Pierre-Yves Lanthier's Reviews
Right now is a great time to be a fan of the Ys series. With just about a simultaneous release of the upgraded Ys Seven for the PC which came out back in 2009, Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana takes the concepts that were designed almost a decade ago and takes it all a step further.
Warriors All-Stars is Omega Force’s latest creation and possible the successor to the Warriors Orochi series which saw a mash up of the Dynasty and Samurai series as well as other characters from Atelier, Ninja Gaiden and Soul Calibur. Transported to another world in order to help save it, join in on a brand new adventure with elements and characters from across the various IPs that Koei Tecmo’s has access to.
Ys Seven was already a solid experience and the upgrades that it has received for the PC make it even better. Like the Ark of Napishtim, bringing Seven over was a great idea as it continues Adol's adventure for all those that never did either move to a console market or have the chance to pick it up back in the day.
There's a certain appeal that comes with the territory of being the boss. You have minions, they are supposed to do what you tell them to do, life is great. Until of course that your entire federation is destroyed in a heartbeat and the only thing you have left is an alien relic that you're using a space station. Stuck in the middle of now enemy territory with pirates to boot, welcome to Halcyon 6!
Is it worth picking up? Yes. The dad jokes and the gameplay are great for hours on end, and now we're starting to see the vision for Knack starting to come together.
If Moero Chronicle could be considered the Moe (cute) of dungeon crawlers, then Mary Skelter is going to takes the crown as the macabre of the genre. Cast down into the depths of a place known only as jail, Jack, Alice and Red Riding Hood are going to need some help if they are going to make it back to the surface and see what no one has observed in generations: the sun.
Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash was a blast. Quick paced arena combat supported by a well designed card based system and multiple storylines to follow, this has to have been my favorite entry yet and with the quality online competition modes online modes there's more than enough replayability to keep going for quite some time.
In almost an episode gone wrong of the Flintstones and the Jetsons, Caveman Warriors brings that awesome couch coop experience once again to the living room. With children of their tribe taken, four interesting cavemen/women take up their arms, snakes, monkeys and wolf as a hat in order to hunt down the aliens that just abducted those under their charge.
One Piece: Unlimited World Red Deluxe Edition is the definitive edition of the game.
I am for once at a serious lack of where to start since I can’t just declare 10/10 what are you waiting for and go get it! Though I may just have... Divinity Original Sin 2 is the sequel to the reboot of the series that took to Kickstarter a few years back and has made a mark on both the PC and the Console markets alike. Back again with even better visuals, multiple playable races, choice of musical instruments to play your background music, custom characters or special ones with more storylines and the ability to customize their classes as you see fit? (Takes a breath) It took some time getting out of character creation
Roguelikes and Hack & Slashes are nothing new together (Zombasite) but Pylon: Rogue puts a lot more emphases on the Roguelike elements as once you kick the bucket, that’s it. Start over. With only unlocked items remaining available to purchase in the shop, you’ll have access to a total of four characters and different weapon loadouts in order to try to beat bosses and beat the game before the monsters beat you into your xth grave.
“Morphite is a deep and enriching single-player experience with both a handcrafted story-driven plot as well as open-ended, procedurally generated, player-driven exploration and discovery.” Reading this as a description is one thing, actually experiencing this and it proving true is another. Morphite blew away my expectations of it and time simply flew on by as I explored the galaxy at my own pace in the shoes of Myrah Kale.
Neither accessible, nor enough of a Gundam tribute for this community to remain large for any significant period of time, I fear.
Bear With Me from Exordium Games has just seen the launch of its third and final chapter. Taking a look at the entire series, the one clear fact in this 1950’s Noir-esque adventure is that the presentation and the writing are superb making it hard to remember at times that it’s all about a ten year old girl and her teddy bear looking for her brother that went missing and filling the rest with imagination.
Deadbeat Heroes is not only the Brawler that I've been wanting but a Brawler that takes its genre a step further like Haemimont Games did with Victor Vran (PC / PS4). With your fashion sense clocked into ten, get ready to take out a bunch of would be criminals from the streets that you are now in charge of!
Battle Chasers: Nightwar is a quality JRPG throwback. It's grindy and can be difficulty, but for people looking for a more casual experience the lower difficulty settings are a good introduction to the genre as a whole. With plenty of lore and heritage behind the game to further build it out, it's a fresh new franchise and a good proof that western developers can emulate the JRPG style when they want to.
Like a lot of of titles in this genre, Ark: Survival Evolved has a steep learning curve and requires quite the time - and possibly financial - investment. But once you get into the rhythm of it, the endless need to survive, set against the simple satisfaction of slowly building up your capacity to do so, makes this a game that could well turn into a hobby for you, all in itself.
Elex is a fascinating attempt to blend the likes of an open world RPG with the ideas that so brilliantly make the Soul’s series combat what it is. Shot down from the sky by one of his own, Jax sets out for revenge with nothing more than a bent pipe in the post meteor struck world of Magalan.
Being a big fan of Omega Force and the fact that they've made Hyrule Warriors (and all the rest of the core and spinoff series) I had high expectations for their take on Fire Emblem. Now while I came away pleased with the experience I wasn't wowed like I've been in the cases of Hyrule, Berserk, Arslan or Dragon Quest. Unfortunately in this case Fire Emblem plays it a bit safe and Warriors feels like a faster take on the ideas implemented by Heroes on the mobile.
Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates has a lot of potential but unfortunately it's made so clumsily that it is just painful to actually play.