Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a true Igavania adventure and does a great job at bringing this experience to modern platforms. There are some low points here and there and some design choices can be a bit questionable, but honestly, there is just so much to love about this game that it really doesn’t matter.
Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings has a good battle system and premise, but overall I wanted more from the final entry in the Mysterious trilogy. It seems like a missed opportunity to not include an open world and instead opt for a streamlined adventure with quick travel being the only option for exploration. As main protagonists, Lydie and Suelle are fantastic, but I felt like they deserved better. If you're looking for a solid story and a decent battle system or if you're a long time, Atelier fan than Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings might work for you, but I was left unimpressed.
I had a lot of fun learning about these characters in search of a blue sky and I appreciate FuRyu taking chances on new IPs in a generation full of sequels and remakes. The Alliance Alive is a straightforward and fun JRPG with enough to keep the player invested throughout its story, but it could use some work on difficulty balancing and the inclusion of voice over.
By setting the bar higher with its meaningful side-quests and multiple systems executed perfectly, Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom is paving the way for future JRPG titles to build upon. I loved every moment of Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom and could easily recommend it as an entry point to the genre for newcomers as well as longtime fans of the genre. Developer Level-5 has truly outdone themselves with this one and I would just like to say to them, thank you for the adventure.
I enjoyed the premise of playing the story through new eyes and watching these events unfold. Also, taking the time to read the character's journal offers a new layer of immersion for hardcore fans. Attack on Titan 2 is a game for the fans, and the story does well to include critical scenes that those fans will readily recognize. After a few hours, I found that I had mastered the ODM gear and could quickly take down any Titan that came my way along with seamlessly issuing commands to my party members. I was glad to be having fun because this is just what I needed to hold me off until season 3 of the Attack on Titan anime.
As a gamer, playing through The 25th Ward: The Silver Case had me thankful to be playing a game that would have otherwise been lost. Coming from the mind of a young Suda51, the story told is as juvenile as it is gripping and engaging. The 25th Ward: The Silver Case takes chances and pushes the boundaries of storytelling and character development. Some of the controls might not have aged well and a couple scenarios overstay their welcome, but The 25th Ward: The Silver Case is a game that deserves the attention of visual novel adventure fans as well as Suda51 groupies.
Yume Nikki -Dream Diary- is not Yume Nikki, but that ends up working well for it in the end. Developer Kadokawa AGM shows that they are truly fans of the original work and this is proven time and time again through the visuals and sound design. I feel like I want to recommend the game to peers if only to have more people to talk about the story with and hear their interpretations of the events that transpired. Being on an indie budget might have held back this game from being better and it's never going to live up to the standards set by the original, but Yume Nikki -Dream Diary- definitely provides a decent surreal experience.
Ultimately, Fear Effect Sedna is saved by a great story and awesome puzzle design. I found myself completely impressed with where Sushee Games took the Fear Effect series despite the game's shortcomings. Fear Effect Sedna proves that the Fear Effect series can survive in a modern gaming climate and flourish. During my time with the game, once the story began to take unbelievable twists and supernatural elements made there way into the narrative, I truly felt like I was playing a new Fear Effect game and that's a lot of what I was hoping for from Fear Effect Sedna.
I enjoyed most of my time with Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet but I felt that it could have been a better experience with improved dungeon design and controls. Thankfully, this is a great new direction for the SAO series to be headed. Hopefully, the next video game installment will continue the trajectory of Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet and make this series the best it can be for fans.
The developers kept the physics, systems, and gameplay almost identical to the original Secret of Mana and I'm overjoyed that they did. With Secret of Mana being grouped up by so many gamers as their favorite game of all time, it was important for Square Enix to deliver as close to that same experience for a new generation, and they did that just that. Some features might not have aged well or should have been added in for good measure, but this release of Secret of Mana is the same adventure that I remember, and I couldn't have asked for more.
Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology is more than fans could ask for in a remaster of an already great game. If in any case, you happened to have looked over Radiant Historia in the past or just kept it in your backlog all these years, it's time you give Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology a try. Because ultimately, those who have not played Radiant Historia are in for an adventure with the best version of a timeless RPG.
I would say that Zwei: The Arges Adventure is best played by gamers with an eye for charm and adorable characters that you'd want to spend hours with exploring dungeons and going on adventures. Sadly, the decade-old dungeon design and repetitive action don't hold up as well as its sequel, but it's still a game that Falcom fans will enjoy until the end, I know I did.
More importantly, each character has left a lasting impression on me and the growth that they experienced during the story makes the game feel even closer to the timeless stories of early RPGs. Legrand Legacy: Tale of the Fatebounds expertly brings the PlayStation era RPGs to 2018 with an attention to detail that brings the genre to modern consoles and satisfies that nostalgic itch.
Being a port of an 25 year old title, Romancing SaGa 2 gives a promising look back at how RPGs have grown over the years. With the game's story spanning generations of characters and a fairly decent story, Romancing SaGa 2 is worth the price, but try not to get too attached to your main character because you will die, a lot.
Life is Strange: Before the Storm Episode 3: Hell is Empty offered a nice companion to the Life is Strange universe, but the shock of the conclusion is lost when compared to the superior Episode 2. This doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy Episode 3, I just felt that it's conclusion presented more questions than answers. Perhaps it's a good thing the Life is Strange: Before the Storm left me with wanting more because now I wouldn't mind if the series continued either with more prequel content or a direct sequel to Life is Strange.
Tokyo Xanadu eX+ will find that jumping into the series was well worth it. On the other hand, fans who have already played the game will discover a large variety of new events to play through as well as a much-improved battle system than what they remember. I had a great with Tokyo Xanadu eX+ and now I'm left with the new post-game quests that will probably add many more hours to my play time.
In the end, Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope brought me back to a time when I had to sit down and thoroughly shut myself out of the real world and immerse myself into this world — more specifically the star ocean. Exploring space and discovering huge new worlds creates a great playing experience, and with this remastered version this game only looks even better. Even though a few years have passed, Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope is close to the same game I remember, but I appreciated the nostalgic reminder that games are challenging and autosave wasn't always a thing.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is one of those RPGs that I didn't want to end. Luckily, there is enough post-game content to satisfy players looking to sink 100's of hours into more adventures with Rex and the party. However, I can't seem to shake the feeling that I was left with as the end credits rolled. I feel like Xenoblade Chronicles 2 showed me what it's like to go on a real adventure and it happens to be one that I don't think I will ever forget.
Like a stated before, if you enjoy mindlessly killing zombies and half-naked anime girls than you might find a great deal of fun in School Girl/Zombie Hunter, but if you're looking for a decent playing experience, I feel like you'd be let down. I hope to see Tamsoft continue to develop new IPs, but hopefully next time they'll give the game a good amount of QA before pushing it to release.
Tokyo Tattoo Girls is as niche as it's going to get and if that sounds like something you're into than you might find this title to be just what you want. I hope to see Sushi Typhoon Games evolve as a developer and take what's good about this game to create something more because this game has more in common with a random smartphone title than a proper strategy RPG.