PJ O'Reilly

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Oct 19, 2020

Critic40/100

Agreement—

Cloudpunk on Switch is a hugely disappointing port that struggles technically and ultimately fails to deliver the game in a satisfactory manner on Nintendo's hybrid platform. Merge Games have made drastic cuts all over, with a massively reduced draw-distance sucking much of the life out of Nivalis, volumetric effects missing entirely, pixellation rampant and a framerate that still chugs along in the face of all of these concessions. If you've got a PC capable of playing this one we'd highly recommend you play on that platform as this is an adventure that's well worth experiencing in its original form. This particular version, however, should probably be avoided.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Oct 19, 2020

Critic90/100

Agreement—

ScourgeBringer is a wonderfully slick and addictive roguelite adventure that flings its players headlong into non-stop frenetic combat and never lets up. This is an unapologetically tough game and if you struggle with the constant repetition and death inherent in the roguelite genre you may find it all a little hard to put up with. However, if you're not put off by a challenge, or if you're a Celeste or Dead Cells fan who is craving more, what Flying Oak Games has conjured up with this one is sure to absolutely delight.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Oct 18, 2020

Critic40/100

Agreement—

Zoids Wild: Blast Unleashed is a button-mashy, overly simplistic fighter that's aimed at young kids but doesn't even manage to lift its game enough to satisfy a junior audience on any level outside of very basic fan service. There's a serious lack of modes or variety here, especially for the not-insignificant price tag, and what is included is let down by a lazy story mode and some shockingly simple enemy AI. Serious Zoids fans may derive some fleeting pleasure from seeing their favourite characters battle it out, but, for everyone else, this is a mega-hard sell and a fighter that absolutely fades into insignificance when compared to other examples of its genre.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Oct 17, 2020

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Hardcore Mecha is a superb 2D side-scrolling adventure that marries some spectacularly OTT anime storytelling with explosively satisfying robot combat. There's a surprisingly meaty story here set across eighteen wonderfully varied levels with plenty of depth to RPG elements allowing you to customise your mech's attack and defence capabilities. An unlockable survival mode, online PvP, local multiplayer and mission rankings also add plenty of replayability to proceedings. It's a shame that this Switch port has some framerate issues that can see intense battles stutter, however, if RocketPunch can rectify this with a patch pretty sharpish you can feel free to add a point or two to the score below.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Oct 13, 2020

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Ikenfell is a charming little turn-based tactical RPG that hooks you in quickly with a well-written story and strong cast of characters and keeps you locked in for its duration with a surprisingly complex combat system. There are accessibility options here to suit all levels of player, a good idea considering how tough some of the battles can be along the way, and, overall, this is a heart-warming and unique entry to its genre that comes highly recommended.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Oct 11, 2020

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Let's Sing Queen is a straight-up, no-frills entry in the series that throws you into the legendary super group's awesome back-catalogue of hits across the same selection of modes you'll be accustomed to from previous titles in the series. There are absolutely no surprises here and a definite lack of variety when compared to other offerings in the franchise; however, with thirty (mostly) excellent tracks, accompanied by their highly entertaining original music videos and an official app that turns your mobile phone into an impressively robust mic, this is a solid good time for fans of the titans of rock, karaoke fiends and anyone who just loves to warble along to some classic rock anthems while re-enacting the best bits of Live Aid 1985 in the comfort of their own sitting room.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Oct 4, 2020

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Rivals of Aether is a deep and addictive platform fighter that borrows its base concepts from Super Smash Bros. and then runs off in its own direction, resulting in a surprisingly complex indie alternative to Nintendo's brawling behemoth. There's a fantastic roster of characters here each with their own special moves and unique abilities to dig into, every one of which is wonderfully animated in the game's crisp and clean 16-bit graphical style. Solo and local party play are well served with a bevvy of fun and flexible modes for up to four players and, if the developer can get the currently problematic online aspects of things in order, this all amounts to a game that can stand shoulder to shoulder with Smash or any other platform fighter we've played on Switch thus far.

Pure Xbox

PJ O'Reilly·Oct 3, 2020

Critic90/100

Agreement—

Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time is an excellent modernization of a decades-old franchise that was beginning to really show its age. This is a thoroughly entertaining, slick and addictive addition to the series that funnels players through a meaty campaign packed to bursting point with inventive set-pieces and devilishly devious level design. There's a ton of content to keep fans busy here with time trials, collectible skins, N-Verted mode and side missions galore in a generous package that sees Crash blast and bound his way through what is easily his greatest adventure to date.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Sep 28, 2020

Critic90/100

Agreement—

Rebel Galaxy Outlaw is a wonderfully well-realised and stylish slice of space-sim action set in a satisfyingly seedy galaxy full of untrustworthy scum and illegal activity. The dogfighting action here is wonderfully tight and engaging thanks to the game's clever auto-pursuit mechanic, resulting in explosive ship-to-ship combat that allows you to get up close and personal, tracking your prey without much of the laborious fuss of other efforts in the genre. Juno Markev may not be the most exciting of protagonists and the story doesn't really come to much in the end, but there's a ton of side missions and a dynamic economy and morality system to keep you busy as you slowly unravel the mystery behind who killed her husband and left her for dead. Overall, this one's an easy recommendation for space-sim fans, dogfighting fiends and anyone else looking to indulge their inner space rebel.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Sep 24, 2020

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Rollercoaster Tycoon 3: Complete Edition brings the classic theme park building sim and all of its DLC to Switch in a generously priced package that's hard to knock. A very well-implemented control scheme streamlines the potentially fussy business of managing menus and constructing great big behemoths and, besides a few judders here and there when your park gets crazy busy – a problem inherited from earlier versions of the game – the whole thing runs pretty smoothly in docked and handheld modes while still managing to look good (thanks in part to a HD lick of paint) some sixteen years after its original release. This is one ride Switch sim fans should absolutely consider jumping aboard.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Sep 20, 2020

Critic100/100

Agreement—

Hades is a sublime mix of satisfyingly gritty and flexible combat, a wonderfully vibrant art style and genuinely fun and engaging narrative. Supergiant Games has an excellent track record thus far but this really does feel its finest hour, a rip-roaring rampage through the underworld that's arrived here on Switch in a port that's nigh-on perfect. Even if you're yet to be swayed by the admittedly repetitive ebb and flow of the roguelike genre, we passionately urge you to at least give this one a try; for fans of the genre or anyone even remotely interested, this is one heavenly vision of hell that we highly recommend you sacrifice yourself to.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Sep 12, 2020

Critic70/100

Agreement—

RPG Maker MV on Switch is a stripped back and limited version of its PC counterpart that removes the ability to integrate your own custom elements as well as the use of plugins. There's also very little in the way of help or tutorials and the UI can be clunky and slow to navigate. However, if you can make peace with these limitations, what's here is still a vast, hugely flexible bit of game-making software that provides those with the patience to get to grips with its systems almost limitless potential for RPG-making fun. We can't wait to see what players come up with over the coming weeks and months ahead and the free RPG Maker MV Player means that all Switch owners get to share in the fun and perhaps be inspired to join in down the line. If you're hugely serious about RPG making you may do best to stick to the PC version, but, if you just want to have some creative fun within the limits of the assets provided here, you'll have a blast.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Sep 10, 2020

Critic60/100

Agreement—

Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars is a reasonably fun turn-based strategy affair with an excellent setting and some unique ideas of its own. The streamlined nature of its gameplay makes it pleasingly zippy stuff that's well-suited to strategy newcomers but a lack of real depth, a clunky UI and some dodgy enemy AI means the fun here is, unfortunately, pretty short-lived overall for anyone but genre enthusiasts and vampire fans.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Sep 10, 2020

Critic20/100

Agreement—

Bounty Battle is one of the very worst video games we've ever played. It's got an amazing premise, for sure, and Dark Screen Games' has somehow managed to procure the use of all of these fantastic indie characters, but that's as far as the positivity goes. Everything else about this appalling mess is absolutely broken. Janky menus, awful combat, a shocking framerate, crude animations and poorly explained mechanics leave this one in a hole that's surely impossible to climb out of; a hole that should be boarded up and forgotten about. If you're considering picking this one up on the strength of that enticing indie Smash Bros. premise, trust us, run away.

Pure Xbox

PJ O'Reilly·Sep 6, 2020

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Marvel's Avengers is sprawling and spectacular, messy and bloated all at the same time. There's a surprisingly fun and lengthy campaign here, excellent writing and acting and some of the best superhero brawling in the business. It excels at allowing you to really feel like you're fighting alongside your favourite superheroes as you decimate enemies and destroy scenery, but it loses some of that swagger as it enters its online endgame. There's a half-baked gear system, convoluted menus and questlines and some technical issues that make fighting online feel a little rough around the edges at this point in time. However, with a couple of patches, with the right support down the line in terms of new heroes, costumes, bad guys and story beats, Crystal Dynamics could be on to a winner here. This is a properly solid start and a pleasant surprise.