Nintendo Life

I absolutely adore Lies of P. I foolishly ignored it back in 2023 because I thought it would be just yet another Dark Souls clone. But while it certainly borrows heavily from FromSoftware's catalogue, it does more than enough to stand on its own two feet with exceptional world design, awesome boss characters, and a wonderfully customisable weapon system. Performance isn't perfect on Switch 2, and I wouldn't recommend playing in Quality mode, but experiencing Lies of P on the go has been an absolute blast. FromSoftware better watch its back; there's a new player in town, and it's gunning for the Soulslike crown.

Big Walk is a game that is nothing short of outstanding in its design, a co-op adventure that feels like you’re 12 years old again and venturing across those fields with your buddies. Its strict reliance on communication and clever puzzle design makes it one of the most rewarding games I think I’ve ever played, but its technical shortcomings on the Switch 2 version do take the shine off a touch. Thankfully, it’s not enough to break what is one of the most unique and intriguing games released this decade, if you’re willing to learn to communicate.

Turnip Mountain’s physics-based approach to the climbing puzzler manages to be unique and challenging in a way that rewards perseverance with a genuine feeling of accomplishment. It won’t last long, but you’ll want to see this appendage-gifted vegetable’s odyssey through to the end.

Truxton Extreme is not only an outstanding shmup, but it also sets a new benchmark for how to bring back cult series of the genre into the current age. Very high marks on graphical effects, sound design, and soundtrack along with spot-on gameplay makes it easy to recommend adding this one to your Switch 2 library as soon as possible. Both veteran shmup players and newcomers alike will find much to enjoy in this package. You also get an outstanding digital graphic novel to go along with your game. Toaplan’s legacy is in the good hands of Masahiro Yuge, and if this is the shape of things to come, I couldn’t be more excited for future Tatsujin projects.

Splatoon Raiders may be missing the series’ iconic Turf War, but what we have here is possibly the most variable and exciting game the series has ever offered. Regardless of your skill level or personal play styles, the game is able to cater to practically any taste, and all whilst delivering one of the most enjoyable gameplay loops on the console. It looks good, runs fantastically, and you can play practically the whole thing with friends if you wish. Not only that, but Nintendo’s flogging it for a bargain price. It may not push any boundaries within the genre per se, but it’s difficult to find anything negative to say about it, it really is a must-play for almost anyone.

Moss: The Forgotten Relic loses some of the immersive wonder that made its VR origins so memorable, but its charming world, clever puzzles and lovable heroine shine through. Shallow combat and limited enemy variety are bugbears, but don’t detract too much from a breezy, beautifully presented adventure-puzzler that deserves a wider audience.

The Mermaid Mask finds a brilliantly entertaining niche between deduction game and point-and-click. The tangled mystery of the death of Captain Mortuga is full of compelling twists and every suspect adds a surprise along the way. Some tacked-on logic puzzles slightly break the dramatic flow, but not enough to undo the magic of a well-constructed puzzle box of a game.

Gecko Gods is a fairly low-priced indie made with love, and I respect the team and what they’ve achieved even if I was frustrated for a lot of the experience. Some people will love the novelty of playing as a gecko. For me, although I made my peace with the decision, I do wonder if a slightly different approach could have increased my own engagement and made me believe more in what I was being asked to do. It’s difficult to tell whether some of my frustrations come down to simply taking the wrong turn – or whether I missed a single line of text somewhere that might have set me on a more reasonable path. But I don’t think I missed anything. If you want a short puzzle experience, and you like the idea of playing as a gecko, then Gecko Gods may well be worth your time.

Culdcept Begins acts as a great entry point to the mysterious series, distilling its core mechanics in a way that feels approachable without watering down what makes the gameplay so special. Though it can be a little simplistic in its presentation, the variety of boards and deckbuilding potential means that there's tons of replayability and depth to dive into here, whether playing solo or multiplayer. If you’re at all a fan of board games or card games and want to try a quirky project that neatly applies to both, I’d highly suggest you add this one to your library.

Playing Disgaea Mayhem almost feels like peeking into an alternate universe where NIS’ flagship series began life as an action RPG, rather than a tactical one. Plenty of the franchise’s iconic, over-the-top RPG systems are present and accounted for, and they graft surprisingly well onto Mayhem’s core hack-and-slash loop. The problem is that said loop isn’t fleshed out nearly enough, with shallow and repetitive combat that loses its lustre quickly. Couple that with a forgettable story and a bizarrely short runtime, and Disgaea Mayhem barely ends up making much of an impression at all. It’s an interesting novelty, but I’m fine staying in the timeline where Disgaea keeps tactical battles as its bread and butter.