Nintendo Life

Nintendo Life

Alex Olney·Oct 30, 2018

Critic80/100

Agreement—

In short, Diablo III: Eternal Collection is a lovely port of a classic RPG loot-a-thon that keeps its feet firmly in the past. The execution is wonderful, but its gameplay is not something that will appeal to everyone due to the high level of repetition. Its visuals are clear and functional if not especially interesting, but performance is top notch to make up for it. If you're looking for a loot-driven grind-a-thon with more explosions of viscera than you can comfortably discuss with your mother, this is the game for you.

Nintendo Life

Chris Scullion·Oct 29, 2018

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Black Bird is a unique little shooter that only gets better as you play it more and uncover its secrets. Its vintage-style art direction is charmingly melancholy, and its strange soundtrack only adds an extra layer of quirkiness to proceedings. It's very much a score challenge game, though, meaning players expecting a wealth of things to see and do may be left feeling underwhelmed by its meagre four stages - especially when you consider the rather high price tag. This is very much a case of quality over quantity, and as long as you're up for repeat playthroughs, you're in for a wonderfully bizarre treat.

Nintendo Life

Ryan Craddock·Oct 29, 2018

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Just Dance 2019 is a sleek entry to the franchise that does exactly what it says on the tin – and not much more.

Nintendo Life

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln·Oct 29, 2018

Critic70/100

Agreement—

While LEGO Harry Potter Collection is one of the oldest instalments in the overall series still in current-gen circulation, it's aged remarkably well. Despite lacking some of the subtle changes the franchise has benefited from in the years since, the use of Hogwarts as a vast and secret-filled hub, a huge collection of characters to collect from across all eight films and a clever use of the Harry Potter licence makes for a remaster that only enhances Nintendo Switch's growing LEGO library. If you've played nothing but the recent LEGO games then it may, at times, feel a little old and basic, but this fantastic beast hasn't entirely lost its magic yet.

Nintendo Life

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln·Oct 26, 2018

Critic60/100

Agreement—

Both Night Alone and Midnight Shadows offer a survival horror experience built more on the management of building dread and approaching threats, although both do occasionally indulge in cheap (yet effective) jump scares and uses of gore. However, for all its potency, Yomawari: The Long Night Collection's design too often boils down to a repetitive cycle of evasion and exploration, and with a difficulty that's too high for a game built on obtuse layouts and one-shot kills, it can quickly become an exercise in both fear and frustration.

Nintendo Life

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln·Oct 25, 2018

Critic80/100

Agreement—

While Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle doesn't stray too far from the template of Slayaway Camp: Butcher's Cut, it does offer some much-needed adjustments to its gory puzzle formula. With 12 chapters to work your way through and 150 different scenes to drench in gore, plenty of costumes to unlock, and all manner of implements to wield (complete with grisly death animations), this cartoonish puzzler offers a fitting way to ring in Halloween on Nintendo Switch.

Nintendo Life

Ryan Craddock·Oct 24, 2018

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Pinstripe is a beautiful creation in every sense of the word, pulling on your heartstrings like only your favourite storybook can, while competently providing a good deal of fun along the way. It's a little on the short side, both in terms of length and challenge (we only saw the 'game over' screen once thanks to reaching the final boss with very little health), but a game's length really isn't everything. It's what a game does in the few hours it spends with you that really counts, and Pinstripe does some pretty great things, making it an easy title to recommend.

Nintendo Life

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln·Oct 24, 2018

Critic80/100

Agreement—

While the introduction of microtransactions is hardly surprising considering the history of its new publisher, they don't hit NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 as hard as might expect. It will take you a while to grind out every player (unless you just buy them all from the off), but it helps that the core arcade gameplay remains as fun and enjoyable as ever. It doesn't quite capture the blissful mayhem of NBA Jam, but if the main NBA 2K series has always felt a little too realistic for you, this larger-than-life spin-off offers a bright and empowering way to defy gravity like Air Jordan himself.

Nintendo Life

Mitch Vogel·Oct 23, 2018

Critic40/100

Agreement—

Super Hyperactive Ninja is a great example of what happens when good concepts meet bad implementation; the coffee theme and Hyperactive Mode are both interesting things that could have potential if explored properly, but Super Hyperactive Ninja doesn't do so. Cheap level design, uninspired visuals, and poor controls make this a game that's difficult to recommend, but moments of enjoyable gameplay can still be found for those who look hard enough. Even so, there's no shortage of excellent platformers on the eShop at the moment, so you'd be best served passing on this one. If you're looking for a challenging, retro-inspired side scrolling ninja game, go play The Messenger instead.

Nintendo Life

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln·Oct 22, 2018

Critic80/100

Agreement—

As you'd expect, LEGO DC Super-Villains doesn't make many attempts to change up the formula that's served it so well for so long, but with a vast library of well-applied and famous baddies to draw from it offers a far more engaging and memorable story than the stretched-too-thin LEGO The Incredibles. However, with a brilliant cast on hand (can anyone really compare to Hamill's Joker?), a vast sandbox hub and all the customisation options you could want in Danish brick form, this familiar playground still has bags of charm.

Nintendo Life

Jon Mundy·Oct 22, 2018

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Zarvot offers the kind of tight arcade-shooter action that lends itself well to epic local competitive scraps; what we have here is a charming, eclectic package that goes all-out to appeal to both solo and social players. It's perhaps a little too scattershot in its mixture of styles and tones, and not all of its ideas hit the target, but there's a whole lot of heart and humour to Snowhydra's little box of tricks, and that goes a long way.

Nintendo Life

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln·Oct 19, 2018

Critic60/100

Agreement—

Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption is a valiant attempt to cut away some action-RPG fat in order to get to the meat of its boss battles, but a lack of consistent quality makes this boss-rush concept a frustrating experience at times (and not for the reasons its developer likely intended). The combat lacks the heft of the series that inspired it, so while Sinner looks much like the Souls games, it never captures (or innovates upon) that familiar combat model. There are some great boss designs to take on here, but this is very much a curio for Souls fans who want something to do in-between playing the vastly superior Dark Souls: Remastered.

Nintendo Life

Gavin Lane·Oct 17, 2018

Critic60/100

Agreement—

It's not for everyone, but Warriors Orochi 4's multitudinous hordes can be pleasurable to sweep through, despite the game feeling by-the-numbers in many ways. This is simply more, and while fans might be able to forgive the bland presentation, we'd wager that non-devotees would have a much better time with the Zelda or Fire Emblem spin-offs – with the characters, settings and accoutrement you know and love helping to temper the monotony when you're not quite ‘in the zone'.

Nintendo Life

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln·Oct 16, 2018

Critic90/100

Agreement—

While we've had to wait a little longer than those playing on PS4 and Xbox One, the wait has been more than worth it. Dark Souls: Remastered is a faithful remaster of a touchstone in video game design that improves overall performance while preserving all of the character traits that made the original such a memorable experience. While it's no less forgiving - and its menus are a little fiddly - this slick Nintendo Switch iteration offers the only way to experience Lordran's ultra-challenging odyssey in true handheld form. Praise the Sun, indeed.

Nintendo Life

Mitch Vogel·Oct 15, 2018

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Tricky Towers offers up a cool twist on a puzzle classic, and the focus on multiplayer battling makes this an ideal game for showing off the Switch's unique capability for multiplayer gaming on the go. Everybody knows how to play Tetris, and Tricky Towers does just enough to build on that core concept to make the game interesting and weird enough to be quite memorable. Although the single player offerings are a bit on the slim side, we enjoyed our time with Tricky Towers and would highly recommend it for anybody looking for a good couch multiplayer or puzzle game.