Shinrai Broken Beyond Despair was a pleasant surprise given its comparison to far-better funded titles in the visual novel genre. While there are some obvious issues such as graphics that never go past being simplistic and bigger issues of pacing problems, the core tale is oddly intriguing. The mystery is fun to sit through, and perhaps the only real criticism is the core narrative should have taken longer, and the various 'side stories' take far too long and detract from the main story.
Abomi Nation actually plays better than it looks. What really holds it back is simply optimization and settings that largely don't work. The combat is simplistic, with many moves being useless. One of the advantages is a story that actually is better than might be deigned simply from the pictures. Fans of the challenge mode will likely enjoy it, and with a few patches under them, expect the experience to improve. Other than those looking for something exactly like this, most will be put off by too many other things.
Tough game to rate overall, as there was some care and time that went into this; it just went to all the wrong places. Players looking for a strategy/tactical experience are going to be absolutely repulsed by the mix of "walking sim"/WRPG that leaves much of the core experience behind absolutely. The battles are simplistic, and the few redeeming features are buried beneath too many complaints and issues. There is simply very little strategy in this game that occurs, or is interesting to think about.
Those in love with the history of the era will love the detail within Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV: Diplomacy and Strategy Expansion Pack Bundle, but to those that the history is meaningless the absolute volume of names and relationships is a waste of time. Furthermore, while this has some interesting concepts, it is just too bogged down with minutia and lost in its own stats. The series could really need an overhaul on how to make things more streamlined.
There is next to nothing good to say about Dustwind: The Last Resort. From an abysmal UI that is nearly impossible to see due the tiny text, to chronic controller problems, to the egregious issue of large maps without the ability to run, this gets in its own way so frequently that players will come away angry about just how bad of an experience it is.
For an adventure game, the graphics and story are pretty interesting, but for an JRPG, the game is lacking in a lot of elements. While it has RPG trappings, it feels far more like an adventure/action game, which is a knock against those looking for some JRPG action. The graphics, story, characters and overall package are very well done. However, it is hard to shake the feeling of the game being far more style over substance, which in general JRPG-ers are not looking for.
For an unknown studio they come out swinging pretty good with Dreamscaper, the core game is fairly engaging and interesting, but the core loop has some serious progression issues, as well as bad difficulty balance. Trying new moves and weapons is the highlight of the experience, but the very slow lack of progress and difficulty walls hold this back from being truly great.
To be clear, this is actually really fun and interesting, but at this point it was not ready for release. There are far too many literal game-breaking bugs and errors that freeze RogueBook solid. The second level alone took over 10 reloads to beat. With some patches and balances though, this game could easy be a recommended to CCG or strategy players.
There are some cool ideas about upgrading different parts of your army, notably upgrading your main structure provided the most interesting choices, however, A Token War rapidly devolves into very cheap tactics and strategies, often involving baiting the computer that starts with huge edges on each map. A better AI, with more fair maps, would have turn this into a better experience. Overall, it's just too basic to really recommend beyond a quick attempt if desperate for some strategy.
Dark Deity is rough around the edges, but has a great structure to its core experience. The sprites look pretty good, and the class changes are one of the highlights to the experience. A weird weapon system, random little problems/glitches and stunted character interaction, all detract from what is fairly solid otherwise. This is the type of strategy game that with a few core patches and overhauls could really become something to look out for.
Earth Defense Force: World Brothers starts off on a pretty high note, with various characters and Easter Eggs of the older entries thrown in. Getting new guys and weapons is fun, but fairly rapidly some of the annoyances really start to come through and slow the experience down. From the very slow movement, to the largely repetitious maps, it doesn't take that long before it feels like players have seen most of what there is too see, and begin to feel the need to move on.
Crypto Beyond All Odds is actually fairly solid with its aesthetics, theme and some small memes. Those with no clue on cryptos are going to be in the dark big time about a lot of what is happening, the history, and the jokes. Ultimately the game starts to get repetitive where the waves feel too much the same, and the game devolves into chaos too quickly to allow much strategy beyond just slapping more crypto towers down and usually winning.
Even if a fan of sci-fi and visual novels, Root Double -Before Crime * After Days- Xtend Edition will largely fail to click with most. The pacing is way too slow, the characters are not interesting, and the overall plot takes too long to get going. Despite a few redeeming factors, it simply cannot be recommended due to the many failings across the board.
The novelty of Gnosia, along with its heart really stands out. Yes, there are some problems with repetitious dialogue in the debates, the music really needs expanding and so on, but there is an undeniably addicting and fun side to trying 'just one more time.' Furthermore, the very clever AI, and the constructing of an over-arching story, certainly deserves good accolades. Over-looking a few problems, this is highly recommended.
This game has the makings of something really great. The art and sprite work is outstanding. Wildly inconsistent difficulty jumps, frustratingly long bosses, fights, check point lengths and cheap deaths all ruin what absolutely would have been a title much higher rated. The majority of the experience is fun, with a good difficulty level, but inevitably there will be these randomly, absolutely killer, difficulty walls, which ruin how good it was going up to that point.
Ultimately, Poison Control is a let-down of how good it could have been. Utterly lacking in the cohesive element, some parts absolutely stand out, where so many others fall far short. The shooting is serviceable, the 'cleaning' gets old fast, and the story doesn't really go anywhere. Poisonette and the main character have a great dynamic, which serves to only show how short other aspects really fell short.
The story and presentation are very unique and deserve high praise; the narrative keeps the experience going whenever the platforming starts to get boring and fall flat. Too often, MO:Astray amounts to cheap deaths and pixel-perfect jumps, which severely detracts from what would have been a completely outstanding sci-fi exploration game. Simply put, flopping around as a blob eventually gets old.
This game is part Animal Crossing, part hardcore strategy, and that is largely its weakness as there is very little overlap between those games or gamers. For strategy aficionados, the staggering amount of crafting, structures, and literal Feng Shui will be too much, and for casual crafting/constructing fans there is too much RPG/Strategy elements. It's nice how this is clearly very Asian in theme, but the game is just so strange it is hard to recommend.
The simple gameplay of Battle of Polytopia is actually a pretty fun breakdown of the genre - the problem is ultimately its simplicity is its undoing. Despite what it says or looks like, every starting race is nearly the exact same, which is a huge missed opportunity to diversify them. Battles late-game are very dry. For some casual players it is a fun romp, but anyone looking for depth or longevity won't find it here
Mostly an interest only to those wanting to role-play a type of zombie empire, it does little to change the formula of the game. For better or worse, there have been some significant changes in the game over the years, which the core of an hour-upon-hour sprawl has not changed, so adding a few new portraits does little to add anything new to the mix.