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[Love the nostalgia-fueled visuals, but I wish Jack wasn't such a mouse about town.]

1

TalkBack / Mouse: P.I. for Hire (Switch 2) Review

« on: April 29, 2026, 11:55:18 AM »

Love the nostalgia-fueled visuals, but I wish Jack wasn't such a mouse about town.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/75403/mouse-pi-for-hire-switch-2-review

We didn't all grow up with them, but black and white cartoons like Betty Boop and Mickey Mouse's Steamboat Willie never cease to tickle the nostalgia strings for a time long past. The runaway success of Cuphead can be partly, if not primarily, attributed to its retro cartoon aesthetic, and so games coming after with a similar art style were going to draw their fair share of comically large blinking eyes. Mouse: P.I. for Hire arrived with a bang, fired from its hardboiled protagonist's pistol, but it's all boomer shooter in terms of the minute-to-minute gameplay. While the visuals and voices continually captivate, the narrative loop of driving to a new area and then returning to the office turns to stale cheese after half a dozen hours.

As private detective Jack Pepper, you work towards solving a growing web of capers spreading across the city of Mouseburg. The plot sees Jack encountering a variety of friendly and seedy folks who offer banter, side missions, or information, and the voicework of Troy Baker as Jack and then the rest of the cast bring the world and its furry denizens to life. The writing is genuine and intriguing, helping to make you feel transported to its crime noir setting. Of course, the fact that nearly everyone you meet is a mouse, rat, or shrew gives the dialogue a contrasting irony that works well.

With a new lead in mind, Jack hops into his automobile and rolls around town to the next unlocked destination, which includes an opera, a subway, a laboratory and others. The stages are quite linear aside from a couple hidden secrets or areas, but I wish the incentive to explore were stronger. Of the hidden cash, ammo, and blueprints you find, only the lattermost feels meaningful since they allow you to upgrade your weapons. Completionists will have fun seeking out all the baseball cards, newspapers, and comic strips to collect, but these can also be purchased with the extra cash you pick up. The baseball minigame that uses the cards you acquire didn't do much to hold my attention, and so back to shooting bad guys I went

The shooting gameplay feels pretty good overall, with a decent variety of enemies and weapons. The boss fights are particularly engaging and pretty tough, and I found myself wishing there were more of them because of how they offered a more novel encounter than the repetitive loop of the stages and their “kill room” design. One involves dodging a robot's rotating laser beams and then ducking behind bulletproof glass to avoid an even more devastating blast. Along the way, Jack does acquire a handful of movement abilities, like a propeller tail to float across gaps and a grapple tail to swing on hooks, but these felt gimmicky rather than additive. One use of the mouse tail I did look forward to was the lock-picking minigame attached to some locked doors and loot boxes, some of which involved a time limit or a set number of moves. I also have to shout out the Devarnisher weapon for its ability to make quick work of enemies by coating and then disintegrating them, often with a single shot.

There's a sweet spot in terms of length for a game like this, and Mouse: P.I. extends a bit too far into golden time such that the returns are diminishing. Because of the overworld and individual stages, the narrative is tasked with giving the game cohesion, a task that is largely successful. The flip side of this equation is that the stages themselves are less memorable because of how they play out in such a similar way. The ones that end without a boss fight always felt like a letdown, a feeling of “That's it?” Fewer, more intricate stages, or possibly fewer trips back to the office with more story doled out each time would create a more consistent experience.

Mouse: P.I. for Hire contains an excellent 6 to 8-hour game that's trapped in the body of a good 10 to 15-hour game. Despite its memorable, eye-catching art style, the lack of color ends up being another factor that makes the length less sustainable. Fortunately, excellent performances from the voice cast and compelling writing give Mouseburg a charming character all its own. Solid first-person shooter gameplay and unique bosses make it easy to recommend for fans of the genre, especially those who don't mind the extended experience. Switch 2 players may particularly enjoy mouse mode, a fitting way to play, but there is some stuttering in Performance mode, which aims at 60 fps. If you love a good trenchcoat-clad, heat-packing hero with a wit as sharp as his cheese, go ahead and hire this mouse to take a sharp-toothed bite out of crime.

[If you miss biting your NES controller in anger, have I got a game for you.]

2

TalkBack / Saint Slayer: Spear of Sacrilege (Switch) Review

« on: April 17, 2026, 06:00:00 AM »

If you miss biting your NES controller in anger, have I got a game for you.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/75208/saint-slayer-spear-of-sacrilege-switch-review

Surely I'm not the only one whose childhood NES controllers took an absolute beating during sessions of Ninja Gaiden 2, Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link, and Ghosts ‘N Goblins. Should you find yourself in search of such classic challenges, look no further than Saint Slayer: Spear of Sacrilege, a game that looks and plays like it's straight outta the ‘80s. Choose any of the aforementioned titles and throw in a dash of Castlevania and you'll know exactly what to expect from this stage-based action-platformer, but some frustrating design choices make it as much sacrilege as saint.

As former soldier Rudiger, your gore-soaked mission is to save the Holy Roman Empire from Father Pacer, a man wholly consumed by corruption. Across 21 side-scrolling levels, you disembowel and dismember all manner of cursed creatures and spirits, with Rudiger gradually upgrading the titular spear and his physical abilities. The slow walking speed and stiff jump mechanics can make traversal and platforming harder than it needs to be, and this problem is compounded by the fact that the stages have no checkpoints and death sends you all the way back to the beginning of the level.

The largely melee-focused combat feels good, and after gaining the ability to throw your spear, you can pick up power-ups to change its effect as a projectile.  What's less enjoyable is that you only get three tosses until you find a rare item to increase this limit, and so unlike in a Castlevania where you can rack up dozens of hearts to fuel your sub-weapon-centric dreams, you'll more often want to hang on to your spear toss charges for tougher enemies or bosses. That said, I did appreciate how plentiful the health pickups were, because boy did I need them.

Saint Slayer never gets too close to the notoriously punishing Silver Surfer for NES, but there were moments when I experienced comparable feelings of rage at some of the obstacles. The boss fights are a cake walk compared to the different environmental hazards, narrow jumps, and randomly appearing enemies. Because the bosses are their own stage, it's great to be able to quickly retry them when you lose a life, or via the in-game password menu, but only a couple were memorable, like a librarian that protected herself with books in a fight reminiscent of Mega Man's Yellow Devil.      Some more novel moments included an entire level where you need to propel a gondola forward by striking its gear, all the while fending off airborne foes on both sides.

A baffling element of Saint Slayer is a merchant and her tent that appear in every non-boss stage, something normally seen as a very welcome sight. Instead, from very early on, you realize that the currency the shop requires is incredibly rare, such that spending it on purchases like health or even a continue would be wasteful compared to a hint for the game's collectible artifacts or an increase to your life or spear stamina meters. I ended up never using the shop once but can see how it would be more helpful on return playthroughs as you work towards unlocking the game's multiple endings.

A couple of aesthetic aspects hit hard in terms of blending nostalgia with more contemporary vibrancy. Nods to the aforementioned NES games and others show reverence but also play with those classic conventions. It's clear that Saint Slayer is having fun with our expectations of the genre. One specific example is in the rotten fish that can pop out of breakable torches, causing Rudiger to puke his guts out and lose a point of HP. Another is in the way your old corpse can appear right where you gave up the ghost, both taunting you and perhaps reminding you to tread more carefully. The map screen that pops up every few stages is a clear homage to Ghosts ‘N Goblins, and I'm a sucker for all of it.

Pushing through some of the more devious sections, I felt a sound sense of accomplishment in rolling credits on Saint Slayer: Spear of Sacrilege, in all its alliterative glory. In more ways than one, it's not for the faint of heart, but those seeking a retro-style challenge in 8-bit packaging will very likely enjoy the ride. While not all of its design choices land flush, the overall journey makes for a fun afternoon. A co-op mode made me wonder whom I might subject to this punishing experience, but once through was enough for me to hit my cursing quota for the year.

[A music-themed RPG that definitely hits the notes, both high and low.]

3

TalkBack / People of Note (Switch 2) Review

« on: April 07, 2026, 05:00:00 AM »

A music-themed RPG that definitely hits the notes, both high and low.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/75100/people-of-note-switch-2-review

From Publisher Annapurna Interactive comes turn-based RPG People of Note, which dials up the volume to 11 with its musical theme, wordplay, and score. As protagonist Cadence, who aspires to bring her pop music to the world, you have to travel the world of Note to bring a band together from different musical genres to help Cadence eventually take center stage. Across a variety of environments and cities, Cadence and her crew fight not only to realize her dreams but also to ensure that Note's peace and music survive. I just wish I had a better sense of who the bad guys are.

The story and voiced dialogue, including full music video-style performances, start slow but rise closer to a crescendo as the adventure progresses. I wasn't sold on the heavy purple and neon theming of the game's first chapter, but the color palette shifts with each new environment, which imbues the world with more life than the fairly flavorless NPCs manage to offer. As the cast grows, I had hoped to see more emotional beats among them, but only a handful ended up sticking with me. One pair I did enjoy was that of your first primary partner, Fret, and his old buddy-turned-nemesis Freq (or Quincy, get it?). The second major area of the game, a desert landscape, sees Cadence looking to recruit someone with a different flavor of music compared to her pop stylings, and after some convincing, rocker Fret joins the team. The first shared objective for the pair is to root out the trouble afflicting Fret’s home, which leads to a confrontation with Freq and a charged walk down memory lane for the pair of guitarists.

My impressions were more pronounced for the dungeons, combat, and progression. People of Note largely plays the same beat throughout its runtime when it comes to its plot line, with a city visit, key character encounter, and then a dungeon dive as the order of operations. Familiar button and switch puzzles offer some light brainteasing in conjunction with a handful of out-of-combat abilities. One of the more interesting mental tests is puzzle battles that require you to eliminate all enemies within a set number of turns; these essentially require perfection and thus a mastery of your party members moves and the combat system itself.

The turn-based battles involve a number of neat quirks that employ musical staff, including time signature, stanzas, and bars, which represent turns and can be manipulated by your party and the opposition. My relatively lapsed knowledge of musical composition put me at a bit of a deficit; People of Note throws a lot at you in short order, and I did find myself perusing the tutorials from the menu as a way of trying to figure out what was holding me back. Fortunately, if and when you do lose to one of the damage-sponge bosses, you can quickly grind a few levels for your party with the generous EXP awarded and the ability to summon a random encounter at the press of a button.

Unfortunately, even though there are timed button presses for attacks and special attacks and all of the musical presentation elements, the combat drags. Other than powerful mash-up moves that become available once a pair of characters have their meter filled up, it just takes too long to do the way too much damage needed to secure victory. Winning a fight feels more like it depends on your stats/level and having the best gear than it does effective strategy and decision making. The lack of timed defense is an odd omission, and the way that certain rounds benefit some party members over others feels like an unnecessary complication. There are some genuinely good ideas around the battle system, but the end result is more of a cacophony than a symphony.

Although it may strike a chord with those who really love its theme and aesthetic, People of Note plays it a bit more monotone than I had hoped. The few high notes aren't able to fully compensate for the safe storytelling and narrative design, and the combat waffles too much between tedious and novel. That said, I couldn't help but feel taken by the game's commitment to being a music-themed adventure; constant puns and shake-ups to the combat mechanics gave me a genuine sense of joy. There wasn't enough momentum, however, to sustain those positive vibes, and I was left wanting to just roll credits in double time rather than slowing down the beat and soaking it all in.

[A heartfelt journey through gorgeous natural environments.]

4

TalkBack / Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Switch 2) Review

« on: March 26, 2026, 06:00:00 AM »

A heartfelt journey through gorgeous natural environments.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/74916/kena-bridge-of-spirits-switch-2-review

Kena: Bridge of Spirits is one of only a few former PlayStation exclusive titles to make their way to Nintendo, but this one waited specifically for Switch 2–and for good reason. Its lush forest environments, especially during rainy sequences, look amazing, and it's hard not to stare at the breathtaking art and scenery of the game as you make your way through. While the gameplay of Kena serves it well enough, the heart of its story and the beauty of its visuals are the real standouts.

Kena is on a journey to find a sacred mountain shrine and comes upon an abandoned village that has been overtaken by corruption. By collecting little (oddly named) Rot spirits, she can manipulate the environment and even turn the tide of battle in order to bring balance back to the world. Gameplay will be familiar to fans of other PlayStation 3rd-person action titles like God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn, with Bridge of Spirits being lighter fare but with some of the same challenge, both in terms of puzzles and combat. There's lots to collect in terms of the Rot themselves, hats for them to wear, and currency to upgrade Kena's abilities.

Across a medium-size map, Kena will encounter spirits and other humans who guide her towards eliminating the corruption that has blocked paths and disrupted life in the village. Armed at first with just a staff and the ability to use her Rot to ensnare enemies and open up paths, eventually she acquires a bow, expands her health meter, and adds powers like creating a healing flower. Five difficulty levels allow players to customize the experience, but even the default setting offers a good challenge across many of the boss encounters.

Careful observation of your surroundings is needed to complete puzzles and figure out how to move forward. While your trusty map does indicate points of interest, including warp stones, each new section of the world brings with it new obstacles to navigate. Sometimes you'll need to command your Rot followers to pick up a stone to create a pedestal from which you can activate spread out beacons to open a door forward. When the bow is eventually in hand, you can use it to shoot certain flowers to hookshot you up to higher ground. Activating pillars in a particular order or defeating waves of enemies before purifying the battleground are a few more of the sequences you'll encounter, all of which culminate in a familiar but enjoyable romp.

Where Kena stumbles just a bit is in terms of its controls, movement, and repetition. Another Rot mechanic sees the lot of them transform into a dragon-like entity that you guide with one stick while controlling Kena with the other, and these moments never felt responsive or satisfying. At other times, there are ledges, hills, and platforms that it feels like you should be able to traverse, but instead the game just pushes you away, forcing you to find another way around. Even though the aesthetic of Bridge of Spirits is quite attractive, the forest spaces do blend in with one another, making me wish for a bit more visual variety, in spite of how beautiful these places are.

There are some truly heartfelt moments that Kena witnesses in her journey to the sacred mountain shrine. One of these involves a pair of children who serve as guides to you early on as they search for their older brother. The conclusion of their story arc was one that genuinely choked me up, all the more so because the cutscenes are so evocative and gorgeously animated. Changes between day and night time throughout the game contribute equally to it being in moments ominous but also tranquil. The balance that Bridge of Spirits manages to achieve in terms of tone is an impressive one.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits had long been on my radar as I held out hope for a future Switch port. It took the power of the Switch 2 to make that a reality, but there's no doubt that the fidelity of the visual experience was worth the wait. Bridge of Spirits isn't overly unique in its gameplay, but it compensates for that with a charming story and beautiful environments. Even in handheld mode, the game holds up well and the charm remains intact. Kena: Bridge of Spirits doesn't outstay its welcome, and with luck it will continue the practice of what were once PlayStation exclusives finding a home on Nintendo platforms.

[A brick breaker that breaks new ground.]

5

TalkBack / Chico's Rebound (Switch) Review

« on: March 26, 2026, 04:00:00 AM »

A brick breaker that breaks new ground.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/74917/chicos-rebound-switch-review

Chico's Rebound is a charming Brick Breaker-style game with adventure and puzzle elements. It starts off with simple stages that will be familiar to any Arkanoid player, but the difficulty and variety ramp up quickly, making for a satisfying challenge overall. While its retro presentation harkens back to the days of the NES, the tweaks to a familiar genre make Chico's journey feel unique.

In 2025, Ball X Pit took Brick Breaker gameplay and added roguelite progression to it; Chico's Rebound opts for a multi-floor tower with individual stages, boss fights, and puzzles you need to solve to progress. There's an initial approachability that makes it easy to get hooked in, but very quickly the bricks you need to break turn into patches of grass to be burned, seeds to be watered, and bombs to be detonated. By the third floor, I was already scratching my head and needing a few retries to finish every level.

The signature mechanics of Chico's Rebound distinguish it from other Brick Breaker clones, and these include the ability to gather Chico's ball (or walnut, in this case) and aim it wherever you choose, and the power to swing your tail to ricochet the ball so that you can keep the play going and potentially build up a score multiplier, which you'll need to do in order to keep exploring the tower.

There are four types of currencies to collect, two of which allow you to keep moving up and up the tower. Keys won by solving puzzles act as intended, but each level also allows you to earn up to two coins that open up new stages and boss doors, with one coin awarded for simple completion and the other for reaching the high score target. Nearly every target score requires that you take advantage of an aforementioned mechanic: namely, the fact that the longer you keep the ball from getting past you, the higher your score multiplier (to a max of 10x). In a tough spot, you can also perform a desperation leap to try and prevent the walnut from slipping behind you and costing you one of your three lives. Optional gems open up bonus stages that really test your abilities, in addition to your patience, and the plentiful sunflower seeds you gather can be spent on cosmetics to change the appearance of menus or even Chico's walnut.

The boss fights are genuinely novel and exciting, requiring all of the skill you've built up and mastery of the power-ups you encounter. One such fight takes place on a desert tile set against a skeletal octopus, and you need to alternate between water shots that grow plants and fire shots that ignite them and leave the boss vulnerable for a few seconds. Another tasks you with knocking a bomb-tossing villain off a ledge while contending with an ever growing wall of bricks that seek to shield him. It may actually help that you effectively need to have shown enough aptitude for the game to have earned two coins in most levels to unlock the boss doors because you're gonna need that practice. One of the later bosses had an annoying bug where a grinding sound would continue to play if you failed the fight and had to restart, but that was the only real issue I encountered during my time with the game.

One look at Chico's Rebound tickled the 8-bit nostalgia strings of this ‘80s kid, but I found a surprising amount of depth the more I played. There's a light story and some cute characters, but these are window dressing for a challenging and satisfying block-breaking adventure that doesn't overstay its welcome. Even if you're only lightly interested in the genre, Chico's Rebound is a standout that's well worth a look.

[A little angel and her demon protector.]

6

TalkBack / DAMON and BABY (Switch) Review-In-Progress

« on: March 22, 2026, 04:00:00 PM »

A little angel and her demon protector.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/74811/damon-and-baby-switch-review-in-progress

From Arc System Works comes a quirky Zelda-like with twin-stick shooter gameplay and a vibrant art style. DAMON and BABY feels something like Oceanhorn or TUNIC but with the aesthetic that Arc System Works is known for, and after some initial friction with the controls, I found myself compelled to push further into this unique action-adventure. It will come as no surprise that the premise of a baby riding on the shoulders of a demon invites a healthy dose of comedy, which shines through in the game’s dialogue, but there’s a novelty to the world and a mostly effective sense of progression that’s pushing me forward. At present, I’m about 5-7 hours into DAMON and BABY, so here’s what I think so far for this review-in-progress.

The story centers on a prospective demon overlord named Damon who has grand aspirations to become a leader of the demon realm. After the father of a young baby passes away, Damon is entrusted with the child’s safety, but there’s more to her than meets the eye, and this appears to be one of the central mysteries of the game. Immediately after the tutorial dungeon, you end up in a small desert town where the story unfolds a bit more and you’re charged with finding out why demons are running amok and figuring out what’s happened with an individual referred to as the Lord. Damon himself never shies away from cracking a joke–many of the 4th wall-breaking variety–but the humor fits well in this pseudo-real world setting. Eventually you meet different human shopkeepers and mapmakers, and then monstrous creatures also that seem imposing but end up introducing new mechanics and abilities.

In true Zelda fashion, especially titles like the original Legend of Zelda and A Link to the Past, Damon encounters obstacles on his path that require exploration to find a way forward. Typically, these involve gaining a new physical ability, like a stomp, double jump, or wall climb, but also familiar tools like bombs. In addition to a standard slash attack (which locks on to the enemy for easier sniping), the twin-stick shooting mechanics see Damon gain access to a machine gun and shotgun with limited ammo to complement his standard handgun with unlimited bullets. While it’s nice to have a few different weapons to choose from for the fights you encounter–machine guns do really well when trying to clear a room of weaker foes, for instance–the guns and their ammo represent one of the main issues with DAMON and BABY: itemization.

The world of DAMON and BABY is filled with closets, cabinets, dressers, and boxes full of items–these include ingredients for cooking, guns and gloves for combat, and tokens that you hold in your backpack to boost your stats. You’re constantly picking up new stuff, but you’re very limited in what you can carry as the starting backpack and the initial save room storage chest are incredibly small. Upgrades to both containers are costly, and having to pay for fast travel points ultimately means less access back to town to sell your extra goods. What this creates is an early-game cycle where you may have to just constantly drop what you’re holding to create space or ignore loot you come across rather than save it for later. In a survival game like Resident Evil, the tension of not having what you need and the strategy of managing your limited space fit with the genre; in an action-adventure that encourages exploration, these storage limitations are just plain frustrating.

Another problem is the survivability of Damon and the auto-save system. If you don’t have enough healing items on hand, you won’t be bailed out by picking up hearts or their equivalent from defeated foes (you will find more ammunition than you can ever carry, though!); so it’s more or less a necessity to keep ingredients with you for minor health restoration or make a point of gathering and hanging on to the food items you need for when you do end up in a kitchen space and can put on your chef hat. What may be worse is the auto-save system, which really only seems to save around the exact same time that you make a manual save.  You would think that either resting at a bench to restore your health or sleeping in a bed to both restore health and spend accrued ability points would function as an auto-save activation; you would be wrong. There’s no real reason why the auto-save shouldn’t happen more often.

With regards to gameplay, combat and movement largely feel good, after you get over the initial learning curve. Damon can throw the baby to teleport a short distance away, which in practice functions like a dash to traverse gaps or avoid attacks. Switching between guns and reloading them is fairly quick, but it’s annoying to not have an on-screen indicator of your total ammo reserves. The boss fights offer a fun challenge and have so far been distinct and with more of a top-down perspective, which is another nod to the twin-stick genre. The dungeons themselves can be annoying to navigate because of the way the camera can obscure paths and doors; this means you need to be thorough about checking every wall and corridor before moving too far forward, lest you end up running in circles and feeling you’re trapped in a maze.

There’s enough I’m enjoying about DAMON and BABY that I’m curious to see the experience through to the credits. Its use of familiar mechanics in a novel wrapping and the enticing aesthetic and presentation do help to smooth out some of the rougher edges mentioned above. At present, I’m hovering around a lukewarm recommendation, but check out Nintendo World Report dot com closer to the game’s March 25th release date for a final score update. In the meantime, DAMON and BABY does have an eShop demo with progress that carries over to the full game, so check out for yourself how it feels to play as this devilish cute duo ahead of launch.

[Etrange-r than fiction.]

7

TalkBack / Etrange Overlord (Switch) Review

« on: March 19, 2026, 05:00:00 AM »

Etrange-r than fiction.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/74809/etrange-overlord-switch-review

Etrange Overlord is an action-RPG with an interesting hook and a story and dialogue that are certainly an acquired taste. Courtesy of Sohei Niikawa, creator of the Disgaea games, Etrange Overlord takes you through Heaven and Hell on the titular protagonist's journey to become ruler of all. Its most unique feature is a revolving lane that brings items, power-ups, and tools around each stage, but is that novel mechanic enough to earn a recommendation from us?

I hope you like Japanese musical performances in your game because heroine Etrange never misses an opportunity to put on a performance. What's funny is a menu prompt that asks if you want to skip each musical interlude before it comes on screen, which makes me think even the folks making the game thought these events might be too common. At its core, though, Etrange Overlord is a stage-based, button-mashy RPG with a lightly explorable overworld and fairly simple progression mechanics. The first world, Hell, is subdivided into a handful of areas, with completion of the newest stage opening up the next one. A handful of boss battles pop up along the way, which are much more involved and complex than the normal stages.

Every stage has a slightly different flavor but falls into one of a few categories. After choosing up to four characters from your ever-expanding cast (and sometimes being forced to take or leave behind certain ones), you'll typically face one or more waves of foes or need to survive or protect a target for a set amount of time. Capture the flag and Fort Knox-style stages add variety, but the former feel particularly tricky if you're not playing multiplayer and instead have to rely on your CPU squadmates. In every one of these levels is a rotating track or lane that revolves constantly while carrying items that boost your attack, activate your special move, or heal you. You can also find energy tokens to power up machines like turrets or bombs that can be held above you and thrown at enemies. If you imagine a conveyor belt sushi restaurant, you've got an idea, but in some cases there are also platforms on the track that you can ride across gaps to safety or into the fray. It's a neat gimmick overall, but the button to board the aforementioned platforms being the same as your character's dash ability is frustrating.

While there's some decent enemy and objective variety in the normal levels, at times you'll run into major difficulty spikes. These can force you back to the drawing board, which in this case means returning to base and using your accrued funds and materials to level up the attack power of your party members, boost the proficiency of the lane items, or craft dishes that offer a set of temporary buffs based on recipes you find on the overworld map. I found success early on by leveling up Etrange and her projectile basic attack, but eventually you run into a cap that can only be raised by completing missions, including side story cutscenes, or going back to old stages and finishing off their secondary objectives, like winning without having a teammate get KO'ed. What dampens the enjoyment of any grinding is the fact that every character only has an attack, a dash, and a special attack that requires an item you pick up from the lane; it's overly simple and quickly becomes tedious, but it does encourage you to swap to different characters for the diversity.

Returning to the narrative elements of Etrange Overlord, there's an awful lot of chatter before and after the normal stages in particular, and that's not factoring in the previously mentioned music scenes. One cutscene before a major boss fight features a back and forth conversation that must have lasted more than five minutes, and while I'm sure the playful banter back and forth on display does have an audience, I was much more interested in the core gameplay and less so the window dressing and plot.

The repetitiveness of the gameplay loop is certainly less of an issue in short bursts, which is how I would approach Etrange Overlord, but I can't help but feel strangely compelled by the lane system and the strategy needed to survive some of the more diabolical challenges, like holding a key aloft until it finishes materializing, all while avoiding enemies attack from every direction. Those moments are the ones that drew me in, even if the aesthetic and story elements held little appeal for me. If you're into the art style and don't mind Etrange's constant need to be the center of attention, you may find an interesting time-sink type of action-RPG. If you're more put off by the anime-style storytelling, chibi-looking characters and combat mechanics that lack real depth, I'd say skip this one, just like I ended up skipping Etrange’s musical numbers.

[It ain't easy, but I'm doing my part.]

8

TalkBack / Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War (Switch 2) Review

« on: March 16, 2026, 08:00:00 AM »

It ain't easy, but I'm doing my part.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/74806/starship-troopers-ultimate-bug-war-switch-2-review

Starship Troopers was a seminal film from my youth; all of my friends and I had seen it in theaters and then countless times on VHS. I'll always have a fondness for the property, and so the announcement of an indie first-person shooter set in that universe was one that definitely caught my eye. It turns out that my time with Ultimate Bug War coincides with my online gaming group getting into Helldivers 2, so I've enjoyed my fair share of bug busting the last couple weeks. An interesting wrapping and decent gameplay make for a good time while it lasts, but some rough edges take a bit of the “boom” out of this boomer shooter.

The premise is that you're playing a character in a video game simulation, which is meant to train and/or discover capable soldiers to join the war effort for the Federation. You play as Samantha Dietz–Sammy, to her comrades–and it's your job to lead the war effort across eight separate missions. Each stage has a variety of objectives to complete that are spread out across a medium-size map, with plenty of chatter over the coms between squadmates. One of the real standouts narrative-wise is the cutscene interstitials between missions that function like 4th-wall breaking propaganda hosted primarily by Johnny Rico himself, now an eye-patch wearing commander but still unmistakably cool as only Casper Van Dien can be.

Gameplay leans heavily into classic FPS titles like Doom, with a variety of guns that increases the deeper you get into Ultimate Bug War. Objectives include defending outposts, destroying bug hives, activating switches, and taking down massive superbugs. The levels are distinct enough visually to make the missions feel fresh, and their length manages to successfully balance traversal and explor-ability. A funny aspect involves your NPC allies who appear almost at random and often find themselves in the line of fire, which means you might need to be prepared for a hefty amount of scolding during heavy combat sequences. Other times, it's nice to have some firepower support and additional targets for your enemies to pursue.

Typically, missions take between 15 and 30 minutes to complete, and a bit longer if you want to find the pair of hidden secrets. What surprised me most out of the gate was the steep challenge of the default difficulty setting for the first proper mission. One of the defend your base-style objectives took me more attempts than I care to specify lest my gamer cred be forfeit, and so I ended up alternating between the first and second difficulty settings throughout my time with Ultimate Bug War. I'd suspect that even seasoned FPS players will find a more than respectable challenge across the four options, and for those who just want to see the bug world burn, there's a God Mode option in the menus.

In addition to the eight human missions, there are also five bug missions where you play as the assassin bug, which can fly and spit acid. In these missions, your objectives include raising the terror level of the enemy soldiers and destroying the human bases. While a neat departure, I found controlling the assassin bug to be awkward and janky, and I was rarely able to get it to act how I wanted. It's cool to be able to rally more of the regular bugs to help you by getting close to their hives, but I wasn't nearly as interested in completing these missions compared to the human ones.

Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War combines nostalgia with tried-and-true first-person shooter mechanics and gameplay. The way it puts the player into infomercial-like military propaganda serves as neat window dressing, and the number of difficulty and control options, including Switch 2 Joy-Con mouse mode, make for a fairly customizable experience. There are some frame drops during more intense battles and an annoying sound effect issue where gunfire sounded scratchy and ear-piercing, but the performance largely holds up. Fans of Starship Troopers and classic FPS games will find enough to love here, even if the bug missions are a letdown. Everyone fights; no one quits. But maybe turn down the difficulty until you get your space legs.

[A pixelated tower defense with staying power.]

9

TalkBack / Bean Beasts (Switch) Review

« on: March 12, 2026, 05:00:00 AM »

A pixelated tower defense with staying power.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/74632/bean-beasts-switch-review

The titular bean beasts feel like only one piece of the puzzle that makes their game so darn enjoyable. I wasn't expecting tower defense when I first saw the title, but I'm glad I took a second look and gave it a chance because Bean Beasts reminds me of just how addicting the genre can be. Fun progression, strategic gameplay, and a stout challenge culminate in an experience that will entice veterans and newcomers alike.

A handful of cutscenes portray a lizard on a boat exploring new lands before finding the island where Bean Beasts take place. Across a total of 40 stages, you encounter a variety of enemies, environments, and obstacles that require their own strategies to overcome. There's a bit of an initial learning curve as you figure out how your bean beasts, traps, and special abilities work, but after getting through a handful of stages, you'll have a solid foundation of the game's mechanics and all the choices you can make to survive and even thrive.

Three initial difficulty settings and a fourth unlockable one allow players to customize the experience to their liking, but the harder you go, the more gems you can earn and then spend opening up new perks, weapons, and characters from the main menu's shop. Each stage also has two side objectives, like not allowing your main character–a lizard riding your choice of mount–to take damage, or using cannons to shove a set number of enemies into an open pit. The layout of paths, pits, trees, and other features changes noticeably with every new level, which means that you will want to change up your (initially limited) arsenal before giving it a go.

At the start of each stage, you have an unlimited amount of time to spend your meager starting resources on setting up your defense. Energy can be spent to deploy weapons like crossbows and swords or traps like spike pits and barrier-forming boxes; you earn more energy with every enemy you take down in the wave. Beans are used to deploy and upgrade bean beasts, and you typically earn one bean per round. At certain moments, your lizard hero will shout a battle cry that immediately bestows multiple beans and hundreds of points of energy, and this is typically a signal that a difficult wave of foes is on the way.

Before each wave of enemies emerges, arrow indicators show their exact path to your “tower,” which allows you to plan your defense effectively, at least some of the time. What you can't always plan for are enemies that will destroy your boxes, instead of going around them, or swift enemies that will zoom past your slow-firing cannons. Certain waves will contain powerful “nemesis” creatures that pose a very real threat to the mounted lizard and its health counter, so you'll want to save abilities like the lizard's rain of arrows, your mount's earthquake-producing stomp, or the earth-type bean beast's spike cannon for particularly dire moments. Speaking of, the final stage in each area involves a boss fight that truly tests your tower defense mettle, and I always looked forward to these and even tried them out with different setups to see what worked best.

Tower defense as a genre hasn't really grabbed my attention as a Switch user, but Bean Beasts has made me think I need to pay more attention for potential hidden gems like this one. The steady drip feed of unlockables means there's always something new to try, especially if your tried-and-true tactics don't work on a particular stage, and the initial learning curve quickly gives way to a satisfying challenge that ebbs and flows across the various biomes, boss fights, and special levels with an endless number of enemies.  Frequent but short loading screens are a minor nuisance, but they're worth the price of admission for this incredible entry in the tower defense pantheon. The name might not do it any favors, but don't judge these Bean Beasts by their cover. There's plenty of tasty meat on these bones.

[A Playdate-sized Zelda-style adventure.]

10

TalkBack / Ratcheteer DX (Switch) Review

« on: March 05, 2026, 04:00:00 AM »

A Playdate-sized Zelda-style adventure.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/74427/ratcheteer-dx-switch-review

I don't own a Playdate, the charming, pocket-fitting handheld with a crank on the side, but every year it's been at PAX West, I've taken a good long look at it; there's a definite yearning. Season 1 of Playdate saw 24 handcrafted titles come to the miniature platform, and among them was Ratcheteer, a pint-sized Zelda-like. The DX version marks the game's move to Switch and Steam, and while it's not the first Playdate title to make that leap, it is one that's a solid action-adventure in its own right.

The hero awakes in Mechanic Town to find the power shut off, which sets up one the game's primary challenges: leaving you literally in the dark, with only a lantern to light your way. Shortly after you find a wrench that plays the role of sword surrogate and you're off on a mission to rescue the town's Master Mechanic. A central feature of the town is an engineer working on restoring a mech suit, and so another primary goal involves recovering spare parts and an ever-increasing amount of ore to fulfill that endeavor. There's also an underlying story about aliens named Astrals and an entire language of theirs that you gradually piece together in the same way that you learn Al Bhed in Final Fantasy X.

The gameplay loop involves moving to different areas–many of which are underground like the starting town–and exploring those spaces to find any regional inhabitants and the requisite dungeon. The dungeons are fairly well designed aside from a frustrating one involving ghosts that move with every step you take. Chests are noted on the map and generally contain pieces of ore or heart fragments: collecting two of these increases your life meter. One element you struggle against is the darkness of these subterranean spaces as subtle visual clues can indicate a secret that needs to be uncovered for you to progress; another troublesome element is the need for backtracking, especially later in the game, but that's a minor complaint considering the size of Ratcheteer's world.

The unique boss encounters and the interesting abilities that you acquire on the journey were a pleasant surprise. Certain bosses require that you make deliberate use of your lantern’s beam of light or the float and stomp moves that your jump boots unlock. That you frequently open a chest only to find 10, 25, or 50 pieces of ore was a bit disappointing given the lack of ways to spend it, essentially a choice between purchasing life-restoring rations or funding the mech suit repair. On the plus side, you’ll also collect Astral Runes along the way that allow those inclined towards lore to dig in a bit further, while also being used for some puzzles. On the whole, though, there are more positives than negatives, especially if you enjoy the minimalist aesthetic.

It only took a couple sittings to finish the 3 to 5-hour experience, but Ratcheteer DX makes for a good time  nearly the whole way through. It’s well paced and introduces new tools regularly, all with two different functions or uses. There are some points of frustration, but none soured the adventure for more than a few minutes. If you enjoyed games like Minit or Master Key, you’ve got no reason not to dive into the underground and become a full-fledged ratcheteer yourself. Bonus points if you choose the pea soup color palette for maximum Game Boy nostalgia.

[A solid Zelda-like with a few tricks up its sleeve.]

11

TalkBack / Under The Island (Switch) Review

« on: February 16, 2026, 03:00:00 AM »

A solid Zelda-like with a few tricks up its sleeve.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/74296/under-the-island-switch-review

Top-down Zelda games have always been my preference over the 3D games, and so I've ended up trying out more than a dozen indie Zelda-likes since the inception of the Switch. The best among these have a good grasp of what makes an action-adventure compelling while adding its own unique flavor. Under The Island has a bright, cartoony aesthetic that works well for its levity and lightheartedness. It's reminiscent of Link's Awakening and Minish Cap, but marches to the beat of its own drum enough to stand out.

The plot focuses on a teenager named Nia who is relocated from her hometown by her parents who have a one-year research project on Seashell Island. Nia encounters a girl named Avocado, and the pair end up being given a quest to collect four mechanical gears to stop the island from sinking into the ocean. There's also a central town you'll return to frequently to purchase upgrades and find out where your next destination is. As you might expect from a Zelda-like, there are numerous sidequests to undertake that reward you with upgrade materials and heart containers, and it's fun to explore the map as your repertoire of tools expands.

The 10 to 15-hour adventure takes you across forests, beaches, and a snowy mountaintop, with main quest progress often requiring a detour or two before you get into one of the major dungeons. Your tools include a flower that shoots out a ball of flame, handy for lighting up dark passages, burning down plants, or damaging enemies; and a bag of animal snacks that help you guide turtles, rams, and sheep to step onto switches or ram into sealed doors. One neat mechanic is the way fast travel is unlocked around the island by solving a block-pushing puzzle. Another interesting feature is how multifaceted the boss fights are; one even begins with an Overcooked-style cooking competition.

While Under The Island does run well and look good both docked and handheld, there are some minor annoyances. Your sword stand-in, a hockey stick, can feel a bit awkward with its three-hit combo attack, which makes the game's challenging final boss all the more difficult. There are also swamp areas and other small bodies of water where the game doesn't visually discern between shallow and deep water, so there's a trial and error to exploring these spaces that just makes for a frustrating time overall. The difficulty curve is such that you'll know when you're exploring an area you shouldn't be yet, but the final boss really pushes the envelope in that direction, so you'll want to be as prepared as possible before heading into the final dungeon. The dungeons themselves don’t require a ton of backtracking or headscratching, and so veterans of the genre may be left wanting in that regard.

Under The Island didn't take long to sink its charming teeth into me as I had been itching for something a little lighter, both in tone and runtime, after making my way through a handful of long RPGs. Along Nia’s adventure, you end up encountering a variety of different gameplay types, including stealth sequences and arcade-style minigames, and so what has become a well-trod genre does feel quite fresh. If you're in the mood for a whimsical Zelda-like with some unique items and boss fights, the dozen-plus hours you can spend on Seashell Island are absolutely worth your time.

[Multiple blasts from the past, with an odd Switch 2 upgrade.]

12

TalkBack / Super Bomberman Collection (Switch) Review

« on: February 09, 2026, 02:12:38 PM »

Multiple blasts from the past, with an odd Switch 2 upgrade.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/74293/super-bomberman-collection-switch-review

The Bomberman franchise has provided hundreds of hours of both single but especially multiplayer entertainment. The series has had a special place in my heart all the way back to the NES original, which launched in North America in 1989. When Super Bomberman came out and was bundled with the multitap, it was a game changer for my elementary school friends and me in terms of our after school and weekend hangouts, and the recent release of Super Bomberman Collection from Konami brings me right back to those youthful days of yore.

This explosive compilation combines Super Bomberman 1 through 5, and then throws in Bomberman 1 and 2 for good measure. You'll forgive a bit of a history lesson, but that's one of the most fascinating aspects of Super Bomberman Collection: the third, fourth, and fifth 16-bit titles never got released in North America. Super Bomberman 3 did see a PAL release, and it also happens to be a title I experienced in bootleg form near the end of the Super Nintendo's lifespan. A music room option and art gallery are particularly worthwhile additions for longtime Bomberman fans, like yours truly.

From the start screen, you can choose to hop into one of the five Super games or find the two NES titles and the aforementioned art and music offerings within a separate menu. Each Super Bomberman has its own separate Boss Rush mode with three difficulty levels. The experience of owning each game is well represented here: you have access to single-player, multi-player, and even the original box and manual. The single-player stories can be enjoyed with save states, rewind, and a handful of display options. There’s little doubt that the Collection represents a full and definitive way to experience these SNES (and NES) era games.

For Bomberman purists, it's easy to appreciate the subtle changes made to the formula across seven games in Super Bomberman Collection. Given that the final three SNES/Super Famicom games stayed outside of North America, it will be many players’ first encounter with them, and of course it's the addition of rides and mounts that drastically impacted both single and multiplayer. I absolutely adore the kangaroo creatures--named Louies–from Super Bomberman 3, but some of the new power-ups, rides, and mechanics in 4 and 5 are also pretty neat, like the Bomb Tank and its sticky bullets or the non-linear stage progression specific to Super Bomberman 5.

All this said, if you're lukewarm on Bomberman, this collection isn't likely to change your mind. There’s a lot of repetition built into the story modes (“story” used very loosely here), despite the neat evolution of the formula from Bomberman (NES) to Super Bomberman 5. As someone who grew up with these games, it's been a blast to return to them, but without online multiplayer, the overall value of the package is slightly diminished. In an odd twist, the Switch 2 version of Super Bomberman Collection comes at a higher price compared to, or a paid upgrade from, the Switch version. What you appear to be paying for is the GameShare feature and 4K visuals. It's an unfriendly separation of SKUs for a package that largely appears a labor of love.

Super Bomberman Collection showcases some of the best Bomberman gameplay the franchise has ever seen. If you have friends or family for local co-op or competitive play, there are a lot of options, stages, and features to explore. While I will continue to bang the drum for thoughtful compilation releases, of which this is definitely one, more online connectivity would have been a great addition to the package. Perhaps best enjoyed in short bursts, Super Bomberman Collection is the best Bomberman release since the Bomberman 64: The Second Attack!

[Tempted with a good time, and a fun role reversal detour, too.]

13

TalkBack / Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties (Switch 2) Tech Impressions + Review

« on: February 09, 2026, 05:00:00 AM »

Tempted with a good time, and a fun role reversal detour, too.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/74255/yakuza-kiwami-3-n-dark-ties-switch-2-tech-impressions--review

When the original Yakuza Kiwami released on Switch, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the port. The reimagining of the original Yakuza lost very little in its translation to Switch. On Switch 2 we’ve seen a multitude of Yakuza titles arrive within the first year. As the original target hardware for these games has spanned multiple generations the Switch 2 runs the gamut in terms of performance metrics. Yakuza Kiwami 3 along with its side story, Dark Ties, presents the first day and date release for a Yakuza game on the platform, and thus the greatest technical challenge for the series thus far.

Due to the scope of this title, I will be covering the technical aspects of this release while Jordan Rudek will be diving deep into the brand new Dark Ties expansion. But as for Kiwami 3 itself, as expected this is an excellent modern re-working of the PlayStation 3 original. The story does take quite a while to get going, but once it finally kicks into gear it proves very compelling. New content abounds and outside of the very small explorable environments, little remains to hint at its 2009 origins. I’ve particularly enjoyed the new expansive questline involving Kiryu getting mixed up in an all girls gang in Okinawa and waging war against the other gangs. The storyline is ridiculous and paired with fun over the top gameplay that truly exemplifies the Yakuza series.

Kiwami 3 avails itself well of the Switch 2. While I’d by no means call this some sort of miracle port, it feels very natural on Switch 2. There are some compromises of course when compared to other versions, but all well within reasonable expectations. In both docked and handheld mode the game runs at 30 frames-per-second. I found that outside of expansive combat within heavily populated areas, the framerate remained very consistent throughout. The game does suffer from a noticeable hitch going from gameplay to cutscenes that lasted just long enough to make me question if the entire game had actually crashed before loading into the next scene.

Resolution is dynamic in both docked and handheld mode and both are upscaled via the system’s native DLSS. The actual underlying pixel counts range from about 1080p down to 720p when docked and from 720p to 540p in handheld mode. In the vast majority of scenarios I found the range to sit closer to the high end of those metrics, but select circumstances were able to visibly drop the resolution. Of course with DLSS in the mix those underlying numbers don’t really tell the whole story, and the general perceived resolution winds up generally sitting significantly higher.

Dark Ties Review

Yakuza Kiwami 3 continues SEGA’s mission to remaster the original Yakuza titles for modern platforms, including Switch 2. Whereas Kiwami 1 and 2 released as budget titles at launch, Kiwami 3 is going for the gusto at $59.99 USD, but to sweeten the deal, the package includes a standalone side game called Dark Ties, which sees players step into the polished shoes of Yoshitaka Mine. It is Mine who takes on the role of primary antagonist for Yakuza 3, and switching sides with Dark Ties makes for an enticing little diversion, coming in at about 4-6 hours to roll credits on its main story.

While you can start Dark Ties without finishing Yakuza 3, the game warns that the ending of the former spoils the latter, so it is recommended that you play through Kiwami 3 first. That said, I found it an interesting experiment to spend time with Dark Ties right away since it has much less preamble upfront compared to a full Yakuza game and its version of Kamurocho is very much a condensed one. The combination of being pushed out of the company he founded and being a witness to a grisly encounter with Sixth Chairman of the Tojo clan, Daigo Dojima, push Mine into the criminal underworld, but it's a fresh scaffolding for his story that makes Dark Ties a delicious aperitif or nightcap to the main game.

The gameplay premise sees you as second-in-command to a bumbling oaf of a man, Tsuyoshi Kanda. It's comedy to see the stoic, calculating Mine acquiesce to the laziness and horniness of Kanda, as your main objective is to raise his reputation around town by solving citizens' problems and granting their requests. About a dozen of these missions play out like the Substories the Yakuza series is known for; others are simple fetch quests or rescues where you get to beat the stuffing out of bad boyfriends and boisterous bullies. Every time you level up Kanda's standing, you earn money to spend upgrading your stats and sometimes a special cutscene featuring Kanda and Mine. Your hard-earned yen can also help you procure a variety of CDs to change your traveling music and even a handful of Game Gear cartridges to help you unwind back at the home base. If you're still traumatized by the decision to buy a real Game Gear in the early ‘90s, you can sock a few dingers or invite Kanda out for some darts instead.

Wanting something more compact after recently spending time with Yakuza 0, Kiwami 1, and Kiwami 2 on Switch 2, Dark Ties was a perfect encapsulation of what makes the series so fun and charming, without the bloat that can creep in from time to time. Mine's combat style is simple but fast-paced, meaning random street encounters with unfriendly Yakuza never lasted more than 30 seconds. It may hit differently if you choose to roll credits on Kiwami 3 first, but for what it is, Dark Ties represents a welcome pack-in and the type of additional content I hope we see with the next Kiwami remaster.

[The longest Dragon Quest is charmingly remastered and noticeably trimmed, but loses a bit of its heart in the process.]

14

TalkBack / Dragon Quest VII Reimagined (Switch 2) Review

« on: February 02, 2026, 05:00:00 AM »

The longest Dragon Quest is charmingly remastered and noticeably trimmed, but loses a bit of its heart in the process.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/74110/dragon-quest-vii-reimagined-switch-2-review

The announcement of 3DS remakes for Dragon Quest 7 and 8 was the motivator I needed to finally get into the long-running RPG series. Ahead of their 2016 and 2017 releases in the West, respectively, I would find my way to acquiring Dragon Quest 4 through 6 on DS, spending months on end in classic, turn-based heaven. After having finished each of these aforementioned titles, I was quite firmly in the camp of actually loving Fragments of the Forgotten Past, the seventh mainline Dragon Quest game. I have fond memories of putting that world back together and finding its individual stories and peoples quite endearing, to the point of feeling emotional during certain story moments. As a result, I was delighted by the sudden announcement of Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined, which comes on the heels of HD-2D remakes for the first three games in the series. While I adored basically all of the changes made to those remakes, I’m more lukewarm on Reimagined’s approach.

The premise of Dragon Quest 7 is that you are finding puzzle piece-like fragments that allow you to return to the past to rebuild the world of the present. It’s a fascinating conceit and presents a clear objective to the player up until you find all of the fragments. It isn’t until more than halfway through the game that a more central antagonist appears, and so the earlier proceedings can grow tedious as you rinse and repeat the collecting of fragments, opening up of new islands, and then solving typically a singular quest on each before returning to the present day. What this means is that it can feel like you’re going on dozens of hours of fetch quests before a more focused plight rears its head and compels you forward.

While most will certainly appreciate Reimagined’s streamlined approach to the structure of Dragon Quest 7, as someone more fond of the original than others, I do feel like part of its heart is missing. For sure, the addition of helpful mini-map markers to guide you towards fragments works quite well; the fact that it doesn’t take 20 hours to access the job system is undeniably a feather in the hero’s proverbial cap. The removal of The Haven, the casino, and a number of regions can be seen as trimming the fat, but I was somewhat put off by the sheer amount of streamlining. For reference, I reached the credits in under 30 hours, albeit without working my way through all of the optional content. I have to give partial credit here to the revamped battle system, which includes an automated feature that’s great for grinding or running through dungeons, and the speed-up options we’ve seen in more recent Dragon Quest releases.

Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined adopts a beautiful, diorama-style look that complements the Toriyama art exceptionally well; it reminds me of Sakaguchi’s Fantasian. The aesthetic is absolutely one of the highlights of the remake. Added voicework brings another level of depth to the characters; Roly Botha as Kiefer is particularly excellent. Seeing your party running around the overworld map can only be described as cute, and from beginning to end I never tired of what I was seeing on screen. There aren’t many of them, but the CG cutscenes were an absolute delight. I’m gushing about the art style, and for good reason: I’d love to see Dragon Quest 8 given the Reimagined treatment, too, but maybe with fewer edits.

Another major positive is the job system, which allows you to eventually have two vocations at the same time, like Mage and Warrior. Mastering certain classes opens up more advanced ones, but I did find that on the normal difficulty, I didn’t need to go any further than having only one or two of the intermediate classes opened up. The head of Alltrades Abbey even gives you a device so that you can switch vocations at any time, even within dungeons, which is perfect for creating a specific party composition before a boss encounter. Although it’s a bit annoying that mastering a vocation doesn’t allow you to retain your learned spells, working towards the higher-tier classes and the ability to switch on the fly do ease that frustration to an extent.

One of my takeaways during the review period of Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined is that the game may be more enjoyable in short bursts, even with all of the streamlining that’s been put in place. Because the gameplay loop is so repetitive, so perfectly circular, longer gaming sessions really magnify the shallowness of how you put the world back together. The characters you meet are interesting for a moment, but because you have somewhat fleeting interactions with them, it’s harder to see each one as memorable. Once you finish their basic requests of you, it’s on to the next questgiver on a different island. It feels like I’m complaining about some standard RPG tropes and mechanics, but the structure of Dragon Quest 7 seems to accentuate the negatives built into these elements.

In terms of performance the Nintendo Switch 2 version runs steady. With minimal load times and a smooth 60fps, it is a delight to play through. The one noticeable oddity is that there is a clearly visible “rendering line” that makes textures and smaller obstacles load in a few frames late. It's probably something you will only start to notice many hours into your adventure, especially at the beginning of combat encounters. Other than that the Switch 2 version comes highly recommended. The Switch 1 version offers a steady and smooth 30fps itself. Though it is a shame that for physical lovers, the Switch 1 version cannot be upgraded and the physical Switch 2 release is restricted to a Game Key Card.

The question I have to ask myself, and perhaps one that will be asked by others who love(d) an earlier version of Dragon Quest 7: Why does Reimagined not quite strike the same chord as the original or the 3DS remake? Has it been pared down too far, or have the dozens of RPGs to come in the intervening years driven our tastes towards something else? Normally, I would be fairly eager to dive back into a Dragon Quest game to explore the post-game content or seek out side quests left incomplete, and even though I know there’s a good bit more I can do here, the drive to compel me back just isn’t there. After four remakes in less than a year and a half, I may be Dragon Quest-ed out, and I’m surprised to even think such a thing.

Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined is a beautifully designed turn-based RPG that is much more approachable to new players than the 3DS remake in 2016, but it may leave fans of earlier versions feeling slighted. Small changes like enemy weaknesses or immunities being highlighted in battle can make combat less challenging, so RPG veterans may want to consider a higher difficulty and avoid auto-battling entirely. I can’t recall the last time I defeated a Dragon Quest final boss on the first try, but such was the case with Reimagined despite doing little grinding, and the result left me feeling deflated, rather than triumphant. Even though there aren’t any glaring problems with this remake, it never felt as satisfying to play as the HD-2D games or Dragon Quest 11, so be prepared for a noticeably different experience compared to those RPGs.

[An engrossing choose-your-own-adventure comic book with a captivating cast. I’ll remember that.]

15

TalkBack / Dispatch (Switch) Review

« on: January 28, 2026, 07:00:00 AM »

An engrossing choose-your-own-adventure comic book with a captivating cast. I’ll remember that.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/74103/dispatch-switch-review

Frequent NWR guest and contributor Syrenne McNulty was involved with development for Dispatch. The review was written and edited without any input from anyone who works with Syrenne.

Having been eager to check out Dispatch last year during its episodic launch, I ended up holding off after learning that a Switch version was imminent. I can safely say that the experience has lived up to the hype and positivity the eight-episode game generated around 2025 game of the year talks. If you enjoyed classic TellTale interactive narratives or superhero stories like Invincible, Dispatch is a call you need to answer.

The plot centers on Robert Robertson, a former superhero, who falls in battle and has to abandon his Mecha Man alter ego. Shortly after, he's propositioned by the enticing heroine Blonde Blazer to join the Superhero Dispatch Network (SDN), and the downtrodden Robert is all too eager to accept what this attractive gift horse is offering. As the name implies, SDN pairs superhero teams with a dispatcher who sends team members to individual distress calls, and this forms about 30 percent of the gameplay loop. A small portion is taken up with a fairly rudimentary hacking minigame, and the lion's share consists of cutscenes that show Robert's redemption and the relationships he cultivates (or destroys) as the newest dispatcher at SDN.

In that order, the dispatching of superheroes is a fun way to listen in on the banter and jokes of your team as you build up their experience and stats, while also honing your skills as a leader and mentor. It generally takes place a couple times per episode, offering a nice switch up after longer story beats. You have to read between the lines in order to determine the best member of your squad to send on each errand; Prism is a better talker, but she's not naturally strong (you can change that by levelling up her strength stat, of course). Flambae is a hot head, but a gifted fighter, so he's better for subduing thugs when fisticuffs are expected. Your odds of success increase when you choose the right heroes to dispatch, and you'll earn experience for every mission accomplished; the flip side is that you'll earn nothing but a stat-reducing injury if you fail. When the dispatching gameplay blends seamlessly with the exposition and cutscenes outside of it, Dispatch truly shines.

Of course, any narrative experience relies almost entirely on the quality of its script, and the writing of Dispatch is top notch. Every member of the cast has their own unique personality, and the voice work of Aaron Paul as Robert, Jeffrey Wright as Chase, and Laura Bailey as Invisigal, among other standouts, adds an impeccable flavor to the dish. I laughed out loud during multiple episodes and couldn’t take my eyes off the screen during the thrilling finale. The dialogue choices do feel meaningful, but as is the case with these interactive stories, you can’t always see all the impacts unless you go through the game multiple times. That said, the quality of Dispatch is such that I’m certainly entertaining that prospect during the next slow release period this year.

The Switch 2 version, a free upgrade for anyone who purchases Dispatch on Switch, boosts the performance from 30fps at 720p to 60fps at 1440p. I certainly wasn’t put off by playing through the game on Nintendo’s last gen device, but the upgrade is a welcome one. I’ve seen the question asked frequently on various online forums and can confirm that the Switch version of Dispatch is censored for nudity, with no option as of writing to remove the somewhat jarring black censor bar. One handy element that did have a toggle was for quick-time events, which I turned off so that I could focus on the story.

Dispatch is an unmissable interactive narrative for those who miss the glory days of TellTale’s Walking Dead series or enjoy the mature comic book worlds of Invincible or The Boys. I had no trouble ripping through the eight episodes and eagerly await the potential announcement of a second season. I found myself genuinely buying into the redemption arcs of your motley crew of villains-turned-heroes; it’s rare for a story to hit with basically every character, but Dispatch doesn’t miss in this regard. Even if it doesn’t go for an immediate follow-up, AdHoc Studio is now firmly on my radar for a genre I had fallen out of love with years ago.

[Scooby Scooby Rue, where are you?]

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TalkBack / Rue Valley (Switch) Review Mini

« on: November 23, 2025, 11:42:25 AM »

Scooby Scooby Rue, where are you?

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/73394/rue-valley-switch-review-mini

The eShop description of Rue Valley is a bit misleading; it bills the game as a “narrative RPG,” which is only half true. It's much more a point-and-click adventure mystery than a role-playing game, and if that's a swap you're happy to hear about, then you might get on with it better than I did. You also need to enjoy being stuck in a 47-minute time loop and the built-in repetition that comes with it.

You play as Eugene Harrow, a man undergoing therapy for some kind of mental or emotional struggles. A fair part of Rue Valley involves the creation of an internal mind map that records events and tasks called Intentions for Harrow to complete. The game starts at a roadside motel where you find yourself in the room of Dr. Finck, and from this point on every loop begins back 8:00pm during the final minutes of your therapy session with him and ends with an explosion of light at 8:47pm. Before the story actually gets underway, you have an opportunity to choose some character parameters that determine the dialogue choices you can make later on.

From both a narrative standpoint and a game design one, Rue Valley starts off slow and murky. It takes some time before the mechanics and ways of making genuine progress become clear. Within its isometric perspective, you guide Harrow around a handful of environments to solve a number of smaller mysteries in addition to larger ones like the nature of the time loop he's stuck in. Once you acquire a new piece of information, you can bring that to conversations with folks around you to yield new dialogue branches, and what follows then is a bit of trial and error before you figure out which tidbits unlock which doors in your mind map. Additionally, you need to consider the schedule of the other characters and events that take place in Rue Valley so that you know where and when to progress the story.

There are some tense and memorable character interactions, such as when you break into your therapist's room to learn more about another motel guest. When you have multiple objectives on the go, Rue Valley has a genuine sense of momentum that means almost everything you do will lead to a new insight or twist. However, the way in which your create-a-character's mental profile gates off certain interactions and dialogue trees is frustrating and made me feel often like I had just rolled a bad character; I can't see myself returning to a narrative experience like this one after seeing the story through, so I'm not sure why all the gatekeeping and roadblocks exist. If you're a sucker for Groundhog Day, time loop tales, or point-and-click mysteries, your enjoyment of Rue Valley may reach a higher peak. I was already tempted to check out of this motel before my suitcase was unpacked.

[A fairly flavorless roguelike.]

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TalkBack / Morsels (Switch) Review Mini

« on: November 23, 2025, 11:32:31 AM »

A fairly flavorless roguelike.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/73393/morsels-switch-review-mini

The glut of run-based games makes comparison inevitable, so it’s becoming harder and harder to stand out in these rogue-ish seas. The gross-out aesthetic of Morsels reminds me of The Binding of Isaac, and with both being roguelikes, the gameplay is similar as well. What differentiates the addictive standouts of the genre from the more forgettable is often feel, precision, and impression, rather than markedly new mechanics. Unfortunately for Morsels, no matter how much you bite off, the flavor seems to dissipate far too quickly.

The premise sees you playing as a tiny mouse who enlists up to three partner “Morsels” to help it through a series of top-down sewer-based dungeons. Once you run out of Morsels, the run ends and you’re sent back to the beginning. Progression is limited to unlocking new potential buffs/abilities to find during gameplay, so to keep making it further you’ll have to rely on your skills and slowly accumulating knowledge. I emphasize the more glacial gain of knowledge because there’s a noticeable lack of tutorials and instructions about the different objects, events, and abilities you encounter. Trial and error is fine, to an extent, but it’s overkill here. Some of the interstitial encounters between dungeon floors have mini-games and propositions to consider, which add some variety but can be equally inscrutable.

Of the dozen or so Morsels I’ve spent multiple runs with, each one has a couple unique moves to stand out from its peers. Some have short range projectiles coupled with a special ability that can trap enemies inside a bubble; others have dash moves or singular, more precise shots that require aiming and patience. One of my favourites is a mushroom Morsel who summons near-endless copies of itself that can run into enemies to damage them. What genuinely dampens the fun variety of Morsels is that both your standard shot and special move both have their own cooldown meters, and so the twin-stick shooter-adjacent gameplay starts and stops like a broken traffic light. It feels antithetical to the gameplay not being able to attack more freely all of the disgusting creatures that litter each dungeon.

I’m happy to give any roguelike or lite a try to see if it hooks me, and after successfully completing my first run, I knew that my stomach was already full of Morsels. If you enjoy its gross, purposefully ugly style and love everything run-based, you’ll probably get a kick out of Morsels. In such an oversaturated genre, there are plenty more appetizing offers to satiate your hunger.

[Hard to turn down another invite from Kiryu-chan.]

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TalkBack / Yakuza Kiwami 2 (Switch 2) Review

« on: November 12, 2025, 04:00:00 AM »

Hard to turn down another invite from Kiryu-chan.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/73271/yakuza-kiwami-2-switch-2-review

Yakuza definitely feels like an IYKYK franchise now. No longer are the games trapped on different Sony consoles. With the Kiwami remakes bringing refinement and polish to older games in the series, those who enjoyed recent titles like Yakuza 0 or Like A Dragon can easily go back to their roots. Whereas with some sequels you can pretty easily jump right in without the context of earlier titles, I wouldn't recommend doing so with Yakuza Kiwami 2, but fortunately we're getting both Kiwami 1 and 2 on the same day as dedicated Switch 2 versions. This review focuses on Kiwami 2 given that there is already a Switch 1 version of the first Kiwami game, but comparing the two games on Switch 2 shows that the performance is actually better with Kiwami 1.

Anyone with knowledge of the Yakuza series can appreciate their dense, soap opera-ish storytelling combined with over-the-top character interactions and humor. The Kiwami line offers a welcome opportunity to check out early Yakuza games in a contemporary package; I had already finished the PlayStation 4 versions before coming back to them on Switch 2. Based on my memory, the latter feel comparable, even when playing portably, so if you're looking to visit or re-visit the settings of Kamurocho and Sotenbori (added in Yakuza 2), then the Switch 2 is a nice way to do so–especially considering that we're getting Yakuza Kiwami 3 early in 2026.

That said, Yakuza Kiwami 1 outperforms Kiwami 2 when playing on Nintendo’s latest console. While both games display at 1080p resolution in docked mode, it’s unfortunate to see Kiwami 1 running at 60 FPS when Kiwami 2 only hits 30 FPS, and not even a completely stable framerate at that. It’s possible that because Kiwami 1 had already been released on Switch that the transition for that game to Switch 2 was easier and allowed for a better performance, but it’s disappointing to have them side by side and see the earlier game running much smoother. A bit of digging reminded me that this was also an issue with the PlayStation 4 releases of Kiwami 1 and 2, running at 60 and 30 FPS, respectively, but with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series versions of Kiwami 2 coming in December, I am holding out some hope that the launch on those two platforms could see a patch come to the Switch 2 version–contingent on the Sony and Microsoft releases also running at 60 FPS, of course.

In terms of gameplay, Yakuza Kiwami 2 contains a lot of fun and familiar mini-games, like batting cages, mahjong, and karaoke, in addition to more fleshed out ones like Clan Creator (a top-down strategy game) and Cabaret Club Grand Prix (a management sim). I don’t typically get sucked into any one of these too deeply, but they provide a pleasant distraction from the lengthy cutscenes and beat-’em-up style combat. Normally I run into some steeper difficulty spikes with some of the boss fights or grunt gauntlets, but the Switch 2 version of Kiwami 2 provides you with a bevy of weapons, armor, and experience-granting items worthy of a true Japanese mafiaso. Of course, you can ignore or embrace these bonuses as you wish. The choose-your-own adventure style of progression that sees you spending five categories of experience points on stats and abilities of your choosing also lets you customize your Yakuza journey, and really that’s one of the best selling features of these games.

Yakuza Kiwami 2 features a compelling cast of new and returning characters, chief among the unfamiliar faces being antagonist Ryuji Goda, who cuts a formidable figure and plays an excellent foil to gold-hearted Kiryu. While I enjoyed another romp through the small burrows of Tokyo and Osaka that feel now like a second digital home, returning to Kiwami 2 felt more in service of Kiwami 3, which will be here before we know it. The Switch 2 port is a serviceable one for sure, especially when considered against the PlayStation 4 version, and there isn’t a major sacrifice made to run around these punk-filled streets on-the-go. If you’re becoming a Yakuza collector or have never experienced the second game in the series, there may not be a better time.

[Switch gets a lovely helping of shoot-'em-ups early next year.]

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TalkBack / Raiden Fighters Remix Collection Coming in February

« on: October 31, 2025, 06:06:00 PM »

Switch gets a lovely helping of shoot-'em-ups early next year.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/73088/raiden-fighters-remix-collection-coming-in-february

If you're a 'shmup fan like myself, you'll instantly recognize the Raiden brand of vertical shooter. Next February sees the Japanese and International versions of Raiden Fighters Trilogy bundled together as Raiden Fighters Remix Collection.

In addition to features like Retry, Beginner-Friendly, Settings Customization, and BGM Customization, the Remix Collection aptly includes remixed music tracks from notable composers, some of whom have worked on earlier Raiden titles.

It was also announced that the three titles in the Collection will also be sold separately on the eShop: Raiden Fighters Remix, Raiden Fighters 2 Remix, and Raiden Fighters Jet Remix. The bundle and individual games are releasing on February 26, 2026. Check out the trailer below for a sneak peek:

[An artful roguelite brawler that simply smashes.]

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TalkBack / Absolum (Switch) Review

« on: October 09, 2025, 05:00:00 AM »

An artful roguelite brawler that simply smashes.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/72837/absolum-switch-review

A collaborative effort spearheaded by Dotemu, Absolum offers an atypical beat-em’-up spliced with roguelite DNA. With attractive cartoon and comic book-inspired art, you and a potential co-op partner move from zone to zone, taking down all manner of foes and bosses on your way to a final encounter with Azra in his heavily guarded tower at the edge of the world. The end result is a familiar but fresh fighting experience with a surprising number of twists and turns along the way.

The story centers on a conflict between Sun King Azra, responsible for enslaving wizards across the land, and High Enchantress Uchawi and her group of rebels. As one of these rebels, your goal is both to defeat Azra but also restore faith in wizardkind across the world of Talamh, which was devastated by the work of rogue wizards. Understandably, even the townsfolk you encounter are scared of you, so the places you visit are full of danger and devoid of friendly faces save a few.

What differentiates Absolum from other action Roguelites isn't a major new gameplay mechanic but more so the style and polish of its presentation and gameplay. Before looking at the world map, in the starting hub area you can choose your character, track your progress, and unlock a variety of boosts and upgrades. Your starting party only offers two characters to select, an elven fighter and a dwarven engineer, but you'll unlock a few more along the way, including a swift rogue and a powerful mage. The character design, even for the bosses, is top notch and injects a hefty amount of personality into this dystopian fantasy world.

The roguelite aspect sees you collect crystals that can be spent to boost your stats on a permanent basis, while also translating the distance you travel and your overall success into a score that rewards you with materials for unlocking new skills and upgrading the runes you encounter on your journey. These runes are attached to elemental affinities and can pop up at the conclusion of a battle before you move on to the next area. You might also be offered a choice of trinkets to boost your attack, luck, or defense, gold, or the aforementioned crystals, which I was always happy to see.

Your brawling kit involves a basic attack that can combo multiple times, a special attack with a bit more range and usually a knock up effect, and an arcane ability that consumes mana charges that build up as you fight. Any of these moves can be buffed through the runes that you collect, making parts of your kit more deadly, but it's strategic use of all your capabilities that's needed to keep making progress on your journey. The basic brawling that is enough to take down minor foes often fails in the face of the oversized bosses hellbent on preventing you from reaching Azra.

An aspect that really struck me with Absolum is the number of sidequests that pop up just from talking to characters you encounter in each area. The objectives of these aren't all that taxing, but in addition to a long list of in-game accomplishments, they do offer another goal to pursue. Roguelites really hit for me when they offer multiple forms of progression and even adjustable difficulty, and aside from a multi-hour delay in learning about how to spend a particular currency, it's easy to find new things to do and ways to change up each run.

There’s more to do after rolling credits the first time, but my main take away is just how good the combat feels and how gorgeous everything looks while you're doing it. Absolum is made by a team that understands how to make a great brawler, like Shredder's Revenge and Streets of Rage 4, so you can expect a similar level of polish and chops. I ended up clearing the game with every character because I was having such a good time, and with all the awesome games I still haven't played from September, that's proof positive that any beat-'em-up fan should absolutely be checking out Absolum.

[Feel like a Greek goddess over and over again.]

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TalkBack / Hades II (Switch 2) Review

« on: September 24, 2025, 07:00:00 AM »

Feel like a Greek goddess over and over again.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/72565/hades-ii-switch-2-review

On one of the dozens or runs I've started in Hades II, I was trying a new weapon for the first time, the twin flames, having just unlocked it. The early rooms left me feeling like I wasn't going to get very far; this loadout wasn't clicking with me. But then all of a sudden, it was. A few upgrades and boosts later and I had turned into a whirling dervish of rotating torches, and I ended up getting significantly further into the game than I had before. This is just one aspect that makes Hades II nearly impossible to put down: at any moment, you can make something out of nothing, turning despair into triumph.

A follow-up to 2020's Hades, the sequel trades hero Zagreus for heroine Melinoe, who also happens to be Zagreus’ sister. This family affair sees Melonoe aided by a cavalcade of Olympians, including Hermes, Artemis, and her Headmistress, Hecate, among many others. Your primary objective is the defeat of Chronos, the Titan of Time, who has imprisoned Melinoe's family. Much of the enjoyment of the story comes from the interactions between you and the rest of the cast, which serve as a drip feeding of plot details, world building, and relationships. The narrator, none other than Homer (of Illyad and Odyssey fame), adds a delightful flavor, especially when Melinoe takes the opportunity to call out one of his mistakes.

The roguelite action gameplay revolves around traveling from room to room within a specific biome on your path to Cronos. Each biome has a particular theme, unique enemies, and a boss to conquer at the end. To defeat enemies you encounter you have a basic, usually more close range strike, a special attack that typically offers more range, and a cast that places a circle on the ground to various effects, like slowing enemies or gradually damaging them. Completing a room typically offers a reward to help you power up, either for that run or future ones. Compared to the first game, Hades II features a variety of currencies and items to earn and collect that can unlock different bonuses and buffs to increase your chances of successfully meeting and defeating Cronos. One neat mechanic is Arcana cards that can be unlocked and then activated up to a certain limit (which can also be raised), and these grant healing, extra attack power, and other perks. As an RPG man myself, I prioritized upgrading the hub world, unlocking new weapons, and opening up as many possible benefits as I could.

Hades II makes each run feel meaningful, from both a narrative and gameplay standpoint. While you don't earn experience points, you gain valuable insight into the different boons and upgrades available to you on each trip through the Underworld. Maybe the icy powers of Demeter are helping you keep your distance from more aggressive enemies, or you might prefer the lightning-based attacks that Zeus bestows with his boons. Every run is different because you don't know what power-ups you're going to find. And when you're tired of going down to the underworld, you can instead go up, to another set of biomes and a path to Mount Olympus, provided you've jumped through a few alchemy-based hoops.

A major aspect of progression in Hades II centers on collecting materials and ingredients to craft weapons, potions, and other objects to fulfill requirements assigned to Melinoe by her neighbours in the hubworld sanctuary: The Crossroads. Sometimes you finish a run and check off a box or two; sometimes you make it further than you ever have and come home to a bounty of changes and new faces. And those new faces are happy to receive gifts or make small talk, with the former unlocking individual trinkets that can also be leveled up, in addition to individual relationship meters that can also grow over time. It wouldn't be unfair to say that there's maybe too much to keep track of, too many different flowers, stones, meters, and currencies. But for those who don’t mind that juggling or having lots to do and collect, Hades II is an incredible playground.

The aesthetic of Melinoe’s world, including the sights, sounds, and other characters, is unmatched. The Crossroads represent such a perfect contrast of being both alive but also full of underworld theming. The art style of the gods and goddesses but also the enemy bosses contribute so much vibrancy and vitality to the visual experience of Hades II, and for good reason when a game’s loop revolves around repetition. You genuinely want to see people pop up from time to time for another bit of flavor text or to see how they can impact your next run. The voice acting imbues every character with a sense of realism and purpose, from Hecate’s instructive chiding to Chronos’ cocky antagonizing. The presentation works all the way through, and the Switch 2 performance is flawless. Nintendo’s latest console ends up being another perfect home for this roguelite darling.

It will take me dozens more hours to see all of what Hades II has to offer, and that’s not even considering some specific endgame challenges it adds after you complete your first run. I am fully invested in squeezing all of the story juice from this delicious fruit, and that’s primarily due to how masterful the gameplay feels. Moving, dashing, attacking, and casting are all incredibly satisfying, and it’s rare to see any video game so skillfully combine gameplay with aesthetic and story. Without a doubt, Hades II lives up to its predecessor, and surpasses it in a number of ways. While it can at times be overwhelming in terms of collectibles and crafting materials, there are also so many ways to enjoy the experience, through options like God Mode and Aim Assist, or just grinding out in-game achievements and other unlockables. Ultimately, my first complete run through the first Hades signalled the end of my time with that game, but for the sequel, it felt more like I was just getting started.

[The best version of a tactics masterclass.]

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TalkBack / Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles (Switch 2) Review

« on: September 24, 2025, 05:00:00 AM »

The best version of a tactics masterclass.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/72564/final-fantasy-tactics-the-ivalice-chronicles-switch-2-review

The idea of game developers getting an opportunity to go back to a title from their past and use modern technology to achieve something closer to their original vision is an inspiring endeavor. Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles represents such an enterprise, and not only does it improve upon a classic formula and experience, but it also showcases the love and dedication that a team had for the story and art they helped to create almost three decades prior.

Final Fantasy Tactics follows the exploits of Ramza Beoulve, a young knight from a powerful noble family. Caught up in what becomes The War of the Lions, where two sides want their chosen representative to sit the throne of Ivalice, Ramza sees the lines between friend, family, and foe constantly blurred. One such character is Delita Heiral, who experiences his own personal tragedy that fuels a drive for revenge and power, and these two men end up as two of the most important characters in the conflict. The overarching narrative and its various character moments are filled with drama and emotion, and the newly added voice acting makes every dialogue and battle cry all the more memorable. Final Fantasy Tactics has always had a story for the ages, and The Ivalice Chronicles telling of it, with a refreshed script and talented voice cast, ensure that this is the best way to experience it.

Anyone who has played the original PlayStation version of Final Fantasy Tactics will immediately recognize the glow up to the menus, world map, and overall presentation. Moving between menus, exploring the world, and basically everything related to the job class system is easier to navigate and more fluid. Tactical games by their nature involve so much moving of a cursor between different options, tiles, and characters, and so when that process is smoother, you feel less bogged down in the mechanics and small details (as much as veterans might enjoy that element). I never felt annoyed to have to backtrack on the world map or re-open character menus over and over to re-check stats, equipment, and job progression, and this is a testament to the snappiness of The Ivalice Chronicles version.

As moving and mature as the story is, the gameplay is where The Ivalice Chronicles showcases how timeless the original experience is. For the most part, the essence of the 1997 release (in Japan) is untouched and instead polished to a glimmering shine. You take turns moving characters around diorama-like environments like city streets, forest clearings, and castle halls, with the objective usually being to defeat a single enemy combatant or rout the opposing squad entirely. Every battle plays out differently, with scripted ones bringing different job classes onto the field, and even the random encounters between cities on the world map typically offering different monsters to fight. You often have to deal with the terrain, buildings, and elevation as much as your foes, but the competent enemy AI and their level scaling make for thrilling battles, and of course, some grinding along the way.

And frankly, seeing the numbers go up is one of the most enjoyable parts of Final Fantasy Tactics. While it may be missing some of the job classes that were included in The War of the Lions release on PSP, The Ivalice Chronicles retains that magic of watching your job class pool grow as you earn more job points in battle, become more proficient, and unlock new abilities, giving you the opportunity to customize your squad. Usually bringing four or five allies, including Ramza, you’re able to combine a primary job with a secondary one to have two sets of abilities at your disposal, in addition to a basic attack, a reaction ability, a support ability, and a movement ability. Some of these are better than others, such as Movement +3 vs Movement +1, but others can be unlocked early on and stay relevant for dozens of battles, like the Chemist job’s Throw Item. I spent hours and hours experimenting with different classes and combinations and endeavoring to unlock all of the jobs, including the hilarious Mime class that simply mimics the actions of other party members. Eventually I settled on an endgame party involving a couple of the recruitable special characters, my girl Agrias obviously, and a few from my starting retinue of Chemists and Squires.

Three elements of The Ivalice Chronicles release genuinely stand out in terms of combat improvements. The first is the fast-forward mechanic, which you can activate by holding down a button to breeze through not only the motions of battle, but cutscenes in and out of combat as well. When it came time for some late-game experience and job point grinding, the ability to fast-forward through what can be a fairly tedious process was incredible, encouraging me to play around the job system even more and try out some combos I hadn’t used when playing the two previous versions of Final Fantasy Tactics. For the second element, you can save mid-battle, which is helpful when the outcome is uncertain and you’re knee-deep in 50-50 propositions or hoping for the best with abilities and skills that aren’t guaranteed to connect. Finally, you can move your character to a spot on the battlefield, gauge how effective their next action is going to be, and then undo that move if the plan isn't the best one. In the original game, you would be stuck in the spot you moved to, even if after getting there you learned that such a move was fruitless or less effective than another alternative.

Spending some hours with the original Final Fantasy Tactics, included in this updated release, gave me even more appreciation for The Ivalice Chronicles than my memories alone would have allowed. By comparison, the battles can be slow and plagued by a fair bit of dumb AI logic. The Ivalice Chronicles has three difficulty options to choose from, another addition. The medium setting offers a challenging but fairly balanced experience, provided you can navigate some pronounced difficulty spikes. Even the simple inclusion of an overhead camera makes battlefield strategizing all the easier. While playing the classic version, I came to really miss the voice acting too, especially considering the fuzziness of the dialogue text font as it's displayed on a modern screen. The Switch screen fairs a bit better in this regard, but the visual enhancement of The Ivalice Chronicles genuinely helps with overall readability to a massive extent.

Whether playing on Switch or Switch 2, The Ivalice Chronicles turns in a respectable level of performance. Both systems run the game at 60 frames-per-second in either docked or handheld mode. If you’re playing on the original Switch, you’ll be working with 720p when docked and 540p in handheld mode. Over on Switch 2, these numbers get bumped up to 1080p docked and 720p handheld. It is worth noting that between a depth-of-field effect and a parchment-like, dithered overlay, aliased edges are surprisingly few and far between. This is of course assuming you’re playing the remastered version. If you swap to the classic version you’ll be looking at a crispy 240p regardless of platform and configuration.

If you recognize Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles as a labor of love, and the result of a desire to perfect an already formidable RPG, this release is a major achievement. It's not definitive, but there's no question that it's the best way to experience a seminal title in the tactics genre. Certainly, it could have opted for more graphically impressive visuals, but it opts for faithful over brave--classic over contemporary. And I'm good with that. The job class system remains a standout, and the plot–as heavy as it is–stands as one for the ages. There is no better time to hop on a Chocobo, and delve into an RPG of and for history. One of the most replayable Square Enix games has never been more worthy of the title.

[Them's fightin’ words.]

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TalkBack / Wander Stars (Switch) Review Mini

« on: September 19, 2025, 08:00:00 AM »

Them's fightin’ words.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/72557/wander-stars-switch-review-mini

Sometimes it's the combination of a neat art style with a unique premise that is enough to entice me towards a new game. Wander Stars features an eye-catching anime look and creative turn-based combat that involves turning words into actions. The result is a novel experience, but one with a few rough patches along the way.

Playing as a young girl named Ringo, you go on a journey to find your brother using your budding martial arts moves. The narrative plays out across visual novel-style cutscenes and fairly lengthy dialogue exchanges. The story didn't grab me too tightly, but its episodic nature was an effective delivery mechanism and fit well with the anime theming. Between story beats, you traverse different environments that look a bit like a board game map, with certain spots containing battles, treasures, or character moments.

The turn-based battles are the highlight of Wander Stars, with progression involving a few different factors. By choosing an attack command, such as kick or punch, an element like fire or wind, and a modifier like Super, Extra, or Wide, you can hit an enemy's different weakpoint(s), apply extra damage, or be able to strike multiple targets at once. Victory can reward you with new words for your arsenal, but you only have a limited number of slots to fit those words into. Once you run out of stamina, you pass to the opponent for their turn, but you can earn extra stamina by hitting an enemy’s weakpoint. You're also rewarded for taking an enemy down to a specific health threshold and then peace-ing out, rather than knocking them out entirely.

At the end of an episode, you can spend Honor, effectively experience points, to permanently raise certain stats or limits, like the number of attack words you can bring into battle. A star ranking system encourages return trips to each episode, but I found that once was enough for me. Some stuttering, some janky animations, and even a softlock put a damper on my time with it, but Wander Stars is a relatively fun romp while it lasts, particularly if you're in it more for the RPG mechanics over the plot.

[Co-op shenanigans in space.]

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TalkBack / STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions (PC) Hands-on Preview

« on: September 10, 2025, 06:00:00 AM »

Co-op shenanigans in space.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/preview/72409/starseeker-astroneer-expeditions-pc-hands-on-preview

Knowing that I would be spending part of PAX West with some close friends, I was in search of a multi-player focused demo for the four of us to check out. When Devolver Digital reached out about a specific coverage opportunity that checked that very box, I couldn't rightly refuse to check out an upcoming game from one of my favorite publishers. The title in question was STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions, and even though I am not overly familiar with its predecessor with whom it shares a universe, my pals and I happily bopped around the co-op focused world before completing our task and being whisked away off planet.

The demo situated us right in the middle of the action, with an objective marker to head towards as we gradually figured out the controls and our capabilities as space station crew members. Filled with vibrant and pastel-shaded colors, we worked to achieve our first task of reaching the relay station. Much of the fun came not from getting to the station but from bouncing around the world and playing with the different equipment we started the demo with. My tool could be used to deform the ground to create pits or tunnels or in its alternate mode could shoot a blast of air or energy to propel enemies (or maybe friends) forward; another friend could shoot water from his kit to clean off goop disrupting our progress or coating important objects. I was left with no choice after we had finished all of the demo’s main tasks but to use my gear to launch my teammates off the mountain we had scaled. It’s this type of freeform, emergent gameplay that Starseeker appears to revel in.

After exploring the relay station, our next goal became the retrieval of a missing sensor array, which fortunately wasn’t too far away. Of course, the mission wasn’t going to be over that easily, and so our true test came from scaling a nearby mountain while one of us brought the array all the way to the top. Our squad had to work together to ward off enemies, create a tunnel that had to spiral gradually upwards toward the summit, and carry the array along this path. The temptation for mischief was ever present, but we managed to resist long enough to get the equipment up the mountain and activated, which signaled the conclusion of our work. All that was left was to traverse another short distance to our nearby shuttles. Equipped with gliders reminiscent of Buzz Lightyear, we took a leap of faith and slowly made our way down to the final objective marker. Attempting to snatch away our victory at the 11th hour was a rocky creature, but our combined efforts were enough to push it away so that we could make our escape.

The simplicity and freedom of the PAX West demo was one of my major takeaways, and it felt like I had only scratched the surface of what could be a really fun but maybe less stressful co-op experience. I dare use the term “cozy” here, but loosely I think it fits: the cartoonish visuals, the abundance of color, the relative ease with which we could escape danger. I can see the potential in Starseeker for an online multiplayer experience that I return to in large or small bursts for the purpose of chilling with friends and losing ourselves for a while on strange planets in a connected universe. I’m excited by the prospect of a more lowkey, less pressure-filled adventure with friends, and in 2026 we’ll be able to see and learn more as Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions prepares for launch on Switch 2.

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TalkBack / Re: Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles (Switch 2) Hands-on Preview

« on: September 08, 2025, 04:03:31 AM »

Did they add unmove to the battle system? In all seriousness, that is the sole issue I care about regarding if I get it or not. If they added it, day one buy. If they didn't add it, I won't even touch it.

From what I remember of the demo, there was an option to undo your movement, but wait for our final review for confirmation of this. I'll make sure it's mentioned in our coverage.