It’s a relatively short ride and well worth taking, as long as one’s expectations are dialed in correctly from the outset.
Watcher Chronicles may scratch an itch for those in need, but ultimately fails to leave a lasting impression.
While it addresses many aspects lacking during the franchise’s first outing, the overall experience still misses the high-water mark it aims for, with a glut of gameplay systems and wonky mechanics rearing their ugly heads each time a measure of success is achieved elsewhere. It outpaces its predecessor in terms of quality, to be sure, but not enough to make for an emphatic recommendation.
All told, one can do far worse than Oceanhorn for a shot of Zelda nostalgia. The basics are all present and accounted for, and the game offers good presentation values for a ten-hour-or-so stroll down memory lane. It may not quite nail the sense of charm we’ve seen in similar world design or exploration, but it certainly never goes so far in the other direction as to outright disappoint.
For all the things it does right, The Alliance Alive generally feels like a game that wasn’t quite ready to get pulled out of the oven, but was released anyway.
Smoke and Sacrifice is certainly different from any other game I’ve ever played, but whether this worked out in its favor is questionable.
But the game, though having a clean and perfectly adequate presentation, doesn’t do very much to put its best foot forward to wow the player presentation-wise, and the finger-numbing clicky gameplay might be just a bit too underwhelming for some to ride this train all the way to its final stop.
The whole package gels together to make a game that stands out, though not always for the right reasons.
With a time-traveling story, turn-based combat system, and cast of characters that could have been lifted from such classics as Chrono Trigger — complete with robotic party member — it’s a shame that it is ultimately let down by an unengaging narrative, extremely tedious gameplay loop, and a combination of a lack of challenge and crushingly high encounter rate.
Death end re;Quest 2 carries over most of the first installment’s major aspects — both good and bad — while also distancing itself enough from its predecessor to make it feel almost standalone. However, the removal of a number of unique ideas previously implemented means the shortcomings are much more apparent this time around, and the formula established by the first game is starting to wear woefully thin.
Some rather important missteps with the combat make the experience far too toothless, annulling the sense of fast-paced action and dramatically lowering stakes upon defeat.
What’s clear is that this game won’t win over those who were previously on the fence about the series. While the narrative, combat, and management aspects all work as intended, they probably appeal to different audiences rather than create one cohesive experience; those finding satisfaction in one particular area may end up being frustrated in another.
In the end, No Place for Bravery lives or dies based on the strength of its combat system. Other aspects like its graphics, music, and storytelling are passable without being outright noteworthy, but an action RPG must nail its combat, and here the game falters.
Instead of cashing in on its unique premise, the game’s one-note execution, paper-thin story, and frustrating difficulty drive its fun quotient into the red.
If Kadokawa Games was hoping to kindle interest in future Metal Max titles in western audiences, Metal Max Xeno is not the game to get that particular job done.
The grindy battle system with little enemy and environmental variety is also nothing to write home about. Cthulhu Tactics sounds like an intriguing mix of its two titular elements, but fails to deliver on the promise of either.
To the average gamer, the game’s repetitive nature in the face of its overall lack of multiplayer alternatives will spell anathema.
There’s just an overall lack of polish to the combat system, storytelling, and flow of gameplay that belies any goodwill I might have carried into this experience.
The result is a game that, despite the notable effort put forth into its writing and storytelling, is constantly dragged down by technical issues and an unrefined combat system.
When push comes to shove, there’s just no way to ignore the terrible blow dealt to the game by its one-of-a-kind translation, evident in everything from the philosophical musings of the plot to how character arcs unfold. And if that alone wasn’t the deathblow, then the frustrating and plain unfun balance issues that made me beg for credits certainly did the trick.