There's a Shakespearean love story that has cursed a village, a wayward king waiting for the right opportunity to get rid of the crown, a fantasy world modelled on our own, and a story that has decisively influenced Japanese fiction: Dragon Quest III is an invaluable piece of history, and this remake is the best way to play it. Provided you are able to stomach a dose of antiquated mechanics.
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The atmosphere of Metro Awakening is extraordinary, skilfully realised thanks to an absolutely fine setting and great care for tension. The linearity of the path and a certain repetitiveness of generally already seen mechanics risk trivialising the whole thing, also in the light of the not exactly low price. If you are able to turn a blind eye, however, you will be rewarded by a plot worth experiencing, especially if you love the dystopia created by Dmitry Glukhovsky.
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Mario & Luigi: Brothership is a game geared towards youngsters, but that doesn't mean that hardcore RPG lovers should necessarily ignore it: with a volcanic dose of gimmickry that will get more than a few laughs and an enchanting art direction, the game is the ideal bedtime story to end the Switch's extraordinary career with a bang.
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surprising narrative that has no problem touching on even rather delicate themes is the basis for creating an essential adventure for every lover of Japanese role-playing games. Metaphor ReFantazio is a sort of wild card that excels in every category.
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Anarchic, exciting and at times ingenious: The Legend of Zelda Echoes of Wisdom is an adventure that will test your brains without overstressing your fingertips. It doesn't last long and hardcore gamers will perhaps complete it too quickly, but the journey is sensational and enveloped in the usual 'made in Nintendo' magic that makes it a must-have in any case.
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It could be argued that this is a collection of roms and that, in one way or another, the PC community has found a way to challenge each other online for years, but the rich dose of extras and the presence of rollback and ranked matches alone is enough to give the collection an edge, not to mention a great way to legally own seven excellent games. To be had, hoping that sales will prompt Capcom to challenge Marvel superheroes again in the near future.
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Team Asobi turns a convincing tech demo into a full-fledged game with top marks, again showing all developers out there the potential of haptic feedback. Entertaining, full of secrets and framed by an impressive audio-visual presentation, Astro Bot is a winner, partially limited by a moderate longevity and a series of facilitations that will not appeal to everyone. If you plan to explore its universe far and wide in search of secrets after watching the credits roll, make it yours immediately.
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Tengo Project strikes again, this time with its most ambitious work yet. A far cry from being a simple update of an old classic, Shadow of the Ninja - Reborn is a full-fledged remake made with inventiveness and respect for the source material, a true rewrite of an eight-bit game that has passed somewhat under the radar in the West. It could not have received a better redemption.
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Emio - the Smiling Man has a good story to tell, held hostage by mechanics from the early days of Japanese interactive fiction that refuse to give way to fresher, more current game design ideas. It's a bit of a trial-and-error fairground and excessive verbiage, but if that doesn't scare you off (there's a demo to try out that might suit you) you'll be rewarded with an investigative tale of unquestionable value.
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Volgarr the Viking II is not so much a definite step forward from the first chapter as a refinement of mechanics and level design. The challenge is always very high and the limited number of credits before 'screwing up' the game is a rather unpleasant idea, but if you're looking for the atmosphere that made classics like Rastan great it might be the game for you, provided you have as much patience as your joypad skills.
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Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition is a game tailor-made for speedrunners, and played alone it risks losing its appeal in a short time. It's a creature made for a well-thought-out competitive ecosystem, which with online challenges could keep the interest of its select audience high for a long time, or at least until the arrival of an eventual SNES Edition. Perhaps not for everyone, but intriguing if the challenge doesn't scare you.
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Parasol Stars is still a fun and colourful platform game, an heirloom from a simpler and more innocent era that is worth preserving. The low price and online leaderboards are a good incentive to embark on this journey into the past, minus a somewhat lazy and gritty adaptation.
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Trails Through Daybreak is a rather classic role-playing game and will delight Nihon Falcom fans, if only to inaugurate yet another narrative strand in a now endless dynasty. The combat system isn't quite as polished as the one seen in Trails of Cold Steel, however, and the plot likes to keep the pace a bit too slow, but as a start there's nothing to complain too much about, thanks also to the charisma of a protagonist like Van and an intriguing game world as only Falcom is capable of creating.
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Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance breaks the shackles that initially bound it to a far too modest hardware to finally shine on a range of systems capable of enhancing its visionary beauty. On top of that, a resounding series of additions makes the handling of demons even deeper, while an alternative story line will keep even those who lost sleep over the Switch version happy.
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Wizardry Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is yet another masterstroke from Digital Eclipse, a developer capable of breathing new life into classics with incredible talent. Apart from its fundamental historical value, however, Wizardry is a game that is now rather limited in its mechanics and cadence, classifying itself as an artefact suitable mainly for digital archaeologists eager to rediscover it. It would have been great if it had been accompanied by the wealth of historical notions to which Digital Eclipse has now accustomed us.
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: It might seem like a classic case of quantity overshadowing quality, but in reality Samurai Warriors 4 DX is a decent conversion of one of the most popular chapters among Musou fans, enhanced by a hefty dose of DLC. It shows its age in several respects but retains an exciting and entertaining soul, which will finally delight those who have been longing for the game's arrival on PC since 2014.
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Endless Ocean Luminous is not the dream sequel I always hoped for to Arika's beloved submarine series. The change of direction has favoured the co-operative component, but has mutilated the original experience of many interesting and distinctive features. The purely educational aspect remains, and the possibility of organising dives together with such a large number of friends is not to be underestimated, but I wouldn't recommend the game to those who are only interested in reliving the fascinating sensations of the original chapters on Wii.
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Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes is a good, deliberately old-fashioned JRPG with all the pros and cons. As a love letter to Suikoden it hits the mark despite some uncertainties, but the biggest problem at the moment are the bugs we encountered during the review, some very serious and impossible to ignore. Wait patiently for the bugfixes.
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Dragon's Dogma 2 is an extremely addictive open-world action game, with a combat system that is virtually flawless and has a huge map full of secrets to explore. It follows a philosophy all its own and for this it deserves to be rewarded, but the optimization problems that plague the PC version tested during the review do not allow it to achieve excellence, at least for the moment.
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Unicorn Overlord is incredible, a deep and affordable strategy game that resurrects and updates the formula of a divisive classic like Ogre Battle, dormant since the days of Person of Lordly Caliber. Beautiful to look at and listen to, magnetic and impossible to leave behind: it's all right, apart from a few minor flaws listed in the body of the review. They really don't make games like this any more, so don't miss it.
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