Thomas Knight's Reviews
Pokémon Legends: Arceus wants to be the best – and it’s certainly the best there ever was when it comes to Pokémon games. It is slightly held back by the issues on the technical side, but the gameplay kept me invested throughout. I’ve been a fan ever since the original Pokémon Blue, but I’ve never had so much fun with this series before.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a far more successful venture into 3D than I first expected. What it lacked in a challenge, it more than made up for in sheer fun and the enjoyment of exploration. I’m looking forward to seeing what they do in the future.
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga kept me hooked with its huge variety of worlds to experience, activities to do, and things to collect. The humor provided plenty of laughs, and there were plenty of in-jokes for franchise fans. It’s a great way to experience Star Wars all over again.
While minor storytelling and other issues persist, I had a great time playing Yakuza: Like a Dragon. It’s a story of friendship, family, and betrayal with constant twists and turns, set in an intriguing world. It’s all set in a city with tons to do, so it never gets old – or if it does, then you can just hop on a go-kart or go to the arcade for a while.
Cult of the Lamb was one of those games that I just couldn’t put down. I completed it in about seventeen hours, but each time I played it started as intending to play for an hour and then not realizing that hours had passed. The combat is fun and always feels fresh. The base-building aspects give tons of choices in how you grow. More important, Cult of the Lamb ties these together in a way that kept me wanting that next improvement or to defeat the next stage.
Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key is a slow adventure that works perfectly as the culmination of Ryza’s trilogy. With tons of interconnected systems keeping things fun and a strong focus on the characters and dynamics between them, it’s a great experience for JRPG fans who enjoy slice-of-life – just make sure to begin at the start of this trilogy.
Nukitashi could easily be dismissed as an overly-sexual visual novel meant to be played one-handed. Those playing it will instead discover plenty of adult scenes, but a surprising depth of story behind it. I expect that Nukitashi will be well-regarded by most, but between the humor and writing, it may not be a hit with everyone. Still, I certainly feel it’s very worth playing—as long as you play the 18+ version.
I would highly recommend YOU and ME and HER: A Love Story to visual novel fans who play visual novels for the story, more than romancing the heroines. I would also suggest that it is not suitable as a beginner’s visual novel but would be more appreciated by someone familiar with the genre. In several ways, this was not my style of a visual novel. Despite this, I rate it very highly. YOU and ME and HER: A Love Story is a story that I feel visual novel fans should experience and many will appreciate, even if it means stepping outside of their comfort zone.
Fate/Samurai Remnant combines the masterful storytelling of the Fate universe with Koei Tecmo's expertise in creating excellent hack-and-slash games. It's certainly worth picking up, as long as you're up for the rather challenging action RPG gameplay.
UsoNatsu ~The Summer Romance Bloomed From A Lie~ is a serious story not just about a growing relationship between two girls, but the nature of love, family issues, and self-discovery. With a well-paced and thoughtful story, great character dynamics, and high production values, it’s certainly worth reading.
Baldr Sky is an excellent sci-fi visual novel, with decent gameplay sections. There are some sticking points such as having to repeat certain sections, but the quality of the overall story overpowers them to make this a strong recommendation.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is an excellent game where you can easily spend a hundred hours if you get sidetracked. While it doesn't quite live up to Ichiban's last adventure, it comes close. I imagine long-time fans especially will appreciate Kiryu's closing chapter, while it might spark an interest in newer fans to go back and visit the older titles.
Persona 3 Reload is a top-tier JRPG with gameplay to match. Whilst the story and characters may not match up to subsequent entries in the series, they're good in their own right, becoming far stronger as it gets closer to the end. In terms of gameplay and presentation, it goes beyond most other JRPGs would ever dream of. It successfully brings the original Persona 3 story into the modern era, making it feel like this was always how it was meant to be.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is another excellent installment in the three-part remake of Final Fantasy VII. While I can't say the implementation of an open world was a complete success, the story, characters, and minigames make it absolutely worth playing.
Rise of the Ronin uses exciting combat and character-driven story scenes to tell the story of one of the most interesting periods of Japanese history. Between slightly different combat and an open world with a ton of extra activities, it doesn't quite fit into the soulslike mold and is a far more accessible game for it.
I would personally recommend Making Lovers to visual novel fans who enjoy games with less focus on story, but more on characters and relationships. All of the characters are likeable, all of the routes are interesting and production values are high all around. It's a great entry to visual novels too. It's not a perfect title, but it gets a strong recommendation from me.
The pacing of the story wasn’t the best in the world and the characters weren’t as charming as some other titles, but it was a relaxing journey with well developed characters and an interesting world. Overall, the gameplay is one of the better systems I’ve experienced for a JRPG too and it comes paired with a beautiful world and character design.
Saints Row the Third has always been one of the most fun games I’ve played and Saints Row the Third: Remastered brings that to a new group of players. Perhaps it could have made more improvement as a Remaster considering the price charged, but the amount of sheer fun you can have makes it well worth playing. There are tons of things to do from structured missions to achievements based on driving on the wrong side of the road. This is not a game that you will be done with by just completing the story.
I actually played Zombie Army 4: Dead War enough that my hand began to hurt at one point because I couldn't put it down. It's delightfully gory and the gameplay is incredibly fun.Playing solo was fun, but it improved even further in co-op with a good group. I recommend this game in general, but I recommend it even more if you can convince some friends to pick it up at the same time.
Overall, I certainly enjoyed Rune Factory 4 Special. It is an incredibly addictive game that has eaten up hours of my time and will continue to do so in the future as I play through again and again. The only complaints I have are fairly minor, such as a lack of explanations of a few points or the occasional case of a follower character getting in the way. It's a well-done remake.