I would be genuinely angry if I had paid money for this RollerCoaster Tycoon game. There is none of the tycoon fun of the original game, the rollercoasters are overshadowed by the shooting and the VR is slapdash at best. The entire experience feels like an alpha build of a rail shooter that someone decided to slap the Tycoon name on to sell more copies. I cannot, in good faith, recommend this game under any circumstances.
Rush Duelling is a great idea, but Yu-Gi-Oh! Rush Duel: Dawn of the Battle Royale!! is a poorly executed waste of time. While it could be a fun entry point to the franchise for 5–7-year-olds, the frustrating pace of play, coupled with the issues where things just don't work as they are supposed to, makes it far more trouble than it's worth. Do yourself a favour and let this one pass you by.
Rise of the Slime ticks all the boxes of a bad game. Not only is it a roguelike that crashes regularly to ruin your run, but the game has little explanation of basic mechanics, too much variety in the deckbuilding for consistency, little meaningful longevity, and a poorly considered port to Switch. If you're desperate to play it, get the PC release, but do yourself a favour and save your cash for your next run at a deckbuilder.
At best, the Metal Gear Solid HD Master Collection is a cynical cash grab that is trying to repackage and resell you on nostalgia. There are very few reasons to part with your cash at this point: wait for a proper ground-up remake.
If you like a very slow, difficult romp through a Hell-a-la-tattoo-parlour, Nadir's roguelike deckbuilding may be the game for you. But if you want something genuinely fun and interesting to play, you won't find it here.
Tales of Symphonia Remastered isn't going to win any awards. It's a soulless cash grab that has come with as little effort by Bandai Namco as possible. If you're a die-hard fan, there may be something here for you, but really you're just paying for the nostalgia hit. Those who didn't play the original and are looking to pick up and enjoy a slice of video game history should let this one go past - there will hopefully be another iteration of this in a few years' time and maybe they'll put more effort into that one.
I cannot, in good faith, recommend a game that I could not finish thanks to game-breaking bugs. Looking past that, on the grounds that said bug can be squashed in time, you have a great concept that is just poorly executed. For all its atmosphere, for all its potential, the game feels totally hollow. Perhaps the point of the game was that you feel closer to the squirrels than your boss, who you hold in such contempt you refuse to speak to her. Perhaps the game is just dull.
Frankly, Double Pug Switch is just not a fun game. It's meant to be challenging, but the worst of this comes from sticky controls and a buggy game. Coupled with the intentional disregard for the safety of cute things, this is a game which ends up infuriating. Maybe it plays better on the PC or other consoles, but I cannot in good faith recommend it for Switch.
Ogre tale is one of the most Marmite games I have played in a very long time. If, like me, you're a Japanophile, you'll probably be able to look past the flaws. If not, you're going to hate the jarring dialogue jarring and incessant reference dropping.
Tchia is clearly a labour of love as Awaceb try to bring their culture to the rest of the world and show off what it has to offer. I absolutely love that tone and feel, but the way Tchia is packaged and paced means that it is ultimately feels like less than the sum of its parts.
I suppose if you don’t own anything else that will run this game, then this port is admittedly a way to play a game you’d otherwise have no access to. However, if you own literally anything else that will run The Outer Worlds, and don’t want a return to PS3 graphics with PS2 processing speeds, avoid this port like the Edgewater plague.
All in all, fans of the franchise and genre potentially have a real gem on their hands with The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners , but it requires a lot of work to get there.
I really wanted to like Bear and Breakfast more than I did. It isn't a bad game, it's just lacking the polish that could make it exemplary. With some simple quality of life improvements like faster movement, and cooking and crafting from the box, we could have a much smoother game on our hands. As it stands, it's a little too jarring - much like waking up at one of the rooms I built for my visitors...
I really, really wanted to love Phogs!, but I simply couldn't. It really is a lovely idea, set in a lovely world and there's a simple joy to the game's opening. It's clear just how much love went into this game, right down to the Hollywood Bowl carpet at the bowling alley, but the execution just leaves you wanting. Between the repetition and the bugs, there's just too much to get frustrated with, making the game, at times, an uphill struggle.
Spellbreak holds vast potential and is full of depths to explore, but it's not quite there yet, despite the 1.0 release. Sure, it's fun enough to play if you can sit down with two of your friends and bash out a couple hours' madness, but I forgot what the game was called once I stopped playing. With next to no lore within the game, and with every win or loss feeling the same, there's just not quite enough to make a lasting impression.
Despite its flaws, Red Wings: Aces of the Sky is a decent dogfighting game. The night flight missions show just how tricky it must have been, trying to pick out the enemy against the inky black sky, and the dogfighting is genuinely engaging, if a bit too repetitive and not quite historically accurate. If you're a fan of combat sims and you want to try something different to the modern fighter jets we're all used to, it's worth a shot.
Putting the weirdness of the character skins to one side, is Muse Dash worth playing? If you can pick it for a couple of quid, sure. The mechanics are intriguing, the music is alright and there's a fair amount or replayability, given the huge collection of songs available too. If you really want to collect all of the skins, there are a fair few to choose from, but too many of them will get you odd looks on your commute to work.
Persona 5 Tactica is a good game, but it is a game that's standing on the shoulders of giants – when the giant is the size of Satanael, you have a lot to live up to. Indeed, it's very difficult to score this and not compare it to the other games in the series as a result. Tactica is good, but it's not great, and while it is always nice to sink into that warm-bath feeling of hanging out with your fictional friends, it won't be remembered as either a series high or the best spin-off the franchise has to offer.
The rerelease of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax is a welcome one - it's always good to see these games brought back for a new generation. The fighting feels as good as ever, and looks better than ever thanks to modern hardware, but the storyline and pacing almost feel antithetical in a franchise that was built on just that. Is it a solid fighting game that fans will love? Absolutely. Is it a must-buy for Persona fans? No, probably not.
If I could grade Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duels in Magic Terms, I’d give it a Sideboard B. If you love Yu-Gi-Oh, this is probably the pinnacle of the game’s experience, with modern flourishes and easy access to a huge repository of cards. However, if you’re not a hardcore fan and just fancy dipping your toes in the water, this game is probably not for you — by all means give it a chance, but don’t be surprised if you find its complexities impossible to overcome.