Thomas Knight's Reviews
Coffee Talk is a very laid back and well-written game. While I don’t really think it fits its own tagline of a ‘coffee brewing simulator’, it does hit the target on the conversations. It covers some sensitive modern topics in a different way and manages to feel very relatable, despite involving aliens, mermaids and more. While I would’ve liked to see further alternate endings or ways to affect the storyline, it’s a small but pleasant package for a budget price.
I would recommend World End Syndrome to visual novel fans who enjoy a light mystery story and romance. All of the characters are interesting, if not always likeable. The overall story comes together very well too and it works as a good example of a way to go through basically the same story several times while keeping things fresh. The art is amazing too.
Death end re;Quest was a good JRPG. It’s strongest points are the story, the switching between worlds and the features of the battle system. It’s certainly not perfect though. Sometimes the wandering around dungeons went on too long without encountering anything and there are certain features which the game could explain better. It innovated in many ways while relying on tropes in others. Still, I enjoyed my time playing through the game and couldn’t put it down at times. It's one of the better Idea Factory JRPGs.
I’d certainly recommend the game to any visual novel fans who enjoy comedy with a plot. While visual novels are a niche, people interested in virtual reality who enjoy anime might consider trying this out too, even if not usually a fan of visual novels.
A well-written visual novel about an unlikely and forbidden friendship. Well worth the read and budget-friendly.
Under One Wing has an interesting story, but the cast of characters is what makes the story worth reading. Having some of the best battle scenes in visual novels help too, as these typically are not done well in this medium.
Overall, this is an incredibly fun hack’n’slash game. Perhaps it could do more with the Fate brand, expanding on the story and character development, but that is not the draw of this game. The combat is the obvious star of the show, supported by the characters and the systems to develop their skills and powers. I believe that fans of the Fate series will enjoy this particularly as they will have more background knowledge and be happy to see more of the characters. That said, anyone who enjoys musou-style games will likely not regret buying this game.
Toejam and Earl: Back in the Groove is very well put together and really just a more modern and expanded spin of the first installment of the series. It may not appeal to everyone with its weird 90s cartoon humor and there may be a few minor issues to iron out, but it’s a huge amount of fun to play with friends, just for the sheer chaos it brings with all the variables involved.
Wandersong is a unique game in how it uses singing as a mechanic and wonderful in how bright and colorful it is. It has great humor and is well worth picking up.
I would personally recommend Newton and the Apple Tree to visual novel fans who enjoy games with a focus on story, but don’t mind the odd lewd joke or more depending on their version. I personally felt like it overdid it at times, but not to an extreme. The cast of characters is quite interesting, as is the story. It has wonderful art too.
I really enjoyed Destroy All Humans. In many ways, this feels like what a remake should be – it’s modernized and improved to the level of many current games, but very much kept the original spirit. While there is some further room for improvement that prevents it from getting a higher score, I’m certainly happy that I had the chance to play this. It’s left me hoping that the other games get a remake or a new sequel is announced.
Between the quality of the comedy, the scenes shown in the common route and the overall production quality, I’m happy to recommend IxShe Tell. I do feel like it could have been better at developing the characters or exploring their issues further in the character routes, which is what holds it back from a higher score.
Taking about twenty-five hours to complete, Immortals Fenyx Rising was a fun experience with some enjoyable combat, great humor, and some interesting puzzles. While I do wish it was a little less heavy on the puzzle side of things, it is refreshing to see compared to the standard combat-heavy games of this type. I had a great time with this. I do think that the humor will make or break it for some people, but as long as no-one goes into this expecting something similar to one of Ubisoft’s more serious titles, I doubt they’ll be disappointed.
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- The Prophecy of the Throne has a rather interesting mystery and makes use of the looping mechanic to unveil it in a unique way. The characters are great and it works well as an extra arc for those who have watched the anime or read the light novel. I also liked that the gameplay didn’t take the expected route of direct fighting, but had a more roundabout way of dealing with problems. While I did have a few complaints, these were fairly minor in the scope of things and overall I really enjoyed this visual novel.
I had a lot of fun with Persona 5 Strikers. I was a little surprised at how much of it was like a JRPG as the trailers and discussion online seemed only focused on the combat aspect. How easy it was to get into for someone who hadn’t played the previous game was also impressive. The quality was high despite a few issues and I felt like the combat was done particularly well. The progress through the story is what kept me wanting to play through, along with the deep RPG mechanics. I felt like they mixed really well with the hack and slash aspect.
While Phantom: Covert Ops only contains several hours of content and the guards may need training, I enjoyed replaying missions and completing the short challenges. The rowing felt great and trying to completely avoid detection and figure out the best routes kept me interested in the campaign, along with the active world. This is no Splinter Cell or Metal Gear Solid, but it is a unique virtual reality experience.
he Climb 2 is as much of a challenge as you want it to be, which I appreciated a lot. Whether playing around in casual mode or going for achievements on professional mode, I had a good time. While there were some issues and I’d like to see more content, it kept me playing until I got tired and then I dove back in for more. I especially liked the variety in each level.
I’d recommend Kinkoi: Golden Loveriche. It’s a great character-focused visual novel, with a focus on interesting backstories. Piecing together the history over different routes was really interesting and the characters were endearing. The production value is certainly high too and the humor is on point.
I enjoyed Final Fantasy VII EPISODE INTERmission, in some ways even more than the base game. While it is a shorter experience and doesn’t include all of the same features, it felt more focused. Yuffie is a great character who brought a lot of humor to this INTERmission and who I look forward to seeing in the main series.
While WarioWare: Get It Together! does occasionally feel unfair, it’s tempered by the random nature of the game and that each round is only seconds long. The brilliance shines through minor letdowns, between the variety of characters and minigame matchups, additional modes, multiplayer integrated into all areas, and a surprising amount of longevity.