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The original Survival Kids on the Game Boy Color didn’t play around. I should know, as I beat it repeatedly in hopes of getting the best ending. There’s nothing like being a teenager and spending dozens of hours on a game to watch your avatar die on a makeshift raft because you didn’t prepare enough food for your  attempt to sail home. Survival Kids is one of the few original Switch 2 games debuting alongside the new console as Konami and Unity’s revival of the IP. While it is fine and clearly designed to be a kid-friendly game for actual children enamored by games like Raft with Tomb Raider mystique, it bears no resemblance to the past Survival Kids or Lost in Blue series.

While the original Survival Kids and Lost in Blue games involved children and teens in extraordinary situations attempting to survive and find a way home, Unity and Konami took a far different approach. This isn’t a pure survival sim with adventure elements and choices that matter. The kid, or kids if you are playing with a group, found a treasure map. They willingly headed out to the island chain represented there. The raft broke apart. After rebuilding it on the first island and going through the tutorial, it’s off to go island hopping, completing relatively simple puzzles to progress through areas, search for treasure, and find the Harmony Stones to let you return home. 

This time around, realism is abandoned for an idealized fantasy. I could absolutely see Square Enix going with a similar kind of premise for something like “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Kids.” These one to four pre-teens found a map, built a sea-worthy vessel, found islands on the back of giant turtle-like beings called Whurtles, somehow uncovered ruins nobody else saw before, and are also going to undo a supernatural storm. I do think it is very good for smaller children, as it plays in the types of fantasies they might have and can be empowering. However, it’s not all that entertaining or good at engaging an older audience.

Gameplay is also incredibly simple in Survival Kids and, while there is crafting and food creation, it’s nowhere near as complex or critical as in games like the original or ensuing Lost in Blue installments. In those games, you needed to eat and stay hydrated to survive, crafting meant experimenting, item maintenance could be an issue due to durability, and actions strongly influenced if you died or how the story ended. Here, eating means greater strength when engaging in tasks or stamina for climbing, and you can cap that out at 10 easily and be fine. Food prep? Toss a bunch of fruits in a pot, no need for recipes, and you’re fine. Actual item or structure creation? Again, just toss logs, stones, or gathered materials into the right place and you’re good. Platforming? Literally not an issue or challenge. 

Survival Kids is an incredibly easy Switch 2 game, and it is all very surface level. While there are optional collectibles on islands, I felt no reason to go back to it. If you do falter when making jumps, as I had the Pro Controller battery die during one section, it’s absolutely fine. If your stamina does run out, food is so plentiful and the campsite hubs are always nearby, so it is easy to get a snack. If not, you’ll just be slower than usual. The crafting and switch toggling puzzles aren’t difficult. If you can find the pieces you need and get them to the place, you tend to be fine. Also, it’s executed in a way in which there are no complicated controls or need to manage any inventory. Again, all of this is fine for the intended audience, and young enough children will probably dig it. But people of any age more experienced with games will very likely get bored. It’s so repetitive.

Probably the main selling point is that this Konami and Unity Survival Kids game does act as a showcase for each Switch 2 multiplayer options. I did play with another person with split-screen local multiplayer and briefly online. In each case, it was absolutely fine. Since this is a game that could honestly be played alone or with others, cooperation didn’t feel super critical. It wasn’t like there was scaling difficulty or an of the actions were so taxing that I really needed assistance. It was more that things got done faster with another person. Local worked great. Online ended up being totally fine too. I didn’t get to test out GameShare, the most interesting option that involves other local people playing on their own Switch 2 systems while I shared the game. 

Survival Kids feels really generic on the Switch 2, and it features none of the personality of the Lost in Blue series. I think I might have enjoyed it more had it not been burdened by that pedigree. Had Konami and Unity released this as, say, “Treasure Kids: Search for Harmony Stones,” I think I’d maybe appreciated it more. I’d go in understanding it is a new IP made for kids who like the idea of survival games or puzzle adventures, but might not be ready for titles with greater challenges and in-game consequences. But here, we go in expecting a certain type of storytelling and adventure, then wind up with a repetitious, uncomplicated routine.

Survival Kids is available for the Switch 2.

The post Review: Survival Kids Switch 2 Doesn’t Feel Like Lost in Blue appeared first on Siliconera.

Typically in a nonogram game like Picross, completing the puzzle and seeing the finished image is all the reward we get for being diligent enough to figure things out. Albune’s Squeakross: Home Squeak Home does that, of course, but there’s a little something else to act as an incentive. Here, every solved situation adds to a catalog of customization elements for a cute little mouse’s home. It really makes the game feel special, as well as provides a reason to get through puzzles as quickly as possible.

In Squeakross: Home Squeak Home, every player is a mouse. We just moved into a new home. It’s empty at the moment. However, it won’t take too long to make that hole in the wall a comfortable place to live. That’s because every puzzle we solve provides us with a new type of furniture or decorative element to enhance our living space. What follows is a nonogram puzzle game like the Jupiter Picross series that gradually gets more difficult and offers more unique furnishings as rewards for challenging ourselves.

The impression I get from Squeakross: Home Squeak Home is that it is designed to encourage completion compared to other nonogram games like Jupiter’s Picross. Now, I always do finish every Jupiter entry I pick up. However, I play them at a more leisurely pace. Two or three puzzles before bed to wind down and relax. Maybe it’ll take me a full month, or even two if its a busy time of year, to gradually beat a game. The nature of Albune’s title makes each puzzle an item in essentially a catalog of items. So if you want more to do, you need to skip around and fill out puzzles.

Said puzzles are, well, standard nonograms, as Squeakross: Home Squeak Home doesn’t reinvent the wheel. A grid is placed before you. Numbers across the top and left side note how many squares need to be filled in to complete the puzzle, as well as how many are in a row. You need to use logic to do so. In a nod to this being a game filled rodents, boxes are filled in with cheese. You can also use notation to mark suspected spots with a “O” and definitively note a space shouldn’t be filled by placing an “X.” The hints at the top will use different colors to note if lines are done, could be filled in, or are almost done save for a missing “X.” 

After finishing a puzzle, you get the piece of furniture in your mouse’s room. In there, you can direct your mouse to go ahead and interact with anything you placed. You can also complete Nini’s Challenge for variants of items that look different and add more options. There’s quite a bit of diversity and even some themes that come up, and you get multiple rooms to decorate. Likewise, you can customize your mouse's appearance, changing how they look and what they wear. The character's personality and tendencies can even change. So it can almost feel a bit like a customizable pet you care for.

The thing that gets me is, while the puzzles are fun to complete in Squeakross: Home Squeak Home, when completed they don’t always look like the furniture items or accessories they unlike like ones found in Picross games. They’ll usually be somewhat close! However, right from the very start, I saw completed designs that didn’t make sense. This happens right away with a cardboard box on the first page, as well as with a cabinet. The pile of books? It does not look anything like a stack of novels. The basic nightstand? No clue how that turned into that! So while the game is fun and we are supposed to use logic, I felt like I couldn’t also rely on my knowledge of what, say, a dresser would look like to finish that. This doesn’t apply to every puzzle, of course, but it’s often enough that it irked me.

While I feel like the Jupiter nonograms in Picross feature some better executed puzzles and final designs, Squeakross: Home Squeak Home offers a fresh take on a nonogram game. The character and home customization really provide an incentive to solve puzzles. The quality of life features and controls work well, so you could easily play with a controller. It’s a cute approach to a classic puzzle genre with plentiful play incentives.

Squeakross: Home Squeak Home is available on the Switch and PC, and a demo is available on Steam.

The post Review: Squeakross Is a Rewarding Picross-like Game appeared first on Siliconera.

The original Bravely Default and Bravely Second left me awestruck. The gameplay called to mind Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light and more classic entries in that series, and the story’s direction grabbed hold of me in a way that nearly felt unhealthy. I spent hours getting every job, exploring every sidequest, and building up my characters as stayed until the very end. 11 years later, even though I did all this before, Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster triggered the same response on the Switch 2,  and this Square Enix game remains a fantastic JRPG.

Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster begins with Agnes Oblige calling out for help, asking for warriors of light for salvation as the world crumbles around her and she falls into the cracks. Across the world, we see shepherd Tiz Arrior tending his flock with his little brother Til when the Great Chasm swallows up their village of Norende, leaving him the only survivor. When he returns to the ruins, he finds the Wind Vestal Agnes and the Cryst-fairy Airy who are on a journey to awaken the four crystals of the world to save it. The two end up ed by an amnesiac named Ringabel, who holds a book called D’s Journal that sometimes seems to predict the future, and the Eternian defector Edea Lee who is disgusted by the behavior of the Sky Knights.

I’m not going to say anything more about the story. I don’t want to spoil anything. But it is great, the characters are fantastic, and it holds up over 10 years later.

Like Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light, Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster is a turn-based JRPG with a job system. As you defeat Asterisk holder bosses, you gain new roles for of your party to undertake. You can then, in turn, combine them by equipping a second command category and an ability that offers some sort of extra feature of buff or bonus. For example, you can make someone a Black Mage who also has the White Magic class of spells and equipped the Angelic Ward ability that might halve damage or a Ninja with Thief command and Raid ability that could increase everyone’s BP when a battle starts. 

Speaking of BP, that’s the element that sets Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster apart as a JRPG. You can either stock up on action points (Default), making a character defend against attacks in the process, or act up to four times in a single turn (Brave) by forgoing attacking the next three turns after that. Think of it as being both a strategic and quality of life gameplay element. In more standard encounters, you could direct all four characters to each use Brave four times in a row to attack (or create an “Auto” preset with that) to quickly grind for levels and job points to level up roles to get access to more abilities. That lets you wipe everything out in one turn. In the case of a boss fight or more difficult challenge, you could use Default to defend and stockpile turns or prepare for guards to drop, then respond with multiple attacks at once. You can gain greater control of a battle’s pace. I personally like to have one of my physical attackers (Edea or Tiz) Brave all at once, then have Agnes and Ringabel perform more nuanced attacks responding to situations ASAP. 

As in Final Fantasy or other Square Enix JRPG games, the adventure in Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster sends us around the world. There is the main campaign, as well as sidequest stories to follow. For the sake of clarity, Airy appears in the in-game menu to offer suggestions. There are party talk moments when the four discuss what’s going on or offer insight into the world. Campaign quest objectives are highlighted with orange markers, while sidequests use blue ones. The UI, redone for this release, is easy to parse. Not to mention the towns we visit are even more stunning in this version, thanks to enhanced textures that make the pop-up, fairytale designs really, well, pop. In general, every main character, major opponent, and enemy looks wonderful in HD with the updated models and textures. The opening movie and new voice acting is also wonderful and adds to the experience. 

The other changes to Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster on the Switch 2 feel like appropriate quality of life additions. While newcomers might not use the fast forward auto-play option as much, I it to using it a few times early on to see how it worked and get to a full party faster. It’s a great option! The 50% to 200% encounter rate is handy for grinding, and I love being able to have four possible presets for the auto-battle function that carries over when fights start. Because of the way I play, I didn’t need the “recommended level” for dungeons, but I expect that will be quite handy for others. I also think the way Souls appear every 24 hours in-town is helpful, since getting folks to help rebuild Norende or allies for attacks would be as easy as it was in the 3DS years. 

While the two new minigames are fun enough, rebuilding Norende still feels like the most valuable optional activity. The souls you gather from towns from other players allow you to assign those “townsfolk” to unlocking and upgrading tasks in the fledgeling village following the devastation at the beginning of the game. This adds more to a shop, additional Special Moves, and sometimes bonuses for just stopping by. It’s great to load up folks on a task to bring the timing down to 15-30 minutes when you’re active, then spread them out when you’ll be sleeping or away for 12-24 hours. 

I will say that I sort of feel like the Luxencheer Rhythm Catch and Ringabel’s Panic Cruise minigames in
Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster are better introductions to the Switch 2 Joy-Con mouse controls than Nintendo's Welcome Tour. In Ringabel’s Panic Cruise, you’re actually using the left and right controllers in mouse mode to steer the ship, perform certain controls to hit altitudes, manage folks’ requests, swat flies, and maintain speeds. It’s interesting and a great showcase of the new feature! Luxencheer Rhythm Catch is a more typical type of rhythm game, with the mouse controls tasking you with catching note indicators with the energy line between your two lightsticks or moving in time with the (ittedly great) songs from the game’s soundtrack. Both can be genuinely fun and show what the console can do.

Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster is a remarkable Switch 2 JRPG, and the core gameplay, mechanics, and story remain fresh and relevant. It looks beautiful and runs wonderfully on the Switch 2. I’d even say the new gameplay additions serve as a better introduction to mouse controls for the hardware than the actual tech demo minigame collection Nintendo created. Anyone who picks it up to go with their new system won’t be disappointed.

Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster is available on the Switch 2. 

The post Review: Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster Is a Joy to Play on Switch 2 appeared first on Siliconera.

One of my dating sim and visual novel pet peeves is being locked out of certain routes unless you go through others. It’s understandable at many times, since it usually involves one potentially spoiler character or a true route, so it’s typically not a big problem in the otome games I play. Except in Date Everything it can be, since there are over 100 love interests in the game and certain requirements force you into interactions with a few of the most grating individuals I’ve ever met with no “dialogue skip” options to speed through them. Combine that with it not running well on the Switch, and you may experience issues.

The first day we start working at an Amazon-esque company called Valdivian, we’re immediately put in a holding pattern due to being replaced by AI. In limbo, a mysterious individual from the company decides to send us the Dateviator glasses that brings inanimate objects and concepts to life as beings we can date. Why? It turned out we were the lowest paid person there. What follows is an opportunity to go around the house “awakening” the over 100 possible love interests there and becoming friends, enemies, or lovers with them.

Date Everything is a dating sim visual novel in which you roam around a house to find certain objects to awaken and date them. While this is often straightforward and involves walking up to an item or household element, putting on the Dateviators glasses, and sending out a beam, it can occasional involve a bit more interactivity. For example, you might need to turn something on or engaging in a certain activity for someone to show up. When you talk to these characters, you select dialogue options. Some responses may be locked away behind stats that go up after you gain a definitive love, hate, or friends relationship status with certain characters. All the while, a side-story about an evil corporation that invented the glasses, has a CEO trying to steal all glory and money, and a workforce being decimated by AI. The writing can be clever and funny for some characters or situations, but it also can feel very surface-level since most relationships max out after a handful of conversations and there are so many characters. 

Unfortunately, Date Everything doesn’t take a traditional visual novel approach to making dialogue options, and it can be an issue in the dating sim as a result. Rather than seeing a menu with two to four responses, each one is tied to an action button on the controller. The problem is, the button to confirm or advance text is often an option. So if you are clicking too quickly through conversations, you can accidentally make a selection you didn’t want. This happened to me quite a few times, and unfortunately I noticed A ended up being connected to a joke or mean response, which would send conversations in directions I didn’t want. 

The thing is, Date Everything may be an “open-house” sandbox in which you could pursue friendship, love, or hatred with individuals, but it also limits the player at every opportunity. Want to go everywhere in the house? You can’t. One location is locked away. Want access to every dialogue option in a conversation? Nope. Some are locked behind unreasonable stat requirements in the double digits. Want to talk to more than five people in a day? You’re not allowed. You’re limited to five conversations, which can be eaten up if someone you are pursuing needs you to check with other characters for a request tied to them and their route. Which also means you can’t only focus on one or two people you like, because the game forces you into other interactions. 

That’s another thing that bothers me about Date Everything, and that is that I felt forced to talk to everyone. Now, the voice acting here is incredible and I love the character designs. But man, do I hate a bunch of these characters’ personalities. Many of them are really gimmicky, to the point I found it off-putting. I didn’t want to talk to them. Especially since, as I mentioned earlier, some of these characters feel a bit surface-level and don’t get all that deep. There are exceptions, of course. Since there is no option to skip or speed through dialogue in those instances, you’re stuck talking to people you might not like. Also, since your stat boosts are tied to definitive relationship statuses with the individuals, you are actually forced to interact with them to the point they hate, like, or love you so that you can select certain choices in the conversations with folks whose company you do enjoy or reach an endgame state. 

There is one exception to this, and I hate it. I am so frustrated that there is one character whose route is locked into one outcome, and this happens pretty much immediately. Date Everything, but… wait! Not that one! What makes it worse is I adore that performer, in addition to finding the in-game individual to be one of the more fun and fleshed-out folks, so I ended up quite bummed that there was no opportunity for other options. 

Also, I’m not sure if these are just Switch issues, as that’s where I played Date Everything, but the lighting is just awful. Once you get to the afternoon and evening period, it’s hard to clearly see everything! By my third day in the house, I figured out I could turn on light switches and lamps in rooms, but by nightfall I realized it often barely made any difference. Which means sometimes I’d mistakenly click on characters if I wasn’t paying attention.

Other issues are ones that seem like they could be present on other systems, though my experience was limited to the Switch. The outlines of response prompts coming up early in conversations sometimes worried me that I pressed A to advance too quickly through dialogue and missed things. Characters’ portraits fluctuated between poses during conversations sometimes, especially with Parker, Harper, and Captain Jacques. There were occasional object pop-ins and pop-outs depending on how close I was to objects, with the dishwasher and fridge being prime examples. The game also referred to me using they/them in some conversations, such as with Curt and Rod, even though I set my pronouns as she/her. 

I appreciate the gimmick and the talent Sassy Chap pulled together for Date Everything. The character designs are inventive and look fantastic. It’s entertaining, especially when it discusses not-Amazon and AI. My issue is I really didn’t want to talk to all of these characters. At most, I wanted to see the full storylines for like 1/10th of them. But because it doesn’t feature typical visual novel quality of life features and basically forces you into conversations with cast , you’ll be stuck getting to know folks even if you don’t want to. Especially when it gets into the evening in-game and things get to be difficult to see. 

Date Everything will be available on the Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on June 17, 2025.  

The post Review: Date Everything Feels Like You’re Forced to Date Everything appeared first on Siliconera.

Astro’s Playroom on the PS5 set something of a standard for console “tech demo” launch games and showpieces. It educated while also acting as a genuinely pleasant and compelling platformer. Especially since it ended up being a free pack-in for the system. Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is the equivalent for Nintendo’s newest console generation and, while it is education and enlightening, it is nowhere near as enjoyable. Especially since it comes with a $9.99 price tag.

The setup for Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is one of the things I genuinely appreciate about this application. It’s set up in the same way as the sort of console experiences for this system ahead of launch. You pick an avatar for yourself out of a line of pre-generated folks waiting to get into a Nintendo Exhibit. Once your time comes, you head out onto a show floor organized on top of a giant Switch 2 and its peripherals. So the experience begins on Joy-Con 2 (L) Area, with more opening up as you collect stamps and unlock new difficulty levels for the minigame tech demos or additional locations. You can also chat with other attendees. The concept is sound, the design is great, and I love the style.

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is broken down into two types of experiences. One involves short quizzes taken after reading an article describing either an element of the console or its one of its peripherals’ design. The other involves an interactive display of some feature tied to the device. So in Joy-Con 2 (L) Area, you can take quizzes about the construction of the controller, play Dodge the Spiked Balls: Survival Mode, and play Find the Strongest Rumble: Along a Line. The quizzes there cover things like the new rumble feature, while the activities show off the mouse-based elements of the new controller and HD Rumble 2. Once you do enough there to earn its stamps, you unlock Area B, which is Nintendo Switch 2 Console Area. 

The execution of everything is fine too. There’s a fast travel option that comes up after you reach Area B. The UI is clear, so it is easy to see how many stamps you collected. Since the minigames are all essentially tech demos, there are ample explanations and they’re usually quite educational. The quality isn’t something I’d call into question.

I’m just not a big fan of how Nintendo handled the content presented here. The information for the quiz sections is fascinating. I did feel like I understood the console, controllers, dock, and camera much better after going through them. They aren’t challenging either, so long as you pay attention. But while they’re novel, I would probably never gone through them if I didn’t need some easy stamps. They weren’t so interesting that I consider them required reading.

Likewise, the minigames present in Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour are nowhere near as joyful and fun as Astro’s Playroom. I think I might have had more fun with 1-2-Switch. I know I liked Nintendo Land better. None of the minigames here are memorable, and they all feel like tech demos manned by overly enthusiastic staff trying to manufacture a “good time” while nudging you along like, “Hey, see how this works here? Try this! Neat, right? Right?” Some are incredibly bland, like HDR Fireworks designed to show the difference between brightness in SDR and HDR. At worst, I felt like I did the thing and at least got a stamp out of it. At best, I thought the educational element of it ended up being worthwhile. Especially in Super Mario Bros 4K, which helped show how many pixels the original Super Mario Bros 1-1 level took up, the way HD Rumble 2 mimics sensations in Maracas Physics, and appreciated how Open the GL/GR Locks got me used to using the new buttons on the Switch 2 Pro Controller. 

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour works fine. It’s totally functional and educational. It just isn’t fun in the same way games like Nintendo Land and Astro’s Playroom are. Considering this is a product that costs real money, I feel like there needed to be more to it in order to make it worthwhile. If it was even $4.99, rather than $9.99, I might consider recommending it for the insights and experiences that can sometimes be fascinating. As-is, you’ll probably pick out the more novel elements and upgrades to the new system while playing better games like Mario Kart World. 

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is available for the Switch 2. 

The post Review: Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour Is Disappointing appeared first on Siliconera.

Mario Kart World feels not only influenced by entries that came before it, but what Nintendo always wanted the game to be. There are clear cues from mainline installments, in of course influences, modes, and vehicles. Mario Kart Tour feels equally important, given the idea of going around a whole region and the inclusion of so many character costumes. But it also feels like a type of title that highlights exactly what the company wants the Switch 2 to be, and that’s a powerhouse that encourages as many people as possible to come together. After spending four days essentially dedicating my life to racing, it feels like the ideal title to welcome in a new console generation.

Mario Kart World pairs staples with innovation. The hallmarks of the series are here. Grand Prix works as usual, with a person selecting a Cup that consists of four courses played one after another at 50cc, 100cc, or 150cc. It feels very much like the base version of Mario Kart 8 at times. Some of these might feature entirely new tracks, such as the Mushroom Cup with the original Mario Bros Circuit, Crown City, Whistletop Summit, and DK Spaceport, or may consist of ones that are “inspired” by past tracks like Flower Cup with Desert Hills, Shy Guy Bazaar, Wario Stadium, and Airship Fortress. The gimmick this time around is that after a race at one course is done, you actually drive along roadways and the map to the next, with that part of the trip being a part of the experience. It’s genuinely novel and I love the distinction between biomes. 

This design decision means the different courses in Mario Kart World tend to feel like real-world roadways, instead of manufactured tracks designed specifically for races. This is when I first started to feel the Mario Kart Tour influences, since I always felt those tracks seemed to sometimes feel like standard streets. This doesn’t mean whimsy is abandoned. There’s a lot of opportunity to do fun things here! Lots of jumps are available for tricks. It’s possible to drive along walls or grind along rails. Boosts appear. Item boxes and coins are plentiful. Roadsite dinners with food that provide a boost and maybe a costume are great. Plenty of secrets are strewn about as shortcuts, which can be investigated in Free Roam. 

Because everything is interconnected and there’s an effort to make tracks more exhaustive and expressive, that means returning  courses in Mario Kart World feel incredibly different. I’d say it is more like they are “inspired” by the classic tracks than 1:1 recreations as in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Mario Circuit, Moo Moo Meadows, and Choco Mountain felt the most different to me while I went through them, while Shy Guy Bazaar and DK perhaps seemed most familiar. I consider this more of a positive. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is wonderful and feels fantastic on the Switch 2, so someone in search of more traditional courses could go for that. Mario Kart World’s takes on tracks is much more inventive and interesting.

My one complaint is that the only challenge I experienced in Mario Kart World stemmed from the chaos of racing alongside 24 other people in Knockout Tour. The actual courses here never felt as challenging as any I experienced in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Mario Kart Double Dash, or other installments. I’m not asking for something as broken as Super Mario Kart. I do think the tracks here can be incredibly creative and visually stunning. They’re a joy to explore in Free Roam. They just are too easy. I suppose the best example I can give is this incarnation of Rainbow Road. Typically, I might actually attempt to avoid item boxes as I race, for fear of getting a Mushroom or Golden Mushroom that will send me careening off the course. Here? There’s no fear. There’s no danger. That paired with Smart Steering on by default and 200cc’s absence made me wonder if Nintendo put too much effort into courting a younger or amateur audience this time around.

In Knockout Tour, Mario Kart World absolutely feels like a challenge. One that console handles without any issue, which feels like a triumph given 24 people are involved. I didn’t experience any lag. Matches ended up being plentiful. Loading was nonexistent. It’s hectic in a way that still doesn’t feel unfair. Yes, there is some rubberbanding early in a match when there are larger groups of characters. I experienced most of that when trying to get in the top 16 and 12 at the third checkpoints. But once you’re in the top eight, it feels more like a standard race and, if you’re lucky enough to be in the top four, it’s incredible. I managed it only twice, and both times it felt like my opponents were the actual best of the best Mario Kart players. 

I will say the new execution of tracks in Mario Kart World does feel like it favors every mode other than Grand Prix. The design is great for cohesive Knockout Tour rallies. It offers more to explore when evading or collecting in the Balloon Battle and Coin Runners modes. The layouts are exemplary for Free Roam. 

Free Roam is the absolute best, by the way, and I feel it and Knockout Tour are the two options that really sell Mario Kart Tour and it being the poster child for the Switch 2 game everyone needs. Driving through the tracks reveals all of these hidden secrets and challenges that you wouldn’t expect in each area. There are personalities, such as happening upon Nabbit and needing to chase the character down. Most importantly, it can be genuinely relaxing. I love to hop into Free Roam and drive around, exploring nooks and crannies, while listening to some music or putting on a stream or podcast in the background. It is so easy to play around with possible strategies in this mode and do recon on courses. If you’re trying to get extra costumes for characters, finding a spot with Dash Food and camping out is so stress-free here.

I will say I’m a bit split on opinions when it comes to the character costumes in Mario Kart World, some of which are directly lifted from Mario Kart Tour. I do appreciate their inclusion, since discovering them is super fun and the designs are cute. However, I’m a bit disappointed too. There are a lot of costumes from the mobile game omitted, and clear favoritism is shown. Why is Peach’s farmer look here, but Daisy’s isn’t? Why do only babies get their Sailor outfits? None of Pauline’s are present, and she only gets one Aero variant. Cow doesn’t get a costume, but Shy Guy does? The new Super Mario series NPC racers are a fun addition, especially ones like Cow and Dolphin, but all of the Koopalings got left behind in Mario Kart 8. Also, all vehicles are set appearances, though you can customize them with earned stickers, but we can’t adjust parts like body, wheels, and glider for more personal elements.

Mario Kart World is incredible alone or with others online or offline, and it really shows off what might make Switch 2 special. It’s fantastic in more traditional modes like Grand Prix and Battle or new ones such as Knockout Tour and Free Roam. It pays tribute to past games, but feels totally different and innovative in some fun ways. I do wish Grand Prix felt a bit more challenging and perhaps that Koopalings came back, but getting characters like Cow and happening upon new options with Kamek or Dash Food can be a fun surprise during a race. It feels like a must-have game for the new console, while still also leaving a place Mario Kart 8 Deluxe too.

Mario Kart World is available for the Switch 2. 

The post Review: Mario Kart World Is a Perfect Welcome to Switch 2 appeared first on Siliconera.

Kabuto Park attempts to capture a moment. It’s summer. You’re a kid. You have no responsibilities and very little supervision. There are bugs everywhere, but they’re friends and not fearsome. All of this makes for a perfect opportunity to obsess over the little critters and share them with your friends. While the result is a game that’s a bit short and is best played in small doses due to a simple gameplay loop, finding these little guys is still quite pleasant.

You’re a young child who is about to enjoy 30 days of summer vacation. How? By catching bugs. Your new friend Midori kicks off August by introducing you to the joys of exploring places like a farm, a lake, a forest, and a swamp to find unusual critters. Once you do, you can level them up and battle them in a big tournament for cash and candy. Why? Well, it’s a way to spend some time.

Kabuto Park is an incredibly simple bug-catching sim. You start out with access to one area, then need to participate in battles in the tournament to earn enough money to upgrade the boots and reach new spaces. Catching involves a timing-based system, during which pressing the confirm button on a blue patch lets you move closer for increased green area catching opportunities. You start out being able to catch two bugs per area, with a tool upgrade increasing that, but since time doesn’t until you compete in that day’s tournament battle and there are only a handful of spots to search in each location, it’s not really worth investing in anything beyond a boots to reach new spots and guide to increase odds of encountering uncommon and rare bugs. 

Catching and battling are also rather breezy affairs. So while you can pay in-game coins for Honey to increase the green patches during a moment when you find a bug, I didn’t really find that necessary. As for battling, you basically watch as your team of three bugs pushes up against an opponent’s trio. The goal is for one side to push the other out of the “ring,” with the cards in the deck adding skills that can be ive, defensive, or offensive.

However, since you can see the opponent’s stats right away, it is easy to just… overpower them and win. Especially since there are certain bugs that are extremely OP, catching repeats of bugs means you can “sell” them for candy used to level ones you own up, and the early game bugs can be as good as endgame ones depending on your cards and moveset. For example, a Goliath Beetle is ridiculously strong, has a temporary buff card that keeps the team from being pushed back, and owns an incredible Overcharged Kick attack card. But then, all the rare bugs I found seemed to possess the best sorts of movesets and stats. Even if I tried to experiment with a Wind-based card deck, it just wasn’t worth it to deviate from my other lineup.

Easiness aside, I will note that another issue is that Kabuto Park doesn’t feel exactly perfect on a handheld gaming PC like a Steam Deck or Lenovo Legion Go. It isn’t optimized for a control scheme that only uses a controller. The mouse sensitivity and speed is too high, so it’s incredibly easy to overshoot with the cursor when browsing menus or making selections. Using the touchscreen is an option, but then there are some inputs where just tapping isn’t enough and you then need to press the A button to confirm the actions. 

I will say the fact that it is short, affordable, and easy meant I found it easy to appreciate other elements. The bug designs are quite cute. They’re stylized, but still recognizable. Especially with certain ones like an Orchid Mantis. I could use bugs I really liked or found strong, since they do remain viable for a long time. There are shiny bugs, just like there are shiny Pokemon, which incentivized the whole catching process and made me want to return to areas where I’d already found every critter. Also, while it can get a little repetitive, the fact that it is brief helps keep it from getting tedious.

Kabuto Park feels like the type of game you play for about 15-20 minutes every day for a week when you need to take a minute to relax. It’s never taxing. The challenge is minimal. The bugs are cute. I doubt anyone will spend longer than a few hours 100%-ing it, but it’s enjoyable in moderation.

Kabuto Park is available for PCs. 

The post Review: Kabuto Park Can Be a Simple Bug-Catching Sim appeared first on Siliconera.

I’m so glad Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is actually good. Not just good, but great. I was genuinely terrified after Rune Factory 5, considering the execution and certain design decisions. But the differences are immediately visible, and getting invested in the adventure highlights how different and daring it is. There’s so much to this new game, especially with the new village development options, and it finally feels like we have a worthy successor to Rune Factory 4. 

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma begins with a battle before the two protagonist options Kaguya and Subaru. The one you picked is riding on a white dragon, while the opposing one is on a blight-spreading black one. During the assault, our avatar falls off. They awake in the Spring Village with amnesia. However, even so, they know they are an Earth Dancer and, with the aid of a flying mascot creature that resembles a small Wooly with horns named Woolby, becomes the one person capable of reviving the lands’ gods, restoring the flow of Runes, and saving everyone from the blight. 

I don’t want to say too much more, as I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone. However, I really appreciated how the Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma story goes. Even though it involves the trademark amnesiac protagonist the series is known for, Marvelous tackled it in such a way that I appreciate the choices made and eventual reveals. It also got me more invested in the adventure, as I prioritized campaign quests over enjoying farming and socializing with the bachelors I might marry.

As in past Rune Factory games, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma involves a mixture of a farming life sim with romance paired with JRPG style gameplay and village management. When in a town, you can interact with characters to befriend and romance them, build up a village, and farm. In addition to bachelors and bachelorettes being folks you can talk to, add to your party for the action-RPG adventures, and marry, the certain important NPCs in each village can be befriended and brought along as an ally. In addition to giving gifts, you can level up your social skills in the skill tree to make options like talking about certain topics, getting meals together, and visiting specific locations means of building up affinity with folks. Farming involves creating the right types of terrain with Woolby, then placing it so you can grow crops suited to the season represented by that village. 

As for the village development, I’m amazed at how compelling it is. Initially, it’s rather freeform. You get a plot in each place for placing fields for planting crops, putting down buildings for businesses or new NPC villager homes, and decorations. However, these elements can improve your avatar’s stats! You get experience for each village for things like number of crops grown or decorative scores! Villagers may be better suited for certain tasks, making swapping ones between cities advantageous to fill gaps in other locations. When villages level up, you can get more space, new recipes, and the freedom to build more. Not to mention, terraforming and deg things so they look pretty is fun. I found myself taking breaks from the main story because of it. Will this quest give me more stuff to shove on this barren plot of land? It will? Hook me up. I’ll cause a mass extinction event for a new kind of lantern for the cafe theme that gives me 0.05% more RP.

However, I will say that sometimes it feels like that is the priority over farming. There are a decent selection of crops, and more open up as you explore areas and find rarer seeds. However the structure is such that farming and caring for monsters don't feel like the focus. Rather, it's often like something you set up and then allow visitors to handle while you take part in the JRPG elements in Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma.

When outside of a town, we find the action-RPG battles and open world exploration elements in Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma. Upon heading into the field, there will be jizo statues to tidy up, holes you can roll onigiri into to satisfy a mysterious being’s hunger, targets to hit with your bow and arrow, treasures to find, blight-striken spots to purify with certain Sacred Treasures, frog statues to visit for recipes, shrines to check in at for weapon recipes, hidden hot spring baths, and of course monsters to fight or eventually tame. Rather than actual dungeons, major encounters can involve heading to specific points in the world and dealing with bosses you find there. We gain access to a number of different weapon types, such as varying sorts of swords, and ranged options include a bow and arrow or talismans. The Sacred Treasures from gods involve in-battle uses, as well as making areas able or accessible. And when it comes to boss fights, which are replayable, these larger foes require hitting weaknesses with the right weapons or Sacred Treasure elements to break their guard to do greater damage.

It’s all usually satisfying, especially when it comes to unlocking access to new areas and getting new recipes. Though in the case of the Switch version, there are some issues. The blight involving a fire-spitting flower does experience some frame rate issues when viewed from a distance. There are frame rate problems for some enemies. A few technical hiccups come up in battle as well. I also did experience an occasional bug with the dual blades ultimate that involved my avatar spinning in place for a minute before things automatically corrected, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s patched. I do wish the light platforming wasn't so frustrating though, as there are some times when, even after getting the correct abilities, reaching spots to get last hidden secrets isn't much fun due to the struggle to find footholds and get there.

Heading up into the sky on the back of that white dragon discussed early also involves even more exploration opportunities. These floating islands can involve additional interactions and experiences. That can mean more recipes and side quests. Except in this case, I feel like it made my Earth Dancer character feel special. We can head up there, journeying to these unknown places. We can gain additional rewards because of it. It adds an additional sense of weight and depth to the nature of Azuma. 

But what I really appreciated about the adventuring is both how well it ties in to the range of side quests we collect and the variations we can use when building up a party of characters. All Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma romance options and major NPC characters can be talked to and befriended. Upon hitting the first rank of friendship, they become potential allies. Each one is tied to a different archetype, such as attacker, buffer, debuffer, healer, or tank. So, for example, we initially have characters like the Attacker Murasame, the Tank Iroha, the Healer Mauro, and Iroha’s little sister Suzu, who is a er. I loved how the game encouraged us to talk to everyone, rewarding us with allies for doing so. And since the social options assign the same level of weight to certain interactions that cost us time in place of gifts, we can save those items to sell to maintain our villages. 

Because yes, villages involve maintenance. The management portion involves ensuring healthy populations, money to folks, and happiness. We’re incentivized to care about them due to the quality of life elements. Typically, new seeds and items come from beating enemies, gathering in the wild, and crafting. Building up towns and placing shops, as well as leveling, means gaining access to more seeds we can use, recipes, and development options. Having villagers assigned to jobs like farming, herding monsters, logging, fishing, and mining gets us resources when we get busy with quests or don’t feel like caring for animals and crops.

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma restored my faith in the series, thanks to its ambitious sense of scope. There are a lot of tasks to balance in this life sim, farming game, and JRPG, and it feels like there’s much more to do than in past Rune Factory entries. But the same time, it doesn't feel like each of them carries the same weight, as farming can take a backseat to socializing, exploring, and simulation elements. Village management feels more important than farming and caring for livestock, and heading out into the world or sky to explore yields some of more valuable materials and experiences. Rune Factory 4 is my favorite entry in the series, and I think Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is close to being its equal in some ways.

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma will be available for the Switch, Switch 2, and PC on June 5, 2025. 

The post Review: Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma Is a Return to Form appeared first on Siliconera.

Anyone else ever worry when a game gets delayed, then delayed again, then delayed even further? I do. It completely shakes my confidence. Especially when the developer behind it hasn’t launched a lot of titles recently and talks ing AI when making things. Simply put, Fantasy Life ended up being one of my absolute favorite 3DS games, and I was terrified about Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time after the delays and the disaster that was Fantasy Life Online. 

I didn’t need to be. Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is amazing. My only concern is perhaps maybe that Level-5 tries to do too much with it, but even then it is easy to just… ignore the elements you don’t care for as much and focus on the ones you do. There are like three games worth of games in Fantasy Life i, and all of them are good.

When I say there’s so much to Fantasy Life i, that applies to the story too. Our avatar is an archeologist working alongside Edward to investigate a mysterious dragon skeleton that led their crew to an island spot. Except upon reaching an unusual place, it means the fossil awakens to become Skelegon. So in the past, we’re investigating Mysteria in the past, our home base hub on the outskirts of depths with a mysterious gear somewhere inside in the present, and an additional major landmass known as Ginormosia. Each place has its own mysteries, not to mention gameplay elements, and they all feed into each other.

The Mysteria past location in Fantasy Life i feels most like a traditional action-RPG and Fantasy Life game. Here’s where you’ll pick up the 14 lives. Four of them are classic RPG class roles, which are Hunter (archer), Magician, Mercenary, and Paladin. These are used for the action-RPG combat segments. The gathering jobs are Angler, Farmer, Miner, and Woodcutter, which are tied to fishing, getting crops, mining rocks and ore, and getting wood. Those directly feed into the crafting lives, which are the Alchemist, Artist, Blacksmith, Carpenter, and Tailor. The alchemist can make potions, some accessories, and mounts, the artist works on home decorations, the blacksmith makes weapons and equipment, the carpenter makes furniture, and the tailor makes some decorations and clothing. And since the best way to get equipment for your combat classes is via the Alchemist, Blacksmith, and Tailor roles, all that feeds into each other again. Artist and Farmer are the new roles this time around and, as such, need to be unlocked by actually going through the campaign quests. 

When going through the campaign, tied mostly to the Mysteria part in the past and our hub in the present, it means following storylines that send you to different locations. In the past, you’ll work alongside Rem to go to different islands in Mysteria from the main hub of Eternia, which is your base in the present. There aren’t really traditional dungeons here, as instead you’ll go through woods, caves, fields, and other locations. These will be filled with gathering points for those types of jobs, enemies to fight, and even “bosses” for the combat and gathering roles. For example, a “boss” for a miner might be a major elemental crystal or for a woodcutter would be a tree with angel wings. Aside from having more health than usual, these “foes” will change their weak point, forcing you to search for the “sweet spot” to deal damage when “attacking” to gather. Naturally, there will be enemy bosses as well, which could be a real boss or a bigger and more adept version of lesser foes around you. 

However, interestingly enough, our base in the present time in Fantasy Life i involves Animal Crossing types of elements. There’s terraforming, to determine how it all looks. We have villagers of sorts, in the restored Strangelings from Ginormosia and the main campaign. We get a home that we can customize. It is based on 24-hour, real world time for flower, crop, and resource gathering. There’s even relationship-building with these allies, which unlocks additional traits and bonuses for when they you while adventuring in the world or crafting. Yes, if you’re not playing with folks online, you can have up to three in your party for adventures at any time. They’ll help when you fight enemies! When you’re gathering, they’ll offer buffs for you, debuffs on the target, or even in if they share that job. Whenever you craft, you can add folks who share that role to the task to boost your skill level and get a possible bonus. 

There’s also open-world style exploring. Like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, heading to Ginormosia means finding towers that unlock new views of the map, conquering shrines with different sorts of challenges to get Strangelings that can be restored into villagers for your hub, more gathering opportunities, enemies to challenge, and even villages to save, as well as additional insights into the overarching story and major characters you’ll encounter in them. And you can jump into this area at any time! It’s even encouraged, since fast traveling back and forth can reset resources in certain areas or make it easier to find certain foes for tasks. However, I noticed that facing enemies in these spots seemed to trigger bugs where suddenly foes will be temporarily invincible, due to being outside their range or getting stuck on different “levels” or “elements” of the environment. That usually rectifies itself after a few seconds. 

The funny thing about Fantasy Life i is, while this is a game that absolutely involves grinding, it never feels like a grind. It respects your time in so many ways. Do you need resources? Once you can bring in NPC allies or work together with other players, it takes far less time to get the materials you need and ends up being more fun. Worried about that crafting minigame? Get enough experience and you can automatically skip it by unlocking certain abilities in the skill tree and adding allies. Need money? There are folks in the past who will offer sidequests with helpful rewards. Getting a lot of Celestia flowers? You can put those toward items in a shop in the present. Ginormosia is getting too easy? Rank things up at a tower. Don’t like how you look? You can change it at any time in the present and “buy” new catalogs to add additional cosmetic options. Just want access to the new jobs without the tutorial quests? You can skip them. Happen upon a gathering spot, group of enemies, or crafting table that needs a job you don’t have equipped? It automatically swaps to the one you need at a push of a button. Want to forge some equipment when you’re in a restaurant with cooking equipment? Any workbench offers access to all crafting Lives’ actions. By finding other people to play with, unlocking Strangeling allies from Ginormosia, and unlocking certain nodes in the skill trees for each job, you can basically customize elements of the experience to your liking. 

There’s also a sense of freedom that comes from reaching certain points in the Fantasy Life i story. Once I got access to Ginormosia, I immediately unlocked all the towers, found all the shrines, and made sure I restored a Strangeling from each crafting and gathering class. After I got the Farmer role unlocked, I spent a lot of time leveling Lives, finishing sidequests, and starting to work on my own little town. It’s like open-world games in that way, as you get this sense of freedom to do what you want and prioritize the elements you enjoy. Yes, you unlock more recipes, Lives, and locations if you follow the campaign. But if you take your time, you’ll find just as much to do without advancing things.

The only real issue I noticed is that Fantasy Life i has a real issue on handheld gaming PCs. This is a problem not only I noticed, but someone else I consulted with as well. It plays amazingly well on high settings! …Until you enter a cutscene. Then everything slows to a crawl. The only way I managed to solve it was to drop down to medium settings, then play around with all of the other features like shadows, anti-aliasing, and such until I found a combination that worked. Once you do go through that, I found it works perfectly and still looks fantastic, so it’s more of a potentially temporary annoyance than anything. 

Again, minor hiccups aside, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is amazing. There's so much to it, and it is easy to prioritize the elements you like best. There’s an endless wealth of content and options, and you could probably spend months enjoying every element. The original Fantasy Life is one of the best 3DS games, and now Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is one of the best titles we’ll see on the Switch and PC. Since Level-5 also confirmed there will be DLC, I also wonder if we’ll see it get even better.

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is available for the Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC, and it will also come to the Switch 2. 

The post Review: Fantasy Life i Turned Out Incredible appeared first on Siliconera.

Strange Scaffold proved itself quite an unusual developer, due to doing unconventional and narratively interesting things with titles like Clickolding and Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3. TMNT: Tactical Takedown is an opportunity to do that with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IP, and it’s surprising just how creative the team got to be. While I do think it isn’t for everyone, due to the way the narrative forces the direction of early encounters and the initial difficulty, but it is a delightful challenge once someone gets settled.

As established ahead of launch, TMNT: Tactical Takedown is set after some definitive events that resulted in both Splinter and Shredder’s deaths. The turtles have grown up a bit, which means they’re on their own paths. For example, at the outset Raphael is sharing an apartment with Casey Jones. However, Karai, the new leader of the Foot Clan, invades with a horde of units to invade the sewer stronghold, recover Shredder’s kabuto, and defeat the turtles. It’s up to the quartet to reunite, regroup, and fight back.

While I do appreciate the direction TMNT: Tactical Takedown takes, I wish the initial approach and introduction worked differently. When the game starts, we following Michelangelo as he starts investigating the Foot Clan incursion into the sewers. Things start with some tutorial style segments showing how each action, be it to move a turtle, deal damage, or move an enemy, uses one some of the up to six points each turtle gets per turn. It also brings up how we get six hearts, losing one for each hit of damage, and that we can only revive twice per level. It shows how stage mutations are designed to encourage forward movement toward goals, with new sections opening up on turns and existing ones disappearing to force you forward. 

However, the downside to this is there are moments when I felt the forced “narrative” direction for levels and Strange Scaffold’s “guiding” us through a level doesn’t allow for as much strategic experimentation. At the outset, Michelangelo, then his brothers, end up overwhelmed by Karai and her soldiers. While I appreciate the structure and concept, it makes it difficult to really experiment and understand characters’ initial movesets. You’re tossed in and not given a chance to experiment with unique movement options, since you need to use skills to get around the field, and test the additional effects that come from proper positioning around foes. The constant movement of the battlefield and overwhelming hordes of enemies also impart a sense of urgency that I felt prevented me from really getting my bearings until I’d actually used three of the turtles. 

Once the turtles start to get their bearings and properly fight back, it feels like Strange Scaffold gets TMNT Tactical Takedown on more solid footing. After you’re able to access the shop and start customizing movesets, I feel like it really opens up and feels fantastic. That extra element of control makes the execution shine. See, I feel like TMNT Tactical Takedown can sometimes feel like Fights in Tight Spaces and Knights in Tight Spaces. Because of the mutation mechanic, a stage might be a more contained area at parts. Knocking an enemy that is especially strong out of bounds might be a wiser choice than outright attacking. Prioritizing attacks and movements based on energy you have left becomes critical. It can be about dealing with the most hazardous opponents first or attempting to use AOE or enemy moment skills for crowd control. 

This is complemented by what ends up being a genuinely fascinating Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles story, as Strange Scaffold really goes some places with TMNT Tactical Takedown. First, a more futuristic look at what happens with the brothers is a novel approach. The team also did a fantastic job of implementing different characters from the series’ run, including major and minor ones and using them well. I appreciate the decision to split characters up both so we can better focus on what they're capable of on their own in levels and see who they are as individuals in this new installment.

I also love the visual approach. TMNT Tactical Takedown looks like a tabletop RPG. All ally and enemy units look like miniatures, and they’re dropped down on the field and move in ways that resemble those types of actions. The aesthetic is maintained for setpieces and maps too. It suits the situations so well!

TMNT: Tactically Takedown is a delightfully challenging game, once you get settled and accustomed to the pace. It does involve quite a bit of adjustment as the story gets started. I wish there was perhaps a bit more of an opportunity to be introduced to movesets or experiment as a result. But after a few hours spent getting accustomed to the nuances, you’ll find this 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown is available for the PC via Steam. 

The post Review: TMNT Tactical Takedown Gets Great After You Settle in appeared first on Siliconera.

We are in the midst of a glut of roguelikes that also involve deck-building mechanics. There’s so much to sort through, likely not enough time or money to play them all, and I know I often see titles that are too clearly doing a little too good of a job “paying homage” to the most popular properties. Not that this wealth of options is a bad thing. The original Monster Train, which is sublime, wouldn’t be here if games like Hand of Fate and Slay the Spire didn’t pave the way and inspire developer Shiny Shoe. Fortunately for us, Monster Train 2 feels as satisfying as its predecessor, with this new game building on everything good from the original and including more strategic options.

While in the original Monster Train we ran a train right into hell, Monster Train 2 is taking us to Heaven. The Titans are a universal threat, Seraph is a traitor, and we begin with the once-divine Banished angels and demonic Pyreborne dragons making the first push to the top. While we initially learn about the situation from Banished leader Fel, going through runs and pushing yourself unlocks additional clans, like the Lazarus League scientists, Luna Coven witches, Under Legion fungi, and more insights into the current situation. If all goes well and we make smart choices while playing, the new covenant between angels and demons might result in everyone being saved.

The Monster Train formula remains largely unchanged in Monster Train 2, with any new additions layered on top of existing concepts to enhance the core gameplay experience. You start by picking two Clans, which will influence the decks you build, and probably a Pyreheart modifier. Your train features multiple rooms layered one on top of the other. You’ll be building a deck of cards to deal with the hordes trying to stop your train from reaching its destination. You place units in each room to face off during the battle phase, hopefully protecting the fire at the top that ensures your run into the Abyss can continue. A fight starts with an idea of who you’ll face. You’ll then be able to use some of your points to initially assign and even arm the units you’ll place on floor’s room on the train. Every round, enemies that survive combat move up another floor to the fires at the top. You’ll get a chance to pull from your hand to perform spells, arm units, and dispatch new warriors to floors ahead of the next assault. This repeats until the final wave and perhaps an encounter with a more devious boss. Once that opponent is on the field, it will lead to previous rooms it destroys being blocked off as it makes its ascent and special mechanics kicking in to make fending off that greater foe a greater challenge. 

During your turn, it’s possible to place units. (Said units can also gain new traits and be buffed based on events or store purchases between battles.) Once in position, Equipment Cards with armor or weapon traits and buffs could be applied, and Room Cards could influence what happens in a specific room on the train. (For example, a type of sword could allow for multiple hits or you could get more money from defeated units in a room on a floor.) While you might see the same units repeatedly, due to the Clans you pick and cards you’ve unlocked, the Pyre Hearts and their conditions picked at the outset of a run, the Equipment Cards you stock, the Room Cards you find, and the effects from purchases and events mean each playthrough feels different.

The customization applies when picking your path. As you go from one fight to another on your travels, you’ll be able to choose which track to follow. While they will tend to share one nod at the beginning of the journey and end up at the same encounter, the other stops along the way differ. Do you pick a road with a random event, one that could include a crossover guest encounter and a shop, or would one with an opportunity to upgrade a character or make more decisions about the contents of your deck be better for your current strategy? Random events can be unbalanced an unfun and punishing way sometimes, making the perk absolutely not worth the pains tied to it. It’s probably one of the few things that actually bothered me about Monster Train 2, and I hope there is rebalancing in Shiny Shoe’s future. 

And you'll see a lot of those options and runs as you play, as the execution means you won't derail after only one or two bouts. Since your sacred flame at the top of the train will "fight back" against any opponent that reaches it and is pretty sturdy even at the start, an enemy or boss slipping past your defenses and getting up there isn't a guaranteed "game over." You might still make it through another one or two fights before being wiped out. It feels like Shiny Shoe wants you to play long enough to learn from your mistakes or pick up on strategies you might like, so your next attempt has a better chance of going better.

Which is important, as I think anyone who picks up Monster Train 2 will end up playing it for a very long time. There is so much packed into this game. At one point, I ended up earning a wealth of content that I would have expected to be paid DLC (and gladly paid extra to access). The number of additional features, both gameplay-influencing and purely cosmetic, are staggering, and I am so excited about spending a few months trying out different Clan pairings, working on different deck mechanics, and going through the different modes. Yes, there are multiple modes, so if you don’t feel like trying to push yourself to advance the story, you could pick Endless to see how far you can get with no limits or try the Daily Challenge. 

I love Monster Train 2 now, and I suspect I’ll love it even more after putting 50 to 100 hours into it. Shiny Shoe did a fantastic job of keeping everything important in Monster Train, not disrespecting the original experience in any way, and implementing new Clans, card types, encounters, and mechanics that keep it challenging in a manageable way. Even the addition of a story is fascinating, considering the original only featured hints at the series’ lore. I love what the team did here, and Monster Train 2 ended up becoming as essential an entry in an roguelike library as the original.

Monster Train 2 will come to the Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on May 21, 2025. A demo is available on Steam.

The post Review: Monster Train 2 Is as Satisfying as the First Game appeared first on Siliconera.

We’re in the midst of an Onimusha revolution. The original game got a Hell Mode difficulty via a free update. Onimusha: Way of the Sword is a new entry arriving in 2026. Now Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny 2 is back via a remaster. It’s a welcome one, since it is an intriguing entry, though I feel it prioritizes quality of life adjustments to controls, combat, and gameplay over visually impressive adjustments.

While on a rampage conquering Japan, an undead Nobunaga Oda who revived himself with the power of demons decimated Yagyu Village. Jubei Yagyu, the clan leader who was away at the time, is the only survivor. As he cuts through the demons still lurking about and takes in the damage, and otherworldly voice calls to him. He then finds his unknown mother is an Oni, he can tap into those powers to absorb the souls of demons. Not only is this now a quest for revenge against Nobunaga, but a mission to find the five Oni Orbs to harness their powers and save the world as a whole from demons. The tone is is very dramatic, yet also silly. Some actor ham it up, of course Oyu ends up being used as fanservice, and it can get over-the-top. Your mileage may vary as to how much you enjoy it or if the execution isn’t for you. This time around, those scenes can be skipped, if you decide you’re just here for the gameplay. 

For those new to Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny, the best way I can describe it is feeling a bit like the older Resident Evil games, due to the camera angles, array of potential puzzles and even minigames, the more thoughtful approach to getting through areas instead of just mindlessly hacking and slashing at times, and something of a campy nature. While there will be areas with constantly spawning enemies, which might encourage button-mashing, some of the best encounters involve larger, stronger, more thoughtful altercations. And while a map might make a space look straightforward, Jubei may need more Oni powers or a specific item to advance. 

What made it special at the time, and still helps set Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny apart, is the relationship system. Jubei will encounter Ekei, Kotaro, Magoichi, and Oyu. You can form bonds with them via giving gifts. In response, you might end up seeing additional story scenes with them, you might control them for some parts, and the actual plot might change a bit. It still feels novel now, and it does make the idea of replaying and befriending another person on an ensuing run fun. I also find it important for gaming history, since this came before we started seeing relationship-building as a more common feature in games and the effects of connecting with characters results in changes to the experience.

So the biggest issue I experienced with the Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny remastermight be that I actually preferred the original tank controls to the updated analog joystick-based movement. This is because of the general structure of the game. There are no large, flowing maps. A single room or corridor in an area can be split into two or three viewpoints, and a location like a town or more open space will have multiple sections tied together. The problem is that pres to move forward in one section could suddenly be the equivalent of pressing back in the next area, sending you back to the previous room when moving between them. Or maybe a bit of forward momentum when attacking enemies will send you into another space with a different perspective, which can mess up your flow. There are also a few areas, such as the mines, where I ended up turned around for a second as the fixed perspectives in spots and similar structure got me turned around. I didn’t experience this issue as much with the original game, as the tank controls ended up being a bit more deliberate. So while I appreciate the option, it doesn’t feel as comfortable and I was glad the original option is there as well. 

While that new control option threw me off sometimes, the other changes are much better. We get more control over Jubei’s Onimusha transformation. In the past, it happened when the gauge filled, and that was that. Now, we get to choose when it triggers after the gauge is full. It’s a huge boon, and I saved it for more critical fights. Also, once you up your arsenal and gain your second weapon, you can don’t need to pause to swap to the other and back. It’s now possible to swap more immediately. I feel like this changes the atmosphere of the game a bit. While it can feel like a game where sometimes you need to think before you strike at times, the new options do lend themselves better to working in combos and swiftly reacting.

Things like this makes it feel like the Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny remaster is Capcom’s attempt to make the game more accessible. The option to go between the original and modern control scheme is the obvious one. So is the greater control over weaponry and his other form. But even more obvious is the addition of certain features that make it easier or more challenging. You can go through Easy mode at the outset, if you’re concerned about adjusting to the battle and ally systems. If you’re familiar with the game, Hell is a new difficulty level that means it’s game over if Jubei or your active character gets hit. Also, while it relies on the save point system like the original did for backing up progress, an autosave helps if you do manage to get overwhelmed or need to swiftly stop. 

Quality of life adjustments aside, I do feel like the Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny 2 remaster may not hold up when compared to other remastered titles. It it isn’t as visually impressive, even with the jump to HD. Character models and locations can still look dated due to designs and textures in spots. While it looks better now than it did on the PS2, don’t expect the update to be as stunning as changes in Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition or The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered.

The Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny remaster is a valuable one, especially with Way of the Sword on the horizon. There are a lot of gameplay elements that help it stand out, like the ally system and how Oni abilities and adventure elements are tied to progression. The quality of life adjustments are welcome as well. However, the campy nature of the story might not be for everyone, and it isn’t the prettiest remaster I’ve seen in the past few years. It’s well worth playing if you love the series and Capcom’s work, but it might not be for everyone. 

The Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny remaster will come to the Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC on May 23, 2025. The original version of the game is available on the PS2. 

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The Gloomhaven-like Sunderfolk certainly feels geared toward community nights. The app that acts as a controller is free and available on every device. It’s as easy to stream a version for sessions over distances as it is to gather a group of people at a home for a campaign. All of its characters can fill niches and work well together on quests. Of course, this does mean that you really do need to get the whole band together for a proper party.

Arden is a peaceful town filled with various anthropomorphic animals living together. The brightstone, a fixture of the community, helps with its protection, and each player is one of six heroes who helps protect the people living there with various skills. This is a very real danger, given the opposing shadowstone can corrupt unprotected individuals. After an unusual assault by orcs that involved parts of town being destroyed and the brightstone assaulted, it’s up to the crew of four to rally, then take on missions to help deal with these new threats.

Sunderfolk is a turn-based tactical game like Gloomhaven, as I mentioned before. Each of the six classes in the game fills a specific role, and these can be combined to help achieve goals. For my campaign, I controlled an Arcanist crow that could move themselves and others around the board to more quickly reach or complete objectives and cast spells. My Pyromancer could burn places on the grid, then walk on that to power themselves up for attacks or hope enemies would walk there and take damage. My ally controlled the tank-y Berserker polar bear, who would draw ire, deal melee damage, and push people (allies and enemies alike) around. Our crew was rounded out by the deer Ranger archer, who could half enemies in tracks or help speed up our own movement. Weapons and items could affect their stats, we could pick up to three skills to equip, and decks of cards could positively or negatively affect actions from those skills. 

Each mission can feature varying objectives, and additional ones can come up as your group achieves goals. For example, one early case involves removing barrel bombs from a bridge. Another involves rescuing two merchants who got attacked outside of town by first reaching them, then protecting them as they make their way back to Arden’s gates. So success doesn’t always stem from “killing everything.” There can even be puzzle elements to these quests, with labels applied ahead of taking them so you can pick the types you like. One early example is reaching and rescuing a kidnapped bug, then interacting with it during the mission to ensure it runs to the exit of a cave. All allies act on their turn, with each person handling movement in the app on their phone and selecting actions and items, and enemies or NPCs take turns after that. 

The Sunderfolk app works quite well! I did find actually moving characters a little finicky, since you’re drawing lines in a blank space on the screen. It works, but you might find you’ll run out of space quickly if you’re on a phone and not a tablet. Information is clearly organized, and it’s very easy to parse your actions and cards in decks to make informed decisions about your build. Likewise, since there are no timers of any kind, it is very easy to coordinate with fellow players to decide on how to approach each turn, and there’s even a way to bring up a cursor on the communal map and screen to more precisely point out possible moves, enemies to target, or places to investigate.

In between missions and major story segments, Sunderfolk gives players time to interact with the townsfolk they protect. Every character can engage in three conversations during these downtime periods, as well as manage their own equipment, get new cards, swap items with other campaign characters at the post office, and rebuild facilities in town. Each playable has one character they’re tied to via friendship or relation. That person, and all others, have a relationship level. As it grows, you can get gifts. (Those gift conversations don’t use up one of your three conversations per rest period.) These discussions also unlock supplemental missions, which can help provide quests to take to advance time until the next story task starts.

The most important observation gleaned from Sunderfolk sessions is this is a game absolutely made for a full group of four. It’s fine with two people! Someone playing alone could probably enjoy it just fine. But with the time the town socializing segments take and the nature of the experience, I feel like it you don’t get the full measure of it unless there’s a full crew. 

I really enjoyed playing Sunderfolk, and I would love to go through a second time with a larger group and different characters. Though honestly, I’d also be equally happy to go again with the same avatar (I love my Pyromancer) and make different choices. It’s a lot of fun, and the nature of its additional objectives, varying missions between the campaign quests, and possible party compositions means it is the type of title that could be worth replaying with different folks or on varying difficulties. Sunderfolk works quite well and I’d recommend a it for a series of game nights.

Sunderfolk is available on the Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC, and the controller app is available on Android and Apple iOS devices.

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I’m going to start this off by stating the obvious, which is that Capcom Fighting Collection 2 is the Power Stone and Capcom vs SNK compilation. After spending hours with it, I feel like anyone buying it most likely will do so because it’s an easy way to experience those major titles again. This isn’t to say the other fighters aren’t also great, as I feel Project Justice, Plasma Sword, and Street Fighter Alpha 3 Upper are games worthy of celebrating and replaying too. (Especially Project Justice!) But this latest collection does feel like a showcase for certain titles, and it does it well. 

Like the original Capcom Fighting Collection, the games in Capcom Fighting Collection 2 hail from about the same period of time. All the titles appear from the second half of the 90s to the early 2000s. The focus just feels different. While Darkstalkers and Street Fighter spin-offs populated the original, with a touch of Cyberbots and Red Earth for good measure, this feels more like a celebration of other IPs and crossovers. Both Power Stone and Power Stone 2 are highlights! Capcom vs SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 Pro and Capcom vs SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001 packs in icons from both companies’ properties! Capcom Fighting Evolution, thought not a highlight, still can involve a fun time with Darkstalkers, Red Earth, and Street Fighters. If I had the power and freedom to adjust the roster, I think I would have swapped either that or even Plasma Sword: Nightmare of Bilstein to ensure Rival Schools: United by Fate had been included to Project Justice, which I love. Meanwhile, Street Fighter Alpha 3 Upper almost feels tossed in so Capcom could go, “Hey! There’s a Street Fighter too!” 

In of picks, I think Capcom Fighting Collection 2 hosts a roster that is even stronger than the original compilation. There’s a better range of titles here, so you can really see and appreciate the different styles Capcom experimented with over the years. Power Stone and Power Stone 2 still feel fantastic and look great too, due to their mechanics and the filters available. Both the Capcom vs SNK feel solid. I even found Street Fighter Alpha 3 Upper a valuable contribution, since you can then see how entries like Plasma Sword or Project Justice differ or compare the movesets of Street Fighter characters in the crossovers to their behaviors in an original entry. I will say that I think Capcom Fighting Evolution is the weakest inclusion, and its flaws regarding character design, moveset, and other gameplay choices seem even more obvious when the much better Capcom vs SNK entries are on-hand. 

While the range of people playing ahead of launch was small and I largely played against one other individuals, I found online multiplayer worked wonderfully. Power Stone 2 is the entry I spent the most time playing online and, while I’m not sure I noticed the rollback netcode as much there, I did experience seamless and enjoyable matches. I especially had fun with Project Justice and appreciated how well it worked. 

I also appreciated that Capcom Fighting Collection 2 continued to show Capcom’s efforts to ensure the games are accessible and we’re able to learn more about the work that went into them. Training Mode returns from the first compilation, allowing someone to take their time and learn about both game mechanics and how to master certain characters in controlled environments. It still works well and makes it easier to prepare for ranked fights or harder difficulties. Likewise, there is a Game Difficulty option in the Game Settings again for single-player experiences, which can help. One-button special moves also return as a customization option, and I feel like that’s handy for both newcomers or people who might have difficulty with some of the more complicated inputs due to extenuating circumstances. It’s a level of approachability that suits a collection designed to reach out to as many people as possible.

Oh, and the Museum is still great. There’s concept art. You can check out character designs. You can see the marquee cards for games that appeared in arcades. A jukebox feature lets you listen to tracks from the games, organized by title. Everything is really visible. It’s easy to zoom in and check on details. We already know Capcom is good at handling this type of section based on all past compilations, and it’s exactly what you’d expect here again.

Capcom Fighting Collection 2 is great for many reasons, ranging from being a means of preserving fantastic games, easily play Power Stone, and reminding people the Rival Schools series existed. The roster of games available is sound, though I’m not a fan of Capcom Fighting Evolution. The online component seemed stable under the conditions I tested it and like a boon for accessibility. Not only that, but the actual accessibility features that make it more inviting for beginners and allow us insights into development via the Museum are lovely. I suppose it’d be appropriate to call this a sensible collection that fills missing gaps when it comes to accessing Capcom’s library.

Capcom Fighting Collection 2 will be available on the Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC on May 16, 2025. 

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Labyrinth of the Demon King is like happening upon a lost PlayStation cult classic. It’s a dive into the types of horrors and uncertainties that came from the fogs of early Silent Hill and the dungeons of FromSoftware’s King’s Field. In more ways than one, I’d say, as it also seems to pick up on the quirks that come from playing such titles. It’s like finding a lost artifact from a timeline that didn’t exist, where the person lucky enough to find it keeps going on so captivated by the design that the direction doesn’t always matter.

Labyrinth of the Demon King stars a samurai who followed Lord Takeda Nobumitsu faithfully. So much so that even when the titular demon king betrayed the ruler and slaughtered everyone, this one warrior decided to dedicate the rest of his life to revenge in Nobumitsu’s name. However, getting to the boss isn’t so simple, as first the towers where his underlings remain must be ascended and bested. Only after taking on those burdens can the ashigaru face the demon king.

In of appearance and execution, Labyrinth of the Demon King feels like a mix of both Silent Hill and King’s Field. Color is sapped from the land, with shades of grey and sepia depicting every scene. Fog covers everything, making it appear otherworldly. While it absolutely draws from older titles and uses a minimalistic approach to character models, building designs, and textures used, it actually ends up looking absolutely appropriate and period-accurate in execution. Still screenshots don’t do it justice, as so much of the ambiance relies on the lens dirt filter, fog, and supplemental animations you might not even realize help set the stage. Even the 4:3 aspect ratio is preserved.

This applies to enemies as well. When figures are at their most obscured, especially in cinematic segments, they’re most horrifying. The details are vague when you get close or examine them. It’s only when you for all the filters and additional effects that these layer upon the design and invoke your imagination to enhance the potential horrors tied to them.

As mentioned earlier, Labyrinth of the Demon King truly pulls inspiration from the design of games like Silent Hill and King’s Field, and that applies to the lack of quality of life features. Things will automatically unequip without warning. Getting through menus, equipping items, and saving is cumbersome. Text can be difficult to read when engaging in conversations. While audio cues will come up for some segments, there will be certain types of opponents that you won’t realize are even around as a possible threat until they attack you. (I’m talking about you, foot-sized, creepy tube-centipede-worms with a head made entirely of a giant bitey mouth that appear out of nowhere and take a bit out of your health with no warning.) Actually parrying is pretty easy, as is dealing damage to foes. However, I did find sometimes and in some circumstances that I’d suddenly switch to a dodging side-step instead of a jump. Then there was the time when I went into the start menu, but moving left and right in it was also making my character move back and forth.

While some decisions seem intentionally cumbersome, I do appreciate other ways in which Labyrinth of the Demon King stays true to older games. There’s no hand-holding. You’re left to figure things out on your own. (I didn’t find any of the puzzles too difficult.) Opponents can be quite challenging, with the bosses actually requiring a player to be fairly well-versed with the dodging and parrying system to survive situations. A stamina system is at play that limits the length of possible combos. Though I feel like the save point system should be abandoned in favor of save anywhere options for accessibility sake, the return to form here and search for shrines to pray at feel quite appropriate.

There are times when I wish the Labyrinth of the Demon King gameplay might be a little more responsive or certain elements a little less fiddly, but the aesthetic and graphics are always on-point. It is fantastic about establishing ambiance. So even when I didn’t feel completely captivated by other elements, I felt compelled to keep playing to see what new areas and enemies might look like. One thing is for certain, and that is this game is a love letter to the fifth console generation.

Labyrinth of the Demon King is available on the Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC. 

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