Sonar Beat feels like a throwaway mobile game (which I guess you can say it is, since it’s on iOS and Android as well) that was ported half-heartedly to PC for some inexplicable reason. The game is running only $2.49 at the time of writing, but if you have to subject yourself to this game’s music, use that money on the mobile versions. Avoid the Steam release at all costs.
Aside from the inital five minutes of gameplay proving interesting, and even then only if you’re playing the VR version, Stage Presence is a hard pass. The only thing keeping the score from bottoming out is that the game functions most of the time.
Look, I know many gamers like fanservice titles. I enjoy my fair share as well. However, if you’re not going to give me a well-written story or solid gameplay to go with it, then I might as well go watch some ecchi anime or just straight-up porn. Gun Gun Pixies offers little aside from its admittedly attractive (and very over the top) fanservice, and as a game, it really just isn’t worth anyone’s time.
The characters offer nothing to care for or get attached to and the plot’s pacing is an absolute mess, wrapping up without answering the majority of its own questions. The visual presentation is much the same, an interesting experiment that ends up being an eyesore.
Senran Kagura Reflexions is really nothing more than a sexed-up HD Rumble tech demo that will most likely leave you feeling more awkward than satisfied upon completion.
You know what? I’ll say it straight up – Tokyo Tattoo Girls is one of the worst games I’ve played so far this year. NIS America has brought us some absolutely amazing games in this latter half of 2017[...]and I truly have to wonder why they even optioned this game for a localization.
Overall, Clea goes for an unsettling style of horror and, at least for me, completely fails. The atmosphere never really “lands,” enemies are more frustrating than frightening, and I really just struggled to find the desire to even play this game.
Kandagawa Jet Girls completely misses the marks that this niche expects from its games. Even if the toned down fanservice is a ploy to bring in more general gamers, the weak racing mechanics aren’t going to keep them around for long. Give this one a pass.
Overall, Milky Way Prince feels like an art piece. An outlet for Redaelli to tell his story, and craft it such a way to communicate his feelings and experiences to the player. In its visual design, this work succeeds in spades. As a video game and visual novel, though, the full experience is weak. I was unable to connect to the story of Nuki and Sune, and the writing didn’t seem to want me to.
If plans to add more songs to the game pan out, and they’re released for free, Hatsune Miku VR might be worth a look in the future, if only for hardcore Vocaloid fans. As it stands right now, for both rhythm gamers and Miku aficionados, this game really isn’t worth your time or money.
As I said before, if you have no experience with the Corpse Party franchise, there’s nothing to debate here – do not play this game. For fans of the series, though, I still don’t think I’d recommend this game. Between the weak storytelling and pointless nature of the narrative, I can’t say that it’s worth your time.
What feels like an attempt at streamlining the Social RPG formula ends up creating a title that just isn’t fun to play. The ambitions of the story mostly fall flat, although there is a small spark of charm in some of the characters. Really, that would be enough to give the game a perfectly mediocre score. However, the sheer ineptitude of a text editing job and horrifying handling of what could’ve been beautiful graphics are major dealbreakers, driving this game down into the dirt.
With all of the great JRPGs that have been releasing lately, I see no real reason to seek out this title. It’s a game that imploded on its ambitions, creating a title that doesn’t really offer anything worth experiencing.
A soundtrack with a bit more effort put into it may have been able to help overcome the other issues. Unfortunately, the package as it is just isn’t a very good game.
Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters shows that not every experiment in gaming can be a success. For what its worth, the game is playable and functional, although the actual functions leave a lot to be desired.
...I find it difficult to actually give this game a recommendation, as I had a hard time even bringing myself to play through it. I would highly recommend checking out the soundtrack, though, as it is legitimately excellent.
What is offered here is interesting, if not perfect, and the artstyle presented is great. However, as a release priced at $12.99[...]for around 2 hours of playtime and no replayability, Resette’s Prescription is a difficult sell.
If you are able to look past (or sleep your way through) the menu-heavy portions, you may end up enjoying the other things Trillion has to offer. Taking the package as a whole, though, I can’t really say Trillion even reaches mediocre.
If I had to use one word to sum up all of the paragraphs above, it would be “boring.” Ashwalkers takes some intriguing prose and some truly difficult decisions and casts them all into a dull world design with tedious gameplay. The visuals and interactivity presented here do so little to prop up the relatively decent writing that I can’t help but wonder if this game would’ve been better off as a book instead.
Look, I’m fine with difficult games. The early Ys titles are some of my favorites, I love the Fire Emblem franchise, and I enjoyed the time I put into titles like Code Vein. In those games, though, at least it feels like you have a fighting chance, that if you screw up and die, it was completely your fault. Unto the End just wants to punish the player. It feels like it went too far off the deep end of “purposefully difficult game” and ended up in kaizo territory. The challenge here isn’t fun, it’s just annoying.