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What are the best fantasy games for the Nintendo Switch?

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22 Games Considered

Best fantasy games for the Nintendo Switch	Price	Genre	Platforms
-- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild	$59.99	Action-Adventure	Wii U, Nintendo Switch
-- Õkami HD	$19.99	Action-Adventure	-
-- Shovel Knight	$24.99	Action, Platformer	Nintendo Switch, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One, Windows, Mac, Linux
-- Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings	$59.99	Role-Playing	Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, PlayStation Vita
-- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim	$59.99	Fantasy Role-Playing	Windows, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, Nintendo Switch

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

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An open world game where exploration feels exciting

Most open world games follow the same pattern - they give you a map that's full of blips, forcefully guiding you to marked locations, causing you to ignore everything along the way. Breath of the Wild steps away from this design choice by having a map where only you can mark points of interest. It's up to you to survey the land from high vantage points, choose a direction of heading, and find interesting locations. As a result, exploring and paying attention to the world actually matters, making it a really enjoyable and refreshing experience. See More

Top Con

Cooking can feel inconvenient

There's no in-game log or cookbook to record cooking recipes you discover. The only method of checking a recipe is by examining a cooked item in your inventory, which isn't very reliable since you can only check it as long as you have the item. As a result, you have to memorize and/or write down any and all cooking recipes you discover, which can feel cumbersome to some players. See More

Yanis's Experience

Just one awesome great beautiful game !! See More

Specs

Genre:Action-Adventure

Top Pro

An engaging cooking skill

Breath of the Wild features a very interesting cooking skill, allowing you to combine up to 5 different ingredients to create useful dishes or elixirs that can aid you on your journey. While the cooking process itself is really simple, only requiring you to light a fire and use a pot, experimentation is what makes it truly interesting. There is no in-game recipe log to give you hints, so most of the time you're experimenting with ingredient combinations, which can make finding a good recipe feel like winning the lottery. Some guesswork is eliminated because most areas are saturated with ingredients that can be used to create dishes useful to that specific area. For example, the cold area has ingredients that can be used to create dishes that boost your resistance to cold, so your character won't be shivering and dragging his feet as you explore. Because most of the dishes you make are useful, it can also motivate you to explore just a bit more, since there might just be a useful ingredient on top of that next mountain. As a result, Breath of the Wild has a surprisingly engaging cooking skill that blends well into the core of the game, making the experience more fun as a whole. See More

Top Con

Weapon durability system can feel tedious to some

When you attack enemies, your equipped weapon quickly loses its durability, breaking when it reaches zero. This can force you to switch to new weapons multiple times during a battle, adding a micromanagement aspect that can disrupt the flow of combat. You're not just fighting enemies, you're also fighting the flimsiness of your arsenal. On top of that, most weapons can't be repaired either. This can diminish the joy of finding new weapons, since that cool sword you just found will be gone thirty minutes of gameplay later. See More

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A variety of fighting methods keep the combat fun

There are many ways you can fight the monsters in Breath of the Wild. You can go for close combat, using swords, spears, clubs and many other weapons, besting your goblin-like enemies with well-timed parries, dodges, slashes, and strikes. Or you can fight enemies from afar by shooting your bow, throwing your boomerang, or lobbing an infinite supply of bombs while maintaining the distance as the monsters try to helplessly get near you. You can even be stealthy, sneaking up on unsuspecting lizard-folk and stabbing them from behind. If none of the above works, you can also use the environment to your advantage. This usually involves things like pushing boulders off cliff edges, dropping them on top of oblivious casualties. All of these provide a great amount of variety that keeps the combat from going stale for the whole playthrough. See More

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Wonderfully crafted puzzles

There's a vast array of puzzles found in Breath of the Wild where you use your abilities to move, manipulate or destroy the environment. It can be very simple like destroying rocks with a bomb to unblock a cave entrance. Or it can be fairly complex, requiring you to rotate and connect massive platforms, move stone orbs through an area filled with obstacles, and create pillars of ice on a waterfall to cross a bottomless pit. Regardless of the type of puzzle you encounter, they motivate you to think creatively, making it a delight when you arrive at the solution, especially because there's always a treasure waiting at the end. See More

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Õkami HD

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A lot of different activities

Apart from the main storyline (curing the Demon-cursed areas by looking for guardian sprouts and letting them bloom), there are ample employment opportunities – characters in this mythological Japan need all kinds of help, so you'll get a lot of missions and sidequests. The paintbrush techniques get a lot of use in these missions as well, for solving riddles and puzzles. You might need to win a race to get a guard's mask back to him, look for a lost bunny, or defeat a bunch of demons so that a drunk guy could keep his name as the best warrior in the land. Or you can just fish or feed cute animals. Some sidequests need to be at least partly done to move the story along, some of them are totally optional. However, every good deed restores your status as a God: if you do good in the game, you get points, which can then be used to increase your health or the amount of ink you can carry, and that keeps the player motivated. See More

Top Con

Indiscernible dialogue voice-over can be grating

The voice-over was done by actors actually saying the text that's shown in the dialogue box, but then the recording was speeded up and resulted in a cartoon-like gibberish. These high-pitched voices can become quite annoying over the 40-60 hours of gameplay, luckily, the voice-over can be turned off in the settings. See More

Specs

Genre:Action-Adventure

Controller Support:Full

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Large, enchanting, and atmospheric world

Õkami, though not an open-world game, still has a vast map, consisting of seven regions and numerous subregions. You have an opportunity to explore all of Japan and experience everything the country has to offer, going from tall dense forests, over the picturesque coasts, to frosty mountains. Along the way, you’ll find history, rooted in Japanese mythology, and you'll meet a lot of imaginative characters. Some of them might only keep you company for a few missions, but you still get invested in their stories and development. See More

Top Con

Long unskippable cutscene at the start

Right at the start, there is a ~18-minute long, slow cutscene that you can't skip. Later there are some more cutscenes, but these can be fast-forwarded through. See More

Top Pro

Unusual and one-of-a-kind combat methods

Throughout the game, you can use three types of melee weapons: mirrors, rosaries, and swords. Each one can be used to weave combos in tandem with your character's acrobatic movements, smashing or slashing the demons you encounter. The real highlight of Õkami, however, are the paintbrush techniques, which can be used for attacking enemies or manipulating the environment. You simply select your paintbrush, which slows the game's speed to a crawl, allowing you to draw anywhere on the screen. For example, drawing a single line over a demon or object will slash it, drawing a circle in the sky will cause the sun to rise, and drawing a path from a body of water will create a waterspout. You don’t need to draw the lines perfectly, it is enough to roughly match the required drawing. It's a really fun and creative way of fighting normally not seen in games. See More

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Unique and breathtakingly beautiful art style

The unusual art style takes inspiration from traditional Japanese woodblock paintings, called Ukiyo-e. Crisp black contour lines and explosions of color after successfully bringing back life into the world give a constant impression of being inside a work of art: every tree, every building, and every figure looks like it was painted with ink. See More

Shovel Knight

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Pretty fun risk versus reward system

In each stage, there are multiple checkpoints you can revive at if you die. The twist is that you can destroy the checkpoints for extra treasure. Doing this also means you’ll have to start from the beginning of the stage if you die. It’s a pretty cool way to increase difficulty and add tension to a playthrough, especially because it’s never forced on you. See More

Top Con

Can be frustrating

While Shovel Knight captures a lot of SNES era’s good parts, it also brings back some of the bad parts. It's mostly the hidden enemies that attack you as soon as you approach their hiding spots, causing you to take needless damage or even die. This adds a really tedious trial and error aspect that forces you to memorize all enemy placements just so you can beat a stage. In addition to dealing with the enemies, the timing of jumps or using special skills at the right moment adds to the frustration. Press the button too early or too late and you'll end up back at the start of a platforming section or worse, dead. See More

Specs

Genre:Action, Platformer

Co-Op:2 Player Local

Top Pro

A unique experience

Shovel Knight has 2D pixel art, a simple gameplay, and a retro feel. It stands out in an era dominated by 3D titles with super detailed graphics and convoluted gameplay because of its influences from classics like Zelda, Castlevania, Duck Tales, and even Super Mario Bros. It’s not just trying to cash in on the nostalgia of older players because it’s a game that can be enjoyed by anyone thanks to its polish. See More

Top Pro

Feels great to play

Shovel Knight has very colorful pixelated graphics, a decent chiptune soundtrack, excellent 8-bit sound effects, and the controls feel really fluid and responsive. So whether you’re just running through a castle, shoveling away at gems in a tunnel, or even jumping on a dragon’s head, Shovel Knight is a blast to play. See More

Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings

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Creative concept of entering paintings to explore new worlds

The many fantasy-like worlds you explore through the mysterious paintings are very pretty and whimsical. Going into the paintings themselves is fascinating since it's something you don't get to do in real life, and you get to learn more about Lydie and Suelle as you go along. Gathering resources and fighting monsters while surrounded by waterfalls and flowery forests helps keep the gameplay from getting too repetitive or stale. All of this adds a more magical feel to the game's more ordinary slice-of-life sections. See More

Top Con

You won't find a sprawling narrative here like in most RPGs

The stories in the Atelier games are more about everyday life mixed in with whimsical fantasy. This isn't the kind of RPG with the type of layered, rich story with dramatic twists and turns that you'd expect from the genre. If you want a heavier narrative with more to say, you won't get that with this game. See More

Specs

Genre:Role-Playing

Top Pro

Charming and colorful anime art style

The art style is has many bright colors and well-drawn characters. Everyone has all sorts of colorful hairstyles, eyes, and outfits like pink, blue, and crimson that aren't too over-the-top. Their eyes have cool swirls for pupils, their skin tones are radiant, and every character has a bright and lovely smile. This is a beautiful anime style that looks good in the 3D cel-shaded graphics and the 2D cutscenes with still art that are more like a visual novel. See More

Top Con

Graphics for environments aren't that great

The visuals for the environments don't hold up to how pretty the cel-shaded graphics are. The textures are low-quality with jaggies sticking out. It's not so bad on the PC version and the PlayStation 4; things are much more obvious on the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation Vita. There are also some invisible walls that cut you off in places like open arches leading to shops, making the maps feel a lot smaller. If you can handle limited maps with so-so graphics, then these problems aren't that big of a deal in the long run. See More

Top Pro

Slice-of-life story and gameplay that's relaxing and laid-back

There's a sweet simplicity to the story and gameplay that focuses more on everyday life. Playing as the two twins, Lydie and Suelle, you're mainly trying to make ends meet and become the best possible alchemists you can be. You pass the days at your own pace as you take on jobs from the townspeople, leading you to explore the worlds inside of paintings, gather materials, and craft those materials into items through alchemy. It's nice that this game lets you kick back and relax with a more low-stakes story and simplistic gameplay. See More

Top Con

Not for people who hate repetitive busywork

If you can't stand doing the same things over and over again in games, then Atelier Lydie & Suelle probably isn't for you. The whole game is about exploring maps to gather materials and then crafting those materials into something useful through alchemy. There are some turn-based battles thrown in, but these more or less take a backseat to the alchemy mechanics. The heavy focus on gathering and crafting can end up feeling like busywork, turning the game into a drag for players who hate that kind of thing. See More

Top Pro

Engaging gathering and crafting system with alchemy as the game's main focus

Atelier Lydie & Suelle focuses on gathering materials and synthesizing them into alchemy formulas as the main mechanics. You can lose yourself in the game for hours as you explore the fantasy-like levels, picking up resources from bushes, hacking away at trees, or mining them from rocks. You can take as long you want to gather the stuff you need before going back home to your alchemy lab, or your atelier. The puzzle-like 4x4 crafting grid has a neat strategy in how you can make the most out of your ingredients. If you just put your ingredients wherever on the grid, you'll end up with a bad product. Arranging your ingredients together in certain ways on the grid boosts the end product's effects, like putting them near green squares to improve your product's healing effect, which improves the item's overall quality. Going for quality gives you more experience points to level up and more money from the jobs you take on. Taking your time to gather the materials you need and synthesizing them into the best possible items pays off in the end. See More

Top Con

No English voices even though previous Atelier games included them

For some reason, Atelier Lydie & Suelle doesn't have an English dub and just has the original Japanese voices with English subtitles. There's nothing wrong with only having the Japanese option, but it's really weird considering the other Atelier games in the West have English voice acting. New players don't have much to worry about here unless you can't stand having to read subtitles. If you're a fan of the series and you're used to the English dub, you might be thrown off by the change. See More

Top Pro

Solid turn-based combat that's welcoming to beginners

Atelier Lydie & Suelle's combat is simple enough for beginners who want to try out a turn-based JRPG. The interface is clean with basic commands for attacking and using skills, magic, and items. It's easy to get the hang of when to go on offense while your health is high, and when to switch to healing when your health starts to get low. The combat doesn't overwhelm you with complicated tutorials or mechanics, staying at a beginner's level with some room to grow down the line. This is a really good choice to start with if you want to get into turn-based combat before moving onto other games. See More

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

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Forgetful NPCs can break immersion

After completing certain story quests NPCs get new lines added to their dialogue based on your decisions. Sometimes the NPCs might become forgetful and return to their default dialogue, which can break immersion, especially if they talk about an event that's been long resolved. See More

Top Pro

Deep lore rivaling classic fantasy literature

Skyrim inherits the stories and world-building of The Elder Scrolls series, which stretches back 20 years. It has numerous stories surrounding the various races (orcs, elves, lizardmen, demons, etc.), mythical beasts, gods, cataclysmic events, parallel worlds, and just about any fantasy trope you could think off. What's even better you can read the lore in books found in-game, allowing you to immerse yourself for countless hours. See More

Specs

Genre:Fantasy Role-Playing

Top Con

Combat is too simple

Most of the time you can just whack an enemy until it dies and it involves very little strategy or planning to succeed. For example, targeting specific body parts doesn't deal extra damage, nor can you cripple an enemy. There are no vulnerabilities, so you can't set furry forest animals ablaze easier than humans. The enemies also lack any real variation in how they attempt to fight you – they just run at you swinging wildly or attack you from afar. Because of this the combat is very one-dimensional and can start feeling like a chore after a while. Luckily most of the combat issues can be fixed with mods, allowing you to enjoy a more varied and deeper combat experience. See More

Top Pro

Unrestrictive skill-based RPG system

Skyrim has no set character classes or equipment/spell limitations. Instead, it allows you to form your own class based on how you decide to play. For example, sneaking increases your sneaking skill, hitting an enemy with a shortsword increases your one-handed skill, taking damage while wearing leather armor increases your light armor skill, and so forth. You can you play however you want and the resulting character will be a perfect match for your playstyle, giving Skyrim a different feel from other RPGs. See More

Darkest Dungeon

Top Pro

Great monster visual design

There's a wide variety of extremely well-designed monsters and characters in the game. You confront bandits, skeletons, undersea terrors, pig monsters, and all sorts of otherworldly horrors. There's a lot of gruesome detail on each and every enemy, so the longer you'll keep looking the more you'll notice. This can be bloodstains, an extra set of eyes, an appendage that looks like a tentacle, and many more. It sometimes really feels like you're losing your mind alongside the adventurers, seeing whatever fits into your schema. See More

Top Con

Gets really repetitive

You'll spend dozens of hours repeatedly running the same dungeon, killing the same enemies, and collecting the same loot just to progress further into the game. On top of that, if you lose a character at any point, you'll be set back by another 3 hours. If you don't enjoy grinding, Darkest Dungeon might not be the game for you. See More

Specs

Genre:Role-Playing

Top Pro

Outstanding narration

Even though the only character that talks in this game is the narrator, his delivery of the lines is excellent. He talks in a deep and raspy voice that is also very pleasing to listen to. The narrator usually describes the events happening on-screen such as upgrading your settlement buildings, recruiting adventurers, various dungeon interactions, and many more. Additionally, he’ll start dropping story bits every time you near a boss, creating a very minimalist approach to storytelling that is also very enjoyable. See More

Top Con

It can be frustrating at times

Darkest Dungeon heavily relies on random events that can happen at any point in a dungeon. Some of them don't make any sense and most of them don't feel fair. For example, right after stepping inside a dungeon your characters might suddenly go hungry. If you don't feed them they'll get a penalty, setting you back for the rest of the dungeon. If you feed them you'll have used up your food but your characters might still go hungry again. You can't reliably plan around stuff like this, which can be annoying. See More

Top Pro

Interesting adventurer management

While the fabled heroes are off slaying dragons, battling demon kings, and saving princesses, the small-time adventurers have to clean up the dregs. You as the lord of a small settlement will employ these adventurers to clear out the mysterious dungeons surrounding your property. To clear a dungeon you’ll need to prepare adequately. This involves having decent party setup, which usually consists of at least 1 tank, 1 healer, and 2 damage dealers. This also includes having enough provisions such as torches and food. Planning out what and/or who to take with you can sometimes take as long as running a dungeon but it really makes you feel like you’re organizing an adventure. Another interesting part is the stress mechanic, causing your adventurers to accrue stress as they keep adventuring. If stress passes the first threshold, your adventurer might incur various penalties or even refuse your orders. If stress passes the second threshold your adventurer will die from a heart attack, so it’s important to relieve it regularly. This can be done by sending them to the tavern to blow off some steam or to the abbey to request absolution. Either option will make them unavailable for a week, so it’s a good idea plan ahead and have multiple parties of adventurers ready. This mechanic makes it feel like you’re managing real people rather than the indomitable figures often seen in fairy tales. See More

Top Pro

Immersive atmosphere

Darkest Dungeon has an almost intoxicating atmosphere created by three main aspects. Firstly, it’s the visuals: the somber color palette that accompanies a sunset, the creepy environments your party of four will anxiously proceed through, and the detailed, fearsome, and sometimes disgusting enemies that will tirelessly try to slaughter you. Secondly, the audio: an eerie soundtrack filled with murmurs of otherworldly creatures, teemed with bloodcurdling sound effects that render monster strikes more impactful. Even a charismatic narrator providing insightful interjections, as uttered by his mysterious, deep voice. Lastly, it’s the highly unpredictable and sometimes unfair gameplay. Whatever short triumph you may have, it will get drowned in a sea of despair. These elements combined make it very easy to immerse yourself into the world of Darkest Dungeon. See More

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana

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Able to be played without having played any other games in the series

Almost all of the games in the Ys series are self-contained stories. There are some references to locations and stories from other games in the series, but these references do not make an impact on the story at all. See More

Top Con

The beginning of the game starts off slow

The first few hours are a bit of a drag. Things take a while to pick up, with the story moving at a sluggish pace as you try to figure out what's going on around you. But once you get past that hurdle, the pacing picks up and the story stays interesting for the rest of the way. See More

Specs

Genre:Action Role-Playing

Top Pro

Beautiful soundtrack

The Falcom Sound Team delivers with a beautiful soundtrack for this game. The music ranges from rock tracks for combat, to upbeat music when in bright, sunny locals, and calm, serene music when the occasion calls for it. This is one soundtrack where the music is not only memorable, but fits the mood of the game very well. See More

Top Con

Terrible English localization

The localization of Ys VIII is filled with grammatical errors, inconsistencies and typos. Compared to the rest of the games in the Ys series, this unprofessional localization was a let down that ended up creating enough of an outcry from fans. This is a long-running problem that still has not been updated with an official patch, though the publisher has promised to release one at some point in the future. See More

Top Pro

Great combat system that is easy learn

The main combat of YS VIII is fast-paced, but not difficult to grasp. The core of the combat is the basic attack, dodge and guard. In addition to basic guarding and dodging, if the timing is done correctly, a flash guard or flash move is activated which either make you deal critical damage with each strike (guard) or move faster (move), as well as make you invincible for a short time. Combat becomes more nuanced with characters being able to deal one of three damage types, which can be used to exploit enemies weaknesses to stagger them or deal increased damage. Everything flows well in a way that's simple to grasp, with plenty of room to master the details. See More

Top Pro

Interesting and compelling story

Starting out with a monster attacking the boat Adol is on as the introduction, the story starts with finding fellow castaways while establishing and upgrading and defending a base of operations and trying to find a way to escape the island. As the story progresses, it shifts from trying to escape to unraveling the mysteries of island and why Adol is having dreams about Dana, a woman from an ancient civilization. What starts out as a group of strangers stranded on an island trying to escape turns into a community working together in a story that evolves from trying to survive to unraveling the great mysteries of the island. See More

I am Setsuna

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You can build your characters however you like

Characters in I Am Setsuna have their own active skills that are unique to them. However, there's a large pool of passive skills that can be used by anybody, which can lead to all sorts of interesting combinations. For example, you could have a taunting ability (something that makes enemies attack you) that also raises the user's stats, or a fire spell that somehow does cold damage. See More

Top Con

The sad and depressing tone of the game may bring you down

The entirety of the game fills you with a feeling of sadness and regret. This overtone never really lets up, though there are glimmers of hope and levity during your adventure. See More

Specs

Genre:Role-Playing

Top Pro

The characters aren't what you'd expect

The characters of most RPG are fairly standard. The hero who started from nothing, or the strong, silent adventurer, or the hyperactive, overly enthusiastic type. I Am Setsuna deviates from the standard tropes of the classic JRPGs, and lets each character tell their own story without taking away from the overall feel of the game. See More

Top Con

Combat may be too easy

I Am Setsuna allows you to customize your character's abilities, which can end up making you severely overpowered relatively early on. Some players may find this a little boring. See More

Top Pro

The combat system is familiar to almost everyone

I Am Setsuna uses a turn-based battle system that has been used in countless other games, bringing a sense of familiarity to the game. You're able to attack with your weapons, cast devastating spells, or even use combination attacks with your teammates. The combo attacks are particularly fun to use, as you'll have to experiment with different characters in order to achieve different effects. See More

Top Con

It relies on nostalgia and story telling to cover up mediocre gameplay

While the turn-based combat systems of JRPGs have been going strong for longer than 20 years, it also means that there's generally nothing new to expect, and that is certainly true of I Am Setsuna. Fans of the genre will enjoy the nostalgic feel of it, but newcomers may feel put off by the slow speed and rather uninteresting combat. See More

Top Pro

The environment really drags you into the game

I Am Setsuna's environment is beautifully somber. The dim, muted colors, serves to draw the player into a barren, empty overworld. The all-piano soundtrack is gorgeous and somehow manages to highlight the sad tone of the game. See More

Disgaea 5 Complete

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Fun tactical gameplay

In Disgaea 5 it's all about having your character cooperate. They can perform combos together, multiplying the damage done and showing a cool animation. They can pick each other up, allowing you to throw them into a better position to perform a devastating attack. They can also pick up enemies to throw them among your squad, allowing for a multipronged beat down. Your monsters can be combined into a giant monster or turned into weapons a humanoid character can equip. All of these and many other things give the gameplay enough variety to keep it interesting for a long time. See More

Top Con

Can get really repetitive

Disgaea 5 is all about leveling your characters and items. This means repeating the same stage, defeating the same enemies, or running the item world hundreds of times. See More

Specs

Genre:Tactical Role-Playing

Top Pro

Making your characters strong is addicting

The first time you 1-hit-kill an enemy, you'll realize how good it feels to overpower an enemy. So when you encounter stronger enemies, you'll want to keep this feeling up, turning it into an obsession. This will repeat all the way to the strongest boss in the game – Overlord Baal. Being able to defeat him in a single turn feels like a lifelong accomplishment since you've reached the pinnacle of strength in Disgaea 5. See More

Top Pro

Tons of content

There are multiple endings, secret superbosses, hidden items, unlockable classes, and even a map editor for creating new content. All of this keeps it interesting for a long time, allowing you to easily spend hundreds of hours playing Disgaea 5. See More

Super Mario Odyssey

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Really fun possession mechanic keeps the gameplay fresh

Mario can take control of enemies and objects by throwing his hat on top of them. Once controlled, an enemy retains all of its abilities, allowing you to use them. For example, you can take control of a frog, enabling you to jump up to areas that would be normally out of reach. Or you can take control of a T-Rex and go on a rampage, smashing rocks, enemies, and everything else in your way. You can even control a Christmas tree and hop around for no real reason. This gives the usual platforming gameplay a great amount of variation while also making exploration a tad bit more exciting. It's simply fun to discover and use new and interesting abilities. See More

Top Con

Motion controls can feel awkward at times

Some of Mario's special moves need motion control inputs to perform, requiring you to rotate or tilt the controller alongside precise button presses. While this is an attempt to make the gameplay feel more engaging, it's not implemented that well. It simply makes the special moves needlessly challenging to perform, which can considerably detract from the gameplay. This is especially the case when playing in the handheld mode of the Nintendo Switch, since you're also swinging around the handheld display. See More

Specs

Genre:Platformer

Top Pro

Good level variety

There are 16 unique levels in SMO, including a large reddish desert, filled with colorful buildings and quirky skeletons, a gray kingdom built on the moon where enemies wear white top hats, and even a bustling metropolis where you can bounce off of taxis, swing on lampposts, and climb skyscrapers. There's a good amount of variation in the level designs and themes, so you probably won't get tired of exploring the levels that quickly, making even long sessions really enjoyable. See More

Top Pro

Tons of collectibles that encourage exploration

SMO is jam-packed with gold coins, purple coins, and power moons for you to collect. While collecting them all is completely optional, it can quickly become addicting to collect them. A couple of coins here, another dozen there, and another hundred there, all for that silly looking skeleton outfit. This can easily lead you to spend hours searching every nook and cranny in a level just to collect a bit more. See More

Top Pro

Incorporates old school 2D gameplay in a cool way

In some areas, Mario can enter the surface of a wall, shifting the gameplay to a 2D plane. This also reverts Mario to his 8-bit era pixelated self, allowing you to play through a mini level in the style of the original Super Mario games. While it could've been done just to bait nostalgia, the developers added new, fun mechanics to the old formula, making it as fresh and enjoyable as the main game. See More

Lost Sphear

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Mysterious and interesting story

People and places around the world are disappearing, leaving behind blank white spaces where they once stood. A young orphan named Kanata sets out with his friends to unravel the mystery, and discovers he possesses the power to restore the balance by finding lost memories. The unexplainable disappearances set a great mysterious tone from the start, and this manages to hold up quite well throughout Kanata's journey. While the characters within the story might not be the greatest, the writing itself is well done, the plot moves along at a steady pace, and the strange premise behind everything keeps it extremely interesting for the duration. See More

Top Con

Poor character development

While there are a couple of exceptions, many of the characters don't really develop over time. Their attitudes and personalities when you first meet them never change or evolve. Even with the few characters who are exceptions, their storylines are very predictable and there are no big surprise moments. See More

Specs

Top Pro

Flexible difficulty

You can change the difficulty level as you play, meaning you won't ever hit roadblocks. For example, if a boss way too hard for you, you can simply swap to easy and then progress. See More

Top Con

Very repetitive

The entire game basically revolves around the same formula. Discovering a memory that needs to be restored, hunting down the lost memory by killing a boss, and then restoring it. It never ventures far from this routine, which can get very repetitive over time. See More

Top Pro

Exciting turn-based battles

Unlike other turn-based RPGs, your party isn't locked into a fixed position during battles, allowing you to move freely around the screen and cast spells from anywhere. Positioning your characters to hit multiple enemies with one attack, or moving to avoid area of effect attacks adds a fun new mobility to turn-based combat. Each playable character has access to five or six spells that can be used, but they can also be augmented with your choice of secondary effects. The effects vary from extra damage, buffs for your party, debuffs for enemies, and more, but it's entirely up to you which ones to use. Being able to experiment with all the different spell possibilities allows you to mix and match effects to suit your playstyle or play on a character's strength. Planning when and where to move each unit on the field, as well as what effects to put on each spell, can make for some really exciting battles. See More

Top Con

It's too easy to get overpowered

Upgrading your weapons requires items that are cheap and plentiful, so it's all too easy to become overpowered very early on in the game. This removes a lot of the challenge since eventually everything becomes trivial. See More

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Linear and boring dungeons

You won't be exploring much in dungeons, as most are a straight path from start to finish. Sometimes you will need to find switches or buttons to unlock gates, but overall it just involves clearing a room of monsters and then moving to the next one. See More

Fe

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Enemy encounters can be tense

There's no combat in Fe, resulting in some pretty tense situations with the monsters. If you are spotted by the Silent Ones, rather scary robotic creatures, they can kill you on sight. Hiding in a bush or climbing a tree in a panic to escape can deliver some pretty exciting and tense moments. No matter how careful you are in the open world, some objectives will require sneaking past or evading them to grab key items. These situations can deliver some of the most exciting moments in the game. See More

Top Con

Platforming is a bit unpolished at times

The platforming can feel a bit clunky or rough at times. For example, when climbing trees you have to jump to the top branch by branch. Hitting the jump button one time too many will result in falling and having to re-climb the tree from the base. It's just little unpolished details like this that can sometimes make the platforming feel a bit clumsy. See More

Specs

Genre:Adventure, Action, Platforming

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Uses music as an interesting platforming mechanic

Songs are used to interact with the world and navigate the platforming aspects in interesting ways. Using various melodies, you'll be able to perform such actions as calling birds to help you cross large gaps, spring boarding off plants for super high jumps, and even summoning a stag to attack enemies. If you're ever lost, there is a melody you can use to call down a bird who will point you in the direction you need to be going. Using musical melodies to navigate the platforming is integrated incredibly well. See More

Top Con

Story can seem nonsensical

There is no dialogue in the game, so the story can be hard to follow at times. During cutscenes, sometimes you'll have no clue what's really going on due to their surreal and strange nature. A lot of the story is left up your own interpretation, which can be disappointing for those who prefer a solid, coherent narrative. See More

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Exciting ability progression

Abilities are learned gradually as the game progresses by collecting gems and also learning the musical language of the forest life from plants and animals. As you gain more abilities or learn how to interact with more creatures, you can then go back to old areas and find new paths that were previously inaccessible. For example, birds that may not have paid much attention to you before may now gladly carry you over large gaps once you speak their language. Plants can springboard you high into the air once you can communicate with them. This ability progression is an exciting way to keep things fresh, and makes visiting old areas rewarding with new secrets to be found. See More

Bayonetta

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Unique enemy designs with angels that defy typical conventions

Angels in Bayonetta are far from how they are depicted in pop culture. Despite their bright glow and the religious music that you hear when they're introduced, they're hunched over, lumbering when they walk and fight in battle. They're designed in ways that definitely make them look like Bayonetta's enemies instead of entities that we're supposed to side with. The larger, gargantuan angelic bosses appear otherwordly and incomprehensible like Lovecraftian creatures, They're quite the sight to behold and make for interesting boss fights with cool set pieces, like Bayonetta surfing on a wooden plank as she fights a huge angel in the middle of an ocean. See More

Top Con

On-rails sections can be frustrating

There will be a few times where you'll play through retro-inspired sequences where you race down a highway on a motorcycle, or shoot missiles at enemies from an airship. You have to handle quick time event button presses on the motorcycle and deal with a bunch of enemies firing at you on the ship. These sequences are a huge change from the normal combat, and if you're not good at them, you may find yourself getting frustrated. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

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Excellent ports

Bayonetta was originally released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 back in 2009, but the PC version comes with improved graphics, 4K support and excellent performance. On the Nintendo Switch, you'll also get to enjoy the game at 60 FPS, though at a lower 720p resolution compared to the PC version. See More

Top Con

The story is nonsensical

While Bayonetta has some intriguing lore involving witches battling against a puritanical religion, you won't get to learn much about it. The storytelling is a mess, with sudden changes that don't make sense, and underdeveloped characters that the game expects you to care about. As long as you go in without taking the story and presentation all that seriously, you'll still be able to have a good time. See More

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Bayonetta herself is unconventional and entertaining

Bayonetta is a character who exudes confidence and charm, and every aspect of the game's mechanics and design fits with her personality. She's over eight feet tall, wears a skin-tight suit that's actually made of her magical hair, and always fights with style and finesse. When you do a double jump, a butterfly's wings appear over her back, and when you use any type of long weapon like a lance, you can have her pole dance and quickly fire her guns in all directions. Since she's a sadistic character, her finisher moves are called Torture Attacks. After accumulating enough magic points through normal attacks, you can make Bayonetta conjure one of many types of medieval torture devices. She'll trap enemies inside and send blood everywhere, or she'll whip their backs with a flourish, doing more damage as you mash the button prompt on the screen. Healing and buff items, instead of the usual potions, are different-flavored lollipops like the one that Bayonetta likes to keep in her mouth during some cutscenes. Upgrades to her jumping ability are also beyond the norm, letting you transform her into a black panther to run faster and jump higher. Overall, Bayonetta is independent and likes to have a good time, never missing an opportunity to strike a pose or dance in between pummeling and whipping her enemies into submission. If you see Bayonetta's sexualized moves and portrayal as the game's way of parodying other media, then you'll probably find her over-the-top presentation more entertaining than offensive. See More

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Fun and complex gameplay

Bayonetta excels in its combat, going above and beyond to entertain the player with the scale of its gigantic, angelic enemies and the depth of its gameplay. The tutorial teaches you the bare basics of punching and kicking, and then it's up to you to experiment with inputs and find the best combos to keep up the pain. Even on normal difficulty, the game can seem punishing for newcomers, but there are lots of skills you can pick up on to make things smoother. There's a ton of depth to the combat, especially in how you have the potential to keep up limitless combos with punches, kicks, and gunfire. When you hold down your buttons, Bayonetta will freeze her punching or kicking pose while firing the guns from her heels or in her hands. In the middle of that pose, you can dodge offset an incoming attack and initiate Witch Time, which rewards you by making enemies move at a snail's pace while you get more hits in than you normally could. In other situations where you're surrounded by enemies and need some crowd control, you can have Bayonetta do some handstands while she fires her guns. Each new weapon you acquire, whether it's a katana or a huge lance you pick up from a downed enemy, gives you a whole new set of combos to master. There's an incredible variety in the gameplay for you to play around with, whether it's with new weapons or Bayonetta's punches, kicks, and guns. You'll constantly find new ways to enjoy the combat as you play through the game, keeping things fresh from start to finish. See More

Octopath Traveler

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The job system lets you tailor everyone's playstyles however you want

While everyone begins as their own set job, such as warrior, dancer, and so on, you can further customize everyone to your liking. As you progress through the story, you eventually get the option to assign secondary jobs to everyone, meaning they get the benefits of both their main job and the second one you give them. You can give your warrior access to healing magic, for example, to shore up his weaknesses, or double-down and assign him a more combat-oriented secondary job. You can't give more than two characters the same second job, though, so you have to be selective in how you choose to customize everyone. See More

Top Con

The origin stories are repetitive

All of the eight origin stories, the initial chapters, virtually play the same. You get introduced to the character and their world, they work through their struggle, and then there's a boss at the end. This samey structure can make back-to-back playthroughs of origin stories feel like a slog, since there isn't much variety aside from the individual characters themselves. It may help to space out the origin stories to keep things from feeling repetitive. See More

Specs

Genre:Role-Playing

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You can play through the eight separate character stories at your own pace

As Octopath Traveler is more of an intimate, character-based story, you have the freedom to experience each tale however you want. The stories themselves are mostly well-written with a wonderfully mature tone, with a seriousness that isn't overdone, and a nice sense of brevity that lets you fill in certain blanks with your imagination. You can start with one character and play through his or her origin story, and as you explore the world map to travel to new locations, you run into other characters' stories that you can complete in any order you prefer. The first character you choose is your "main" character, whose story you see through to completion throughout the game. This freedom of choice makes the game perfect for picking up and playing on the go or in short bursts. See More

Top Con

The eight character stories never really come together

While the individual stories are all great in their own ways, the characters don't ever join together as a cohesive group of allies. You can pick and choose who you want to bring along for combat, and who to explore with, but they hardly acknowledge each others' existence. The most they do is speak a few words to certain characters here and there, but there's nothing substantive to help everyone feel like a group that's working together. It makes the story feel hollow with too much wasted potential. See More

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Engaging classic turn-based combat with plenty of strategy involved

The battles are a great throwback to older JRPGs with enough of a contemporary twist. You have the familiar setup of a party of four characters standing in a line opposite the enemies, all of whom have their own weaknesses for you to figure out. Your party takes turn attacking the enemy to find their specific weaknesses, whether it's to sword attacks, certain elemental spells, and so on. Once you find it, pummeling their weakness depletes their armor, and then you land your strongest hits to combo for massive damage. But their weaknesses can change as the battle goes on, so you have to strategize with how to maximize your damage before that change happens. The system is pretty engaging in the way it keeps you on your toes for every fight. See More

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Gorgeous old school visuals with a modern touch

Octopath Traveler is a beautiful game that updates the nostalgic JRPG formula, especially with the graphics. The characters are all expressive 16-bit sprite models in 2D, calling back to games from the SNES era, while the backgrounds are in 3D with an incredible amount of detail. Walking through snowy mountains, across beaches, or through deserts, parts of the backgrounds glitter in the sunlight in captivating ways. It's a unique style that appeals to longtime JRPG fans while keeping things modern enough for the current console generation. See More

Xenoblade Chronicles 2

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Likable cast of main characters

Each of the protagonists in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 are positive and optimistic in their own ways, standing out as a bright and sunny cast throughout the story. The main character, Rex, is a young guy who loves treasure hunting and exploring, and he believes in always doing the right thing. His optimism is infectious and helps drive the main quest forward. His main companion, Pyra, is a peaceful young woman entrusted with a dangerous power that she wished she didn't have, making her fear her own destructive potential. She and Rex find strength and hope from one another to keep pressing on. The rest of the main cast are just as upbeat, if not more, like the cheery engineer named Tora who works hard to keep up with how powerful Rex and Pyra are as a team. The healer of the group, Nia, tends to be grumpy, but she's cool with joking around and smiling when she wants to. Everyone's positive attitudes are uplifting and refreshing, making them enjoyable to spend time with. See More

Top Con

Performance problems in both docked and handheld mode

Even after a few patches, there are still some framerate issues while playing Xenoblade Chronicles 2 on a TV or in handheld mode. While playing on a TV, there are some framerate drops, but they're not so bad. They only happen when there's a lot going on, like during hectic battles with a bunch of abilities firing off with particle effects everywhere. On handheld mode, the framerate drops in the same instances, and it's pretty noticeable. Some more patches should fix the drops in due time, but until then, you'll have to expect some dips in performance here and there, especially in handheld mode. See More

Specs

Genre:Action Role-Playing

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Lots of opportunities for fun banter between party members

There are many chances for your companions to chit-chat or blurt out whatever's on their mind while you explore together, letting you get to know them better outside of cutscenes in the main quest. Your party members will cheer each other on in battle or caution you to retreat when your health runs low, say good morning to everyone when you wake up at an inn, or talk one-on-one for regular conversations at certain times. Spread throughout the world are optional markers that you can select for Heart-to-Heart moments where some or all of your party members can talk to each other about almost anything. They'll reminisce about their pasts, or tease your other companions and joke around. Sometimes you'll even get to see new sides of characters that help flesh them out even more. All of these small details and conversations help your party feel like actual friends and teammates, not just a band of characters that happen to be on the same journey. See More

Top Con

English voice acting is hit-or-miss

Even though some of the voice acting in English is amazing, there are other characters whose voices just sound bad in comparison. Characters like Rex and Nia who have Yorkshire and Welsh accents, respectively, sound fresh and charming, but the ones with American accents usually sound out of place or forced. Luckily, you have the option of playing with the Japanese voices instead if you'd rather not take the chance on the English voice acting. See More

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Beautiful soundtrack that gives more life to each environment

Xenoblade Chronicles 2's gorgeous music adds a lot to the game's expansive world, making the levels seem larger and the towns and cities feel more alive. There are daytime and nighttime versions for most tracks, helping to set the tone either for sunny days or moody nights wherever you are. Exploring the glittering lakes and lush forests inside of a Titan while the nighttime version of "Kingdom of Uraya" plays is a great experience, with a mesmerizing chorus singing over romantic and adventurous pianos and wind instruments. If you arrive to the kingdom's capital at night, right away you'll get a sense of the city's mystery from the soft acoustic guitar and nostalgic, echoing sound effects in the background. These types of moments with the music help to flesh out the world even more, telling a story through the soundtrack that sticks with you alongside the visuals. See More

Top Con

Terrible pacing issues toward the end of the story

The final section of the game is an absolute slog, filled with way too many cutscenes and frustrating barriers, ruining the flow of the plot. As you play through the last levels, you'll run for a few minutes through an area, sit through a long cutscene, run again, get stopped by another cutscene, and so on until you reach the final boss. The worst offenders are the environmental barriers that you can't get past unless your party members have certain passive abilities unlocked from their skill trees, like having Wind Mastery to make an air duct push you up higher over a wall. You'll have to go back and grind the requirements for these abilities if you haven't already, forcing the story's momentum to a halt. The barrage of cutscenes and the unskippable environmental barriers are awful design decisions that could ruin your time with the finale. See More

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Tons of content and high replay value with New Game+

The main story will easily take you over 60 hours to complete, not including side activities, and the New Game+ mode unlocks even more optional content. The story itself is packed with action-filled and emotional cutscenes, and beyond those, there are lots of side quests and secrets elsewhere that you can explore at your leisure. Special, hard-to-reach areas of the map have valuable treasure with money and rare items, and there are a bunch of side quests that you can find from NPCs in town or out in the open world. New Game+ gives you the chance to find even rarer items and new unlocks in your characters' skill trees, letting you take on stronger monsters that you might not have been ready for in your first playthrough. You could also bring along different party members for side events and get to see any of their unique dialog that you missed out on the first time. There's so much to do and discover that a completionist will no doubt find 200+ hours of content here. See More

Top Con

Annoying anime and JRPG tropes

The anime and JRPG tropes can make Xenoblade Chronicles 2's story and characters downright unbearable, even for players who enjoy Japanese media. The antagonists are mostly one-dimensional with impractical, edgy designs. Rex gets embarrassed in exaggerated ways whenever he's close to Pyra, some of your companions exist mostly as dumb comic relief, and there's an android-type character that's heavily implied to exist as someone's maid. These issues bog down the plot in cheap ways, lifted straight out of any generic anime you might come across. The game also goes all-in on the tired JRPG trope of a group of friends joining together to defeat a god--even one of Rex's combat lines talks about how they'll actually defeat their enemies "with the power of friendship." This route would have been fine if the game had tried to spice things up, but sadly, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 feels like more of the same. These stereotypes are overdone and cringey, and they'll more than likely be a deal-breaker for players who already dislike these types of tropes. See More

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Action-packed and engaging real-time combat

Combat here is frantic and busy, with many abilities to keep track of, as well as special attacks and party-wide finishers that do more damage based on how well you time a few QTE sequences. Things start out basic with simple auto attacks, and as you land these, your abilities become available to use for either more damage, more crowd control and enmity gain, or healing spells. Quite a few damage-based abilities are stronger when you're in front of an enemy, behind it, or on their flank, so you'll want to constantly change up where you stand to maximize your damage output. You also have your special attacks that are freed up as you keep using abilities. Timing your button presses during QTEs for an Excellent rating will do the most damage, and it will also fill up your party gauge the fastest. Once your party gauge is full, you can chain special attacks together from each of your companions to unleash a powerful attack, with the giant damage number popping up on the screen to show how well you did. It sounds like a complicated system, but the game does a good job of introducing things one at a time with easy-to-follow tutorials, helping you to learn everything as you go. See More

Top Con

Objective markers on the map are frustrating and unhelpful

Trying to find your way to quest markers is really frustrating because of how poorly-designed the overhead map is. All you have is a vertical line at the top of the screen that shifts with your orientation, and a red square with an exclamation point that's meant to point you toward the next main quest, or blue squares for side quests. Your only indications of where to go are the number telling you how far away you are and an arrow to guide you up or down. While trying to go in the general direction of the marker, you'll run into obstacles or dead-ends, forcing you to backtrack and wander around for about an hour before finding where you need to go. Because the open world is so huge with a crazy amount of verticality, these objective markers are way too simple, making exploration a pain for those who don't want to look up guides online. See More

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Exploring the open world gives you a great sense of adventure

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has an incredibly huge and unique open world filled with dense locations, giving you the feeling that you're truly on an epic quest. You'll cross sprawling maps filled with docile creatures, hostile monsters, and secret locations with valuable treasure, until you find one of the game's many living, breathing settlements. Smaller, tight-knit towns are as impressive as the game's bigger, more technologically-advanced cities because of how lively everything feels, packed with many bustling shops to buy gear and food, and NPCs to chat with and pick up side quests from. The ground you walk on is actually on the backs and the insides of gigantic Titans--huge, peaceful dinosaur-like creatures tall enough to reach the clouds. You can find a whole kingdom with a purple sky and red trees on the inside of one Titan, and an entire holy city with impressive classical architecture on the back of another Titan. The world's scope and size really instills the sense that you're on an amazing adventure with so much to explore and discover. See More

Top Con

Overly positive themes take away from the more serious story moments

It's great that this game is so positive, but the story has trouble balancing the upbeat themes with its more serious, dramatic moments. This happens on both a small scale with specific plot points and on a larger scale where it becomes harder and harder to suspend your disbelief as the story goes on. At one point, there's a tense scene filled with urgency where you need to rush off to save someone as soon as possible. Then, as soon as those cutscenes are over, some of your party members suggest that you go have fun with a side activity that's tone deaf and inappropriate for a time like this. Because everyone's so cheery and optimistic, it's tough to take the game seriously when it explores more grounded themes like war, corrupt religions, and philosophical science fiction. The times when the story tries to be dark and mature, it comes off as fake and comical, especially later on in the game. It's a shame that there's no balance between the two, resulting in dramatic or touching story moments that might only make you scoff or roll your eyes. See More

Top Con

Some character designs are distracting

There are a few female characters in the game whose proportions don't look right at all. Pyra and a couple of other characters have small frames and oversized breasts that look ridiculous. Their tight-fitting clothes and exposed skin make the proportions even more obvious, causing distractions during cutscenes. It's possible to tune these things out after a while, but it's still a strange design choice. See More

Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition

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Upscaled visuals plus all DLC content from the original

As an upgrade from the existing Hyrule Warriors, the Definitive Edition has an improved resolution and framerate, plus all the bonus content. Everything runs smoothly at 1080p and 60 FPS, with brighter colors for maps, characters, and enemies. All the DLC content is here from the start as well, meaning you get the whole package from the original Hyrule Warriors along with the added characters, maps, and more. If you didn't get the chance to play Hyrule Warriors on the Wii U or 3DS, this is a great time to jump in. See More

Top Con

Splitscreen for co-op makes it hard to see the map

The vertical split across the middle of the screen makes it hard to see what's going on during co-op play. Since there are tons of enemies on the screen at any one time, having that density packed into a smaller portion of your TV or handheld screen is inconvenient. You'll probably still have a great time with co-op, despite the setback. See More

Specs

Genre:Action, Adventure, Fighting, Hack-and-Slash

Co-Op:2 Player Local

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Two players can co-op the whole game together

You can team up with a friend to play all of the story content and more. The splitscreen co-op is local only, but you get to play the whole game together, making some of the more challenging missions more manageable. Playing co-op on docked mode through the TV is probably best, since the handheld is a bit too small to see everything clearly with the screen cut in half. See More

Top Con

Hardly any new content exclusive to this Definitive Edition

If you already played Hyrule Warriors on the Wii U or 3DS, there isn't much of a reason to pick up this new version. The upscaled visuals are nice, but there isn't much here compared to the existing game, especially if you shelled out money for all the DLC before. At most, characters like Zelda have new costumes from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which isn't much of an incentive by itself. So if you played the original and you're on the fence about buying this version, you might want to hold off for a price drop first. See More

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You get to play as several characters from The Legend of Zelda series

Hyrule Warriors has a good roster of characters to play as, each of them from The Legend of Zelda games. Aside from the most well-known characters like Zelda and Link, fans of the series get to enjoy plenty of other familiar faces. You can play as Ganondorf, the main antagonist from the series, as well as other characters like Sheik, Princess Ruto, Yuga, Volga, and many more. Even if you're not a diehard fan of the series, you can still enjoy the sheer variety of characters and all their different fighting styles. See More

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Satisfying hack-and-slash combat against dense packs of enemies

Taking out huge packs of enemies in Hyrule Warriors is incredibly satisfying. Even though your foes outnumber you, you have powerful, flashy attacks to lift them in the air and take them down, dozens at a time. Slashing through everyone with spinning attacks with gigantic swords, for example, never gets old, especially while playing as one of your favorite characters from The Legend of Zelda games. Clearing out maps of all the enemies makes you feel powerful and gives you a great sense of accomplishment. See More

Fire Emblem Warriors

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All favorite characters together in one place

Over 20 of the more popular and well-loved characters from the Fire Emblem franchise appear in this game, including Rowan, Caeda, Lyn, Chrom, and more. It's a treat to see most of the characters from all the Fire Emblem games all together in one place, teaming up with one another when they otherwise wouldn't in other games. See More

Top Con

Story is generic

The kingdom is being overrun with monstrous armies from another dimension, and it's up to our heroes to stop it. There's not a lot of character development, nor much to the plot. The paper thin story probably won't hold your attention, and can be mostly skipped over to get to the action. See More

Specs

Genre:Hack-and-Slash, Role-Playing

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History modes expands on the base game with challenges

History mode is a fast-paced and exciting mode where you tackle a map (based on classic events from previous Fire Emblem games) with various challenges requiring a certain number of enemies to be killed, or the map to be cleared in a specific time frame. Some of the most tense moments are to be had in this mode due to these battle requirements which aren't present in the regular story mode, and it will really put your skills to the test. By completing these challenges, new weapons and characters are unlocked, making it a rather rewarding experience and a great way to keep the gameplay going after the main story mode is completed. See More

Top Con

Army management can be tedious due to AI

When units are set to offense, they become reckless and tend to get themselves killed far too often. Upon capturing their objective, they will completely stop and await new orders. When set to defense, they will heal themselves and guard forts, but refuse to engage approaching enemies, even ones who are close by. This poor AI makes micromanaging units a hassle at times, as they constantly have to be given new orders. See More

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Potential permadeath adds panicked excitement to battle

If one of your characters die, they may be potentially gone for good as raising them from the dead requires a large amount of rare reagents. While you may be able to resurrect a fallen hero from time to time, you won't be able to continually bring them back if you let them die constantly. This encourages strategic play by keeping an eye on the entire battlefield, as opposed to just mashing buttons and cutting through ranks of enemies. Nobody wants to see their favorite hero die, so this adds a sense of panicked excitement to the action. See More

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Combat is satisfying and strategic

The fast paced action is the heart of the game, and you won't be at a loss for things to swing your weapon at. Virtual armies of enemies fill each and every map to the brim. Each hero has their own set of special moves that can be used, oftentimes with over the top animations such as a powerful weapon swing sending dozens of enemies flying in different directions, along with special effect such as bursts of light and wind trails behind each strike. Chaining attacks together in vicious combos look and feel great, with each hit feeling like it connects. The game uses a rock paper scissors type combat system called the "weapon triangle" in which certain weapons are strong and weak against other weapon types. Swords beat axes, axes beat spears, and spears beat swords. This adds an interesting layer to combat where you'll want to make sure you're using the right weapon against the right enemy for maximum damage. See More

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There is a distinct sense of character progression

Between battles and story chapters, you can upgrade character levels in the training grounds by spending gold, choose talents for your heroes, and forge powerful crests and weapons with materials gathered during battles. If you find your heroes simply aren't strong enough to tackle the next battle or chapter, you'll always have to opportunity to go back and grind old battles for new crafting materials, experience, and special items. This is a nice touch that helps players feel their heroes getting stronger, especially when you get to go back to an old battle completely overpowered and just demolish everything. See More

Yodanji

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Educates you about the Yokai of Japanese folklore

All of Yodanji's playable characters are Yokai - supernatural beings that appear in many types of Japanese folklore. This includes Yuki-onna (snow woman), Kamaitachi (sickle weasel), Nekomata (a possessed two-tailed cat), and many others. Each Yokai has background info at the character selection screen, providing insights into that Yokai's origins and supernatural origins. This gives you a chance to learn interesting tidbits about Japanese culture while playing the game. See More

Top Con

The soundtrack can get repetitive easily

As you're exploring the dungeon in Yodanji, you'll be accompanied by a simple tune, consisting primarily of a string instrument and a flute with some ambience mixed in. While the audio quality is great and the tune sounds nice, it's only about 15 seconds long and loops endlessly. As a result, after playing for a couple of hours the tune might start to become unbearable, causing it to even feel distracting. See More

Specs

Genre:Roguelike, Role-Playing, Strategy

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Suspenseful atmosphere

While Yodanji's supernatural premise and eerie sound effects could've been enough to create a tense atmosphere, the limited vision makes it very suspenseful. You can only see enemies directly in your line of sight, so you'll only notice an enemy right after turning a corner. This also allows them to ambush you, since just looking into a room won't inform you of anyone hiding in that room's corners. It's a simple mechanic, but it makes exploring a lot more intense, since one wrong move can lead to your death. See More

Top Con

Very basic visuals

Aside from the nicely drawn character pictures, every other visual in Yodanji is very basic. Environments, items, and even character sprites are very pixelated, lack detail, and have a very limited color to them. While the developer might've gone with this retro-esque style intentionally, it probably won't impress players looking for more impressive visuals. See More

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Solid roguelike gameplay

Yodanji is a good mix of RPG, roguelike and dungeon crawling elements. You explore a dungeon, battle enemies, level up and learn new skills, and find useful items while avoiding traps, finding secrets, and enduring sudden ambushes. There's even a hunger mechanic, adding a bit of a micro management aspect when you're not fighting. All of this creates an enjoyable experience that can satisfy most players looking for a good roguelike game. See More

Bayonetta 2

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Alternate touch screen controls for Wii U and Nintendo Switch

There is an alternate control type that uses the touch screen instead of the game pad. This is great for anyone who wants to switch things up from always having to press the buttons on their controller. See More

Top Con

Online co-op missions are short

Each online mission is a bite-sized piece of action, which means they are all over withing a short time frame. For those looking for lengthier online missions, there are sadly none to be found. See More

Specs

Co-Op:2 Player Online

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Runs smoothly at 60 FPS

There is no stuttering and no frame dips, since the game holds at 60 FPS the entire playthrough. See More

Top Con

Humor can be childish

While not all of the humor is bad, a lot of it is over-the-top, and some of it lands flat in childish ways. Some of the characters feel like mere caricatures with the way they're constantly presented as comic relief. Depending on your tastes, you might find the humor charming, or it could bore you instead. See More

Top Pro

Thrilling soundtrack

The music in Bayonetta 2 fits perfectly with the huge boss fights, the demonic locations you explore, and Bayonetta's own bombastic personality. While fighting against demons in some of the game's hellish environments, the chorus and violins are sinister and foreboding, giving you a sense of urgency to press forward. The huge fights in these locations are powerful with the accompanying soundstrack, like how the very first boss in the game has an explosive song with an impactful chorus and wind instruments. By contrast, Bayonetta's main battle theme is completely different, mixing sunny female vocals with jazzy pianos that matches how much fun she has while fighting enemies. The variety is great and always matches the tone of the moment, making the game feel a lot more fun to play. See More

Top Con

The story is ridiculous

Bayonetta 2's story is confusing to keep track of at times, and the plot points grow increasingly more ridiculous and over-the-top as the game progresses. The plot starts off fine enough with Bayonetta on a quest to save her best friend, but then other characters and motivations get thrown into the mix. These other plot points are huge distractions and take away from Bayonetta's personal story of going after her friend who's in danger. If you feel like everything goes over your head as you try to follow the story, then it's not just you. See More

Top Pro

Epic boss fights with incredible set pieces

Bayonetta 2 has a constant stream of gigantic boss fights set in amazing locations that are memorable because of how over-the-top they are. The enemies you fight against are huge in scope, with level designs that are creative and outlandish. For example, the prologue of the game is impressive, showing off a massive demon protruding from the side of a skyscraper that Bayonetta fights against while flying through the air. There's also another fight where you battle against a single enemy with multiple forms, where you have to jump from one crumbling building or arena to the next. There's a lot of spectacle and scope to the boss battles that constantly makes you wonder how the next fight will top the last one. See More

Top Pro

Complex action combat that's satisfying to master

The action combat in Bayonetta 2 is less about arcadey hack-and-slash fighting and more about precise button inputs that are incredibly satisfying to perfect. Mastering combos allows you to string endless attacks to constantly put out damage in between dodging. Dodging attacks at the very last second rewards you with Witch Time, where enemies slow down while you attack freely at normal speed, keeping your combos going even further. It'll take some time for you to get these techniques down, but once you do, you'll find yourself toying with enemies as you practically dance in circles around them. See More

Kirby Star Allies

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Top Pro

Cute and colorful 3D visuals

The art style looks amazing with pleasing colors and 3D models that make the platforming levels vibrant and cheerful. All the pinks, blues, and yellows brighten up the environments. The round shapes of the cutesy characters and the world are and interesting with a lot of pop, like 3D illustrations in a book. Everything is great to look at, keeping the game plenty of fun to play with the amazing visuals. See More

Top Con

Co-op with the AI characters can make things too easy

The computer-controlled co-op allies always know exactly what to do, taking a lot of the challenge and possibly fun out of the game. When you're playing with actual friends, you're all figuring things out together and learning along the way. Unfortunately it's not the same experience with the computer, since they're programmed to execute the right solutions to each of the platforming puzzles and boss fights. This sadly makes everything way too easy when you can rely on the AI allies to basically play the game for you. See More

Specs

Genre:Platformer

Co-Op:4 Player Local

Top Pro

Great for kids and family to play

Kirby Star Allies is simple but entertaining enough for anyone to enjoy, especially kids. The family-friendly gameplay, kid-friendly art style, and Kirby's cute design are pretty enticing for younger ages. With the couch co-op mode, parents can also play this game with their kids for game nights. The controls are easy and straight-forward, so if you're looking to get your kids or even older family members into gaming for the first time, this is a solid stepping stone. It's an accessible game that people of all ages can pick up and enjoy. See More

Top Con

The levels are repetitive for most of the game

For the most part, once you figure out how to get past the obstacles in certain levels, you'll know how to clear several more worlds. The same types of challenges pop up again and again, like knowing when to eat a fire enemy to melt past chunks of ice, or eating a flying enemy to close a gap that you can't normally jump across. Thankfully things start to change up once you get to the final levels that are more varied and challenging. Still, you might find yourself bored by the samey levels, especially if you're used to more complex games. See More

Top Pro

Four player couch co-op makes the game a lot more fun

Playing Kirby Star Allies through the co-op mode with up to four players helps to give the game more life. Working together to solve platforming challenges and take out enemies makes everything unpredictable in a good way, since your friends might suddenly figure out a helpful trick or find a path forward that you hadn't spotted before. Coordinating to make sure no one eats the enemy you have your eye on can be funny if one of your friends eats the monster anyway and you have to improvise. Playing with friends makes things more dynamic and fun than playing alone. See More

Top Con

No online multiplayer

It's a shame that you can't connect online to play co-op. This would have been a nice feature for anyone who isn't able to get together with friends or family but still wants to play the game with other people. The devs so far have made no announcements about wanting to implement online multiplayer. See More

Top Pro

Kirby can eat enemies to use their special abilities

You can make Kirby eat enemies and then use their skills as his own, constantly changing up how you play. Whenever you see a monster whose skills you want to use for yourself, you have to jump along the level and avoid any obstacles in your way to get close enough and eat it. Eating a monster with a sword and hat gives Kirby the sword to use and the hat to wear, while eating a fire monster lets Kirby hold a fireball in his hand to shoot out like magic. It's a neat way to change your playstyle on-the-fly, keeping things fresh and new. See More

Top Pro

Cool platforming gameplay that keeps you engaged

The platforming gameplay in Kirby Star Allies is great with some neat puzzle-like strategy in each level. You progress through each colorful map from left to right while battling enemies and figuring out the little environmental puzzles in your way, like chunks of ice cubes that you have to melt through, or dodging projectiles that shoot at you as you jump from place to place. You can also team up with your AI allies or co-op friends to pull off friend abilities where you merge your powers together to take out a bunch of enemies and obstacles in your way all at once. The strategy and teamwork aspects help you stay engaged as you figure out the mini-puzzles in each level. See More

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