Digitally Downloaded

So we’ve got a game that has zero respect for aesthetic traditions, gameplay that is no more than a shallow grind, and a game about Japanese demons that somehow fails to be interesting to a guy that has a library shelf filled with books about yokai, yurei, oni and the rest. What an intolerable disgrace this is to video games as an art form.

It’s beautifully produced and absolutely in line with the way that Jansson’s Moomin works ran. They’ve always left me wanting more, and I can’t wait until the next Moomin game comes my way.

Under Par: Golf Architect is charming and very welcoming, and that first golf course you create will be a truly fun process. After that, though, you’ll realise that Under Par has nothing else to offer and is such a disappointing missed opportunity. It’s all the more strange that the developers would do this because the same team previously created Hundred Days, a vineyard business simulation, and that one was genuinely interesting and engaging, and had proper tycoon simulation challenges built into it.

Of course, Minos’ fans – and the game deserves to have a lot of them – will tell you the plot isn’t important. What is important is its creative sandbox and gleefully gory approach to what is essentially a tower defence game. And on that I would agree with them. Minos is really difficult to put down once you start finding yourself daydreaming about new ways to combine your trap arsenal together.

Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream is somehow both a satire of all these life simulator games and also the most wildly entertaining one that I actually want to keep coming back and playing. It’s truly madcap, chaotic fun, and every second of it is a delight. I wish I could share screenshots of just how silly the relationship between Dee Dee and “me” really got. Unfortunately, though perhaps wisely, Nintendo’s made it very hard to get screenshots off the Switch 2 for sharing with Tomodachi Life. Nintendo knew exactly what direction many people’s little communities of Miis were going to go. Nintendo knows us all too well.

It is worth noting that I gave Hidden Around the World’s predecessor, Hidden in my Paradise, a great score. But for some reason, Hidden Around the World resonates less with me. It’s cute. It’s fun while it lasts. But with the frustrating bugs and very little narrative, it is also easily forgettable. One major problem I’d like to forget is that the game didn’t improve on Hidden in my Paradise: the same issues persist, which were easier to overlook the first time around. When there are already problems, don’t just copy and paste them into another game. It’s just the same, and that doesn’t cut it for me.

I haven’t been able to put this game down, though, because through its weaknesses, it is a clever spin on the basic idea of Scrabble, and thanks to all those items and board variations, a nearly endless variety to make each new game its own experience. It might not be the “level up” on Scrabble, I imagine the developers went into the project aiming to make, but they certainly have come up with something that is perfect to pair up with a coffee on a Sunday morning. And I do love my Sunday morning coffee games.

Pragmata is Capcom at its best. As good as this company can be with its established franchises, it's when it tries to do something different that we get the real gold. As far as “big budget” games go, Pragmata is the most different and thought-provoking game I’ve played since Death Stranding, and I love it almost as much as Kojima’s masterpiece. If only Capcom did this more often. Like they used to.

Many people assume that the only point of otome is the romance, and the appeal is minimal beyond your interest in male fan service. Anyone who has played otome games realises that this is not the case, and Homura: The Crimson Warriors is a particularly strong example of this. It’s both “girl and reverse harem of pretty men” AND quality historical fiction, and that’s a combination that’s hard to put down.

A great effort, overall. Don’t let this one disappear in the swill of shovelware on the Switch’s online store.