MiltonBurle

Gameplay itself is excellent, but it's ruined by some strange design decisions. Just as a run really gets going the game stops you and forces you to start again to progress the story, which I didn't really care about. Games like this should let you improve with a run, explore the mechanics and create fun overpowered trains and abilities. Instead the game has too much focus on the cartoony story, as well made as it is. So overall I love the game but I'd rather different packaging. Oh and the Switch home screen icon is terrible - devs if you're reading this, on the Switch they're meant to be little game boxes not mobile phone game icons.

Surprisingly balanced, polished and full of character. Each run is different and the game offers a lot of depth with hundreds of cards and artefacts. There's a story aspect as well but thankfully doesn't get in the way of the gameplay. I've played a tonne of Slay the Spire and Monster Train and others and if you're a fan of that kind of game Cobalt Core is up there with the best of them.

It's fantastic, I can't stop playing it. The core gameplay mechanic is brilliant, there is a tonne of content and the unlockables (different guns/mechanics) really affect the gameplay and force you to adapt your strategy. There is local and online multiplayer, a load of achievements per world to aim for, a neat little spaceship **** game is addictive and polished and pure fun. I'd have loved some additional modes, e.g. endless, but I'm being picky really. Puzzler of the year by a long way.

The board game is so good but it's difficult to recommend the digital version. Graphically it's rather nice and the music is unobtrusive. I bought the game mainly for multiplayer but "Pass and Play" mode forces you to use only one controller which is annoying. The game looks good but the controls are fiddly and can feel buggy/unresponsive, sometimes refusing an action without any clear explanation. The scoring at the end **** should be satisfying after all of that careful planning but it will only show one player's detailed scores - it would be nice to see a build up of all bonuses so players could review/brag afterwards. What the game has done is taught me the rules of the game and encourage me to buy the physical version, so in that respect it was a success.

This game is up there with Slay the Spire and Monster Train - it's that good. There have been a lot of reviews complaining about the difficulty. To start with, the game is tricky for sure. It has a lot of unique mechanics and it took me a while to start winning runs. Key things to grasp are positioning and recall of units, and not leaning into one mechanic too heavily. Once this game clicks it's fantastic - each run is different and there are fun ways of "breaking" the game with overpowered synergies. There's a tonne of value here too - three factions to learn, a daily run with online leaderboards and a tonne of fun achievements to shoot for. The visuals and general theme are fantastic and the music is catchy but non-intrusive. Don't listen to the haters - give it a try and spend some time learning the mechanics.

This game gets an awful lot of grief and I'm not entirely sure why. Since release Nintendo have added a tonne of extra courses and there are a tonne of modes so the game is very good value. I'm not a huge fan of the story mode and clicking through all the text but that's just me - I'm very impatient. The core gameplay is very good and has a decent amount of depth. Best of all (and my reason for writing this review) is I can play it with my young (5) son. He loves the game: lots of characters to choose from, simple gameplay mechanics and, if we select the easier courses, he can be competitive. Naysayers - it's not Rocket League, take it for what it is - some lighthearted fun everyone can enjoy.

If you enjoy Slay the Spire and Monster Train this is the next game for you. The battles are great fun with an interesting positioning mechanic, loads of unique keywords and there's a deep narrative underpinning the whole experience. It can be brutally difficult but failure feels self-inflicted (not random) and I tend to want to jump back in for another run.

Invisigun Reloaded is criminally underrated. I'd call it Bomberman with invisibility if that wasn't doing the game a huge disservice. The presentation is top-notch, so many modes and there's a lot of depth to the gameplay. There are a tonne of multiplayer options (to find an online game I recommend the game's Discord server) and a substantial one player mode as well. Each character plays slightly differently - my favourite is Cronus who has a sneaky extra long-range attack. I've even started playing recently against my 5 year old son who loves the different planets and levels. There's so much content here for your money and the developer deserves huge credit for crafting such a polished, unique experience.

Pros: - Gameplay during battles is great. It's a truly unique idea and some interesting mechanics. - Soundrack is amazing Cons: - Load times are too long. They put me off jumping in for a quick battle or two, or starting a new run, like other games in the genre - Crashes. During 3 (failed) runs over about an hour of game time the game has crashed 3 times (requiring a restart) - The font size is too small especially when playing undocked on Switch. Even on TV I'm straining my eyes - some instruction screens are barely readable. - I'd have liked a bit more customisation, so the deck feels like it's really "yours". For example choose some starting cards. I'd love to explore the synergies some more but i don't feel like I have much control over them. Maybe this will become more apparent with further gameplay but the first two issues (load times and crashes) have put me off unfortunately.