There are multiple endings, but you’ll breeze through everything that Perfect Gold has to offer in around five hours. The game doesn’t have anything particularly profound to say, but the combination of coming-of-age and romance does come across as sweet and wholesome. This might not be a game that you exactly remember, but the earnestness of it is charming and you’ll have a big smile on your face as you play.
Much like the Street Fighter collection before it, Capcom Fighting Collection is a truly stand-out effort to preserve not only the games that were included in the collection, but the artistry and stories behind them. You don’t even need to be a fan of the fighting genre to appreciate just how valuable this approach is to retro compilations… and the unfortunate downside to this effort is that it makes every other retro compilation seem so pedestrian by comparison.
There’s not much else I can say about St. Dinfna Hotel. If you’ve played horror games then you know what you’ll be getting from this one. If you haven’t played many horror games in the past then the clumsiness of the combat, and the lack of assistance through the puzzles, makes this a poor entry point to the genre. Indeed, if you’re not familiar with the classic horror titles St. Dinfna is in homage to, the entire experience is almost pointless. I do think the developers have talent and passion for the genre, and I hope that this is successful so they can get a second run at it. If they do, all they need is to have their own voice and the confidence to add to the genre, rather than parrot it, and I do think they have it within them to create something special.
There are a few minor further issues with the collection – the music is almost shockingly low resolution and difficult to hear, and the interface was clearly designed around touch input so the controller is a little clumsy, but those fade into the background quickly enough and are easy to ignore. What rises above and beyond for Sorcery! is the quality of the writing. My recommendation is to play this like you would read a good book. Forget the in-game music. Put on a pair of headphones with some meditative ambient sound (I like rain “music” myself) and lose yourself in the words. Do that, and the minor irritations along the way will feel rather irrelevant.
While you get classical fantasy with Tales of Aravorn: Seasons of the Wolf, you don’t get Tolkien. The best way to think about this game is that it’s a well-written Dungeons & Dragons home adventure, make for a group of players that enjoy interacting with one another as a major component of the roleplaying, and don’t mind their characters getting hot with one another. That is enjoyable, and the way that the game turned its budgetary limitations into a unique aesthetic and mechanical structure is inspired. Seasons of the Wolf might not be a masterpiece, but Winter Wolves have been entertaining people with exactly this kind of thing for 15 years, and if the team’s work weren’t good enough, this company wouldn’t have lasted anywhere near that long.
AI: The Somnium Files – nirvanA Initiative is an exceptional game that hits the same beats as the original, while introducing plenty of fun new characters and a winding, complex plot that is going to keep you second-guessing right to the end. If only we had more games that respected the intelligence of their players like this one does.
Like the best in literature and the arts, by the time Chrono Cross’ credits roll you’re going to be left in a reflective mood. It’s not just that it’s a very good game – though it is – is also that it’s a probing work of art that asks meaningful questions of the players and respects them enough to allow them to come to their own conclusions about it. This is the first time that we’ve had the opportunity to play the game here in Australia, and it’s telling that this 23-year-old game comes across as one of the most forceful steps forward for games as an art form that we’re going to see this year.
While Ikai’s a missed opportunity, it’s not one that necessarily should be missed. It’s not overlong, has some vivid imagery, and while the puzzles are almost laughable at times for how out of place they are, the actual design of them remains interesting right throughout. I’m glad I played Ikai, but I doubt I’ll play it again.
Submerged: Hidden Depth didn’t quite hit me as strongly as its predecessor. It is a more rounded and proficient take on the vision, but ultimately it is also the exact same vision as its predecessor and, this second time around, the impact just isn’t the same. However, it is still a beautiful, emotional and poignant bit of art, and we should all be sending our politicians copies to play. Otherwise, we’ll all find ourselves travelling around our crumbling, drowned cities soon. Just like Miku and Taku do here.
Relayer gets so much right. It’s gorgeous on the eyes, the narrative is twisty and fun in the way that the very best pulp sci-fi can be, and the traditional tactics JRPG action is well-executed and clean. It takes such joy in what it is doing that I can’t imagine there will be many people that walk away from it without a smile on their faces. While it might not do enough to stand out as one of the greats of the genre, it is more than worth your time, especially if you’ve ever looked to space and wondered just what tactical warfare up there might look like.
It’s hard to develop your own voice until you understand how other artists find theirs. While I ultimately find Dark Deity to be uninspired and certainly won’t be replaying it every year or so, as I do Fire Emblem, I also hope that this developer produces another tactics JRPG. I would buy that in a heartbeat, because I am quite certain that with a bit more experience as a team of artists, not only will this developer find its own voice, but it will start to build on everything that made those GBA Fire Emblem titles great. That – the promise of some kind of “Fire Emblem Plus” – is some exciting promise indeed.
I’m not the world’s biggest fan of platformers, but I can’t help but delight at what Kirby and the Forgotten Land offers. It’s bright, wholesome, charming, funny and memorable. It’s also a near-flawless example of Nintendo at its very best.
I must reiterate that The Ascent is gorgeous, and for a team of just a dozen developers, they have outperformed themselves in that regard. Unfortunately, because the narrative is so anaemic and there is so little that connects the narrative to the aesthetics and gameplay, The Ascent ends up feeling empty. There’s nothing memorable about the characters, the world is dull and far too large for how little it offers, and while, yes, the story hits those key cyberpunk talking points, the developers largely missed the nuances that elevate cyberpunk beyond pulp fiction. So, again, the game’s fine, if you are looking for a generic sci-fi shooter (and can ideally drag a friend along). As a work of cyberpunk, though, it’s a failure.
Gal*Gun: Double Peace was excellent on its original release on PlayStation 4, and it’s excellent here. People will no doubt write this up as shallow and crass titillation, just as they did with the first release, but then shallow commentary isn’t exactly uncommon where anime and fan service is involved. The game is satire and it is therefore a commentary. You don’t have to like it, but that doesn’t change what it is. Without a doubt, Gal*Gun will unsettle some people, and that’s fine – the game’s just not for you, and you don’t have to buy it – but if you do find these kinds of games interesting, and have somehow missed out on the series to date, now you can jump in with the best in the series, on the console best suited to it.
At this point it’s pretty clear that Crypton’s strategy has shifted from positioning Hatsune Miku as something associated principally with music, to developing an all-ages mascot character in the same vein as Hello Kitty, Rilakkuma, or Doraemon. I am quite certain that these light and casual little puzzle games are cheap to produce while Crypton builds its capabilities in this area… but at the same time, it is quite clear that these games do come from a proper company with a serious vision and a commitment to quality. Even putting aside my undying love for Hatsune Miku, this is genuinely the best digital jigsaw puzzle game I’ve played to date, and as a fan of jigsaws, this was the nicest of surprise releases.
I have to wonder if the gaming audience is quite ready for the kind of metatextual experience that Stranger of Paradise presents. It’s not only a game that doesn’t take itself seriously, but it outright challenges players’ expectations on how games are made and how they should be played. It’s hugely entertaining and as experimental as Final Fantasy at its best, but I do wonder how well something so reflective will click and be remembered as a great in the longer term. I only hope that people realise that the nonsense of Jack, his iPod, and his obsession with Chaos is just the surface of this brilliantly smart, layered thing, and they then take the time to dig into what Stranger of Paradise is really saying as a work of metatextual satire.
Overall, Rune Factory 5 plays things pretty conservatively, and it’s the better for it. It’s a comfort food kind of experience, and while this might cost it on store shelves given that it has been released at the tail end of so many excellent, intelligent, innovative, and big RPGs, it’s a game of simple delights and pleasant experiences. Sometimes, that’s enough.
You’re going to have fun with this game. For the criticisms I list above, I do think that Tango Gameworks has, with guidance from Bethesda (no doubt), created a refined and highly playable open-world game. It’s one that ticks all the boxes and does so in such a way that’s hard to actively fault. Yet, it’s also so frustrating. The hints of what the developers wanted it to be are there. They wanted to make a Noh-inspired, yurei-and-yokai drenched blend of Shinto, Buddhism and neon-modern Japan. That would have been incredible. Sadly that didn’t happen. Instead, I was left with the impression that I’d just played a Ubisoft Goes To Tokyo farce, and that left me feeling very deflated indeed.
Hundred Days is a fascinating little experience. I didn't expect it to be a graceful little anti-capitalist dig, but I rather love that it is. It didn't discourage me from wanting my own vineyard one day... but it certainly reminded me that I never want anything I do to become so big that I stop caring about it, and it's a rare quality for a simulator - or any game - to subvert the expected experience to deliver a powerful message like that.
I don’t think we should completely give up on it, though. Games have been turned around from disastrous launches to become quite well-loved things, and I do think there is room for Babylon’s Fall to grow, while also being a decent time (in the right conditions) right now. It’s certainly content rich in its current state already, and while it’s probably a bit of a gamble throwing money into something that might not be around for too long, I can still see this developing a community.