Thomas Knight's Reviews
The stronger routes make Kakenuke★Forward to Our Sparking Youth! worth reading, and even the weaker ones still have good heroines. I did think certain aspects became too repetitive at times, but there was a lot to laugh at.
Destiny Star Girlfriend 2 works well as a short experience, focusing on a single heroine. The comedic moments are great, as are the visuals. Maja may not stand out as much as some heroines, but I enjoyed the time spent on her story, especially after discovering parts of her story at the start of the Destiny Star Girlfriend series.
Super Mario Party Jamboree is great fun with friends, with a core experience that works incredibly well, but allows the flexibility to tailor it to your own preferences. There'll be laughter and perhaps more than a few four-letter words flying around in each match. The fact that it has so much beyond the core experience is just icing on the cake.
Metaphor: ReFantazio might just be the best JRPG of 2024. With a great story with more to it than it first seems, characters that have their own journeys worth experiencing, and excellent gameplay from the day-to-day events to the dungeon delving and battles, it's absolutely worth picking up.
Shashingo: Learn Japanese with Photography can be helpful, but it doesn't quite pull off making learning both effective and fun. It's a nice way to pick up some new vocabulary and supplement your learning if you happen to be a beginner at the right level. It won't, however, teach you certain things you might need at that level or be as effective as more typical learning methods and is best as a supplementary tool. I do feel it could do with more gamification too. With that said, it has a wonderful relaxing atmosphere and it’s a really unique idea. It makes a nice break from the textbooks while still learning and it’s more engaging than typical methods like ANKI flashcards.
Metal: Hellsinger VR is an absurdly fun version of the original with the same great mechanics perfectly paired with amazing music. While not perfectly adapted to the medium, experiencing it through VR is well worth your time.
Reynatis is a rather curious experience. Its story is enjoyable, but it has its issues. The gameplay has some great ideas but it sometimes fails to realize them properly. Luckily the combat is frequent and fun. While it's certainly not perfect, I did enjoy playing through Reynatis and I believe others will too. I just wonder about the reasons behind some of the game design decisions made.
Persona 3 Reload Episode Aigis: The Answer works brilliantly as an epilogue, bringing the story of Persona 3 Reload to a definitive conclusion. While the frequent battles and exploration may not be for everyone, the structure and gameplay make sure it never feels tedious.
There may be some small entertainment value in Together VR, but it's mostly based on the appeal of Mei as a character. The gameplay just isn't engaging and the technical issues certainly don't help either.
While it does have some good points and the adult content has obviously been a focus, Oedo Trigger VR!! just doesn't have good gameplay. Lots of small but important issues bring it down significantly. The movement and shooting are the most important of these, but it could've been better in so many ways. This is even more disappointing since it could have been a good alternative for the somewhat similar Gal*Gun 2 VR, which no longer works with modern VR equipment without workarounds.
Suzukuri Dungeon: Karin in the Mountain is a title I enjoyed a lot, but it has some major flaws. Fairly basic dungeon gameplay, obtuse requirements to proceed, and the occasional technical issue don’t help. Still, if you can put up with these, there are a lot of great moments with the characters. It was worth it for me, but your mileage may vary, especially if you’re not already a Koihime Musou fan.
Himegashima Island is a slow adventure with charming characters and a relaxed atmosphere. I found myself surprised at how invested I was in the stories of the islanders and the gameplay. There are certainly many areas where it could be improved, but these are mostly minor issues. I enjoyed the 21 hours I spent experiencing a relaxing summer as Kokomi.
At first, Lilja and Natsuka: Painting Lies seems like a fairly lighthearted story about a cheerful girl helping to spark the imagination of a blind painter, but there is a lot behind the premise. It's a mix of mystery, surprise reveals, and most importantly an emotional journey of character growth with a hint of romance. Supported by some great-looking art and a great performance from a surprisingly well-known anime voice cast, it's worth the read.
Between the masterful writing, exciting story, engaging mystery, and high production values, Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon- is absolutely worth buying.
Atelier Rorona ~The Alchemist of Arland~ DX is very much a game where you'll get what you put into it. If you choose to breeze through, you probably won't enjoy it very much, but if you engage and learn the systems, there's a great gameplay loop here. While it is marred by some frustrating elements, as long as you know what you're getting into, it's an enjoyable JRPG, if perhaps not reaching the heights that some other Atelier titles do.
Real Anime Situation! 2 lives up to the title of Real Hentai Situation! 2. As long as that’s what you’re looking for, you’ll find it, albeit with a few issues along the way. The comedy helps to keep it light despite some of the more extreme acts on display, and you’re not coming here for the plot anyway.
The Quintessential Quintuplets – Five Memories Spent With You is an interesting story of the challenges Futaro faces after choosing one of the quintuplets. It does well making each route feel different, despite the similar themes. It’s only a pity that it was marred by localization issues.
Sisters: Last Day of Summer uses animation well to tell what I found to be a surprisingly interesting story. While it certainly doesn’t lack adult content, I found myself more engaged with the central mystery and the emotional moments.
The Quintessential Quintuplets – Memories of a Quintessential Summer is very much only for fans of the series, and even then it isn’t an amazing experience. Still, it’s a nice way to spend more time with the quintuplets and there are certainly moments worth experiencing here.
Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution’s character interactions and comedy make it worth playing. However, it’s let down by its gameplay, which is occasionally good, often mediocre, and sometimes actively bad. I say this as a long-time fan of Neptunia, which might be the only group that this title appeals to.