Biomutant (2021)

After an in-depth analysis, Biomutant emerges as an ambitious and original project – one that dares to stand apart thanks to its strong visual and gameplay identity, even if not without technical imperfections. Its true strength lies in the world building: every region tells a distinct story, from forests teeming with life to toxic swamps echoing abandonment, and villages shaped by diverse cultures and conflicts. Exploration feels alive and rewarding, further enriched by side quests and environmental challenges that deepen the game’s ecosystem. The combat and customization systems are equally compelling. The ability to combine melee attacks, ranged weapons, and mutant powers adds variety and encourages creative problem-solving. Character customization goes beyond aesthetics: mutations directly affect gameplay, supporting diverse approaches and personalized strategies. This freedom ensures that every encounter feels unique and engaging, particularly when facing challenging enemies or bosses such as the Worldeaters. Narratively, the game successfully blends fairy-tale charm with apocalyptic storytelling. The narrator lends a distinctive storybook tone, while side quests, moral choices, and faction interactions create a genuine sense of player agency. Technically, textures and animations are not always flawless, but these minor shortcomings are offset by a strong artistic direction and a distinctive aesthetic. Powered by Unreal Engine, the game maintains visual consistency and solid fidelity, impressive for a team of its size. Sound design and music significantly enhance immersion. Strategic use of silence, layered environmental sounds, and dynamic music create a living, breathing world, while directional audio and detailed combat effects make encounters feel tangible and impactful. Ultimately, Biomutant is an original, inventive, and captivating title that delivers a rare sense of freedom and experimentation. It rewards curiosity and creativity, offering hours of engaging exploration and dynamic combat. While not perfect, it exemplifies how small teams can craft unique, memorable experiences, leaving a lasting impression through both gameplay and its distinctive aesthetic and narrative identity.

Despite some caveats, Biomutant provides an extremely interesting level of customization and a world worth exploring. However, as with other titles that weren't originally planned for the Switch, it's recommended that you try it on that platform only if you don't have the opportunity to play it on others.

Biomutant is entirely forgettable. There are an abundance of much worse games to play on the Switch, to be sure, but there are also plenty of games that are better, so unless you just want to kill time shooting things in an open world – which, to be fair, is sometimes a wholly understandable impulse – you’re better off avoiding this one entirely.

There are moments where the narrator delivers some zany one-liners that do land and there’s surprisingly dark, profound, and confronting moments, especially in flashbacks, but mostly these moments fall flat. The most beautiful moments in the game for me were through the music by the talented team of composers, fantastical orchestral music with some Asian instrumental influence tied to its martial arts inspirations.

Biomutant is very far from a bad game and getting something of this scope ported to the Nintendo Switch in a very playable state - as seen from other ports over the years - is credit to the technical knowhow and adaptiveness of the development team at Experiment 101. There are a lot of interesting mechanics going on, from the focus on an entirely customisable character and the crafting and loot system, to the exploration in this unique setting. While performance is generally acceptable however, the graphics are undoubtedly rough round the edges and things like shadows, pop-in and inconsistent textures spoil what is otherwise a decent enough presentation. Adding to this, while the world is varied in its locales, the emptiness of the setting does much to break immersion and despite the illusion of choice many of the quests ultimately boil down to the mundane.