Overall, the developers seem to have put more emphasis on the presentation than on creating a deep and immersive gameplay experience.

From the boring story, to the shallow single-player gameplay, to the dull characters, Mass Effect 3: Special Edition didn’t do anything for me to live up to its Wii U subtitle.

It's a great package for fans of the band and die-hard fans of the Guitar Hero series starved for new music.

The first four Mega Man X games are fun nostalgia, though it sometimes feels like a case of deja vu.

It was interesting to read through Episodio 1926 to see what happened to the characters and how they would deal with the fascist threat that was only growing in Italy. The text issues (especially in necessary scenes for best endings) were a bit annoying, and if you’re not going for 100% completion it’s possible to run the story through as a long weekend read.

There's no denying that Mushihimesama has had an interesting release history, most of which seems to exclude the West. It's always great to see hidden genre gems emerge on the eShop, but this one is a little more rough than diamond. That might sound more dismissive than I intend; Mushihimesama is a fine shoot-'em-up, but the content on offer does feel limited. Unless you're into playing every obscure arcade shooter, it's likely you'll find more to love from other Switch library offerings. Still, blasting a bounty of neat-looking bugs provides a fun enough time while it lasts.

A fun and intense game at heart. If only its missions were more understandable, balanced, and streamlined.

I recommend LSWII to those who really loved the original – for me, it was worthwhile to see all the cinemas and locations, and plenty of fun in co-op. It doesn't live up to the original by any means.

Gradius Origins feels like a more niche collection in some ways. Fighting games are at a relatively high point in popularity, so it makes sense that the Capcom’s of the world would pump out collections of their huge library. Side-scrolling space shooters haven’t hit the same kind of resurgence, so what we’re left with is a series of similar-playing shooters wrapped in a best-in-class collection of features that make them just close enough to playable. I appreciate the level of effort that was made for Gradius Origins, it has been treated with a kind of reverence that makes me think M2 truly cared about preserving these games. That said, in practice it feels more like a niche history lesson rather than a source of deep fun.

This is an excellent pick-up for hardcore Mudd fans, but if you’re new to the series, don’t start with this game—go with its predecessor. Even for Mudd diehards, I suspect your mileage may vary.

Now that a third of the game isn’t enough to make my inner English teacher want to have someone at the publisher see me after class, I think there’s a decent effort in Cupid Parasite. There’s still typos which I’m becoming more sensitive to, and the controls are a bit irritating if you’re trying to do anything beyond advancing text, but it’s a unique take on the legends of Cupid.

Whether you end up enjoying your brief journey through the world of Limbo will be subjective. It’s a akin to an expressionist painting, for some it will come across as beautiful experience greater than what you can see, while for the rest it may just seem boring and relying too heavily on artistic impression. I fall somewhere in the middle, I enjoyed the experience but as a video game, it was just a bit too simple for me.

Yoku’s Island Express is far from bad. It has great ideas, a very good soundtrack, and competent gameplay. But while there’s not too much actively wrong with it, it doesn’t do anything exceptionally well either. It’ll do.

It Takes Two is a very fun game that should honestly be about half its length, but the Switch very much does not feel like the place you should go to play it. The major graphical downgrades and added loading screens make it hard to recommend no matter how good the gameplay feels or how clever the writing is. If you’re looking for a fun game to play alongside your significant other or a friend, It Takes Two is among your better options in general, but you’d likely have a far better experience on PlayStation or PC than on Switch.

If you have kids and they love any of the Marvel superheroes, I could definitely recommend this game to them. Otherwise, you can le’go of any hope that this game could be enjoyable.

If you are a fan of over-the-top violent sword swinging, inappropriate humor, and cleavage shots, this is the game for you. For a casual gamer who isn't necessarily all in on the carnage, this would probably be a pass. However, it’s a solid mindless distraction for the over 20 crowd. No More Heroes 2 certainly fills a niche that is typically left void in the realm of Nintendo.

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga was ultimately a nostalgic yet surprisingly fresh experience that for the most part holds up well on Switch. The films covered in previous games feature entirely new takes, while certainly throwing in some references to those classic titles. My personal experience, unfortunately, was marred with a significant progress blocking bug. In the isolation of this pre-launch period it is impossible for me to know how widespread this issue will be. Hopefully, it will be patched in the near future, especially if it’s not exclusive to one platform. All I can say for now is that while I thoroughly enjoyed Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, I do have to recommend a little caution.

An enjoyable experience, though clearly flawed in the same way its source material was flawed.

When it comes down to it, Spelunky feels dated. Since its initial release, roguelikes and lites have evolved a great deal. That evolution, of course, is due in part to Spelunky. A daily challenge seed with a leaderboard is something I first heard about in Spelunky. When comparing it to the modern members of the genre, what you get is lacking. This is still a perfectly playable game, which is a strong compliment for a remake of a freeware 2009 release. The concept of Spelunky is timeless, even if the game itself is not. I just think that recently developed roguelikes will give players more.

It's enjoyable for a little while to see the numbers go up and down as your profits soar and your inventory dwindles, but there's so little variety in the main loop that I didn’t feel compelled to discover all of the areas and associated characters. As a background game for the cozy-inclined, it offers a fairly passable experience, but Tiny Bookshop is far from a page-turner.

Pillars of Eternity’s reputation for quality is well deserved. It’s definitely worth checking out, whether on other platforms or when the Switch version is fixed up. For now, the version on Nintendo’s latest is an interesting curiosity with some pretty heavy issues. And it’s not the first time I’ve seen that phrase used in relation to an Obsidian-developed game published by another company.

As would be expected for a pair of 3DS games, the Gunvolt titles look sharp in handheld mode. There was a bit of an adjustment period when playing on TV, as I had mostly played Blaster Master Zero in handheld mode so I wasn’t used to the pixels being enlarged for TV visibility. It’s especially notable in the first game’s credits. The music is not really noticeable until the Japanese pop idol overrides kick in, but those songs are a nice reward for the first game and serve as the DLC for the second title. Inti Creates’s first six months on Switch have been quite strong, and this package is keeping the streak alive. Some of the additional content may water down the experience, but both games at their heart are worth a look.

I’m torn on Fuga: Melodies of Steel. There is more that I like than dislike; combat is satisfying, the graphical style is appealing, the music ranges from good to phenomenal and the story, as cliché as it may be, is told well enough. And yet I still can’t shake the feeling that Fuga could have been so much more if it cut back on the boring base building and truly committed to a tone that the premise deserves. If a solid linear RPG that can be beaten in under 20 hours is something you’re in the market for or if you’re curious about the successor to Solatorobo then Fuga is at least worth a look. But if your interest was piqued by the trailer or heard the premise of children, war, and permadeath; then you should know there is a lot less here than you may have initially thought.

If it was Live A Live that allowed Takashi Tokita and his work on Chrono Trigger to soar, then of course it was worth it. In this present day chapter, for my money, I'm looking ahead to the next Square remake.

The first-person, open-world approach to a murder mystery adventure is certainly unique, but Paradise Killer is weighed down by irritating movement and a confusing story. The character names do more harm than good, and the visuals are merely serviceable. Fortunately, the soundtrack provides incredible travelling music, and it’s worth seeking out tapes to add to your collection of tracks. If you can get into the world and its mysteries and intricacies, you’ll find an experience worthy of being called Paradise. If you’re expecting another Danganronpa, this might be more of a buzz killer.

Monster Hunter Stories 3 tries to be an epic RPG, but it’s bogged down by so many systems and ideas that it starts to take on water as you progress deeper into it. The story wound up being a highlight, but even the streamlining of monster dens couldn’t solve the heavy-handedness of monster collection and enhancement. If you want to painstakingly tweak the dials on habitats and splice monster genes while dealing with an acquired taste of a combat system, you’ll find a better time than I did in this game. Maybe at the end of the day, the twisted reflection was a metaphor for the entire game.

If you can get over the criminal lack of configurable controls, it’s hard to go wrong with Mega Man Anniversary Collection. The games vary in quality, but even the worst one is pretty good, and the best ones are deservingly legendary.

Ultimately, if you like super challenging shmups and especially if you’re old enough to still call them shoot-‘em-ups, then you’ll find a lot to love here. Likewise if you’re a newcomer to the genre then R-Type Dimensions EX is a great place to start and will hold your hand until you’re ready to let go.

Venba packs an emotional punch, but it also pulls its punches a little bit, too. There’s more to this narrative and this family that deserves to be included in the experience, and while the cooking segments definitely sing, I’m ultimately left feeling like I’ve been served an appetizer rather than a main course. It’s beautiful in its colorful but minimalistic presentation and has a fitting musical score. I’m just longing to spend more time in Venba’s charming kitchen and to be invited to share in more of the moments in her life.

The overall complexity of the game will immediately turn off the more casual players who were attracted by the control scheme. The hardcore Madden players will most likely prefer one of the more traditional console versions because of precision issues with the gestures.

Decent writing and a good art style keep this game above mediocrity and toying with the town building mechanics is enjoyable. But unless you're specifically looking for another entry in the town sim genre, it's hard to recommend this above other options already available on Switch. Then again, if the more simplistic approach is what you're looking for and the ability to change your town layout on a whim sounds appealing, there are things to enjoy in this quaint Littlewood.

There’s certainly nothing wrong with the gameplay, which remains just as enjoyable now as it did almost 30 years ago, but Reshrined feels like a missed opportunity to add in new elements or mechanics. While the inclusion of an online leaderboard is welcome, the lengthy, poorly-localized cutscenes are not. If you go in not expecting anymore more than what the Super Nintendo games did and can tolerate some odd design choices, then busting these ghosts might make you feel good. Otherwise, wait for a sale or light some incense in hopes that one of the original Pocky & Rocky games shows up on NSO.

Saga Frontier 2 Remastered is a unique, complicated relic of its time. A compelling cast of characters in a game that gives you glimpses of their personal struggles while focusing more on the long arc of history. A fresh feeling, flexible combat system tied to a series of dungeons that are thematically interesting but fundamentally humdrum. Special features and additions to this remaster that highlight its beauty, give better accessibility to weapon stocks, and give the tempo a much-needed speed boost, but feels incomplete compared to its remaster contemporaries. Ultimately, I had a gratifying experience playing this game in full and checking it off my bucket list, but it’s a game which should be seen more as an incremental improvement and way to preserve it on modern consoles than something that’s likely to draw in a new crowd.

It’s the kind of thing that could be used in the future to explain the first decade of the series. Even if you would inevitably get thrashed taking this game online, this collection’s overall production values and ease of use make it something that can be toyed with and enjoyed even if you can barely Hadouken.

I'd recommend these versions to new Pokémon fans when they come out locally, due to all the in-game help. When it comes down to it though, I'd rather have a new, more inventive game than a remake. [JPN Import]

Winds of Change really is a fantastically written story, that, despite its surface level niche target audience, is a must try for any visual novel fans, or high-fantasy story fans. I’m sure you’ll get something out of it, and for any members of the furry fanbase, if you haven’t tried this game out and chosen a character to “stan,” I have but two questions: Why haven’t you, and why isn’t it Valessa?

While it doesn't persist throughout the entire playthrough, there's an unmistakable uniqueness to In Stars and Time. Its parts may be stronger than it ends up as a whole, but there's humor and heart pouring from its cast. While the back half features some interesting twists, with them come more repetition and occasional frustration with how character and area progression occurs. Even though it's a little too verbose, the overall experience of In Stars and Time is a worthwhile one, especially for fans of Undertale and other offbeat RPGs.

While the graphics and interface have been jazzed up to be more pleasing to the eye and to reflect the ease of use that Ruby and Sapphire have, the basic story and premise of the games is the same as it was nine years ago. [JPN Import]

Rage of the Gladiator tries to be a Punch-Out!!-esque game, but it doesn't quite live up to the promise. Still, it's an entertaining game with solid production values that manages to wind its way down the road of quality despite some superfluous controls, rigid skill trees, and extra-long battles.

What can I say but “yikes”...Over the past decade I have largely avoided revisiting Catherine because I knew that it likely had not aged well, and I didn’t really want to spoil the good memories I had of playing the game. My tastes have changed a lot over the years, and while I’ve gained a new appreciation for the incredible puzzle-solving gameplay, I’ve been utterly astounded at just how poorly the story has aged. It’s unfortunate, since the voice acting, visuals, and overall cinematic direction of both cutscenes and gameplay are all excellent. This game is the product of a passionate and talented team. It’s just a shame that their efforts were all in service to writing that is cynical, regressive, outdated, and just plain exhausting.

While the roughshod nature of the Switch port doesn’t quite make Crash Team Racing a dominant kart racer on the system, the solid single-player mode and finicky yet rewarding boosting and driving still adds up to an enjoyable time, as long as you’re fine with a visual downgrade and a long wait between races. I really enjoyed revisiting Crash Team Racing with Nitro-Fueled and it reminded me of how great the single-player component of this game is. I just wish there weren’t such large caveats that held it back on Switch.

In general, I think the Bethesda tables will appeal largely to Bethesda fans. However, the Doom table should be enjoyable to most pinball aficionados, and I daresay it alone is worth the price of admission.

La Mulana is a smashing success in what it attempts to do. It’s a diabolical and lavishly-layered set of ancient ruins that will test your video game skills physically and mentally. I respect the hell out of this commitment to brusque, difficult game design. At the same time, I’m exhausted after playing so much La Mulana. It’s overall a breathtaking game, but it’s clearly not something for everyone and as I found out, it’s not for the 2020 version of me. Now, introduce time travel and 2012 me is probably super into this game. But I can only confidently recommend those who want the sternest of retro-fueled gameplay challenges tackle this behemoth.

This is a very straightforward HD release of System Shock 2. This remaster does little to modernize actual gameplay, and playing with a controller is simply not ideal. On a technical level it does exactly what it sets out to do and does it very well. The game itself remains an important release that would lead directly into iconic titles like Bioshock and thus makes for a fascinating historical curiosity. But it is important that you approach System Shock 2 from the right perspective, keeping in mind its ambition at the time of its original release.

The truly sad part is that Lock's Quest is just a few design tweaks away from being a fantastic game. All the ingredients are here, but the overzealous chefs at 5th Cell screwed up the recipe.

The core of Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 Plus is good, especially with the Score Attack mode and the novel new local two-player mode. Unfortunately, the botched offline score uploading, minor technical issues, and disappointing Adventure mode drag the entire experience down. If you have friends locally to play the two-player mode or friends online to score chase with, this is a fine game, at least as long you’re always near WiFi when you get high scores. Without the well-implemented high score chases, it’s still fun, just maybe more fleeting than it could have been.

It’s pretty decent, and acts as an overall solid choice for any rhythm game player. Unfortunately, while perfectly serviceable, it’s not nearly as good as the other Western-released series games in any way – other than minor non-rhythm game side content.

It seems obvious, now, that this game is for the hardcore Need for Speed fan. If you love the series, get it; it's a marked improvement.

While I was thrilled to finally have a Taiko no Tatsujin drum to try out with Rhythm Festival, the accessory and the game itself left me wanting to a degree. Fans of previous games and Japanese music, including the dozens of anime themes available here, will find a charming and compelling package in DON-chan's latest outing. Others might not appreciate the lack of variety in the basic library, which seems to demand that players fork over for the more robust offerings of the Music Pass. It rubs me the wrong way when, at launch, the base version of a game contains but a fraction of what can be purchased or rented digitally. There's no denying the cute and colorful characters of the Taiko no Tatsujin world, but you're almost forced to pay a premium to keep the party going.

This being a Legacy Collection brings up the question of Star Force’s legacy. While not bad games, the series is more continuation than evolution of the previous series, especially in presentation, story, and age range. Star Force 3 was also the direct predecessor to the somewhat ongoing Mega Man drought. While the perfect cure for a shonen anime friendship speech craving, Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection feels a bit interchangeable with what came before.

Ultimately, Other M doesn't get good until you slog through the over-baked story; if you can handle that, you'll be in for a real treat of a game.

If you are prepared to deal with many annoyances but seek an original and mostly enjoyable play experience, you'll be well served by Scribblenauts.

Despite the good presentation and fun aspects of the game, the underlying poor design dirties up the game.

Café Enchanté doesn’t break a lot of new ground in its genre, but it’s a well-told romantic story and would be a great way to wile away an upcoming long weekend.

Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve now reviewed eleven games from the same developer in the last two years, but I’d really like to see them take some more risks with the endings in these romance games. Variable Barricade seemed like it would be the time, but the ending did leave me feeling a bit baited. But I accept that I’m part of a very small minority compared to the rest of the audience, and if you’re looking for romantic hijinx with a side of gritted teeth then climb over the barricade.

There are certainly sections of Reborn that made me question how much fun I was actually having, but in truth I was largely enjoying myself. I wish Arcade Mode had a better and/or better explained save system, and it’s entirely too easy to get overwhelmed with enemies and environmental hazards, but if tough as nails combat platformers are your thing, Shadow of the Ninja Reborn is a good time. And it’s just so pretty.

The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors is a competent and satisfying experience that benefits from two-player co-op and online leaderboards. However, in being a remake of the 1987 and 1994 versions, it also fails to bring anything too interesting or unique to the table. It’s a fairly easy recommendation to brawler fans, but I think a wider audience would be better off with the Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle, given its much stronger value proposition. Not that it needs saving, but Return of the Warriors isn’t quite the savior of the brawler genre.

Even a modest step forward, such as adding more frames of animation to the character portraits, would have made the game feel fresher and more vibrant. As it is, Under the Knife 2 comes across as a cynical cash-in, a mission pack so lazy that it doesn't even have new missions.

When I say this game lives and dies by its writing, I mean it. And unfortunately, the more I thought about the game and the world it describes, the more it fell apart.

The openness of Haiku is both its strength and its weakness, and some who get drawn in by its Metroidvania trappings and retro look will be let down by the lack of direction provided. Those who don't mind experimenting and backtracking will find a more satisfying experience, but about halfway through I felt like I had already had my fill. Aesthetically, the clean presentation is an asset, but the soundtrack lacks punch and variety. Ultimately, even though Haiku, The Robot does play well, it can be tedious more often than it is compelling.

The wacky narrative escapades in Death Road to Canada are where it excels, but it falls apart when you actually want to progress. The brutal, random nature too often made me feel like I had little agency in my quest, which made it hard to really care about ever making it to Canada reliably. The reward for my death road was the unusual tales I created along the way, not the gameplay.

Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu justifies its own existence by trying to please every Pokémon fan. It can’t. What it does do is highlight the disparity among its bases; its fierce and loyal competitive scene, its incredibly friendly world, and its simple-to-grasp, hard-to-master systems. Going forward, the Let’s Go series would do well to let go of me. It’s okay to make a game for new and younger players, but it’s not okay to sell that game to stalwarts nearing 30. Let’s Go’s fresh ideas have me excited for the future of Pokémon, but these changes now mar the very experience that had me fall in love with this world.

Donut County is incredibly endearing, but it ends too soon.

As an excuse to hit up the sources on Wikipedia to read about the actual war that formed Japan’s political system for more than half a millennium, Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei does a really good job. As a romance… four out of five isn’t bad, I guess? But the presence of that fifth one made me bail out far faster than normal for one of these games.

Don't get me wrong, my time with TOEM while playing was a lot of fun. The little contradictions I came across during my time with the game didn't really sink in until after I finished the game. I did put in the time and collected as many stamps as possible. But even so, you should expect to stick too long to TOEM. Once you've seen everything, there really isn't that much to return to. Still, in some cases I'd argue that the journey is the destination. When it comes to TOEM the journey can be a little tedious and sometimes even a bit repetitive. But if you're looking for a slow paced game to relax over a weekend there's still a lot of charm and enjoyment to be found here.

Outlast 2 does little to elevate it beyond the original Outlast. What results is a well put together, but ultimately predictable, and even generic horror experience. At times the story stumbles into masterpiece territory, but then quickly course corrects back into a generic evil cult plotline.

Steredenn Binary Stars might look like a generic shoot-’em-up on the surface, but it offers quite a bit to be excited about. I found the wonderful selection of weapons and multiphase bosses an absolute delight despite the relentless difficulty. While the all or nothing nature will be more than enough to turn some people off, for those who welcome it will without a doubt find themselves proclaiming, just one more run.

Overall, if you are already a fan of visual novels as a whole, Worldend Syndrome will probably be successful at drawing you in. If you’re not already a fan of the genre, it isn’t likely to change your mind. Between the lengthy prologue and the slightly disappointing shift in gameplay that comes after it, Worldend has a lot of potential for its storytelling that it constantly seems to put just out of reach in order to pad out its length and starve the player of interesting information until the very last second, before repeating the same process over and over again.

Band Hero is clearly aimed at a very specific audience, and for that audience it's a goldmine of content that they'll enjoy. For guys like me, who actually like rock music, I'll stick with something a little more hardcore.

The Denpa Men could be considered "old school" in this way, a quality that may make the downloadable game an appealing distraction to some, but its surplus of unchanging RPG content drags on the novelty of the experience with time. Like any crayon, The Denpa Men quickly becomes dull.

The story is quite engaging while never being pretentious thanks to its great sense of humor, and difficulty has been balanced so that both experienced and novice players can jump in without feeling overwhelmed.

Fun if you're not sick of doing this over and over and over in the previous games. It's a great presentation, but individual mileage may vary.

Immortals: Fenyx Rising is overall a great game that I’m excited to keep coming back to, but the Switch version is such a disappointment that I’m strongly considering starting my entire playthrough over on another platform. I love the setting based in Greek mythology, and I’ve been enjoying the adventure almost non-stop, only ever getting bored during the icon hunt whenever I reach a new area once every couple of hours. It’s a shame that Switch players will be getting such a compromised version, since I really feel like the weak port does a huge disservice to everything the game succeeds at. I think you should play Immortals: Fenyx Rising, but you should not do so on Switch if you can help it.

Mortal Kombat 11 is an incredible fighting game, and Shiver Entertainment’s work in porting the game to Switch is beyond impressive. I wish that I could’ve enjoyed playing it so much more, but the arduous grind for cosmetics permeates so strongly through the backbone of this game that picking it up to play at all can be frustrating. NetherRealm has promised a patch to make the grind easier, but all it seems to do is increase the rate you gain currency without removing the always-online restrictions. I hope that someday they relax a bit more and make Towers of Time more playable on the go, because right now I can’t recommend Mortal Kombat on Switch nearly as much as I want to.

If you are looking for a fun co-op game, Ibb & Obb is a decent pick-me-up to spend some hours with a friend. But I highly recommend that you play the game in short bursts. Although clever, the game can feel rather monotonous after a while. It didn’t fully hook me (and my friends) to keep playing for longer sessions. The slow pace and lack of fun new mechanics over time, make Ibb & Obb hard for me to return to.

The BIT.TRIP series took off with Runner on WiiWare, so much so that the two successive Nintendo consoles have each had a Runner sequel. And honestly, what Runner has done now is made me look forward to the Switch port of Runner 2 coming next year, because I prefer its art style and it has checkpoints. Even if they are optional. Runner’s still my favorite of the original BIT.TRIP series but if you pick up Runner you get a big discount on the other ones so it may be better to explore those instead.

Big Hops is an extremely attractive looking game regardless of platform.

Ultimately, Forager has potential, but a little more scavenging is needed to take it from an appetizer to a main course.

I found the first couple runs mildly entertaining with diminishing returns on each subsequent playthrough.

It's undeniable the amount of content that Samurai Warriors 5 boasts. Completing Nobunaga's campaign unlocks even more missions, and that's in addition to all of Mitsuhide's and assorted side missions not required to reach the end credits. While mission variety and challenge felt lacking, there are reasons to replay stages to complete every objective and shoot for S rankings, which are actually tied to opening up some of the post-game content. Ultimately, there's a type of mindlessness to playing a game like this that serves as both a nice break from more mentally demanding ones and also a reminder that musou games are still quite niche, and perhaps for good reason. If you enjoy breezy, repetitive gameplay with hours and hours of missions to play and stuff to unlock, Samurai Warriors 5 will do just fine. However, I can't see it doing enough to bring new fans into the series.

Viewfinder is a fun puzzle game bogged down by its ambitions. I loved the way in which the game uses the gameplay to speak for itself. At the same time, whenever the characters started speaking I was kind of turned off by the experience. The Nintendo Switch version runs fine enough, but can have a bit of a hard time with the framerate and loading of stages. For puzzle game die-hards, especially fans of Portal, The Talos Principle and Superliminal I’d recommend Viewfinder in a heartbeat. But if you’re hoping to find something beyond that incredible viral video, I’m afraid that Viewfinder will not be able to change that perspective.

Still a good game, but it’s lacking a lot of the charm of its original outing without the bongos.

My Friend Pedro seems like the kind of game that either clicks with you or it doesn’t. If you’re a patient player who likes killstreaks, points, and stylish gameplay, you might like this a lot. If you’re like me and have less patience for a game that feels unintuitive for the first 20 levels out of 40, the final product might not click so easily.

I liked Shinobi a lot, even though the experience was very quick. The controls felt good and tight, there were some clever enemies (especially towards the end) and the entire concept of being a ninja is a real cool idea. Shinobi is a fleeting experience, but not one that I don’t regret having.

A fantastic representation of the comic book. The story is compelling, if short, and the gameplay is fun for the most part.

Overall, if you are the type of gamer that enjoys tough puzzle games then The Magic Obelisk will impress with its unique concept and wonderful presentation. For everyone else, the difficulty and control issues may be too much.

It’s good to see that Sympathy Kiss is strong on the technical end, it just didn’t click with me. If you’re a little more amenable to dealing with people at the office, you’ll be able to get through it quickly and easily. I’m more of the kind who wants to interact with as few people as possible in the run of a day.

I have real issues with the soccer-RPG mechanics, but once you get over the initial hump, it smoothes out a little bit.

The amount of party customization is limitless. The story is twisted, and the full voice acting improves the overall delivery. There is one major problem with Devil Survivor Overclocked: it isn't a 3DS game.

At the end of the day, your enjoyment of Dandy Dungeon hinges on a few factors: Do you like cute, quirky, and simple RPGs? How do you feel about rogue-lite elements and grinding for items? The unique presentation and charm are definite positives, but the gameplay does become worn out given that you have almost no agency in the dungeons outside of drawing your hero’s path and activating a handful of limited-use items like fireball scrolls, healing potions, and stat buffs. Like Black Bird before it, Dandy Dungeon is certainly an oddity, but it has enough strong points to make it worth a look.

A decent, but not great, first MotionPlus and tennis effort from EA. It isn't very fun as a pick-up-and-play title because of the steep learning curve. However, if you take your time and read up on the controls online, it can be a great game.

WWE 2k25 is a game with a solid, satisfying gameplay foundation, a flashiness befitting the product, and options galore to play your way. It also has game modes that aren’t all that compelling, a questionable presentation of their superstars’ appearance, a silly amount of self-importance, and a user interface that rivals the worst design this side of Sakurai menu screens. For me, returning to wrestling games with WWE 2k25 is like returning to your hometown after being gone for a decade. The bones are still there, you can see the resemblance in the local landmarks, but the people are different. You meet with friends to reminisce, but the dive bar is now a flashy speakeasy with a cover fee.

This second generation of Pokemon games on the Switch - Scarlet, Violet, and Legends: Z-A - has repeatedly gone back and forth between “we are so cooked” and “we are so back”. Pokemon Legends: Z-A has basically distilled that down to one game, because it feels like everything that annoyed me about the game was countered almost immediately by the game doing something I enjoyed or impressed me. Of the two Legends, I still prefer Arceus though, and I do hope a third Legends game is more focused on catching than combat.

Olija has a wonderful story to tell that takes influence from some of your favorite seafaring adventures. While the technical hiccups can be disappointing and the major portion of the gameplay can feel unexciting, the boss fights and story sections bring to life a drab and dreary world that I would thoroughly enjoy seeing more of after the patches roll out.

If you’re ultra-paranoid about typos Piofiore is an offer you’ll have to refuse - but if you can push past that, it will be an emotional roller coaster.

For people that are already big fans of Dragon Ball Z, as a whole, Kakarot has some value as a walk down memory lane and a way to re-experience the show in an entirely different manner. However, if you’re not already a big fan of Goku and Co’s adventures, Kakarot sadly has absolutely nothing for you. Without the nostalgia factor this game ends up being a slow slog of samey gameplay that likely won’t keep your attention for very long.

Friends of Mineral Town feels flat and simplistic as a result of trying too hard to emulate the game it’s based on. Although there is a fair amount of freedom to play the game as you see fit, it’s difficult to recommend the latest Story of Seasons entry over something like Stardew Valley or even the two 3DS games. In-game achievements, hidden items to collect, and an easy mode are all welcome features; ultimately, though they don’t contribute enough to make for a compelling experience. Those who want to enjoy the nostalgia of Harvest Moon on SNES and GBA will like coming back to something familiar, but Story of Seasons Friends of Mineral Town isn’t necessarily worth throwing in the shipping box.

Those hoping for an overhaul will have to wait for the inevitable Brain Age 3.