Review: Lunistice (Switch)

Lunistice

Developed by: A Grumpy Fox

Published by: Deck 13

Date of Release: November 10, 2022

Price: $4.99

It's not too often that a game comes along out of nowhere that just sweeps me away in a whirlwind of nostalgic feelings. I've been playing such a glut of retro-styled games lately that the gimmick is starting to lose its charm and I feel like I've fallen into a rut. However, when it comes to Lunistice on the Nintendo Switch, things are completely different. Not only does it really look and feel like a classic PSX era release, but it also does such an amazing job of representing that mid-90s time period that it was able to snap me right out of my retro nostalgia doldrum.

At its core Lunistice is a tried-and-true 3D platformer with enemies to stomp, tricky jumps to make, and plenty of collectables to grab. The candy-colored aesthetic with its beautiful retrowave sunsets and chunky low-poly art evokes fond memories of mascot games for the good old PlayStation, and the super-adorable protagonist, Hana the Tanuki, would have seemed perfectly at home on the classic console. She controls like a dream too, perfectly responding to player inputs with no perceptible lag to speak of. 

The graphical presentation of Lunistice is utterly peak PlayStation in all its glory, with pixelated textures and dithered transparencies, sprinkled with chunky pixels galore. Despite all the busy action on screen and the massive draw distance, the framerate is a buttery smooth 60fps. The audio and music are also crisp and clean, perfectly resembling the best of what the 32-bit days had to offer. In my humble opinion A Grumpy Fox should be proud of what they've accomplished here, and I hope to see more of their work in the future. This game is an utter steal at $4.99, and I'd recommend it to literally anyone with a Switch. Go buy it already!