning of the horrific creatures. If there was a way to remake Silent Hill 2 this was it.

Days of Doom had a lot of potential, but an utterly unforgiveable amount of hard crashes 'doom' much of its hope for a decent experience. Even when it is not crashing, there were just too many things that really should have been different. Classes are far too boring, plenty of missed opportunities for more weapons, any skills, or any sort of depth. For people looking for a game that had good potential, but blew it so badly, this is a good example to study.

As a relaxing life sim Rune Factory 5 certainly has a cozy home on Nintendo Switch. The dozens of hours of gameplay extend beyond finishing the main story, with levels to be maxed out, new equipment forged and even a new dungeon to explore, making the occasional lack of clarity of next steps a minor issue in the deservedly popular farming title.

To its credit, Touch Detective 3 + The Complete Case Files offers a lot of value since it is three adventures games plus new DLC scenarios that were created for the iOS versions. These are milquetoast and boring adventure games where the humour probably landed better in Japanese. The hand-drawn backgrounds and character designs are appealing, but get used to seeing them be recycled across all three titles. The wait for the third Touch Detective does not seem like it was something gamers were begging for. Anyone who enjoyed the first two will likely be happy the with third entry since it is more of the same, but fans of the point-and-click adventure genre will probably find these to be uneventful and dull.

Ys X: Nordics isn't a bad game, but it's not great either. The graphics don't look any better than when Ys VIII came out years ago on older systems. The story and characters are passable, but in a crowded field of games, this isn't enough anymore. The time spent on this game felt more like a reminder of what it could have been rather than an entertaining adventure. One's enjoyment of this is going to be directly proportional to if someone wants 'more of the same' of the recent Falcom formula. It is clearly selling, so the trend is likely to continue for better or worse, but there is a lot here that is tough to recommend except for diehard series fans.

Shin-chan: Shiro and the Coal Town takes what made the previous Shin-chan game good and adds a twist of intrigue that is much stronger than the latter's plot. There is a lot of fun to be had in Shin-chan's new adventure in Coal Town and a good relaxing holiday story to boot. The dedication to matching the visual and writing style of the Shin-chan universe makes this a joy to experience and a fantastic pickup for those who pine for summer during the cold seasons! It's a satisfying little adventure story with a ton of very odd humour and a really unique design.

Bloomtown: A Different Story wanted to be a lot of things. A relaxing summer vacation, an adventure filled with mysteries to solve, a real-life sim, and an RPG with neat combat mechanics plus a creature capture system. It's not bad (far from it), but by trying to juggle too many balls in the air, it fails at remaining engaging for more than a couple of hours, as it becomes obvious that there's not much depth underneath the beautiful pixel art wrapping.

Super Mario Party Jamboree is a continued return to form for the Mario Party series, blending the core formula with colourful splashes of the new and inventive. Nintendo has elevated what made the series special through a wide selection of fun mini-games, expansive boards and a mix of additional modes/challenges.

At its core, Little Goody Two Shoes is a survival management game that incorporates dating sim elements and Wario Ware-style micro-games. The micro-games can be obnoxious at times and the story won't be everyone's cup of tea considering the target audience this game caters to, but it is hard to not be swept up in the artistry poured into the presentation.

After cooking up extremely original ideas with the latest 3D entries in the series, it is great to see Nintendo apply this lust for originality to top-down Legend of Zelda, too. There isn't a lot to be said for difficulty, and, like Tears of the Kingdom before it, certain gameplay features can be abused to make the quest easier, but the key thing about Echoes of Wisdom is that it is so much fun to play. The 3D games got their much-needed shake-up, and now the top-down format has received it for the better, as well. It was far too long of a wait for Princess Zelda to get her playable role in the series that bears her name, but this is an excellent start to hopefully bigger things to come.

DOOM + DOOM II packaged id Software's classics, threw in a couple of additional settings, two OST remakes, a couple of minor improvements here and there, and some tasty, tasty mod support. All that kind of makes this the best port available right now, but it will be hard to convince anyone but diehard DOOM funs to spend any money if already in possession of this legendary FPS duo. Then again, if DOOM or DOOM II is in your library, then there's no price-tag attached.

There are worse soulslikes out there than Skautfold: Shrouded in Sanity, but there are far better ones as well. There's a somewhat good 2D Bloodborne experience somewhere here, hidden under repetitive, unimpressive, and unpolished combat, and a decent-to-forgettable atmosphere and plot. Enter its gothic world only if really starving for this type of game, and only if the price is right.

Epic Mickey: Rebrushed will be a fun time for any 3D platformer and Disney fan, with all sorts of references to the past. It is a fascinating game that brings people deeper into the characters and worlds that Walt Disney created in his early days, and will be worth exploring Wasteland again for those that played the original Wii version thanks to the improvements made mechanically and visually. This is still a rather basic platformer that treads the line of tedium due to outdated fetch quests, and voice acting could have really benefitted the story scenes, but there is a great charm to this game, despite the darker tone, that will appeal to many.

One more by-the-numbers anime-flavoured RPG, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime ISEKAI Chronicles turns out to be a title whose most exciting feature is its name. With its boring story, repetitive gameplay, and general lack of challenge and incentive, it's impossible to recommend this to anyone but the most die-hard of fans… and even they can find better alternatives.

From the stunning, emotion-filled prologue to when the credits roll, Visions of Mana is a spectacular journey that is more than just a visual delight. Understanding the magic system and switching mana elements once obtained is not hard for newcomers to the series to understand. The captivating story is elevated with the memorable soundtrack, and all the characters were likeable. It has its flaws, especially post-game, but overall it is a great introduction to the legendary series and without doubt will lead newer fans to explore older titles, and hope for a new one in the future.

Capcom has delivered another terrific collection of fighting games with all the bells and whistles, packed with music, promotional art and development images that every fan of these still-great arcade titles will appreciate. Care has been given to ensure gameplay options are there for all types of players, with solid training and online modes that will introduce a new generation to some of Marvel and Capcom's best collaborative work.

Although not without its faults in due part to the trial-and-error situations that require exhausting all options in conversations, Emio - The Smiling Man is a game that will keep fans glued to the end, topped off with a very appealing art style and fair 10+ hour storyline that doesn't overstay its welcome. There isn't much else to see and do once the full story is done, but it is one worth experiencing.

Does a blend of boxing workouts and Hatsune Miku work well? Oddly, it does. There's a joyful, energetic tracklist to prop up the workouts and a sweet medley of routines to try. Fitness Boxing feat. Hatsune Miku can certainly make players sweat. There is a good variation of songs to choose from, though the game could have benefited from a larger selection in line with the Project Diva series. If you're into the Vocaloid pop and crave an intense workout, this take on Fitness Boxing may well be worth a go!

The remastered version of Monster Hunter Stories definitely opens up the world of the original game to new players. It does seem a bit odd why this was released after Monster Hunter Stories 2 given the plot similarity, however it was probably the second's success that enabled this remaster to happen. It is absolutely worth a place in the Nintendo Switch library because of the sheer amount of fun had collecting monsties and helping NPCs out with their wide-ranging problems. Not everyone will care about the extras, but the fully voiced dialogue adds to the immersion level. Let's hope the Switch successor leads to a third Monster Hunter Stories title, this time with significantly changed story and new areas to explore.

Fundamentally, Earth Defence Force 6 is 'more of the same' as 5, with an improved story and some very slight changes. The darker story is much more welcome, and the new enemies and weapons give players more variety. Gameplay wise it is going to be nearly the same as the last main entry, with the pretty cool narrative style of the opening levels. It's not going to blow anyone away, but it's very much in the vein of fun that will suck the hours away.

Minds Beneath Us is a truly interesting and cerebral adventure told with heart and, at times, prosaic writing. It is full of intimate character moments that make the people feel alive and fully rounded. It can be a little slow at times and sometimes quick time events come from nowhere but it's so satisfying and the story has some very well executed moments that really let it shine. If narrative adventure sounds like a delightful time then this game is the one, in a word; Recommended.

This is a lengthy action platformer geared towards kids that will get mileage out of those that previously enjoyed Goemon titles back in the day. There are many similarities between Konami's sidelined franchise and BAKERU, but Good-Feel's latest release suffers from repetitive gameplay and a poor frame rate that hinders enjoyment. There is a strong appeal to the Japanese themes and setting, along with a cartoon style, child-friendly story and low difficulty that means all age groups can appreciate it. Just don't expect something quite reaching the qualities of Nintendo's top platformers.

It's hard to imagine anything else Paper Trail could offer. It's a tidy little cosy puzzle package with enough oomph to satisfy puzzle game veterans and newbies alike. The charming story and visuals make it stand out and the level of love and care for the title is evident in the gameplay feel, making this a game to recommend.

Sexy low-poly girl beats zombies in a mall for about an hour, and the biggest challenge, besides the unpolished controls, will be to stay awake, as you'll pretty get what this can give in less than 10 minutes, and then be required to keep on with the monotonous gameplay just to reach the finishing line. Hot Blood is not recommended at all. Not even to lovers of low-budget, silly titles.

SteamWorld Heist II is impressively epic and offers gamers a lot of bang for their buck. It's a bigger, better, and more varied strategy game than its predecessor. While the story is mostly fluff to support the deep combat systems and character building, most people won't notice because they'll be too focused on the heat of a battle which unfolds like a tense story in its own right.

Despite some shortcomings with the supporting cast and some slightly buggy AA technical hiccups, RoboCop: Rogue City is the ultimate RoboCop experience. Fans will get a lot of bang for their buck here since it is a shockingly lengthy game, clocking in over thirty hours. It is very authentic to the films and captures their essence, but lacks the courage to introduce fresh ideas. The developers have been very active in patching some of the glitches, so it stands to become a better experience as time goes on. Hopefully, they will implement a new game plus one day too.

Beyond Good & Evil's characters and story still have something to offer in the current age, and its small world is a refreshing change to the huge, open expanses seen in every other adventure today. Although it lacks quality in a multitude of areas, including combat, stealth sections, and camera controls, Jade's adventure attempts to tell a compelling narrative that will have players eager to reach its conclusion. It seems quite clear after playing that Beyond Good & Evil was supposed to be something much more than what it is, and it remains to be seen where things go from here, but this adventure harks back to a fun era in video games and holds up just about well enough that it deserves a playthrough today - just maybe have a guide at the ready to figure a few things out.