Digimon Survive is one of the best visual novels to come out so far this year, with plenty of heart and tension to carry you through to the final act. Fans looking for an engaging story with well-written and presented characters that deal with life-and-death situations will enjoy the ride, while players focused on the combat will probably find that the game comes up short. Despite its sluggish, padded start, Digimon Survive is well worth the long wait.
Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is the strangest thing you'll play from Nintendo, bringing with it laughs and creativity in abundance. But even with improvements over the 3DS game, it follows a familiar structure that isn't always enthralling or hilarious.Tomodachi fans will certainly be living the dream with this new entry, but I'm not desperate to keep coming back to my island. A little more variety would've been welcome, but the customisation, and the thought of my cat being best friends with DMC's Dante, will have me peep in every so often for a little pick-me-up.
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age may not prove to be the best Final Fantasy ever made, but it’s still a pretty darned great game in its own right; don’t miss out on this one, it’s certainly worth your time.
Puyo Puyo Champions ably covers the essentials of the series at a great price point. The inclusion of the Fever ruleset provides something of interest for veteran players and the most enthusiastic of new fans created by Puyo Puyo Tetris, and should be at least considered for any party game library. However, the lack of other single or multiplayer modes or a real tutorial make this less of a definitive entry-point or second helping for newly created casual fans than it perhaps could be.
Panty Party is not unenjoyable. Don't be tricked into thinking you'll be ogling barely dressed girls – the panties themselves are the stars here. Bayonetta is an infinitely more alluring proposition in absolutely every way, but Panty Party's hack-and-slash style gameplay isn't without merit and there's a certain bizarre joyfulness to it. It's mostly-harmless, repetitive nonsense that you'll blow through in an afternoon, but we'd be lying if we said it didn't raise a grin or two through its sheer WTF-ness.
For those of you looking for something to fill the void while you wait for the Link’s Awakening remake later this year, The Swords of Ditto: Mormo’s Curse is a solid recommendation. It isn’t perfect, but this is a charming, deep, and entertaining roguelike adventure, and it’s a lot more than meets the eye.
Table Top Racing: World Tour is an adequate enough racer that doesn't ever shoot high enough to delight, stumble low enough to frustrate or simply do anything that leaves a lasting impression on us, be that positive or negative. It runs fine, looks fine, plays fine. It's fine. And that includes the 'fine' Switch owners seemingly have to pay for a game that now costs ten bucks more than it did when it launched three years ago. When the only thing that stands out about a game is its price, that probably says it all.
At the end of the day, you probably already know if you’re going to pick up this game or not; Picross S3 hasn’t changed much from its predecessor and the same will likely be said about the inevitable Picross S4.
While its runtime is noticeably short for a JRPG of this style – especially when compared to the classics it so closely resembles – Shadows of Adam is still a really enjoyable experience while it lasts.
Beyond Enemy Lines: Covert Operations is an Early Access game that's come out of the oven less than half-baked. The good intentions of the developer are clear to see in the open-ended nature of each map and the way you approach each objective in your way by opening locked doors and hacking computers rather than shooting your way into a facility, but none of the mechanics in place ever make these conditions feel reliable or rewarding. It's a purely single-player experience that really needed more time to work out its considerable number of kinks before enlisting on the eShop.
Cytus α is a wonderful take on the rhythm genre with a note layout which is really nicely suited to Nintendo Switch. Tapping and sliding your way around the handheld's touchscreen is an absolute delight when you're in full flow, and should more and more players start to fill up the online lobby, this could easily be considered one of the best rhythm games on the platform.
When it's not giving the world more reasons to 'Catch 'Em All', Game Freak continues to deliver interesting and unexpected forays into other genres. Much like Tembo the Badass Elephant before it, Giga Wrecker Alt. is a quirky left-turn that takes the exploration staples of a 2D Metroidvania and combines it with a destructible environment puzzle system for some creative and hugely rewarding puzzles. Combat is quite forgettable, but sucker-punching a boss with a giant ball can be ridiculous fun when you pull it off. It's looks might not be that memorable, but it's still a worthy way to make a mess on Switch.
Bigger and more fully featured than ever, BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL! marks a high point in this quirky puzzle-platformer series. It's not perfect - the stripped back aesthetic and lethargic physics won't be everyone's cup of tea - but fans of co-op puzzlers, in particular, should investigate pronto.
You’ll still have a decent time playing through them all, even though the lack of online leaderboards, lack of high score saving and general lack of options certainly make its budget price feel justified.
Mortal Kombat 11 is the best Mortal Kombat since MK2, a bold and bombastic entry that boasts a fighting model that finally matches the slapstick theatrics of gory Fatalities.
Remarkably solid and satisfying, SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech is a card battler with an abundance of charm in its art, mechanics and writing. The presentation is slick, the dialogue's witty and the gameplay's addictive, although nothing about it feels particularly special – not in the way SteamWorld Dig 2 felt special. It does what it does well, though, and it's still a thoroughly enjoyable time in that universe. As long as you're not expecting anything revolutionary, we recommend anybody who likes turn-based battling or who enjoyed any previous games in the series check it out.
Screenshots really don't do The friends of Ringo Ishikawa justice. What looks like a traditional side-scrolling brawler is actually something far more intricate. It's more of a teenage simulator than anything, and with some really well-written dialogue (filled with the kind of malaise and sense of directionless rebellion we all experienced in our formative years) there's a really interesting story to be found. Its everyday activities will remind you more of Bully or Shenmue than Street Gangs/River City Ransom, just don't expect to have your hand held as you head out into the world to discover them.
