John Rairdin
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Writing For
Nintendo World ReportLatest Reviews
No Man's Sky
No Man’s Sky makes the jump to Switch mostly unscathed. In terms of performance it greatly exceeds my expectations, but at the cost of a couple features. Settlements are ultimately a minor loss but multiplayer will be significant to many players. Hello Games hasn’t ruled out adding it in the...
An excellent golf game that is not for the faint of heart.
Cursed to Golf is an extremely compelling, if also unforgiving, game. It succeeds at being an incredibly unique take on both the rogue-like and 2D golf formulas. The difficulty may be off putting to some, though, and an argument can be made that it would be better off with some...
Hell Pie is that most difficult type of Switch game to review. On a pure design level I believe Hell Pie is one of the best 3D platformers I’ve played in quite a while. Its understanding of ever expanding options for movement and traversal highlight a deep grasp of the...
Pac-Man World Re-Pac is a solid effort to bring back a cult classic. It clearly doesn’t have the money behind some other remaster projects but that has worked to its benefit in some ways, specifically on Switch. The new art looks excellent and the gameplay largely holds up, save for...
Before We Leave is an extremely pleasant city-builder that gets caught up in its interface and ambitious scope. It is a combination of having limited real estate to display a lot of information, and then picking all the wrong information to show in that space. When you’re not wrestling with...
Ultimately, Kao the Kangaroo has a lot of the same charm you’ll remember from the back half of the golden age of 3D platformers. Unfortunately it also carries with it quite a bit of technical baggage. Since I’ve only played on Switch, I can’t confidently say how much of this...
Mini Motorways
Mini Motorways is simple and extremely addictive. Experimentation with how best to use each element is fun and satisfying when something clicks. And when it doesn’t, you simply pick that piece back up and try something else. It has been quite a while since a puzzle game so immediately conveyed...
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga was ultimately a nostalgic yet surprisingly fresh experience that for the most part holds up well on Switch. The films covered in previous games feature entirely new takes, while certainly throwing in some references to those classic titles. My personal experience, unfortunately, was marred...
Ikai
This leaves me with what I feel is a very different impression of Ikai than I’d have playing it on other platforms. Poor resolution and performance make moving through the world an annoyance. And unfortunately that’s the entire gameplay loop. Even just catching a glimpse of an enemy can be...
Aztech Forgotten Gods stumbles its way into being something special. It certainly has faults both technical and simply in terms of design. At the same time it is also incredibly bold when it comes to its ambition. The unique elements of its design are executed very well, and it's only...
Having The Ezio Collection together in a single package like this is the ideal way to experience these games. These are incredible games that, while showing their age, remain a joy to experience. There are absolutely weaker moments that feel a bit repetitive, but there are also plenty of reminders...
