Overall, The Artful Escape is a standout in terms of visual and sound design, with a story that feels relatable even if you yourself don’t have a famous folk-singing uncle. With a runtime of only about three hours it’s a brief experience, but those hoping to find a challenge to overcome will be disappointed in the shallow gameplay it has to offer. Francis’s story is memorable and powerful, and the environments he shreds through are truly a sight to behold. People who enjoy the aesthetics of artists like the late David Bowie should absolutely give this game a look, especially if they also happen to be musicians themselves. You might learn a bit about what you actually want for yourself in life and become inspired to visit a Cosmic Extraordinary of your own.

As a veteran player of these games and real life skateboarder it’s easy to appreciate what these games do. While they seem like simplified Tony Hawk games, there’s a lot more depth in the grinds and flips with a surprising amount of accuracy. That being said, OlliOlli World improves on the blueprint laid out in previous entries in almost every way. The animation is impressively overhauled, the level design is intricate while evolving, and the gameplay is as smooth as butter with even more ways to flow. There’s something to be said about iterative evolution but this is on another level of progression that makes the older games harder to go back to. Trust me, I tried and it was a grind.

If you’ve been hoping for a little more combat and a little less walking back and forth between points on a map, Wonder Labyrinth would make a wonder-full way to spend five or six hours.

There’s a lot of minor gameplay features for players to explore and try out, but even just fighting through the stages and bosses is satisfying enough on its own. If you’ve ever played a Gunvolt game of any kind, this is a fairly good one of those, even if you’re likely to forget about it after putting it away. Not every game needs to be memorable to be a worthwhile experience, though. If you’re looking for an action-heavy palette cleanser with some kicking visuals and solid gameplay, Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 2 would make a strong addition to your Switch library.

An astoundingly smart improvement on the tried-and-true Pokémon formula. It’s not without its blemishes, largely in the dreadful visuals, but the foundation laid here is what I hope the Pokémon franchise pivots to more in the future. It twists the focus just enough to make the experience of filling out a Pokédex more engaging, all the while filling battling and catching with way more variety. Legends Arceus doesn’t quite catch them all, but it’s satisfying the whole way through and makes me thrilled for the future of Pokémon in a way I haven’t been in years.

When you’re going back-to-back-to-back with one genre of game, they can start to run together. I’m glad Dairoku: Agents of Sakuratani avoided the urge to lock portions of the game behind completion, and hope this happens more in the future—though hopefully the next romance game I play will have a little more sunlight in it.

Shadow Man is not a great game in 2021, but in 1999, it was ambitious and inventive, and being able to experience this game as it was meant to be released and played is valuable and enjoyable.

When RPGolf Legends is flowing, it’s incredible and greater than the sum of its parts. I adore how you’re filling in a golf course through various countrysides while also fighting bears and snakes and junk. The boss battles that deftly mix combat and golf are tons of fun. But then you might hit a wall where you just need to grind, whether it’s by pounding down enemies or golfing on loop, and the whole experience suffers. Still, I’m heartened that we live in a world where we have multiple options for retro-ish golf RPGs and they’re both pretty good.

It’s ultimately a little too loyal to its inspirations. Despite being a brand new game, it often feels incredibly dated. It isn’t downright bad by any means, just like going back and playing the original God of War on PS2 isn’t bad either. But that design is really only excusable in the context of its time. Blackwind will have some appeal to hardcore fans of early 2000’s action games, but without those rose tinted glasses, there isn’t much here to help it rise above mediocrity.

Headland is a cute game with a heartwarming narrative that is just simply enjoyable. It doesn’t hit high highs and the only real brushes with low lows are the dregs of the combat. I’d most recommend it if you have a younger gamer in your household looking for a charming romp with a positive message about creativity.

Chicory: A Colorful Tale is an incredibly enjoyable and wholesome experience. Its characters are so charming and endearing; its graphical style and world design encourages creativity and wants you to color the world back in. The soundtrack is stellar and completes the package on display here. It's a game that can be enjoyed for all ages and if you decide to pursue all the sidequests, complete the decorating minigames, and find all of the collectibles, you can certainly spend a lot of time in the world of Chicory. My only gripe is a personal one—that I didn’t play this game last year—because without a doubt it makes for a wonderful late addition to the best of what 2021 had to offer. I cannot wait to see what Greg, Lena, Em, Alexis and Madeline will make next, because Chicory can’t be described as anything other than a piece of modern art.

Astroneer is a small package that packs a lot of punch. There’s so much to dig into and explore that it’s easy to lose hours upon hours without batting an eye. Despite the learning curve, I found myself putting on my headphones and zoning out to the sweet soundtrack and some mindless digging. I wish that the systems were explained a little bit better but some light reading and personal discovery help this underrated indie shine.

As far as if this DLC is worthwhile, it is if you want to play Super Nintendo Aladdin or have fond memories of the Jungle Book game. Aladdin holds up as a great platformer of the era, but Jungle Book simply does not. All of the museum extras are incredible, but might not be as worthwhile unless you’re interested in the history and legacy of these games. Combine this DLC with the original content and it’s an excellent historical collection that paints a cel-animated picture of a specific era of Disney video games during a time when adaptations of animated movies were much bigger events.

Bonfire Peaks is a stunning game that I feel will attract many for its aesthetic alone. A large portion of those will stay for the gameplay, but I can fully relate to players who become frustrated with the movement controls and difficulty spike later on. Aside from the gameplay grumps, the world in which Corey Martin has created tells an isolated yet beautiful tale of a man looking for closure by burning his things, and I am glad I got to experience this.

Dungeon Munchies surprised me with its poor level design and platforming but shined in its story and characters. I wanted more from the characters and would probably have really dug this as a visual novel. As it is, however, the drifty platforming with floors that feel like ice are a slog. Combat wasn’t bad, but I always generally wanted more of the better parts of the game, like the slick soundtrack. By the end of my time with Dungeon Munchies, I certainly wasn’t full. I felt like it deserved more and could be more, maybe a little more time in the oven.

Okinawa Rush attracted me the moment I played it and dragged me in with its visceral, fast paced powerful battles. You won’t find a developed story or a stellar soundtrack, but sound design in combat is top tier, with each hit feeling like it’s forceful enough to crush skulls. If a dark, gruesome brawler that empowers you to be a badass is what you’re itching for, then Okinawa Rush is just the right scratch for you.

After all these years, I’m still a zealot for the Picross S (and its predecessors) even if innovation and evolution is slow paced. Seeing touchscreen support added after more than four years of Switch releases is great to see, and hopefully more upgrades and updates will come to Picross S8 and more in the future. Until then, here’s almost 500 new puzzles that are at the same solid level of execution as the thousands Jupiter has made in the past.

If you like a good set of murder mysteries featuring a consistent cast of characters, Danganronpa is one of the best places to get that experience, and this sequel is no different in that regard.

While none of the problems are significant enough to truly prevent someone from enjoying this game, the fact that such fundamental problems from a previous version have not been addressed makes it difficult to justify this version over any others. I think it’s worth seeking out and trying Danganronpa for yourself, but I can’t recommend doing so by playing a port of the mobile version running poorly on Switch.

The boring music, the simplistic graphics style, the awful UI-elements and these new rules that make battles a slog to sit through have made this game one of the worst YGO experiences I’ve ever had. Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution is a fantastic battle simulator that pays homage to the anime and gives you so many cards to experiment with. RDBR locks you into a system that doesn’t seem to understand what has made YGO so diverse and fun to play. If anything, I’m glad we got Rush Duels out of the way since next year will see the release of a proper YGO card simulator in the form of Master Duel. If this is all we hear of Rush Duel in the West, that will be fine by me. With this Battle Royale, everyone ends up being the loser.

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.

Across its 10-15 hours, Life is Strange: True Colors tells an emotional story of a girl trying to find a new home while also reconciling with both her unique powers and her traumatic past. There isn’t much in the way of puzzle-solving, but intrepid players will enjoy going back to completed chapters and scenes to make new choices and see what happens. It’s easy to miss a conversation or an object with which you can interact, so it’s worth being thorough. There are hidden memories to unlock in each chapter, too. Despite a few abrupt time skips and scene jumps, Alex’s story is one worth hearing; it culminates in a captivating climax, even if the resolution pulls its punches a bit. Color me eager to see more Life is Strange titles come to the Switch in the coming months.

Trash Quest is far from a piece of eShop garbage. It's actually a brief but delightful and welcome addition to the Metroidvania stable on Switch. Online leaderboards that track your clear time, among other things, adds a heaping of replay value. Still, it's not much of a challenge to complete the game with a 100 percent rate, so enjoy the experience while it lasts. If you're dumpster diving for a palette cleanser in-between some larger titles this holiday season, do yourself a favor and consider helping a raccoon on its Trash Quest.

The best thing about Clockwork Aquario is that it exists today. The story of how the source code was found and pieced together and filled in with help from the original team is incredible. As it stands, the game is just very short. The five stages have a high score element, but if you’re in it to explore the levels, beat the difficulty modes, and romp around it all with a friend, there’s still not a lot to do here. I’m happy I can say I played Clockwork Aquario, but outside of supporting game preservation, I can’t say it’s something you need to drop everything and play. It’s cute and fun, but more as a curiosity than a game to keep coming back to.

To say that I'm in love with LOVE 3 would be an understatement. Anyone who wants an incredible collection of platforming stages without the bells and whistles should look no further. This game is a gift to the genre.

I absolutely adored the art style and the way it mashes artistic paintings to become its own unique thing, instead of simply a reference or shorthand. The humor is probably the best writing I’ve experienced all year, but in true European fashion, it’s dark, dry, and very self-referential at times. While it does have a few shortcomings, including the way in which the game has been translated to Switch and its slow movement speed, The Procession to Calvary was a delight the entire time I played it. If you are a fan of point-and-click games or just want a short and funny experience, I’d recommend this game over any Renaissance art gallery.

I came into Pocket Dungeon with high hopes. I am one of the few people who adores Wario’s Woods. What I found in the final package was something bigger and bolder than I anticipated. You might be able to draw a dotted line back to the retro puzzler, but at the end of the day, Yacht Club and Vine just went and took the idea and ethos of Shovel Knight and paired it with the puzzle style that would make for the deepest experience. This isn’t a square peg fitting into a round hole like some puzzle game spin-offs. Instead, Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon just feels like an extension of the original game. Much like the inspiration, it’s challenging, but it’s also forgiving enough to not dissuade frustrated players. I didn’t think I’d see the day when someone did Wario’s Woods as a conceptual idea justice, but dang, they did it. Pocket Dungeon is incredible.

I feel that many racers start on a high and the more you play, the less fun the game becomes due to its repetitive nature. I don’t feel this at all with Super Impossible Road. It is a game that I will always say, “just one more race” and open when a friend is over. The better you become at finding those shortcuts and taking those leaps of faith off the track - and succeeding - the more fun you’ll be having with the tight controls in this action-packed, crazy, and striking space racer.