Cattails lives up to the high concept elevator pitch. This is really Stardew Valley but with cats, and that’s an adorable and cute experience. It might not have the longevity of that and other farming games, but it has more heart than the majority of those games. This is a chill romp through a relaxing world that is best experienced by someone who just wants to take their time and smell the catnip.

For those looking for a challenging and different take on both stealth and strategy games, Party Hard is absolutely worth a look. For those without patience or those wanting more of an action title, you might want to decline this party invite.

I’m not usually one for racing games, but Horizon Chase Turbo balances arcade gameplay with just enough strategery to keep me involved and at the edge of my seat most of the time. Very often, upon eeking out a first-place victory on a difficult course, I would cheer and hold my fist aloft, confusing our dog. This is not something I usually do with racing games. I kind of wish online multiplayer was in here (it does have persistent global and friend leaderboards), but it’s a small price to pay for this lovely package. Horizon Chase Turbo was a very pleasant surprise--go play it.

This War of Mine does a fantastic job of providing a thought-provoking experience through strategic thinking and tough decision making. As you begin to learn more about the systems with each passing day, it’s easy not to notice real-world minutes turn into hours. I found myself restarting a campaign quite often after discovering a new strategy and my enjoyment increased each time. This is definitely one of those games that if you play late at night, you might just find yourself trading in some sleep to get through just one more day.

Nika is a fun character and all the other characters in her world are just as lively. The visuals and characters bring the world to life and create a unique place to play the game. Unfortunately, the puzzle mechanics do not match the level of world building.

With the exception of the missing online play, Civ VI is - for better or worse - a faithful and complete port of the PC experience. It’s disappointing to be stuck primarily playing with AI but there’s a lot to love about Civ VI’s single player experience, and playing on Switch turns out to be a solid way to experience the rise and fall of entire civilizations.

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.

It’s a very strange feeling singing the praises of a modernization of a classic game over its source material. I’m the guy who complained that Final Fantasy Origins went too far by showing the equipment strength values. Even an old guy like me who was the target age demographic when Pokémon made its debut can admit that Let’s Go does an exemplary job of implementing modern improvements while still maintaining its strong sense of nostalgia. Up until this point, Pokémon Yellow has perhaps been my favorite of the franchise, but now I’m not sure I’ll need to search my house for batteries anymore.

In the end, while I do see a number of downsides and flaws with Mercenaries Wings, it’s still an enjoyable game. It just requires some polish to go from good to great. Its easy mode is perfect for those looking to enjoy the story or use it to get into strategy RPGs and the “normal” mode is great for anyone looking for a serious challenge. So, I’d recommend at the very least consider giving it a go if strategy RPGs are right up your ally.

Unfortunately, it’s just less of what came before it. It shares so much with Sky Force Reloaded that I didn't mind going back into it. In some ways, it was fine to come back to and relive, albeit as a much shorter experience. But why pay the same price when there is a game identical to it in gameplay with more content?

World of Final Fantasy Maxima remains a rather fantastic game. Despite the story not being much to shout about, there is so much to like about the journey. The interactions between characters as well as the gameplay are incredibly well crafted. Maxima's presentation is halfway there between the higher-end versions and the PS Vita release. The textures aren't as flat as on Vita, but there is some blurriness to be seen. Overall though, this is one of the better full-blown RPGs on the system, with a no-nonsense approach that kept me coming back.

Trailblazers is has well defined visuals and plays great, with an interesting mechanic that unfortunately doesn’t support the weight of a full game. Had the paint mechanic been merely one element in a grander design, things may have turned out differently. As it is, Trailblazers stands as a great proof of concept for what may hopefully evolve into a deeper title in later releases down the road.

Overall, Circle of Sumo is a simplistic and uninspired multiplayer experience. A lack of single-player content means the game is only worth your time if you know you are able to get one or more people to join in whenever you want to play, and even then I wouldn’t recommend it. There are so many other better multiplayer games on the Switch that also have a decent amount of solo content. I did like the fact that you can unlock a number of cool sumo wrestling venues, but that’s one of the only bright spots here. Circle of Sumo doesn’t last more than a few minutes in the ring.

Since the base game is so in-depth, I wouldn’t even feel a need to buy the DLC content if I didn’t have to. All the DLC provides is new themes and slightly varied scenarios, so I do think this game would be a better value without it. Project Highrise is here for those craving the deepest management simulator the Switch has to offer, but if you’re not already a fan of the genre, I wouldn’t recommend it.

The Bug Butcher is a fun Pang-style romp that works in bursts or in longer play sessions—I found it a good game to play while catching up on TV shows. If you like this arcade game style, The Bug Butcher should definitely be on your radar.

Based on the developer name I went in assuming the writing would include top notch humor and I wasn’t disappointed. The dialogue between Flux and Juicebox is well written and a wonderful reward for completing tasks. As long as you don’t mind the slower pace and simplistic combat, Crashlands is a fun way to help a space trucker reach retirement.

Mother Russia Bleeds is an unapologetically offensive but well-executed brawler that on its face, only a mother could love. If you enjoy the violent or obscene, aren’t squeamish, and are looking to bust skulls with reckless abandon, it’s one of the better playing and looking offerings on Switch today.

It’s not a revelation for the Lego games, but it’s not trying to be. The core is the great use of DC characters placed in a fairly traditional Lego game. It’s a safe purchase. If you’ve played other Lego games, you probably know what you’re getting yourself into. A handful of flaws hold it back from being one of the “greats,” but I walked away impressed overall. It’s over-the-top, a little wacky, and it certainly has respect for the IP.

Valiant Hearts is a game that I like more in theory than execution. I give Ubisoft Montpellier a lot of credit for taking a level-headed look at a period of history that usually gets overshadowed, but the gameplay didn’t get nearly as much attention as the aesthetics. If the puzzles had been more unique or interesting they could’ve propped up the story instead of dragging it down to mediocrity. Instead Valiant Heart turns one of the greatest conflicts in human history into a dull, repetitive chore.

When Pinstripe focuses on emotional storytelling and rich atmosphere, it presents a haunting-yet-beautiful adventure game that’s worth playing. But when it tries to artificially pad its length with backtracking, that’s when the game begins to drag itself down. With a unique setting and memorable characters, Pinstripe is an extremely short but unforgettable experience that will continue to linger in your mind long after it’s over.

Despite the issues I have with it, Grim Fandango is a fantastic adventure game full of the snappy, witty charm that LucasArts is known for, complete with a stellar atmosphere and great cast of characters. It could have used a couple of enhancements, but Grim Fandango Remastered is a fine port of Manny Calavera’s escapades.

Polished, fun and incredibly weird at times, Taiko no Tatsujin is nothing short of a blast to play on the Switch. The translation isn’t great and the motion controls don’t quite work, but everything else here is a pure delight. The core gameplay is simple yet addicting, and the party games make this a title you can enjoy with just about anyone.

If you really long for those days of playing Street Fighter II and Metal Slug while you wait for your Book It group’s pizza to come out, you might want to give Eternum EX a look. I feel like it needs a two-player mode to keep things fresh because otherwise it runs out of steam pretty quickly.

Full Metal Furies works best as a local multiplayer game, but the developer makes a solid attempt at serving more common play styles by offering up a suitable online experience and a competent single-player alternative. This game is a much harder sell if you’re only ever going to play it by yourself, but it’s easy one if you have a few friends that want to mess around in a bright and lovely world with cute characters and a solid brawler with some light RPG upgrades.

Road Redemption is punctuated by moments of absolute chaos: cars flying through the air and crushing bikes beneath them or using your attacks to smash one rider into another, sending them both flying off a bridge. The game finds a way to capture my attention, but it isn’t polished enough to hold it. In trying to combine a variety of genres, Road Redemption ends up simply being a master of none.

At a base level, what is present in Exorder is good. However, some frustrations take away from what could be an otherwise pretty good or even great game. SRPGs should be about planning out your next move and not figuring out how to fix your unit going to the wrong place because of the twitchy “snap” movement as you pressed A. If you are a fan of SRPGs and you have some patience to work around these shortcomings, then this might be a good pick-up for you, otherwise you may want to find one of the better titles on the eShop.

Overall, the design of Super Hyperactive Ninja is fun and engaging, but I think that more could have been done with the caffeine theme to make it feel less generic. The music is good and though the gameplay can be frustrating, people who love a challenge with find Super Hyperactive Ninja to be worth their time.

I had a lot of fun playing My Hero One’s Justice, but all of that fun came from the charm of seeing the characters I love on screen. I was already satisfied being able to take down opponents online with a Detroit Smash, but I probably would’ve been disappointed with it if I hadn’t spent my summer watching the the anime and eventually starting to catch up with the manga. My Hero One’s Justice is all about style over substance. If you aren’t already attached to the students of U.A., this game probably won’t be changing that any time soon.