Persona 5 Royal isn't just my favorite Atlus re-release, it might just be my new favorite Atlus game of all time.
Dragon Quest XI S is a near unrivaled masterpiece, one I wish I could erase my memory of and re-experience for the first time.
Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon- is easily the best-looking visual novel I’ve ever seen, and I’m excited to see where they go next with the second part of the remake. Even if that takes ages, or somehow never sees the light of day, I still view this part of the remake as a perfect experience. I tend to love the works that contrast the horrors of existence and the evils of man with the small moments of genuine bliss, and Tsukihime gets that. That we can make time to appreciate the gentle kindness hidden around us as long as we look for it. It was probably the most life-affirming piece of art I got to experience in such a mentally exhausting year for me.
I lost sleep over this game. I can’t stop thinking about it, and reminiscing about my favorite moments gives me chills. It’s haunting, funny, beautiful, tragic, and so very human. I did not know Nintendo was capable of publishing something like this, or funding it. This is one of the highest-budget adventure games I’ve ever played, and I’m saying this fully understanding that Type-Moon localized the Tsukihime remake months ago. I really liked the past two games, but this is a new favorite ADV game for me. If you are a fan of mystery stories and can put up with an interface many would call obtuse, this is a must-play. I know not everyone will think as strongly as I will, but I just need people to engage with this game. I need to talk long into the night with others about this game. I think it’s truly brilliant, I don’t think I’ll play anything quite like it for a long time. I’d love to be proven wrong, though. Prove me wrong, Nintendo.
AI: The Somnium Files is a sureal new murder mystery game by Kotaro Uchikoshi, and might just be his finest work yet.
Another great and content-packed SPRG lands on modern platforms.
The best way to play the best Atelier games to date, now on a system you actually own!
A modern classic reborn on Nintendo Switch, this is the best version of the best game from Monolith Soft.
I think calling moon a “parody” of the RPG genre is both slightly fitting yet doesn’t give it enough credit. It’s rather impressive that a smaller budget game released over 20 years ago has aged as well as it has. In so many ways it feels incredibly ahead of its time, with a focus on minute details so extensive that most modern games can’t even match.
Just like its predecessor, AI: The Somnium Files – nirvanA Initiative is full of heart, hilariously self-aware, and reflective on the style of writing that built the foundation that built the Somnium Files series. Both AI games are deeply personal, subversive, and reflective works, some of my favorite games in the genre. Now that we have one miracle sequel that ended up great, I could go for another one in a few years.
Octopath Traveler II is the rare sequel that manages to improve on the original without changing too much, finding success by expanding and polishing.
Dragon Quest III returns with it's first new remake in years, recapturing the spirit of what made the original so special.
This well deserved remaster of Xenoblade Chronicles X makes it easier than ever to appreciate one of the best open-world RPGs out there.
If you’re looking for a version of these classic Marvel fighting games to whip out during a party of 20-30-somethings who would know about these games, this is a great port you should look into. Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics is genuinely great if you value the history of 2D fighters, and I’m really happy I have a chance to play Marvel vs. Capcom 2 again. I always beat myself up for missing out on the HD remaster way back in the day, so having this game accessible is a treat. This collection for me is just a way to get MVC2 back in its arcade-accurate glory, but I’m glad it pushed me towards several other fascinating additions to Capcom’s fighting game lineage.
This collection offers a fantastic value for fans of the mystery genre, and even more for Ace Attorney games. Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor’s Gambit is one of the best games in this series, and worth playing the first just to get through. I probably won’t be revisiting the first game again, but I can’t stress how good its sequel is. So many presentation and visual improvements have been made to make these two Nintendo DS games feel modern, but they don’t feel lesser than their original versions. This is the definitive way to play these games in my eyes. I have a couple of issues, like how there’s no touch screen support for the Switch version, but outside of that, I think this is a must-play. We’re in a bit of a visual novel/adventure game renaissance right now, with a lot of old franchises coming back or receiving long-overdue localizations. Capcom gave these games the love they deserved, in a year where I’ve been primed to give them all the love I got.
The Castlevania Dominus Collection has made me realize that this specific era of Castlevania might be my favorite overall. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow used to be my favorite game in the series, but I’d be hard-pressed to recommend the other titles in that collection because they feel unfocused and unpolished. At the very least, there’s a pretty big gap in quality between them. Even if I’m not very fond of Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, I think this collection has a lot of value in it. This is when this specific kind of Castlevania game started to really branch out and experiment, with most of those experiments being very successful. This is the definitive way to play three of the most interesting Castlevanias, better than I ever dreamed they would be. I think the Nintendo DS being such an experimental console encouraged the original developers to try a lot of fun things, and I hope the feedback to these games is strong enough to make Konami want to revisit this style.
This is a great companion piece to the story they got to tell, exploring the ideologies of the cast further in fascinating ways that change up a lot of dynamics. It really does feel like they addressed most of the common complaints with the original, while not losing sight of the general tone that the fans appreciated. I’m left overwhelmed by all the little new things they added on top of the Shin Megami Tensei V I already loved. This simply tries to fill in the gaps of that game, and they did so to great effect. With a ton of new content available, especially for completionists, this is more than just being the definitive edition of Shin Megami Tensei V. Vengeance feels confident and strives to lock in the original game’s previously uncertain identity.
I think some of the hardest games to review are ones that speak for themselves, but those are so often the easiest to play and enjoy. I wouldn’t say the original Star Ocean 2 falls in that category, but it is a game so massive in scope for a PS1 RPG that I couldn’t help but respect it despite my disinterest. Star Ocean: The Second Story R attempts to smooth out the experience in so many subtle ways that it turns it into a modern classic. I don’t think remakes need to follow any particular rules, but for faithful ones this is a new standard. It encourages players to indulge in side content by signposting it all so well, which is great. I think the story is a bit predictable and the cast is far from my favorites, but the gameplay itself is so engaging that it smooths over these issues. This is perhaps the best rerelease I’ve seen from Square Enix, and even if I don’t think it makes the original a perfect game it is so full of love for the source material that it’s beyond commendable.
This light-hearted spin-off of Steins;Gate offers fans something they never knew they wanted.
All in all, I had a fun time revisiting Trails of Cold Steel III on Switch. I still wonder who this release is even actually for, given how it's hard for me to recommend newcomers play this, and most fans who really wanted this would likely have bought it on PS4 last year. Even with the issues, due to my preferences, I find this to be my favorite way to play the game. I hope there are further balance patches released to iron out any of the issues I found, but given how rare the serious ones were, I still recommend this for those looking to play the latest English Trails release on the go. It’s such a big improvement on Ys VIII’s port, and I wish in hindsight that it could have gotten the same treatment. This port gives me a lot of hope for the upcoming switch releases of Cold Steel IV and Ys IX. Time will tell if Engine Software manages to improve on what they have here, and I’m excited to see where they go from here.