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.
The Lost Child is a JRPG with a number of quirky and interesting elements, not least of which is its Pokémon-like monster capture system. However, its dungeon crawling underpinnings are just too dull and repetitive, and its narrative approach too stilted to draw in anyone but die-hard fans of the genre. Even then, you'll need to come prepared to grit your teeth and grind.
Lumines Remastered is a luminary of the puzzle genre and feels perfectly at home on the Switch. Intense and immersive puzzle action, psychedelic visuals, a killer soundtrack, and a bevy of content and modes make for a premier puzzle experience that should not be missed. Lumines is an addictive experience that is positively a delight to play, and we would highly recommend it to both veterans and newcomers of the puzzle genre. There's something here for everyone, and considering the relatively low price tag, Lumines Remastered is very much ‘required playing' for any Switch owner.
Lanota's particular attention to bringing a new way to play a dynamic rhythm game by offering a circular playing field pays off and with a tracklist longer than your arm, you'll be hard pushed to get through this one quickly.
Replace the blood and brutality of Super Meat Boy with paint, add invisible levels and marginally tone down the difficulty, and what you have is INK. The practical use of the featured art style is a novel idea, but somehow the title still lacks a distinctive sense of character - even with all the vivid colours on display. What's left is a streamlined but more basic fast-paced platform game that does a competent job recreating the same types of experiences we've seen in the past, requiring twitch-like reflexes and pinpoint accuracy.
Barebones in organisation and structure but absolutely joyous in its presentation, Musynx is pure rhythm game fun. Excellent, upbeat music that focuses on lesser-exported areas of Asian pop, charming, cleverly creative visuals, and rock-solid gameplay in both button and touch modes all come together in a lovely, personality-filled package. If you like a strong sense of progression in your music games, Musynx's straightforward setlist approach will leave you wanting; but if the idea of booting up into a free-play menu of 90+ songs and working to beat your personal bests sounds like your idea of a good time, you'll be in rhythm heaven here.
As part of The Jackbox Party Pack, Drawful offered a brief yet silly way to have fun with friends, but its no-frills concept, the sheer lack of support for online multiplayer (especially with the lack of native streaming support Switch users have to contend with) and the hefty £8 asking price and Drawful 2 becomes a tough sell at best. However, if you're really desperate for a couchplay alternative, this one might just scratch that party game itch.
Lost Sea isn't necessarily a bad game, but if you're not a fan of roguelikes, steer clear. For fans of roguelikes, Lost Sea doesn't quite nail what makes them so addictive and replayable. If you don't mind a slow, plodding trek over and over again, Lost Sea can provide some hours of mindless enjoyment.
Flashback on Switch is the definitive edition of a truly special science fiction platform/puzzle solving/shooting video game that already more than proved itself to be a 16-bit classic.
With its subtle, relaxing and appropriate musical score, gloriously soft visuals and a simple yet emotional story, Pode succeeds in offering a generous and humble cooperative yet challenging 8-10 hours of content that will shine brightly - especially in among the assortment of fast-paced and frantic multiplayer games that we have right now on the eShop.
Discovery is that kind of 'meh' game that leans a little hard on unoriginal ideas. It's not that there isn't room for more games in the sandbox genre that Minecraft pioneered, but these games need to bring something fresh or innovative to the table if they are to stand a chance of forging their own identity.
[OpenCritic note: Mitch Vogel separately reviewed the Wii-U (6) and Switch (5) versions. Their scores have been averaged.]
We're used to seeing Wii U games transfer to Switch, but for Ultra Smash to have moved across without a substantial makeover would have been disastrous. Aces, wonderfully, is anything but that – it's a superb arcade sports game that's generous with its suite of player options and only occasionally guilty of being a little cheap in its Adventure Mode. The presentation is spot on, and the core tennis action is absorbing whether you're trading simple strokes or firing off special shots. Some animations and voice overs are identical to Ultra Smash's, but everything around them has been overhauled to quite splendid heights. This is something of a Switch Port Plus, then – not quite a whole new experience, but so improved as to be near unrecognisable next to its preceding title.
With fun, fast-paced combat, likable characters, and an enjoyable story that takes full advantage of its beautiful shipwrecked setting, Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana is a top-shelf action RPG. Exploring the Isle of Seiren is as rewarding as mastering the character-swapping, hack-and-slash battle system, and both fit into an addictive feedback loop of adventuring that keeps everything moving at a quick clip. Editing issues and inconsistent image quality in handheld mode are small blemishes on an otherwise polished production, but don't let them deter you; Ys VIII is a true gem.
LEGO The Incredibles is exactly the kind of inoffensive and family-friendly action adventure fun you'd expect from a TT Games offering. You're better off watching the film before you buy as it'll ruin the plot without a second thought, but with its activity-filled sandbox and the usual mix of platforming and puzzle-solving, it's an ideal way to keep younger fans happy once they leave the cinema. You just can't help but shake the feeling this should have been a LEGO Dimensions level pack rather than a full-game.
Chameleon Run Deluxe Edition offers a challenging autorunner experience that will no doubt have you hooked and cursing at the same time. The combination of slick jumping and colour swapping makes whizzing around each level enjoyable, and the new features added to this Switch edition are very welcome, but the main bulk of the game will likely be over relatively quickly for most. It's definitely an enjoyable ride while it lasts, though, and fans of the genre shouldn't be disappointed.
