Abdul Saad
Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar is a remaster that does an excellent job supporting its great features but is severely held back by its several dated elements.
Overall, Like a Dragon: Ishin is an excellent remake of an older unappreciated RPG with an impeccable historical story to tell. While the remake isn't in the best condition it could've been, especially on PS5, it is still a game that will provide players, especially Yakuza fans, lots to enjoy.
While bad load times and mediocre visuals make its Switch port far from perfect, Life is Strange 2 still provides an impactful experience.
Returnal is a great game on console and on PC, and its brilliant fast-paced gameplay will give daring players a highly entertaining experience despite its frustrating elements.
Overall, while Forspoken has its fair share of glaring issues, I have to admit that I still enjoyed my time with its warts and all, as it managed to entertain and engage me with its combat system alone. However, with that said, I also can't, in good faith, recommend the game at its current asking price of $70 as its poorly executed story and other underwhelming elements prevent it from being more than an average gameplay experience to the average player.
Despite some odd gameplay choices, Season: A letter to the future provides a unique narrative, highly immersive gameplay experience, and impeccable visuals, making it an easy recommendation for indie game lovers.
One Piece Odyssey could've been one of the best anime game adaptations to date, but it failed painfully in providing a competent narrative separate from the original story. Thankfully the game offers well-crafted gameplay elements that make it worthy of being recommended to at least One Piece fans.
If you're a fan of beat em up games and the first River City game you'll most likely enjoy River City Girls 2 and all if not, you will still enjoy the game if you can ignore its few annoyances.
Samurai Maiden would have been a fun and satisfying RPG if its several stark issues didn't hinder the experience so significantly.
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion is almost undeniably the definitive version of the 2007 action RPG, as despite its issues it still succeeds at presenting the player with an unforgettable experience.
Overall, The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me is a decent installment that provides the most in terms of gameplay compared to other games in the series. While I found it much more engaging than the previous installment and with a better premise than most, it didn't do much else to distinguish itself from other installments narratively.
Overall, while Sonic Frontiers has its fair share of issues, I can honestly and confidently say that it is the best Sonic game I've played and one that provides a ton of fun throughout.
Overall, Harvestella is a mixed bag of a JRPG with many flaws but also many great, engaging elements. As a result, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone except those who especially love farming simulators and classic JRPGs.
The Resident Evil Village: Winters' Expansion is a nice bundle of story and gameplay content that managed to engage and entertain me despite being a short-lived experience.
Overall, while there is some fun to be had in the game and a narrative that's genuinely interesting albeit flawed, Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris is too filled with issues to be anything worthy of being recommended to those who aren't hardcore fans of the series, and the Switch port, unfortunately, still has a lot of the existing issues seen in other platforms. As a result, I'd suggest a different, better-optimized game to play for those interested in delving into the virtual world of Sword Art Online.
Overall, the Nier Automata: The End of YoRHa Edition is an excellent port of a fantastic game. If you're a Switch owner who was previously unable to play this gem of the game, now is your time to check it out.
Overall the Chaos;Head NoAH / Chaos;Child Double Pack is a mixed bag of a bundle. While both games have a great narrative, aesthetic, and soundtrack, the Nintendo Switch versions are unfortunately ridden with odd issues and executions. It's also worth noting that this version of Chaos;Head NoAH also cut some content from the original for censorship reasons. That said, if you'd like to play a genuinely interesting set of visual novels and don't care about the issues highlighted, there is still some enjoyment to be had with this port. Otherwise, I advise playing them on a different platform.
Overall the Chaos;Head NoAH / Chaos;Child Double Pack is a mixed bag of a bundle. While both games have a great narrative, aesthetic, and soundtrack, the Nintendo Switch versions are unfortunately ridden with odd issues and executions. It's also worth noting that this version of Chaos;Head NoAH also cut some content from the original for censorship reasons. That said, if you'd like to play a genuinely interesting set of visual novels and don't care about the issues highlighted, there is still some enjoyment to be had with this port. Otherwise, I advise playing them on a different platform.
Overall, Soulstice is very much a mixed bag of a hack-and-slash RPG. While it sports excellent properties like nice visuals and designs, an interesting premise, and excellent voice acting, it still lacks gameplay optimization, which, thankfully, can be fixed with a few patches.
All in all, Made in Abyss: Binary Star Falling into Darkness sadly provides a more frustrating experience than enjoyable. Despite making a good effort to adapt the series' best attributes, its gameplay, short story, and poor performance greatly hinder the overall experience.