Luiz Estrella

“It's a shame that the final package seems so incoherent. After all, what motivated the specific choice of these games to form this collection? The collection is named after Toree, but it includes two other games with little connection and that honestly add very little to the final project. I think it would make more sense to include only games from the Toree series, or to create a large package showcasing Marcus Horn's entire portfolio, making it the definitive package to follow the evolution of an independent developer. The result delivered here, unfortunately, is a forgettable package with 2 good games, 1 simplistic game, and 1 mediocre game.”

“I even ended up playing for hours one night, trying to finish it. The hook of the experience really grabbed me, and after about 5 hours with the game, I was satisfied. However, I can't say I'll remember Storm Lancers in a week or two, you know? Or even that I'll be going around recommending the game. I think it's the kind of game I receive for review; I can enjoy the time I dedicated to it, but I wouldn't see myself playing it if I didn't have to write a piece about it.”

“I had way more fun than I expected with Tomb Raider, maybe it's because it's been a while since I played something like this, but I was able to simply appreciate everything from beginning to end. Even switching between the TV and portable mode, the game still works perfectly and is quite fun to enjoy in the most casual way possible. At the end of the game, the feeling that remains is: where are the other games in the Survivor trilogy? Rise of the Tomb Raider and Shadow of the Tomb Raider seem like two games that would run easily on the Nintendo Switch 2.”

“Honestly, I don't know if I'm overrating the game's overall quality in this text, but the truth is that Majogami entertained me quite a bit. It's not that the game moves mountains or does anything radically different from what we already have in the industry, but the composition of the elements works incredibly well; the combination of fun combat, a unique aesthetic, and captivating characters results in something that's truly worth investing my time in.”

“Mind Over Magnet is a great recommendation for anyone interested in game design, especially platformers. Despite its simplicity, there's a lot to learn from what's presented here, and it's quite enjoyable even for those just curious like me. The game fits perfectly into the portable console space, so there's no doubt that the Nintendo Switch is the ideal platform for playing.”

“The collection is fun and guarantees a good amount of time for distraction, so the simplicity ends up being a bonus for the experience and the very low price charged shows that the publisher is aware of all this.”

“It’s a great feeling to be surprised by a game that you didn’t expect much from. Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo is a solid experience that kept me entertained from start to finish. The simple and fun text, the colorful and enjoyable environments to explore… everything here comes together to create an experience that you play without feeling the passing of time.”

“Refind Self: The Personality Test Game does the best it can to deliver a new experience and manages [to deliver] a very positive result, for a experimental game, I consider this a success and I was left satisfied with an experience that, can you imagine, decided to do the same to me: while I'm here talking about the game, the game is there, talking about me.”

“Keylocker is the type of “handcrafted” experience that I really like in the gaming world, packed with content and a lot of personality. It's the kind of product where you can clearly see the artist behind expressing themselves in every line of dialogue or even gameplay mechanics.”

“In the end, the only thing that the shallow minigames in the collection offered me were a few minutes of distraction, which then became minutes in which I felt forced to play several levels just to make sure that stuff wouldn't get better later on. If you are really curious, I recommend that you buy just one of the two games from the collection, the second collection in particular is a little better, it is not that expensive and you will quickly satisfy that absurd desire to finally play “those games”.”

“This collection fulfills its humble role of being fun and simple, taking me back to an era where I spent hours on sites playing flash games having fun in an unpretentious way, without analyzing gameplay, graphics, soundtrack and all that stuff.”

“My conclusion about Born of Bread is divided: on one hand I think the game was made with a lot of care and the developers seems truly passionate about the genre and what they were doing, on the other hand I feel that the game failed to maintain my interest throughout the experience. Not that it was that hard to finish the game, but at several moments I found myself with little interest in continuing the adventure and figuring out what was going to happen. I believe this will be interesting mainly for Paper Mario fans to evaluate whether it is a good spiritual successor or not. For me, the game falls far short of the paper Mario franchise, mainly due to the less inspired writing. Still, the visuals, characters and combat may be enough to capture some people's attention. So it might be a good idea not to dismiss this game completely.”

“Future Redemeed is one of the best experiences of 2023. If it seems like I was very critical in this review, be aware that I end up being that way because I am absolutely in love with this series, and, with the number of releases we have at the moment, there is a lot to compare to. I don't think the game is bad simply because I didn't have a deep emotional connection to the story; In fact, I think this could very well have been an element exclusive to my experience, right? Maybe I'll play it again in a year and connect way more with Matthew's story.”

“Everybody 1-2 Switch! is clearly an expansion of the idea from the original 1-2 Switch, however, the game bothers me much less. In addition to having much more content, taking away the tech demo look of the original, the game also costs around half the price of its older brother. It's not a revolution in the world of party games and it doesn't convince anyone that all the “hidden” features of the Joy-Cons are sensational (for this purpose, Nintendo Labo continues to be much more surprising in my opinion), but it fulfills its purpose as a party game, which you will open 1 or 2 times a month when some of your friends show up at your house.”

“The truth is that I would never be so tolerant of Clive 'N' Wrench faults if I didn't know the entire context that surrounds him. But playing with everything I've exposed here, I managed to have extreme sympathy with the creator and consequently with his work. More than that, I believe there is a lot of talent behind this game, because despite the lack of polish, it really manages to get it right in several aspects. Which makes me hopeful that the game will be a relative success and we will have more Rob Wass games in the future.”

“Alba is not a revolutionary or ambitious game, but it is an enjoyable experience from start to finish. It sends a positive message while being fun, as a game originally designed for a mobile platform, it fits perfectly on the Nintendo Switch. It's a good recommendation for children up to 10 years old, but it also works for adults, thanks to the nostalgia that the game conveys in its representation of childhood.”

“The House in Fata Morgana: Dreams of Revenants Edition is an experience that is both beautiful and painful in equal measure. The game moved me deeply, made me feel close to the characters as if they were my friends, and at the end of the experience it was hard to hold back the tears. It is not an easy recommendation, it is a long experience that requires a lot of reading, not mentioning all the the traumatic events that are narrated. But I leave my recommendation for those who enjoy a complex and dramatic story, even if you are not familiar with the genre, do not be afraid, the experience is very similar to reading a fantastic book.”