There are some really cool ideas here, and potentially a really good game hidden under a mess that seems like it needed several more months of playtesting and hammering things out. There are just too many things like a lack of polish, a mess of a UI, the camera is hard to control, and bugs/glitches make the experience frustrating. It is sad because, while there are some cool things in here, it simply is not ready for release at this point. It needed way more time actually making sure the core experience is enjoyable, rather than fighting through nearly everything except for enemies.
Technically competent, and surprisingly well done, the simple lack of depth prevents this from doing any better. It can actually be completed in a few hours at max. Having a friend or playing online can extend the fun, yet the lack of content becomes obvious fairly quickly. The developer has promised more updates, which will hopefully come through, as the game has a good base to work with.
The core of the game is a very old-school RPG/dungeon crawling experience, for all its positives and mostly negatives. Unless not having a map and spending hours trying to re-roll viable characters sounds like fun, this one is better off left alone. The anime portraits look nice, but they are just dressing on a framework of something that simply does not stack up to better options in the genre.
With the pedigree and ideas going into this, Phoenix Point should have been much, much better than it is. The cool ideas are overshadowed by ever-present bugs, glitches, and hiccups that constantly get in the way of the player. Even excusing these, the ideas and presentation come off as incredibly bland very soon into the adventure. Little customization, little options, and little reason to care about your soldiers or base, round out reasons this is in need of massive updates and overhauls if it is to be saved.
Big booties aside, the easiest way to sum up Atelier Ryza is: an absolutely great game framework, waiting for a game. The battles are interesting enough, the gathering okay, and the alchemy very good, but it all fails to connect on a purposeful or coherent level. With no driving narrative or reason, pretty rapidly the whole point becomes to simply battle, gather, alchemize, repeat; all of which fails to pull the player into something deep or meaningful. The is a great casual-friendly title, but it lacks any serious staying power.
Great graphics, a compelling experience, and overall heart, paint the general picture of this adventure game. While some aspects of the story go unexplored and the animal-shifting aspect largely goes under-utilized, these are not enough to distract from a positive experience. Gamers need to know going in that Lost Ember is a very casual-friendly experience, but one that is still well done. The only thing holding it back is a lack of truly diving into the mechanics presented, or truly investigating the story themes brought forth.
Showing clear evolution over the previous games, as well as including some of the best features from the fifth entry, this remake is very good for fans that might have missed this the first time, those who want to come back with everything included, or for even first time players. Even those not looking for the massive post-game grind, the main story is funny enough to earn a recommendation for JRPG fans on that merit alone. It is a great overall package.
It's hard to recommend this to any but the most hard-core and starved puzzle lovers. Despite its 'fun' graphics, the game does not have much charm, and the levels are repetitive and rely far too much on just trying random things until something finally works. Despite how fun older games like this once were, it does not stack up to modern puzzlers in the slightest.
A curious example of a title being both more refined, but also less good than its predecessor. The action is smoother, better, and overall much more engaging. Purely as a platformer it is great fun, can be picked up cheap, and is only marred by simplistic, one-way levels and its short length. As an entry it is inferior to its predecessor with the removal of various gear, crafting, and challenges, making it a one-trick pony.
They Are Billions does a lot of things great. The survival twist of a city-builder is unique, and lots of fun. Dealing with the huge waves is always as fun as it is stressful, including the huge final waves. Things that hold the game back are difficulty playing a computer game on console controls, and various UI and graphics issues as well as slowdown. This being said, it's a solid and unique RTS title.
It looks good (mostly), and has all the qualities that seem like it would make a great game. Not only does it fail to come together coherently, yet it also it lacks a sense of magic or "heart" that the art style would suggest it possesses. While nothing is largely technically wrong with Indivisible, it fails to be engaging as a RPG, its platforming fails to recommend it on this front, and the story never goes anywhere significant to offer this up either. This isn't bad, but it just isn't that good either.
Endless grind, very slow progression, and an abysmal battle system, are the major knocks against what would otherwise be an average experience. The story itself is unique, but hardly goes into depth instead relying far more on shock-value of events occurring rather than actual meaning. Unfortunate, really, as the plot serves up a huge potential for some interesting questions, or dialogue - things that are completely missing.
Anyone looking for an anime brawler will find this one to be a very good one. It is not to be played for its highly-compressed retelling of a former story, nor its short length; but for mindless action and fighting it delivers fairly well. The combat is fun with enough to it to stay fairly interesting for the ten or so hours it takes to beat, just be warned there isn't some great adventure to partake in here.
There are some really great ideas here, but weighed down by simple problems. As it is, it freezes, the menu hangs, and the absolute precision needed for nearly every move (and an oddly complex control scheme) makes the game get in the way of itself far more than it ever should.
Despite its cartoony graphics, this game is a surprisingly solid city builder. There is enough here that fans of the various genres this takes from will find it enjoyable as they craft their ever-growing city and automation empire. Programming the robots is oddly satisfying as is watching them roll around and taking care of the smaller tasks. A couple of small bugs and some pacing issues prevent it from being truly great, but those remotely interested in the genre will definitely have a lot of fun with this one.
Despite some obvious flaws, and some parts that were somewhat rough around the edges, Spaceland offers great fun for something not coming from big name studios.
Lucah: Born of a Dream is the type of game that starts off great, but the more someone plays, the more they realize it isn't really so. Combat ultimately is repetitive, the graphics are bad enough that important scenes are lost, and the largest problem is that the 'deep' story is so vague that this becomes an annoyance every time some dark concept is dropped on the player only to never be seen again. To allow a player to finish a sizable play-through and have zero idea on the story is unforgivable.
Looking at screenshots, and playing the game briefly, it does not seem like it might be as good as it actually is. But there is something oddly addicting trying 'just one more time' to get further. The progression could use some quickening, and other things could use expanding; but the flair the game possesses is hard to deny. Really the only thing stopping this from a higher score is the lack of depth, such as a story, better upgrade systems, or anything along these lines, but for what it is, it is surprisingly solid.
There are things that are easy to point out as flaws, such as the unnecessary and weird flying battle system, but the root of Dragon Star Varnir is solid.
This is the type of game that should be an automatic hit for RPG players, but there is something missing in the complete package. The graphics are good, and typical genre staples are present, but ultimately it gets lost in itself. Overall this is a solid title, but in the end it lacks heart. It does everything averagely, and nothing especially rises above, or provides anything unique - unfortunate, as its ingredients definitely lend itself to what might have been a really great game.