Ultimately, Digimon Story: Time Stranger is a mixed bag. An excellent Digimon raising and customization system is held back by a shaky combat core, and the game’s interesting yet linear plotline is severely hampered by awkward voice acting and dialogue. There’s parts of the game that are enjoyable, but its flaws hold it back from being truly memorable.
While the bones of combat and customization are well executed, the open world element feels tacked on to an abysmal main narrative, and technical issues hold the game back even further. Those who enjoy the mech-fighting genre will certainly find something to enjoy here, but others will find a game that feels incredibly undercooked.
RPGamers that enjoy loot systems and roguelites in general will certainly find something to appreciate here, but the game is unlikely to sway those who don’t already enjoy the genre.
Not everyone is going to resonate with the creepier, darker tone, and the game’s technical state leaves much to be desired. However, those that do resonate with it will find an interesting, complex, intelligent narrative with the player being used both as a framing device and a driving force.
There are interesting ideas and some genuinely laugh-out-loud moments, but they can’t smooth over the grating music and inconsistent gameplay of Game Over: A Musical RPG??.
AI LIMIT doesn’t quite reach the same heights as its inspirations and is held back by some notable technical issues. However, some small but key innovations in the combat system and an enthralling setting more than make up for the game’s shortcomings to make the game an enjoyable and worthwhile experience overall.
Ultimately, Tales of Graces f Remastered is a game of peaks and valleys. For some, the combat alone will be enough to carry the experience while they ignore the narrative. For others, the characters will carry an otherwise average and unsatisfying plot.
While the gameplay systems are solid, they aren’t enough of a positive to overcome that fans would likely receive a more complete narrative elsewhere. Add to that the game’s technical issues, and Fairy Tail 2 ends up being hard to recommend.
While a card-battling, roguelite RPG in the style of Mega Man Battle Network is not a wholly original idea, this game’s spin on the concept brings more than enough originality in its mechanics to stand on its own.
The narrative is lacking polish, but inside it are some genuinely exciting and interesting moments. The gameplay is in a similar state, but when the combat is good it’s really good and offers a satisfying take on traditional turn-based combat. Keylocker hits the wrong note a few times, but boy is there a lot to like in its performance.
Stellar Blade remains consistently wonderful from a presentation perspective, uneven but perfectly well from a gameplay perspective, and lifeless and poorly executed from a narrative perspective.