Miguel Moran's Reviews
DNF Duel is a ridiculous fighting game in the best way possible. Simple inputs and meaty one-button attacks provide an easy entryway for beginners, but the advanced defensive mechanics and powerful properties of your attacks create fast & frenzied action that I can't get enough of. More importantly, the simplified inputs don't sacrifice the skill-ceiling - this game is full of depth and a ton of fun even at the highest level of play.
Neon White is a love letter to turn-of-the-decade internet weirdos. It's full of rule-of-cool anime nostalgia, ear-shredding electronic music, and dialogue ripped straight out of my group chats. It's a genuine game made for an audience rarely prioritised, but even if you don't fit the archetypical person this game was made for, you're still in for the most stylish and satisfying action-platformer I've ever experienced.
Cotton Fantasy is a beautiful love-letter to the best parts of an iconic, decades-old shoot-em-up franchise. The characters are cuter than ever, the shooting is funner than ever, and the wide variety of play styles and bonus stages to master makes this a game worth returning to plenty of times over.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising has a slow and snore-worthy opening hour, but hiding behind that repetitive introduction is an incredible blend of high-octane 2.5D combat and rewarding resource gathering gameplay. The icing on the cake, though, is the Marvel Cinematic Universe-worthy parade of character cameos and appearances that promise some of the many faces you'll be battling alongside (or maybe even against) once Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes comes out.
Chrono Cross is an incredible game that has been deserving a remaster for far too long. It's a shame that, after all these years, it had to arrive in such a sorry state. The Radical Dreamers Edition does some minor work in improving and upgrading the experience, but with such poor optimisation, it's a headache to enjoy the experience. Longtime fans might be able to forgive the issues and savour the incredible visual novel side-story Radical Dreamers, but a game as iconic as this deserves better.
Phantom Breaker: Omnia has addictive gameplay and a shocking amount of depth. The blend of simple attack inputs and advanced fight systems creates a beautiful blend. Aesthetic issues like inconsistent character art are easy to overlook if you're just here to fight some friends - but controller input issues and a command list buried five menus deep are big blunders that I doubt anyone could easily overlook.
Rune Factory 5 takes a few missteps, for sure - the clunky framerate and a lifeless town being the biggest of them – but it's the kind of fantasy farming experience I've been clamouring for ever since the last game came out. The routine of tending your farm, clobbering some goblins, and giving your spouse a bunch of gifts is as addictive as ever. Even if this isn't the most polished entry in the series, it's absolutely a welcome return for the series that fans will eat up.
GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon is a gorgeous game with solid side-scrolling combat, but its genre shift to the roguelike form hasn't paid off. The progression system is slow and the upgrades you obtain are pretty deal, leading to a roguelike experience that doesn't do enough to incentivise sticking with it for very long.
Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream is an absolute gift. Sophie is just as charming and inspiring as ever, and even though the story tacks on more dimensional time-travel drama than I would've cared for, it's just as touching and cozy of an experience as the first Atelier Sophie. Gathering, crafting, and battling are all plenty of fun too, and flooded with enough layers of mechanics that it's easy to pick an area you want to focus on and purely master that one element of the game. By looking to the past, this surprise sequel has delivered a promising vision of the future of the Atelier series.
Ultimately, Windjammers 2 is an ultra-refined version of the original disc-throwing experience, but without any kind of unlockables, progression, or non-competitive reason to return to the game, it may not provide enough for anyone who isn't already a hardcore series fan.
Clockwork Aquario was made for a very specific crowd of people, by an incredibly passionate team. Obviously a short and simple arcade platformer like this isn't going to be a smash hit today, but there are still plenty of people out there who clamor for old-school '90s arcade bliss. If you're one of those people, then Clockwork Aquario is the game for you. It's short and easy, but fun and beautiful. An arcade classic that was almost lost to time, and I'm so happy that it wasn't.
Wolfstride is the rule-of-cool - it's a game all about vibes and style and sick robots, and it never gets old or feels out-of-touch. That hefty amount of style certainly carries the game through it's slower moments, but those are also smartly broken up by some of the most interesting turn-based battles I've seen in an RPG. There are rough spots to Wolfstride, for sure, but it's the coolest game I've played in years, and it absolutely knows it.
Blue Reflection: Second Light is an improvement over the original in every way. It's a brilliant blend of action and storytelling, where both side complement each other perfectly. Some of the side systems like stealth and facility building are a bit flawed, but the meat of the game is divine – incredible combat, memorable characters, and a stunning soundtrack make this a must-play for any JRPG enthusiast.
The Good Life is another flawed yet fascinating gem from Swery65. It's a weird world full of unforgettable characters, and even when the gameplay grows a bit tiring or repetitive, it's worth all the photo quests and fetch missions in the world to see that next bonkers twist in the story.
Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars is the hyper-specific and ultra-niche crossover game I never thought I'd get. It's a delight to see the Senran Kagura crew after so long, and it's a blast to see the Neptunia girls in what is easily the most fun and satisfying to play spinoff in the series. The lack of extra features and watered down story leave something to be desired, but if this is the first of many games, then it's a promising new direction for both series.
This Gleylancer re-release is full of meaty gameplay enhancements that make it one of the most engaging and easy-to-enjoy classic shmup experiences you'll have on modern consoles.
Aragami 2 is a huge departure from the original game. In exchanging the linear narrative-driven stealth experience for an open-ended co-op mission adventure, Lince Works has created a game that feels just as flawed as the original, but has a lot more charm in it's small moments and simplicity. Repetitive missions and enemies make it hard to get engrossed with the game for long periods of time, but as a stealth action game to hop into for quick little bursts, Aragami 2 can be pretty fun.
I can't imagine anybody was clamouring for it, but I'm still happy El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron was ported to PC. It's a shame when games are lost to time, and even though this one has some clunky combat and repetitive gameplay, it's still one of the most artistically inventive and stunningly original games of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 era.
Tales of Arise reinvigorates the magic of the long-running series. A franchise that long rested on its established laurels has been refreshingly upgraded and reinvented, resulting in one of the most polished and jaw-dropping JRPGs I've played in a long time. It's an exciting new chapter for the Tales series that won't be soon forgotten.
No More Heroes 3 is the joyride fans have been waiting for.