Although it attempts to take a massive step forward, Dynasty Warriors 9 ultimately fails to deliver an open world worth exploring. Thankfully, smacking around waves of enemies is as delightful as ever.
Although Shining Resonance Refrain is enjoyable and the battle system provides some fun, its story and presentation don't break any new ground. At the end of the day, it's just another JRPG in a sea of similar games.
Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner MARS is a solid remaster with spiffy HD visuals and high-quality audio, but these updates can't cover the fact that it's a PlayStation 2 game at its core.
Although it attempts to try some new things to set it apart from other Soulslike games, Code Vein ultimately feels like just another wannabe in an increasingly crowded genre. But anime fans who love attractive, moody vampires will adore it.
Although it's super clunky and very unpolished, there's a weird charm to One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows. It may not satisfy brawler aficionados or hardcore OPM fanatics, but it should amuse those who want to experience life as a flamboyant superhero.
Although the recruitment system provides a few hours of entertainment, Watch Dogs: Legion feels like a series of systems masquerading as an open-world adventure game. Compared to the first two entries, Legion is a massive step backward, both in terms of story and execution. This is paint-by-numbers Ubisoft on autopilot.
Although World of Final Fantasy Maxima adds some content for the hardest of the die-hard fans, there's not nearly enough in this DLC package to justify its price.
Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness and the Secret Hideout feels like a massive step backward, both in terms of gameplay and story. Although GUST attempted to inject some real-world themes into this tale, it's unfortunately just more of the same.
Torchlight III, while clearly wearing the franchise's skin like a badge of honor, never hits the marks of the previous entries. This is a very basic ARPG that frequently shows its free-to-play roots, and in a market overflowing with action-packed role-playing games, being a mediocre sequel isn't going to win you any favors -- especially from hardcore fans.
Fans of the original Sega Genesis titles will probably find a lot to like about ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove. The rest of us, unfortunately, will need to fight off waves of annoyance and irritation while trying to determine what all the fuss is about.
Although Agony offers a vivid, grotesque, and very disturbing glimpse into the bowels of Hell, it doesn't offer much in the way of polished, coherent gameplay.
Unresponsive and loaded with framerate issues, Super Neptunia RPG isn't for anyone other than hardcore Hyperdimension fans who desperately need something to play until the next mainline installment comes jiggling downline the assembly line.
New Gundam Breaker feels unfinished. The combat system doesn't work, the visual novel is stale and uninspired, and the dating sim doesn't fit. In short: It's a pretty terrible game.
With the exception of the story, everything about this ill-conceived Front Mission spin-off feels totally broken, horribly dated, and entirely unloved. Left Alive works better as an unpolished frustration simulator than an action/stealth game.
Thanks to the choppy framerate, horrible combat, and forgettable characters and story, Arc of Alchemist fails to elicit anything more than a shrug and a sigh. Unless you're a hardcore Idea Factory and Compile Heart fan, stay far, far away from this one.