The Nintendo eShop game-rating thread

[psychicscubadiver]

The Bug Butcher
Arcade Shooter
4.5/5

The Bug Butcher looks and plays like a souped up version of old flash shooter games from Newgrounds. The name of the game is shooting upwards at hordes of enemies as they appear and dodging side-to-side to avoid their attacks. The story is simple: mutant bugs have taken over a scientific facility and you're just the standard sci-fi exterminator called in to get rid of them. Enemies come in waves and there is a pleasing amount of variety to their designs and attack patterns. The base content is about 5 hours worth, but there are tons of unloackables and high scores to chase and of course an endless arcade mode. Just don't make my mistake and spend 3 hours playing arcade mode while thinking you loaded the campaign. I was genuinely confused why the first level felt so hard and long.

Blasphemous
Metroidvania
5/5

I've heard this being called '2D Dark Souls' and while not a perfectly accurate the comparison is apt. In gameplay, it resembles Hollow Knight most strongly although with slightly more focus on dodging/parrying than aerial agility in combat. But the exploration and tough foes paired with recoverable previous bodies is similar. In style it is absolutely reminiscent of Dark Souls. The slight and interesting distinction being that while Dark Souls is more generally medieval in design, Blasphemous specifically pulls from ecclesiastical art and imagery. Corrupted clergy, suffering sinners, and penitent parishioners fill the world giving it a feeling that is grim, Gothic and dark and yet somehow also hopeful and determined. However you slice it, the atmosphere hooked me and the gameplay was very fun. A good amount of content too as I'm 10 hours in and there still feels like plenty to explore.

Gato Roboto
Metroidvania
4/5

We do a 180 turn from the heavy tone of Blasphemous into a game that just oozes charm and humor. In Gato Roboto you play a cat who crash lands into an old space station with its owner and needs to find a way to reactivate the station so you can both leave. Conveniently, as the game deliberately points out, the maintenance robot suits are both still functional and capable of being controlled by a cat. The style of gameplay is clearly based on old-school Metroid in gameplay with even the morphball sections being done as a the cat leaving the suit and squeezing among pipes and small places. The gameplay is fun, the boss battles good, and while the story is goofy it's also very funny and interesting enough to keep you exploring.

A Hole New World
Action Platformer
2.5/5

To be honest I had forgotten I'd played this game until I glanced at my play list over the past few months to make this post. Even thinking about it I vaguely recall enjoying this game and that the main gimmick was the world flipping upside down to an 'underside' when you fall into certain holes, but I cannot recall much more. I only played it a couple months ago too. Perhaps I'm being unfair to score it low, but 2.5 feels correct for being a largely forgettable experience that only took 3 hours to finish according to my listed play time.

Almost There: The Platfomer
Platformer (duh)
0.5/5

Almost There does the modern platformer minimalist look of having your character be a mobile square and most obstacles/platforms be similar simple shapes. Unlike 'Ink' there is nothing to spice up this style and it is very bland. In a better game that would be forgivable, but unfortunately, Almost There really falls short when it comes to its core gameplay. One of the central abilities is supposed to be clinging to walls and using them to jump higher. This ability works fine when it's two opposing walls, but when attempting to use a single wall (which many levels require to advance) it is an exercise in frustration that rarely works. I should not be fighting and cursing the controls less than an hour into the game. Between that and no compelling art or story to keep me going, I stopped within an hour and don't plan on going back. Ironically for a game called 'Almost There' it was 'nowhere close' to being good.