Mikhail Madnani

“Dear Me, I was… is quite an emotional experience, and I absolutely adored it from start to finish. A few control issues hold it back when playing docked, but I give it my highest possible recommendation if you enjoy moving narratives and want something short to experience on Nintendo Switch 2.”

“Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is a free form RPG that delivers in spades with its plethora of quality content, addictive gameplay, and all the enhancements over the first game.”

“With Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana, Falcom had a chance to deliver the definitive version of a classic, but the end result is just a good portable version of a fantastic game. Newcomers to the game or those who have only played modern Ys games should absolutely get Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana, but I can't help but feel disappointed with what could've been. I'll still be replaying Ys: The Oath in Felghana through this new release on PS5 and Switch, but hopefully Falcom handles a potential future Memoire release better.”

“Slay the Princess was a brilliant experience last year on PC, and one I considered on par in many ways with Disco Elysium narratively. With Slay the Princess — The Pristine Cut, Black Tabby Games and Serenity Forge have improved upon, added to, and enhanced the core experience enough to have among my favorite games of the year, and one I recommend to anyone interested in unique visual novels and horror games.”

“Mr. Driller Drill Land is an easy to learn but hard to master arcade puzzler that has brilliant music, responsive controls, and a ton of personality.”

“While I wanted a few more quality of life improvements and would've liked more visual improvements or consistency, what Monolith Soft have put out in Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is nothing short of spectacular.”

“Trials of Mana on Nintendo Switch is a great way to experience Square Enix's newest remake.”

“Dread Nautical does a lot of things well but it feels a bit unpolished on Nintendo Switch.”

“Yumeutsutsu Re:Master is easily worth your time with its multiple endings if you enjoy long visual novels.”

“Code: Realize - Future Blessings is the perfect companion to Guardian of Rebirth that is a must play for fans of the original.”

“Moving Out on Switch has the potential to be the next Overcooked with some more polishing of the core gameplay, but regardless, it's a lovely new co-op experience From Team17.”

“One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 brings a lot of good additions to the franchise but it has far too many technical and camera issues to be a must play right now.”

“If you enjoy gameplay focussed experiences and can tolerate some jank, Dead or School will be worth getting when it drops in price.”

“Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~is the best otome game you can play on Nintendo Switch and one of the better visual novels available on Nintendo's hybrid system.”

“It has been great revisiting Asuka’s stories years after experiencing them for the first time. [OpenCritic Note: Mikhail Madnani separately reviewed the Vita (8.5) and Switch (8.0) versions. Their scores have been averaged.]”

“Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore is a fantastic JRPG that could have been better technically and when it comes to localisation.”

“The Atelier Dusk Trilogy Deluxe Pack brings three excellent Atelier games to modern systems with most of the previous DLC and while these are great entry points to the series, the ports could have been better.”

“Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition on Nintendo Switch suffers too many technical hiccups to be worth getting in its current state despite being chock full of loads of content.”

“Star Ocean: First Departure R on Nintendo Switch is a fine way to experience the origins of the Star Ocean franchise but a pretty barebones remaster.”

“If you absolutely want a portable version of Mortal Kombat 11, this is a fine experience when it comes to the core gameplay.”