Nintendo Enthusiast

Devil May Cry 2 is a strange side note in the franchise that comes off as a failed experiment more than anything else. Aside from the Bloody Palace mode, most of the changes introduced were rolled back in the next game, and the series is better for it. While I didn’t hate my time with Devil May Cry 2, it pales in comparison to the rest of the franchise. If you’re looking to get into Devil May Cry, no one will stop you from skipping right over this one.

The characters are excellent, the world is fascinating, and following Lina as she interacts with citizens of Los Ojos is entertaining. I just wish that the main narrative were gripping, but it never seems to find its footing, and that’s a shame. I’ll probably continue playing to see how the story deviates because of my choices, but I think many people will play through the game in two hours and move on with their lives. Neo Cab is charming in its own way, but if you’re looking for a game with a stellar story, maybe you should stay away from this car.

While it doesn’t have quite the same visual impact on Nintendo’s hardware, it is still a good-looking game. And the actual adventure is as good as ever. It’s a big step up from Sniper Elite V2 in terms of the narrative, map layout, and visuals. There are loads of content on offer here. If you rush through the main game you can finish in around 8 hours, but you’ll more likely spend somewhere between 15 and 30 hours working your way through the campaign. The extra single player missions are really nice and show how good Rebellion is at crafting stories.

Arguably, Mario Kart Tour has one of the biggest potential audiences of Nintendo’s mobile lineup, and that’s what makes its failures even more disappointing. There was so much potential to make a good Mario Kart mobile title, but short races, missing features, and aggressive monetization keep it from taking the gold.

Jedi Outcast is a fun trip down memory lane. However, newcomers are likely to be too put off by the frustrations and poorly-aged game design of an ultimately incomplete port of a once-incredible title.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time with Headliner. There isn’t a lot in the way of gameplay, but with good reason. The gameplay here is just a tool to force focus onto the bigger picture. The fun doesn’t come from approving or rejecting stories, it comes from seeing the effects of your choices play out in the world around you. A short playtime and multiple endings encourage you to play a few times to see all the game has to offer.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening for Switch completely faithfully updates the Game Boy classic for modern audiences, and Zelda fans would be out of their minds not to play it. It is a piece of art in the literal sense with its impeccable presentation. It just doesn’t last very long, Chamber Dungeon is tedious and illogical, and the game won’t surprise longtime players with anything especially big and new. I can’t imagine those factors will bother fans very much though.

I have longed for a quality, realistic racer on Switch since day one. With GRID Autosport, I finally have one. The controls may be a little flawed due to the Switch hardware, but the game rises above this. The racing is of a high quality, and the difficulty is easily tailored to your preferences. There’s loads of content on offer to keep racing fans busy for weeks and months to come. And this is even before multiplayer is added to the game. If you are a Switch owner and have even a passing interest in racing games, then GRID Autosport is a title you must have in your game library.

Much as it pains me to say, Ni no Kuni — an otherwise masterpiece — is not worth your time on the Nintendo Switch. Its issues are simply too frustrating to work around or forgive. The game is in dire need of patches that overhaul how the game performs on the handheld. I was hoping with talk of a new game in the series and this Switch port that the future of the franchise would be positive. For right now, I’m just disappointed that Nintendo fans have gotten the short end of the stick.

This is not the kind of game that requires a rock steady 60 frames per second. However, if Frogwares could fix some of the pop-in and screen-tearing, it would be helpful. At the end of the day, it was the story that got its hooks into me far more than the action. The adventure it takes you on paired with the atmosphere are what set this apart. Well, at least differentiates it from the rest of the BioShock wannabes.