While there could always be more, there’s quite a variety of side-scrolling slasher action games on the Switch which range from the more linear and traditional, to Metroidvania style, to sometimes a bit more odd. In the case of HunterX the chosen path trends towards the Metroidvania side (I’d argue to its detriment in terms of some of the overall execution), and on the whole that helps to narrow its direct competition. This is a game of ups and downs when it comes to design and implementation. It has some solid ideas and unlocks to tap into the further you go, which does help to raise the excitement bar, but the stage layouts, often non-descript environments (which make losing track of where you wanted to go next or once you acquired a specific skill more of a challenge), and sometimes just ill-planned save points make for what feels like at times excessive backtracking, being a bit bored, and more needless frustrations than should be necessary. Couple that with general fighting action, whether against more generic foes or the “decent but not amazing” bosses, and it's a very mixed bag, far from the worst of its kind out there, but a measurable distance from the top as well.