Neal Chandran
It’s half decent... literally.
Manafinder is charmingly engaging game.
Airoheart doesn’t catch big air nor does it have enough heart.
This game should be tossed into the depths of the titular abyss.
Jack Move doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but is a gridding chrome rim (to use in-game slang).
It’s difficult for me to say this, especially with so many positive elements in the game, but I found Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit to be mediocre. It doesn’t do anything inherently wrong, but there is nothing very memorable about it either. My lasting impression is that the game played it too safe and colored too neatly inside the lines. Clearly, a lot of love, effort, and resources went into creating this game. I wanted to adore it, but I have no interest in playing any future games in a hypothetical Crowns and Pawns series. I suppose players looking for a classically-styled point-and-click game will definitely get something out of it, but it’s not a game I would recommend buying unless it’s on sale.
Pinku Kult: Hex Mortis is a taut game that took me about 7 hours to complete and left me wanting more. Those 7 hours were all substance with no padding to artificially lengthen the game. The game respected my time rather than waste it under the pretense of “longer game = better value.” I liken Pinku Kult: Hex Mortis to a game like Trace Memory. While Trace Memory was only about 3-5 hours long, it was one of the most fulfilling experiences I ever had with a Nintendo DS game. Aside from my misgivings with the writing, the only other caveat I have with Pinku Kult: Hex Mortis is that its macabre style and occult themes may not suit every person’s tastes. Personally, I was into it and would totally buy a Pinku Kult tote bag to keep my instrument cables and other bass-related accessories in for if/when my new band ever starts playing out in preparation for our own World Domination tour.
It's the fantasy Borderlands RPG I never knew I needed in my life.
An enjoyable, if flawed, classically-styled JRPG experience.
An enjoyable game that left me wanting more.
Even after 30 years, this venerable series still brings the magic.
Monster Crown has potential and some good ideas, but execution is lacking.
It's not a bad little game and it certainly has potential.
At the end of the day, though, Dodgeball Academia hits all the right notes to become a smash hit multimedia entity. Not only can I see an animation and comic book or manga series, but I can also picture a plethora of Dodgeball Academia merchandise like stickers, apparel, toys, phone accessories, dodgeballs, and much more. So you should enroll in Dodgeball Academia today and become the sports anime protagonist you’ve always wanted to be.
I have very mixed feelings about Fuga: Melodies of Steel. On the one hand, I’m glad to see that the Little Tail Bronx series still has life in it. On the other hand, this latest entry is largely unimpressive and doesn’t hold a candle to the rollicking good times that Tail Concerto and Solatorobo were. If you are already a Little Tail Bronx die-hard, then you’ve already decided to buy Fuga: Melodies of Steel. If you’re a newcomer, I think you’d have a more enjoyable time with Tail Concerto or Solatorobo.
Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! is capable of eliciting strong feelings. It is not always an enjoyable experience, but it is just that: an experience. When I encounter any work that transcends its medium like this, I take special note of it. I am grateful (for lack of a better word) that Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! came my way, and I strongly encourage fellow visual novel aficionados to join the literature club too.
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- The Prophecy of the Throne attempts to appeal to both casual visual novel fans and Re:ZERO fans but ends up disappointing both. The macabre elements that Re:ZERO fans expect are all but absent, and the result is a dime-a-dozen visual novel that even casual genre fans would gloss over. That said, the interactive gameplay elements, though shallow, are welcome, and the English dub is par excellence. A single playthrough took me about 14 hours, and there is only one ending. However, clear data unlocks some amusing hidden scenarios, so a second playthrough isn’t a total repeat. TPoT is not a bad game, and I actually enjoyed my time with it, but its compromises and a lack of focus keep it from being a good Re:ZERO game.
Surprisingly epic.
It's not a bad game, but is best played in small doses.
I enjoyed doing my taxes more than I enjoyed playing this game.