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Gianluca Arena


Favorite Games:

281 games reviewed
76.7 average score
79 median score
60.1% of games recommended
Sep 30, 2022

The Diofield Chronicle is a low-stakes bet from Square Enix and Lancarse: a new IP that tries something new in a very conservative genre. We liked the end result, even if far from perfect, and we'd like also to see a better funded sequel in two or three years.

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Sep 27, 2022

We're afraid no one missed the games included in this third entry of the Prinny Presents series: they're basic SRPG in the vein of the first Disgaea titles, and there's no reason to choose them over any other main entry in the Disgaes or Fire Emblem series.series

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It's a shame that NIS and Falcom both decided to bring Trails from Zero in Europe only after the vastly superior Trails of Cold Steel series. This way a very solid if formulaic JRPG as this does not get the attention it deserves, due also to a lazy remastering process.

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Murder at Nathria Castle isn't a perfect expansion, and a part of the community is still protesting the monetization strategies linked to the Battle Mode Pass, but it's one of the most compelling in several years, thanks to the breath of fresh air brought into the metagame and two major gameplay additions, such as places and the keyword Infusion.

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7.9 / 10.0 - Soul Hackers 2
Sep 1, 2022

Even with its bland dungeon design and lack of new ideas, Soul Hackers 2 is still an enjoyable and recommendable turn based JRPG, not on par with Atlus' best works but still better than many similar products. Just don't go in expecting a new masterpiece such as Persona 5 or SMT V.

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Jul 26, 2022

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is the pinnacle of more than twenty years making extraordinary JRPGS from Monolith Soft. Not even Switch hardware limitations could restrain tetsuya Takahashi's vision. Long live this way of making games, long live Monolith Soft.

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8.2 / 10.0 - Live A Live
Jul 21, 2022

Live A Live is short and sweet, a surprisingly modern twist on JRPGs that Square and Nintendo luckily decided to bring back from the dead. it won't probably win any award for its narrative and surely there are far more vast and deep JRPGs out there, but this is nonetheless a very good choice for japanese role playing games lovers.

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While it's not Uchikoshi at its best, Ai The Somnium Files The Nirvana Initiative is still a Uchikoshi game, and, as such, it's a well written adventure/visual novel, with quirky characters and a plot with some twist and turns.

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Jun 21, 2022

Omega Force is really upping the ante with their latest licensed musou: Fire Emblem Warriors Three Hopes is a very solid and enjoyable musou-rts-rpg hybrid, and we liked it more than we anticipated we could.

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Jun 6, 2022

Vampire The Masquerade Swansong sticks to the source material very closely, adding very little to distinguish itself from many other adventure games, except for some bugs and inconsistencies. Only suited for long time World of Darkness fans.

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6.4 / 10.0 - Dolmen
May 19, 2022

Dolmen bites far more than it can chew, trying to merge the melee combat of any From Software game with the gunplay of Remnant from The Ashes: the result is an average game that tries to accomplish too many things at once.

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6.3 / 10.0 - Source of Madness
May 18, 2022

Some good ideas and a deep love for the work of the immortal H.P. Lovecraft are not enough to recommend Source of Madness, since there are far better roguelites on all the platforms the game hit.

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May 17, 2022

The Centennial Case is a unique experiment, and a solid one at that, with a good central plot and a few missteps too, first of all its high price. A good choice for the visual novel fans.

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Our judgment for the moment is positive, albeit with some reservations.

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Even if this Radical Dreamers Edition is just good and not great, Chrono Cross is such an essential JRPG that everyone with even a vague interest in the genre should go and download it as soon as possible. let's hope Chrono Trigger and Tactics Ogre are the next in line for remasters or remakes.

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Apr 5, 2022

Considering how well 13 Sentinels runs on Nintendo Switch, you have definitely no more excuses for not playing this little gem.

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8 / 10.0 - Weird West
Mar 31, 2022

Weird West is smaller in comparison to Colantonio's previous games like Prey and Dishonored 2, but it's nonetheless ambitious and leaves a lot of choice in the hands of the player. A little gem that needs just a little bit of extra polish to shine even brighter

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Mar 27, 2022

.hack//G.U. Last Recode is extremely enjoyable on Nintendo Switch, despite some technical compromises needed.

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6.7 / 10.0 - Crystar
Mar 25, 2022

Crystar is not a particularly brilliant JRPg, but it's a decent one, with a good story and interesting characters. It's a pity, then, that the dungeon design is very bland and the combat system feels boring after ten or so hours.

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7.4 / 10.0 - Rune Factory 5
Mar 22, 2022

There was probably no need to fix something that was never broken in the first place, and so we think that Rune Factory 4 Special is still a better game, but nonetheless this fifth episode marks the beginning of a new era of games on Nintendo Switch. Let's just hope that the hard edges of the new graphical engine will be softened out soon.

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