Nintendo Life

Nintendo Life

Echo Apsey·Aug 28, 2024

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Overall, Crypt Custodian is a pretty traditional Metroidvania elevated by its fantastic world, aesthetic, characters, and soundtrack, with solid combat and a lot of build flexibility. These aspects all help alleviate some visual clutter issues and frame rate hiccups, ensuring that Crypt Custodian shouldn't end up lost in the eShop bargain bin like so many other Metroidvanias.

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Ken Talbot·Aug 27, 2024

Critic60/100

Agreement—

Gori: Cuddly Carnage's hyper-violent, comic book spin on the character platformer is fun and easy to get to grips with. It's an entertaining ride, though the sheer volume of comedic banter will overwhelm as much as it entertains, and performance issues plague the experience throughout. Otherwise, it just about holds everything together and will no doubt appeal to some. Others may tire of the scattershot humour long before Gori has defeated the Adorable Army.

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Em Stonham·Aug 25, 2024

Critic70/100

Agreement—

If you're willing to look past a handful of typos and some fairly significant visual issues, WitchSpring R is a great example of turn-based combat with a strong story to back it up. It's whimsical and enchanting, and you won't be able to predict how it all ends. On top of this, the NG+ option gives it an extra splash of replayability for players who like a challenge. That being said, the visual quirks do take a toll on the score here. While they weren't game-breaking, having the main character pop out of existence during crucial cutscenes was frustrating, and it did affect our overall experience.

Nintendo Life

Mitch Vogel·Aug 24, 2024

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Bakeru is a sweet, snappy, and satisfying linear 3D platformer that feels like a wonderful callback to a genre that doesn't get a ton of representation these days. It's really easy (although the Western version ups the difficulty slightly) and has some performance problems, but the gameplay variety, snappy combat, oodles of collectibles, and gorgeous art style all come together to make for an adventure that you won't want to miss out on.

Nintendo Life

Nathanial Eker·Aug 23, 2024

Critic50/100

Agreement—

Overall, Bring Them Home is a decent puzzler that manages to get the mind going and provides a decently chilled atmosphere. You'll likely find it repetitive, though, with its simple gameplay only going so far.

Nintendo Life

Nathanial Eker·Aug 22, 2024

Critic70/100

Agreement—

The visuals are equally child-friendly and colourful, though nothing groundbreaking. If you’re looking for a puzzler to keep you entertained sporadically, and just so happen to like trains, you’ll find Conduct Together! an enjoyable, if fleeting, experience, whether you choose to conduct together, or alone.

Nintendo Life

Nathanial Eker·Aug 22, 2024

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Overall, Rain World is highly recommended as a piece of art, even just to check out its gorgeous visuals. Its gameplay is unforgiving, but not to the extent where it becomes unplayable. It certainly will take some devotion and time to get good at it, but with a world this beautiful, is that such a bad thing?

Nintendo Life

Nathanial Eker·Aug 22, 2024

Critic80/100

Agreement—

If you can get over the short length and are looking for a unique puzzler with great style, then Starman — waiting not in the sky, but on the eShop — is your man.

Nintendo Life

Nathanial Eker·Aug 22, 2024

Critic50/100

Agreement—

To sum up, Mech Rage is a self-aware and amusing shoot 'em up that seems to relish parodying space marine tropes. It isn’t the best shmup out there — not by a long shot — but you might still find some fun with it.

Nintendo Life

Nathanial Eker·Aug 22, 2024

Critic70/100

Agreement—

All in all, OkunoKA isn’t recommended if you’re new to the platforming genre, or if you’re looking for a game to breeze through in an afternoon; instead, it provides a genuine challenge that is better suited to experienced players. Its addictive nature and smart physics make it a great compliment to your indie collection... if you think you’re hard enough.

Nintendo Life

Nathanial Eker·Aug 22, 2024

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Overall, though, the blend of genres works nicely and the sheer array of variables will provide you with a good time testing out what works best for you.

Nintendo Life

Nathanial Eker·Aug 22, 2024

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Viviette is excellent at providing something different that takes the best elements of many different games to craft something fairly unique. Despite some minor gripes, it’s a brilliant single-player experience.

Nintendo Life

Alana Hagues·Aug 19, 2024

Critic50/100

Agreement—

When everything comes together, Mika and the Witch's Mountain is definitely far from the worst witch – the premise is pleasant, the visuals and art are cute, and short runtime means there's no fat that needs trimming. But it's almost completely unmemorable at every turn. Delivering parcels as a witch should be fun, but lacklustre characters and too much back-and-forth make this delivery service simply adequate.

Nintendo Life

Kate Gray·Aug 16, 2024

Critic50/100

Agreement—

We didn't hate Elrentaros Wanderings' grindy dungeon-crawling gameplay. There are things to like, even if those moments are interspersed with long stretches of boring, repetitive enemy-bashing. There are hints of the trademark Rune Factory charm here and there, and the art is genuinely lovely, but this sparse action RPG feels like a new skin stretched far too thinly over the skeleton of a much better game.

Nintendo Life

Oliver Revolta·Aug 12, 2024

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Steamworld Heist II expands upon its predecessor's solid foundation, offering a more complex and ambitious experience that rewards patience and careful planning. While the increased difficulty and expanded mechanics may deter some players, those willing to invest time and tweak things to suit their preferences will find a deeply satisfying tactical adventure.