Jae Lee
The very worst offense of it all is that normally, when a game is bad, I would have to suffer through it once and get to move on. In the case of Loop8, it forced me to experience the same exact terrible content over and over again by its very design, breeding a sense of resentment towards a game I haven’t felt in a very long time.
While I hoped that Romance Dawn would remind me why I was ever interested in One Piece in the first place, it instead cemented the idea that this series and game just isn’t for me. It’s not worth the time of all but the most hardcore of fans.
From its abysmal combat to its shoddy randomly generated dungeon, I really could not stop playing "I Can't Escape: Darkness" fast enough. I'm sure there are some masochists out there that enjoy this sort of game, but I'm certainly not one of them.
If you've been waiting for a quality game to fill that void until Star Fox makes a return on the Switch, you best keep waiting.
Secret of Mana fails with its slew of technical issues and unimpressive graphic design.
There’s a lot of new interest and goodwill rolling JJBA’s way in the last few years and I truly wish that this was competent fighter that I could point to get the gamer crowd interested in this legendary manga/anime series. However, the shallow, uninteresting combat, boring story mode and the lack of a local multiplayer mode makes this one hard to recommend, even to the most diehard of fans.
While there is some semblance of enjoyment to be had here for those who like to see numbers go up, to see a series I’ve adored and followed for nearly two decades take inspiration from garbage mobile games in the spirit of greed and becoming bastardized as a shell of former self, breaks my heart.
Despite my less than enjoyable time with Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light, I can’t help but appreciate its existence as the precursor to some of my favorite JRPGs of all time. However, as is often the case with pieces of history, it’s best left in a museum to be admired for all future generations.
As a fan of the No More Heroes and Suda51 in general, it pains me to see the series stumble in this way, as the insufferably dull combat and a cast of uninteresting villains has me pondering, “will there truly be no more heroes?”
One Piece: Unlimited World Red certainly looks and sounds the part of a solid One Piece game but it drops the booty with its stiff controls and unsatisfying combat engine.
Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters Daybreak is a title that showed a lot of promise, with a great art style and an interesting premise. However, the atrocious combat mechanics hinder the overall enjoyment of the game so much to the point it’s difficult to recommend to anyone in particular.
When releasing a large collection of classic games, there is a lot that can be done to make them more accessible without compromising on the original vision of the game. Unfortunately, in the case of the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection, very little was done, resulting in a barebones port that highlights the aged nature of these GBA titles that will likely sour the taste buds of those accustomed to modern sensibilities.
The Diofield Chronicles has a solid foundation of mechanics that is hampered greatly by its poor balancing of difficulty, a cast of forgettable characters and a world that failed to draw me in with its lackluster presentation.
Salt and Sacrifice is a greatly ambitious title, melding a number of gameplay elements from other popular series but it comes at the cost of overall polish and focus, leaving a frustrating experience that feels like a step back from its predecessor.
Instead of a glorious celebration of all things Atelier, Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists comes off more like a misguided attempt at creating a spinoff by toning down all the elements that makes Atelier games enjoyable in the first place.
Hyakki Castle is a game with some clever ideas but falters in execution and implementation- leading to an experience that feels serviceable but decidedly bittersweet as I'm left wondering what could have been.
Fallen Legion is a title that showed promise, with great 2D sprite work and a combat engine that is reminiscent of Tri Ace's classic, Valkyrie Profile. However, due to a myriad of factors, it falls short of fully realizing its aspirations due to its humdrum story and chaotic, oftentimes dull combat.
Valkyria Revolution is a title that undoubtedly suffers due to the comparisons to its superior predecessor. However, when viewed as a standalone title, it features an interesting story with a cast of characters well worth exploring. Even though the combat engine is dull and flawed in many ways, it's serviceable for the scenarios that the game presents and at a bargain price, you could do worse than pick up Valkyria Revolution.
As a fan of the Gundam series, seeing all the different mobile suits with their signature moves duking it out should have been a dream come true. However, a dull single player campaign and a complete lack of online multiplayer makes Extreme VS-Force very difficult to recommend.
Despite my many grievances, once I actually learned how to play the game, I did have fun. However, getting to that level of competence was certainly not helped by the game in any way, shape or form and as it becomes more and more difficult to find matches online as the weeks go by, I can't help but wonder if it's even worth it to take a risk boarding what may very well be a sinking ship.