For all my complaints, Aragami 2 does pull off making you feel like a ninja rather well. Planning just the perfect route to ambush everyone one by one or slip in and out without disturbing anyone felt really satisfying. It manages to tread that fine line of letting you get away with more than is realistic while still making a perfect run challenging that makes a great stealth game. I just can’t help but feel they took a few gambles with changing things up from the original, and took a step backwards as a result.
Fuga: Melodies of Steel is perhaps one of the most impactful games I’ve ever played. The story and gameplay both serve to complement each other, with the story adding so much importance to your decisions, but with the horrible impact of firing the cannon entirely within your power to prevent if you pay attention to all your options. I don’t know if my experience will match everyone else’s, but I sincerely and genuinely felt something from this, and sometimes it just feels good to have something connect with you even as it hurts.
Whether you’re an old fan of the series, looking for a fun visual novel about courtroom intrigue, or just saw a few of the series memes flying around and want to know what it’s all about, you owe it to yourself to pick up The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles.
While it’s true the target audience is a bit niche, at its core Winds of Change is a thrilling fantasy visual novel about the oppressed and downtrodden finding hope and doing everything they can to change their world for the better, a story everyone can enjoy.
At its core, it has a plot they seem to be trying to do something original with, and a combat system that makes blocking more engaging. They could have done so much more, but at the end of the day I cannot recommend getting this.
Everhood is nothing if not memorable. There’s flaws here and there, but they pale in comparison to the fun and unique time I had. It’s not a very long game, taking around six hours or so for the true ending, but there’s plenty of different choices to make and self-imposed challenges to try.
Nioh 2 is a refinement of an already great game. The biggest flaw in my opinion of the previous title was that it was difficult to hop into. Truly getting to know a moveset required an investment that wasn’t always easy to recover, and trying to put together a build felt foolish for anything you’d replace down the line. Now it feels a lot more open to experimentation.
It feels like someone put a lot of heart into Habroxia 2, but heart only goes so far. It’s a decent enough attempt at a side-scrolling shooter, but lacks the polish I’d expect from a game these days. A bit more balance considerations, some more context for why you’re fighting the things you are, and some longer music tracks, and it would be an alright retro throwback. As it is, it’s a bit mediocre.
Tadpole Treble Encore is certainly what I would call “content dense.” It’s not a long game by any stretch – one of the unlockables is a mode where you go through the whole game in one life with no saving – but it delivers a lot in the time that it has.
I really think of all the ways to adapt Animal Farm, this is definitely one of the best ways. Actually making the decisions and watching corrupt leadership undermine them, or being the one to justify sacrificing the “lesser” people for the “greater good,” really emphasizes how easily selfishness ruins a perfectly good dream.
It has the weighty action and focus on learning enemy patterns to punish, but at eight hours to beat it’s relatively short and is lacking depth in many of its systems. At $30 and with an easier learning curve this is a good starter for anyone who hasn’t played this style of game, but veteran players may find the experience underwhelming.
While I wouldn’t list Fallen Angel as my game of the year, it’s definitely entertaining while it lasts. It’s hard to enough to be satisfying, has a fantastic variety of areas, and the combat is fast and snappy. There’s a few flaws here and there, namely in a few minor bugs and the combat stagnating partway through, but it’s definitely worth the asking price.
I know some people put a lot of work into this and they may even be proud of it, but the simple truth of the matter is I did not have fun. I didn’t even feel the satisfaction of overcoming a challenge.
Radical Rabbit Stew isn’t a long game, it isn’t a super complex game, but it IS a fun game, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it. The levels are perfect little bite-sized chunks I can pick up whenever, and it hits that mix of challenging enough to be engaging without being frustratingly so.
It’s not without the occasional hiccup, and some of the puzzles could do with a few more hints, but overall? Song of Horror is one of the best horror games I’ve played this year.
I’ll be honest, this doesn’t feel like something that should have been released yet. It feels more like an early build of a game still in development. The visuals need some polish, combat needs larger hit detection for melee and dodging…it really needs a lot more love.
This game is exceptionally short, at about an hour for a playthrough, but it spends that hour well. You’re given enough time to get to know the cast, explore the city, and leave once the city’s secrets have been laid bare and the remaining answers lie beyond in a later volume.
It’s clear [Super Sexy Software] tried. I love the art direction, they tried to pull off something more original towards the end, and the little optional things you can interact with are fun and whimsical. I’d love to see where they go in the future, but I cannot deny that this is a fairly flawed title.
Overall, I’d say if you haven’t played Saints Row IV before to give it a shot. I honestly had a blast going through this. If you have, well, the novelty of having it portable might not justify the price tag. I have heard from Volition that the bugs ARE being worked on but, at the moment, there’s no definite time frame for when the DLC will actually be available for Switch players, and I can’t help but be a little disappointed at that.
Bubble Bobble 4 Friends is a pleasant callback to yesteryear, with just enough changed to keep it from simply retreading old ground. It is a little short if one charges through, points be damned, but it’s still several hours long at least.