Again, there’s literally nothing original going on here, and if you’re going to play Nexomon on the Switch, you should probably only do so after you’ve thoroughly exhausted your Pokémon options. But if you’re playing it on another system — or even if you just want to return to the days of a top-down Pokémon — then you could do a lot worse than checking out Nexomon.

If Horror Tales has a flaw, it’s that it’s much too reliant on jump scares. I know that they’re a well-established part of any horror game, but at times here it feels a little too formulaic. Even with that minor issue, however, Horror Tales: The Wine is still a very good horror game. If you want to escape our current pandemic world for one that’s infinitely creepier, it’s definitely worth checking out.

As I said up top, even in a best-case scenario, Instant Sports Paradise would’ve felt like a bargain basement version of Wii Sports Resort. But this can’t even achieve that very low target. Instant Sports Paradise is a lousy game that’s completely and utterly lacking in every way imaginable.

It’s a fun game built around a tantalizing mystery, and once it gets its hooks into you, you’re guaranteed to want to keeping playing until you’ve uncovered all its endings.

Basically, Barry the Bunny keeps you playing level after level, and then wraps up well before it has a chance to wear out its welcome. It’s not going to break new ground, but, like every other game from lightUP so far, it’s going to provide you with a very enjoyable experience for only a couple of dollars.

I’m still jugging through the story and exploring Yara and having a great time. It’s a good time to invest in a game like this when there aren’t too many new titles in the genre coming soon. The shortcomings are minimal and I’m sure I have a lot more to discover. Fans of Giancarlo Esposito will enjoy his inclusion, as he does a fantastic job of playing a villain you love to hate.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is a present for fans of the series who are sadistic enough to find enjoyment in the constant failure, however SEGA has left training wheels to cultivate a new generation of fans. Perhaps in another 20 years someone else out there will recall their fond memories playing this series, whether alone or with friends. I just hope that this person will be able to play a version of Monkey Target that works.

Obviously, the big problem with Gnosia is that it seems to exist more in relation to other, better (or at least better-known) games, rather than standing out on its own. While this status is mostly deserved, compared to most visual novels I’ve played/read, there’s still lots here you’ll find interesting if you want to give it a chance.

Just about the only reason you might want to play Sun Wukong VS Robot would be if you’ve played literally every other metroidvania you can get your hands on, and you’ve reached a stage where you’ll play anything as long as it’s functional. (Even then, though, you can still play this for free.) For everyone else, you can skip this one pretty safely.

Obviously, given it’s only about $5 at the time of this writing, it’s not like Loopindex costs you a whole lot in terms of money. But there are much, much better ways to spend those $5 — not to mention much better ways to spend the time it would take you to earn this quick-ish Platinum — and you’d be well-advised to look into any of those, and forget about this one.

Poker Pretty Girls Battle is only $5 on every platform, so it’s not asking much. It’s hard to recommend it even just for the poker aspect when the algorithm doesn’t always pay out correctly. If the game catches your eye, give it a shot and maybe you’ll find something to like. As it stands, however, it is pretty shallow and the core mechanics have visible flaws, making playing pretty rough.

Pile Up! screams “family-friendly”, so if you’re looking to pick up a game to play with some younger kids and want to stretch the experience out, you can certainly do so here. For anyone else, though, Pile Up! is probably a game you can safely overlook. No matter how cute it may be, it’s not exactly fun to play, and at the end of the day, that’s the most important thing.

I’m not going to say not to buy Super Soccer Blast: America VS Europe if you’re a fan of arcade soccer, but if you played Super Soccer Blast last year (or even if you played Super Sports Blast, which also includes that game), then there’s really no reason to pick this up too.

I was absolutely impressed by how much of a full-fledged racing game Hot Wheels Unleashed is. It’s right at home with some of the better arcade racers on the market today, and offers up a whole lot of fun for the whole family, regardless of whether you’re a Hot Wheels fan or not. The track customization is pretty solid, with a decent enough opening tutorial to get you started, and the sheer number of vehicles you can obtain right out of the gate is pretty impressive. The multiplayer could use a bit more fleshing out, but at least works great, and the game controls fantastically overall. If you’ve been in the mood for a new racing experience that everyone can enjoy, then look no further than Hot Wheels Unleashed.

Obviously, if you’ve played Quake at any point in the last 25 years, there’s probably not a pressing need for you to pick it up on current-gen systems — it’s basically the same game here that you could’ve played at any time in the last few decades. But if you want to see a seminal first-person shooter that’s aged surprisingly well, be sure to hunt this one out.

The crazy thing is, despite my constant frustration with Cultist Simulator, I still wouldn’t say that I hated it. It’s stylish, it’s got an interesting look and feel, and, even with my ineptitude, it’s pretty apparent that there’s a very deep game to be found here — if you can just unlock it somehow.

All in all, I found the new additions introduced in Tetris Effect: Connected to be well worth playing and experiencing. The new Connected mode was an experience with Tetris I’ve never had before and is a must-play for anyone interested in Tetris at all.

Obviously, Bone Marrow’s developers should be applauded for trying something new with such a familiar formula. There’s a good idea to be found here, for sure. But if you want something with any depth, this definitely isn’t it.

Obviously, there are dangers in leaning into being weird — not only can it be alienating, lots of games aren’t half as strange as they like to think they are. But Scrap Garden has a deeply oddball heart beating at its core, and it’s too bad that the game mostly ignores that in favour of its dull, competent respectability.

It’s very nice to look at, and, visually at least, the game feels just at home on a console as I imagine it did on a phone. Add in the whole environmentalist robot angle, and the game manages to borrow some charm from Wall-E. But it’s not enough to make Doomsday Vault a must-play game. I’m sure it’s great on a phone, where your play sessions may be a little shorter, but it doesn’t feel substantive enough to be worth any major investment of time or money now that it’s on the Switch.

I wouldn’t say that Mind Maze is some brilliant puzzle game, or even a crazy new take on a durable genre. It’s as basic as they come. But it works, and it’s addictive, and that’s really all it needs to be.

It’s definitely got heart, but it needs a lot more than that to make it worth recommending.

RGG Studio’s greatest strength is it’s writing and characters and Lost Judgment delivers in spades. Characters are fleshed out and their motives feel grounded and believable, but you will also meet plenty of wacky and memorable folks as well. You grow attached to the people you meet in Ijincho and when bad things happen you genuinely hope everyone escapes unscathed.

Even if it’s not lengthy or challenging, Fire Tonight still wins you over on the strength of its personality. The game does an outstanding job of giving Maya and Devin personalities within its limited time, and it’s easy to root for them to achieve their modest goal. Even more importantly, the game looks and sounds incredible, with visuals that scream 1990 without being too obnoxious about it, and an incredible synth-pop score. It’s those things — the great music, the engaging characters, the nice graphics — that make it easy to overlook Fire Tonight’s short length. It’s not the sort of game that will swallow up days and days from your calendar, but if you’re looking for a fun way to spend an hour, Fire Tonight is definitely that.

There are glitches almost everywhere, and even if they’re almost all niggling little details like occasionally getting stuck while moving forward, or not being able to attack, or inconsistent hit detection, they add up to make the game pretty frustrating.

I’ll add that The Heir of Glen Kinnoch looks very nice. Again, we’re only talking about static screens, but given how ugly some hidden object games can be, it’s nice to find one that actually puts some effort into how it looks. To be sure, none of this makes Faircroft’s Antiques: The Heir of Glen Kinnoch an essential buy, nor does it mean you need to load up on the other games in the series, Faircroft’s Antiques: Treasures of Treffenburg and Faircroft’s Antiques: Home for Christmas — though both of them have the same mixture of nice visuals and interesting (by the genre’s standards) puzzles. But if, like me, you have a soft spot for a pretty innocuous genre, then this game should be right up your alley.

Setting aside the inherent creepiness of it all — if Hellbound & Debriefed represented the first time we’d ever seen the mechanic, it might be noteworthy. But seeing as it was done much, much better in Undead & Undressed, here it just feels clunky and awkward. I get that in the absence of Undead & Undressed on the Switch, Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed might seem tempting if you’re after this sort of thing. It shouldn’t be, though. The series may have (very briefly) gone on to more interesting things (before promptly taking a nosedive back to mediocrity), but you’re not going to see any of that here.

Overall Tales of Arise has a great premise and story, and is one of the better Tales games Bandai Namco has produced. If you are a JRPG fan, or a Tales fan give this game a good look.