Rouge-lites and rouge-likes are amongst my favorite genres of games. And, like most guys, I love robots. Combine the two, and…well, let’s find out.

Metal Mind starts by asking if you’d like a tutorial. It is optional, but you most definitely should. The game’s mechanics are a little confusing at first, but they’re learnable after a little bit. For each run, you start with the same loadout that’s based on which robot you selected. You only have the standard robot at t the beginning of the game, but you can purchase four other starting robots as you progress. The beginning equipment is nowhere near the best, but you will find new equipment in each run.

The gameplay can be frustrating, but once you get the hang of the controls, it’s more or less just difficult. Even after you learn the controls, the game never really gets easier; it’s most definitely a bullet hell. A way to change the difficulty to an easy mode would be welcome for players trying to learn how to play and are newer to this type of game.

The map layout and all of the loot and drops from each run are randomized. There are also random portals that can appear after you complete any room. These portals allow you to play random minigames, earn different gear, or even lose different gear. You never know which one you’re going to get though, so it’s a nice breath of air in each run when a portal appears. Unfortunately, while the rooms are in different spots with each run, they are always the exact same room. This means the exact same enemies and the exact same layout—the loot drops are all that changes in each run and room. This gameplay loop leaves a lot to be desired, especially when it comes to rouge-lite and rouge-like games.

The visuals are where Metal Mind excels. The game is in a 32-bit art style that’s really well done. The backgrounds and models for each robot and room are expertly made, and don’t even get me started on every different weapon and its unique projectiles and animations. Almost everything about the art of the game makes it look impeccable.

The sound isn’t exactly at the same as the visuals and art though. The sound effects are pretty good and they sound pretty well suited to the game’s environment. For the music, however, there is one song that plays on repeat. That’s it. It gets repetitive really quickly and isn’t great at immersing you into the game.

Last, but not least, is a bug that sometimes just soft-locks you whenever you open the settings menu. It happened to me at random times whenever I opened the settings, forcing me to close and reopen the game. Getting soft-locked in most games isn’t bad, as you can just reload a save, In rouge-likes and rouge-lites, however, this is very different. Since you can never have the exact same run every time you play, it can be really frustrating having to restart and lose all of your progress on your run.

Overall, Metal Mind isn’t the worst rouge-lite I’ve played, but it most certainly isn’t the best. And until they fix the soft locking issue, I wouldn’t recommend buying the game unless it’s on sale.

The post Review: Metal Mind (Nintendo Switch) appeared first on Pure Nintendo.

There are a few ways you can play the game. The first is Career mode, which is almost a story mode where you start your own company and build your lawn-mowing empire. When you start off on a career, the game has you make a company. You choose a name and logo for your company, buy a mower and a string trimmer, and choose an employee. Once that’s done, you get to work taking contracts to mow lawns and build a reputation for your company, as well as earn money. As you progress through the game, you will be able to hire new employees and equipment, and unlock new and harder contracts…especially in the available DLC.

The second is the (currently) Switch-exclusive Quick Mow mode, where you can hop on to complete a contract just for some quick and relaxing gameplay. In this mode, you can choose between two different types of contracts: small and large. Small contracts usually take between 10-30 minutes to complete, while large contracts take around 30-60 minutes. After your selection, the game sends you to a random job where you can mow for a bit of a a break from whatever you’re doing in life.

The third is Challenge mode, which is just what it sounds like; you choose a challenge and complete the contract. These challenges include fuel limits, time limits, and stripe challenges. Fuel limits and time limits are pretty self-explanatory; you have to complete a contract with a certain amount of fuel or time without running out. In Stripe challenges you have to complete different contracts while keeping a certain stripe pattern on the lawn. There are three types of challenges: amateur, professional, and expert. You start off with one challenge in each category and then unlock more as you play.

The fourth and final mode is Free Mow, which is basically exactly what it sounds like. In this mode, you can play on any level you have unlocked with any vehicle you have unlocked. After you choose what level and vehicle you are going to use, you can then choose the exact cut height required, you can toggle things like ground checks, time limits, ground damage, vehicle damage, and motor damage, you can change the weather, and you can choose your starting fuel.

Control-wise, Lawn Mowing Simulator is a little congested. It seems the game was made for a computer, as every single Joy-Con button is used, some more than once. If it weren’t for the in-game pop-ups telling me what button to press, I wouldn’t have made it past the first contract. After a bit of playing, however, the controls grow on you and become a lot easier to manage.

As far as difficulty goes, it’s not really difficult at all, but rather annoying at points. You can rarely tell when you’re breaking your motor or vehicle unless you run into a tree or something (that’s self-explanatory). The camera is also really difficult to use at times, especially because there’s no dithering feature. Things like leaves and bushes just block the screen, which can be very annoying and cause you to damage your lawn mower more.

The game does look good, however. Each lawnmower is especially well-made, and an exact replica of real lawnmowers. The actual lawns and buildings and whatnot look OK, but they’re nothing special. The biggest issue is the rendering of character models. The people are, in the politest way possible, funny-looking. I don’t know if it was a development decision to make the humans of lower quality than the inanimate objects, but at least it doesn’t really impact the game.

There isn’t much of a soundtrack to the game. Before you’re actually in a contract, the game has a very upbeat instrumental song that runs for about three minutes and then loops, but that’s about the only actual song. When mowing, all you get is the ambience of a lawn mower doing its thing.

I only found a few glitches and bugs, which is always good. The first one is that the game didn’t ever let me quit Quick Mow mode. I could leave after I finished the contract, but I couldn’t quit the contract mid-way through or at the start. I ended up having to close my game and reopen it just to leave it. The second one is that I couldn’t make a second Career mode save slot. I could pick my company name, logo, and vehicle, but whenever I tried to buy a string trimmer, the game would crash. After I deleted the second save slot I was trying to create and then redo the process, I was able to do everything fine again.

All things considered, Lawn Mowing Simulator can be quite relaxing to play. Simulated yard work may not be for everyone, but once you get used to it, it’s pretty fun.

The post Review: Lawn Mowing Simulator (Nintendo Switch) appeared first on Pure Nintendo.

Hamerwatch II starts with the option to choose your difficulty: easy mode, normal mode, hard mode, and serious mode. This is very nice; it not only gives the three basic modes for the majority of the player base but also gives an even harder mode for some veteran players. Once you pick your mode, you then create your character in one of five classes: Paladin, Rouge, Ranger, Warlock, and Wizard. Each class has its own abilities and stats which makes them unique and offers different ways to play.

With these set, the game throws you into the same place where the first game ended (after giving you a recap of what happened). You traverse your way through the ruins of a prison to learn the basics of the game. After you escape the prison, you are led out into the wilderness of East Hammer Island. From there, you find the town of Haart’s Landing and truly start your journey.

The controls are pretty simple and can be changed in settings, but aiming and selecting things is sometimes very difficult, at least on the Switch. The control stick is way too sensitive to aim with, and I found it very difficult to be able to attack unless an enemy was standing still or only moving straight up, down, left, or right. Leveling-up also proved difficult because you have to use the control stick to move a cursor to click on the things that you want to level up.

The normal enemies generally aren’t that complicated. Their move sets are pretty easy to get used to, but the enemies tend to do a lot of damage which causes constant retreats from small skirmishes. The punishment for dying is losing a portion of your gold. This isn’t too bad, but for how much damage basic enemies do, it’s easy to die if you mess up slightly. That can be frustrating, especially losing most of your gold each time you do.

The game’s graphics and design are great. The characters and NPCs are all very well made in the 16-bit art style. A lot of detail went into the landscape in each area; be it in the wilderness, a cave, or a town, each area has shadows, and the landscape flows very smoothly.

The soundtrack—while it can get repetitive when playing for long periods—is good. Just about each area has two tracks: one for day and one for night. The songs help immerse the player into the fantasy world, and each night song is similar to its day counterpart.

Now, this game’s bugs are what more or less ruined the experience for me. Some abilities do not work as intended, and respecing your level-up points requires you to pay 10k gold. This turns what is shown to be a cool ability into something that barely works. In addition, a couple of quests could not be finished due to the disappearance of the NPC who initiated the quest. The time you spent on that quest was for nothing.

Finally, the game crashes very often, especially when entering things like boss rooms. Not good, considering the game is best enjoyed when playing online with others. This is extremely frustrating as it makes you spend around ten to twenty minutes to just enter a boss room or travel around.

Even worse, the crashing ended up deleting my progress on my first save file, removing hours of progress.

If the bugs were to be fixed, Hammerwatch II would probably be a well-worth game to buy, Until then, I would stay away from it.

The post Review: Hammerwatch II (Nintendo Switch) appeared first on Pure Nintendo.

At the beginning of the game, Alina of the Arena gives you the option to play on rookie mode (easy) or veteran mode (medium). Once you beat the game, you’ll unlock warlord mode (hard), as well as a hardcore mode which you can have active on top of whatever mode you play on.

Once the game actually begins, you get thrown head-first into combat. There, the game goes over the basics of how to play within an easy encounter. After every fight, you return to this sort of hub area where there are three columns with different tabs: Fight, Elite, Event, Shop, Rest, and Meditate. Each of these tabs allow you to do something different, ranging from a randomized event from the Event tab to a semi-difficult miniboss from the Elite tab. After you complete five Fight tabs, Elite tabs, or a combination of the two, you can fight the boss of the stage.

After every Fight or Elite tab, you will gain one card from a selection of three or four cards you’ve unlocked. You can unlock more cards by beating Elite tabs for the first time and beating bosses for the first time. Cards will either be red, blue, or gray. Red and blue cards will scale off what weapons you are holding in the hands’ respective color (left being red and right being blue). Gray cards don’t scale off of your weapons; they’re mostly status cards such as buffs or other means of movement. I really liked how the game allows you to pick and choose which cards you want in your deck for each run, and unlocking new cards by beating certain things makes you want to play more so you can collect new cards.

There are currently only three stages in the game, each with its own unique bosses and enemies. As you move through stages, the difficulty ramps up a lot, so make sure you’re prepared before fighting each boss and moving stages. Each stage also has its unique events in its respective Event tabs, ranging from obtaining cursed weapons to making bets with the mafia.

Once you finish a run by beating the third stage (or die while trying) you will unlock different starting classes. Once you unlock them all, you can choose from one of the eight starter classes at the start of each run. Each class has unique starting cards, weapons, and abilities.

Visual and aurally, the game is also pretty good. Alina of the Arena is in an 8-bit art style which is amazingly done. It’s also surprisingly gory, which definitely fits the game’s theme. The visuals even go into extra detail with Alina’s sprite by showing what type of weapons she has equipped.

The music, while different for each stage and boss fight, gets a little repetitive after a couple of playthroughs, but it sounds good nonetheless.

I didn’t encounter any gameplay or visual bugs while playing through the game, but there are a lot of balancing issues. You are given different cards from which to choose throughout each run. This would be fine if certain builds were better than others by just a little bit, but some allow you to do an infinite amount of damage while others give you infinite health. I don’t think I really need to say why these would be a bad thing, especially in a roguelike game.

Besides balancing, Alina of the Arena is really good. It does an excellent job of introducing each mechanic of the game to the player, and each run can infinitely be different from any other run you’ve done before. The art is very creative, and they do a really good job of depicting the whole game as a brutal and bloody arena. The music, while a little repetitive, also fits the theme of being in a brutal and bloody arena very well.

The post Review: Alina of the Arena (Nintendo Switch) appeared first on Pure Nintendo.

Enigmatic ruins and mysterious crystals descend from the heavens, leaving many to speculate on their extraterrestrial origins. It is from this point that Nayuta embarks on an epic odyssey within Lost Heaven, delving into the realm of seemingly boundless possibilities and unearthing the tantalizing quest that awaits beyond the horizon.

On your journey, you are joined by Noi and others such as Signa and Lyra. Each character is captivating, and there are plenty of engaging quests. The art style is also really nice in 2D, as well as 3D. The companions are endearing, and the game’s world is made all the more delightful by the warm ambiance of Remnant Isle and the enigmatic allure of Lost Heaven. The storyline manages to maintain an element of intrigue that keeps you invested.

While journeying through Lost Heaven, players will experience a combination of action-based combat and platforming elements. Each location features stages where you’ll engage in battles, gather items, complete optional quests, and progress to temples where challenging boss encounters await. The combat system seamlessly integrates Nayuta’s sword abilities with Noi’s magical powers. The action is easy to grasp.

As you advance through the game, you gain access to a wider array of these abilities. To enhance your character, you can earn stars by completing stages under specific conditions as well as doing side quests to unlock new abilities for Noi. Accumulating more stars enables you to unlock new sword techniques for Nayuta. Each new technique is useful, and some are especially fun to use.

In battle, Nayuta is merely a slasher. You can do a rapid sword combination, a dodge roll, and a double jump. This is simple at first, but the game quickly introduces foes that demand more than just button mashing. It could be due to ranged attacks or resistance to all but a few abilities, you’ll learn how to use all your abilities real quick.

When you come into groups of enemies that combine several of these features, things can become challenging, but in a good way.

The game isn’t perfect of course. The individual areas—with their own amazingly designed backgrounds and landscape, as well as beautiful soundtracks—are very well designed, but they can be annoying to work through at times. The platforming segments of the game occasionally proved challenging. These stages are presented in a 2.5D format, and players may encounter difficulty judging the distance when jumping onto moving platforms, resulting in fall damage. The fixed camera angle doesn’t help in these situations whatsoever. There are also some spelling mistakes now and again. But no issues leftover from the original PSP release will prevent you from completing the game, which can be done in an enjoyable 20-some hours.

While it may not be for everyone, if you’re looking for a JRPG with an amazing world of characters and secrets, the Switch update of The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails is the game for you.

The post Review: The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails (Nintendo Switch) appeared first on Pure Nintendo.

In the game, you battle through different realms with the goal of defeating all the Zodiacs, as well as different creatures, and stars. On your side are fellow Zodiac Pieces, Ginger the Cookie, and stars Algol and Spica. The character designs and personalities of these characters are really good and the different characters’ attitudes react very well with each other.

When starting the game, you get to choose from three different modes: Stress Free Mode (easy), Zodiac Mode (normal), and Masochist Mode (hard). After a brief introduction to the story, you are thrown head-first into combat. The combat system may be unforgiving, but it’s a testament to the game’s commitment to challenge. Even on normal mode, you’ll need patience and skill to succeed. Each victory feels earned, making it all the more satisfying. Some bigger fights take strategy to beat and require you to plan out what you want your fighting characters to do.

The amount of character customization in this game is amazing. There are a plethora of different weapons and equipment that each character can use, and a bunch more that only one or two characters can use. With each piece of equipment scaling off of a different stat, you can easily pick and choose which item you want to give to which character.

Each new area introduces a fresh assortment of enemies, coupled with a noticeable increase in difficulty. This difficulty increase is short-lived, however, due to the strength and new equipment you gain in each new level and realm. But it then comes right back to slap you in the face in the next realm. The new areas have some older but buffed-up enemies from previous realms, as well, so it’ll be good to remember the enemies you fight.

Also, each realm has its own soundtrack and different music to match the area you are in. Not only is the music stunning, but it’s also very well suited to the immediate area.

I would rate Virgo Versus the Zodiac a 10/10, but outside of combat are troublesome glitches and bugs. Some walls you just glitch through and get stuck in until you reload a saved game. Those saves have to done manually as there is no auto-save feature. So, if you forget to save and you get stuck, you’ll have to reset a far distance back (which happened to me multiple times). In certain areas when this happens, you can skip past an entire segment of the game. This would be amazing for speed runs, but it’s not great for a normal playthrough.

Still, there’s a lot enjoy in Virgo Versus the Zodiac when glitches don’t interfere; the alignment of pixel art with hand-drawn characters and the depth of world-building are impressive. If you’re up for the challenge and can overlook the bugs, this celestial adventure is worth the 15 hours or so it takes to complete it.

The post Review: Virgo Versus the Zodiac (Nintendo Switch) appeared first on Pure Nintendo.

Booting up and starting a new game presents you with the difficulty options of normal and hard. No easy? Once into the game, you step into the shoes of Martin, an ardent esports enthusiast who finds himself at a crossroads in life. A chance encounter introduces him to the captivating game Horizon 4.2, setting the stage for a new chapter in his journey towards becoming an esports champion. With the Horizon 5.0 expansion looming on the horizon, Martin and his friend Adam plunge headfirst into the game, eager to ascend to level 100 and secure their place in the esports pantheon.

Entering into Horizon 4.2, you go through a character creation process…or your character does. According to Martin and Adam, there are tons of classes and three factions from which you can choose, but the game doesn’t give you a choice. More so, it gives Martin the Neogician class (what is a Neogician?) and Adam the Berserker class. I feel like giving the player control over the character would have been nice, but it isn’t necessary.

The gameplay has you journey through the world of Olydri, where you, under the username “Baster,” and Adam, under the username “Drek,” complete quests, unlock chests, and gather materials for different jobs. There are plenty of different towns and areas, all with unique and hard to pronounce names that you can find on the world map, most of which is story locked. Along the way, you join forces with Leo/Logs the Elementalist, and Sarah/May the Cartomancer (What is a Cartomancer??).

You can only play as the four characters. This is perhaps logical considering the source material, but I found it disappointing for partially the same reason as the character creation thing. In addition, the different enemies and some bosses have classes you never get the chance to use or control. There is also no way to speed up the gameplay, and skipping cutscenes often leaves you with no idea what’s happening story-wise and—in some cases—gameplay wise.

Unlike most RPGs, you can’t save anywhere and everywhere. Instead, you have to find a save points. This can be really frustrating to deal with, especially because of some of the enemies in the world map can just one shot you because you aren’t at a certain level.

Loading can range from a couple of seconds to a couple of minutes. Worse, it can be glitchy; the game just won’t load sometimes, forcing you reload from your last save. Because of the forced save locations, this could be anywhere from a couple minutes ago to hours at some places.

Noob – The Factionless has pretty good animations. The 2D and 3D models are very well made, even though they don’t exactly line up with each other some of the time.

The story is pretty decent, but it isn’t really anything too special. This game has potential to be really amazing, but there are a lot of things the developers need to fix before I would recommend it.

The post Review: Noob – The Factionless (Nintendo Switch) appeared first on Pure Nintendo.