Homebound is a virtual reality experience best saved for the daredevils and veterans of VR. Its controls are clunky, it has a habit of leaving you spinning in the most gut-wrenching of ways with little to no warning, and its story mode instructions can be frustratingly obtuse. That said, it gives you the opportunity to experience life on a space station, and gazing out the viewport can be a shockingly powerful experience. It's difficult to resolve these dichotomies, but at the end of the day, I felt that the experience it offered was more than worth its $8.99 price tag.
Little Town Hero boasts a unique, strategic battle system that draws heavily on card game mechanics. Despite the fact that the story and art design seems to be aimed at a younger audience, combat is far too slow, strategic, and challenging to keep the attention of most kids. It's an interesting combination of traditional RPG storytelling with Heartstone-like mechanics and difficulty that's sure to captivate some, but will likely miss the mark for most.
The Men of Yoshiwara: Ohgiya is a pretty little romance game which does everything adequately, but not exceptionally. It's a little light on content, some of the bachelor's stories aren't terribly interesting or engaging, and it would really benefit from some additional background and character art, but benefits from beautiful splash art and a stronger female protagonist than the last Yoshiwara title.
Exorder is a very pretty little game which feels like a puzzle game masquerading as a turn-based strategy title. Controls are simple to a fault, and moving around the map left me frustrated every single battle. While the game has a great style, the bright colors and fun designs are made just a little more dull by the bland voice acting you'll be listening to before and after each battle.
Medusa's Labyrinth has made an art out of building tension, using a brilliant combination of setting, sounds and truly grotesque monsters to create several heart-pounding, white-knuckle, hold-your-breath and drop-your-torch moments. While this game perfectly sets the stage, this setting is tragically undermined by unclear controls which have not been well adapted to VR, nausea-inducing simulated motion, and the tedious chore of physically wandering blindly through an unmarked labyrinth.
The unexpected combination of the racing and wave defense genre, Radiant Crusade is a colorful, high speed VR shooter. While not suitable for anyone susceptible to motion sickness, be it from VR or riding in cars, this title is enjoyable enough in short bursts. A lack of both minimap and contrast between the game's glowing fauna and enemies makes it challenging to master, despite its easy and intuitive controls.
The Caligula Effect offers a fascinating story inside of a huge virtual world. Filled with heavy concepts, writer Tadashi Satomi weaves a complex story about human suffering, artificial happiness, and the lengths people will go to find inner peace. While not nearly as developed or immersive as Persona 5, the game's flashy graphics, star-studded soundtrack and solid story help to make up for what the game lacks in a depressingly shallow and unfulfilling social system, unclear objectives within dungeons and a rather tedious battle system.
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux is as long and as the title, and can be challenging to get into, due to dated UI and lots and lots of text to read. The story is interesting, if not slow, offers multiple endings, and more than 300 demons for you to collect, fuse, and fight alongside. A solid, if not slightly clunky title built for the retrogamer crowd.
Golf Story is held back by a number of mechanics, some of which are not very fleshed out or enjoyable, the occasional glitch, and lots of quests which require skill and control of the game's often shaky mechanics. The story is entertaining enough, but the real charm of this game is the hilarity of its characters characters and dialogue. This really is a must have for any fan of golf games, but as an RPG fan, I thought this indie title only came in at par.
Dragon Quest VIII is a massive world with well over 50 hours of gameplay. It stands out thanks to stellar voice acting and a huge, quirky set of monsters to battle. While there’s plenty to do, both the plot and the majority of the characters are flat and uninteresting. The quicksave feature and the ability to increase battle speed are significant quality of life improvements over the original, making this a solid title sure to entertain JRPG fans, but the dated and grind-heavy mechanics can make it a bit of a slog.
Sprint Vector is unlike anything else on the VR market. The Fluid Locomotion System allows for high speed virtual movement without motion sickness for most people, and the game's ubeat, irreverent tone encourages both casual and competitive play. It does seem to be hit or miss, and sadly seems to lack that addictive quality for most people. Meanwhile, my competitive friends and platformer fans can't seem to get enough of it, and it's just physically demanding enough to provide a bit of a workout to boot.
Legrand Legacy is a pretty but otherwise generic RPG. It's beautifully hand-drawn world gets lost beneath mountains of dialogue and a plot so weighed down by tropes that it barely stays afloat. It's a passable to good title, but none of its elements come together to create anything new, exciting, inspiring, or terribly memorable.
Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon aren't bad games, but they are victims of their own hype, which they fail to to live up to. While the plot has changed, these alterations are minor, thrown together, and ultimately do harm to the experience. Despite the addition of two new mini games, a few new features, and a different post-game, they are simply not as enjoyable as their Sun and Moon predecessors.
I really can't offer a clear, concise explanation as to why this ridiculous game is so much fun, all I can say is that sorting cats has become the new competitive hobby in my office. Cat Sorter VR has somehow combined the adorable, the absurd, the repetitive, and the high pressure of a continually moving assembly line to create an inexplicably addictive virtual reality game which you really have to experience yourself to understand. It may not be a purrfect game, but it's more than worth the price tag.
Mononoke Forest provides a surprisingly good time for a very small price tag. Bubble Bobble meets Animal Crossing, this delightfully quirky game is easy to pick up and shockingly hard to put down. While the story isn't anything revolutionary, it's entertaining, and the monster designs, particularly for the Hazard Mononoke, are stellar.
Endlessly silly, strangely addictive, and easy to play thanks to the auto-battle feature, Miitopia is a delightfully ridiculous game which is perfect for the casual gamer in search of a reason to smile.
Rogue Wizards is a solid casual roguelike with unique monster designs, perpetually generated dungeons and 10-12 hours of story-mode gameplay. Dungeons themselves are challenging and fun, requiring a bit strategy to defeat monsters which utilize truly unique and interesting attacks. While the boss battles and AI are a little lackluster, the ability to teleport within floors, bonuses for defeating all enemies, and the replayability offered by the Gauntlet mode make Rogue Wizards a good investment for the small price tag of $15.
Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past is a solid JRPG remake with more than enough plot and gameplay to keep RPG fans happy. The turn based battle system is light on grind, filled with Dragon Quest’s trademark cast of colorful monsters, and offers a mostly hands-off feature for fights. With an engaging story, a huge world to explore, and plenty of side quests and additional content, there are many of reasons to get lost in the past.
Little King’s Story is a delightful RPG with around 30 hours of gameplay. With a cheerful soundtrack, imaginative landscapes, and improved graphics, this re-release can stand shoulder to shoulder with similar games on the market. The gameplay is fun, addictive, and pretty forgiving. You’ll find plenty to do in this game, from digging for treasure, to collecting taxes, to completing quests, to battling bosses and other baddies. Fans of the series will no doubt enjoy getting lost in the colorful kingdom of Alpoko once again.
LongStory is a charming and innocent LGBTQ+ dating sim focused on conversations and relationships rather than just getting lucky. It's a little over the top, a little dramatic, and a little silly, just like middle school itself, and allows you to date almost every character in the game, or go the asexual route. It's a little heavy-handed at times, but otherwise a great way to pass time.