Touhou Genso Rondo: Bullet Ballet is a great introduction to the Touhou universe and an excellent way to spend time playing with friends. The simple controls make it easy for new players to pick up and have a good time, but it also caters to the more hardcore fanbase by adding a deep learning curve to each character. Don’t let the fact that this is a fan-made game make you think it’s lacking in content. Genso Rondo makes it’s mark on the Touhou universe. While paying homage to the official works that came before it, the game provides a new and exciting approach to the fighting game genre.
Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness tells a gripping and immersive story that any fan of the series would enjoy.
It hit me the first time I reached the 1000km mark. I looked back at all the mistakes I made in past lives and couldn’t help but laughed at who I was back then. I drank a potion and raised my lance to charge forward into a crowd a of lizard knights that happily took my life from me in a matter of seconds.
With that said, Harmonia is wonderful story that suffers from a not so wonderful cast. The second half of the story does well in capturing the readers attention and offers a strong conclusion. Fans will appreciate Key’s newest story, but I’m left with wanting more.
All in all, the battle system of God Eater 2: Rage Burst is much more refined and smooth compared to Resurrection. Furthermore, your AI companions are actually dependable in an intense fight. These points coupled with the deep weapon customization and interesting characters makes God Eater 2: Rage Burst successful in making its mark in the growing genre of monster hunting games. Now if only they took more chances when making it stand out among the game’s previous entries…
Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity is a game that is definitely made for fans that already know what to expect from Touhou doujin games. With that said, the game allows Western fans to spend some quality time with two of the more popular characters, but offers little beyond that in terms of story. I ended up enjoying the game more after the first few hours and I hope that players new to the series stick through the simplistic beginning and discover what this game has to offer.
All this adventure and discovery made me think of times in my past that I sunk hours and hours into game’s like Dragon Warriors II and Torneko: The Last Hope. That being said, I feel as though Dragon Quest Builders is not only worthy of being apart of the long standing RPG franchise, but it also succeeds in making its mark and surpassing all competition compared to any game like it.
I really enjoyed Chase: Cold Case Investigations ~Distant Memories~ as it brought a short and interesting game to the hands of someone like me who can’t always find the time to sit back and read a 40 hour visual novel. The characters and animations were very well thought out and the ending is definitely something that was unexpected. However, the unexplained back stories were disappointing as it would have made the characters stand out among stereotypical detectives. I hope to be a part of more stories staring detectives Nanase and Amekura in the future because just one case wasn’t enough for me.
Steins;Gate 0 will not disappoint those close to the franchise. However, that being said, this will require a certain understanding of the previous game and the various endings that the game had. One would truly be lost jumping into this game without at least watching the anime series. Other than a few localization errors that I saw, Steins;Gate 0 holds up as a great sequel and a required play through for any visual novel fan.
I enjoyed my time with Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star as it satisfied my craving for a game in the Fate universe. The fighting controls are tight and responsive, and the action is intense. The lack of enemy variation was disappointing, but it didn’t take away from the frenetic fun of pulling off well animated combos against thousands of aggressors. This game might not be for newcomers to the Fate series, but offers a fun and impressive story arc to the franchise.
The conclusion of Corona Blossom is one that fans can appreciate over the 3 – 5 hour story. In addition, the last couple hours totally redeem the middle of the game’s more light hearted moments. Corona Blossom Vol.3 Journey to the Stars isn’t a visual novel that is going to blow seasoned fans away like Frontwing’s other visual novels, such as The Fruits of Grisaia series. However, they did a great job at developing a group of friends and making the player care about them over three volumes. Some will find absolute joy in this story, but by playing it safe, I was left wanted more than a typical harem.
Dynasty Warriors: Godseekers is a great attempt by developer Omega Force at merging classic Warriors style gameplay with SRPG mechanics. However, the game might be a bit too easy when compared to more hardcore tactics games like those found in the Fire Emblem series or Tactics Ogre: Let us Cling Together. Even so, Godseekers provides a great entry point for fans to be introduced to a new genre while keeping that over the top action gameplay. In the future, I hope to see Omega Force return to the SRPG genre with more entries in order to expand on this deep and intriguing universe — perhaps one starring Daqiao?
The Tales series has always found a way to satisfy my itch for a story rich JRPG with deep character development and exciting combat. In that regard, Tales of Berseria does not disappoint. The story is gripping from the very beginning and keeps hold throughout the entire game. When it comes to the new battle system, I felt that Tales of Bersaria proved to be easily accessible to newcomers as well as offer extra benefits to those who’d like to master it. Even though the environments lacked any big steps forward for series, I felt myself constantly exploring and enjoying every moment. Berseria has quickly become not only one of my favorite games in the series, but also one of my favorite RPGs of all time.
Throughout my 35 hours of playing Digimon World: Next Order I began to feel like I did the first time a discovered the series. Every Digimon that joined my team made an impact on me and I wanted them all to be the best they can be. The game can be frustrating, but in the end there’s nothing like raising two healthy Digimon. The old mechanics of the Digimon World franchise prove to stand the test of time and can now be experienced by a new generation of gamers to discover and immerse themselves for hours in the digital world.
I appreciate what DotEmu has done with the console port of Ys Origin. A story localized this good deserves to be easily accessed by gamers on as many ports as possible. Besides the strange rending issues on screen in the beginning of the game, I would say this is a great port of ten year old PC game that serves a preface to the beloved Ys series.
I enjoyed my time with Berserk and the end game content offers hours and hours of replayability for fans who just can’t get enough. The gameplay would definitely stand toe-to-toe with other licensed musou games like One Piece: Pirate Warriors and Dynasty Warriors: Gundam, but maybe this game could have strayed further away from the typical musou formula like what fans saw with Attack on Titan. Instead, it seems Omega Force played it a little too safe.
The game removes the stress of time limits and boss battles and instead presents itself as an easy going simulator that can be played at the pace of the player. I am happy to say that Trio of Towns is a game that I plan to continue to return to over time and become the best farmer I can be.
I admire Gust for delivering a product outside of their comfort zone. However, even though the open world is the most exciting new addition, it also tends to bring the most problems with it. Atelier Firis will surly impress fans of the franchise, but could feel dated to modern RPG fans.
Blaster Master Zero does everything right in terms of rebooting an old franchise. The game retains all the quirks and cues fans of the series adore and presents them in a way that a new generation of gamers can enjoy. The pacing and difficulty is set just right to keep gamers entertained for hours. In short, this is now the definitive way to play a game from my childhood that I’ve held so close to heart.
By adding in an interesting story and supporting cast the game proves it can stand on its own compared to some of the all time best in the genre. Touhou Genso Wanderer is a frustrating and wonderful dungeon crawler that fits perfectly into the doujin Touhou universe.