Justin Oneil's Reviews
Trigger Witch is a charming and fun marriage of the twin-stick shooter and adventure genres. The game clearly draws a lot of inspiration from classic games like Zelda but that isn’t a bad thing. Arming your witch with all manner of guns and blasting apart enemies solo or with a friend can be a lot of fun for a few hours even if it doesn’t challenge you that much. The game leaves things open for a sequel and it would be great to see the team build on the solid foundation that they’ve established here.
Greak: Memories of Azur is one of the most beautiful games I’ve played this year but the rest of it doesn’t match the visual quality. Having to control three characters at once leads to a lot of frustrating moments even though at other times It seems to work well. If you’re a fan of Metroidvania games I do recommend checking it out at some point if only to see this gorgeous world.
Cotton Reboot! revives the 90s cute ‘em up with a nice lick of HD paint but the steep price for the short amount of content can be hard to recommend. The new visual style can also make things hard to see when on-screen action gets busy which ends up leading to some cheap deaths. If you catch this one on sale though and enjoy shoot ‘em ups, being able to play the original version and the new HD one is worth it for fans of this genre.
Within the Blade is a solid stealth-action platformer with challenging gameplay that might bring back memories of Ninja Gaiden. It’s got a good amount of content to play through and plenty of challenge for those who like that in their games. The downsides are that the challenge may turn some away, the controls have a learning curve, the visuals get a little repetitive, and some of the systems like the crafting don’t feel thought out enough. I still enjoyed my time with it though and for the affordable price I recommend it to those who enjoy the genre.
The Forgotten City has successfully broken free from just being a Skyrim mod and came out as one of the sleeper hits of 2021. The time loop story is so interesting and full of interesting topics and characters that I just couldn’t stop thinking about while playing. It’s got some rough edges but fans of great storytelling and solving mysteries will not want to miss this one.
Blightbound has flashes of fun within it but could’ve used more time in early access before launching in full. When I got to play with two actual other people online, I quite enjoyed taking down the enemies and bosses in these dungeons, at least for a time. The game has a great look to it but so much more can be done to improve it. It needs better bot AI, better loot that encourages you to want to keep playing, more compelling dungeons, and better optimization. For right now I would be hesitant to recommend it to those looking for a good dungeon crawler as there are many other better options available out there.
Metaloid: Origin draws a lot of inspiration from Mega Man but misses the mark on matching that franchise in a few areas. My biggest issue with it is that the visuals mess with the gameplay a bit and lead to you taking damage or dying which feels unfair. What it does get right though is that it generally plays well and gives you three unique characters to play as which leads to you having a reason to replay it. If you’re looking for a cheap Mega Man knock off there is fun to be had here, just don’t expect an easy Platinum this time.
Hentai vs. Evil is pretty tame for an M-rated game (especially on PlayStation) but it has some solid third-person shooting gameplay. Everything here works well enough the problem is that there just isn’t much to it. With only a few levels and a few weapon types to use it quickly runs out of steam. It isn’t a pricey game though so if you want an easy Platinum or just want to blast some demons as a girl in a sexy outfit then feel free to check it out.
Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! starts a bit slow but quickly establishes itself after that as a must-play visual novel. Everything starts all cute and fun but when the dark side of these girls starts coming out, you’ll want to keep playing until the end to see what happens. The game touches on a lot of dark subject matter and it is very much a pure visual novel experience so if you’re someone who doesn’t enjoy those things then this won’t be the game for you. For those who do enjoy this genre you’ll get a multi-hour long experience that will stay with you long after the conclusion.
Rebellion and Just Add Water took awhile to deliver Sniper Elite VR to us but the wait was well worth it. The franchise has successfully made the leap into virtual reality and makes you feel like you are a deadly sniper more than ever. The campaign is a decent length and things like scoring and online leaderboards encourage you to replay missions. Further, all of the control options on PlayStation VR work well although the Aim controller followed by the Move controllers are the way to go in my opinion. If you want to shoot some nazis in the testicles in VR then you can do no wrong by picking up Sniper Elite VR.
Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World remasters a classic game for a new generation to experience and it’s a great one to check out. The visuals and soundtrack are wonderful and Asha and her companion Pepelogoo are very charming. It can come across as a little simple if you’re well experienced with platformers and some of the puzzle design is outdated and annoying. Despite those things I recommend it to fans of side-scrolling platformers as I think you’ll have a good time with it.
Scarlet Nexus is the first Brain Punk game I’ve played and after how much I enjoyed it I’m eagerly hoping for more. The combat is the real highlight here for me as the sheer number of things you can do to tear up the Others is impressive. The story, while tropey at times, is still enjoyable with plenty of likeable characters, big plot points, and two different sides that make playing through it twice essential. If you’re a fan of anime games or action-RPGs in general I highly recommend Scarlet Nexus be next on your to-play list.
Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection is a great package that any fan of action games will enjoy. Ryu Hayabusa still stands as one of the most memorable and bad ass video game protagonists even all these years later. Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is the best one in this package in my opinion but all three are worth experiencing. Mastering the combat and Ryu’s moveset is so rewarding and you’ll easily get hours and hours of enjoyment out of this. Hopefully this collection will bring in plenty of new fans so that Team Ninja will give Ryu Hayabusa some new work soon.
Capcom Arcade Stadium is a great collection of classic titles that really does a great job of showing Capcom’s history. Across the 32 games here released from 1984 to 2001 you’ll find a lot of enjoyment and thanks to some quality of life gameplay improvements new players won’t become too frustrated. There are some notable missing titles here and some extra features that I would’ve liked to see but overall this is how all publishers should treat their classic titles when bringing them to a new audience.
Just Die Already’s premise of playing as an old person and causing all kinds of trouble in an open world is fun at first but just like your character it gets old.
Layers of Fear VR is a solid scary game for those who want to immerse themselves in a creepy and well-designed atmosphere. The game managed to keep my attention for the few hours that it lasts and manages to be a bit scarier in virtual reality especially with the excellent audio in the game. The downsides to it are that it looks worse than the non-VR version, relies on too many jump scares which cause them to become predictable, and the Move controllers take some getting used to. Bloober Team has made much better games since the original Layers of Fear but if you’re looking for a new horror VR title then this is a good one to try.
King of Seas has some appealing bits to it like building up your ship and seeking out treasure but it gets repetitious and takes a long time to get anywhere. It looks good and can be fun for a little while but if you’re seeking the pirate life there may be better options out there.
Returnal was Housemarque’s first crack at a AAA game and they’ve pretty much nailed the execution on all fronts. The game looks and runs like a dream on the PlayStation 5 and is one of the best reasons to own one yet. The game is tough and because of that it won’t be for everyone but for those who do enjoy these kinds of games you’ll quickly get addicted to the fast-paced and super smooth gameplay.
World Splitter is an enjoyable enough puzzle platformer with an interesting dimension mechanic that will really have you using your brain to make it to the finish. It’s not impressive technically but the actual puzzles offer plenty of challenge while optional objectives are there for the more hardcore speedrunners. It’s just a shame that the two-player levels aren’t plentiful enough and come across as little more than an appetizer. Overall, World Splitter can be fun to dive into for hours at a time or to just dip into for a few levels here and there.
In conclusion, the Atelier Mysterious Trilogy Deluxe Pack has a ton of value and content to play through for newcomers to these games. If you played these three titles on PlayStation 4 already then I’m not sure the little bit of new content and quality-of-life improvements are a big enough reason to rush out and play them right away again. For brand-new players looking for more Atelier to sink their teeth into though this is an easy recommend as you get three very interesting stories full of likeable characters, over a hundred hours of gameplay content, and lots of alchemy to mess around with.