Alexandria Taberski's Reviews
Reigns: Her Majesty is an intuitive and addictive experience that adds interactive items and amusing new scenarios to the gameplay of the original game. Playing without a touchscreen however, leaves something to be desired.
Nights of Azure 2 attempts to add new gameplay elements to the tragic Gothic romance of the ARPG franchise but things like puzzles, map exploration and a larger party to master work against the timing mechanic that is central to the game's design. Add that to a trite plot and pandering fan service and there isn't much to praise.
Blue Reflection has minor issues here and there but it tells its story well with likable characters, well-integrated mechanics, solid combat and a unique magical girl style.
Valkyrie Drive -Bhikkhuni- is a fun foray into fan service and brawler style fighting brought down by poorly written story content and a lack of enemy variety.
The Infectious Madness of Dr. Dekker is an immersive role-playing experience that manages to overcome its frustrating language limitations with excellent atmosphere, acting, and interactive storytelling.
The Great Whale Road is a unique and ambitious game that will enthrall fans of historical fiction and turn based strategy. However, with its disjointed gameplay elements, it doesn't quite succeed in simulating the life of a 6th century Viking
Turn-based combat, world exploring and puzzle-like crafting mechanics make for relaxing and fun gameplay in this slice of life RPG. Regardless of some shortcomings, fans of the series will enjoy traveling with Firis.
ChronoClock is an amusing high school rom-com visual novel elevated by well-translated writing and great art. The lack of choices make it a less engaging experience though and the removed adult content in the Steam version is unfortunate.
Final Fantasy XV exhibits some fun action combat and a few examples of good level design. However, it's lacking in its other RPG elements, especially the pacing of the plot.
Root Letter provides a fun and engaging experience for those that enjoy the mystery genre, pretty art, and interesting character development. There are misleading dialogue options and Max Mode is just strange. Overall this game is about experiencing the story that’s put in front of you and it does that in an engaging way.
Aside from being incredibly fun to play, by yourself or with a friend, the game captures that silly Monty Python vibe exceptionally well. Hours of slanderous and humorous enjoyment await players in this simple to play argument battler.
A solid retro fantasy life simulator, with a lot of depth and possible paths. However, the myriad of possibilities are too obscured to make for effective and strategic planning.
Rogue Wizards is a fantastic roguelike dungeon crawler that delivers fun and challenging gameplay with a mildly interesting story. The gauntlet mode provides a lot of replay value and although the game has some issues, the attention to detail enhances the simple yet strategic gameplay to a real gem of an indie game.
Small in scope, this card game is well polished. Simple mechanics and complex choices combine to make an intriguing, amusing and very enjoyable game in Nerial’s Reigns.
Stardust Galaxy Warriors takes classic SHMUP gameplay and spices it up with the addition of melee attacks and RPG elements. There’s still some bugs the developers are working out and it doesn’t do everything perfectly but that doesn’t stop it from being extremely fun.
Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Blackheart is a rather challenging game. The story is run of the mill, but the game has fun little moments that make it truly feel like a return to the Neptunia universe and it translates the RPG genre to turn-based tactics well. If you like TBT’s and love the Neptunia franchise then this is a must play game.
Overall, Nights of Azure is challenging, but it is fun and rewarding when those challenges are overcome. The game isn't overly ambitious, with a small world, simple objectives and seven chapters of story content. Even so, it can inspire many hours of gameplay and engage the imagination.
The game isn't perfect, it has some frustrating issues and little annoyances that may be a product of localization, but overall it is a very fun experience with more strategy than previous Neptunia games, with an intriguing story and gameplay that is a bit more newcomer friendly as well.
While The Living Dungeon can be a great puzzle solving experience for those willing to invest the time to master the game's mechanics it falls short in it's story telling and multiplayer aspects. With little glitches here and there, so-so voice acting, unintuitive controls and a camera that fights the player to see the deadly obstacles they're up against the game just doesn't seem completely finished overall.
Pixel Galaxy is a fun game with dynamic gameplay and a solid design. It's almost impossible for colorblind players though.