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Yakuza 0 Director's Cut review

System: Switch 2
Release date: June 5, 2025
Developer: RGG Studio
Publisher: SEGA

In the very recent past, it looked like there was no future for Yakuza/Like A Dragon games on Nintendo hardware. After the poor sales of the Japan-exclusive Yakuza 1&2 HD Edition collection on Wii U, then RGG Studio head and series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi decreed that the series had no market with Nintendo fans and weren’t going to release their games on those systems. This remained the case for a long time, until a massive staff reconstruction in 2021, when Nagoshi and other notable developers left the team. New studio leader Masayoshi Yokoyama decided to test Nintendo Switch waters October last year with a release of the Yakuza 1 remake title, Yakuza Kiwami. To RGG Studio’s and SEGA’s surprise, the game sold tremendously well and less than a year later one of the most acclaimed titles in the series has a new edition for Nintendo Switch 2’s launch: Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut.

Genki Attack Vector Grip

The Nintendo Switch (and Nintendo Switch 2) are the most versatile consoles Nintendo has ever released. You can play them docked with any kind of controller you want, or you can opt to play the console in handheld mode to have it with you wherever you go. For me personally, I play just about exclusively in handheld mode – you can sit wherever you want with it, plus being nearsighted makes focusing on a TV kind of difficult after a while. With that in mind, though, holding the Switch 2 by itself for extended periods of time isn’t great – your hands cramp up after a while, which means you really need a grip to make those long gaming sessions easier.

That’s where Genki’s new Attack Vector grip comes in. It promises three swappable styles, an easy fit into the Switch 2 dock, and the ability to detach the Joy-Con controllers even with the grips equipped. Unfortunately, the Attack Vector winds up being more of a liability than an asset – so much so that I went back to using no grip instead of this one.


Nintendo Switch 2 launched last week with a bunch of games, but one of the system’s big selling points is its backwards compatibility. Almost every game released on the previous console is supported. Nintendo has even come out with a few free updates that offer bonuses like improved frame rate, enhanced resolution, and more. We’ve also seen Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom with new editions. But that’s not all, as many Nintendo Switch 1 titles automatically run better on Switch 2 – at least ones that had uncapped frame rates and dynamic resolution.

So while you’ve probably been playing a lot of Mario Kart World, have you tried out any specific Nintendo Switch games on Switch 2? Which titles have impressed you? Let us know in the comments.

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2025 is a great year for racing games! Everybody’s talking about Mario Kart World right now, but the new Kirby Air Riders is also coming out sometime in 2025. It’s directed by Masahiro Sakurai, and it’s actually the first Kirby game he’s directed since the original Kirby Air Ride on GameCube over 20 years ago. Though Kirby Air Ride was met with mixed reviews on launch, it’s since become something of a cult classic. It’s beloved for its addictive City Trial mode, and the crazy part is that the entire game was developed in three and a half months. According to Sakurai, Kirby Air Riders has been in active development since April 2022, which means it’s had over three years to cook. In other words, Kirby Air Riders might be a bigger game than we realize – which makes sense, given it’s had over ten times the development time of the original game!

Fast Fusion review

System: Switch 2
Release date: June 5, 2025
Developer: Shin’en
Publisher: Shin’en

I love anti-gravity racers. My very first one was F-Zero GX, one of the two games I picked up with my GameCube in 2003, when I was six. I was addicted. I put dozens upon dozens of hours into the game, with its difficulty level only encouraging me to play more. My dad saw how much I loved it, and he owned a PlayStation 2 at the time. As a gift, he gifted me WipeOut Fusion the following year. A similar style of game, and another one I fell in love with, albeit not to the same extent. Still, as the years went by, F-Zero and WipeOut became series with infrequent releases at best. An itch formed within me for a new futuristic space racer, and unbeknownst to me, there was another one making the rounds from Shin’en.

The launch of a new gaming system is always an exciting time. These days, it’s even more exciting in the world of Nintendo. In the past we’d see a new Nintendo device every few years – it’d be split between the release of handheld and home console. But because those two things are now combined, the wait for Nintendo hardware is longer than ever before. Now after more than eight years, Nintendo Switch 2 is finally here.

Nintendo was clearly looking to build on what worked so well the last time around. That means we again have a system that can be played either on the TV or on the go. Still, the added power is certainly welcome, and there are some new features such as mouse support and GameChat functionality.

If you picked up a Nintendo Switch 2 this week, how are you feeling about it so far? What are your first impressions? Which games have you played? Let us know in the comments.

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Mario Kart World Review

System: Switch 2
Release date: June 5, 2025
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo

Nintendo Switch 2 is finally here, and with it comes the first new main series Mario Kart game since Mario Kart 8 on Wii U way back in 2014. Mario Kart World promises to be the next evolution of the franchise, boasting a huge world for players to explore. For the most part, this feels like more of a novelty than a huge step forward – but it’s an added bonus in a game packed with content and attention to detail. Mario Kart World is truly a remarkable masterwork of graphics, music, details, and gameplay – and it’s one you should absolutely try out if you’re planning on getting a Nintendo Switch 2 (and are either okay with the price tag or are purchasing the bundle).

Rune Factory Guardians of Azuma review

System: Switch (reviewed) / Switch 2
Release date: June 5, 2025
Developer: Marvelous
Publisher: Marvelous

In the far eastern region lies the misty country of Azuma – a once-prosperous land now choked by elemental blight and fractured runic energy. After a cataclysmic impact disrupted the flow of life itself, Azuma’s crumbling terrain and brittle fields whisper of a world in quiet ruin. And as is tradition in the Rune Factory series, an amnesiac hero shows up right on cue. But this time, their role is more than just farmhand-turned-savior – they’re the Earth Dancer, a chosen conduit of divine power, tasked with uncovering the truth behind the dying gods of the land.

A new month started up today (or in a few hours if you’re in the US). Now that we’re in June, we want to know what you’ve been playing.

Have you gotten on the Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time bandwagon? Are you going through other games like Capcom Fighting Collection 2 or biding your time until Nintendo Switch 2 launches? No matter the case, let us know in the comments below.

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After over ten long years, the future of Mario Kart is finally here. Indeed, the gap between Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart World has been the longest in the franchise’s history. Sure, we received Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Mario Kart Tour, and Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, but none of these were intended to be the next big Mario Kart game. Mario Kart World is exactly that, and with a new era for the series soon beginning, we figured it’s a great time to look at the development history of the Mario Kart franchise as a whole. There’s an absolutely huge amount of information here, so we’ll be telling the condensed version of Mario Kart’s history.


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