Posted on 2 years ago by Nicholas Serpa in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments

System: Switch
Release date: April 12, 2022
Developer: Vanillaware
Publisher: Atlus

If any game is a shining example of the artistic potential of video games as a medium, I cannot think of a better recent example than 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. It is that rare type of narrative-driven experience that could only really exist as a game: a sprawling science-fiction epic with no less than 13 playable protagonists, that somehow manages to be both a beautiful side-scrolling adventure and a deep, exhilarating real-time strategy game. With so many moving pieces and a lengthy 40-hour runtime, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim could have very easily been a confusing, unfocused mess of a game, but somehow, all of these disparate elements fuse into nothing less than a masterpiece.

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Posted on 2 years ago by Nicholas Serpa in General Nintendo, Podcast, Switch | 0 comments

Last week was surprisingly noteworthy in terms of  industry-wide gaming news; not only was the sequel to the The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild delayed all the way into spring of next year, this summer’s biggest gaming event – E3 2022 – was cancelled entirely. Join your hosts Nick, Nicolas, Dennis and Luiz as they break down these topics and more in Episode 2 of Nintendo Everything Refresh, a brand new weekly news and discussion podcast!

Our show is now available on most major streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and Audible (with Google Podcasts coming soon), or you can check out the video version below:

Got an idea or suggestion for the show, or want to submit a fan question or topic for a future episode? Let us know in the comments, or drop us a line at [email protected].

You can also follow us on Twitter at @ndserpa (Nick Serpa), @Dayshade1999 (Nicolas Shadday), @LyonHart_ (Dennis Gagliardotto), and @Luizestrella_ (Luiz Estrella).

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Posted on 3 years ago by Nicholas Serpa in Features, Podcast | 0 comments

Get caught up on what’s new and exciting in the world of Nintendo with Nintendo Everything Refresh – a brand new show by the staff of Nintendo Everything!

In this inaugural episode, join your hosts Nick, Nicolas, Dennis, and Luiz as they discuss big recent news topics including the recent DSi and Wii Shop outages, Switch’s brand new “Groups” feature, and the future shutdown of Dragalia Lost. Plus, stick around for our impressions of some of the games we’ve been playing lately, including Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Rune Factory 5, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s Booster Course Pack DLC, and more.

You can check out episode 1 below.

Future episodes of Nintendo Everything Refresh will be released at the start of the week over on the Nintendo Everything YouTube channel, so be sure to subscribe and turn on notifications so you don’t miss out. Have ideas or suggestions for the show? Let us know what you think – and thanks for listening!

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Posted on 3 years ago by Nicholas Serpa in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments

System: Switch
Release date: March 22, 2022
Developer: Hakama
Publisher: XSEED Games / Marvelous

The producer of the Rune Factory franchise, Yoshifumi Hashimoto, once summarized the games as “Harvest Moon where you wield a sword.” And while that’s technically true, it’s a bit reductive; not content in being merely another set of farming-focused slice of life experiences, the Rune Factory games lean deeper into the “role-playing” aspects of their fantasy settings, giving you more room to explore, fight, craft and shape your experience to your liking then Harvest Moon ever has. Rune Factory 5 is the first 3D entry in the franchise since 2011’s Tides of Destiny, and thus feels primed to capture the attention of more new fans than ever before. While this new entry may lack the overall polish in its mechanics and presentation that it deserves, Rune Factory 5 is still an overall rewarding experience full of charm that I thoroughly enjoyed.

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Posted on 3 years ago by Nicholas Serpa in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments

System: Switch
Release date: March 18, 2022
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has sold roughly a bajillion copies since it launched on Switch back in 2017 (and that’s on top of the sales of the original Wii U version), so I had been hoping for years that the game would receive some new content at some point in its life, but it was never a guarantee. Finally, though, that moment is here: this week marks the arrival of eight new courses in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, as part of a new DLC pack that Nintendo promises will eventually result in 48 (!) new courses being added to the game by the end of 2023. So how do the new tracks fare so far – and will these new courses be enough to get the community excited about Mario Kart again?

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Posted on 3 years ago by Nicholas Serpa in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments

System: Switch
Release date: March 10, 2022
Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix

It takes some guts to release a Switch-exclusive kart racer on the same platform that houses the sales juggernaut that is Mario Kart 8 Deluxe; it takes even more guts to ape Nintendo’s kart racer so closely at a mechanical level that comparisons will be all but inevitable. Chocobo GP is the latest entry in Square Enix’s Final Fantasy-themed series of racing games, and it tries to set itself apart from the competition by including a fully-voiced story mode, a unique approach to power-ups, and oodles of Final Fantasy charm. Unfortunately, the slim track count and safe but unremarkable racing mechanics makes Chocobo GP feel inessential at best.

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Posted on 3 years ago by Nicholas Serpa in Reviews, Switch eShop | 0 comments

System: Switch
Release date: January 5, 2022
Developer: Galdra Studios
Publisher: Galdra Studios

It’s hard not to respect a game that tries to punch above its weight and bring fresh ideas into a crowded genre; that alone was enough to get Arcadia Fallen on my radar. Developed by a small team and originally funded on Kickstarter, the game appears at first glance to be just another visual novel about magical beings trying to save the world, but Galdra Studios created something special by adding layers of decision-making and puzzle mechanics to what otherwise would have been a by-the-books experience. And while the individual elements of Arcadia Fallen’s presentation and systems lack the polish and nuance to match its ambitions, its heartfelt narrative and lovable cast of characters elevate the experience to something greater than the sum of its parts.

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Posted on 3 years ago by Nicholas Serpa in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments

System: Switch
Release date: October 29, 2021
Developer: NDcube
Publisher: Nintendo

I’m a big believer that the best board games are those that remain exciting and engaging regardless of whether you’re in first place or fourth – a simple enough concept on paper, yet one that’s not always so easy to execute. But Mario Party has (almost) always excelled at providing the sort of unpredictable, chaotic multiplayer experience that can deliver ample opportunities for family fun, thanks in no small part to its polished mechanics and varied mini games. Recent games in the series haven’t always hit this mark, though – Mario Party 9 and 10 scrapped the standard board game progression in favor of a controversial “travel-as-a-group” gameplay flow, and Super Mario Party alienated many handheld players with its high reliance on motion controls. Now with the release of Mario Party Superstars, Nintendo is returning to what worked by bringing back mini games, boards and mechanics from older games in the franchise – but is that enough to reinvigorate this over twenty-year-old franchise for modern players?

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Posted on 3 years ago by Nicholas Serpa in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments

System: Switch
Release date: October 28, 2021
Developer: Koei Tecmo
Publisher: Koei Tecmo

Perhaps the only thing scarier than Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water – the 2014 entry in Koei Tecmo’s long-running series of horror games about photographing ghosts – is how much time it took for this game to come to modern platforms. Quickly falling out of the spotlight upon the rapid decline of the Wii U, I was cynical about its prospects of being ported to the Switch and thus was pleasantly surprised to see it announced for current consoles earlier this year. But despite possessing a setting and tone that feels special compared to modern day ghost stories, Maiden of Black Water’s deep reliance on the versatility of the Wii U GamePad left me curious to see how it would fair without its second screen. Fortunately, Maiden of Black Water remains a darkly compelling experience that all horror fans owe it to themselves to experience – even if it feels rougher around the edges than it did originally.

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Posted on 3 years ago by Nicholas Serpa in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments

System: Switch
Release date: October 5, 2021
Developer: SEGA
Publisher: SEGA

I experienced a wide range of conflicting emotions while playing Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania. I often caught myself laughing, usually after successfully guiding my expressive, energetic monkey across a particularly gauntlet-esque stage with only seconds to spare. Just as often I found myself sighing or yelling “nonononoooo,” typically as my encapsulated simian plummeted off a platform to its doom… again. But no matter how well I was doing (or not) at playing Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania, I was almost always having a wonderful time – and considering that this remaster contains stages and minigames from three of what may be the best games in the franchise, I expect I’ll be doing so for a long time.

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