Miguel Moran's Reviews
I've been excited for and anticipating Danganronpa V3 for a long time, and after playing it, I can say it was absolutely worth it. Danganronpa V3 is an impressive culmination of nearly 8 years of twists, turns, heart-breaks, and murders, and is an amazing entry in a consistently well-written and addictive franchise.
Ys VIII is, without a doubt, a huge step for the franchise. In stripping away a lot of the usual narrative tropes the series is usually known for, Nihon Falcom have put a fresh spin on the franchise that puts characters and small moments over grand adventures and vast mysteries. Tied together by a fast-paced combat system and great music, the negatives of Lacrimosa of Dana are far outweighed by the positives, and this is a game that any JRPG fan would be a fool to sleep on.
I honestly feel like an idiot for taking this long to play an Ys game, because so much of it appeals to me directly. The minor combat encounters are engaging but brisk, while the boss battles are urgent, hellishly difficult, and very memorable. Best of all, with such a short runtime for a JRPG, I was done with the game quickly, but never felt rushed or unsatisfied. Ys Seven is like a crackhead on a dirt-bike. It's fast, and loud, and something you'll probably never forget.
Warriors All Stars is a grand celebration of the history and popularity of Koei Tecmo. Unfortunately, the celebration fails to deliver a satisfying video game experience. Every time I had to re-unlock a character, or study three different menus to try and guess which missions I had to avoid so I could get the next proper story chapter, Warriors All Stars felt less like a celebration, and more like homework.
The most important thing I can say about this game is that it is fun. Very, very fun. When I open the game, join a match and start playing, I have an amazing time. The raw energy behind the movement, the weight behind the weapons, the satisfaction of landing hits and bouncing off walls. It all comes together to create a unique, memorable FPS experience, and I look forward to seeing what Boss Key Productions does to expand it in the future.
Fallen Legion has a wealth of great ideas, but ultimately crumbles under its ambitions. A fun combat system helps form a strong core, but one that ultimately doesn't hold together for very long. The saving grace here is the beautiful artwork and smooth animations, which are complimented by some great music. Unfortunately, it's hard to recommend the game on those traits alone; Fallen Legion is interesting, and promising, but rarely enjoyable.
Despite the promising names behind the title, Dark Rose Valkyrie stumbles over its own ambitions. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the parts of the game that were the responsibility of the Tales series veterans, the art and the writing, were the most successful, but where other collaborations have been able to balance each party's strengths an diminish their weaknesses, that's not the case here. Rather than find collaborators who could help balance Compile's consistently lukewarm gameplay design, this joint effort substitutes Helvetica for Times New Roman instead of fixing 10 pages of typos.
Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 is an fantastic game, there's no doubt about that. Revelator was already an incredible fighting game, and for anyone who's yet to experience it this is an easy purchase to make. When you look at the game simply for what's new and compare price points, things start to get a little dicey. There are other additions, but they're so minor, and if you're a player only interested in the competitive scene, they don't matter to you at all. Rev 2 is an amazing all-around package, and deserves just as good a score as the last game, but as an add-on it's a bit too light for the premium price-point it's boasting.
Akiba's Beat is a bad game, but it's an even worse sequel. So many aspects of the previous game, Akiba's Trip, are abandoned or watered down in this title, from the downgraded graphics, to the lack of customization, the poor characters, and more. Akiba's Beat abandons it's roots, instead trying so desperately to fill shoes far too big for it. Like the Chinese knockoff Transformers toys in my local deli, Akiba's Beat attempts to emulate many big franchise without the budget, skill, or style of any of them. You will buy it for a steep discount and know exactly what you're getting into, or you will laugh at it and walk away before buying the game it tries to be.
Regardless of my handful of complaints, the fact is that Momodora grabbed me and never let go. From start to finish, I was in love with the world, the combat, the easter eggs, and nearly everything in between.
Chaos Code: New Sign of Catastrophe thankfully does not live up to its subtitle at all. This re-release of a re-release builds up on everything that came before it, fleshing out the experience into something worthy of your attention, whether you're a hardcore fighter or a casual button-masher. Some wonky writing and poor visuals dampen the experience somewhat, but if you can look past that and fancy some classic KOF style fighting game action, this is the game for you.
"...the absolute best way to experience these iconic games."
As a spiritual successor to Firefly Diary, A Rose in the Twilight excels in nearly every way. The simple art style of the game makes the gruesome events of the game even more striking, and you feel for this mysterious, troubled girl and her equally mysterious golem companion, as they traverse death traps and monster mazes in search of answers. It’s a carefully constructed narrative that never once feels hindered or neutered by the lack of direct dialogue. Despite a few encounters that were too vague for my tastes, the puzzles and challenges you face in the game are satisfying and difficult in just the right way. It all comes together in a wonderful package with a few stray flaws, but they hardly end up detracting from an otherwise beautiful experience.
Story of Seasons has a wealth of addictive and detailed gameplay mechanics, and the focus on a strong gameplay loop with plenty of wiggle room is executed flawlessly. What it boasts in gameplay, however, is lost when it comes to bland writing, ho-hum visuals, and music that I often found myself muting. There’s some fun to be had here if you’re interested in romance and characters, despite these flaws. If you’re more interested in the farm management and agricultural gameplay, though, there’s an endless amount of fun to be had here.
I loved Atelier Firis. It features my favourite group of characters in an Atelier game, while the vast, open world environments add something unique over the rest of the series, with a huge amount of options and quests to explore. Unfortunately, it isn’t until you pass the time restricted first half of the game after dozens of hours of playtime that you’ll truly be able to appreciate any of this. Combining timed quests with free exploration is an interesting idea, but its flawed execution ruins leads to some awkward pacing. Atelier fans and curious newcomers will still have an amazing time, as long as you don’t let the intimidating timer put a damper on what should be a magical experience.
Berserk and the Band of the Hawk is the pinnacle of musou games, as far as I’m concerned. Omega Force and Koei Tecmo have experimented with the formula for years, and everything they’ve learned and perfected has led up to this game. Berserk Musou gives you the addictive, outrageous hack-and-slash combat musou games have had for ages. It gives you the unique characters and varied mission structures that musou games have only had in the last few years. And on top of that it gives you a gripping, mature, and masterful narrative that a musou game has never had. Until now.
Tales of Berseria feels like a Tales game made just for me. There’s so many games in the series now, and I’ll never play them all, but the characters and the narrative and the combat mechanics of Berseria just click with all of my tastes so well. For some, the lack of gameplay innovation might be a turn off, but for me, a classic Tales gameplay system combined with a unique narrative led to a fantastic experience. Fans both new and old would be doing a disservice to themselves if they didn’t check this game out.
With the release of Yakuza 0, a smash hit franchise in Japan has its biggest chance yet of becoming a smash hit overseas, too. Yakuza 0 is not only an achievement in video game storytelling, but it’s the best this franchise has ever felt, looked, and played.
Fate/Extella will be a hard sell for most fans of the franchise. If you come into this expecting a setting, cast or narrative similar to any of the anime, you might be left disappointed and confused. It’s still a fun, addictive game with the flashy combat you’d expect from a Warriors-style game, but you might have to tune out the story in order to enjoy it. In a franchise where story is so key, that’s a huge bummer.
Atelier Shallie is a great entry in the series. I really enjoyed all of the characters, and the Life Task system is a fun take on quests and story progression. In those ways, I even like it more than Atelier Sophie. Unfortunately, so much of my love for this game is ruined by its choppy frame rate on PS Vita. If this were simply on PS3 or PS4, it would be a nearly flawless experience. As it stands, Atelier Shallie is the best version of the game available in terms of content, but having to suffer through a poorly optimised experience for those benefits is too steep a cost.