Kai Powell
A timeless classic marred by conflicting visual identities and a disjointed formula, Legend of Mana is an experimental PS1-era title that planted the seed for many of Square's greatest RPGs to come in future years.
Hood: Outlaws & Legends offers a barebones experience that is best played with a dedicated team of wolves. Those seeking fame and riches on their own may find themselves lamenting the lack of content both available day one and what's to come in the first year roadmap. Hood may certainly grow in the future, but the first impressions leave much to be desired.
While not our final score for Godfall, we're reserving the opportunity to adjust the tally for Godfall based on the endgame content. If it somehow redeems the lackluster loot that players will carve through during the campaign, that number might change. Otherwise, go into this one looking for some quality swordplay and subpar swords.
Katanakami: A Way of the Samurai Story is on the easier side of the spectrum for a Mystery Dungeon title, but the way it infuses the genre with decent swordplay.
The Re:Mind scenario is only appealing to two types of fans: players that haven't played Kingdom Hearts III yet or those that already mastered the game and want to challenge themselves on the hardest bosses in the series.
EarthNight has some novel ideas when it comes to making an auto-runner worth coming back to time and time again, but the inconsistent difficulty spikes and RNG elements can quickly put an otherwise good run into freefall.
Calling First Departure R a full remaster is a bit of a disservice. Though the new character artwork and Japanese voice track are nice additions, this is still very much the same Star Ocean game that fans played a decade ago.
Digital Eclipse revitalizes two classic platformers with quality emulation on current generation consoles, although there's some that keeps this from being a pixel-perfect collection
The more I played Contra: Rogue Corps, the more I could recognize its flaws yet at the same time, I was strangely transfixed by those fleeting moments of being an action badass with the right weapons, only for my dreams to be swiftly dashed as those weapons overheated and I was mobbed to death by giant alien bugs.
The 25th Ward: The Silver Case offers another bit of insight into SUDA51's insane creativity, this time completely rebuilding a mobile phone title into the same framework as that of The Silver Case. While it doesn't quite have the same revelations of The Silver Case, there's still some rough charm left in the aftermath of Kamui Uehara.
Supermassive Games has aimed for something truly ambitious in the horror sector with The Inpatient. While there are some fine ideas in play, this brief psychological experience could've used a little bit more time in therapy.
Summon Night 6: Lost Borders might be a contender for one of the most cringe-worthy dubs in recent JRPG's, but don't let the audio choices fool you. There's still a solid strategy RPG filled with cameos that fans of the long-running series can fully appreciate.
FuRyu's latest RPG might be their best work yet, with a combat system that can be incredibly satisfying to link together, but there is still something lacking in the parts that don't attempt to emulate Persona.
Blaster Master Zero tries to recapture the joy of the NES classic, but the out-of-vehicle segments are just as frustrating as they were nearly thirty years ago.
If you’re willing to forego the story and just enjoy the action, Fate Extella is undoubtedly one of the smoothest playing Warriors-style games to date with kill counts ranging in the thousands for each battle. Repetition may set in early on, but by then you should be all ready to unleash your Noble Phantasm.
It may not be one of the must-play titles on PlayStation VR, but if you’re looking for a challenging experience to share with friends, strapping yourself into Battlezone should serve as a good introduction into what virtual reality should feel like.
MeiQ hits all of the right marks of a dungeon crawling RPG but fails to capture that sense of challenge, instead opting for light fan service as a substitute.
Even after four years, Deadlight could still use some polish to be a truly great experience. Still, this Director's Cut provides the best possible experience if you want to play the game.
A tale built on revisiting past adventures in media res, One Piece Odyssey relies so much on retelling great stories that came before it that the adventure in Waford alongside Lim and Adio feels like an afterthought.
The sadistic events that surround the town of Le Choara is what makes Death end re;Quest 2 such a compelling read. While the combat is passable by IFI standards, it's the quality of writing that makes this such a memorable title on its own.