Eastward has been in the works for a while. Finally, it's time to head eastbound across the train tracks to an action adventure game filled with stunning visuals and an endearingly quirky cast.
Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny is the latest entry in the long-lived strategy RPG series and there have been quite a few changes and not just the leap from 2D sprites to 3D models. Using the Super Reincarnation spell, Zed reincarnates into different worlds taking the most optimal path to success until he achieves his wish of defeating the God of Destruction.
If you’ve yet to experience the joys of playing a game that’s not afraid to be fun then this port to the Switch is a must have for any action fan especially at this price. Even with some minor drawbacks of the mediocre mini games and pointless driving, the style and combat keep you shaking your beam katana all night long.
This game certainly changes things and while some tedium is erased, the attention on the story isn’t really worth it. Still the adrenaline pumping action fun is here along with some banger tracks.
The only good things I can say about this game is the cute appearance and the reasonable price. With drastic change in gameplay and the downplay of drawing this is a lackluster continuation. Personally I didn’t find it fun or appealing even trying to consider it on it’s own merits, consisting only of tedious levels divided by boring cutscenes. If you’re interested in puzzle platformers I’m sure there’s better options, and as a fan of the series you’re better off ignoring this.
A physics based puzzler isn’t my idea of a good time and yet Jobski’s hard working charms won me over. I think this is a great game for couples or someone with a slightly older kid so you can spend a quick gaming session together. While it might only take a couple of hours to beat there’s plenty more to come back to.
Aokana took me over twenty hours to complete. It seems that Misaki has the longest route while the others are much shorter in comparison. Though I wish there were more meaningful dialogue options, presentation wise Aokana shows just what you can do with a visual novel. The story is a nice change of pace with a good blend of sporting action, comedy and romance. It’s also made me really really wish I could fly.
This is a little on the short side, taking me five hours to beat (more or less depending on your need to collect everything or desire to look up information). I find it’s priced reasonably and there is a post game magic mode. Enabling you to use more magic at the expense of half your defense. Which of course requires you to wear a very interesting outfit. If you like achieving things you do get the extra end screens based on your time and how many secret items you’ve found. Outside of some slippery monkey business, a difficult to read map and some annoying layers to jump through, this is a pretty good game.
The in battle appearance is acceptable but the maps can seem a little sparse and samey. Though as you spread through the continent you’ll come across different terrains. Like the swamps in the Holy Gustava Empire’s territory. The leaders of each nation have an in battle appearance, while any other Rune Knights are only shown with a class model. While there’s a lot of characters it does make the game look lower budget. Which is difficult to consider as the American price is between budget and full retail. In Australia it’s only a couple dollars away from a full price game. I didn’t have much in the way of technical issues but it did crash once in the save screen. Thankfully there’s an autosave. Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia packs a continent’s worth of gameplay for strategy fans. As you have six different sides to play as and the challenge mode. Which is just enough to make up for the lower budget looks. Though I find it hard to tear myself away from the team with the robot. Asides from that the only thing I’d like to see in this game is an ability to customize difficulty options more.
While it’s meant to be a relaxing adventure, Summer in Mara is more often tedious than not.
It took me a bit under eight hours to finish the game. Though an hour of that was wandering around as I assumed I couldn’t go somewhere I was meant to. I wish it was longer purely because I’d rather play more with my new abilities than start the game over. I will have to as I can’t get 100% on my first save file because late in the game a section gets locked off permanently. That and the intermittent voice acting are the only complaints I have about this game. An option to mark things on the map would have been nice but the world is small enough it’s not hard to remember things. It’s terribly hard to resist the siren call of this game. It’s been hard to finish this review because whenever I go to check something I just keep playing it. I had a really fun time with this game and I give it:
The game looks gorgeous and has a pretty good combat system. Unfortunately the many explosives being covered up and some technical issues can let your play through down a bit. There is no online and the skipping of a couple levels when playing in co-op is an odd decision. Even though the campaign is short there’s enough content elsewhere to keep you going. Being so inspired by other series it doesn’t appear to stand out much. Yet the different game play is what makes it a good choice for beat-em-up fans
SNK GALS’ FIGHTERS is a super fun time. Whether you’re whiling away a long trip or needing something simpler to play against your friends it’s a great choice. Most of the characters were pretty fun to play as so even with eleven total, I felt like I had plenty to choose from. I wish I had this when I was a kid (I would have just been old enough).
Billion Road is a time consuming game full of highs and lows. The game features a lot of luck and strategy but you won’t get anywhere if you’re not thinking right. Some might find the length of games to be a hassle when playing with others so I’d definitely suggest scramble mode for the first time. The different monsters and events help it to stand out a bit more than an average board game plus you have the ability to leave it alone without taking up space on the table. I really enjoyed it but that might be because I’ve won most of the time. From my little sister: “It it super fun for all ages. The only thing I didn’t like is that it is a bit hard.”
Asides from the rough appearance my only particular problem with the game is the complete lack of online play. While I have no issue finding others to play with locally, many do. This wouldn’t be a good fit for them. The bots do seem a bit unfair in one mode but it’s not too bad. Whereas not having explanations for the power-ups is a weird oversight. While I don’t always understand indie party games that involve one style of gameplay, Chapeau does enough to make it worth revisiting. With unlockables and three game modes, it’s one of the few review games my little sister has willingly played with me more than once.
Langrisser is a series that has had very few entries released outside of Japan. This remake of both Langrisser I and II is the first time the sequel has officially released in English. I played both and combined them in one review. My conclusion is that Langrisser II is so much more of an improvement over the first game I wonder why they didn’t implement more changes to I in this remake. I feel like they could have cut it out and focused on giving the sequel a better look. Still, if you’re interested in some unique SRPG combat and diverging story paths this package is a decent deal.
Blood Will Be Spilled sets out to be both a tactical shooter and a platformer, unfortunately it doesn’t do a great job of either. With slow platforming that requires speed, and shoot outs with fly-brains. While there’s a few bugs, only the death animation one actually impacts one’s ability to play the game. Even with those annoyances I enjoyed my time to some extent but was left disappointed by the end.
At the Sable family household, Boyo has a high temperature, but his mother tries out a new vitamin. Enter Vita-Boy and Mina-Girl who use their capsule ship to bust bacteria! "Asides from some small problems I found Vitamin Connection to be a fun little co-op game. Some early levels might be a bit slow but the levels and enemies became much more varied afterwards. We didn’t use as much verbal communication as we should have. It took us less than five hours to beat the campaign (perhaps it could be done in four). That said, it has collectables to get bonus missions and the pro campaign. Which shakes things up enough that I’ll be going through that with a different player.
JayJay Falcon is a defense attorney in Paris (around 1847). His assistant Sparrowson eggs him into taking a case for the bourgeois kitty Dame Caterline, who is accused of murder. With mere days before trial you must begin your investigation. Aviary Attorney is a delightful adventure game with beautiful presentation and some silly moments. Perhaps a bit short for the price but the multiple endings and other options give it a bit more depth.
In To The Moon you play as Dr. Watts and Dr. Rosalene, whose job involves granting their client’s final wish. This is done artificially by editing their memories, which made me wonder what the point was, given it’s a lie. Probably to give them peace of mind in their final moments. Using specialised headsets they are able to enter and adjust memories. And so the story starts as they edit the memories of John. To The Moon is still a great story and as long as you understand the gameplay and graphics are not a high point of it, I’d recommend it to anyone interested.