I have to say Labyrinth of Galleria: The Moon Society is one of the best DRPGs I’ve played in a long time. The exploration is great with lots of variety, the artwork is fantastic and combat has tons of depth as well. The story is very interesting, and I’m very interested to see how the second half of this plays out. In the end you’re getting an amazing game with over 100 hours of gameplay for $49.99, and the game is well worth that. If you’re fan of DRPGs or RPGs in general you don’t want to miss out on this. I’ve played a lot games in this genre in my many years of gaming, this one of the best!
Overall, I really enjoyed my time with Rune Factory 3 Special. I can see why people love this series; its laid back game-play is welcoming but it has enough depth to keep you coming back for more. I had a blast figuring out the best items to give all the Bachelorettes, seeing their reactions to them, and watching their stories unfold. The combat here is a ton of fun, and I can certainly see myself wanting to take on the extra dungeons and challenges at some point down the line. The game is well worth the $39.99 asking price, and I think any fan of the series should jump on this day one. If you’ve never played one of these games you should give them a chance. I didn’t think this would be up my alley, but I was mistaken. I look forward to checking out Rune Factory 4 Special sometime in near future.
Overall, I had a great time with Silent Hope. The combat is fun, the story is interesting, and I felt like the dungeon crawling was fair with a good amount of checkpoints on your way down the abyss. The music is very good, and the way they work the voice work into the actual story is very unique and something I’ve not seen in my many years of covering games. I feel like fans to dungeon looters will have a great time with this one at the $39.99 price tag. There is a lot to love here with the solid gameplay and loads of different weapon options to keep players busy for hours. I’ve spent over 30 hours here and still have the post game to go. Casual players shouldn’t be afraid of this one either, as the normal difficulty is pretty fair and easy to get into. Now, if you dare challenge the harder modes of the post game, that is a different story, but that just adds more value to this great title.
Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless is very much a return to form for the franchise. It improves on the last game in almost every way possible. The story is great, the characters are some of the best the series has seen in a long time, the combat is fun with some new classes and features that add a lot to the experience, and the overall feel here is just better. It took me around 40 hours to finish the main story and some of the extras. If you want to explore everything this title has to offer, it will easily take 80 hours by the time you min-max your stats and get everything ready to take on the post game challenges. The DLC pack for the characters and their extra stories is a bit pricy, but honestly unless you are a huge fan of the franchise, they don’t add much to the overall package here. You get plenty of bang for your buck at the base price of $60. If you’re an old fan of the series questioning whether or not to purchase after the dicey release of Disgaea 6, don’t hold back here as this is a much better series entry. This one is also very welcoming to newcomers, so if you ever wanted to try out a Disgaea title, this is the perfect place to jump in.
I had a lot of expectations going into CRYMACHINA, and I am please to say it exceeded every one of them. This is one of the best games I’ve played this year, and I loved every minute of the 20 hours I spent with it. There is a bit more post-game stuff I can take on in the form of some really tough bosses that I will very likely be working on after this review goes live. This game has an amazing story and solid action. This is something you don’t find everyday in gaming these days, so I feel fans of RPGs and action games will find a lot to love here. I feel it is well worth the $59.99 price tag. If you haven’t played this or Crystar, do yourself a favor and check them both out as soon as possible. You might just find two new favorites, just like I have.
Gears of Dragoon: Fragments of a New Era is another fantastic release from Ninetail and JAST. The story is great with a ton of interesting characters, the dungeon exploration is a lot of fun for us old school RPG fans, and the game can be adjusted to fit the play style of almost anyone. Throw in some of the best CG work I’ve seen in a long time plus a great soundtrack and you have one of my favorite releases of this year. I wish the RNG had been a bit kinder at times and the game would tell you when there was CG scene for losing a battle, but these are very minor things. This game is worth every bit of the $34.99 price tag, and I hope JAST brings over the previous game in this franchise since I enjoyed this one so much.
Overall I have to say Persona 3 Reload is the type of remake I look for. It’s pretty faithful to the original, but adds enough new features to make it feel fresh. I enjoyed my run here just as much as I did when I played this for the first time on the PlayStation 2 years ago. The $69.99 price tag may seem a little steep, but I got 100 hours of great gameplay here, so I feel like it’s worth your coin. If you’ve never played Persona 3 you should pick this up ASAP, don’t put off playing this classic any longer. For veteran players, this one is still well worth your time and you will have a great time here.
Overall I have to say I had a lot of fun with Unicorn Overlord. The combat is fun and has enough depth to keep it fresh all the way to end of the story. I loved discovering the over 70 characters and learning about the world as the game progressed and the game is just gorgeous to look at. I really only have one complaint and that is the late game requires you to grind for EXP longer than you probably should have to, but this is something very minor and doesn’t really detour from the amazing experience this game is. This is without a doubt another Vanillaware hit and shouldn’t be passed up by fans of strategy games or fans of the studio. It’s well worth the $59.99 asking price no matter which platform you decide to pick it up on.
Samurai Shodown is a fantastic addition to the franchise. The robust combat and amazing style make it one of the best fighters out there. The PC port itself is really solid and I had zero issues booting it up and jumping right into the game. The game only supports resolutions up to 1080p which is not an issue for me but some may be turned off by it. The only other issue I ran into was that online matches will have some lag issues. I think a better netcode would probably help out here. The game has tremendous replay value and is well worth the $49.99 price tag. If you’ve been holding out for the PC port of Samurai Shodown or haven’t picked it up yet, there is not better time than the present.
SEGA AGES Thunder Force AC is a ton of fun for hardcore players and causal fans alike. Each stage provides a good amount of variety and challenge. This will make you want to play them over and over to get a better score for the online rankings. The game looks great on the TV or in handheld mode and you can even listen to the fantastic soundtrack in the options menu. I feel like this title is well worth the $7.99 for folks that enjoy Shmups. If you’re not a fan of the genre there is nothing here that will change your mind, but for old school fans it doesn’t get much better than this.
Despite nitpicks with tracklist choice, Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Mega Mix is a great way to kick off the franchise on the Switch. The game runs smooth in handheld mode, which has always been my preferred way to play, and looks fantastic. There are plenty of Modules to unlock and lots of tracks to master on the various difficulties. If you’re a fan of the franchise and have been looking for a solid handheld offering, jump on this right away. If this is your first foray into the Project Diva franchise I can think of no better place to start than here. Just don’t blame me when you when you seek out Vocaloid music for the next 100 years!
At the $7.99 price tag G-LOC: Air Battle is pretty easy to recommend to anyone that loves arcade shooters. The action here is as fast paced as it every was, and this is an amazing port from top to bottom. The extra bells and whistles like Cockpit mode and the scanned manual are just icing on the cake. Now I must crank up “Danger Zone” as loudly as I can and shoot down many more bogeys!
SNK GALS’ FIGHTERS does a lot of things right. It’s a solid and fun fighter that is easy to pick up and play, but has enough depth to keep you entertained for a while. The extras SNK included here are multiple borders, scanline filter and a zoom feature that lets you customize the look of this anyway you wish. The game looks great on a normal TV docked as well. The scanned manual they included was great and I felt that was a nice touch to cap off this great package. For the price of $7.99 I feel like fans of SNK will have a good time with this one and folks looking for a cheap fighter that packs a lot of punch should snag this one up as well.
A few other bells and whistles have been added her as well. Such as the ability to swap sacred treasures between characters and some UI improvements. If you have the original game I have a hard time recommending Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate as an upgrade at the $39.99 price tag. Just seems a bit steep to me for what’s here. If you haven’t picked the game up yet in its original form and want a robust Musou game with over 170 characters to choose from, then this would likely be your cup of tea. It will set you back the full price of $59.99, but with the new features this version offers I feel like this is a much more compelling package.
Overall I have to say I really enjoyed my time with Hero must die. again. The gameplay here is really unique and really made me want to play the game multiple times just see what would happen. I feel like getting the True Ending on this one would require a good walkthrough, but part of the fun of this is to see how things turn out if you just wing it. I spent about 13 hours on two playthroughs and each one was very different. While the game could’ve benefited from more enemy models, this is still a really solid title. I would go so far as to say this is a very underrated gem. Personally I feel the replay value make the game well worth the $39.99 price tag. If you’re a fan of classic RPGs and enjoy a good gameplay twist you should probably snag this up ASAP. You will be glad you did so.
Being a huge fan of the mobile game I really enjoyed my time with Azur Lane: Crosswave. It gave me a chance to spend time with my favorite characters and experience a new story with them. Combat is fun, but much like in the mobile game it’s very repetitive. I pretty much expected this going in, and I didn’t mind it. It was worth the grind to level up all the girls and see all of their marriage scenes. If you are a fan of the mobile game I feel like you will get your money’s worth at $49.99 price tag. I spent around 20 hours in game so far, and finished the main story and most of the extreme battles. While I do think fans of Azur Lane will get more out of this, Azur Lane: Crosswave is a great introduction to this amazing world of Kansen that I think anyone with a mild curiosity should try out. You may just find the characters and world irresistible and want to see more of it. I know this has certainly became one of my favorite franchises over the past two years, and I am thankful for it.
I have to say overall I had a great time with GENSOU Skydrift. The racing was fast, fluid and just a lot of fun. The graphics and artwork are outstanding. The game runs at a solid framerate no matter if the Switch is docked or in handheld mode. I polished off the campaign mode in just a few hours, but I spent about 4 or 5 more playing around on all the tracks with friends and CPU racers. The $23.99 price tag might seem a little steep, but this is a quality racing game. If you’re a Touhou fan I think you will find a lot to love here, and if you’re a racing fan looking for a solid title this might just be your cup of tea as well.
All and all I had a great time with Pokémon Sword. The game runs very well docked or in handheld mode, online features work great aside from the slowdown and the gameplay is quite addictive. I loved all of the characters and some of the theme music is the best I’ve heard in a long time. I felt like the game was easy enough for a casual player to get into, while it still had plenty of depth for veteran players to explore. This is exactly the balance you want in a game like this. I played this for around 55 hours for this review and finished the main story and bit of post game content. I feel like this game is well worth $60 price tag. There is plenty of content and I feel like old and new players will find a lot to love here.
While I do feel the gameplay in Crystar is simple, the story and aesthetics truly make this a one-of-a-kind title. I really want to gush about all the great twists and turns in the story and about how these characters grow as the game progresses, but that’s all spoilers and I think everyone should play this one for themselves. I played around 30 hours and completed all of the main story. I did feel that making you run some of the latter stages three times with just a few story changes was a bit much, but there was a good payout on in the end so I can let that slide a bit. I feel like this game is well worth the $59 price tag if you’re into games with a deep and meaningful story. I feel like this one might get buried by bigger releases this generation, but I hope people don’t overlook it. Crystar is a very special title that I feel everyone should give a shot.
I spent over 40 hours with Omega Labyrinth Life and had a blast. While the game isn’t perfect, the dungeon crawling is fun and the over the top aesthetics really make this stand out. I completed the main story during my playthrough, but there were two 100 level dungeons I have yet to explore. If you love Rogue-Like Dungeon Crawlers that have tons of Ecchi, you should pick up the game today at the $59.99 price tag. I know that sounds pretty steep, but there is a lot of content here. If you’re a casual fan of this genre this is a good title to get your toes wet with, since I didn’t think the difficultly was too steep for anyone to enjoy. I hope D3 Publisher figures out a way to bring us the sequel. If it’s as good as this one, we’re missing out on something great.