The Gunvolt series was one of the better, and cooler, platformer series in recent history; unfortunately, the most recent games have just been entirely mediocre. Much like the previous Luminous Avenger, all the pieces are there for an absolutely fantastic game, but it never comes together. Regrettably, the story in Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 is the weakest in the series, and the two main characters are far more annoying than entertaining.
There is little in Magnum Lord that stands out as good or interesting. The story segments are mildly amusing, as well as a few of the characters, but the plot goes nowhere fast, and the rest of the game is hard to enjoy. Combat oscillates between two second stomps to five minute plus long slogs, all the while being far more boring than it might look. The entire other 'half' beyond the visual novel segments is laughably bad in the design and the game does little to separate itself from either better or more unique JRPGs currently out.
Clearly a budget title, even looking past some of the obvious flaws like the laughably bad voice acting or the older console generation looking characters, the core game itself - fighting - leaves a lot to be desired. Enemies largely are punching bags with annoyingly large HP pools, but the game is unforgiving with how long there is between being able to save. Ultra Age had some clear potential but it really needed its quality spread across all aspects, the bad parts drag the rest of it down making it largely passable.
The tactical part of Reverie Knights Tactics is mildly interesting in its 'puzzle' nature, if it does not wear out its welcome through heavy RNG outcomes. However, severe loss of quality elsewhere really drags the experience down, the levelling/stats system is fairly boring, the character design is bad, and the story is utterly forgettable for how long it drones on between combat sections. There might be something here worth salvaging, but it would need to be hacked up and pasted back together first.
There are some rough spots with the UI, a bit of repetition with some overworld aspects, but nitpicks aside Trials of Fire was actually highly enjoyable both as a strategy game, and a deck builder. The fact the game has some strong Heroes of Might and Magic vibes going on is icing on the cake. The problem comes through that a single play (~2-4 hours) is about all it takes to get most out of the game. After that players likely won't be back.
AI WAR 2 is the type of game that would normally be very good. The concept and guerrilla warfare are both interesting ideas. However, this just doesn't really click or feel that interesting. Given players have access to so much stuff from the beginning, there is no sense of progression which might be the largest killer, if not the steep learning curve. Some might really enjoy it, but general strategy players won't want to hop through all the hoops.
When the story hits some of its high points, AI: The Somnium Files is really good, and feels like the same kind of high 999 gave… but it is largely crippled by just how slow and repetitious it all is. Random slapstick and outright unrealistic scenes draws players out very quickly from the attempt at being a serious plot. It goes nowhere fast, and the whiplash between attempts at humour and serious moments are too ham-fisted. The overall plot could easily be cut by more than half, and the overall experience would be better for it.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Appreciating the narrow focus on the game they sought to deliver was one of the better points of the experience. By stripping away a lot of excess systems it allowed a better core experience. The issues are bad optimization that leads to heavy lag and frequent crashes. Additionally the gameplay is too fast for the 'art' style of attacking to truly be effective resulting in a major loss of what was the initial draw of the game to begin with.
While deserving accolades for trying something different and having two separate campaigns, ultimately they both end up feeling repetitive. Melee-focused combat is a fun idea, but there are too many problems and glitches. Though there are different classes, the combat is too repetitive and too much of the same thing to be fun for long. Something new was tried here, and that's commendable - it just did not hit the mark.
This is an average romp for a simple JRPG. There is no new ground treaded, and the battle system gets to be pretty repetitive. The voice acting is really well done and the battle effects are pretty good, even if you see them a lot. The major problems are that nothing new really happens, some very minor upgrades, but ultimately the same thing happening in the beginning is still happening hours and hours later.
Issues aside of UI problems such as losing villagers, hard to click, and so on, the general pace of As Far As The Eye belie its "relaxing" appearance. Requiring a very strict, lucky, and strategic play from the beginning knocks a lot of the fun off. With how much dedication there is simply to food and not starving, it leaves little room for exploration, trying new things, or really anything beyond a narrow strategy. It is not that the difficulty ruins the game, it is that the difficulty and luck swings require such a narrow avenue to take, getting in the way of fun.
Taking the role of a small, under-equipped squad is a novel angle for a real time strategy game like this. Some aspects of Partisans 1941 were interesting, but the core of the game has too many small complaints to recommend it in a high regard. Combat being far too random is the largest problem as it is causing constant saves and reloads with how deadly it is. Strategy games are in a dearth right now, so this is not a bad game in the slightest if there is a need to play something new, but it simply does not stack up against some of the heavy weights of the genre.
Niche is cute, and has some interesting ideas about evolution and adapting to changing circumstances. One of its best charms is the feeling of connection with the first animals as it fades away into a unique connection simply with the continuing family line. These are marred by a very repetitive turn structure, and an exceedingly complex gene system - both serve to get in the way of having fun. The vision is exciting, but the reality is too much of a grind to recommend in any large capacity, beyond the novelty of interacting with life/death in a memorable way, if nothing else.