PJ O'Reilly

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Aug 8, 2025

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Server issues at launch aside, and with the loss of cross-play noted, Madden 26 is a very solid port of one of the best outings for this franchise in recent memory. Yes, you'll need to get used to a drop in the frame rate to 40fps on Switch 2, but it's a reasonable downgrade in order to get this type of game running as well as it does on a portable machine. It really is a very close match in all other ways to other consoles.For newcomers, this is one of the best Madden games I've played in terms of teaching you the ropes, and for the returning hardcore, the improvements on the pitch, and with regards to presentation, should impress where its predecessor felt a bit lacking.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Jul 25, 2025

Critic80/100

Agreement—

WWE 2K25 powerbombs onto Switch 2 in an excellent port that holds its own against the likes of the PS5 version, and keeps the action smooth and silky, even when you start piling on the wrestlers in a Royal Rumble.With great looks, best-in-class core mechanics, a ton of online, local, and solo modes, and an enormous roster, this one will keep all you Switch 2 wrasslin' fans busy for a good long time. Intergender matches, improved MyRise and Showcase, in-depth tutorials, and the return of chain wrestling are all just icing on top.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Jul 23, 2025

Critic90/100

Agreement—

Super Mario Party Jamboree - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV gives an already fantastic party game a huge shot in the arm, with a bunch of brilliant Mouse Mode and mic-based games that also allow you to see your big silly face as you play. It's all very knockabout, very easy to use, and very easy to enjoy.With a huge base game packing seven boards and a whole bunch of modes, and the Switch 2's new tech adding to the fun in meaningful ways, this is a thoroughly delightful and totally family-friendly way to party Mushroom Kingdom-style.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Jun 25, 2025

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Ruffy and the Riverside is an enjoyable return to the colourful 3D platforming romps of the late 1990s, and it's one that brings its own clever idea to the table, rather than just simply copy/pasting everyone else's homework. With nods to Mario, Zelda, Crash Bandicoot and more, levels jam-packed full of fun puzzles and the easy, breezy nature of Ruffy's copy-pasting abilities at the heart of it all, this is one of the better odes to this sort of caper that I've played and, performance issues aside, a very impressive debut to boot.

Push Square

PJ O'Reilly·May 19, 2025

Critic80/100

Agreement—

RoadCraft takes the intricate off-road fun of MudRunner and SnowRunner, and melds it with involving micro-management and building aspects, resulting in a fantastic experience that's the dev's best vehicle sim to date. With eight big maps full of ruined environs and treacherous conditions to contend with, a huge array of complex vehicles to master, and co-op play to maximise the fun of it all, this is a big old blast of a thing, a huge sandbox that's got excitement, depth, and challenge in spades.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·May 14, 2025

Critic90/100

Agreement—

Capcom Fighting Collection 2 brings an incredibly strong roster of classic arcade fighters to Nintendo Switch in one of the best compendiums of its work to date. This is top-notch fare, a slew of incredible games, some appearing for the first time since their original releases, replete with rollback netcode for online play, tons of unlockables, Japanese versions of all eight titles, and modern training modes to catch you up to speed. With both Power Stones, an unbeatable Capcom vs SNK double bill and Project Justice leading the charge, there's really very little to complain about here. Excellent stuff.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Mar 18, 2025

Critic100/100

Agreement—

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is an expertly crafted revamp that gives us all the bells and whistles we could wish for in terms of graphical upgrades. However, it's actually Monolith Soft's attention to clever gameplay revisions that impresses most here. This is X streamlined and modernised, carefully recast and reset in order to play better than ever. Additional characters, a new ending, and all that snazzy stuff is all well and good, and fans will be excited by the fresh revelations that occur, but it's in how everything flows so much better now that we reckon the hardcore will find themselves most impressed. And for newcomers a recommendation is even easier; this is up there with the all-time great sci-fi RPGs and an absolute must-play.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Feb 6, 2025

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Turbo Overkill is one of our favourite boomer shooters, modern or otherwise. Johnny Turbo's chainsaw-sliding, wall-running and grappling combine with slo-mo silliness to provide a whole lot of punchy murderizing that's a joy to get down and dirty with. Paradise is a glorious playground, a combat puzzle box packed full of amazingly explodey mutants, and the whole thing looks and sounds fantastic in both docked and handheld. If it wasn't for that 30fps cap and a current lack of gyro support, we'd call this the best boomer shooter on Switch so fast you'd think we'd just activated our very own version of Turbo Time.

Pure Xbox

PJ O'Reilly·Feb 3, 2025

Critic90/100

Agreement—

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is an epic RPG in every sense. This is a big, brutal world that works according to deep rules and mechanics that it's never shy about enforcing.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Dec 12, 2024

Critic60/100

Agreement—

The Thing: Remastered is another splendid remaster from Nightdive. There's absolutely no issue with the enhancements, control tweaks, and other work that's been done here; it's the game itself, unfortunately, that for well over half of its running time leaves much to be desired. A good start, one that digs into the paranoia and fear of the classic movie with a handful of unique mechanics, is all too soon wasted as tension gives way to sloppy gunfights that aren't fun, no matter how smooth they now play or nice they look. It's certainly still a curiosity, and fans of the movie or returning players will enjoy the nostalgia. But beyond that, it doesn't warrant a hearty recommendation.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Nov 4, 2024

Critic90/100

Agreement—

Mario & Luigi: Brothership takes this long-running RPG series to new heights in a high-seas adventure that's packed full of top-notch combat, inventive variety, a positive and thoughtful story, and lots signature comedy from the dynamic duo themselves. This is a big game, packed full of surprises and fun, and the all-new Battle Plug system, alongside lots of flashy specials, a fittingly emotive art-style, and a world that brimming with puzzles and challenges, make for a must-play in our book.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Oct 30, 2024

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Hatch Tales, as late as it is in arriving, has ended up really surprising us. This is a delightful retro platformer, full of challenge and focus, that gives you a whole bunch of fun ways to play. Even with just the core campaign, with its smart level design and laser-like focus on doing what it's doing very well, we'd have been satisfied, but the addition of retro Chick Wiggle and Mutant Mudds modes, alongside the online creation offerings, make for a very tidy package indeed, thank you very much.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Oct 15, 2024

Critic90/100

Agreement—

Super Mario Party Jamboree is a fantastic new entry in the franchise that focuses on improving the core mechanics and experience, making for a more involving board game in the process, whilst also polishing everything to a slick sheen. Online aspects and modern stuff like the game's battle pass and collectibles are woven in smoothly, and the various new modes all have their place in a package that also delivers the goods in terms of minigame quality. Jamboree is the best Mario Party to date, so best make sure you've got your invite sorted.

Pure Xbox

PJ O'Reilly·Oct 11, 2024

Critic100/100

Agreement—

Metaphor: ReFantazio is the team behind the best of the Persona series at the very top of their game. We were a little concerned we were in for a quick reskin of Joker's past glories, if we're being fully honest (we'd probably still have gobbled that up, let's face it), but what we've actually ended up with is a monumental JRPG. This is a coming together of everything that's been learned, honed and perfected over the years, presented through a phenomenal core narrative that's full of emotion and hope, amazing characters, some of the most warped enemy designs we've ever seen, and enough slick combat and style to do us until they make the next one. They better be making the next one already.

Pure Xbox

PJ O'Reilly·Oct 2, 2024

Critic50/100

Agreement—

Starfield: Shattered Space is a big disappointment in almost every way. We loved the base game, for all its flaws, and we were willing this to be the big, exciting DLC drop that'd make us love it all over again. However, what we've got here is a very average narrative expansion that fails to add any big choices, upgrades, new enemies, biomes, loot or anything that could potentially excite or draw in new players. It's buggy, janky, badly acted in places, and there are a myriad of bugs and performance issues to be ironed out. What a missed opportunity.