Adventure Pop is no doubt one of the strongest entries in its genre, but it is very much held back by being released on a system where it has few fans. While the already convinced will love it, it will be difficult to make those sceptical towards the genre start playing it, as it at first glance looks like a copy of every other bubble shooter game. Those who do play it, though, will be met by one of the most cleverly designed games in the genre, with plenty of wonderful and creative mechanics that are made to make sense thanks to the story.
World End Economica Episode.03 is much like a rollercoaster to the moon. The time to get up there is ridiculously long, and it would not be surprising if some passengers fell asleep halfway through on their way up, but once at the top, it gains high speed and never slows down until the bitter end. It is powerful and impactful, and tackles heavy subjects wonderfully. It is the perfect conclusion to the trilogy for those who have read it this far, but is not going to convince those who did not like the previous instalments…
While Touhou Genso Wanderer is not a game with wide mass appeal, it is exactly everything its fan base wants from a dungeon crawler.
While it is annoying that the Endless Dungeon farming option is unlocked extremely late in the game, that is a minor annoyance in an otherwise good edutainment title. The wordplay is wonderful, and the light RPG elements do just enough to keep the player hooked. It is a great arcade experience, as well as a learning experience. This makes Spellspire easy to recommend to both veteran wordsmiths, or just people who look to sharpen their pens and tongues.
There is nothing ground-breaking about Crossout, and it has some flaws here and there. Despite all this, it is a solid experience that really captures exactly what the people who are going to be interested in a game like this are looking out for. It puts importance on everything in the game, and it is difficult to pick away specific aspects that aren't interesting when playing it. While it is the biggest strength of the game, it is also its biggest flaw. It is like a meal; you have to eat the veggies before getting the dessert, whether you like it or not.
God Wars: Future Past is a very traditional TRPG, and as such, it is built upon a solid foundation, and fans of the genre are going to like it. It does, however, do very little to stand out. It could also be helped a bit by balancing the jobs more. Some jobs just feel extremely underwhelming compared to others. The story and the gameplay in general are going to deliver what fans expect and desire, though: nothing less, and sadly, nothing more.
While somewhat flawed and sprinkled with some minor annoyances, such as treasure boxes demanding back-tracking to unlock, and a lack of a proper quest log, [i]Cat Quest[i] succeeds with what it has to and is meant to be - being a fun game filled with cat puns without ever giving the player reasons to forget this. It is adorable, quirky, fun, cute, clever, and cool all at the same time, just like the cats it is inspired by. It truly shows that oftentimes less is more.
It is difficult to pull off, but Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth has managed to both make a solid SRPG and visual novel in the same game. The world is interesting, and the characters are enjoyable to play as and to see the world with, even though sometimes it is too reliant on common tropes. The combat system also has depth to it with a lot of systems in place to reward those who think several turns in advance. The problem is that both aspects of the game are somewhat bloated. For fans of both genres this will not be obvious or even an issue at all, but for those who only likes the former or the latter, this might quickly make either feel like it's overstaying its welcome, in a good 80+ hours long game.
It is difficult to not get pulled in by the insane humour and fun, solid, gameplay delivered with Rock of Ages 2: Bigger & Boulder. It is both a perfect solo player game to play through once or maybe twice, and a great multiplayer game to pick up with friends on social gatherings. The simple, yet fun nature of it is like a good joke everyone gets and rolls along with, even if they have heard it before.
JYDGE does the Robocop concept really well, and has some really strong twin-shooter gameplay with its wonderfully diverse upgrades that opens up a lot of different playstyles.
Chaos;Child is a deviously clever visual novel from start to finish. It plays the reader like a fiddle by presenting all the ingredients for a mystery novel, but without some of the necessary tools to solve it. A megalomaniac mystery fan will look for a logical solution finding none as the important pieces are hidden away from the protagonist, and by extension, the reader. It might seem insane and risky, but it works extremely well and creates a memorable read that, while perhaps annoying for some due to certain choices made during the prose, will impress many others. Like most visual novels, it is not a crowd-pleaser, but for the intended audience it is a must read, and one that will not easily be forgotten.
Farming Simulator Nintendo Switch Edition is reliable, but it needs some upgrades. It is the old tool that never really got a good upgrade that hits the same levels of quality. Fans of the franchise are going to love the meditative state ploughing the fields, and having the feeling of productivity. It has a certain magic to it in its realism that makes it a wonderful simulator, and those looking to try out the modern farmer life, or just look at the machines and drool, are not going to be left disappointed.
Putting a score to a game like Pato Box is painful as parts are worthy of the highest possible score, namely the boss fights that are some of the best seen in ages and truly capture, and even enhance the source of inspiration. However, there needed to be more of those to create a better difficulty curve and less filler content in-between. The story of a game like this does not need to make sense, but the content put into it needs to.
It is difficult to find a more realistic economy simulator than this. All focus is on the core of how a market works, rather than to make it work well as a videogame. The result is a fantastic experience for those who are looking for just that, but few others will do so, and that is fine as Epic Car Factory never claims to do anything else. If this sounds appealing, this is certainly a game to get. If not, it is very unlikely that trying the game out will change anything. It is great for its audience, but not too many others.
It is easy to dismiss Lil Tanks prematurely because of how simple and shallow it looks as a game. This is, however, what gaming used to be back in the good ol' days, and this is one of few modern retro games that truly captures the feeling of simplicity and pure action many of those games delivered, with no frills. While certainly not for everyone, those who are looking for a classic old school shoot 'em up will find this scratches that itch.
Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed is not anything other than a decent game that offers nothing special beside otaku jokes and a fast visit to the Mecca of Japanese pop culture. The game could have performed so much better if the fighting system was more fun and the story did not rush through important parts. As it does do that, though, a higher score cannot be given. For any otaku out there, this is a title worth getting for its comical value and the great spot on jokes. For anyone else, however, this is a title to avoid.
Croixleur Sigma will offer players a fun experience for a short while. The content in here is overall good and entertaining while it lasts, offering a fun and entertaining arcade experience. But due to a lack of actual challenge or changing objectives throughout the game, it will barely last three hours in the eye of the average gamer. There are some entertaining modes for enthusiasts of the genre, but they will not save the game from the content drought, no matter how fun the actual content therein is. It is a title worth getting if you can accept that it will not last long. However, if you're looking for more bang for your buck, there are far better titles out there.
The Peanuts Movie: Snoopy's Grand Adventure does a great job of capturing the world of Peanuts and its characters. Well-themed stages based on each character is a driving force to explore and play the game from start to finish, and is sure to bring many smiles to the faces of Peanuts fans. Besides nostalgia, there is sadly not much else to get in The Peanuts Movie: Snoopy's Grand Adventure, though. Between backtracking and stages that hardly stand a second playthrough, it ends up being just another decent platformer. It is by no means a bad title, just underwhelming. More actual challenge would be a plus to the title, if only for the hunt for the collectibles, as, currently, nothing in the game is even remotely dangerous or challenging to bypass, which adds to the overall low replay value of the stages. For Peanuts fans, young and old, a charming reunion with the characters is to be had, but everyone else might not find many redeemable qualities to get this over other platformers on the market.
Tomorrow Corporation has presented a clever satire with deep messages incorporated into both the story and gameplay, delivering a unique experience. The imitation of real CPUs is going to be a feature that will make programming enthusiasts crazy and puzzle veterans shake with excitement thanks to the challenge involved. However, due to some almost ridiculous difficulty spikes, Human Resource Machine will most likely not be played through to the end by anyone other than those in said groups, leaving more casual puzzle gamers behind. A smoother difficulty curve would have helped a lot to make this title shine brighter. Other than the steep difficulty, though, this is a memorable experience and a good starting point in learning how to program, starting with the basic code lines, allowing for deep gameplay.
The biggest problem for Return to PopoloCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale rests in the fact that it tries to be two things, but is only going halfway with both, something that creates an experience that will leave most people longing for more. It is a problematic thing as that means many are just likely to start up their favourite Harvest Moon game instead of this if they want a farming simulator, and just about any of the hundreds of other JRPG titles if that is what they desire to play. The creation of Marvelous is by no means bad, just unfocused.