Friday 8 December 2017

Quest of Dungeons (Switch) - Review

Quest of Dungeons is available now on the Nintendo Switch and is priced at £7.99.

You may feel a little deja vu reading the title of this review. Yes I have reviewed this title before, way back in the September of 2015 when it was released on the Xbox One. I loved it and gave it a massive 9/10. So when I realised it was released on Switch I didn't hesitate to reach out to the lovely game developer David and ask if I could review it again on the Switch. I had a feeling Quest of Dungeons had found it's true home.

How right I was! Everything I loved about the game initially has been magnified tenfold by the fact I can now take it with me!!! It really does feel super special on the Switch, I've played it for hours on the TV and when my kids want to watch a film I get to carry on playing. I'm one of those annoying parents that turns up to pick the children up from school half an hour early (in my defense if you don't do that you don't get anywhere near the school) and having Quest of Dungeons on my Switch has been the perfect companion to those last few minutes of peace.

In fact I'd go so far as to say that the experience of playing Quest of Dungeons on the Nintendo Switch has made me reconsider how highly I rated it on the Xbox One. I'm not going to go back and change the score but if I was going to score this now, on the Switch, I'd give it 9/10. I can't give it a ten because there could be more of it - the option to reenter a dungeon you liked would be a sweet addition for starters - so it's not quite perfect. But it is definitely closer to perfection than it's Xbox One counterpart is. It feels like the definitive edition of the game.

That being said though it does feel like a little more could have been added for this re-release. There have been some tweaks and new additions - mainly in the form of a new achievement like system that keeps track of your feats and a new "mansion" level that has some new enemies. I might have liked an extra character or two but what I really, really wish we'd seen come to the Switch version of Quest of Dungeons would have been a little co-op mode. Ah that'd be truly glorious. A Joy-Con each as you try and make your way through the dungeons? It's be the perfect way for me to introduce my kids to this type of game. They're too young yet to appreciate the type of game where one mistake can mean you start again from the beginning, but if I were able to support them through it I'm sure we could have a lot of fun together. Hint, hint David!

Catching Up

In the lifetime of this blog I've had to write a fair few of these apology posts. But none were as hard as this one. Because even though I'm sorry to my followers and the developers I've let down by not being here and reviewing the games I said I would I can't say I'd have behaved any different. I couldn't.

As anyone who follows me on Twitter knows I lost my beloved Mum to cancer at the end of September. She was just 48. The last six weeks or so of her life were spent in the hospital. Actually she spent much of the last six months in and out of the place. But in the last six weeks it was clear there wasn't much time left. So I was there pretty much every day, spending all the time I could with her and attempting to support my dad through this horrific time.

In the now two and a half months that has followed - I can't actually believe it's been that long since I last saw her face - I have been trying to spend as much time as possible with my family. I'd like to say helping them, but sometimes I fear I've been more of a hindrance than a help. Also my Dad has surprised me with his strength and hasn't needed me as much as I've needed to feel like I could help. If that makes sense. I'm realising now, that as much as we may not want it too life has to carry on. We have to pick ourselves up and carry on through every day, knowing full well there will always be a huge black hole in our hearts that can never be full again. It isn't easy. It doesn't feel right, or fair. But this is the hand that life has dealt us so we adapt and keep going.

So I guess instead of apologising I guess I'm asking for understanding. I'm going to start catching up on the reviews I should have been doing these past couple of months, starting today. Because I have to carry on - even if I want to shy away from the world.