Miguel Moran's Reviews
Touhou Mechanical Scrollery is a mess of a game. It's obvious that there's high ambition and plenty of love for the source material, but the final product is riddled with poor controls, rough visuals, and forgettable combat mechanics that make it an absolute chore to get through.
Relic Hunters Zero: Remix takes the standard roguelike experience and shifts it into overdrive, delivering a faster and more consistently rewarding experience. I always felt like I was making progress and never felt like a run was wasted. Some technical issues and a lack of environment variety keep the game from sticking the landing, though. With more environment variety and remappable controls, Relic Hunters Zero: Remix could easily go from good to great.
Sakura Wars may be a crisp, fully 3D modern release, but every inch of the story, characters, and sound feels like it's straight out of the 90s. This soft-reboot may not revolutionise gaming as the original game did, but it still manages to deliver an expertly crafted love letter to those old-school stories and characters that will put a smile on anyone's face. The combat scenes may lack the same depth and intrigue as the story beats of the game, but they're a minor part of an otherwise unforgettable anime adventure.
Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories has solid ideas, but very few that manifest themselves properly.
Trials of Mana is an exciting new step for the Mana series, breathing new, fully 3D life into a SNES classic that was left inaccessible to English fans for decades. The inventive and memorable story of the original game blends perfectly with the flashy new real-time combat system, and while muddy textures and a lack of co-op prove to somewhat sour the experience, this is still a stellar action RPG remake that anyone can get a kick out of.
Murder By Numbers puts a narrative-heavy spin on the Picross experience and accompanies it with enough difficulty setting that even a mathematically challenged fool like me to get engrossed in the grid-filling action for hours on end. Unfortunately, so much of the story is tainted by unlikeable characters and a constant barrage of eye-rolling references that take away from the otherwise unique style of the world.
One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 is a fan's dream game, as it takes the iconic battles and moments of eight major story arcs and puts you right in the action like never before. Combat is fun and flashy while still managing to be surprisingly thoughtful, and although a few characters aren't a joy to control, a majority of the cast is an absolute delight to play as. One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 is a jolly good time.
One Step from Eden has great ideas and a wealth of love put into the number of spells and abilities available; it's just a shame that the breakneck pace and daunting multitasking requirements of the combat make it hard to appreciate all of that depth.
Besides these more difficult levels and the arcade version of Bubble Bobble, there isn’t a lot of staying power in this new entry. You’ll still be delighted by it during the brief time you spend with it, thanks to adorable 3D visuals and sharp music. It’s just a shame that there’s so little to do here, especially after such a long wait for a new entry in the series.
All of that gameplay polish is wrapped up in a slick and stylish aesthetic that delivers some of the best fighting game music and most memorably characters in recent years
Doom Eternal doesn't just set the bar, it breaks it. Many of the best games of the FPS genre do what has already been done, and can do it really, really well, but Doom Eternal does what no other game has done before, crafting a fast-paced power fantasy that sets your brain cells on fire. It's an addictive exploration of the mythic Doomslayer character that delivers hours of blood-drenched fun, dozens of memorable collectibles, and a fan-pleasing story book-ended with gorgeous worlds and unforgettable music. Doom Eternal is a ripping, tearing masterpiece.
Whether you want to whet your appetite before Animal Crossing: New Horizons comes out or you're looking for your next fix after blowing through everything available in Stardew Valley, Rune Factory 4 is the perfect second-life for you. You might feel a bit overwhelmed at first, but once you manage to find your focus the addictive gameplay lets you wash away hours of your day in an instant.
Double Dragon & Kunio-kun Retro Brawler Bundle is a great piece of video game history for beat-em-up enthusiasts the world over. The once niche and Japanese-exclusive library of Kunio-kun games are playable in English for the first time, and while some of them haven't aged well enough to warrant extended play sessions, the in-game achievement system and Online Play add oodles of replayability to otherwise minorly novel Famicom classics. The lack of a gallery mode and alternate console editions of each game keeps the collection from being perfect though.
It’s an easy sell for brand new players, but I think only the most hardcore of Warriors fans will feel like the price-tag of the DLC update is worth it for Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate.
Azur Lane: Crosswave has a well-written story mode that runs as deep as the ocean, but the combat that strings these story scenes together is as shallow as a kiddie pool. It's wonderful to see fan favourites interact, and the voice acting adds a lot to the already charming story mode, but it's a shame that the gameplay fails to leave as much of an impression as the narrative and art did.
Kunai is an expressive, stylish and retro-tinged metroidvania that kept me engaged the entire time I played it. The feeling of slowly mastering the rope-kunai and being able to flawlessly swing around environments and flank enemies was incredibly satisfying. I only wish the rest of your abilities in the game had the same kind of skill ceiling to reach, because without any cool reasons to deflect bullets, why bother having the ability to do so in the first place?
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot displays unparalleled care and respect for the iconic story arcs it adapts. The original music is there, original Dragon Ball characters return, and pivotal moments are gorgeously animated. If these were stories being presented in video game format for the first time, it would be a mind-blowing experience. Unfortunately, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot doesn't push the envelope enough to warrant sitting through the Cell Saga for the umpteenth time and seeing Frieza get obliterated yet again. If you've played a Dragon Ball Z game before, you've basically played this one.
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore brings improved load times, new content, and incredible charm to Nintendo Switch, resulting in a must-play JRPG experience for anyone who owns the latest Nintendo console.
With the Atelier Dusk Trilogy Deluxe Pack, the entire library of PlayStation 3 Atelier games is now playable on modern systems. While the Arland trilogy broke ground by being the first 3D entries in the franchise, the Atelier Dusk games trade technical innovation for narrative, introducing a strikingly solemn and mysterious world inhabited by gorgeously designed characters that won't be soon forgotten by anyone who plays these games.
Steins;Gate: My Darling’s Embrace puts a silly spin on the usually serious atmosphere of the series, providing a fun and breezy treat for fans of the franchise.