Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition (Switch eShop) Review

Title: Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition
Platform: Nintendo Switch eShop
Developer: Moon Studios
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios (formerly Microsoft Studios)
Release Date: September 27th, 2019 (NA)
File Size: 3.5GB

Review copy provided by Microsoft

I CANNOT believe what I’m typing here! We’re in a truly bizarro world folks! Hell’s frozen over, cats and dogs, living together, mass hysteria! Indeed, it’s not April Fool’s Day, I’m reviewing a 100% Microsoft (owned AND published) game… on a NINTENDO system! This move may not surprise some if you recall that Microsoft did allow their IPs to be released on the GBA and the DS, most notably of course stuff by old buddy Rare. Examples include Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty’s Revenge on GBA (originally a pre-MS era game), and even Blue Dragon Plus on DS (co-developed by Nintendo’s Brownie Brown (now 1UP Studio)… WHAT).

So Microsoft is no stranger to Nintendo hardware, even post Xbox. But this is the first true Microsoft-original franchise (meaning not Minecraft, which Microsoft only bought in 2014), that Microsoft are full-fledged publishing on a Nintendo system. Minecraft is published through their subsidiary Mojang and is only by Microsoft themselves in Japan. So yeah. Hi welcome to my first ever Xbox Switch review, please enjoy! 😛 So after you let this set in for the next half hour, how does this game actually fare? Lets find out of course!

Spyro Reignited Trilogy (Switch) Review

Title: Spyro Reignited Trilogy
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Developer: Toys For Bob (remake and the Switch port)/Sanzaru Games (assisted with Spyro 3)
Publisher: Activision
Release Date: September 3rd, 2018 (NA)
File Size: 15GB

Review copy provided by Activision

Yes! Just like Crash before him, the recently Sony-bought developer Insomniac Games’ creation has also made the jump to Switch with his original trilogy on PS1, with the trilogy also making their Nintendo debut! Spyro of course is no stranger to Nintendo systems. He debuted on the GameCube with Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly (a sadly pretty bad game by Check Six Studios and Equinox) and on the GBA with Spyro: Season of Ice by the western emulation wizards at Digital Eclipse.

I already reviewed not just Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, but I also just recently reviewed Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, both on Switch of course, click their names for their reviews! Spyro Reignited Trilogy certainly will be a nice welcome addition to this little review series won’t he? 😛 So how did this turn out and specifically on Switch? Does the trilogy fly or will it leave you feeling burned? Read on and find out of course. 🙂

Pix the Cat (Switch eShop) Review

Title: Pix the Cat
Platform: Nintendo Switch eShop
Developer: Pastagames/Playdigious (Switch port)
Publisher: Playdigious
Release Date: August 8th, 2019 (NA)
File Size: 716MB

Review copy provided by Playdigious

You may have noticed that I just recently put up a review for PictoQuest on Switch. That was developed by a new team called NanoPiko Games. Well the funny thing is, the game we’re talking about today wasn’t just released on the same day, but was developed by some of the same folks years ago originally at Pastagames! How does this game fare? is it the cat’s meow or is it a c-c-c-c-combo breaker? Let’s find out!

PictoQuest: The Cursed Grids (Switch eShop) Review

Title: PictoQuest: The Cursed Grids
Platform: Nintendo Switch eShop
Developer: NanoPiko Games
Publisher: Plug In Digital
Release Date: August 8th, 2019 (NA)
File Size: 417MB

Review copy provided by NanoPiko Games

This is quite the interesting game. The reason is, is because the 3-person team behind the game all worked together at both Arkedo and Pastagames, on games like the Arkedo Series and Pix the Cat, among others.

PictoQuest had an unusual marketing cycle… if you can technically call it marketing. See, the team at NanoPiko deliberately kept the game a secret until the day it released, so as to not risk over-hyping people and such. Did they make the right call? Does it live up to its hype? Wait, that was the point! 😛 Anyway, let’s find out how the game even is!