I think I’ve made it about halfway through Resident Evil Village and I’m having a blast so far. The game plays wonderfully on Nintendo Switch 2 and combines a lot of the elements I’ve come to love about the series. If you’re looking to get caught up on the last game before beginning with Resident Evil Requiem, you really cannot go wrong with this version of RE8. The additional DLCs are included as well as the Mercenaries mode. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a daughter to rescue.

Demonschool is a very frictionless game that makes it easy to coast along and just see its story play out as you watch its characters interact with each other. If the writing clicks with you, then you’ll probably have a good enough time just taking in the vibes and laughing at the characters, but unfortunately it didn’t click with me at all. With its characters that annoyed me, story that undermined its own appeal, and gameplay that was streamlined to the point of dullness, I found myself bored the entire time I was playing. The striking and vibrant visuals are the only thing that really shines in a package that is otherwise utterly and totally forgettable.

At the end of the day, however, this is the definitive way in 2025 to buy a trilogy of some fantastic games along with its DLC, new content, and other upgrades. If you’ve been thinking about getting into the Atelier series and don’t know where to start, this is a great place to begin your Atelier journey. If you’re already a seasoned alchemist, it might be OK to wait to see what else Gust is cooking up - or hey, pick up one or both of the other Atelier games released this year.

All this makes it currently very difficult for me to recommend Two Point Museum wholeheartedly right now. While I adore the style, humor and general gameplay loop, it is now becoming a struggle to fully enjoy the game as it reveals its deeper layers. I wish to explore the depth of its gameplay and for that I will now refrain from giving the game a fully scored review. In part because it feels like I have just gotten the hang of its systems and controls in more depth. But also because I want to believe that the developers need a bit more time to optimize and finetune the game for the Nintendo Switch 2. In its current state, at launch, I would not recommend picking up Two Point Museum unless you’re willing to deal with its shortcomings in terms of both performance and presentation. I hope that the developers are able to take the time to get more acquainted with the Switch 2 hardware and use it to optimize the game. In particular I want to see them embrace the features that help a management game such as Two Point Museum thrive on Nintendo Switch 2. For now, this museum is, in my opinion, still undergoing renovations and I hope to see it reopen in the near future to make its exhibits shine. [Review in Progress]

Atelier Resleriana is in a lot of ways a love letter to the rest of the series. While Atelier Yumia was looking forward, Atelier Resleriana shows that Gust is more than willing to look back at the things that made the series beloved in the first place. While I really enjoyed my time with Atelier Yumia, I think Atelier Resleriana will be my favorite Atelier game of the year. This is a review in progress due to the fact I’m not quite done with the game and can’t speak to the completed story, but I think the gameplay and characters show just why so many fans like myself have fallen in love with the Atelier series. It incorporates classic Atelier gameplay with fan favorite characters while still including fresh gameplay ideas. While this was definitely made with existing fans of the series in mind, Atelier Resleriana is something that new fans can also appreciate as well.

Shuten Order is a game that takes so much time to say so little. There are so many video games in this video game, and yet not one complete video game. The multiple routes being able to happen in any order hurt the mystery-driven story more than they help. The varied gameplay styles are underdeveloped and rarely make it feel like you’re playing anything other than a linear visual novel. The writing is boring at the best of times and actually insulting to me as a queer woman at the worst of times. This game clearly wants to swing for the fences, but it doesn’t accomplish anything other than striking out every time it steps up to the plate.

Tamagotchi Plaza isn’t an experience I would recommend on Switch or Switch 2, and I struggle to find many redeeming qualities outside of its colorful world and quirky-looking citizens. The mini-games are much more often boring, repetitive, or inscrutable than fun, and the gameplay loop becomes recognizably thin within the first 30 minutes of the game. From what I’ve seen of the DS titles, there’s more charm and incentive to revisit or play through those than this modern reincarnation. While I’d think that younger players might be able to get into Tamagotchi Plaza, the lack of mini-game tutorials/directions is certain to push them away instead. No amount of Tamagotchi nostalgia would be enough to make this plaza a place you want to visit.

The nicest thing I can say about the Switch version, is that it was significantly worse a couple weeks ago. But even with the multitude of patches that were released during the review period, Trident's Tale still just isn’t really in a playable state on Switch.

Still, Sunderfolk is best enjoyed with friends, whether it’s online or on the couch. I’m looking forward to furthering my adventures with this game on Switch. It’s an incredibly neat idea and concept that feels right at home on a Nintendo platform. When I can navigate adult life to get a regular group together to play through this, I’ll hopefully be back with a scored review. [Review in Progress]

Atelier Yumia is a game I think you should experience, either if you are an experienced Atelier fan or are looking for a new entry point into the series. While I have yet to finish the game (hence why this is a review in progress)I am thoroughly enjoying everything new and old that Atelier Yumia has to offer. If this is the future of the Atelier series, the future is looking bright for Atelier fans.

Is there anything I really liked about Emio? Sadly no. I can tell you that the artwork is nice, and the animation can bounce between stiff and puppet animation. The music is just nice elevator music, but I don’t really have any strong feelings towards it. It’s cool that its voice acted, even if I don’t speak Japanese. But I really wish I had more positive comments for the overall experience. This just did not land for me at all and that’s okay, it’s not going to be for everyone. I have observed online a plethora of praise for the ending, and its animated epilogue, so it’s divisive to say the least. I don’t think I am going to be the only person letdown by the edgy promises from the reveal. Just because something has dark themes like mental illness and domestic abuse doesn’t suddenly make it a great commentary on them. Games such as Mother 3 and Captain Rainbow being left unlocalized compared to the cavalcade of embarrassment in Emio is probably the biggest mystery this game has. Hopefully you’re left with a bigger smile on your face than I was.

I’m not done with Alain’s campaign to restore his kingdom and set the world to rights, but there’s no denying how exciting and captivating Unicorn Overlord has turned out to be. It’s a love letter to deep, complex tactical RPGs and will most likely appeal to those who appreciate the Fire Emblem and Ogre Battle franchises, but as someone who only has very sparse memories of the latter, I’m still enthralled by what VanillaWare has done here. The Switch performance is excellent, and the art style remains one of the clear strengths of this developer. I expect that I’ll need another 10-20 hours to see the main story through to completion, and even more to discover all of the secrets hidden around the world map. Once those tasks are complete, I’ll be updating this review with a final score. Until then, I feel confident in saying we’re looking at another candidate that’s sure to take home some end-of-the-year accolades.

Superstars should’ve been the new standard to live up to Sonic’s Genesis run, which just makes it sad that the game fails to even match the standard that was set over twenty years ago.

Gargoyles is a relic that should have remained set in 16-bit stone, sealed away never to return. I'm normally very supportive of the effort to bring back old and forgotten games, but even superfans of the TV series shouldn't be tortured by this unnecessary re-release.

Trine 5 is more of the same, though based on how the series’ fans have received it so well perhaps that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It stands to reason that if you liked the previous Trine games, you’ll still like this one, and that probably goes double if you’ve got three friends to play with. Unfortunately I don’t have three friends to play with, and I can’t deny the dull and frustrating experience I had with it. Between poor puzzle design and combat that doesn’t seem to belong in the game, there was simply nothing in Trine 5 that didn’t feel like a waste of time.

Ultimately, Infinity Strash is a lifeless husk of a video game that can’t be redeemed by an added post-game difficulty or the dozens of simplified and random stages of the Temple of Recollections. Spend your time and money on anything else with the “Dragon Quest” name on it instead, and leave this one in the Strash bin.

The biggest endorsement of Mineko’s Night Market I can give is that despite the issues I have with it so far, I really do want to spend more time with this game. I am very invested with the ongoing story; I love spending time in this world. I adore so many elements of this game, and I really hope that a future patch can address some of the technical issues with it. At its core, Mineko’s Night Market is an endearing life sim that deserves attention, but for the moment, technical issues make it difficult to fully endorse this game on Switch.

The common Gloomhaven community standard is to keep things secret - particularly the per-map side quests, which the game only reveals at the end of the map - so the Switch is fundamentally a great platform to play the digital version on. It can kill a lot of time; each map takes about 45 minutes to an hour, even with or perhaps because I was playing with someone who knew how to manipulate the AI. But I never felt the game dragged at all, and would vastly prefer this digital copy to having to schlep around something bigger than every game console I’ve ever owned.

Monster Menu: The Scavenger’s Cookbook is frustrating because I feel like there could be a good game in here. In fact, if NIS decided to put out a sequel, I might be inclined to check it out because they have made a number of excellent RPGs in the past. It just feels like they threw in so many systems, meters, and mechanics that they forgot to put in something to compel you to keep playing. There are many better games out there in all of the genres that this one borrows from that despite interesting ideas, Monster Menu can’t come together to provide a satisfying meal.

Farming Simulator 23 is not a game for newcomers. My time playing was largely filled with confusion, and the in-game tutorials and guides do very little to point a new player in the right direction. It may appeal to core fans of the franchise since it is at least a portable version of the game, but the scaled-back features are likely to be what those players care about the most, and anyway the price tag of $45 is frankly a joke compared to the $8 this same version of the game costs on Android and iOS. Perhaps I’m wrong and there’s some X factor a hardcore Farming Simulator fan can tell I’m missing, but Farming Simulator 23 is a clear non-starter for newcomers that clearly lacks plenty of content that longtime fans have come to enjoy on more powerful hardware.

The daunting scale of Dokapon Kingdom is both its greatest strength and its greatest weakness. The length of the story mode heavily depends on the people you’re playing with and how efficiently you complete objectives, but discussion of the game online tells me that it takes roughly 25 hours to finish a single playthrough—and that’s if you’re quick! This enables an incredible opportunity to craft an ongoing adventure with friends that devolves into spiteful chaos as time goes by, with tension higher than any other multiplayer game I’ve ever played.

So far, the vast majority of the visual upgrades and the new quality of life features make the Pixel Remaster for Final Fantasy VI a strong candidate for being the best way to experience one of Square Enix’s most compelling RPGs. I almost neglected to mention that a bestiary, music player, and gallery are all accessible from the main menu, rounding out the package quite nicely. I’m eager to see how summoned Espers look in all their glory, in addition to the always sublime Opera House scene.

Returning to Arcadia Bay has been pretty disappointing for me. The magic that I felt from the game in 2015 is gone as playing the episodes in quick succession makes their flaws all the more obvious. I would be unsure about recommending the best port of this game now, but my feelings on the Switch version specifically are far less complicated. This is not a very good port, and the baffling difference in quality between the original game and its prequel only makes that more blatant. If I could rewind time, I would go back and avoid playing this port so I could simply live with my positive memories of the original instead of confronting the serious letdown the remaster has turned out to be.

It’s hard to fully rate these fan discs or compilations of post-game content because they’re so dependent on how well the base game clicked with you, or if you weren’t satisfied with the handling of a suitor and want to see them get their comeuppance. Later x Crowd is one of the better fandisc treatments on the Switch, however, with a good mix of modes and two games worth of fanservice. It’s a definite recommendation after clearing the original.

Golazo 2 is very different from modern football games - and that isn’t a compliment. It brings back the stiff and awkward controls, giving the impression that you’re playing on a very muddy pitch. The CPU, even on the easiest difficulty, feels one-sided at times. I imagine this being a fun pick up and play with a friend, but the poor controls and bizarre aesthetic aren’t making it easy for me to want to even try.

To a degree, Kaichu is what it set out to be. A modest Kickstarter success, this was never pitched to be a massive, huge game. Even still, it’s not something I’d recommend to the majority of people. Unless you’re really into the idea of a kaiju dating sim that is actually just a set of trial-and-error multiple choice quizzes with nice animation, there’s no reason to take Gigachu on a world tour of destructive dates.

Between poor writing and gameplay with less depth than a Mario Party minigame, Restless Soul simply doesn’t have anything I think is worth seeing.

From what I’ve played so far, I’ve been very impressed. From these 8 hours, I think that the world and creatures feel distinct from the games that inspired and it left me with an excitement that I haven’t felt since Pokémon Black and White. Not only the unique designs of the Coromon themselves, but mechanics like the potential-system and the way typings and skills work together sets Coromon apart from a simple ROM hack. There’s also a large selection of difficulty options that can be adjusted to make the game play more like a Nuzlocke or an easy mode; you can even actually catch opponents’ Coromon. The variety on display here is fantastic, so if you’ve been disappointed with recent Pokémon generations and are looking for a game that’s similar but has its own identity, Coromon is absolutely worth checking out.