There is an incredible amount of charm and character to A Knight’s Quest. I’d strongly encourage anyone who thinks they can get past the technical and combat issues to give A Knight’s Quest a try. While those issues are substantial and may turn some off, there is an amazing game resting just below the surface.

Its colorful presentation, lovable characters, and overall solid execution makes Squeeballs Party worth trying out with your friends and family (unless they are put off by the abuse of adorable cartoon characters).

Lego Worlds feels like someone dumped a box of Legos on the floor and told you to have fun. Only you’ve never held a Lego in your hand or heard the word fun. This is less of a game and more of an experiment for Lego to figure out its place in the increasingly digital future toy space, which is fine, but I for one would much rather play with real Legos. Or sleep on a pile of Legos.

A middling effort from Activision.

GRIP is a racing game filled with issues of give and take. The combat races and Arena matches are fun, but the straight-on racing is subpar. The courses are detailed and varied, but they’re hard to make sense of when going fast. While it’s certainly nice to see a throwback to old racing games, especially one with local split-screen, I wish it could have been a game I’d want to break out with friends more often.

Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll is a fun and enjoyable successor to decent Banana Blitz, despite its issues with the Wii Balance Board. Some games sound like a perfect fit for the Wii Balance Board and Step & Roll was one of them, but the game lacks the polish and precision its Wii Balance Board control scheme needs.

While the game can be quite enjoyable with patience and perseverance, the story premise is overdone and ridiculous, and Lego fans would be better off to play with the actual toy bricks.

Despite a lack of real longevity, it's hard not to be impressed with Michael Jackson: The Experience 3D. This game could have been a quick and dirty port of the DS/PSP version, but instead Triumph International really put some effort and care into the game, and it shows.

This bite-sized visual novel noir is a pleasant surprise, but miserable puzzles and a so-so localization drag down the experience.

Lifespeed is a good game that I enjoy, but I recognize its shortcomings. I would like to see what Wee Man could do with a sequel, because there’s a solid core here.

This game is meant to be played with a bunch of friends talking trash and taking each other out. If you find yourself in the company of like-minded friends on a semi-regular basis, this game could provide some great laughs and fun. I absolutely can see where, especially with a bit of liquid enhancement, it could make for a great party game. Unfortunately, if you’re generally only going to be able to play the game by yourself, or the people you can play with don’t roll retro, it is hard to give it a recommendation. Correctly scoring a game with such a laser-focus on a goal that it hits but that, by design, misses so much of the general audience is a challenge. I’ve tried my best to spell out its value proposition clearly and you’ll have to judge from there.

The highest praise and most damning criticism I can give Devious Dungeon is that it is functional and something I could burn time with at a doctor’s office or in a plane. With the consistent stream of games coming to the Switch, you’re better off waiting to see if one of its better contemporaries gets released.

Once it clicks, Vambrace becomes a fun and brisk experience that trades in the desolation and grind of Darkest Dungeon for a more compact and less replayable adventure. There are costumes to earn from sidequests and achievements to earn that unlock in-game art, but there’s no new game plus to expedite the process. That said, there are a few times when you get to make key decisions that affect the story slightly and reward you with different costumes, so there is some incentive to return. Turn-based RPG enthusiasts and those who wanted more story out of Darkest Dungeon will find a lot to like here, but those who want a more streamlined or directed experience are given the cold shoulder.

Bright Memory: Infinite is a solid FPS and the kind of game the Nintendo Switch needs more of. Despite the few technical and graphical issues, the action, controls, and epic, high-octane combos make for a truly enjoyable, yet frustrating short experience. If you are craving a solid FPS action game on your Nintendo Switch, you can’t go wrong with Bright Memory: Infinite for the time being. Just make sure you’re here for a good time, not a long time.

Sonic Riders tries to do something new with racing but in the end doesn't deliver a polished package.

Skellboy has a duality to it that makes it a harder game to quantify. The visuals are adorable and fun, but technical issues muddle gameplay. The back half features more exploration and enjoyable side quests, but the first part is slow-paced and straightforward. If you think the charm of the aesthetic can carry you through the low points, it’s worth reaching the highs, but if not, Skippy might be better left in the ground.

Summer in Mara has the workings of a breathtaking and chill farming adventure that feels like it should be perfect for the summer, especially now. Instead thanks to everything from fetch quest repetition to a muddled interface, it’s more of a wistful addition to the Switch library. The pleasant vibe of Koa’s undiscovered world can’t carry the whole game despite the best of intentions. If tweaks and improvements can clean up some of the menus, Summer in Mara could be better, but I worry even that won’t make the repetition more enjoyable.

James, I think I speak for us both when I say that Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Explorers of Darkness will only appeal to Pokemaniacs who enjoy incredibly repetitive gameplay, practically GBA-level graphics and sound, and computer partner A.I. that's so dumb you'll want to stab yourself in the eye.

Godstrike surrounds its sole interesting mechanic with mediocrity, and there’s very little reason to recommend it at all. It controls fine and offers some replay value, but the steep initial difficulty curve, lackluster story, and middling presentation position this title well below others of its ilk. I do like how after the timer runs out you enter a “sudden death” situation, where the next hit will end your run, but that’s another small positive lost among the negatives. I’m eager to see further iteration on the boss rush-style action game, but I don’t need three strikes to call this one out.

Sonic Lost World is filled with many missteps that make it disappointing. Instead of being a good Sonic game, it is just a below average 3D platformer. Despite his speed, the blue blur could not keep up with anyone’s expectations of the game, nor be entertaining in his own right.

As it stands now, it’s impossible for me to recommend Our World Is Ended. The older version of the game we’re getting is missing a lot of quality of life improvements. Little things in the text set off my editor senses. The plot quickly derails and is so overbearing with the focus on fanservice that I wanted to scream. Maybe PQube should try again with the Judgment 7 version next year, but I’m not holding my breath for it.

Spirit of the North positions itself as a title similar to Journey, Abzu, or Rime, but it stumbles at the most basic levels of its gameplay. This is a genre known for minimal gameplay, and maximum experience. Spirit of the North’s inability to nail down even its extremely limited gameplay means that it's a pretty constant frustration. Now and then something will hit just right and you’ll see the potential that's there. It's visually quite stunning and features a solid but overplayed soundtrack. There are moments of brilliance sprinkled in with an otherwise thoroughly mediocre experience. I wouldn’t say I hated my time with Spirit of the North, but I’d certainly have rather spent it elsewhere.

In the end, ColorZ has some good intentions, and as a multiplayer title, it's very solid. The problem is that the single-player side hasn't been designed to accommodate one player, making the game too hard and possibly alienating many gamers who thought there was something to look forward to underneath all the color.

Although it's not very original, the content found here is compelling and fun, and the sports twist proves to be inspiration for several addictive mini-games.

Rather than the fast-paced, explorative action platformer with a cool time traveling twist, Aeternoblade turns out as a dull repetitive button mashing without much soul.

Unfortunately, fans of the genre are going to find nothing to enjoy here. The dumbed-down simulation gameplay, simple missions and tedious mini-games all bog the game down.

I see what the team wanted to make, and it is exactly the kind of thing I go for. I did enjoy the comedy, and some of the drama was touching if occasionally tactless. But there are so many technical issues, so much dated gameplay design, so many dubious writing choices, and so much grinding tedium that it just eclipses the things I enjoy. I could deal with the technical issues, the weird story hiccups, and even some of the gameplay stuff if only I felt like I always knew what I needed to do. The tedium and the madness are the two things that stick out. And sadly, the tedium just outweighs the madness. I would love to recommend this game to new-found fans of games like the Yakuza series, because there is a tonal similarity, but I just can’t. Early games in that series were primitive, but they weren’t aimless.

Tales of the Shire is a really solid idea. It should work. There are great ideas here and some solid writing. This feels like the early access version of what could eventually be a very good game. But right now, it isn’t. Instead it is a shallow glimpse at what could be. When you factor in significant performance issues that even the Switch 2 can’t seem to brute force, and constant stability problems, it becomes very hard to recommend this game. I really want to like Tales of the Shire. I think there is a reality in which it could potentially get better in time, but it just isn’t there yet.