Nihon Falcom didn’t rush into making a sequel to Zwei, but seven years later did produce what XSEED Games localized as Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection. The result is a sizable improvement over the first game and a title that has jumped into what I would deem the higher echelon of the company’s work.
Even though it has the ability to propel foes into the air and keep attacking before they can land, along with the ability to gorge on sweets and get stronger, this isn’t among Falcom’s stronger titles.
There are a lot of things to admire about Mistover, and it’s an impressive title in certain respects. I never fell in love with it though, and rarely felt like playing it for long stretches without a break.
There’s no question that both of these titles are first-rate tactical experiences though, and the ability to actually play Langrisser II legally in English is a massive boon to the RPG world. Any players with an affinity for tactical action should look them up immediately, especially since good sales might prompt the rest of the series to finally make its way elsewhere in the world.
It’s difficult to recommend this title to anyone without much knowledge of South Park, because the experience is suffused with material only fans will fully appreciate. This is nevertheless one of the occasional licensed titles that actually does its source justice, and is an incredibly easy recommendation to anyone who likes RPGs and has some appreciation for Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s amazingly long-lived series.
I admire a fair amount of what developer Talerock and publisher Asterion Games put into Grimshade. It’s a title very much in the style of something using the Infinity Engine, a design choice that’s come back into fashion in recent years. Where it unfortunately needs some improvement is in a few technical details, plus its localization.
It tries to do a lot of things, and definitely has a distinct personality from anything else I remember playing. Layering everything with needless profanity is not the magic bullet to become amazing though, and using the game’s real bullets is often more complicated than it should be.
Plenty of things await the attentive player who keeps an eye open for goodies off the beaten path, and exploring the entire place is a thrill.
This is a unique and affecting title that is worth seeking out by any who haven’t tried it before.
It’s not a game in which every element is effective, especially for those who demand a powerful narrative, but Chucklefish has made something worth investigating for those thinking Nintendo has let Advance Wars sit around without a follow-up for too long.
It’s of greatest interest to Etrian Odyssey aficionados looking for more intriguing dungeon layouts and worthwhile cartographic opportunities, but the blend of cast members from the popular Persona titles offers its own enjoyable time.
Seeing Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky in action definitely makes clear its similarities to tri-Ace’s Valkyrie Profile, though unfortunately the same height of quality is not reached.
It’s an improvement over Agarest Wars, but that isn’t enough to make a game of high quality.
I enjoyed my time with Pillars of Eternity and think it provides a good example of the type of RPG not seen much in recent years, but it’s not going to convince those who were never attracted by similarly styled titles in the past.
As a title that can be played in competition with others for the quickest completion, it’s adequate but unremarkable. Even at such a relatively short length, it’s tough to recommend to an RPG audience.
There really hasn’t been an outright bad Mario and Luigi game, but this one lays a worthy claim to being the strongest of all.
Square Enix’s track record in recent years has been a highly mixed bag of quality, and World of Final Fantasy Maxima fits right in.
There are plenty of hack and slash titles available, and this one doesn’t stand out in any particularly positive way.
Anyone interested in a title that is charming and rewarding to spend huge quantities of time exploring should most assuredly check it out, and while the narrative won’t blow people away, it’s also not constantly forcing itself into the forefront.
Strange Journey in its Redux form actually manages to be even more of a timesink due to the addition of a mammoth new dungeon to explore, but at least this is not a complete waste of the many hours required to persevere.