Pierre-Yves Lanthier's Reviews
Overall it's an interesting blend of elements and Heroland works amazingly. Keyboard and mouse or a controller as it is also on the consoles, the input and the navigation of the menus is both simple and clean. Been wanting a good dungeon crawler but also want a bit of a simulator? Check out Heroland and guide a few guests through their fantasy of becoming RPG Heroes!
While Stay Cool Kobayashi San! isn't the most in-depth brawler out there, it does provide a good dose of fun for fans of the series and fans of the style alike. Been needing a good beat 'em up? This could definitely scratch that itch!
These are fun little games, but they're hardly classics.
So overall, JackBox Games Party Pack 6 is a great addition to the series with plenty of new additions to suit multiple moods to a night amongst family and / or friends. From Murder Trivia making a return to new cheesy things like Joke Boat, and it stands alone just as easily as it stands alongside the other five party boxes.
While different than the previous two No More Heroes, Travis Strikes Back is a decent 2.5 entry that is basically preparing the way for No More Heroes 3. With each game to uncover a Death Ball in the Death Drive MK II being different, there are at least multiple different visuals to be had even if the core gameplay doesn’t change that much from what you are taught in the very beginning.
Stranded Sails: Explorers of the Cursed Islands is a fun and relaxing title that allows hours to simply tick past as you walk / run or row your boat from one island to the next. Exploring sandy shores is just as relaxing as going into caves or fishing underneath a stone outcrop. There’s nothing really hard about it as everything will come to you in time, you just need to get there first.
If you’ve been craving a good beat ‘em up as they seem so few and far between these days, Dusk Diver is the title for you. Bits of side quests mixed in with a fun story and a fun combat system, there’s more than enough to keep you busy for a while!
So between the new format in order to tell the story, the new alchemy system that lets you learn or modify things on your own terms instead of always needing to follow a recipe and the new battle system that goes much faster, Atelier Ryza: Eternal Darkness & The Secret Hideout is not only the best that Gust have ever given us, but it's an example of what JRPGs should be aspiring to be. These well balanced systems and a wonderfully written story mesh so we'll together that it's almost impossible to put down.
Whether it’s your first time getting to see the glorious adventure of Valvatorez, Fenrir and Fuka, or the third or fourth time, it’s an adventure that doesn’t get old. Because of its initial HD treatment, Disgaea 4 Complete+ feels just as refined as it did upon its original release. While some may find it a little harder to get back into after the vast changes into Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance or the Complete version, for me? It’s going to be really hard to de-thrown this tale of politics and sardines from the throne that it currently sits upon.
So as long as you don’t game over because the clock went and struck twelve, MistOver will keep you busy for a lot of hours. Hell, even if you wipe out and decide to go at it all over again, MistOver is worth it. MistOver is honestly a dungeon crawler that fans should look into even if they have a fear with permadeath for characters. Even if they die off, you keep the gear, cursed, but you keep it and slap it onto the next replacement that you’ve hired as a just in case things went south. With plenty of quests, boss fights and environments to explore, the mist awaits you!
Overall, Destiny Connect: Tick-Tock Travellers is a fun little RPG for a good sunday afternoon or three that can be easily sat down with a cup of tea. Never too hard, it’s really a throwback to an easier time where things were made to look pretty and be relaxing instead of crazy hard and needing mad skills to complete. That all said, it is a cute adventure and is worth exploring.
Overall, AeternoBlade II may not be winning any awards, but it shows off a decent progression for the studio that made what could also be a cult classic as many that I’ve spoken too have never heard of it, and those that have, enjoyed it even with its limitations. Changing things up with different characters that have different abilities and a “lighter” storyline than one simply hell bent on revenge, this end of the world tale is worth taking a look at for fans of platforming and metroidvania puzzles.
Overall, A Knight’s Quest is a great throwback to the first days of 3D adventuring upon the PC and both Nintendo and Sony’s platforms for the time. Even if there’s an issue with the speed in which you can travel around the lands, there’s a great balance of gameplay and combat elements alongside the nostalgia that it imbues as Rusty tries to save the lands from the issues that he set into motion.
I was a huge fan of the first and I’m just as much of a fan of the second. Not content to simply recycle the elements that made the first so great, Mary Skelter 2 makes new strides in order to be different enough that it’s not simply more of the same. With both being able to be played essentially side by side? This is the perfect package for any dungeon crawling RPG enthusiast!
The Legend of Heroes - Trails of Cold Steel 3 is the perfect continuation for the series. With the first two chapters telling their story to completion it could be hard to see where things go next with the same protagonist but with his new direction in life? It works really well. From learning in the classrooms and the battlefield to teaching students about both, the only thing left is to wait for Trails of Cold Steel 4 and not spoil it for yourselves as it was released last year and it could be some time before we get our hands on it.
Devil’s Hunt feels dated and it probably could have done with a bit more polish to add in what this style of title needs the most. Oomph. You need to be able to feel the power behind your hits. The story is cheesy and that would have been fine as I love a good dose of cheese, but without a system to back it up and actually make it fun going between those doses of cheesiness? It gets really hard to want to continue as it just becomes a mindless and un-entertaining trek forward.
So performance issues aside, Dragon Star Varnir was definitely a breath of fresh air from Compile Heart and Idea Factory. Settling in with a darker storyline and one hell of a combat system, the characters are all well written and the voice acting was damned near flawless with generally secondary voice actors taking the main stage. I would definitely like to see more experiences like this down the line that rely less on super comedic shenanigans and instead something much more serious.
All in all, it takes HOURS to be able to really sink into GreedFall’s immense world, its cultures and its lore. It takes hours more to start discovering tiny details that can change entire outcomes for the future of your character’s world. Combined with a good character leveling system and gameplay mechanics, GreedFall is a solid RPG and probably Spider’s best work so far.
Code Vein is worth every moment.
The Surge 2 is a refined, challenging, and rewarding Soulsborne that has its own identity and value beyond the alternative setting. It won't have the industry-wide reverberations that a FromSoftware title does, but for fans within the genre, this is next one they should play.