Nintendo Life

Nintendo Life

Roland Ingram·Nov 22, 2021

Critic90/100

Agreement—

Unsighted combines some very familiar ideas: it's a top-down, roguelite, sci-fi Metroidvania with a strong 16-bit aesthetic. Its time-is-ticking, post-apocalyptic scenario is brought to life by the enchanting palettes of its pixel art, making a world you want to explore, full of characters you want to know. Far from punishing, it leans more on the 'lite' than the 'rogue', letting fun prevail – as it will, thanks to the addictive rhythm of the controls, backed by punchy sounds. The cooperative multiplayer is icing on top of an already well-iced cake. Combining flavours of Super Nintendo classics with modern playability, Unsighted is the game 1995 desperately wanted to make but just didn't know how.

Nintendo Life

Mitch Vogel·Nov 19, 2021

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Though Klang 2 has its issues, we feel that it still offers up a satisfying and unique enough take on the rhythm genre to at least be worth your consideration. This isn’t necessarily a title that we’d recommend to anyone looking to get their feet wet with rhythm games, but fans will likely find enough to love here that it’s at least worth the relatively low price of admission.

Nintendo Life

Oliver Reynolds·Nov 18, 2021

Critic60/100

Agreement—

Epic Chef is heaped with charm and humour that will undoubtedly put a smile on your face as you start your life as Ambrosia's hottest chef. Unfortunately, while the cooking and farming mechanics are simple enough to grasp, the bloated nature of the game makes every task feel more arduous than it needs to be. Add to this the needlessly lengthy dialogue and bizarre limitations around the save function, and Epic Chef feels like a game that can't quite match up with the other life sims available on the Switch. It's not unenjoyable, just more Little Chef than MasterChef.

Nintendo Life

Gavin Lane·Nov 16, 2021

Critic80/100

Agreement—

The best thing we can say about Toree 2 is that, as with its predecessor, we enjoyed every minute of our time with it.

Nintendo Life

Roland Ingram·Nov 15, 2021

Critic60/100

Agreement—

Beyond Blue has noble intentions, with an urgent and vital message about our impact on the Earth. However, it doesn't do itself justice. Although there is some decent content in here – videos, music, sound design, gameplay, narrative – those parts do little to support or enhance one another. Gameplay is soothing but one-note, the video documentaries don't frame the missions and neither are well connected to the narrative. While there are moments of majesty in exploring the ocean, the limited draw distance and pop-in frequently interrupt the awe. Edutainment's a hard one to pull off, and Beyond Blue feels less like an awesome rock concert about dolphins and more like your science teacher trying to do a rap.

Nintendo Life

Oliver Reynolds·Nov 13, 2021

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Airborne Kingdom is a perfectly fine city builder that puts a nice spin on the genre by focusing on weight and balance to ensure the survival of your community. The act of gathering resources and building structures feels easy, although some may wish for a bit more depth in the overall management of the city's population. A few gameplay quirks might also frustrate, with a camera that feels way too slow and a UI that's just a tad confusing at times. If you're after a city builder that feels a bit different, though, then this might just be the one for you.

Nintendo Life

Thomas Whitehead·Nov 12, 2021

Critic90/100

Agreement—

Happy Home Paradise makes Animal Crossing: New Horizons feel like a 'definitive' edition, especially when considered alongside the substantial free additions of version 2.0. It's beautifully polished - and that's not a reference to the ability you earn here - and provides even more variety and depth to your daily AC island life. You may discover new villagers to call friends, and perhaps even learn a little about how to better decorate rooms and homes. Most importantly, it simply makes us smile - that alone is the best recommendation we can give.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Nov 12, 2021

Critic40/100

Agreement—

Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition on Switch delivers three of gaming's true greats in a shockingly rough package that manages to suck pretty much all of the fun out of Rockstar's stellar crime epics. This is a poor port, a shoddy, stuttery, low resolution mess full of bugs, glitches, audio problems and more besides. If can grab this one on any other platform, we'd advise you do so or, at the very least, hold off until it's been patched and hopefully improved in the future. As things stand, this is a very, very long way from 'definitive' - this isn't the way we want to remember these games.

Nintendo Life

Kerry Brunskill·Nov 11, 2021

Critic40/100

Agreement—

As a small, short experience, it's not entirely without merit, but if you enjoy lightly randomised action then the Switch already has the likes of Enter the Gungeon, Dead Cells, and Hades for you to play. Heaven's Machine is sadly best left for collectors to keep safely sealed away.

Nintendo Life

Oliver Reynolds·Nov 11, 2021

Critic70/100

Agreement—

If you enjoy party games but aren't too keen on the board game mechanic seen in titles like Mario Party Superstars, then My Singing Monsters Playground offers up a more streamlined experience that focuses purely on the minigames themselves, which might prove perfect for families with younger gamers. If you're looking for a meatier experience, however, the lack of any overarching campaign harms the game's overall longevity. Frame rate struggles in some of the more chaotic minigames, but for the most part, developer Big Blue Bubble has cooked up a nice addition to the party genre here.

Nintendo Life

Roland Ingram·Nov 10, 2021

Critic90/100

Agreement—

Unpacking manages to do several things very well, all at the same time. It's a touching story told through interaction, it provides the creative play space of a great dollhouse game, and it deftly applies established game design ideas from completely different genres. Its only real shortcoming is the repetition that is a necessary byproduct of landing its message. Effort has gone into making the controls satisfying on Switch, and the visual and sound design are delightful throughout, making Unpacking, like any sane person's cutlery, absolutely top-drawer.

Nintendo Life

Trent Cannon·Nov 9, 2021

Critic90/100

Agreement—

Blue Reflection: Second Light improves on almost every aspect of the original, with a mystery that feels more personal as the characters become closer. The relationship between the girls as they seek to discover why they were brought to this strange world is the star of the show; though the combat is fun, it is always a vehicle to get you more story rather than the driving force of the game. Second Light is a fantastic-looking anime adventure that you'll love, so long as you can accept that combat isn't the focus.

Nintendo Life

Mitch Vogel·Nov 8, 2021

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars is a game that certainly won't appeal to everyone; this is one that you have to come into with an open mind. It's pretty short compared to most RPGs and doesn't take many chances with its gameplay, yet the card aesthetic remains consistently interesting, it's supported by extremely strong presentation, and that gameplay ultimately proves to be quite satisfying. For thirty bucks, this card game is one of the best concise RPGs you can buy on the Switch, and if any of its art or concepts pique your interest, we strongly recommend you give it a shot.

Nintendo Life

Roland Ingram·Nov 8, 2021

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Tunche looks and sounds good, plays neatly and consistently and is fun for couch co-op. However, it takes its punchy ideas and sneaks off into a dark, dirty alley where people just won’t want to go and find it. It is fun if you’re willing to get in there and get stuck in, but you’ll need to step over the broken glass of tiny screen text, try not to touch the wet-stained walls of repetitive, roguelite early encounters, and apologetically deny having any spare change to the drugged up yuppie of verbose exposition. In conclusion, if you are looking for a fight, mate, let us point you in the direction of Tunche.

Nintendo Life

Jordan Middler·Nov 7, 2021

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Like a great album you put on at the end of the day to wind down, Toem is an incredibly relaxing experience that you'll wish you could experience all over again once it's finished. It almost makes us want to start capturing photographs of the world around us, but sadly, we don’t have a duck dressed as a lighthouse keeper to show them to. If only.