Void Stranger is unapproachable at first glance, even after an hour or so of playing it. [...] But if you stick with it long enough, 20 to 30 hours give or take, Void Stranger will deliver an immaculate experience unlike anything on tap this year. You need to play by its rules and also bend/break them in the process. The going is tough, but the tough gets going. Void Stranger will make you as hardy as they come.
While Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name is not meant for new players wanting to get into the Yakuza/Like A Dragon series, you can still enjoy it as a brawler while just ploughing through the story. However, you won't get the narrative satisfaction this side story has planned. That aspect will reward longtime players who started the series back in the aughts when Sega had a budget to hire Michael Madsen and Mark Hamill for the first English entry of the series in the PlayStation 2 era.
Super Mario RPG is a well-put-together remaster that balances the old and new, though focusing more on the old. That isn't exactly a bad thing given how influential and charming the 1996 original was, and still is. New players who want to get their feet wet in the Japanese role-playing game genre and have a Nintendo Switch handy must make this title a must-buy.
Dredge is a great mix of moody atmospheric horror storytelling mixed in with fishing and sailing. The DLC that just came out, The Pale Reach, adds a ton more to an already-packed 10-hour base game, adding 11 new fishes/crabs to catch, a new ice-floe-filled landscape, and new dangers. So really, now's a good time as any to go fish.
While enjoyable on its own, I believe fans of the Yohane anime and Love Live series will find more to love and cherish here. The characters in the game aren’t fleshed out in context to the game and solely reliant on their personalities and charisma in the 13-episode show, and the character VOs can get grating over time. Still, as a standalone Metroidvania title, you could do worse. I cherished my 5 hours or so going through the entire game, and managed to fight some challenging bosses using the game’s Dark Magic and Companion Summon system, which adds creativity and utility to your playstyle.
[...] Cuisineer is a casual and relaxing take on the action-savvy roguelite genre mixed in with some breezy-if-simplistic-and-slow management gameplay. Even if you feel like you have to manage your expectations a tad, you'll do fine in Battlebrew Productions' latest, especially with the isometric attack-savvy bits where you let a cat girl go hog wild with a flame-powered spatula and grenade egg timers against fire elemental yaks and sentient potatoes tossing projectiles.
If you're itching for more potential Dohalim x Kisara ship material and a jaunt into Tales of Arise' combat all over again in a "new" setting, you can't go wrong with this decent-sized expansion that at least learned some lessons from overblown and too-long-for-their-own-good Tales Of sequels. In fact, if you want a solid Tales Of Arise experience, get the base game and expansion for a fun JRPG time. Otherwise, it's not required viewing unless the price goes down.
Coupled with an inviting HD-2D look that combines pixel art and 3D graphics that really invites you to play/replay it for copious amounts of time, this Star Ocean remake is worth diving into. If you crave 90s JRPG action with a lot of unlockables and power-up options, optional party members with backstories to uncover, and fast-paced combat, Star Ocean: The Second Story R is a no-brainer that will get you into its scifi hooks.
While not exactly as action-packed and detailed as the last two Riot Forge games, Song of Nunu deserves some accolade for being a little different in its 3D platforming and all-ages approach. Familiar? Yes, but not unwelcome in the slightest. Even the most icy of hearts will start melting and feel warm and fuzzy inside if they persevere in this affordable and solidly put-together adventure starring a boy and his magic four-armed yeti.
Don't expect a huge leap in innovation and surprises, but a boatload of fun for both your friends and family. This Mario entry is basically comfort food that barely sates, but doesn't enthrall, inspire, or enervate.
Ghostrunner 2 is tough, and aggravatingly so by design. But it's never unfair. [...] Even with some of its unnecessary extras, it doesn't pollute the entire experience and still excels at what it delivers: parkour ninja action in the first-person degree.
Sonic Superstars retains the same 2D nostalgic joy thanks to its fun levels and challenges, though we advise playing the game solo if you actually want to finish it. You'll still find a lot to love from the game's levels, though they aren't as strongly designed as the ones in Sonic Mania. Sonic Superstars does enough and a bit more with its charm, especially for completionists. Though I could do without Knuckles' recovery frame when he sticks onto ledges, or Tails' flying method being the way it is (sins of past games and adherence to tradition for ill), the overall game is a solid 2D jaunt for all ages. The co-op really needs work though and is nothing more than a party favour.
After many years of fixing, it's great to see the trials of V and his/her adventure in Night City -seediness & all- now in its final Super Saiyan God form. The Phantom Liberty expansion is a helluva adventure as well featuring the best talent for its narrative, lovely structure and levels, and all-around captivating spy motif and cloak-and-dagger who-can-we-trust package.
Mortal Kombat 1 is a solid 2d fighting game offering with lovely assist-based Kameo gameplay that allows for fun competitive expression and kreativity. While it's not up to snuff to past titles like MKX and MK11 in terms of packed single-player kontent, it could have been much more paltry and barebones.
I was really left wanting more of Gunbrella's levels and gameplay, to the point where I feel that 6 hours wasn't enough. Perhaps it could benefit from more stages that mix challenge and creativity. As it stands, it is still a great indie action platformer to pick up. Gunbrella really delivers where it counts: an action-packed 2D run-and-gun search action offering with a quirky-yet-serious presentation and a badass weapon.
Goodbye Volcano High just feels like a very tryhard Life Is Strange with furries and full of hodge-podge maudlin writing. I'm very sure this game will satiate its niche audience, but I can't say this is going to change anybody else's mind about visual novels made by Western developers.
There's no other way to put this: Sea Of Stars is sublime from start to finish. It's a love letter to the best era of JRPGs -the late 90s to 2000s- made to look like the past but comes with a lot of newfangled modern-day features to duplicate the spirit and joy it emanates. And despite its obvious inspiration, it stands tall and proud on its own two feet, sword in one hand and Solar/Moon powers to blast away all doubt of JRPGs existing in proper and fun form in 2023.
Blasphemous 2 is a lovely search action game made for anyone who wants a challenge, an R-rated experience, and a good mix of combat and exploration. For veterans, this sequel fixes a few of the problems from the first game so that it seems less cheap and buggy.
Batterystaple Games took up the responsibility to create a loving tribute to the Mega Man X series and adds a new spin on things to make the game challenging and highly replayable for hardcore fans of the genre. Fans of the archetype 2D run-and-gun power-up filled charged Mega Buster action title can stop praying for a Mega Man X follow-up. 30XX is essentially that and a bag of Nuts.
For the low price of US$14.99, you could do worst [than this indie mecha title] and it'll at least sate your jollies if for a few hours.