DENNIS GAGLIARDOTTO
Romancing SaGa -Minstrel Song- Remastered International Review
Romancing SaGa -Minstrel Song- Remastered International is a fiercely nonlinear JRPG that embraces the series’ trademark freedom, letting players shape the world while offering little in the way of guidance, with combat and mechanics that remain uniquely satisfying, and the remaster’s quality-of-life enhancements make the experience far more approachable than past versions, creating a much more palatable adventure than ever before.
The Rumble Fish 2 Review
For avid fans of the fighting genre - especially those that grew up with the arcades - there's a lot about The Rumble Fish 2 that will more or less leave that crowd content with it, especially when being looked at as a piece of history. However, when compared to Switch's other offerings - and the industry as a whole - fighting games are at an all-time high with new, remastered, remade, and enhanced ports of intellectual properties currently, so there's a bit of an oversaturation that has vastly better offerings than what The Rumble Fish 2 can offer for its price of entry.
XEL (Switch) Review
There has never been a shortage of Zelda-like titles, and for good reason - they're usually fun, charming, and riveting. However, some almost become too reliant on the nostalgia and aesthetic, providing a false promise and a disappointing venture into what otherwise could have been a promising experience in the right hands. Unfortunately, XEL finds itself in that camp, providing a game that more often than not loses its soul, feeling careless in the process.
Infinite Links (Switch) Review
There's a lot to like about Infinite Links that will please more casual players than hardcore, but even the hardcore crowd like myself should have something to appreciate here as the simplicity of it all makes the experience oddly relaxing as you're essentially on auto-pilot while playing. From a compelling enough group of characters, diverse kingdoms, and biomes, as well as a battle system that's palatable and intuitive, Infinite Links is a great pick-me-up for those wanting a budget-friendly JRPG that won't ask too much of you while still providing an epic that's engaging enough to sink your teeth into no differently than the juggernauts of the genre.
Time Loader Review
Time Loader won't blow puzzle fans away by any means, but it's a nice and relaxing enough trek through a time period that's so vastly overlooked in favor of the decades between the 40s and 80s we see so much of, though its caveats and slow-paced nature will likely bore more than entertain, and it's a shame when a lot of detail has clearly been put into its level design despite the lack of graphical fidelity on Nintendo Switch.
Ocean's Heart Review
Ocean's Heart from top to bottom is a beautiful game that no doubt wears its inspirations on its sleeve and showcases them in a way that feels both nostalgic and modern, with a familiar UI reminiscent of the greats, and takes you on a genuine journey throughout a multitude of towns, dungeons, and areas across the seas that feel fleshed out and polished, all while remaining immersive and fun.
Welcome to Elk Review
Welcome to Elk hits all the right notes when it comes to an adventure that builds upon its mysteries and weirdness, and does so in an odd slice-of-life approach that works extremely well to the structure of how the game paces itself and plays. Welcome to Elk is excellent in this regard if you can get over the art direction that typically comes tacked onto more raunchy adult cartoons, and it's also one worth checking out whether on the Switch or elsewhere to experience and share these stories that feel like they only come once in a lifetime.
Beyond Blue for Nintendo Switch Review
Beyond Blue is an exceptional game that really highlights the beauty of the deep blue sea and its marine life without forcing the player into random acts of survival, and instead opting to have them experience the tranquility and freedom of the vast world underwater that houses all sorts of fascinating sea life, and even with its technical shortcomings it's still worth a dive whether Switch is your main platform or not.
Shadow Corridor Review
Shadow Corridor has elements in it that can easily make it a great game if it left its brutal design to higher difficulty levels rather than making it the default design of the game, and while the game does have an easy mode that allows for a mini-map to be displayed, it doesn't change the fact that checkpoints are few and far between with all progress essentially being lost with a few exceptions like collectibles that all leave your inventory upon death. The designs of the locations with Shadow Corridor are fine, but its massive maps feel almost endless when realistically an estate would have at least some sort of limited floorplan put into place. Instead, every map in Shadow Corridor feels like an amusement park, but one where the amusement is the last thing on anyone's mind.
Darksiders III for Nintendo Switch (Review)
Darksiders III on Nintendo Switch is a mostly well-done port that is likely to take a lot of people by surprise given its huge graphical upgrade over its previous generation predecessors. While the game itself is far from perfect, it should be commended that even with a few downgrades here and there, the overall integrity of the game remains intact and officially completes the entire Darksiders series being available on Nintendo Switch, which lends itself nicely to handheld play despite a AAA production that's as epic and grandiose as the series has ever been.
YouTubers Life 2 Review
YouTubers Life 2 is a rather enjoyable management sim that takes the formula of what would normally be in a cheap mobile game and gives it a nice big-budget polish that makes it a formidable game amongst others in the genre. While most will judge from the title of the game alone and assume it's a nonsensical grab at popularizing YouTubers and getting fans close with some of the site's biggest names and influencers, it's actually more so about building your own empire in a fictional world and city while you run around in various locations in a simple yet well-built town and get yourself accustomed as you follow your dreams towards a successful channel and career.
Mary Skelter Finale Review
Mary Skelter Finale may feel unnecessary to some, but I think what remains as the biggest disappointment is unfortunately the lack of anything really exciting or different to give off that feeling of a proper finale. However, Mary Skelter Finale is a competent send off for the series and one that I'm sure fans that have invested time into its Blood Maidens and world since its debut on Vita in 2017 will miss deeply.
The House in Fata Morgana: Dreams of the Revenants Review
The House in Fata Morgana: Dreams of the Revenants beautifully compiles three of the visual novel genre’s most critically acclaimed games into one package on Nintendo Switch and brings along with it unreleased content and short stories for what feels like a festival of narrative bliss in a dark gothic story involving drama, stunning art, and a slew of memorable moments.
Iris Fall Review
Iris Fall had everything it needed to be the next puzzle game for those that appreciate stylized and unique experiences to fall in love with, as the borderline profound puzzle games like this that tell their story through the environments and the puzzles themselves are always a sight to behold, but the continued tediousness and irresponsiveness of the controls, animations, and input lag overall feels like more of a chore to play than what could've been an immersive and truly fun puzzle-solving experience.
Calico Review
Calico gives the perfect opportunity and setting to give you the cat game you’ve always wanted, building the cat cafe of your dreams while you pet, ride, adopt, and play with tons of animals across a colorful open-world, but unfortunately the game simply feels like it was prematurely released with unintuitive controls that hinder the experience, and performance issues across PC and Switch that make what should be a serene experience a frustrating one.
Morbid: The Seven Acolytes Review
Morbid: The Seven Acolytes may seem familiar in terms of gameplay as it’s another Souls-like game that’s added to an ever-growing genre of titles that aim to dethrone From Software’s game-changing hits, but Morbid: The Seven Acolytes provides so much more that it uses the genre as more of an inspiration as it takes things into its own direction with a wonderful retro aesthetic that makes it one of the most accessible and enjoyable Souls-like titles to date, standing out from the influx of poor attempts from other titles over the last few years.
Neversong Review
Neversong’s heavier topics keep it driven with a ubiquitous darkness throughout its narrative, but despite its somber tone it doesn’t forget to have a truly amazing and fun game there to keep players gripped within its storytelling through stellar sidescrolling platforming and a metroidvania-esque approach to its progression. Neversong is a mature follow-up to Pinstripe, and remains a fluid experience and one of the best bite-sized games the Switch has to offer.
Crysis Remastered Review
We've all heard the famous words "But can it run Crysis?" at one point or another, and over a decade later the saying still holds strong when talking about hardware that may be deemed inferior or lacking, but what the Switch does here, despite it's disadvantages to other larger hardware that can make up for the space with increased specs, should be commended and applauded with one of the games that was known not only as a technical showcase, but a fantastic game in its own right.
Rainswept Review
Rainswept does well to give a proper murder-mystery narrative with a minimal art style that lets the writing take center stage in a captivating playthrough, but suffers from a slow-burn approach with repetitive and simplistic gameplay that doesn’t do it much favors in the long run, but still holds strong by the end of this noir adventure.
Creepy Tale Review
Creepy Tale has the charm and art that would lend itself nicely to a horror puzzler, but unfortunately falls flat with a trial-and-error approach that’s less about solving puzzles and more about how much patience you’re willing to have with it instead.