Occasional Video Game Reviews

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity Review – Nintendo Switch

The announcement of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity was a very pleasant surprise. I loved the original Hyrule Warriors and Breath of the Wild is my all time favourite game so a sequel to the former in the world and with the characters of the latter? I was all in. I’m happy to say that it lived up to my high expectations.

Story-wise, Age of Calamity takes place 100 years before the events of Breath of the Wild and that’s about all I can say without spoiling anything. It’s fantastic to be able to play as the 4 Champions though and you get to see a lot more of the character’s personalities through cutscenes, especially Impa I thought. (Also Revali like genuinely hated Link, man needed to calm down a bit).

Some segments even give you control over the Divine Beasts!

The gameplay is classic Warriors-style, you’ll be slashing through hundreds of enemies with ease. This is not to say that the game is a breeze however. While Bokoblins and Lizalfos will be dispatched with ease, many enemies from Moblins to Stone Talus’ will require more thought than just mindless button mashing. You’ll want to dodge their attacks (a perfect dodge allowing you to get multiple quick hits in uninterrupted in a flurry rush) and attack them with their weak point exposed. Depleting this meter will allow you to unleash a Weak-Point Smash for big damage. Even in a game based around flashy attacks, a Lynel will still cause you to pause if you don’t want to be annihilated.

Don’t try telling me that Zelda couldn’t be playable in the sequel to Breath of the Wild…

Of course, every character has their own set of combos which can be triggered by performing a different string of light and heavy attacks. Performing enough of these will charge your special meter that, when full, allows you to perform a big attack that’ll even temporarily knock down any opponents hit. There are a few differences in the character’s movement too, for example Daruk is a little slower but a little more powerful compared to Impa who’s in and out before you can touch her. And of course, the runes such as Stasis and Bombs can be used to counterattack the stronger enemy’s attacks.

This picture would do numbers on Instagram I reckon.

Sometimes you’ll pick multiple characters going into a level and you can swap between them on the fly. I thought it’d be annoying having to pause and tell the ones I wasn’t playing as where to go all the time but honestly it felt like second nature. From capturing outposts to taking down enemies ranging from Guardians to the Yiga Clan and Master Kohga, I had a blast the whole way through. In between story missions, there’ll be sidequests on the map. These fall into two different categories; battle ones where you’ll have to defeat specific foes or a certain amount etc. and are good for levelling up your characters (and possibly unlocking a couple…) and then simple missions that involve trading materials in exchange for bonus combos and hearts and the like. There’s a lot of content here if you feel like it (even Korok seeds!).

Some challenges will of course be easier than others…

The soundtrack is absolutely fantastic and really builds on the sparse music of Breath of the Wild. The game runs well too, really the only time I could tell the framerate had dropped was when like 10 electric chu chus were exploding at once. I think that the overall experience is an improvement over the original Hyrule Warriors (and it’s also a lot more manageable to 100%, for now at least). Honestly, if you’re a fan of Breath of the Wild and/or Hyrule Warriors then this is an easy recommend. If you’re uncertain about it then a quick YouTube search for gameplay should help you make up your mind. Either way, Age of Calamity feels at home as part of the Zelda universe.

When will we see Lynel sports at the Olympics!?

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Review – Nintendo Switch

To put it simply, if you only like 2D platformers then Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is a must play. If you love them, it’s almost certain to become one of your favourite games of all time. Nintendo weren’t lying when they said “Funky Mode” because this is one funky game indeed!

If a 2D platformer gets everything spot on but messes up the way the characters control, it’s going to be a frustrating experience no matter what. Tropical Freeze absolutely nails how Donkey Kong moves, from his jump to his roll and beyond. The really solid foundation from Donkey Kong Country Returns (another excellent game and one of the reasons I bought this game) seems like it’s been refined to a tee. On more than one occasion I thought I was going to die but the controls are so tight that they allow you to get out of tricky situations and it feels so so good every time you do so.

Not to brag or anything but I might be the best player to ever pick up a video game controller…

There are 3 Kong buddies that you can find in barrels throughout every level to accompany Donkey Kong; Diddy Kong, who is back from DKCR, Dixie Kong and Cranky Kong. Each of them add a different dimension to your movement, for example Diddy Kong has a jetpack that can give you extra time in the air with each jump. If you play multiplayer, your Player 2 will play as one of these 3 Kongs.

I have to quickly mention the checkpoints because they are actually perfectly placed every time.

In regards to level design, there isn’t much that I can say besides that it just might be perfect. Going hand in hand with this is the excellent difficulty curve. There’s never too drastic a jump in the level of difficulty and it still manages to get challenging so you aren’t gonna just breeze through each level on autopilot. You will die. That being said, thanks to the genius level design, very rarely, if ever, does a death feel like anything other than your own fault. There aren’t any insane pits or enemies that come out of nowhere, just precise platforming and you feel so good every time you manage to beat a particularly challenging level. If it did ever become too hard though, you could always decide to play as Funky Kong instead (although you can’t switch between Funky Mode and Classic Mode on the fly) and he’ll grant you boons such as extra hearts.

Things will get switched up every now and then when you’re confined to a mine cart or rocket barrel

Aside from simply beating each level, there are things to collect as well if you are so inclined! Every level has 4 KONG letters (would it be kinda cool if the letters of our names were just floating around in real life?) and a certain amount of puzzle pieces to find. Every time you manage to collect all of the puzzle pieces in a level, you’ll unlock an image that showcases concept art and the like. While you’ll find some very easily, others will require some intentional searching. There will also be a bonus room or two to find in every level; collect all of the bananas in one to get a puzzle piece. If you’re having trouble finding some you can buy Squawks from the shop to help you sniff them out. The KONG letters are a lot more straightforward, you’ll find the vast majority of them by just playing through each level. Collecting all of them in a world will unlock an extra level. There are also a few secret exits per world that unlock even more levels!!!

Using your banana coins, you can buy figures from the shop of various characters and enemies. While perhaps not quite a collectathon on the level of Donkey Kong 64, there is certainly a sufficient amount of content here. At the end of every world you’ll have to fight a boss (boss fights at the end of a world in a platformer?? I am shocked!) and these range from a giant pufferfish to a walrus. They’ll generally only take a couple of tries to defeat as you nail their pattern down, although I struggled with the final boss for a while (will pretend that he was hard and that I’m good at video games, I swear).

I have to talk about the presentation of this game too, like it didn’t have to be so good. The animations are all slick and fluid and the HD really elevates the looks of the Donkey Kong series. The backgrounds are genuinely stunning to look at sometimes and the levels where all you can see are the silhouettes of the characters are simply spellbinding. And, of course, the music is sublime. There were a couple of times where I had to put the controller down and just listen to the music. When ‘Aquatic Ambiance Returns’ kicked in for the first time? Chills.

I mean come on, it has no right to look THIS good!

If you like great games and haven’t played Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, do yourself a favour. You won’t regret it. And Nintendo, get Retro to complete this modern Donkey Kong Country series as a trilogy please!

GRIS Review – Nintendo Switch (SPOILERS)

You don’t really play GRIS; you experience it. If you’re after a fast-paced, challenging platformer then this isn’t the game for you. What you will get with GRIS however, is a unique and beautiful experience unlike any other.

Want to swim with a massive, glowing turtle? Of course you do!

GRIS with pretty much no colour, everything either black or white. As you progress through the story though this will quickly change as you unlock various colours; red, blue, green, yellow and all of the shades in between. The way you bring these colours back is by collecting some kind of orbs that, once altogether, will make a constellation that use to walk over into new areas like a bridge. After each section you will find yourself in the palm of a statue and there you will unlock one of the colours each time.

There is no dialogue throughout the game. Instead the story is told through various, meaning some of the story is left up to your interpretation. Some things are made clear however. Gris, the young girl you play as, has lost her voice. As well as this, she is struggling with issues such as fear, anxiety and/or depression and these feelings manifest into creatures such as a giant bird or eel that chase you. It’s an effective method of storytelling and gets her feelings across wonderfully. As well as Gris you’ll meet a couple of cute creatures that will serve as companions for a little bit.

None of this was terrifying in the slightest, I swear!

As you begin the game, you start off with limited abilities, namely being able to jump and walk. However as you discover colours you also gain abilities. For example you can transform into a block that will help you push past the angry winds of the desert or be able to swim or perform a double jump. Each of these abilities feels as if they’re worth something too as they all have their own practical uses throughout the game.

Ultimately, the thing that sets this game apart from any of its counterparts has to be the absolutely gorgeous artstyle. Stop at any given moment as you play and chances are whatever is on your screen looks like a painting (as I’m sure you’ve gathered from the screenshots I have posted here). Combined with the music that can switch from peaceful and serene to atmospheric and slightly unsettling at a moment’s notice, the game will command your full attention. Every motion is fluidly animated and the backgrounds are stunningly drawn. Lighting is also used to brilliant effect.

The quality and diversity of the settings is truly outstanding.

The journey of Gris to get her voice back and confront her inner demons along the way isn’t like any other. It isn’t too long, maybe coming in at 4 hours to beat, and if it’s possible to die it isn’t easy to do so. This suits the game to a tee though, as it doesn’t drag on and it doesn’t take away from the story by frustrating you. The level design is also surprisingly intuitive. It never exactly gives you a clear direction to go and multiple times throughout the game I found myself uncertain of where I was. However, every single time I ended up in the correct place. Between this and the puzzles, which are at a solid level of difficulty, the game is very satisfying to play too.

Nothing like a glowy thing to give you powers.

I highly recommend GRIS, particularly if you can play while in bed at night and just let the vibes take you as you explore the world. A magical game.

Fast RMX Review – Nintendo Switch

In a world where Nintendo have forgotten that they own the rights to any racing franchises asides from Mario Kart, Shin’en Multimedia stepped up to fill this void. I’ll give you one try to guess what this game is all about based on the title alone. Ready? Well, if you guessed speed well done! True to its name, Fast RMX is indeed fast.

Don’t forget to go for that starting burst as well!

The first couple of laps when you play a track for the first time is gonna be all about surviving. Hitting into a barrier too hard or misjudging a jump off a ramp will mean your car blowing up and having to wait a couple of seconds before you can move again, similar to when you fall down a pit in Mario Kart. The speed that you travel at means that this very likely to happen, at least until you memorise most of the course, although even then it can be a challenge not to crash and burn, particularly in the Hypersonic League. Personally, this aspect doesn’t bother me anyway. The races never take too long, each cup usually beatable within 10 minutes.

Speaking of cups, Fast RMX has 3 tracks per cup and 12 cups overall, meaning there are an impressive 36 tracks in total along with 3 different Leagues! Presentation-wise, you can feel the care that was put in. In fact, in my opinion, it could be an outsider shout for most visually stunning game on Switch. It strikes a perfect balance between realism and style and the weather effects, such as the courses where it rains, are beautiful.

The main gimmick of the game that sets it apart from others in its vein are the boost panels that are spread throughout the tracks. These panels are one of two colours, blue and orange, and you must match this colour with your car to get the boost or else they’ll just slow you down. Changing colours only requires the tap of a button but it adds a whole other dynamic to each race and ensures that you can’t just glide through half asleep. There are also orbs on each track that fill up your boost meter as you collect them and boosting through other cars will cause them to spin.

Alongside the standard ‘You vs 9 other computers’ mode, you can also have ago at Time Attack, where you race by yourself and try to achieve the best time that you possibly can, and Hero Mode, where you must come first and your boost meter doubles as a shield meter too. Of course, there’s multiplayer available too, from split screen on the same Switch to online (although I wasn’t able to find a match online unfortunately.)

Everything I have mentioned, and more (such as perfectly suited music and a nice range of cars to choose from) combine to form a package that should satisfy the craving of any F-Zero fan. While perhaps not as much to it, it’s a fun time plain and simple. Oh, and did I mention that it’s available for €19.99? At a price like that, you’d be crazy not to buy it if you’re interested at all.

Fortnite Review – Nintendo Switch

I originally downloaded Fortnite a couple of years ago when it first released on the Switch, however after about a week I uninstalled it and thought that I would never play it again. I wasn’t able to get into it, probably because I wasn’t good at the game at all (is what I would say if I wasn’t the greatest player of all time of course). Fast forward to 2020 though and it’s now one of my most played games that I have on the Switch.

Fortnite needs no introduction I’m sure. One of the games that helped launch the battle royale scene that swept through all games from Call of Duty to Tetris, it is undoubtedly one of the biggest games of the last decade. It is the simplicity of the premise that makes Fortnite work. 100 players drop into a match, collect weapons and fight to the death. You can play Solo, Duos or in Squads of 4 and, while playing a few games here and there by yourself can be fun, Fortnite shines the most when playing with friends.

The henchman are totally not annoying at all.

All the weapons you’d expect are present and vary in range and power, from assault rifles and shotguns to grenades and rocket launchers and they all have a certain class of power, from common up to gold. Along with the weapons, you can also build to block shots or to give you a better vantage point (however I personally usually don’t build no matter how much it makes my team want to kill me). Helicopters and boats can be found in specific places on the map too, boats being a particular favourite of mine to use. As time passes, a storm appears and starts to close in which makes the map smaller and smaller, usually forcing you into conflict.

Nothing ever goes wrong when the vehicles are in use!

This solid yet simple framework makes the game very enjoyable to play with friends for hours in a row. While mine don’t seem to trust my tactics for whatever reason, it’s usually still great fun (and we even win occasionally). Considering the game is free to play and available on a variety of platforms, there isn’t much of a reason to at least give it a go.

There are a bucketload of cosmetic items that you can purchase too in the item shop that updates daily and crossover events happen sometimes with other established mediums for reasons(?) How many other games are there where Deadpool and Kylo Ren can go to a Travis Scott concert?

This was kinda cool and I don’t even like Travis Scott.

Sometimes I can be found playing Fortnite on my friends Liv’s and/or Dannie’s Twitch channel, but even when I’m not there they’re still worth watching and following (I supposeee) https://www.twitch.tv/livmadero/ https://www.twitch.tv/slitherysn4ke/ & https://www.twitch.tv/scottbarcoe/

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Review – Nintendo Switch

My home has received some slight improvements since Day 1…

Animal Crossing: New Horizons might just be the perfect supplemental game. What I mean by this is, if it was the only game you had then after the first week or so you probably wouldn’t be playing video games for longer than an hour or 90 minutes a day. Combining it with whatever other games you have in your library however and it really shines as you can hop on for a little bit each day, go about your daily routine, and move on to something else.

You can have some fun on Harv’s Photo Island.

All of this isn’t to say that New Horizons isn’t a fantastic game in its own right; quite the opposite in fact. Presentation wise, the game is extremely polished in every way. It really looks great, from the character models to the way the trees move in the wind and all of this undoubtedly helps the immersion. The hourly music is suitably relaxing and K.K. Slider’s songs are as catchy as ever.

Not a phone in sight, everyone just vibing.

New Horizons is definitely the game in the series that gives you the most freedom. You arrive on a deserted island and, with the help of the tanuki, the myth, the legend Tom Nook, are tasked with building the island up into a place where villagers will want to stay. And you really given the freedom to design the island in whatever way you want. Not only can you decide where to put your own house, but you decide where your villagers’ houses will go and the museum and the shops. After playing for a while you’ll be able to start transforming the layout of the island itself, placing paths and adding waterfalls and cliffs. Some of the new additions feel so natural that it’s baffling that they weren’t in any previous entries, such as being able to place items outside on the island!

Perhaps the greatest addition to the series are the Nook Mile Challenges. These challenges range from just playing the game for a certain number of days to catching fish and bugs to planting trees and beyond. Completing these will gain you Nook Miles which can be exchanged for certain items or a Nook Miles Ticket, which will allow you to visit another island which you can then pillage for all of its resources.

You are allowed up to 10 villagers on your island and personally the villagers I have make up almost a perfect lineup. Sydney and Tammy are great, but Apple is definitely the pick of the bunch for me (all I need is Ankha smh). Well they mostly fall under the classic Animal Crossing personality types, they are still cute enough to overcome some repetition in their dialogue. Fan favourite characters also return (and by fan favourite I mean Isabelle).

Apple will be protected by any means necessary.

The other big addition to this game is the ability to craft and customise items. By gathering wood, stones, clay etc. and learning recipes you can make things to put in your house or around the island. This is a very welcome addition and something that should become a series staple from now on.

The Link’s Awakening remake looks great!

The biggest improvements there are to be made is mostly quality of life stuff. For example, we should be able to craft items in bulk instead of the current process which can become quite tedious. As well as this there are some facilities that should really return as well, Brewster and The Roost in particular. However Nintendo have been rolling out updates since launch and have put Redd and his artworks back in for example, so I live in hope for now.

Internet play could do with being simplified too, but hanging out with friends is still nice.

While admittedly I’ve fallen into the daily routine of hitting rocks, digging up fossils etc. I still play it daily and am coming up to 100 hours played. At the end of the day it’s Animal Crossing and the strongest in the series. If you think that it’s something you’d enjoy, then you probably would.

You can get some nice custom designs too.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore Review – Nintendo Switch

This is one of the few games that I wanted to try but missed out on on the Wii U so needless to say I was happy when this port to Switch was announced. After beating it, I can definitely say that it was worth the wait.

Irish in any form of media will always be appreciated.

In the grand scheme of things, I actually haven’t played that many JRPG’s so I was a little worried that the game wouldn’t grab me. Those fears were put to rest quite quickly though as I connected with the characters and experienced the combat. The overall setting of this game is something I really enjoyed too. Taking place in Tokyo, but more specifically set to the backdrop of the entertainment industry. From photography to acting to singing, it covers pretty much every area you would expect/hope it would

There’s a lot of variety in terms of setting as well.

You play as Itsuki Aoi and early on you and your best friend Tsubasa Oribe are recruited by Fortuna Entertainment, where your other best friend, Touma Akagi, is already employed. Throughout the story, you discover secret locations on another plane, called ‘Idolaspheres’. Inside these spheres are ‘mirages’, the enemies of the game and your goal is to defeat them before they can take over your world. The final boss of each Idolasphere is usually a mirage that’s powerful enough to possess one of the human characters that you encounter in the game.

Tarantino’s new movie looks great!…it isn’t Tarantino!?

Speaking of characters, some of the complaints I’ve seen about this game is how they all seem to fit into a JRPG cliché. This may be true but as I haven’t played many in the genre, it wasn’t a problem to me. I found each character to be endearing and enjoyed spending time with them. As well as the 3 characters I’ve already mentioned, you’ll discover an eclectic cast of characters, from Maiko, the head of Fortuna, to already established and up and coming Idols, such as Kiria and Ellie and beyond. The writing is often funny but occasionally sad too.

The game also serves as a crossover between Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem, and while the majority of the game seems inspired moreso by SMT (bearing in mind I haven’t played either series), the mirages that you fight alongside are characters from Fire Emblem such as Chrom and Tharja.

So it’s already ticked a lot of the right boxes for me. The characters, story and setting are all interesting. However if the combat didn’t hook me, who knows how long I would have stuck around. Luckily, it’s fantastic and each extra layer that gets added is always fun. There are different types of attacks, such as sword, axe, fire, wind etc. and each type of enemy will have a different type of resistance to them. Hitting an enemy with an attack that they’re weak to will start a chain attack (or a session as it’s called here) where other members of your party will also attack the enemy. There’s also an SP meter and as you progress through the story more attacks become available to you. Finally, you eventually gain the ability to perform duo arts. The option to trigger these attacks appears during a session and once they finish they sometimes lead into a session of their own, meaning you can do huge amounts of damage with a single attack.

You gather materials every time you defeat mirages and through using these you can obtain upgrades. Of course, there’s the standard weapon upgrades that will increase your power but there’s also other upgrades that unlock certain abilities, such as a character in the sub-cast being able to partake in a session or a 10% increase in HP. There’s a large amount of variety and every upgrade feels satisfying. While this all seems like a lot, it’s very intuitive when you’re actually playing the game.

Be sure to knock enemies down in the overworld before engaging in combat when you can.

Alongside the main story, there are side stories for each of the main characters that Itsuki can help with. While these are technically optional, it’s highly recommended that you partake in them. Each character has 3 side missions that will unlock as you progress through the story and increase your stage rank. I found myself really looking forward to these missions and they’re great to do during the intermissions between each chapter.

There are a lot of costumes to unlock too.

The last point I’m going to touch on in this review is the music. Of course, the general themes such as the fight and overworld music is really good but as the game is set to the entertainment industry you might be expecting something a little more special. Well, this is exactly what you get. Most of the main cast has at least one song that they sing and, combined with some of the cutscenes that play during certain songs, they can be some of the stand out moments of the game. Personally, my favourite songs in the game were ‘Reincarnation’ and ‘Give Me’, but there are a lot of superb options to pick from.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions is a fantastic game in all aspects. An interesting premise with great songs and brilliant combat make it a must play for any JRPG fan. As well as it being an all around good time, it has me interested in Shin Megami Tensei V if that ever comes out…

If you’ve read this entire review, here’s a kitty cat.

Fred3ric Review – Nintendo Switch

The face off we have all been waiting for.

The third entry in the series where you play as Chopin and musically battle various characters is here and is a fun as ever. The story is simple but efficient; the evil Zeitgeist has stolen Chopin’s heart and he must get it back. To do so, you will face off against various characters (other iconic composers this time around) that have been corrupted and you must emerge victorious.

To win your heart back, you must beat these composers in a musical duel. Notes fall down from the top of the screen and you must tap the correct piano keys at the right time. The more you hit in a row, the more points you get for each note. If you miss too many notes, you’ll lose. There are two difficulty modes, Normal and Hard. Normal difficulty isn’t a complete walk in the park but it isn’t too challenging either. Hard mode is also very doable, although it’s definitely more difficult (parts during Grieg’s and Mozart’s battles in particular).

The best thing about this rhythm game is undoubtedly the remixes of classic tunes. They are all absolutely superb and honestly the game is worth it for the music alone. There’s also some nice artwork and fully voiced cutscenes included and they’re very much appreciated. While the game falls on the short side, you can beat Normal and Hard mode combined within an hour and a half, you’re guaranteed a good time. The game is even half price on the eShop if you own either of the 2 previous games (which are also definitely worth it).

Previous games included duels against characters such as totally-not-Freddie-Mercury.

Fred3ric is another great installment in what is now an underrated trilogy of rhythm games. As long as they keep coming with music as good as it has been, I will keep buying them.

You can also pull off special moves if you maintain a streak for long enough!

Sorry, James Review – Nintendo Switch

Sorry, James focuses on 2 things; puzzles and story. However I was left wanting more of the latter and I don’t think the puzzles made up for it.

There’s nothing wrong with the puzzles by themselves. They’re simple enough; there are blocks with a number on them and you must surround or connect that amount of blocks to them. There are 5 parts to these puzzles and as you go along other variants are introduced, such as black and white blocks and rotating blocks. They’re easy enough and shouldn’t pose much of a challenge until the 5^th part at least.

The story is what I was most intrigued by going into this game, however it felt like a case of wasted potential. The potential is there alright. You are tasked by Mariia to decrypt certain files (hence the puzzles), and inside these files is a one-sided conversation with someone called Elisa. She talks about all sorts of things, from personal experiences to sex to the meaning of life. The overall story leaves a lot up to interpretation and the conversations you see are out of order and you only get what Elisa’s saying, not what Tom’s saying (the person she’s talking with). This isn’t my problem with the story however. I don’t need everything handed to me on a plate. My problem comes from what’s really a lack of substance as well as feeling zero connection with any of the few characters. Sure, it seems like something is going on in the background but all of that is left too vague for its own good.

On top of all of this, outside of the puzzles in the Switch version at least, the controls are terribly unresponsive which makes it a chore to just navigate the menu. Granted, this is a cheaper game on a smaller scale but it still felt like it didn’t live up to its potential.

Pokémon Shield Review – Nintendo Switch

I had a BALL of a time with this game! Get it? It wasn’t funny? Sorry…

*This review is brought to you by a casual fan that has only played 3 other Pokémon games (namely Red, Y and Omega Ruby).*

This is definitely my favourite game in the series that I have played. For a series infamous for not making drastic changes between instalments, there are a lot of quality of life improvements here that ought to be kept from now on. Being able to actually see Pokémon roaming around the overworld is such a good addition (yes, I know it was in Let’s Go too), that it makes me wonder how we ever coped without it. Poké Jobs provide a way to gain XP without actually playing and you can camp with your Pokémon to increase their friendliness towards you and even cook curry! (Who didn’t want a curry-cooking simulator in Pokémon?).

It’s the Wild Area however that genuinely feels like an evolution of the series and is something that needs to be built upon. Depending on the time of day and the weather, different Pokemon appear and it’s easy to sink hours into this single area. You have control over the camera for the first time in the series here as opposed to it being set and it really feels like a next-generation Pokémon game. You can also engage in Max Raid Battles with up to 3 other players and try to take down massive Pokémon. This is what Pokémon needs to take it to the next level.

May or may not have completely lost this match up…

At its core though, this is very much a Pokémon game. Up to six creatures per team, super effective and not very effective moves depending on the type(s) of the Pokémon, 8 Gym Leaders to defeat, all the usual stuff. This is certainly no bad thing however. In fact it feels like the perfect ending point before taking that next step in the series. There’s also a little challenge to complete before you can take on the Gym Leader of each gym, varying from a pinball-esque slide to a quiz. Every challenge is very different and they’re all enjoyable.

The stadium setting for each Gym Leader battle and the Champions Cup is fantastic.

The story is decent but the characters are great in my opinion. Your rival Hop, Sonia, Bede, Marnie, the “Unbeatable Champion” Leon; each of them have very distinct personalities and I enjoyed watching them all develop throughout the game. And those two characters you encounter during the post-game… they are interesting to say the least.

There was an unbelievable amount of controversy and overreaction in the build-up to this game and most of this was around the fact that not every Pokémon in the series would be available in the game. While it would have been nice to have them all there, personally I don’t really mind at all. There are still hundreds present and that is more than enough for me. The game is undeniably easy however and having a Hard Mode as an option from now on would definitely be an improvement.

I thought the designs of the new Pokémon were all really strong this generation and the gimmick of making your Pokémon grow to incredible sizes by ‘Dynamaxing’ them is always a thrill to use. The music is incredible too, particularly the battle themes (special mention to Hop’s battle theme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0HuqoKre3Y and the battle tower theme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvm5yDtaGiY).

I’m sure it wouldn’t be terrifying at all to be in a stadium where these two are battling it out.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this game. There’s a solid mix of standard Pokémon stuff and new Pokémon stuff wrapped up in a polished package and I can confidently say that I have never had more fun defeating a grass monkey with a fire bunny (#ScorbunnySquad). I think the next generation of games probably should experiment a bit more with the formula, but for now I am looking forward to the DLC.