Nick Mangiaracina
- Earthbound
- Persona 4 Golden
- Shin Megami Tensei IV
Nick Mangiaracina's Reviews
Dread Delusion fills a specific niche that hasn’t been touched in decades. While I wouldn’t recommend this game to just anyone, Dread Delusion sets a high bar for adventure RPGs and utilizes its art style to perfectly capture the era of gaming it draws inspiration from.
It wasn’t a gripping experience, I wasn’t enthralled playing Open Roads, but it succeeded in what it attempted narratively and gave me a pretty satisfying conclusion and truly, that’s all I could ask for. Open Roads may not be an exciting experience for all but it was for me and I’m pretty satisfied with it.
Though not without issues, I think Silent Hope is a good game at its core and is hopefully a jumping off point for more games like this from Marvelous in the future.
Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key offers so much and is really the ultimate game in the Ryza series. It just wasn’t for me.
While I have my grievances, of which there are many, I still really loved playing Element TD 2 and know I’ll be sinking a lot of time into it in the future, especially if any of my issues are resolved.
Not bested by its predecessor, Bravely Default 2 offers a fairly inoffensive experience with some interesting gameplay tweaks and a very enjoyable job system.
Ryza 2 does little to break the mold, but what it does do is polish the existing formula.
The Pathless may not be my favorite game, I found quite a bit wrong with it, but the messaging was clear and resonated with me.
I think if you’re into either the anime/manga series or turn-based JRPGs you’re going to have a good time with Fairy Tail.
Orangeblood feels like a great game mired by small technical issues and has a short road to being an easy recommendation. With the developers still working on and releasing updates for the game regularly, Orangeblood could be a great pick-up for the turn-based JRPG gamer that’s looking for something off the beaten path.
Whether or not you’ve partied with corpses before, Dead Patient gives you a good taste of what’s to come in this new entry of the Corpse Party overarching plot. Even as just a single episode, it’s quite good.
Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is truly the best way to experience the Devil Summoner – Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army story. With few drawbacks and many additions, Raidou Remastered is more about enhancing than preserving. Take that as you will.
Between the performance, gadget usage, and open world issues, Deliver At All Costs still manages to pull it out and make an incredibly satisfying game. Difficult in all the right places and fun the whole way through.
Mechabellum is an onion with many layers, but once you get to the core of the gameplay, you really begin to understand what’s going on in every battle. And depending on the match you’re in, you can really start to see the pitfalls of its design. And even still, I cannot stop playing, warts and all.
Lunar Remastered Collection is the best way to play Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete and Lunar: Eternal Blue Complete. The updated translations, widescreen support, new dubs, and quality-of-life improvements make this somewhat impenetrable game series a very good option for people looking to experience older RPGs.
With the new audio, battle effects, battle speed, auto-save, and new translations Suikoden I & II HD Remaster is the definitive way to experience the first two Suikoden games. My only hope is that the rest of the games in the series receive this treatment.
I’m impressed by Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog. It’s a great story with fun twists, lots of incredible art, and a few simple but rewarding puzzles. I never felt too encumbered or lost running around the JFS Gun-Dog. And the story culminated in a very interesting way that had me excited for future entries in the series.
Urban Myth Dissolution Center is one of the great modern adventure games. Though there’s a severe lack of freedom and simplicity in deduction, the ride was still very exciting. With a 15-hour play time, Urban Myth Dissolution Center doesn’t overstay its welcome. Anyone interested in adventure games, narrative-driven games, and mysteries owes it to themselves to play Urban Myth Dissolution Center.
While Waiting is a cute, fun, and simple pick-up and play style game. A perfect title for handheld gaming that offers some replayability. The art style is very cute and the objectives are usually pretty interesting. While Waiting is most assuredly a well-crafted game I think most people would find enjoyable.
Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is a no nonsense port that allows you to play through this masterpiece on modern consoles.