Review: Nikoderiko: The Magical World – Director’s Cut (Nintendo Switch)

Nikoderiko: The Magical World – Director’s Cut is a platform adventure game developed by VEA Games and published by MY.GAMES. This title was originally released in fall 2024, with the director’s cut released in spring 2025. Luckily, the director’s cut is a free update for anyone who already owned the game.

If you already owned and played Nikoderiko: The Magical World, then transitioning from that to the director’s cut should be a breeze. You can transfer all your progress over without losing anything. The director’s cut also brings improved graphics, voice acting, a hard mode (in addition to the already easy and normal modes), and a new world to explore.

It sounds like excellent upgrades for those who already enjoyed the game. However, the director’s cut was my first experience with Nikoderiko: The Magical World, so let’s get to the review.

You play as Niko or Luna, two mongooses on a quest to save the island by defeating the Cobring army. They steal an ancient relic from the island, and it’s up to Niko and Luna to save the day. This game can be played in single-player mode or couch co-op. Whether you’re by yourself or with a friend, you can play as either Niko or Luna. Aside from their physical appearance, nothing is different between the two.

Aesthetically, this game is amazing. The soundtrack is a bop, the graphics are crisp and colorful, and the character designs are easy on the eyes. Not to mention the cut scenes and voice acting are top-notch.

However, despite the overall look and feel of the game, the actual gameplay mechanics and levels missed the mark for me. The levels are relatively short. If you don’t take your time to explore, then you can easily get through a level within eight to twelve minutes. Each world has three levels and then a final boss fight.

Each level in Nikoderiko: The Magical World is filled with classic platforming techniques. You can jump from one platform to the next, wall-jump or hold on to ledges for a short time, slide under tight spaces, and, of course, find hidden secrets. It sounds great, but the controls weren’t as fluid as I would have liked. The characters were floaty, if you will. For example, there were times I’d jump from one narrow platform for another, and Niko would either barely jump or he’d overshoot it completely. Thankfully, there aren’t any lives in the game or else I would have gamed-over a lot.

When my sister played with me, we often lost our own characters or the camera would completely forget one of us was playing. If I made it too far ahead, sometimes the camera would follow me, thus killing my sister’s character. Other times, the camera would stay with her, thus killing my character. I thought the camera favored me since I was player one, but that wasn’t the case; the camera had a mind of its own. We still had a good time playing together, though.

The levels themselves were diverse enough. The worlds ranged from jungles to treetops to under water. None of the levels got repetitive. You’re running from left to right most of the time, but the levels would sometimes switch to Niko and Luna needing to move forward, away from the screen, or toward the screen. It was a clever change of pace. Not to mention, there are plenty of secrets to find with bonus mini-games, such as collecting all the stars or defeating all the enemies within a certain time limit. If you succeed, you’ll earn one of the many collectables Nikoderiko: The Magical World has to offer.

These collectables include the letters N-I-K-O, purple gems, and more. The keys unlock levels in the secret world, but everything else goes toward buying chests. Unfortunately, the chests don’t give you anything to help out Niko or Luna. You can’t earn more HP or anything of the like. The chests will give you a character or setting from the game. Essentially, you’re building the codex. You can then go to the treasury to see what you’ve earned so far, but…well, that’s it. If you get an enemy, for example, you’ll see the enemy as it is in-game. There’s no special animation or sketch. There’s no description of it or codex entry of any kind. After a while, I stopped bothering with the collectables and focused on just getting through the levels.

The bosses at the end of each world were interesting enough, but inconsistent. The first world boss had two fight phases while the second world boss had an action sequence and then a one-phase fight. The third world boss only had a one-phase battle and that’s it. I’m not saying the boss battles weren’t good. I died during each and every one of them because it’s trial and error on how you’re supposed to defeat them. I liked that. However, I just thought it was odd when some bosses went on for a while and others came to an abrupt end.

Finally, the game had some glitches. The loading screens were often over a minute long, and sometimes I’d get stuck in a spot and need to wait for an enemy to kill me so I could restart. When my sister and I played co-op, I got stuck in a certain spot in a level and she needed to move on without me. Once I was off-screen for a while, it killed my character and she could revive me. Except, we both died shortly after and needed to start over. Then she got stuck in the exact same spot I did. So, I had to move on and let her die off-screen.

Nikoderiko: The Magical World – Director’s Cut is a fun game while it lasts. It’s quick to get through and certainly more fun with a friend. However, there will be moments of frustration due to the movement and glitches. But at least you can bop to its killer soundtrack.