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[Prettier but just as janky as you remember.]

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TalkBack / The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered (Switch 2) Review

« on: August 11, 2026, 07:00:00 AM »

Prettier but just as janky as you remember.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/76774/the-elder-scrolls-iv-oblivion-remastered-switch-2-review

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is one of those games that, by its very nature, needs some context when it comes to modern discussion. Oblivion as it released in 2006 was an ambitious monstrosity that seemed held together by duct tape and was constantly at risk of coming apart at the seams. To some degree, Oblivion remains the peak of Bethesda’s efforts to create a world. Every NPC is constantly being simulated even when offscreen. They all have dynamically changing opinions of the player and each other. The result can at times feel a little goofy, and incredibly immersive at others. The side effect is that Oblivion is an unstable mess constantly careening towards disaster. And it's beautiful. It crashes, it breaks, and you just never know what weird emergent behavior will crop up next. And while it may sound wild to a modern audience, that's why a lot of us love this game. Bethesda’s decision to visually overhaul Oblivion while preserving that underlying code is both a strength and weakness for Oblivion Remastered. This is an unstable game. Some of that has (even during the review period) been cleaned up with patches, but much of it is just inherent fragility balanced precariously on a twenty-year-old engine punching well above its weight.

If your gaming has been exclusive to Nintendo, Oblivion may very well be your first Elder Scrolls experience outside of Skyrim. Oblivion is similarly an open-world action RPG. You’ll work your way through a primary story while constantly finding yourself distracted with side quests. You’ll build your character to suit your playstyle. You can be a heavily armored tank, a stealthy archer, or a spell slinging wizard. Or if you’re like me, all of the above with the least efficient build possible.

However, more so than Skyrim, Oblivion places a heavy focus on simulation. NPCs have unique dispositions, weapons and gear can degrade and break, and the world in general feels a bit less forgiving. For example, early in my time with the Switch 2 version, I absentmindedly wandered into a lair of vampires. A couple in-game days later I noticed I was randomly losing health while wandering the world. I pulled up my active status effects and realized I had contracted vampirism. As I worked my way towards finding a cure I also slowly began gaining new abilities unique to my state. NPCs began noticing that I seemed a little off. This one thoughtless decision had completely altered how I played the game. I had to plan my routes to move only at night. Honestly if it hadn’t been for wanting some daytime footage for the sake of this review, I may have just stayed a vampire. For a few hours, my story in Oblivion became the story of wrestling with whether or not to cure this affliction. It had nothing to do with my actual quests I was working on. It was a story created by my choices that I resolved to no great fanfare beyond my own relief at stepping out into the sun for the first time in many in-game days.

It is these sorts of experiences that make Oblivion so special in my mind compared to other Bethesda Game Studios titles. There is just something about unpredictability. It doesn’t have to be a huge multi-hour quest either. The key underlying plot hook of Oblivion is entering the titular Oblivion gates and shutting them down, to protect the world from a flood of demons. Early in the story after shutting one of these, I returned to a nearby refugee camp to find that a merchant I had spoken to hours before was dead. I have no idea what happened to her. Something had been simulated while I wasn’t there. A demon may have wandered away from the gate and into the camp, or she may have gotten into a fight with another NPC or caught up in a brawl between a pickpocket and a guard. I have no way of knowing. But I sure did loot her corpse and steal her money.

When it comes to the Switch 2 port of Oblivion, there are two ways to approach it. It is overall a pretty accomplished port of the remaster initially released on Xbox Series consoles, PlayStation 5, and PC. There were moments where I was legitimately impressed with how good Oblivion looks on Switch 2. It even maintains some high end effects like raytraced lighting and reflections in both docked and handheld mode. On the other hand, this isn’t a particularly stable game on those other platforms. Unsurprisingly, the Switch 2 doesn’t fix the underlying issues. Some are inherent to the remaster but many tie back to legacy code. That’s the thing about this remaster; it is a pretty Unreal Engine renderer wrapped around the original Oblivion engine, which has some very obvious bottlenecks. The frame rate has been capped at 30 and heavy action can easily tank that. The Elder Scrolls series isn’t a fast-paced game so most of the time that frame rate isn’t an issue, but I did have some larger fights where frame drops became a legitimate problem. Exploration also yields pretty regular stutters as map segments load and unload. It is worth noting that most of the time, actual performance issues are largely limited to overworld exploration. Because dungeons and towns are loaded separately, they generally run pretty smoothly. That said, I did have one hard crash back to the home menu, and several endless loading screens. The loading screen bug seemed more prevalent in handheld mode and seemingly disappeared partway through my time with the game. I suspect the issue was at least mitigated in a hotfix, but regardless beware that the handheld experience may come with some extra instability.

Oblivion Remastered is a visually beautiful take on an incredible but technically flawed masterpiece. That being said, it is hard to recommend Oblivion Remastered without reservation. On the one hand much of its underlying systems remain unique to this day. On the other hand, there is a reason Bethesda themselves pulled back on some of these systems going forward. Oblivion is a weird janky game, and this remaster merely makes it a prettier janky game. If you have nostalgia from playing Oblivion back in 2006, I think you’ll love revisiting it in this form. If you’re a Nintendo fan coming from Skyrim, be prepared for an ambitious but demanding adventure that is a little rough around the edges.

[If Kingdom Hearts were coherent.]

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TalkBack / Duskfade (Switch 2) Review

« on: August 13, 2026, 05:00:00 AM »

If Kingdom Hearts were coherent.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/76775/duskfade-switch-2-review

Duskfade is one of those games that knows exactly what it wants to be and wastes no time in absolutely nailing it. With gameplay and artistic inspiration pulled from PlayStation 2 action platformers like Kingdom Hearts and Jak and Daxter, Duskfade often feels like a game from another time. If it weren’t for the surprisingly accomplished visuals there would be little to give away that it isn’t actually from the turn of the millennium.

Being a game lost in time pairs well thematically with Duskfade’s story as well. Set in a post temporal calamity world you follow some of the few humans living in a world otherwise inhabited by cloud-like entities. A mysterious accident causes your sister to be trapped within a clocktower. To access this tower, you’ll need to sever chains that reach out from it across the shattered world. As you explore each region you’ll pick up details about the world that was as you piece together what happened to your sister in the present, and the calamity of the past.

Gameplay is a blend of 3D platforming and hack-and-slash combat. The platforming is definitely the star here. Level design, despite being overall linear, feels very open. Environments are full of branching paths and optional areas. I was impressed by how naturally levels funneled me where I needed to go even as I felt I was taking random paths. I felt like I ought to be getting lost and yet I never did. Combat by comparison isn’t quite as accomplished but isn’t bad. It would be fair to say that while platforming emulates early 2000’s action platformers (complimentary) combat emulates early 2000’s action platformers (derogatory). It arguably still accomplishes what it sets out to, the source material there just hasn’t aged as well. The main issue just comes down to a slightly slow dodge mechanic and enemies suffering unsatisfactory hit knockback.

From a central hub town where you can buy upgrades and cosmetics, you’ll set off to different regions to sever the chains connected to the tower. Each one will have a fairly open field zone which eventually leads into a dungeon before culminating in a boss. Each region also has upgrades that can expand your movement and combat abilities. Hidden collectibles abound and there is always more to be found by returning to a completed area later in the game with new abilities. One early combat ability gives you a shotgun-blast style attack. One of the movement abilities allows you to zip freely across floating grapple points. I’d have liked to see the two sets blend together a bit more with abilities being useful in both contexts rather than one or the other. There are a few examples of this, such as a heavy attack that can also be used to shatter strong crystal formations. But in general, each unlock is tailored specifically for either combat or exploration.

Presentation both visual and auditory is a strength for Duskfade. At time of review the Switch 2 version targets 60 frames per second docked, and 40 frames per second in handheld. The implementation of 40 frames per second in handheld mode to help accommodate the drop in power is a smart move and is much less jarring than dropping all the way down to 30. Image quality is perhaps a little soft in handheld mode but both configurations wind up looking very good overall. The frame rate isn’t perfect however and regularly fluctuates, though I didn't see any particularly hard drops. The developer has commented on potentially experimenting with additional frame rate and resolution settings in the future, and I am curious to see how that plays out. Duskfade offers a visual style that dances with being garish at times in how aggressively colorful it is, but somehow it all works. Despite some very modern rendering tech, there is something nostalgically warm about the art design. Likewise, the music is incredible. There were moments that reminded me of some of the later work of Grant Kirkhope in games like Kingdoms of Amalur.

It isn’t hard to spot where Duskfade is pulling from. There are plenty of little tips of the hat to anyone who grew up playing PlayStation 2. But despite that Duskfade does manage to carve out a nice identity for itself. Not everything is perfectly polished but the love and care that went into this world is clear in every detail. The Switch 2 version has received some nice focus. That being said, there is certainly room for a little extra optimization in places. Still, it makes very smart use of the hardware to know where best to make compromises. Great visuals, a fun world, inspiring soundtrack, and solid mechanics make this one an easy recommendation.

[Keep these Star Fox vibes going.]

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TalkBack / Wild Blue Skies Officially Coming to Switch

« on: August 06, 2026, 07:02:03 AM »

Keep these Star Fox vibes going.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/76702/wild-blue-skies-officially-coming-to-switch

Chuhai Labs and publisher Balor Games have announced a Switch port of their upcoming rail-shooter Wild Blue Skies. The Switch port is set to launch shortly after the game releases on other platforms. No specific date has been given. It will be available digitally for $14.99.

Wild Blue Skies is a 90's style arcade rail-shooter heavily inspired by the Star Fox series. Chuhai Labs CEO Giles Goddard was previously on the development team for the original Star Fox on Super Nintendo as part of the Argonaut contingent that worked with Nintendo. You can see our impressions of the Wild Blue Skies demo (on PC) below.

[Plenty of content but light on Switch 2 features.]

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TalkBack / Parkasaurus: Dinoluxe Edition (Switch 2) Review

« on: August 04, 2026, 05:04:09 AM »

Plenty of content but light on Switch 2 features.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/76698/parkasaurus-dinoluxe-edition-switch-2-review

Parkasaurus was previously released on the original Nintendo Switch back in 2022. At the time, Neal Ronaghan reviewed it and gave it an 8.5. You can find his review here. Now, Parkasaurus has its own dedicated Switch 2 version which includes some bundled in DLC so let’s take a second look at this dinosaur tycoon simulator.

Parkasaurus opens on a short tutorial that does a fairly good job at teaching you the basics you’ll need to manage what are some reasonably deep systems for creating and maintaining your dinosaur zoo. Once the tutorial is over you’re let loose on a remarkably large amount of scenarios and other content especially given the DLC content. I did find that it somewhat left me out to dry on some of the secondary mechanics, so I had to learn the rest through trial and error. If you are familiar with other similar games like Rollercoaster Tycoon or the like, you’ll likely be able to figure it out without too much difficulty, but if you’re new to the genre be ready for a slightly awkward learning curve.

Most of the depth to be found here is in the actual dinosaur management systems. Dinosaurs are hatched by going on digs to recover various elements of dino DNA. Once you have the raw materials you need, you’ll need to terraform an enclosure to properly replicate the desired dinosaur’s environment. This is where I hit an odd technical hitch with the Switch 2 version. Any slight bit of terraforming be it changing elevation or adding water, no matter how big or small, cause a momentary freeze of a few seconds. For one-off adjustments it wasn’t a huge problem but when building the initial enclosures it became very frustrating very quickly.

Parkasaurus adapts its menu-rich, PC focused interface to a controller as best it can. It is a little awkward at times. Details can be difficult to make out when playing in handheld mode and I noticed at least one screen in which text actually expanded beyond the edge of the screen making it illegible. What surprised me is that despite this being a dedicated Switch 2 version, it does not support mouse mode. As we’ve seen in previous top-down PC ports like Shadow Tactics and the aforementioned Rollercoaster Tycoon, mouse mode support can be transformative for the difficulties a game like this faces on a controller. Its absence here is a huge disappointment.

Beyond mild graphical improvements, there isn’t a lot to separate the Switch 2 version of Parkasaurus from the Switch version. Especially given that currently it doesn’t really take advantage of what could be hugely beneficial features of the platform. As is this isn’t necessarily a worse experience than the Switch version and it certainly includes more content, but the lack of meaningful Switch 2 features and performance issues keep this from being as obvious an upgrade as it should be.

[And made me like Splatoon again.]

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TalkBack / Splatoon Raiders Fixes My Biggest Problem With Splatoon

« on: July 30, 2026, 05:52:15 AM »

And made me like Splatoon again.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/76605/splatoon-raiders-fixes-my-biggest-problem-with-splatoon

For the past decade Splatoon has offered an incredible one-of-a-kind multiplayer experience. But it has floundered miserably with meaningful singleplayer despite offering it in every game. Splatoon Raiders finally fixes this problem, and it is incredible.

[Featuring a field that may or may not belong to a king.]

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TalkBack / Verho - Curse of Faces (Switch) Review Mini

« on: July 29, 2026, 09:18:15 AM »

Featuring a field that may or may not belong to a king.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewmini/76602/verho-curse-of-faces-switch-review-mini

Verho - Curse of Faces is a first-person, action RPG heavily inspired by FromSoftware’s King’s Field series. Its tone is dark, its graphics crunchy, and its puzzles oftentimes vague. But there is something uniquely charming about this setting if you have the patience for it.

Set in a world where a curse causes anyone who sees the face of another person to instantly die, civilizations have adopted masks as a key part of their society. At the start of the game you’ll choose a mask that best represents you which will also assign your starting stats. Weapons require certain strength and dexterity skills, and magic requires intelligence. I went for a fairly balanced approach but you’re able to lean into whichever playstyle you prefer.

Verho feels very accurate to its inspiration, and this is both a strength and a weakness. The positives are that the world is incredibly enthralling to explore. Discovering new areas, stumbling into the item I needed to solve a puzzle elsewhere in the world, conquering a hidden optional boss, it all felt great. On the other hand, hit detection in combat can be frustratingly unclear and without a map or any sort of quest log, I regularly forgot what it was I was looking for.

For instance, I found a character who had been wounded and had asked me to bring him something. When I came back to keep playing the following day I couldn’t remember what he had asked me for so I went back to talk to him again, and his follow up dialogue didn’t reiterate the request. Without any sort of log I was left just bringing him anything I found in the hopes that it might be what he had asked for. This is a game that you’ll arguably want to keep your own personal quest log for. Once I realized that I enjoyed connecting the dots. But it does make the game somewhat clunky if you don’t have a notebook handy.

Once you click with what Verho is going for it can be pretty incredible. But it is very unapologetic in its dogmatic adherence to mid-90’s first-person-rpg mechanics. Even with a fair amount of nostalgia for the style that Verho is aiming for, it can be hard not to feel like some light modernization would help smooth over the rough edges. But if you’re willing to keep a notebook handy, are willing to grind through some occasionally awkward combat, and maybe draw your own map, Verho offers an experience that is otherwise largely lost to time.

[From VR to handheld.]

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TalkBack / Moss: The Forgotten Relic (Switch 2) Review

« on: July 14, 2026, 07:00:00 AM »

From VR to handheld.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/76419/moss-the-forgotten-relic-switch-2-review

Moss and its sequel Moss: Book II released exclusively for VR platforms in 2018 and 2022, respectively. Moss: The Forgotten Relic combines both these titles in a single package, and re-works them for non-VR displays. While the transition isn’t without its drawbacks, most of what makes both titles as charming as they are survives the transition.

In Moss, you essentially control two characters. One is a little mouse named Quill. The other is a literal stand-in for the player themselves called The Reader. The game is played from The Reader’s perspective, looking down into diorama-like environments that Quill navigates. You control Quill with the left stick while The Reader’s cursor is controlled with the right stick. When playing handheld you can also interact as The Reader using the Switch 2’s touch screen. Quill will engage in platforming and combat, while The Reader can manipulate large objects in the environment and even drag enemies around. As the game goes on you’ll encounter situations where you’ll need to manage both at the same time. At its core, Moss feels a bit like a giant Zelda dungeon. It's all very linear, but it presents an interesting and ever evolving series of puzzles to be solved.

What becomes obvious very quickly is how inherently Moss was designed to be played in VR. The original game expected you to manage the camera perspective by literally leaning around to peer into the different nooks and crannies of every environment. In Moss: The Forgotten Relic the camera has been reworked as entirely scripted. As Quill moves through rooms the camera will dynamically adjust to frame the action. The problem is that a lot of these angles aren’t especially good. For example, some angles made it impossible to judge platform positions. Oftentimes the camera's fixed position caused me to not realize I was back in a room I had previously visited, because I could not see the section of the room I had been shown previously. The fact that the player has absolutely no input into the camera to pan or rotate it slightly can be very frustrating at times and clearly conflicts with how these levels were originally designed to work. Obviously, both sticks are already being used but at least on some platforms, gyro support could have been a great way around this issue.

When everything comes together just right, and you fight your way through camera difficulty, there is a beautiful world and great puzzle design being presented here. It should also be noted that the whole thing runs perfectly on Switch 2. Both docked and handheld mode offer 60 frames-per-second gameplay, and the image is very crisp in both configurations. Loading times between areas are also very fast. This is a game that, despite the aforementioned camera issues, feels very well suited for quick portable play.

Having Moss and Moss: Book II together in one package is, from a narrative perspective, a much improved way to experience these games. Moss: Book II is less of a sequel and more just the second half of Moss. The original game cuts off somewhat unceremoniously so being able to immediately swap over to Book II greatly improves that element of the presentation. The move to non-VR displays clearly hasn’t been the easiest for a game so inherently built for VR. And even with that in mind, there are some clear areas where this misses the mark. Still, if you can get past the awkward moments, the Switch 2 makes a great window through which you The Reader can go along with this little mouse on her tiny adventure.

[And we think he may be chill with Adventures.]

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TalkBack / We Turned Willem into a Star Fox Fan

« on: July 05, 2026, 08:48:49 AM »

And we think he may be chill with Adventures.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/76268/we-turned-willem-into-a-star-fox-fan

John Rairdin and Willem Hilhorst are joined by Henry from the YouTube channel @Corneria-p4 to discuss Star Fox 2026. While John and Henry are each avid fans, this is Willem's first Star Fox.

[I'm just going to assume we remain buddies.]

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TalkBack / Super Scram Kitty (Switch) Review Mini

« on: June 18, 2026, 05:01:17 AM »

I'm just going to assume we remain buddies.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewmini/76099/super-scram-kitty-switch-review-mini

Super Scram Kitty may at first look familiar to fans of the Wii U indie classic Scram Kitty and His Buddy on Rails. But Super Scram Kitty is more than just a port of that 2014 shooter. Rather it is a fundamental reworking that results in something quite different. Your goal of rescuing cats from mice aboard a space station remains the same. But the core movement mechanics have been entirely reinvented.

Super Scram Kitty mixes elements of 2D platforming and shooting into something entirely unique. Your movement is limited to the edges of walls and rails, and you can shoot in the opposite direction of the wall you’re currently attached to. Holding down the fire button allows you to lock your firing direction while moving to a different section of wall. You can also launch yourself off from walls to attach to others. This is where the fundamental difference between Scram Kitty and His Buddy on Rails and Super Scram Kitty comes into play. In this new version, you are no longer physically tethered to walls, but rather you can leap freely from one to another. This gives the player much more freedom of mobility but also puts them in a dangerous spot if they don’t have a good place to land. You’ll always fall back in the direction that you launched from after the peak of your jump so if you aren’t careful, you can find yourself drifting off into space if you make an irresponsible leap. I do find that it raises the skill ceiling significantly while admittedly altering the feel of the experience.

Each level contains multiple cats to be found. Some are being held by enemy mice, others appear only if you reach the end of the level with full health, and others require you to collect everything in a given stage. Progression from level to level is predicated on having enough cats to unlock the next stage. If you’re always getting at least a few cats in every stage, it's pretty easy to always have multiple unlocked stages available. The downside here is that it is easy to get drawn away by more challenging levels that you’ve unlocked early, before inevitably needing to trudge back to the easier levels to clean up.

Like its predecessor, Super Scram Kitty isn’t a particularly complicated game. The basic premise is immediately understandable, and you could be forgiven for thinking it's too simple in the opening levels. But it quickly becomes obvious that you’ll need to master this unique movement system to progress into the later levels and that is where Super Scram Kitty shines. There really is nothing else that plays quite like it. The changes made for this edition of the game make it feel almost like an entirely new game, even if you, like me, have fond memories of playing it on Wii U.

[A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.]

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TalkBack / Star Fox 2026 From Developer of Mario Kart Live

« on: June 09, 2026, 07:45:54 AM »

A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/75969/star-fox-2026-from-developer-of-mario-kart-live

Velan Studios, the team behind games like Mario Kart Live, have been revealed as the developer on Star Fox 2026.

We’ve been passionately working on this for a while, and we’re so proud to finally share it with the world: Velan Studios is the developer of Star Fox™!

Collaborating with Nintendo and bringing Fox McCloud and crew to Nintendo Switch 2 is truly an honor. #StarFox #NintendoSwitch2

[image or embed]

— Velan Studios (@velanstudios.bsky.social) June 9, 2026 at 10:15 AM

According to Velan, the game will run in their proprietary Viper engine. With all cutscenes being rendered in real-time.

Star Fox™ on Nintendo Switch 2 is developed in VIPER, our in-house game engine at Velan. It allowed us to bring Fox and his crew back in higher fidelity than ever before, with gameplay running at 60fps and all cinematics rendered in real-time.

[image or embed]

— Velan Studios (@velanstudios.bsky.social) June 9, 2026 at 10:15 AM

[Technically this is a very large portion of the game.]

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TalkBack / Star Fox Gets Free Demo

« on: June 09, 2026, 07:35:00 AM »

Technically this is a very large portion of the game.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/75967/star-fox-gets-free-demo

During today's Nintendo Direct, a brief trailer for Star Fox (2026) was shown featuring some new footage of a few classic bosses. The big news however was that the game will receive a free demo later today. The demo will contain the training mode along with the first stage, Corneria Meteo. The full game releases later this month on the 25th.

[You don't need to bring any plastic figures.]

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TalkBack / Spyro Returns to Nintendo in 2027

« on: June 07, 2026, 10:03:00 AM »

You don't need to bring any plastic figures.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/75892/spyro-returns-to-nintendo-in-2027

After years of rumors Spyro the Dragon is finally making a return in a brand-new game. Spyro: A Realm Beyond takes flight on Switch 2 in spring of 2027. The game is being developed by Toys for Bob, the studio behind the Spyro Reignited Trilogy. The studio famously split from Activision becoming independent from Microsoft shortly after Microsoft reached a deal to acquire Activision.

[With a release date and everything.]

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TalkBack / Minecraft Dungeons 2 Announced for Switch 2

« on: June 07, 2026, 09:47:49 AM »

With a release date and everything.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/75889/minecraft-dungeons-2-announced-for-switch-2

The follow up to Minecraft Dungeons is coming to both Switch and Switch 2. Minecraft Dungeons 2 will release on both platforms on September 29, 2026.

[Complete with Offspring soundtrack.]

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TalkBack / Crazy Taxi World Tour Officially Switch 2 Bound

« on: June 07, 2026, 09:44:00 AM »

Complete with Offspring soundtrack.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/75888/crazy-taxi-world-tour-officially-switch-2-bound

After being previously teased by Sega, the new Crazy Taxi got a subtitle and official platform announcement at today's Xbox Showcase. Crazy Taxi World Tour will be coming to Switch 2 sometime in 2027.

The game's Steam page contains a required disclosure for the use of generative AI, which reads as follows:

At SEGA Corporation, we utilize generative AI as a support tool for developers, aiming to provide better content to our users and enable developers to focus more on creative tasks.

We have used such generative AI support tools during development of Crazy Taxi: World Tour. No AI was used in reference to the performers in the game.

[Straight from your local Xbox Nintendo Direct]

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TalkBack / Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember Announced for Switch 2

« on: June 07, 2026, 09:36:46 AM »

Straight from your local Xbox Nintendo Direct

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/75887/wo-long-2-wings-of-ember-announced-for-switch-2

Announced during today's Xbox Showcase. Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember was announced for Switch 2 alongside other platforms. No firm release date has been announced at this point beyond a general 2027. The Wo Long series comes from Koei Tecmo and blends souls-like progression with gameplay more in line with the Dynasty Warriors. The original Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty released in 2023 for Xbox and Playstation systems. This will be the series' first appearance Nintendo hardware.

[To infinity and beyond!]

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TalkBack / Classic Toy Story Games Coming to Switch and Switch 2

« on: June 02, 2026, 08:17:24 AM »

To infinity and beyond!

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/75798/classic-toy-story-games-coming-to-switch-and-switch-2

Atari has announced that Digital Eclipse will be releasing a collection of classic Toy Story video games alongside a remaster of the Toy Story 3 video game. They are scheduled for release on October 15, and will release in physical and digital forms on both Switch and Switch 2.

Toy Story: Retro Roundup! includes:

• Toy Story (1995: Super Nintendo, Genesis, Game Boy)
• A Bug's Life (1998: Game Boy Color, PlayStation)
• Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue (1999: PlayStation)
• Toy Story 2 (1999: Game Boy Color)
• Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2000: PlayStation, Game Boy Color)
• Toy Story Racer (2001: PlayStation, Game Boy Color)

Toy Story 3 Complete Edition, will be a modern remaster of 2010’s Toy Story 3.

[An RPG you can actually finish.]

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TalkBack / Tales of Arise (Switch 2) Review

« on: May 20, 2026, 08:34:35 AM »

An RPG you can actually finish.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/75634/tales-of-arise-switch-2-review

Confession time: I bought Tales of Arise shortly after it was released on Xbox. In all that time I only ever made it as far as the opening tutorial before getting distracted with review assignments or other releases. This Switch 2 release has finally been my excuse to actually put time into it, and has made me immediately regret waiting so long to play a game I’ve owned for years.

Tales of Arise is set on the planet of Dahna which has been conquered and enslaved by its neighboring planet, Rena. The story follows a mysterious young man initially known only as Iron Mask who finds himself working as a slave after losing all memory of his past life. Adding to this mystery is his inability to feel pain. When he is drawn into an encounter with a group of rebels and a Renan woman named Shionne, our hero is set on a quest to unseat the Renan lords who have taken control of the planet. In contrast to Iron Mask (he has a name but it feels like spoilers to say it) Shionne causes immediate harm to anyone who touches her. Their conveniently paired superpowers are played out in their personalities as well. Iron Mask is open and eager to help those in need. Shionne is closed off and lashes out at anyone who tries to get close. Their interpersonal writing is pretty hit or miss, they’ll seem pretty friendly with each other one moment and then be brutal enemies in the next scene. The overall story is quite good with some incredible character moments, especially for the additional party members who show up along the way. But individual character interactions for the leads are all over the place.

Gameplay in Tales of Arise is very linear. This is not some large open-world setting, or even a particularly wide hallway. Sidequests aren’t especially plentiful and generally do feel truly optional. I never found myself needing to grind and outside of the major boss fights, rarely found myself in real danger while playing on the standard difficulty. Tales of Arise seems much more interested in taking you on a narrative driven adventure than presenting you with a world to explore. This isn’t a bad thing, and it makes it pretty easy to do everything there is to do in each area if you’re a completionist. Customization is limited to a pretty expansive upgrade tree and a weapon and/or armor set for each region. This isn’t an especially deep RPG but I’m perfectly fine with that. As a result the story moves along at a very satisfying rate and you never spend too long in any one place.

The world itself is separated into small map segments, similar to something like the Ys series. Loading times between them are generally very short, but I did find that it made navigation somewhat difficult, especially in towns. Because the maps are always displayed individually rather than stitched together, I had a hard time getting a sense of where anything was in relation to anything else. It's not too bad when you’re out in the field, as you generally have only one or two directions you can possibly go, but a few of the more labyrinthian environments can get frustrating.

Like prior Tales games, combat is in real time, though you do transport upon encounters to a bespoke environment rather than fighting directly on the field. Combat starts very simple, with a focus on building combos between air and ground attacks. As you recruit additional party members, making use of each one’s abilities makes combat much more engaging. For example, one character can interrupt enemies attempting to cast magic. Another can break enemy shields. Watching for openings for other characters while directly managing your own can be a handful, but just gets more and more compelling the more abilities you unlock.

The Switch 2 delivers Tales of Arise competently if not flawlessly. Image quality looks good both docked and handheld. It helps that by design Tales of Arise has a stylized over sharpened presentation on all platforms. Some sort of edge based sharpening and contrast filter is applied to the game that gives the subtle impression of outlines. The end result is something that at times can look almost like an illustration or painting. Frame rate can however be an issue. It rarely gets below thirty but it fluctuates all over the place from being locked at thirty to being seemingly unlocked for random moments. A proper cap would do wonders for perceived fluidity. That being said, the overall presentation of Tales of Arise is excellent and a huge leap over previous entries. One of the advantages of having small segmented maps is that a lot of detail can be worked into each one, and the developers have clearly taken advantage of that. This is a very good looking game rich in stylistic flourishes.

Tales of Arise is a straight forward RPG that places narrative above mechanical depth or a grand world. There are times where that can be a little boring, as you’re railroaded from one story point to the next. At the same time that story is good enough that I was genuinely eager to see what would happen next. Combat is exciting and only improves as your options expand. The Switch 2 version has some issues in the frame rate department (though in fairness it wasn’t perfectly smooth on other platforms either). But the actual image quality and presentation remain as excellent as they were when this launched on other platforms. While it won’t be your next 100-hour epic, Tales of Arise provides an excellent, condensed, RPG experience both docked and on the go.

[Nintendo finally made a Switch 2 game.]

18

TalkBack / Star Fox (Switch 2) Technical Preview

« on: May 08, 2026, 05:06:31 AM »

Nintendo finally made a Switch 2 game.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/75490/star-fox-switch-2-technical-preview

[Now what?]

19

TalkBack / So You Made Star Fox Popular.

« on: April 10, 2026, 05:01:21 AM »

Now what?

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/75135/so-you-made-star-fox-popular

After a decade of obscurity, an appearance in the Super Mario Galaxy Movie has brought Star Fox back to the forefront. So how will Nintendo capitalize on this momentum? Join us to explore the three avenues Nintendo has to turn Fox's moment in the spotlight, into a revival for the series.

[A great game with one significant caveat.]

20

TalkBack / South of Midnight (Switch 2) Review

« on: March 31, 2026, 07:00:00 AM »

A great game with one significant caveat.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/74993/south-of-midnight-switch-2-review

When South of Midnight released as an Xbox and PC exclusive last year, I played through the first few chapters and enjoyed what I played, but I got pulled away for a review and just never got around to going back. So I was excited to jump back in with the Switch 2 port. While the port itself has some issues that need to be addressed, I’m very glad to have finally rolled credits on this excellent adventure game.

You play as Hazel Flood, a recently graduated track star who finds herself a little directionless. When a hurricane hits her town, her home is washed away with her mother trapped inside. As she struggles to chase it down and save her mom, Hazel awakens a magical power within her. Her powers allow her to see physical manifestations of pain, suffering, anger, and regret. But they also allow her to unravel it, helping people through their oftentimes dark and disturbing pasts. At its core, South of Midnight is a game about reckoning with our own darkness, and coming to terms with both the good and bad in the world around us. The story is accentuated by a gradual but highly effective shift in the world Hazel explores. What starts as a stylized but still believable take on the deep south of the United States of America, gradually transforms into a land inspired by American folklore. The world around you becomes stranger until, by the end, it is entirely otherworldly and unrecognizable. I cannot emphasize enough how impactful and engaging the story is. Hazel does chatter a bit much during moment to moment gameplay, narrating everything around her, but she’s an endearing character, and the stories she gets tangled up in are heartfelt with some genuinely great performances.

The story is split into chapters that cover largely linear environments, though there are ample opportunities to break off and hunt down additional experience points and health upgrades. Levels have a strong focus on 3D platforming and exploration. Hazel’s jump feels a little loose at first, though added abilities gained later make the platforming significantly less punishing with the addition of a double jump, a dash, and a glide. Combat is relegated to enclosed kill rooms, in which Hazel will be set upon by a few waves of enemies before being able to move on. The combat mechanics themselves are reasonably satisfying if extremely basic. What got to me by the end was that combat never feels integrated into the level design. Instead, these kill rooms just grind the adventure to a halt. I’d have much rather encountered enemies wandering the level in a more natural way. As is, they’re a constant pause to progression, and by the end I found myself dreading them anytime I could see them coming up in the distance.

When playing docked, combat is at worst an annoyance, but in handheld mode, it can become a legitimate problem. The handheld experience for South of Midnight on Switch 2 needs some work. Image quality is hugely degraded over the docked experience. That would be fine, if it meant the game ran well, but it doesn’t. Combat nearly always induces frame rate drops and some of the more complex environments struggle to hit 30fps in moment to moment gameplay. The stylized decimated animation hides these issues somewhat during cutscenes, but it's hard not to feel them during actual gameplay. The game is Steam Deck verified so I would have expected better from the Switch 2 given that this is a bespoke version of the game on overall better hardware. The good news is that the docked experience is significantly better. It's not perfect, and I noticed a bout of slow down here and there, but it's not anything I would complain about. Image quality is also much better and compares favorably to other consoles.

But to save the best for last, I wanted to take a moment to call out the soundtrack specifically. The game borders on feeling like a legitimate musical. Fully lyrical songs accompany most major story beats. Oftentimes as you move through an area, unraveling its story, the music will mirror your own experience. Instruments build on top of each other, backing vocals gradually become present, and finally a lead singer joins in as everything clicks. It is fantastic. One boss fight in particular actually manages to synchronize the movements of the boss in one phase to the music, turning it into an actual game mechanic. The music itself is a blend of the fully orchestrated pieces you would expect along with jazz, soul, and folk. It says a lot about the soundtrack that when you pull it up on a streaming service, you’ll find it is split into three different albums to cover the different aspects of the score.

South of Midnight is a fantastic game in isolation that merely struggles with some poorly implemented combat. On Switch 2, that misstep is exacerbated by the addition of performance problems in handheld mode. If you’re playing docked I can largely recommend this version without apprehension, but it is hard to suggest to handheld focused players. What persists regardless is an incredible story that just gets better and weirder the longer you play. The whole thing is accompanied by one of my favorite video game soundtracks in years. If it weren’t for performance issues there would be very little to stop me from telling you to play this game. As is, the recommendation comes with the heavy caveat of where you’ll be playing. That being said, I do recommend you play South of Midnight, on whatever platform makes sense for you.

[This is important, this means something.]

21

TalkBack / Let's Talk About Fox McCloud in the Mario Galaxy Movie

« on: March 27, 2026, 05:14:19 AM »

This is important, this means something.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/74921/lets-talk-about-fox-mccloud-in-the-mario-galaxy-movie

[The best argument for mouse mode.]

22

TalkBack / Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun (Switch 2) Review

« on: March 16, 2026, 06:00:00 AM »

The best argument for mouse mode.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/74794/shadow-tactics-blades-of-the-shogun-switch-2-review

It's been a while since I’ve had as much trouble landing on a score for a game as I have with Shadow Tactics. Ultimately, a substantial factor in your enjoyment of this game will come down to how you’re playing it. Are you using a controller, or the Switch 2’s mouse mode?

Shadow Tactics is a real-time strategic stealth game. From an overhead view, you control a variety of unique units through large levels. Each unit has unique abilities that make them more suited for one situation or another. For example, your starting character can throw a shuriken to take out enemies silently from a distance. However, he’ll need to get to that fallen enemy and retrieve it before he can use it again. Another can lay traps on the ground for unsuspecting enemies to wander into, or draw them over with her flute. No one unit is overpowered, so you’ll need to take advantage of each to cover for the weaknesses of the others.

This is a game that expects you to fail, a lot. There is very little margin for error, even compared to other stealth games. Every move through a crowded area, or enemy killed without detection feels like immediate cause for a quicksave. In fact an on screen prompt appears anytime it's been more than a minute since you saved. When playing in mouse mode the SR and SL buttons on the non-mouse Joy-Con are mapped to quicksave and quickload respectively. It is a very clear indicator that Shadow Tactics wants you to try things, fail, and immediately have another go.  It is a gameplay loop that can very quickly become frustrating, especially if you feel you’re struggling more with controller mapping than level design.

My first experience with Shadow Tactics was with the Switch 2 Pro Controller. I felt the game was clunky, awkward, and just not fun to play. As I pushed through, I decided to try out the mouse mode, and it transformed the game. In an instant, the game changed from endless button combos and radial menus to a straightforward interface. If I wanted to use an ability I could simply click it, or push its associated hotkey on the opposite Joy-Con. It felt like playing with a mouse and keyboard. It was immediately clear that this is how Shadow Tactics was built to be played. Suddenly I had no trouble quickly swapping between characters to pull off complex combo actions. I had an easier time navigating the map, and as a result, a better awareness of enemy patrol patterns. Don’t get me wrong, Shadow Tactics is still a difficult game, but in mouse mode it becomes a satisfying difficulty rather than a frustrating one.

One thing that mouse mode doesn’t clear up is some uneven difficulty scaling. Difficulty spikes abound in odd places. For example, I’d argue that the opening level is more difficult than the next couple that follow it. It can also be somewhat vague what exactly an enemy can see or not at any given time. You can drop a marker on the ground to highlight any time an enemy can see that spot, but that will include a segment of their viewcone that won’t see you if you’re crouched. But you can’t always see the viewcone of every enemy at all times making the marker more or less useless. Visibility based on height is also vague and seemingly inconsistent. In one stage I could hop between carts and be completely invisible, whereas in other stages I could be easily spotted on the roof of a building.

There is plenty of fun to be had with Shadow Tactics but be prepared for a lot of trial and error. Playing with the standard controller setup I found to be frustrating, and nearly caused me to put the game down. On the other hand, Shadow Tactics may just be the best argument we’ve seen yet for mouse mode on Switch 2. It is transformative to the point that I almost feel like the game ought to specifically recommend it to the player on startup. Underneath all of that is an interesting, though at times inconsistent, stealth game full of unique characters and scenarios. Just be sure to have a clear surface available mouse mode and plenty of patience as you whittle away at the challenge.

[Yeah sure okay.]

23

TalkBack / Tokyo Scramble (Switch 2) Review

« on: February 11, 2026, 05:00:00 AM »

Yeah sure okay.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/74294/tokyo-scramble-switch-2-review

The one thing no one can accuse Tokyo Scramble of being, is unoriginal in its premise. You play as a young girl who, after a subway crash, finds herself trapped deep underground. As she comes to and begins looking for a way out, she quickly discovers that this subterranean environment is inhabited by dinosaurs.

Progression is level based with most levels consisting of one or two large rooms. Your goal is to sneak your way past wandering enemies and out the other side. Every stage or two will introduce a new monster, ranging from fairly straightforward dinosaurs, to giant bugs and bats. Each creature theoretically has a unique mechanic; however, in practice, a lot of them just amount to being an enemy that will see you and run after you. That’s the biggest struggle Tokyo Scramble faces. While the premise is wild, the actual execution just isn’t very interesting. There is a lot of enemy variety visually, but your method for dealing with them rarely evolves in any real way. The stealth mechanics blend both visual and auditory detection and each works reasonably well. Though it can be difficult to determine exactly what the detection range of enemies is, which makes the stealth feel a little loose.

Your only companion as you journey through the underground is your smart watch, which can be used to interact with various environmental objects. Signs can be lit up, escalators activated, and fire alarms pulled. These interactions generally serve as distractions or traps for enemies. That said, I found that I had to use them exactly as the game intended with very little margin for creativity. For example, the escalator can be activated to trap a certain kind of dinosaur on an endless treadmill. I first tried to do this by getting the dinosaur to chase me up an escalator then activating once it stepped on, only for it to ignore the movement on the steps entirely. Rather it has to notice the escalator while off of it and trigger a pre-scripted animation to step onto it and be trapped. There is a trend throughout the experience of not just understanding what an interaction does, but needing to figure out how the game wants you to use that function specifically. Your watch also has a flash function with a limited number of charges which can be used to briefly stun pursuing enemies. I found myself falling back on this mechanic rather than fiddling with the other interactive parts of the environment, which was unfortunate as the game clearly wanted me to engage with that puzzle element. It just wasn’t fun.

Visually, Tokyo Scramble can be a little bland. The monsters themselves all look very good, and animate well. It is clear that they are where the majority of the effort has been placed. Environments by comparison are very flat with largely pre-baked lighting that doesn’t feel like it's pushing the hardware in the slightest. On the bright side, that means performance is smooth and the image is reasonably sharp.

Tokyo Scramble has a wild, if somewhat nonsensical pitch, that unfortunately doesn’t translate to a very good game. It neither uses its premise to create a unique stealth experience, nor does it lean into its own ridiculousness enough to be compellingly campy. There is a nice attempt at enemy variety, and an honest effort at puzzle-based stealth, but it just never comes together. There are moments where you can see what Tokyo Scramble was aiming for, but what you’re left with is a remarkably mediocre stealth experience.

[An improvement with some lingering awkwardness.]

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TalkBack / Abxylute N6 Switch 2 Handheld Controller Grip Review

« on: March 10, 2026, 07:19:18 AM »

An improvement with some lingering awkwardness.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/74721/abxylute-n6-switch-2-handheld-controller-grip-review

[How long can he spend on a very short demo?]

25

TalkBack / John Plays New Star Fox-like from Original Star Fox Designer

« on: February 24, 2026, 04:01:23 AM »

How long can he spend on a very short demo?

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/74516/john-plays-new-star-fox-like-from-original-star-fox-designer

The local Star Fox nerd sits down with Wild Blue Skies, the new Star Fox inspired title from Giles Goddard and Chuhai Labs.