Grant Dotter
If you want to play a non-serious “simulator,” go play Goat Simulator. As crazy as that game is, you can actually get some entertainment out of it, and it somehow comes closer to simulating what being a goat might be like than this game comes to actually simulating speaking.
First, you’re paying $10 for a story you can finish in a couple hours or less[...]making it a terrible value proposition in my eyes. Second, even if you’re of the mind to see that as worthwhile, you’re buying a mediocre-at-best incomplete experience that, in all likelihood, will remain incomplete indefinitely.
Every minute I played this game was just a reminder that I still need to play through the updated classic, Metroid Prime Remastered (I’ve just been too busy!). While I simply can’t recommend this game even to the most forgiving fans of the genre it so badly wants to be a part of, if you want to put “metroidvania” and “first-person” together, there really is nothing better than the Metroid Prime series. Go play those instead of this.
What else is there to say? I guess the game works, with little to no bugs, which is good, at least that aspect is polished. But there’s little else good I can say about it. At best it’s a very boring platformer with no charm or substance, and at worst it’s throw-down-your-controller frustrating. The enemies are sparse and boring, and it takes too long before you gain new abilities that would give any depth whatsoever to the game. Unfortunately, I really find myself unable to come up with a reason to recommend this to anyone.
The game is wonderful artistically, but it just has far too many problems right now to recommend. The developers, Gato Studio, seem to recognize this and are preparing updates, but once again I find myself reminding game studios how badly things can go if you release something before it is ready. It is really hard to gain back the trust of players after you lose it.
This game is of a genre that is very popular in Japan, with many legitimate good games that don’t come Stateside, but whether you live in Japan or not, I think you have far better options than this.
The game itself is competently executed, and if I try really hard to ignore the rip-off side of things, I would call it a decent game. But even then it has some pretty significant flaws. So while I did derive some enjoyment from it, due to its rough edges (among other things) it’s really hard to recommend to anyone unless you’re a die-hard tactical RPG fan who doesn’t want to own a Nintendo system and/or doesn’t like the Fire Emblem or even the Final Fantasy Tactics IPs. Which is unfortunate, because I really wanted to be able to; there are not a lot of good games in this genre that are available on PC that I can simply name offhand.
A lot of effort seems to have gone into certain aspects, such as the level design. But the game is held back by some poor gameplay design decisions that incur frustration, a UI and controls that feel rudimentary, a multiplayer feature they seem to not want you to use, and a lack of inspiration. If this game cooked for another six months to a year, the devs could take it beyond just having the basics to being something truly special. But as it stands right now, this game does not really offer enough satisfaction and enjoyment to be worth its asking price.
While I did enjoy quite a lot of my time in Battlefield 2042 (especially in the new Hazard Zone mode), there are a mix of gameplay, technical, and functionality issues of varying severity that really hamper the experience. This game is somewhat recommendable to Battlefield fans and those with a general interest in military-style shooters, but there is a strong chance that the game’s current flaws are going to really limit the potential for many. Because of this, if you’re considering this game, you may want to wait for a patch or two before you deploy to the battlefield.
I, AI really doesn’t push any boundaries or try anything new at all. It’s a budget title and I can cut it some slack for that. But I feel like the only people who could enjoy this are those that spent hours upon hours playing Space Invaders, Galaga, or R-Type back in the 80s, whom might get enough of a nostalgia trip from this to go play those games again. Anyone else will be reaching for the deck of cards pretty quickly.
REKT is a game that has some potential, but ultimately suffers from being very light on content while seemingly missing every chance to realize that potential. If you like the idea of playing a slimmed-down version of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater meets Rocket League with cars instead of skateboards, you can certainly get some enjoyment out of this. But I think that’s a pretty niche audience for a game in today’s market.
I’m very torn with Oninaki. For a studio selling itself as an RPG machine, they did a real poor job with the story aspects of the game. Then we have a super fun and engaging combat system, tempered by a questionably designed interface, but we still have a beautiful audiovisual experience.
Unfortunately, I feel that while it’s a very good *simulation*, it isn’t a very good *game*, and I can really only recommend this to the hardcore skate fans who don’t like all the arcade-style skate games out there. While I did have some fun with it, there was just way too much frustration with even basic elements that shouldn’t be as difficult to understand as they were.
That said, the game unfortunately feels more like a DLC patch than a sequel title. And in spite of that feeling, they really didn’t improve any of the things that one might have complained about in the original game. Its release also kills off the community for the original game, so if you are a hardcore veteran of the original, it feels even more like you have to pay full price for a patch just to be able to play again, and a patch that doesn’t give you everything you wanted at that.
If you don’t expect too much from it, you’ll definitely get your money’s worth of entertainment. But the game is at times sloppy and unprofessional, even for an indie title, which does harm the experience to a noticeable degree.
That being said, it is not an easy game and, for those with a more casual interest in sims, it may be hard to get into. If you get past the difficulty and are able to learn all the subtle nuances of managing and optimizing a supply chain all the way from natural resources to parts to complete products, you will have a good time with this.
The game does offer keyboard/mouse controls. However, on top of being convoluted and confusing at first, there is no documentation for it anywhere. Button glyphs and ADA’s voice (Jehuty’s computer voice) all reference the controller only. Tutorials only reference the controller and make no reference to the keyboard/mouse controls, and to top it all off, they can’t be configured.
Together with the lack of voice acting and other minor flaws, it’s hard to justify the game’s rather high price tag, as its production values just don’t seem to be in line with titles at this price point. There is some fun to be had here if you are fond of classic JRPGs – and I would recommend it for such people – but I would wait for a good sale before considering this one.
The only issue, really, is I think it is quite the specific niche for a game to fill. Unless you’re really into this game’s subject matter (Hey, if you like decorating housing in Final Fantasy XIV, you might just be one of these people), you’re probably going to pass on this. The game does try its best to give you the full experience without making it feel too much like real work, but for me at least, I spend enough time cleaning that I don’t really need to do it in a video game. Having said that though, I cannot deny that the experience is well-polished, and absolutely worth a buy if being a house flipper is your personal fantasy.
So: Do I recommend it? If you like games with anime looks, and you feel like the popular MMOs today are just too clunky for your taste, Tower of Fantasy looks to be a solid option. It’s kind of rough around the edges, but more than makes up for that with the fun factor and potential for long term playability. Perhaps not for everyone, but it is a surprisingly good entry into the F2P MMO space, especially among those with a mobile version.