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.
Nightmare Boy throws a whole heap of platform-adventure ideas at the wall, but only a few of them manage to stick. It's a Metroidvania with a distinctive style all of its own, but there are some glaring issues with its narrative, controls, pacing and performance. If you're after something completely different in the platformer category and have a high frustration threshold, however, there's a certain amount of quirky fun to be had here.
At its best, which is when a level is at just the right difficulty for the individual player, Nuclien provides a very smooth, fast-paced, and satisfying number puzzle experience. The aesthetic is pleasing for the most part, and blasting your way through intricate layouts feels great. With only a couple of hours' worth of content on offer, all of which is based around the same concept, Nuclien does feel a little bare-bones (although, in fairness, this is reflected in the asking price). It won't wow or amaze you as you play, but it isn't a bad way to pass the time, either - especially if you enjoy quick reflex puzzles on the go.
Despite a few niggles with the implementation of its drawing mechanics on a button-based handheld, Draw A Stickman: EPIC 2 remains one of the most creative genre mashups we've played on Switch. With a splash of RPG, a sprinkling of puzzle solving and a generous dollop of creativity, you end up with a recipe for family friendly entertainment that feels fresh and new on Nintendo's hybrid console (even if it has been out on PC for over two years already). Add in the Down Below DLC as standard and it's not hard to draw your own conclusions on this little gem.
The Escapists 2 is an ingenious, multi-layered clockwork sandbox that offers you a wide range of routes to freedom. Its tough demands and myriad competing systems can lead to frustration, but a winning sense of humour and knock-about fun always brings you back for another jailbreak attempt.
Furi's series of dauntingly challenging boss fights are capable of turning all but the most committed of player into a gibbering wreck. It's a deceptively clever game that combines shooter and and beat-'em-up mechanics, all wrapped up in a stylish anime-influenced shell. It's not for everyone, with numerous difficulty spikes and an over-reliance on repetition. But it's refreshing to see a game rewards patient observation and persistence, as well as mastery of a carefully calibrated control system.
All told, Embers Of Mirrim is a delightful fantasy adventure with only a few notable flaws. It may be a bit on the short side and have some jarring bottlenecks that pull you out of your enjoyment, but it's a beautiful game to experience from an artistic standpoint. We would recommend it to anyone who has an appreciation for art in gaming form. Although the gameplay sometimes misses that mark, Mirrim nonetheless stands as a worthy experience for those that are looking to try something a little more thoughtful.
Opus: The Day We Found Earth is a lovely little game. At more or less the length of a movie, it's not going to keep you entertained for the weekend, but it's perfect for a quiet night in. Digital stargazing is a surprisingly compelling pursuit, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with OPUS - it's charming, affecting and proof positive that the Switch can be a wonderful storyteller.
Basic in both presentation and premise, Pic-A-Pix Deluxe serves up a dish of picross puzzling that will test your brain capacity but does little to innovate on a well-worn conundrum recipe. Still, with some Switch-specific features - including four-player multiplayer support - and plenty of nonograms to its name, Lightwood Games' pixel puzzler is right at home on Nintendo's new handheld home.
Even with extra content and performance enhancements, a frustratingly limited camera and lack of variety reduce Woodle to a cheap and cheerful but flawed and basic 3D jump and collect-athon. While its cute and whimsical charm and uncomplicated nature make it suitable and accessible to younger audiences, there are still plenty of contemporaries on the eShop that are more accomplished and polished. While adequate considering its price, it's nonetheless an idyllic yet simple little game.
Judging a game on its own merits is very important. However, when a title happens to borrow just about every aspect of its design from an iconic game series, it's hard not to acknowledge. Claims could be made that a game like this is nothing more than a shameless clone, but thankfully in the case of Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King, the developer has intentionally crafted it with a sense of love and admiration of classic Zelda games. While it's not as flawlessly executed as the series it draws inspiration from and it doesn't add anything particularly groundbreaking, it's still a heartfelt tribute to the earlier entries in Nintendo's long-running series.
The Coma: Recut is interesting in concept, but flawed in its execution. Mixing survival horror with stealth and visual novel elements provides a unique side-scrolling experience. While the anime art style and slow pace might detract from the horror, along with the main mechanic becoming repetitive instead of scary, there is still enough narrative content to get invested in the twisted tale of Sehwa High.
Stikbold! A Dodgeball Adventure Deluxe fully deserves a place among Nintendo Switch's already amazing line up of local multiplayer titles. It's accessible yet deceptively deep twin stick-based mechanics make for a decent amount of challenge in the solo campaign, even if it's a little on the short side. Even with no online, using bots or getting up to five other friends involved, multiplayer matches are a joy and always thoroughly entertaining. Striking a great balance between cooperative and competitive play styles, It's combination of charming presentation and witty retro humour are sure to keep the laughs coming regardless of player demographic.
Hiragana Pixel Party is a welcome rarity: an educational game that's both good fun and an effective learning tool. If you've ever wanted to read Japanese — whether for language study, travel, or playing import games — this is a great way to get started, and an enjoyable rhythm-based runner with an excellent chiptune soundtrack besides. がんばって!
The limited content in Stern Pinball is nonetheless well-crafted and certainly accurate when compared to real pinball. The issue is it's a rather simplistic game. The simulation aspects and overall realism does not make up for the severe lack of modern features within this title. Its primary competitor excels at offering a connected online experience with cross-platform play, global leaderboards and tournaments. Not to mention a large collection of prominent licenses. Stern Pinball has none of this and a limited selection of purchasable tables. It's by no means at the forefront of the digital pinball game market and in its current state is probably a good indication as to why pinball lost traction over the years. This is reminiscent of a title that would have been released at some point during the early '90s due to its limited content - so even as a video game, it's considerably behind the times. The classic design might appeal to certain generations of players, but unless you're seeking a dose of nostalgia, you're probably better off looking elsewhere to get your pinball fix. It's also worth noting the game is available in a boxed version in the UK, the US version is free-to-play on the eShop (with extra purchases, naturally).
If you've never jumped in to the enchanted world of Sparkle, this is as good a place as any to start. It's a polished, competent match three game with decent production, plenty of stages and addictive ball blasting action, even if it is very derivative and repetitive. For those familiar with the series or the genre as a whole, Sparkle unleashed is merely a slight variation on more of the same. With Sparkle 2 already out on Switch, as well as it being released for every other system in all the known kingdoms, Sparkle Unleashed is another solid, if unremarkable addition to the console's library.
