Pierre-Yves Lanthier's Reviews
Zombasie is loads of fun, regardless of what some of your clan members think. It has loads of quests that don’t run out causing you to exit and re-load the same areas over and over. Instead things feel more organic and as time goes by things become tougher as the world levels around you, the Zombie threat becomes more serious, and that moment of absolute dread is always potentially around the corner. As much as I’ve loved a lot of the other Hack and Slashes, none have been able to provide that on-going feeling of progress that Zombasite can provide. Never having to “quit and reload”, never “running out of things”, those are huge additions to this style. The time spend in Early Access was time well spent and Soldak Entertainment have aced this one.
Trails of Cold Steel gets off to a slow start in order to find its bearings but once it gets going it delivers a solid experience. While taking a different direction from Sky which centered on Estelle and her journey, Rean and the rest of his class’ journey was just as enjoyable. With the second chapter coming out next week, there really isn’t much time to wait in order to continue on this newer tale of the Legend of Heroes.
We’ve all been sitting here for long enough today. Everyone rise, stretch out your legs, and head on to your duties and we will resume this later as I contemplate what to do about the writers of this autobiography. The adventure was rough in the beginning while figuring out exactly how to manage my resources and my peoples but never was it frustrating. Ordering the people around could take some getting used to but once formations and sorting by rank was possible everything went along smoothly. It really was a beautiful experience and I’m glad to have relived it. What is this Wee they speak of though? Between that, the Pea Sea, and this “A” and “B” nonsense there were will a lot to talk about for the second printing.
Tom VS The Armies of Hell is an awesome Action Adventure Twin Stick experience. While not being overly long, it offers a few difficulty levels to explore. With robust game mechanics, amazingly hilarious dark humored dialog, this trip to hell is worth the possibility of dying a few times over while trying to get out of it.
Dungeon Punks is a fun Brawler that offers plenty of gameplay and a hilarious storyline that only goes from bad to worse for Captain Firelle and her crew of hired misfits. If you’ve been needing to beat up on lots of bad guys or show a friend who’s boss? Dungeon Punks has you covered!
Shiren the Wanderer - The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate is amazing. It’s hard, it’s challenging, it’s a Roguelike. While there are many features present in order to help out Shiren and Koppa, none of it matters if fate has other plans. Careful consideration of actions is just as important as making proper preparations but above all else, it’s ok to run away sometimes in order to come back with better equipment and beat the crap out of whatever made you run away in the first place.
Star Ocean Integrity and Faithlessness is not a bad game. Unfortunately however it plays it a bit too safe and doesn’t stir the pot too much even with all of the alchemic experiments and synthesis within it. The art style, the music, the voice acting, and gameplay are good to great, but if you’re looking for something “new”, you won’t find it here. If you’re looking for something comfortable and nostalgic however then Star Ocean 5, my apologies Star Ocean Integrity and Faithlessness, awaits you.
I am Setsuna is a wonderful tribute to the SNES era. Even with all the familiarity from the older titles that it pays homage to it doesn’t come across as a copy paste and instead is capable of standing on its own even with the heavy nostalgic feel. Graphically and audibly beautiful sounding this RPG is more than worth the time in the snow covered reaches that are traversed.
While offering a solid gameplay experience, Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme VS-Force lacks that extra bit of detail that could have come from all of the characters and lore that it sits upon. There’s too much assumed knowledge, and this lets down the missions and the variety of units available. It’s a good game if you’re fully caught up with Gundam lore, but even casual fans might struggle to get along with this one.
Phantom Brave is just as amazing now as it was back when it released on the PS2. Character sprites not having been upgraded aside (really is a minor detail), the story, the combat, and the PC’s processing speed make it all more than worthwhile to either dive back in (or dive into for the first time) the lands of Ivoire. Marona’s story is one of the best that NIS has ever done and her adventures with Ash are only ever supported by great voice acting, amazing musical tracks, and overall well written dialogue for both them and characters that the two come across.
Odin Sphere Leifthrasir is a very good, or damned near perfect, example of what a remake / remaster should be. Already being an amazing title in its own right, this tale of five individuals only got better with the enhancements made to it almost ten years later. For everything that it does, Odin Sphere was only made better by having a clear format for the telling of its story through cutscenes and gameplay in a specific sequence that makes it that one never overshadows the other.
Overall Lost Sea is a great Roguelike that sticks to that concept very well without introducing loads of other features that bury the point. The search for the tablets can be an exhilarating or terrifying one depending upon which island you fortunately or unfortunately landed upon as the danger of death is always near very real with only ever having your weapon as a constant companion.
7th Dragon III Code: VFD is a stellar RPG with classic JRPG tropes through its narrative and complex, nuanced, battle system.
Bravely Second is not only a great new entry into the newly minted series with this release, but it is also exactly what a sequel should be. Even with returning characters it was nice that they didn't steal the lead from the newest entry as can sometimes happen when an older introduced character is "cameoed". Building upon the aspects of the first while making improvements big and small to something that already worked was amazing. Not sure what the third will be called but I truly hope that this series will continue on.
It's not the longest game, and doesn't offer anything that will be remembered as a classic game by any means, but the tense atmosphere, striking art style, and challenge, will surely help this game find itself a niche.
Ara Fell is a phenomenal RPG that I could only have wished to have back on the SNES. With brand new ideas in order to explore rich environments combined with a smooth and refined battle system, there’s no shortage of places for Lita and her party to see.
Grand Kingdom is a highly addictive tactic based experience that blends both online and offline very well. While there are incentives to play online and obtain experience and equipment faster, the offline modes sport quests and manners in order to level or re-level troops as needed without worrying about that monthly bandwidth cap. Just make sure to log in once a day to climb the ladder of attendance rewards.
Anima: Gate of Memories is a great Action Adventure RPG especially for those that loved that older style that hasn’t been seen much in the recent years. With environments to puzzle through, loads of combat to keep one occupied and grind experience on, there’s no shortage of things to do on The Bearer and Ergo’s exploration of the Tower in order to challenge The Messengers that have come to bring about the end.
One Piece Burning Blood was awesome. Hours could honestly go by while playing simply the campaign mode before even starting Wanted Posters or joining a faction online. What impressed me the most was that it has a fast paced system that was not overly burdened by needing to perform combinations in order to do anything but instead added different layers creating a much smoother experience that was much easier to enter and enjoy over longer periods of time.