There is enough game here to keep you busy for literally years — and over the course of this deep-dive you’ll see just how many different ways there are to enjoy it. Including through playing as characters from Dead or Alive, Ninja Gaiden, Bladestorm, Warriors: Legends of Troy, Soulcalibur and Trinity: Souls of Zill O’ll.
So yeah. Consider that a ringing endorsement, and if you have the slightest interest in Castlevania-style games — and wanted to like Simon’s Quest but just couldn’t quite manage it — then I can’t recommend Midnight Castle Succubus enough.
In fact, you may well find that you sometimes reach points in Story mode where spending some time in the other modes of Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate Definitive Edition is very much to your benefit in terms of raising bonds between characters, earning Growth Points and Gems, or simply taking on some different types of challenges.
Assuming you’re on board with the non-optional adult content — which, let’s face it, if you’re reading Rice, you probably are — then The Sword of Succubus is one of the best non-visual novel adult games you’ll ever play. It’s a magnificent example of what the adult gaming sector has to offer to gaming in general, and a title which deserves recognition and praise — and simply for more people to enjoy it.
While you’re playing, though, allow yourself to relax. You earned this time to do nothing of any real importance — and while it can be tempting to think that you “should” be doing something of greater value either to yourself or to society at large, sometimes it’s important to just be selfish and do something for no other reason than it feels good.
Once you get your head around this, the game becomes much more enjoyable — and it also stands out as being something more than a simple attempt to ape Star Fox with modern tech. While it’s very obvious that the original intention of the Ex-Zodiac project was “let’s make Star Fox”, it’s also clear that at some point along the line, the developers decided to take things a bit further and give the game its own clear sense of mechanical and structural identity also.
On the whole, then, The Tower of Succubus is another excellent addition to the Succubus series as a whole. While its somewhat more niche-interest source material might make it a little bit of a harder sell to those hoping for another Zelda-like, once you start working your way up that tower it’s hard to stop. With 77 floors to challenge, this will keep you busy for quite some time — so you better get climbing!
This is a strong start to this second collection. While some may bounce off it due to the relative lack of big-hitters available up front, it serves as a great reminder that many of our favourite video game developers and publishers from over the years are considerably more than just their most famous titles. Sure, those famous titles are great — and that’s why some of them are included here — but it can be incredibly rewarding to discover new experiences that you didn’t previously know existed. And that’s where the real value of this collection lies.
Gauntlet mode is a fantastic contrast to the main Story mode of Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate Definitive Edition, plus a great means of “grinding” characters without feeling like you’re just replaying the same things over and over again. You can jump into it right from your first moments with Warriors Orochi 3, so long as you’re careful — but the mode is solid and substantial enough to also make for excellent endgame content, potentially keeping you busy into perpetuity.
It’s cleverly designed, it’s smartly written, and there’s nothing else quite like it out there. It’s a delight to see it make a grand return after nearly 10 years of being confined to PC — and I sincerely hope that at least some of you reading this manage to guide Elodie to something vaguely resembling happiness, because heaven knows I’m still struggling.
All in all then, Otoko Cross: Pretty Boys Klondike Solitaire does exactly what it sets out to do, and it does it well. It would be nice to see these characters incorporated into a more ambitious project at some point in the near future — but as a means of establishing them as an ensemble cast and getting people familiar with them, these casual games are doing a fine job, and I certainly wouldn’t object to seeing more.
Food Girls is a thoroughly likeable game that does its best with what it has, much like the girls in the street market. At times, its low budget and lack of polish is apparent — most egregiously with a couple of untranslated lines that are still in Mandarin Chinese — but for the most part, the heart, soul and passion of its developer shines through, creating an enjoyable, memorable and thoroughly comfy experience.
Ultimately it’s safe to say that if you enjoyed the first HuniePop, you will very much like HuniePop 2, because it offers more of the same — but better. Much, much better. The first game is still worth playing — if only to have the chance to get to know the fairy Kyu a bit better, since she claims she’s no longer allowed to jump into bed with her clients in this one — but HuniePop 2 improves on it in almost every way.
All in all, Natsuki Chronicles should be considered an absolutely essential purchase if you have the slightest interest in shoot ’em ups. Even if you’re not typically great at this sort of game, Natsuki Chronicles provides plenty of support to help you get better and make consistent progress — while if you’re a hardcore veteran, the game’s tougher difficulty levels coupled with the ability to turn off the various “helper” features will provide you with a stiff challenge.
It’s pure, psychedelic, completely surreal escapism that will help you forget the “real” world for a few minutes or hours — particularly if you have the means of immersing yourself fully in it with a PSVR headset and a good pair of headphones cranked up nice and loud. In the world we live in right now, experiences like this are especially important — and I know I’ll certainly be making good use of it whenever it all gets a bit much!
The challenging, cerebral gameplay of Alice and You in the planet of numbers might not be for everyone, but the sheer level of charm on display in this game will inspire many people to make an effort to understand what is actually going on from a mechanical perspective. Allow yourself to get drawn in and there’s potentially hours of number puzzling fun to be had here; certainly a nice bit of light relief from the more chaotic, action-packed games out there.
It’s not a game that demands hours of your time at once, nor one that has a vast amount of content to keep you busy in the long term — but it is a game that is fun to boot up once in a while when you fancy some straightforward arcade action that rewards you with the very pleasant sight of some awesome, kick-ass military and mecha girls for doing well.
The easier puzzles can be banged out in less than a minute once you know what you’re doing, while the larger puzzles offer more substantial challenges. And with more than 350 puzzles to get through — the majority of which can be found in the harder difficulty settings — there’s plenty of game here to keep you busy in the long term.
Mad Rat Dead is a prime example of Nippon Ichi doing what it does best between Disgaea titles: putting out weird games that about five people will play, but then those five people will happily talk enthusiastically about those games to anyone who will listen.
The core gameplay is solid and enjoyable, the optional extras are worthwhile and fun if you’re a retro gaming enthusiast — and they won’t be missed if you’re not — and the whole package is a great addition to the Switch’s library. I suspect people will still be playing this for quite some time to come yet, if Tetris 99’s enduring popularity is anything to go by!