This game, which is about sorrow, provides us with a mournful look at humanity and yet also gives us hope that there is good in people, even in the darkest of times. The game itself is a nostalgic hymn for so much of what we’ve lost in the JRPG genre as it pushes ever closer to visceral action. Wrapped together they make for one of the most heartfelt and meaningful games that you’ll play for quite some time to come
It’s so good to see these kinds of serious strategy games on console, as it’s something that has been all-but exclusive to PC over the past couple of generations of hardware. With a comprehensive tutorial system, Romance of the Three Kingdoms is the best fit game for people new to the genre to wrap their minds around it. Equally, for more experienced strategy fans, the superb balance that made the historical events the game is based on so fascinating also make for the near-perfect strategy game.
When I think about the best visual novels out there - the likes of Steins;Gate and Danganronpa, VA-11 HALL-A shares many of the same traits. It's thoughtfully written, to provide some deeper insights and philosophical musics that help to elevate the game above being simple entertainment... but at the same time it does so in a vibrant and deeply entertaining way. And it is impossible to put down.
I’m not going to pretend that Daydreamer is a good game, because it isn’t. But then it’s also quite brilliant in its feverish commitment to tearing at the fabric of game design. I had a great time playing this, because it completely transcends the “so bad it’s good adage” to be a creative entity that is in a league so completely of its own that it almost feels unfair to give it a score at all.
[Bound is] for the people that want something thoughtful, meaningful, and intelligent. For that audience, this game is about as good as they come. As a member of that audience myself, it’s right up there with my favourite games of the year.
For all its humour, its intelligent noirish thriller narrative, and the sheer amount of stuff to do, Yakuza’s real strength forever remains in the little details that it gets right about its representation of Japanese cities. Kiryu wanders into a convenience store to buy health supplements (restorative potions, in the vernacular of other JRPGs), and I’m homesick for Japan - even the convenience stores are exciting shopping trips in that country, I swear. Goro wanders down a street, and the lighting from the signs on the street makes me wish I was back in Japan right there and then.
I love how well-made Hatsune Miku: VR Future Live is. I love how stunning Miku is when she’s dancing around in VR. I love being able to put myself right in the middle of her concerts. For a traditional Miku game, I’ve got Project Diva X and Future Tone. That’s more than enough Miku gaming to last me months, if not years more. And now, courtesy of Virtual Reality, I have a completely different Miku experience to enjoy.
Properly articulating what Birthdays means to me is difficult. It is the embodiment of the pure joy of gaming, where I can sit down and simply immerse myself within this space without feeling pressure or tension. There's nothing to "win," but everything to enjoy while, at the same time, the game is pointing out, in its very innocent and heartfelt way, a very simple but so important environmental message.
Nioh plays well. It eschews the control setup that the Souls games popularised for something a little more like what we’re used to from Koei Tecmo - face buttons to attack and so on. Indeed, in playing it, it almost behaves more like a methodically-paced Ninja Gaiden, and as someone who never quite had the reflexes to really enjoy the Ninja Gaiden series, it really hit that sweet spot.
Put simply, NieR: Automata is the greatest game ever made. It's not just that it is the deepest and most narratively potent game ever developed - and it is a truly deep narrative experience - but more than that, Yoko Taro has finally found perhaps the developer on the planet capable of doing his visionary work justice.
Steins;Gate already demonstrated just how far the visual novel could be pushed towards an experience with genuine literary merit, and the sequel pushes things even further. This is a highly relevant game to some very real discussions that ethicists and moral philosophers will be pondering in the years ahead, and at the same time it tells a ripping, entertaining story. A real masterpiece on every level, and one of the best games I've played all year.
I love this game. I really, truly love it. It's the realisation of a genuine fantasy, and, as I said at the start of the review, this is the kind of completely immersive experience that is exclusive to VR that makes for the most compelling argument for the technology.
Red Lantern have proved themselves to be masters of both narrative and game design, and nothing would make me happier than for the whole world to come and appreciate the unique Taiwanese flavour that Detention brings to the indie game scene.
I love any excuse to step back into an Atelier game, and the Dusk trilogy is an especially heartfelt and wonderful series. I’m glad Koei Tecmo got around to localising the Vita version of this game. It’s more a concession to the fans who bought the first two on the Vita than anything else, I suspect, and I’d be surprised if Koei expected this to make any kind of money, but it is a good gesture by the company to allow us to finish our collection for Atelier games on the go.
Even as a dedicated single player game, Dynasty Warriors: Godseekers is one of the best games available on the platform. It’s just so perfectly balanced, invigorating, intelligent, and rich.
With Voez, the choreography of the icons leaves you feeling like you're playing an instrument and are involved in the performance of the music itself, and that is incredibly immersive and engaging. As I said at the start; this is the Nintendo's secret weapon, because this is one very special game, and exclusive to the console (at least, in its microtransactions-free state), and it's absolutely essential.
Most importantly, given that this is the first time that he's helmed the creative side of an Atelier title, Shinichi Yoshiike has proven himself to be a confident and safe pair of hands to shape the series into the future. As such, I expect that this series will continue to remain my favourite among the more traditional JRPG franchises out there.
What is important to any great visual novel is that it has great writing, and the Danganronpa games are by turns hilarious, reflective, intense and jovial, the characters are all unique and interesting, and the twists and turns are often startling. Visual novels just don't get better than these.
A Rose in the Twilight is, in its entirety, a metaphor for the rose itself; it's a truly beautiful masterpiece, but it's also a gothic kind of beauty, in that it's more than happy to stab you sharply, even as you appreciate everything about it. It's a ravishing, masterful work, that will be played by just a handful, but hopefully remembered for a long time to come.
Final Fantasy XII's willingness to be different and innovative has left it feeling every bit as modern and poignant now as any new JRPG on the market, and it remains my favourite game within a series that I hold very precious to me.