Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival is probably not a game you should buy.
Okay, that's a lie. The only real incentive I had to continue on after I had seen everything the game had to offer in the first 30 minutes or so was the fact that I foolishly volunteered to review it. Guns Up! is a dull game. It's repetitive, it's tedious, it's digital Ambien. If the thought of a console version of Clash of Clans excites you, you'll probably have a blast with Guns Up! Me, I can't wait to delete this off my PS4.
Project X Zone 2 succeeds by following the simple sequel formula that many developers seem to ignore: use what worked with the first game and try to fix everything that didn't. This is flat out a better game than its predecessor. It's better paced, the action is more eye-catching, and the story is told in such a way that you don't have to be familiar with the properties covered to enjoy it. Plus it has Segata Sanshiro and his amazing Sega Saturn. Let's see those losers in Hoshido and Nohr try and match that.
This one is for fans only; and good on Compile Heart and Idea Factory for that. So to the Nep-heads who have enjoyed the series' take on the console wars and its obsession with pudding and boobs: I can't think of a reason why you shouldn't pick this one up. To everyone else, there's probably a better RPG you should spend your time and money on.
In trailers and screenshots, Sadame certainly looks the part of a long-lost SNES classic. It's not. The yearning desire of my inner child to relive those glorious golden years of gaming is in no way satiated by this repetitive adventure. Instead, the radiance of that era is dimmed just a touch as it reminds of the humdrum games from my youth that are usually invisible in the rose-tinted rearview mirror of the mind. And just as I came to forget about those games, so too shall I soon forget about Sadame.
I had fun with Senran Kagura Estival Versus. The beat-em-up combo system is just as enjoyable today as it was in the first game, and there is something quite rewarding about studying the move sets of the new characters and also throwing them into a sexy diorama to "study" something else about them. I wouldn't say its the best entry in the series with the excessive use of the break mechanic and the story does the game no favors, but the combination of flashy action and fan-service kept me satisfied throughout.
Trillion: God of Destruction isn't a game, it's a job; and not a very good one. This isn't something that should be played at home but instead in a cubical, on a desk surrounded by unsigned TPS reports while Becky from accounting reminds you to sign Bill's birthday card before he goes home for the day. And while the company you work for may be interesting, the work you do is so mind-numbingly banal you can't help but wonder if your skills could be put to better use somewhere else.
Even with the slow grind, I have no reservations saying Stranger of Sword City is a damn fine dungeon crawler. It's challenging, it's beautiful to look at, and it kept me on my toes throughout the adventure as I walked the fine line between playing it smart and playing it dangerously. If this game can make a believer out of me, imagine what die-hard dungeon crawler fans will think of it.
But this review isn't about what other people might think, it's about what I think. To me, what matters most is if I had fun or not, and I had a lot of fun with Ray Gigant.
I never want to stop playing Pocket Card Jockey. This game hit me the same way Tetris hit millions around the world back in the 80s. In fact, I want this game to be the next Tetris. I want Pocket Card Jockey on every Nintendo system. I want it on the Wii U. I want it on the NX. I want it on the iPhone, Kindle Fire, Apple TV, Windows and TI-89 graphing calculator. I want it everywhere, just hook it to my veins. I'll admit it: I'm addicted to this game, and if you try to make me go to rehab I'll say neigh, neigh, neigh.
It would be easy for me not to recommend MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies. The game is smothered by a poor camera, an excess of short load screens, a forgettable campaign, simplistic missions, portions of undubbed dialog and an overall lack of polish. But even with all that, I still managed to have a bit of fun pulverizing the bad guys with a little help from some scantily clad girls online. Is it $40 fun? Hell no, but you should keep it in mind if ever it goes on sale and you've had your run of other, more superior hack-and-slashers.
In the buffet of 3DS RPGs, Langrisser Re:Incarnation Tensei is the day old, slimy tilapia Golden Corral employees forgot to take out. Other than the fact the game didn't crash on me, there isn't an iota of quality to be found. I knew I was going to have a rough go at it when I booted up the game and realized the developer switched the traditional roles of the "A" and "B" buttons for no goddamn reason. But that was only the tip of the poor execution iceberg that is Langrisser Re:Incarnation Tensei; a game I have no qualms calling the worst RPG I've ever played.
I'm not a fan of One Piece: Burning Blood and it's not because of the unfamiliar source material. The combat here just isn't that fun, and no amount of colorful anime action will change that.
Zero Time Dilemma is nothing short of a flawed masterpiece.
The Battle Cats POP! is a game that's as fun as it is weird. When it's not putting you in time out with the energy meter, it can be addictive as hell. Too much of its free-to-play roots are still present, but even with those elements it's still a worthwhile time killer.
I didn't think I would have this much fun with a casual rail shooter that uses touch controls, but Gal*Gun: Double Peace kept me engaged and entertained with its uncompromisingly Japanese high school antics.
But I guess that’s the rub of doing a review. If I stopped after my first playthrough, I wouldn’t be recommending it. With two under my belt, I recognize I could have had a great time with Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force had I just done the opposite of what all the characters told me to do. It’s quite the Jekyll and Hyde situation, one I can easily recommend to Compile Heart fans, but only endorse for non-fans on the stipulation they don’t listen to Tiara and Eryn.
Grand Kingdom is unlike any other tactical-RPG on the market that I know of. For $40, you're getting an adventure that can last you weeks if not months, though you may tire of it before you see everything it has to offer.
Though I wouldn't consider it the best entry in the series, I absolutely enjoyed my time with Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate. It's a beautiful, challenging quest with a pleasing soundtrack I wouldn't mind having in my iTunes. With all the love I have for it in mind, I don’t know if I can recommend the game to anyone who isn’t already familiar with the series. Even if you’ve played the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon spin-offs, this is another beast entirely. It’s a game you can play for 20 hours and feel like you didn’t make any progress at all. That’s a type of punishment some gamers just can’t handle. For me, it’s a type of punishment I can’t get enough of.
Let's be real: unless Nintendo and DeNA take this series to mobile, this is probably the last Style Savvy game we're going to get. If Style Savvy: Fashion Forward is the franchise's last hurrah, it certainly doesn't go out on a low note as it has the best fashion and is filled to the brim with stuff to do. But readjusting to a real time clock means changing the way I enjoy this series, and without the addictive draw of a short day and night cycle, I don't see this game taking dozens of hours of my time as past entries have done.