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.
Time Carnage harks back to the good old days of heading down to the arcade to play House of the Dead or Virtua Cop, where you'd drop a couple of coins into a virtual shooting gallery and kill zombies all evening. While this indie shooter lacks the reliable precision of those light gun classics, it at least offers an enjoyable FPS alternative amid Switch's growing selection.
The design of the dungeons can be a little repetitive, but Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk is still a great way for newcomers to try out this age-old genre.
Though it suffers from some relatively minor pacing issues, Valkyria Chronicles 4 is a sublime strategy experience that fans of the genre won't want to miss out on. The engaging, character-driven plot, third-person action, deep customization options, and high replayability make this one an easy recommendation, although pacing issues and cumbersome menu management may make it a little more intimidating to newcomers to the genre. We're also undecided about where it fits in the franchise hall of fame; the original game perhaps just shades it. All the same, we'd recommend you give Valkyria Chronicles 4 a go; this is a strong return to form for the series, and it's a great entry point for Nintendo fans.
While its core systems don't rewrite the rules of the genre, Fernz Gate's wholesome RPG mechanics will whisk you back to a 16-bit era where plucky little sprites and enchanting chiptunes were the order of the day.
It's impossible to not be caught up in Planet Alpha's charms. The product of one man and a small indie team from Denmark, it's a game that runs remarkably smoothly considering the detail of its environments and the vibrancy of its art style. The platforming won't blow you away - especially if you've become trained in the twitch arts of Hollow Knight and the like - but with some brilliant puzzles, a rewarding balance between endangered stealth and peaceful exploration and some of the most intense set-pieces we've ever played on Switch, Freedom Planet has secured a place as one of 2018's most important indie releases.
Into The Breach is a brutal, uncompromising game of making hard decisions and living with your mistakes, but the short length of battles and endless variety of playthroughs makes for an extremely addictive experience. Though the graphics are nothing special, the gameplay is some of the very best you'll find in the strategy genre on the Switch, and we can easily recommend this to anybody who's looking for an in-depth game that'll make you think. Into The Breach feels right at home on the Switch, and whether you play more at home or on the go, you're more than likely to get plenty of value out of this release.
Like so many action-RPGs before it, Moonfall Ultimate is driven by the minutia of its combat model, but considering battles often rely on one attack (regardless of weapon) and a handful of special moves, you're left feeling oddly unempowered and frustratingly disconnected. There's your usual mix of quests to undertake, various medieval-style locations to explore and loot to collect, but none of it ever offers an interpretation you haven't seen done better elsewhere; while the game calls upon the likes of Golden Axe and Dungeons & Dragons for inspiration, it never hits the same heights. A serviceable experience, but one that won't linger in the memory for long.
Finding out the dark past that the main character tries so hard to keep bottled up is, at times, intriguing. However, the repetitive task of cherry-picking customers to come into the prestigious club will prove to be dull for many, and simply won't be enough to keep you playing in order to see one of the multiple endings. Still, there isn't another time-management title like this on Switch right now, so if you're looking for something with a very different pace and with an adult theme, you might gain some enjoyment.
A surprisingly immediate, console-centric ARPG with a gleefully tactile combat system, Victor Vran: Overkill Edition has its fair share of rough edges and a slightly discordant tone, but is nevertheless a highly entertaining way for Diablo fans to while away the hours until the real deal arrives on Nintendo's console.
The poor voice acting will make you cringe, the broken combat will make you rage and the visual compromises will likely make you put your console away and have a well-earned lie-down.
While its setup does make it look like one of those soulless endless runners that fill mobile app stores, The VideoKid overcomes that hollow association by offering up a nostalgic love letter to the characters that defined a decade. The random layout means you'll never get the same run twice, but once you've played each section of its celebrity-filled suburbia a few times, you will start to notice plenty of bits being recycled as you head to your final destination. Still, with high-scores to chase and new character skins and tricks to unlock, this modern Paperboy has earned its pay packet.
Realpolitiks really wishes it was something as grand as Europa Universalis, but in reality, it's more akin to the Tropico games or a souped-up Football Manager. You have a lot of systems to manage, but the choices you make within these systems aren't as open as we'd like and you're left spinning countless diplomatic plates without the agency befitting such a seat of power. The end result is a grand strategy game that struggles to find a middle ground between accessibility for newcomers and long-term investment for genre veterans.
BlobCat strongly models itself after one of the best games to hit the Dreamcast and Game Boy Advance, and since there isn't really anything else like it out there, anyone willing to squint their eyes might be able to scratch that ChuChu Rocket! itch a little here. A wide-eyed look shows an overall rough package, though — from functional-if-unremarkable visuals to a lack of CPU opponents in the multiplayer suite, all the way down to bizarre inconsistencies with how menus work. BlobCat is here for you if you need it, but doesn't quite reach the level of the genuine article.
Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate may lack the smoothness and accessibility that made Monster Hunter: World such a smash hit, but it more than makes up for it by being a sort of ‘greatest hits' collection of the high points of the series, giving you hundreds of hours of content to play through. Couple this with the HD visuals, easy to use multiplayer, and the ability to play the full experience on the go, and you've got a game that will easily appeal to both veterans and newcomers alike. It may not necessarily represent the future of the series, but Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate is an utterly fantastic experience in its own right and a worthy follow up to the 3DS original, and one that no Switch owner will want to be without.
There's no denying it - this is the most accessible 2D fighter we've played in years. If you're new to the often impenetrable world of twitch-style brawlers, this serves as an ideal way to learn the craft and feel powerful without too much work. Not every one of its crossover fighters gels as well as the others, but it's still an empowering experience for beginners and intermediate fight fans. However, if you're looking for a purposefully nuanced combat system with a bit more bite, you're probably best sticking with BlazBlue's mechanical purity.
