Prinny Presents NIS Classics Volume 1: Phantom Brave / Soul Nomad is a compilation that brings back two tactical RPGs from the 2000s that deserved to be presented to a wider audience. Unfortunately there was little effort in treating these two games to a more modern format in order to make them more appealing to today's audience, and even though both remain fun and captivating for the players who are familiar with them, there's no additional value to gain from this rather expensive set.

Kill It With Fire has a very fun and absurd concept which creates high expectations at first. Unfortunately its performance issues and repetitive nature quickly become too large to ignore. An unstable framerate, a poor resolution when played on the Nintendo Switch screen, constricting elements, and uninteresting goals make this a passable effort that could have been a lot more fun if its concept was better executed and technical flaws had been corrected.

Everybody 1-2 Switch! is the follow-up to launch title 1-2 Switch!, and as a party game that intends to gather players around its minigames, it's certainly ambitious and casts a wide net, with the possibility to use a smartphone as a controller on several minigames and the staggering capacity to handle one hundred players at once in some of its minigames. Unfortunately the way they are implemented is anything but simple and practical, and the higher the number of players involved, the more cumbersome the experience becomes. With a narrow appeal and quick lifespan, Everybody 1-2 Switch! falls behind several of its peers.

While its visual environment might impress at first, the gameplay is rather limited due to the lack of single player options and absence of enough players to allow for a varied online experience, not to mention that the performance on the Nintendo Switch is far from stellar and the controller input lag can make things more frustrating. All in all, Override 2: Super Mech League lost a good chance to make a name for itself.

There are plenty of game modes and the visual component is very close to a real poker game. At the same time, the required internet connection makes this a much less convenient handheld experience on the Nintendo Switch, and it's difficult to understand why the visuals are so downgraded when compared to a television screen, but crossplatform play between different formats is a point in its favour.

Fight Crab is...exactly what the name says, a fighting game where the characters are crustaceans, and as crustaceans they will use their pincers, as well as some unexpected weapons that most people would not associated with crabs. Once players pass the game's hilarious and absurd concept, it becomes clear some aspects about Fight Crab need improvement, including its controls, the opponents' AI and the graphics. With all that said, those looking for quick, absurd-ridden fun will find something here to keep them entertained.

Due to some frustrating issues with the control system, unaddressed technical flaws, and an overall sense of repetitiveness that starts taking over all too early in the game, Bugsnax leaves the impression it could have made a much larger splash but as it is, this adventure/exploration game doesn't quite stand up to its peers.

Performing bold moves is always great but the camera needs improving to prevent some frustrating moments, whereas the mechanic to execute some of the most complex tricks is rather questionable. Regardless of that, SkateBIRD is a fun, simple game, and one that will absolutely make fans happy.

While Ayo's level design and presentation of mechanics are indeed competent, and its visual world looks quite attractive, the game's controls fall way behind expectations. Due to a poor execution, it's often quite difficult for the game to translate player's inputs into actions, and as such it's difficult to recommend Ayo the Clown to a child who's just discovering video games.

The lack of creative freedom and imposition of constricting rules when it comes to key decisions, as well as its short lifespan and slow pace, make The Unexpected Quest a lackluster game, whose lack of touchscreen controls further contribute to aggravate.

It's a simple game based on a concept that's certain to lead to frantic gameplay, but after a few minutes it becomes clear that this is not a game to hold on to for very long. Its level of challenge and overall difficulty were implemented thinking of quick, brief bouts of gaming, and this includes the local coop multiplayer mode. Also, for a game that emphasizes colours, there are no alternatives for people who might suffer from a certain degree of colourblindness.

Picklock is a very simple game, and there's nothing wrong with that. The problem, however, is that other than a memorable jazz-heavy soundtrack, there's very little where Picklock excels. Its gameplay experience, while not a complete failure, is hindered by camera errors, occasional bugs, and not very intuitive controls, as well as by a poor translation job. There are plenty of examples of simple games that provide very fun experiences but alas, Picklock does not do enough to reach that threshold.

Demon's Rise: War for the Deep on the Nintendo Switch does some things right, namely its combat system and the variety of its character classes, which boost the game's lifespan. Nonetheless, there's a lot here that needed improvement, specifically its poor and uninspiring visual environment, exceedingly long loading times and an irrelevant plot, which mean that Demon's Rise ends up falling below its counterparts.

The concept is interesting, and basing the game on wheelchair basketball is very welcome, as adapted sports are still underrepresented in gaming. As a tech demo, it works reasonably well, but the experience quickly starts to wear out on the player's wrists, and some of the control mechanics demand a level of precision that soon becomes frustrating. The game's visual environment feels uninspired too, which is unusual from a Nintendo production. Given its relatively low sales price, Drag x Drive should be seen as a quick experience, but it could have done something more interesting than what's on display in this work.

Many of its ideas are commendable, with emphasis on the growing cast of playable characters, making the plot more interesting to explore with new characters at the player's disposal. However the combat, which there is a lot of, is harmed by an overall sense of boredom and repetitiveness which end up harming the player's motivation. The level design could use improvements as well, as the dungeons have little in terms of originality and don't manage to captivate the player to keep going. There was a lot of potential to explore in Dusk Diver 2 but as it is, it feels like a half-effort towards something that can be much more interesting.

Poison Control could have gone for a more ambitious production. Its plot, fun dialogues, and marvelous looking cutscenes demonstrate that there was some potential for that. However its repetitive gameplay, a level of challenge that's hardly enticing, and a game world that looks mostly subpar mean that Poison Control falls into a generic and unremarkable territory that will fail to impress.

Ashwalkers is based on an interesting post-apocalyptic theme and features a wide profusion of possible endings to its plot. Nevertheless and despite its good intentions, the game suffers from too many technical issues, a control response that's subpar at best, and a lack of connection between the game mechanics and the experience, where players end up feeling that what's promised in terms of bonding with the characters and required emotional investment doesn't really pay off.

Apparition draws inspiration from some of the most successful horror-themed games of the last decade and it certainly succeeds at inspiring fear and dread, causing chills down the player's spine in sheer terror that the game's wretched ghosts are right around the corner. Unfortunately Apparition's limitations when it comes to its narrow and short experience, excessive repetition and unambitious visual environment make its appeal very limited to a niche of horror games fans and not much more.

Five Dates is an experience that assumes the shape of an interactive movie based on the player's choices and its background, directly related to the restrictions imposed as a response to the ongoing global pandemic, will certainly resonate with many players. The acting involved is indeed worthy of praise and grants the game a good dose of realism but the experience quickly runs out of appeal and the game's simplistic goal of finding a life partner is not enough to make this a remarkable work.

This port of Dragon Star Vanir for the Nintendo Switch includes all the game's DLC, a good point to begin with. Its theme and combat system also score well with the game. Not all works as good as expected, though: the game has too many technical issues and performance flaws that can render the experience a real ordeal, not to mention its rather dull dungeon exploration. In the end, there's a feeling of lost opportunities to make a much better game that were wasted in this conversion.

For good and for bad, there's something original and disturbing about Infini and its choice of art style to convey its message. Unfortunately the game ends up relying too much on its aesthetics and less on its gameplay (which is competent enough) to deliver a memorable experience and often many players will find themselves completely bewildered by what's on the screen. The result is a bit of a problem: some players will undoubtedly see a kind of masterpiece, albeit unsettling, while others will simply see a game that uses its looks for shock value but not much more.

It's clear that Ary and the Secret of Seasons has very good ideas and a concept behind it that took a lot of work. At the same time, the game suffers from obvious technical issues that keep it from achieving its full potential. While the audio component might be a bliss, the game's excessively long and frequent loading times, its inconsistent visual performance and an unbalanced pace will make the players feel like their experience is being harmed or disrupted, which is a clear loss for a game that had a lot of elements that could deliver a memorable, exquisite gameplay.

Jump Force Deluxe Edition arrives on the Nintendo Switch with some concessions regarding its technical aspects and if the character roster and special moves will certainly appeal to the fans of the series that are portrayed here, the rest of the audience will mostly feel that the game's shortcomings regarding its visual performance and rather lacklustre combat is not enough to stand out from its peers.

This delivery brings a lot of freedom when it comes to customization, as well as a large pool of elements to choose from. Nevertheless, the game's interface, accessibility and lack of assistance to make players feel at ease are strong impediments to make this a more enjoyable, fluid and creative experience. The principle of RPG Maker MV is right, but it needs a much better adaptation to a console format.

Fighting Force Collection has the merit of bringing two games of the late 1990s in a way that’s as close to the original experience as possible. Unfortunately, there is little else going for it. If the first game can still provide some shallow but fun beat’em up action, the second game falls flat due to terrible camera and controls, featureless characters, and a failure at attempting to deliver a stealth action experience. Nostalgia has its value, but the Fighting Force games should rather have been remade instead of ported to this generation.

With its relaxed pace, simple and accessible controls, and non-competitive approach, The Ramp rewards fancy tricks and moves but doesn't try to reach much higher grounds, as the basis of its experience is one of simple fun. Even though it does its job well, The Ramp could certainly be more ambitious and feature more moves, not to mention more content to explore. As it is, The Ramp feels more like a bigger practice mode, appealing to players specifically looking for something along those lines but nothing more.

Empire of Sin is ambitious and features a blending of genres and ideas that can be described as very interesting. Unfortunately the way they come together and work as a game is an utter disappointment at best, and frustrating at worst. The poor visual performance could still be acceptable if the other components displayed more qualities, but a mediocre AI, some unsolved technical issues - even after several updates - and the redundancy of one of its major dimensions make Empire of Sin a passable and uninteresting effort.

AEW: Fight Forever marks the arrival of a new name on console wrestling games but other than a rather competent and fun career mode, this production suffers from several flaws that need to be corrected if AEW is going to make a name for itself on wrestling video games. The unexplainable absence of popular match types and varieties, the lack of several high profile wrestlers, a below par visual display and a high sales price, coupled with many DLC packages that should have been included, make AEW: Fight Forever a game that requires considerable improvements that need to be implemented before the next incarnation.