Veerender Jubbal

“I love the combat, aesthetics, and banter between characters. I had an extremely rough time in the boss fights due to technical qualms. I tried pushing forward, but losing at an unplayable mess of a boss fight takes you back to the start of the chapter to do everything all over again—a loss of progress. After dealing with this, I gave up and am waiting for fixes. I suggest playing Wander Stars on Steam, because there is something so special here with this RPG teasing well-known anime tropes with a dark-skinned girl of colour lead–a rarity in the shounen genre. But for me, the unplayable mess it became has driven me away from the game’s Nintendo Switch version.”

“Wild Hearts S’ Karakuri system is intricately and excitingly crafted with player experimentation abound. The Giant Kenomo feature breathtaking designs to rival Monster Hunter’s creatures in complexity and ferocity, especially from the art portraits each Kemono has in the game’s Cyclopedia. If you’ve done everything there is to do in Monster Hunter Wilds and are looking to dive into an exclusive on Nintendo Switch 2 with mates, Wild Hearts S delivers a tough challenge for experienced monster hunters.”

“Upin & Ipin Universe is a strong first step in adapting the series into a video game, and its open world has quite a bit of charm for someone like me, not very savvy about the series. The camera is a constant mess, but if you do continue to power through that major stumbling block, there is a lot to enjoy from this game. Character models are cute, and aspects like the crops growing after watering them or little gestures like how Upin/Ipin take off their sandals when getting into the home are little joys. A lot of heart, and reminds me of those early 2000s game adaptations of other 3D cartoons and animated films, in the best possible way.”

“Catto’s Post Office is an adorable, pun-filled, heartwarming, and sincere game, aware of how aspects that might seem small or microscopic in the grand scheme of things can still be extremely important to certain individuals, especially to a sensitive Postcat like Catto. The game made me feel as if I was watching an animated show on TVOKids, Treehouse TV, or Teletoon–sometimes your soul just needs that sort of nourishing game experience.”

“Time Flies is a profoundly poignant game, allows you to look within yourself and especially with factors that are at play for each person, to hammer down that sonder, if you still have yet to obtain that sense of clarity, or if that sliver of reflection needs to continue growing. Being able to mix gameplay hilarity with the looming death that is ever approaching in this stylistically hand-drawn black and white world fascinates me. Just because you are as tiny as a fly in this game, does not mean your impact on its world is also tiny.”

“Unknown 9: Awakening is a promising start for a new series once you learn to love its combat.”

“Thirsty Suitors elevates the turn-based RPG genre to the modern day with skateboarding, South Asian diversity, accessibility options, and cooking.”

“Venba does not just make me feel seen, Venba makes me feel acknowledged and reassured in ways video games have never explored so profoundly.”

“This game is more than just trying to cater to nostalgia. It is one of my favorite games of the year, and if you do have $30 to spend, I assuredly recommend Disney Dreamlight Valley.”

“Its superb soundtrack and visuals are an everlasting treat. Playing it handheld on Switch is how it should be played, in reminiscence of playing SRPGs on a Nintendo DS. When its issues are fixed, I really hope to recommend this game to others because it has been one of my favorites of this year. I'm still waiting to ascend to whichever goddess or whatever fate awaits me on its final floors, feeling the despair of a warrior's spirit, but not in the way I or Evertried had hoped.”

“Boyfriend Dungeon elicits an emotional attachment to its large cast of characters, but repetitive gameplay and dungeons sour the experience.”

“It is difficult to recommend Pokémon Unite to 'free' players unless they're truly in it for the long haul. The gameplay is engaging, with a large roster of Pokémon that can be tried out in offline modes, but owning iconic Pokémon such as Lucario or Garchomp to play in Ranked will require an immense amount of Aoes Coins or paid-for Aeos Gems. A lot of joy is to be found in Quick Matches due to daily map rotations, but ultimately Unite is too geared toward grabbing people's purses to win games rather than providing an even playing field for everyone. Players that don't pay will likely find frustration in constantly matching with others who have spent money; it's worth keeping that in mind before committing to Pokémon Unite.”