Crosscode is pixel art RPG that gets a lot of things right with some major caveats. Firstly, I loved the story. The characters and twists made is so compelling. With the story being something very personal and a life experience instead of 'saving the world' cliché, I really wanted to know more. And Emilie is simply the best character.
The pixel art and animations is amazing also. I think its more of a 32bit style having such detail and expressions. I appreciate that they removed the major grindy issues of this game as some "MMORPG's" tend to have.
The combat is engaging. There is a some button mashing enemies but you have to plan and find weak points in attacks. However there was some major downfalls on this game for me:
- The dudgeons. They should be a high point but they were just so long. With some puzzles requiring perfect timing and with so many rooms, it just broke me as it became such a chore.
- The balancing between zones. For instance, in the first zone you fight enemies at level 11 and could be level 12 by the time to move on. But find the enemies in the next zone to be level 16, why the 5 level gap between zones?
- I know you can adjust the difficulty in the game at any moment, as I found the game very difficult but the precision needed to shoot key areas to progress is too tight and became very frustrating.
- Being a top-down game and lack of depth perception I wonder if the platforming had to be such a regular occurrence due to the amount of falls
- Unlike MMO's the opportunity to find great loot is so sparse and you will end up buying gear from vendors. Anyone that play MMO's know that is not what you want to do.
It took me 45 hours to get though but feel it could of been a 30 hour experience and suited me better. It's a great game and expected something different then what I got. Recommended for the gaming enthusiasts out there that love huge dudgeons and a challenge.

Elli is a 3d platformer and puzzle game where you traverse through environments in order to collect crystals. To start with story. I found it unoriginal and frankly, poorly executed. The characters I felt little towards so therefore didn't overly care despite the lack of originality.
The game is mostly puzzle solving and some platforming elements. For what they do it is done well. I like the gradual complexity of puzzles and mechanics you need to use to progress. Nearly everything made sense when you think about it. Some might find it too easy but it's not simple.
The platforming, Elli feels fine to control and the jump is pretty good. The issue raises where there is some tight platforming and with a fixed camera it may cause falls. The good news is the checkpoints are very well placed to accommodate for this.
The game is very linear in progression with no backtracking, so the levels or puzzles wont combine to a large overarching world and hence hinders the story in some way.
There is no combat nor enemies, making the game feel empty. With combat and a more open interconnected world this could be amazing!
The game is quite relaxing in which I need right now. Having music to keep ambience is fine but don't expect to remember it once you log off. The art style I am into and graphics are... OK but I found the Switch has minor issues in playing the game.
For what the game offers is really good if you want platforming and puzzling, but I cannot help but feel if they added a few elements to make this game more complete.

Enslaved is a game that wears many influences on it's sleeve, even on games that have not yet come out when this was released. One of the best features of the game were the story which forces you to save a girl whom cannot survive alone in the harsh post-apocalyptic world and escort her home in which you build a bond over time - not too far of 'The Last of Us'. Not the most complex story, but I enjoyed the execution.
The graphics of the game is quite stunning on the console where it displays colours and vistas rarely seen at the time. However, to deliver such a pretty game it came at the cost of screen tearing, stutters and big frame drops which is quite distracting (you are lucky to get 30fps).
I enjoyed the enemies and using different tactics for each enemy type. My biggest gripe has to be that the game platforming and combat seems.. clunky and limited. For instance, you cannot jump off one ledge due to not being the way but the same looking ledge can be jumped off.
The game holds your hand too much with glowing platforms as well as telling you what to do next without giving you a chance to think it though.
The main story took about 10 hours to beat. But outside the colourful graphics, there is nothing unique or outstanding to replay this game.

Adventure pals is an action side scrolling adventure game with RPG elements leading to a unexpected surprise. The RPG elements being that you level up you character while having a wacky and interesting story to be told. As you level up, you can customise you upgrades.
You traverse each world with a Giraffe and a Rock, you meet some interesting characters that mostly guide you to the next level to collect a story's main item. An example is a farmer wants you to find his wife in a level. When you meet his wife, you will know the wacky nature of the story. The story doesn't end there. You also have a huge overarching story of saving your dad becoming a hotdog.
The game is simple having a low to moderate difficulty and contains collectables. Depending on the collectable it can give you new costumes or stickers to add to your book. Each level took on average between 15-20mins (levels get larger as you progress). After a while, I saw each level as an episode from a kids cartoon. From there, I can see the genius of what they were going for; story, adventure, collect, resolution with a nemeses cursing you. You can even see each world as a season to the show.
The game has 5 worlds and each world will introduce a new mechanics keeping it fresh and enriched. Enemies are diverse and just as silly as the rest of the game. The lore and the graphics are well suited to the game. Some minor issues I encountered are:
- Some performance issues, such as the last area had some stutters, nothing major but was jarring
- The level design branches off to different directions and choosing the wrong path to get a collectable, can result in back tracking which is annoying.
- The final collectables were annoying to find and unsure what I was missing.
- The game feels unfinished as some of the artwork in the conclusion of the game seems rough
Being a quarter of the price of a Mario game, it took me about 11 hours to finish, which includes exploring and mucking around which is encouraged. I 100%'ed the game and recommend for kids 5-11 for sure

This game takes a unique twist to the kart racing genre. There's a lot to like here. Being the only solid contender to Mario Kart I cannot help but make some comparisons (to MK8).
The announcer has a very arcade type voice and brings me back to 90's arcade machines.
The track and vehicles change through the race. Lap 1 you are a car and lap 2 you could be a plane. This gives excitement to the game and I haven't seen used in this way before. The tracks are longer then MK - about twice as long. I personally like this as you change vehicles during mid-race you can be entertained with the extended track length.
There are less item variety. Items will appear no matter where you rank in the race. You can get bad items being at the back and good items when coming first. It is all according to change not position.
The rubber banding is kinda mild (especially compared to MK8). So the game has more of a skill focus. If you prefer this or not, it is up to you.
Career mode gives you a change to earn new characters to race. The customisation is limited and not cosmetic but that never bothered me as if I want a better handling vehicle, just pick another character.
The game is more difficult then MK for sure. I found I mostly did "B Class" to get though and I did struggle. Some courses I have to go on Easy as I had a hard time controlling the vehicles in Drift challenges.
The options of race types is creative but the battle mode challenges are nowhere near as good as MK8. It feels very random upon winning due to being in a race track and not an arena.
The load times are quite long and can take away from the excitement when you are waiting.
I had fun with the game but the vehicle controls are not as tight as MK and having challenges that are higher difficulty takes the casual fun away from the game but if you want a more challenging fun kart racer, you cannot go wrong with this one.

Ni No Kuni 2 has alot to offer, but having alot doesn't mean it is all done well or needs to be included.
The game looks amazing (even for a switch port), I love the cell shaded graphics my favourite area was the forest. The issue (which is well known) is performance. There are two areas, the open world and the close encounters. The open world, with a more chibi design, is sluggish with a low framerate and minor stutters. The close encounters that's cell shaded does run better.
The game has three main gameplay loops, the quests, the skirmishes and the town building. Doing the main story quest is perfectly fine while the story I find very average.
The game starts strong with the voice acting but seems to wane off throughout the game. This leads to me the audio. The music is suited to the game. I would prefer some more voice acting as well. When there was voice acting it was poorly balanced. The voice acting is hard to hear as it is too soft and droned out by the background music, even when audio for voice is set to max.
My biggest problem with the game is the grinding and side quests. The game does not provide enough xp to move the story more smoothly. As you move to the next zone you will realise you are at 3 or 4 levels too low and you may have to do a 20 side quests to move forward. These side quests are very repetitive being 'collect this item' or 'defeat this monster'.
If they made the game more focused, half of the side quests and had the city building with fewer buildings to balance the residents joining ,this could be a more pleasurable experience. Sure the game would be about 15 hours shorter but it would feel less grindy.
The skirmishes are a fun mini game. There is a minor learning curve and depth. I got into it but it is not necessary. Overall this game is fine but in no means a must own. I put a little over 60 hours into it and would be happier if it was 40-45 hours.

First time playing Ratchet & Clank and haven't had so much fun on a PS console in years. You can tell this is a Sony experience due to the cinematics and quirky humour. Being the first R&C game, I found the story and lore to be very interesting, kinda has a Star Wars theme but with TMNT vibe and attitude.
The level design is fantastic, with varied worlds and mechanics to be used. With the mechanics, the various guns, platforming and devices, there is always something new. With so many weapons to use, you choose how to play and beat a section.
There is some space combat (although not my fav) which gives variety and adds to the story.
The graphics are not the best the console can offer, it had great art style making it unique for the time.
The issues I had is having random audio stutters on the cut scenes. There was also one time the audio was 2 seconds behind the visuals which is jarring. The final nail was a bug with crates floating when hitting the ones underneath. If you stand below the floating crate you will clip through the game and die. This happened to me twice.
Besides the issues listed above, this would be a 10/10. My 11yo son loves it and being a kid at heart I can see why.

Playing it for the first time and realised the game is very... meh. It's not awful, but nothing is gripping. The combat is a little clunky but solid, has some good weight behind the attacks which is a great core concept. The selection of heroes is great and enjoyed the individual abilities. Swapping heros keeps the fighting fresh.
The graphics and music is bland, hope you like grey and very linear paths.
I didn't like the progression system. It seemed a little vague and basic at the same time. Odd to explain.
The main reason for my criticism is the presentation. How the story presents is lack luster. The game gets too repetitive and starts to be a chore. Sure, the super abilities are awesome, but can get stale over time.

What can I say but tongue in cheek fun. Star Wars Complete Saga stars you off in a hub world and you take on zone representing each movie in the Star Wars universe for when the game was released. Each zone is broken up with 6 levels with the levels being iconic areas in the movie.
You can select you character with the main difference in choosing a jedi or a shooter. The game never takes itself seriously and adds some parodies to the movies which gives it charm.
The theme music and all the characters are thereto choose from.
The games is heavily more made for kids but cannot deny some issues being that if you die there is no consequences other that losing some currency and the vehicles levels. Those vehicles move poorly and can frustrate you at times. I appreciate the gameplay variety but they needed to have far more polish in the design.
The game has an assumed knowledge on the movies. If you haven't watched the movies you may feel out of place with what the game is trying to convey as the in-game plot is weak and no dialogue to queue you in.
Once you finish the main campaign there is plenty to do in terms of mini games and collectables which can unlock some really cool characters.
Give this to you kids (under 12) and they will love it, for me personally the issues was more glaring.

I found the game to be very repetitive even though the game is short. The same music, same cars, same NPC's and same objective in each level.
The main difference is the level design. In which, at times, will have a gimmick, like springs or launch pads. Despite my grips, it is not all bad. The ragdoll physics suits this game. I don't like ragdoll physics but here it works.
The game is too repetitive, but the bonus stages breaks up the cycle. Each bonus stage is unique from each other. I wanted more creative ideas for this game but it does not deliver.
It is a fun time in couch co-op but can be annoying in later levels.
The game is only 3 hours long so I personally much prefer Overcooked for couch co-op

I have played LM3 a couple of years ago then moved into LM2. I feel this entry was weaker of the two games.
On a positive note, I am impressed with the graphics delivered on the 3DS. The animations is great along with the detail. I like how every room has a little bonus to find in a variety of ways. I also really enjoyed there is a variety of different mansions each having their own quirks.
Boss battles are interesting.
The main objection that makes it the weakest LM game is the gameplay structure. Prof. E Gadd seems to call you constantly while being missing structure based, takes away the immersion as you can constantly pulled out when you explore. Sure the mission structure helps in the plot but sadly the constant interruption can be annoying as you want to continue.
I found the music is good but there is a very limited number of tracks repeatedly played.
I enjoyed the mechanics, the controls are tight and the game never overstayed it's welcome taking about 15 hours to finish. I recommend for a different take on the formula of LM1 and 3 even though it is not the strongest entry.

Riverbond is a dudgeon crawler isometric adventure. It's a fun game with some glaring issues that is hard to ignore.
Pros:
- Graphics. Well use of lighting with a voxel art design.
- The game is fun to play choosing a vast variety of weapons and outfits
- The level design is pretty good with destructible environments and variety of biomes
- 2 player couch co-op which is very fun to play with kids
Cons:
- The music is fine but is the same track for all worlds
- The objectives are not overly different from one another. May have a slight story impact, but I gave up hunting the plot after the 2rd world
- The bosses have some movements to recall, but no major boss stage or mechanic difference between all bosses
- The biggest issue is the gameplay loop is very repetitive, if you have done one world, you have done them all. The last 3 worlds are slightly harder but more of the same.
It took me 5 hours to finish the game with little replay value outside getting a high score or higher rank. But if you have done one of the 9 worlds, you have pretty much seen what is on offer.

I loved the Genesis/Mega Drive art style and gave it a punt on sale. The music and graphics were great.
I also enjoyed the enemies and world it offered. The upgrades and new abilities were great to earn.
The dudgeons and puzzles has a good challenge and interesting to solve.
I did not like no check points near the boss after you die. The bosses were bullet sponges being too hard compared to the rest of the game.
I really did not like the map and fast travel coming after 1/2 through the game. Because of this, expect to get lost at times.

I have not played a Pokémon game since Red and Blue. Since watching the cartoons in 1998, I had an expectation of exploring vast lands, fast turned based combat and collecting quirky pocket monsters. After a long wait, I got to play the game I envisioned and wanted.
The gameplay heavily relies on exploration and research which compliments the main story progression. There are 5 large areas to explore and have much to return to when acquiring new mounts.
Although I prefer more track variety, the music is great and fitting to the game.
The main issues I have (likely said by many) is, the graphics. The pop-in does take away from the immersion as it's so constant. But the game overall looks... passable (not ugly but there is better looking games for sure).
The other issue is the control scheme, they seem to make the game clunky and the buttons don't make sense. For instance, press "+" (or start) to ride a mount and 'up' on the D-pad to use a menu, why?
The story has an interesting concept, but felt it was executed in a weak way. It was a whole bunch of fluff in dialogue which I struggled to get invested in after the second zone.
There is a minor challenge (but not difficult), accessible for all ages. I am excited the direction they have taken. I am intrigued to see what Gen 9 will offer

Got an opportunity to play 3d World. When getting the Switch game you get the base game and the DLC which is a difference experience I will outline at the bottom.
Starting with 3D world base game, it was an absolute treat. I had much more fun then expected! The levels are well designed and the collectables are MOSTLY obtainable. Basically the game rewards you for exploring. The diversity of the levels create variety of gameplay which is always welcomed. When exploring the hub world, there are bonus areas (such as timed challenges and Captain Toad levels) that made it exciting to progress.
Occasionally you get bonus rooms to gain some extra lives or power-ups. Speaking of power-ups, although only 5 power-ups, which displayed classic power-ups such as the fire flower and original power-ups like the cat suit. The new power-ups I found to be the most unique throughout.
I like how you can choose your characters along with the ability to have multiplayer where as many as 4 players at the same time can cause chaos.
The only issues I had with the game were some collectables were cryptic to find and had on a rare occasion look them up as I wanted to play the final Captain Toad level. I also found about 10 levels had a high difficulty spike and can easily frustrate due to being unexpected. There was a level in World 4 that was more challenging then any level in World 5 (World 5 is my fav World).
Despite the levels listed, there was quite a few levels that were too easy and lacked a serious challenge even in areas in World 6, hence the difficulty imbalance.
There is a special power-up to aid players if they get stuck and die several times. Even with it's flaws I highly recommend for a seriously fun time, 86%.
The addition to Bowers Fury was a smart choice. This seriously adds value to the Wii U port making it worthwhile. Think of it as a hybrid to Mario 64 and Mario 3d World.
In summary, I loved Bower's Fury! Dare I say, more than Mario Odyssey. Reason being is each main collectable (shrine), had a task to complete to get it and were consistent in challenge and difficulty.
There was one shrine I can curse and hate getting, it wasn't hard but super annoying and costs me many attempts.
Otherwise my main complaint is, I wanted more and hope they expand on this concept. It took me about 10 hours to 100% Bowsers Fury and would encourage all to do try it out. 97%