This is an enjoyable, thought-provoking, and stylish RPG that stands on the shoulders of the developer’s previous efforts. Pacing issues and a lack of variety hold it back from being truly great, but Oninaki is absolutely worth a playthrough, if you’re not averse to the solemn subject matter. The stellar combat feels almost like hack-and-slash, and the overall story compels you through the experience. If this is the reincarnation of Tokyo RPG Factory, they’ve come back less a factory and more an artisan.

Quench is at its best when you’re working your way through the various puzzles and taking in the sweet, enjoyable scenery. The worst parts show themselves when you move through that scenery, though. The technical aspects sorely drag it down despite some ingenuity in the puzzles and a wealth of charm.

Even though Hue struggles to hold up as a puzzle game due to its simple but tedious tasks, I can’t bring myself to say I really hated the experience. The game commits so fully to its art style with strong, screen-filling colors that pop against each other that I wanted to keep playing to see more of it. I do wish that this art style had been applied to a game that’s less frustrating overall, but despite the disappointing puzzles I’m still pretty happy with the time I spent in Hue’s bright, bold environment.

Mutant Year Zero is yet another example of the ongoing debate between portability and performance. The graphical difference between the Switch and PC versions can’t be understated; the lack of detail has a marked impact on the overall experience. Having said that, the amount of time you could easily sink into this amazing tactical-RPG could be significant, and so maybe the graphical sacrifice is worth being able to play on-the-go. While Mutant Year Zero may be best played on its original platform, I would still recommend this version to anyone wanting to play on Switch.

With the recent discourse about violence in video games, the launch of Friday the 13th: The Game comes at an inopportune time. It certainly earns its mature rating, with a level of gore and violence that would make most people sick to their stomach, but for fans of the horror genre, this is their bread and butter. The experience of being Jason Vorhees is captured perfectly, and all of the feelings of panic and dread are still felt even after hours of playing. If you enjoy being scared out of your pants on a consistent basis, be prepared to scream.

While it can be frustrating to just barely overjump something or miss hitting an enemy while you’re racing through, this only encourages players to retry for a better score. The game’s difficulty is perfectly balanced for either jumping from level to level to progress through the story, or to step it up a notch and go for a perfect score on every world. At the time of writing, we were not able to use the online leaderboards, but once the game is released it should step up the competitiveness and require players to think strategically about their moves to rack up level bonus on top of their time score.

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.

Is Turok 2 better than Dinosaur Hunter? I don’t know if I’d call it better, but it’s certainly different. Personally, I prefer the original game but I appreciate how different this sequel is, even if I’m not a huge fan of every single point of divergence. Certainly, the level design leaves something to be desired, and while Turok wields a healthy armament by game’s end, there’s a cruel practicality to virtually every weapon. The Cerebral Bore is great, but it’s a one-enemy gun. Dinosaur Hunter had the Particle Accelerator and Fusion Cannon, both of which wiped out entire landscapes of enemies. This may be a consideration for Turok 2’s more closed, corridor-heavy environments, which is another thing I don’t love about it. However, the enemy designs and overall uniqueness of the environments really is special.

I believe 505 Games did an excellent job porting Terraria to the Switch and made the most of the buttons, triggers, and joysticks at their disposal. but after so many hours of playing with mouse and keyboard, it is hard to adjust. Though, being able to play Terraria from the comfort of my bed may be worth the effort.

Not much time is required to get through the levels since each level only takes a few minutes to complete and there are not many. The replayability comes from the difficulty spike with each new world, and the fact that there are plenty of items and abilities that can be unlocked and adjusted for each new run through. Along with this the co-op aspect makes it a very enjoyable game to spend an hour or two playing with friends.

PictoQuest is an endearing Picross-style RPG that might not offer the depth and breadth of similar Picross games, but it makes up for its simplicity with an adorable presentation and smartly-implemented RPG ideas. In some respects, it doesn’t go all that far, but being based around what I’d term as a relaxing puzzle game, it doesn’t really have to.

Pix the Cat really works on the Switch platform. It’s a quick pick-up-and-play game that will run you five minutes per attempt, which is perfect for a handheld. It looks great on the big screen too, but a word of warning: the game suffers from the Switch’s lack of a compelling D-Pad. You can play the early stages with an analog stick or the unreliable D-Pad on the Switch Pro Controller, but before long you will need to make lightning quick directional decisions that are slightly better with the Joy-Con’s directional buttons. It’s not a major problem, but it’s not great. If you’re okay with that one potential drawback, it’d be hard not to recommend Pix the Cat for anyone who loves a good high score chase.

Subdivision Infinity DX is a functional 3D Space Shooter that handles great but does absolutely nothing to define itself. It serves as yet another example of a game that in the mobile space exhibits above average effort, yet falls firmly into the realm of mediocrity when ported to a full console. There is certainly some fun to be had here, but it is all fun that has been done better by other 3D space shooters on Switch.

The Switch port of Doom 3 is faithful, and the game is a blast. While it may begin to wear thin after you kill your hundredth fire-throwing imp, there’s something incredibly rewarding about the gunplay in the Doom series. Doom 3 might not have been received as warmly as the beloved reboot that we got in 2016, but it deserves its place in history and would be a fine addition to any Switch library.

Whether it’s because I can play it untethered from the television or how it eschews the alien threat for a relatively more grounded espionage take on the genre, I found the break-up between on-the-ground missions and reconnaissance activities fresh if uneven, and the removal of dice rolls for hit rate removes obfuscation that for me made combat a much more rewarding endeavor. If you’re someone like me who liked Mario + Rabbids but wished there was more depth or don’t particularly love sci-fi themes, Phantom Doctrine is a worthy alternative.

Hamsterdam has its charms and definitely some potential. The character designs are fun and Pimm’s stylish hamster-fu feels satisfying to use, but there’s just not enough variety to hold a player’s attention for more than maybe an hour. Dressing Pimm up in goofy hats or a Bruce Lee tracksuit adds a little spice, but the repetitive gameplay will likely catch up to you all the same. I think the developers of Hamsterdam are on the right track, and I look forward to any future games they make using lessons learned from this one, but I cannot see myself returning to the streets of Hamsterdam any time soon.

Wolfenstein Youngblood takes everything you know about the series and turns it on its head. Unfortunately the result is something that many fans of the series weren’t asking for. Instead of an over-the-top story filled with addictingly fun gameplay, we got a diluted adventure filled with punishing enemies that require grinding to overcome. Add in microtransactions, no way to communicate, and muddy graphics and you’re better off passing this one by.

I admire Solo: Islands of the Heart for its ambition, but virtually every aspect of the game falls short of the noble goals of making an introspective puzzle game centered on love and relationships. The narrative is limited and mildly antagonistic, the block puzzle gameplay transforms into a disaster once the magic staff is introduced, and the serenity of the islands and graphics are dragged down by a middling port to Switch. If you really want someone to question your decisions on love, go see a therapist. This isn’t the game for that.

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

A fresh graphical look makes the Picross experience more interesting but the anime tie-in isn't newbie friendly.

Even if you’ve played these games before, I’d say this collection is absolutely worth picking up. It’s wonderful to have them all on Switch since they were spread between three platforms originally (3DS, Wii U, Steam), and the Mighty Switch Force games are just plain fun and full of personality. I would like to have seen a collection of concept art a la the SNK and Street Fighter collections because Digital Eclipse has spoiled me forever with that kind of bonus content, but that doesn’t take away from the experience, and I will never, ever get sick of kicking that ugly baby.

Red Faction Guerrilla’s primary hook, its physics-based destruction, has aged remarkably well. It is still to this day incredibly fun to take out the support of a building and watch it tumble to the ground. Regrettably, the game that surrounds this mechanic is a shallow and repetitive misunderstanding of open-world design. Add to this the less than impressive performance levels of the Switch version and you’re left with a great idea that just doesn’t have the design to support it. Much like the result of its primary game mechanic, Red Faction Guerrilla crumbles without the support of more engaging gameplay to surround that mechanic.

Chroma Squad certainly does a solid job of providing an experience that invokes pleasant memories of days past. After several hours of playtime I found myself watching old episodes of the original Power Rangers on Netflix. Only three days later and my kids are halfway through season one, eagerly waiting for the introduction of the Green Ranger. While the tactical-based combat provides a decent reason for younger fans to try out Chroma Squad, it’s abundantly clear which audience is going to appreciate this game the most.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses is great in a lot of respects. The game flies by with its various mechanics, making for a highly entertaining adventure. That being said, I can't shake off the feeling that the final acts in the various routes could've been better. When I spent 60 hours on singular route, only to be greeted with a bummer of an ending, it stung a lot. Combining the crapshoot of your ending with a few technical problems drags the whole game down. The actual character arcs, complete with fully voiced interactions, do a great job of accounting for the limitations, thankfully. Three Houses is certainly worth seeing through, but it is way more about the journey than the end.

Whether you want to play single games against friends, compete in online leagues, or sit back and binge a season by yourself offline, Super Mega Baseball 2 delivers in spades. This is a Triple Crown-winning batter, a multiple Cy Young-winning pitcher, and a first-ballot Hall of Famer all wrapped into one. This is the greatest baseball game I have ever played.

As someone who is primarily a casual fighting game fan, Fantasy Strike scratches an itch in a different way than Street Fighters and the like do. The simplicity of the control inputs puts it more in the space in between, almost like a less platforming-focused Smash Bros. The overall approachability makes it a great choice for less experienced fighters, but beneath the sheen of less combos and button inputs still lies a deep game with tense strategy, complete with a variety of ways to play it both online and off.

For a second attempt, Area 35 has done a solid if unspectacular job with Tiny Metal: Full Metal Rumble. They’ve addressed a few complaints about the game, especially in handheld mode for me, which is pretty impressive for a year and a half turnaround between games. If the initial load and maps themselves weren’t so long as to make it a chore to play in bursts, this could be an all timer. It’s not a general, but sometimes you need staff sergeants.

Hyperlight Ultimate is still a great game, and now that it’s on a modern console you should definitely play it.