Nintendo Switch Critic Reviews

Destiny Connect: Tick-Tock Travelers biggest problem is that there are so many more memorable JRPGs available on Nintendo Switch. It's a sweet little entry-level game, and is refreshingly brief in length and scope. It also has a streamlined, nearly retro approach to its combat, and it has fun with its time travel theme. It might not be particularly profound, but it is sweet and cheerful and has a really good soul.

Destiny Connect: Tick-Tock Travelers from NIS America does a lot right right and is a good beginner's JRPG but has some major technical and design problems.

If you want to get your girlfriend or ten years old nephew into the world of JRPGs, this could be a perfect entry point. Charming, funny and simple, Destiny Connect is a short yet sweet experience anyone could enjoy.

Destiny Connect is a charming JRPG that's full of creativity. However, it's too small and doesn't do much to break from the most basic formulas. If a short but interesting storyline is enough to keep you interested then you may get some enjoyment out of this but those looking for distinct and engaging gameplay should definitely look elsewhere.

The clearest recommendation here is that Destiny Connect is more for the younger gamer in your life, as it’s a kid-friendly adventure that winds up being a little too basic and uninspired for those with more JRPG experience. This game drifts through the sands of time that is the Switch’s library as just another in the line of numerous RPGs of various shapes and sizes. It’s an okay game, but without any defining features other than competency, it’s hard to recommend over similar games in the genre.

While I didn't have huge expectations for Destiny Connect, I feel like the game has settled for simply being average. For a sub-15 hour RPG, revisiting the same places over and over again while posing no challenge struggled to hold my attention for even a third of the time, and the charming art is severely let down by the Switch version's quality. There are so many better examples of beginner RPGs out there that allow kids to customise and experiment much more and give them a robust world to explore. Think Fantasy Life on the 3DS, or any Pokémon game, and you've already got something much more engaging and exciting.

Destiny Connect: Tick-Tock Travelers is very much a "My First JRPG" type-affair. Its story is overly-schmaltzy and safe, the game world is small and disappointingly sterile and its cast of bad guys won’t give you too much trouble over the course of its short running time. However, the combat here is entertaining stuff, intuitively laid out and clearly explained, it’s filled with fun skills and makes light and breezy work out of systems that more grown-up JRPGS tend to get bogged down in. It has a likeable central cast of characters and, although there are many more exciting games of its ilk available on Switch, it does do a commendable job in providing a safe starting point for younger players looking to sink their teeth into the genre for the first time.

Destiny Connect is not a bad game, but it fails to offer anything appealing or interesting for the player, and it gets monotonous quite quickly. It might be a good option for younger players, but they would be able to find better alternatives as well.

Destiny Connect: Tick-Tock Travelers is a child-friendly, happy-go-lucky, time-travelling adventure that's enjoyable... for about an hour or so. Simply put, there are far better JRPGs out there - many of them equally carefree and friendly towards young gamers and newbies, and even more so.

Destiny Connect: Tick-Tock Travelers starts off great, with a promising story and fun enemies. But the longer I played, the weaker it became. It’s a simple game (move from point A to point B in a linear fashion) and a short one by RPG standards, so kids might be entertained by it for a while. But the story ultimately resigns itself to cliches, and the backtracking and repetition combine to make this just an average game, at best.