Ryte – The Eye of Atlantis is a perfectly okay game hampered by janky physics and technical issues. When the game leans into its Atlantean subject, it’s the best part of the experience, but unfortunately, it’s few and far between. The music is good and I liked the attention to detail in the locations, I just wanted more from them. The French voice acting is fine, but the English was stiff and amateur at best. If you like Greco-Roman architecture or are big into Atlantean lore, you could pick the game up on sale, but at $19.99 USD, it has too many technical issues to recommend over other VR puzzle games out there.
I wanted to like my time with Double Kick Heroes more than I did. It’s got a great soundtrack, memorable aesthetic, and a fun concept in a rhythm shooter. Playing the game tended to be more frustrating and physically uncomfortable for me than fun, however, even taking advantage of the numerous options available. For metal fans, this game is a must-play, if only for the ear worms, and I would suggest rhythm fans check it out if they want a challenging, albeit frustrating, title. That being said, I think I’d rather just listen to the soundtrack.
There’s a lot to like about SC5VR, but it’s definitely geared toward fans of the series. Newcomers to VR will find an easy rhythm game with a low barrier of entry and style oozing from every pore, but rhythm players wanting a challenge may need to look elsewhere. Still, if you have access to a VR system, I suggest at least giving Kinda Funky News Flash! a gander. It’s is available for PlayStation VR for $39.99 USD. The game requires the PlayStation Camera and two Move controllers. Grounding eventually plans to release versions for the HTC Vive, SteamVR, and oculus quest.
Kawaii Deathu Desu is a fun time waster that would really benefit from some quality of life changes. (My soul for a button remap option!) For someone looking for a quick, simple gameplay experience, you can’t really go wrong picking it up.
Star Ocean: The Divine Force is absolutely the return to form I so desperately wanted for the series, and it’s a game I legitimately, whole-heartedly adore, but it’s also held back by some baffling design decisions and outright unacceptable performance issues. The music is fantastic and the cast even more so, with strong performances across the board. The story is serviceable and does a fair job at touching on some fundamental philosophical questions about governance and humanity, though it lacked the “wait, what?” surprise factor I expect from SO titles. The world is lived in and warm, and benefits from the addition of D.U.M.A. for faster and more vertical exploration. It’s also gorgeous, from detailed locales to beautiful character designs.
Overall, I enjoyed my time with Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei. The characters were charming, well-acted, and gorgeous; I’m a sucker for historical fiction, and experiencing an alternate version of the Genpei War made for a really exciting scenario; and the sound design was completely on point. Unfortunately, the game also suffered from some glaring grammatical issues that cannot be ignored. If you’re a fan of samurai or historical drama, Birushana is worth checking out, but that recommendation comes with a massive caveat thanks to what I found as less-than-professional proofreading. In the end, your tolerance for grammatical errors is YMMV, and for me they weren’t enough to take me out of the game entirely, but for others it might be a bridge too far.
Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing is a fun little title that takes advantage of virtual reality’s ability to break physical boundaries to provide an engaging flight simulation. The animation and acting help bring these quirky characters to life in an immersive episode that has a rather predictable story but still sticks the landing thanks to wearing its heart on its sleeve. If you’re into VR, this is a great title to grab.
If you enjoy meta-fiction the way I do, I think you’ll enjoy your time with The Wanderer: Frankenstein’s Creature. Clocking in at around two hours, the game is brisk but does offer replay value. The game touches on several concepts near and dear to my heart, including the idea that fiction exists beyond its creator, as well as what constitutes immortality. It’s a somber look at depression, but also finds the beauty in a flawed existence. There’s very little gameplay to be had, but like a good book or film, the questions The Wanderer poses about life, love, complicity, and free will stick with me.
Overall I very much enjoyed my time with Afterparty. The world was gorgeous and filled with likeable, interesting characters. It tackled themes I found particularly compelling, and the dialogue options offer a lot of replayability. I would actually love to go back and see if I can’t get some different outcomes from the ones I got my first playthrough. It’s light on gameplay, but this is a game I would definitely recommend for those who enjoy narrative experiences.
I spent 14 hours with Wintermoor. It was charming and engaging, with some snappy writing and pretty decent art direction. I liked the world of Wintermoor Academy. If I had one major complaint, it would be the tedium of walking back and forth between areas of the school during fetch quests. There aren’t many in the game, thankfully, but it did tend to drag the pacing a bit for me. And while the music is solid overall, I do wish there had been more variety. As it goes though, those are pretty minor nitpicks.
At the end of the day, Final Fantasy XVI is an ambitious attempt to iterate on the series’ combat and story formulas, and for the most part is largely successful. Battles are frenetic and fun, with a combo system that feels simple to use but offers plenty of customization through Eikonic abilities. The world is unique and interesting, with varied character motivations and complex political landscapes. While darker than most of its predecessors, XVI‘s themes of acceptance, self-actualization and friendship resonate just as strongly as anything the series has offered thus far, and this is one of the strongest casts in recent memory. There’s a lot to love here, despite some of the game’s shortcomings and rushed ending. If nothing else, it’s given me a lot to think about, and for me, that’s well worth the price of admission.
Pixel Ripped 1978 is technically the third game in the series, but can easily be played without having played the other games. It’s fun, intuitive and a nice trip down memory lane, especially for those of us who grew up in the early days of gaming. It’s available on PSVR2, Meta Quest 2, and SteamVR, and well worth the $24.99 USD.
Amnesia: Later x Crowd is an honestly baffling product. For all of Later’s faults, Crowd makes up for them two-fold, providing one of the most fun and emotionally rewarding gaming experiences I’ve had in a long time. Memories may be the overall better story, but Crowd is the overall better game, and this package is held back only by the lackluster Later. Even with that, though, Crowd was legitimately so good – in spite of the typos and untranslated text in After Story – that I can’t help but recommend it. It’s worth the $49.99 price tag.
Shantae: Half-Genie Hero – Ultimate Edition has a lot of fun to offer beginners and veteran adventure players, with adorable characters, vibrant levels, a great score, and plenty of replayability. While it isn’t particularly difficult, the various modes and DLC adventures offer a bit more challenge than the main adventure, and we can always use more Shantae in our lives. It took me just short of seven hours to beat the base game, and each DLC story is around two to three hours, so it’s the perfect length for someone who can’t dump too much time into a single game. For $15 USD, you can’t go wrong picking this one up.
Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir is a solid, enjoyable mystery to play. I loved exploring Myoujin Village and learning about the cast, or swapping between the orchestrated arrangement and original chiptune songs. The game is also a time capsule into Nintendo’s past and the early days of graphic adventures on console, and has aged remarkably well. I sort of wish they’d included the original version of the game, if only for comparison’s sake, but having the music is a nice touch. The game even comes with a Music Mode you unlock after completing it. It’s a nice touch. Will this title wow veteran visual novel and graphic adventure aficionados? Not really. But for its place in the genre’s history, I think it’s worth a shot.
Overall though, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a fun, engaging hack-and-slash take on the world and characters of Breath of the Wild, and I very much enjoyed my time with the game, sans fighting with the camera. While the restrictions placed on exploration and travel did occasionally make me long for the freedom of the game’s more open world counterpart, it was still beautiful in its own right, with a wonderful soundtrack, fun, memorable characters, and a predictable but sometimes surprisingly moving story. I will always be happy when I get to see Zelda’s struggles and accomplishments, and this game provided that in a delightful package.
Moss is a great game, not only for VR but in general. Quill and the characters she meets are charming, and the storybook nature of this tale are a great hook. The story itself is nothing especially groundbreaking, but it’s well-written, and I love the presentation. The only other animal protagonist I’ve found as endearing as Quill is Trico from The Last Guardian, and that is high praise. I love her. Please give me all the merchandise of her. My biggest complaint is, simply, that the game ends so soon! You can easily finish Moss in about three to five hours, depending on how determined you are to find all the hidden items across the game’s seven chapters, and each chapter is an easily-digestible 20-30 minutes. Since the puzzles always have the same solutions, there isn’t a lot of replayability, but that didn’t stop me from thoroughly enjoying the time I spent with the game and its DLC. This is a must-play for anyone interested in VR and a great showcase for the medium’s strengths.
How far would you go to get revenge? How much would you sacrifice for forgiveness? How do you deal with guilt when it eats you from inside? Is there a line you won’t cross, or is everything fair game to make someone else pay for your pain? None of these are easy questions with simple answers, and The Last of Us Part II doesn’t really offer a definitive answer, either. It can’t, and if it did, it would ring hollow. Instead we’re left with the wreckage of two lives spurred on by vengeance and the hope that, maybe, there is closure for the worst of us.
Overall, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is a standout entry in this storied franchise. Agent is a fun new addition to Kiryu’s fighting styles, and I really loved the Coliseum this time around, especially the Hell Team Rumbles. Playing dress-up with Kiryu was a ton of fun, and every game should give him the opportunity to walk down a runway. Akame is a wonderful character, and her integration in both the main story and the substories made her feel integral to this snippet of Kiryu’s life. I found the interpersonal drama with Hanawa compelling, as well as everything involving the Omi Alliance. This game also packs a serious emotional gut-punch and features perhaps the best acting I’ve seen from Takaya Kuroda to date. If you’re really craving that old school Yakuza combat and storytelling, Gaiden is a solid experience. It took me a little over 30 hours to complete all substories, finish the Coliseum, complete the main races in CourStar and defeat the lion’s share of rivals. It’s well worth your $49.99 USD.
Overall, I have had a blast reading through Charade Maniacs. The cast is large and varied, but not overwhelming, and the overarching mystery of what the Other World Stream is and why it exists keeps me going back for more. What’s up with the Arcadians? Why specifically wipe out the memory of people who died rather than just kill them? Why was this cast chosen to have such a drastic imbalance between male and female members? If you like mysteries, you can’t really go wrong here.