Nintendo Life

Nintendo Life

Stuart Gipp·Feb 24, 2021

Critic80/100

Agreement—

A breezier, simpler game than its clear inspirations, what Curse of the Dead Gods lacks in narrative it makes up for in focused, crunchy gameplay. Combat is interesting, exploration is rewarding and the systems in play are sufficiently diverse to make this a winner. It won't consume you forever, but you'll feel far from short-changed by this game of meaningful, divergent dungeons.

Nintendo Life

Oliver Reynolds·Feb 23, 2021

Critic60/100

Agreement—

Taxi Chaos feels very much like a proof of concept; it's certainly evidence that a taxi game has its place in 2021, though it's lacking that vital spark that would truly make it a must-play title. The city itself is well-made, with plenty of sights to behold, but the overall visual design feels a bit generic and lacks its own voice. There are few incentives to play for extended periods of time, so how long the game lasts is largely dependent on your own willingness to climb the online leaderboard. Nevertheless, Taxi Chaos is an admirable revival of a genre that's been dormant for far too long, and a good foundation for a potential sequel down the line.

Nintendo Life

Tom Massey·Feb 23, 2021

Critic80/100

Agreement—

If you can't stand the thought of tackling a game through an arduous process of restarts, walk away now. There are points in the campaign where Fujiwara comes close to overstepping the mark, and you do wonder why sections like the disappearing platforms of Zone Five need to be quite so drawn out, or why the hell he threw a Red Arremer into the mix at the start of Zone Four when you're already being assaulted from every direction. But we're here to criticise the game's architectural makeup and not necessarily its palatability to a broader audience. Although its difficulty isn't going to be for everyone, it remains solidly coordinated, upholding the series ethos of practice-based progression via old disciplines and new processes.Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection is Tokuro Fujiwara's love letter to a thirty-five-year-old series that's famous for burying mortal men, and it's a job done exceptionally well. By ignoring it, we risk having to wait another thirty-five years for a new entry, and, in a world where so many games have become cinematic, one-button-does-all 3D picture books, that's an unacceptable prospect. If challenge is what you live for, toughen up, don that mental armour, and take up the mantle like a lance. If you put in the time and effort, Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection will see you reap the most valuable of gaming accomplishments: the prestige of victory.

Nintendo Life

Stuart Gipp·Feb 20, 2021

Critic80/100

Agreement—

A very pleasant and enjoyable surprise, Blue Fire is an auspicious debut from ROBI Studios. Only the performance issues, mildly sloppy combat and high difficulty are points of contention, and the latter will certainly depend on your point of view. Developed with passion and skill, this is a world you can lose yourself in that'll reward you the more you play and the better you get. It's uncompromising in its difficulty but doesn't resort to cheap tricks and "gotchas". The graphics are appealing and, crucially, clear as day. This is a fantastic experience overall, even if it isn't made up of the most original pieces. It's gameplay first and once you're traversing the infinite space of the Void stages, everything else basically just falls away.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Feb 19, 2021

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos is a delightful Zelda-inspired roguelite that's chock full of secrets, surprises, and some top-notch dungeon crawling action. There's an excellent central hub area to evolve and expand here, lots of fun little side quests to indulge in and a well-designed overworld that takes full advantage of your hero's ever-growing armoury of weapons, skills and gadgets. There are perhaps a few too many skill trees and upgrade mechanics for our liking and the story is entirely forgettable, but overall this one comes highly recommended for co-op and solo adventurers alike.

Nintendo Life

Mitch Vogel·Feb 18, 2021

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Cathedral is a well-made and enjoyable action-platformer that's sure to please fans of the genre, as it showcases lots of strong level design, tough difficulty, and plenty of rewarding secrets. Even so, there's a sense that something is missing here to take the experience a step higher, as it's the epitome of 'just' another entry in an already crowded genre. All the same, we'd give Cathedral a recommendation to anybody who enjoyed Shovel Knight (or its many imitators) and is looking for something to hit that same appeal. Cathedral very likely won't be your favourite action-platformer, but it's got more than enough going for it to be worth your time and money.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Feb 16, 2021

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Perils on Gorgon is a well-written and highly enjoyable expansion to The Outer Worlds that provides lots of interesting new background info and lore whilst whisking players off on an engaging eight to ten-hour long sci-fi mystery. There's nothing new here in terms of mechanics, no great big surprises or new gameplay additions, but it sure does feel great to get back together with the crew of the Unreliable in a Switch port of Obsidian's sci-fi RPG that's been patched into a much more playable state in the months since it initially released.

Nintendo Life

Stuart Gipp·Feb 15, 2021

Critic50/100

Agreement—

Neoverse Trinity Edition succeeds at being an enjoyable deck builder, but it does so in a way that's seemingly desperate to highlight its limitations. It runs embarrassingly poorly at times, and does almost nothing to ingratiate the player to its many systems, all of which must be puzzled out more or less from scratch. While this is far from ideal, it's not enough to totally kill the game's appeal. Robust strategy is both possible and necessary in order to progress much beyond even the second boss. If you vibe with Neoverse Trinity Edition, it'll last you a while. It's just very, very difficult to get to grips with this bizarre, confusing game.

Nintendo Life

Oliver Reynolds·Feb 14, 2021

Critic50/100

Agreement—

Ultimately, we have to ask ourselves one crucial question when it comes to Half Past Fate: Romantic Distancing: do we really need yet another reminder of the truly awful situation we’re all still in? The story being told here is an uplifting one, but it’s also stuffed with terms we’ve become all too familiar with over the course of the past year: social distancing, flattening the curve, remote meetings… we could go on. Games are – perhaps more than ever – a means of escapism, and Serenity Forge’s new title strays a bit too close to reality for our liking. We’d probably recommend other developers try again in a few years time when the dust has settled.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Feb 13, 2021

Critic40/100

Agreement—

Gal*Guns Returns is a so-so remaster of a tedious on-rails shooter that features dull, unchallenging and highly repetitive action set against a cringe-worthy story that's neither titillating or in any other way engaging. This is a very short and basic game for the asking price, and one that it's hard to see anyone outside of hardened (no pun intended) Gal*Gun fans deriving even the slightest amount of enjoyment from.

Nintendo Life

Kate Gray·Feb 13, 2021

Critic70/100

Agreement—

Heaven's Vault is a game deeply concerned with the past, how it affects the present, and whether or not it can predict the future. Its fantastic translation puzzles and intricate story are often overshadowed by its unfortunate need to constantly pause and load, sadly denying it the higher score that it otherwise deserves. Aside from these technological issues, Heaven's Vault is a world that's beautifully realised, with a mystery that you'll be thinking about long after the game is done.

Nintendo Life

Mitch Vogel·Feb 12, 2021

Critic90/100

Agreement—

UnderMine is a ridiculously easy game to recommend. If you are at all a fan of roguelite games, you owe it to yourself to pick this up at your earliest convenience. UnderMine demonstrates clear mastery in its overall design, controls, upgrade systems and presentation, which all come together to make for a thoroughly engrossing experience. The one caveat is that those of you who are sick of roguelites won't find anything to change your mind here; if you fall in that camp, it's perhaps best to take a pass, even if you're essentially missing out on one of the best examples of the whole genre. Otherwise, we'd give UnderMine a high recommendation; this is absolutely worth your time.

Nintendo Life

Oliver Reynolds·Feb 12, 2021

Critic60/100

Agreement—

The overarching story within NUTS is probably worth experiencing on its own, despite the repetitive gameplay. It’s reasonably well written and is just about compelling enough to hold your attention for its 2-3 hour duration. There’s nothing here that you’ll connect with on an emotional level, but the voiceover work really helps drive the mystery. Unfortunately, there also a number of framerate dips throughout the experience that will really hamper your enjoyment; hopefully, this will be ironed out in the future.

Nintendo Life

PJ O'Reilly·Feb 11, 2021

Critic80/100

Agreement—

Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption is a successful return to the Quest for Glory universe as well as a clever, addictive and highly replayable adventure game in its own right. Fans of the franchise will find lots of little references and in-jokes to revel in as they make their way through the substantial campaign, and newcomers should enjoy the well-written, smartly balanced mix of point and click puzzling, time/relationship management and turn-based combat on offer.

Nintendo Life

Oliver Reynolds·Feb 11, 2021

Critic70/100

Agreement—

If you’re after something challenging and, shall we say, different, then PUSS! could well be right up your alley. Its gameplay is simple enough for anyone to pick up, but the difficulty ramps up quickly to outrageous levels. Nevertheless, it remains strangely addictive, and will likely hold your attention for a good while as you pour blood, sweat, and tears into progressing through its levels, inch by inch.