Hogwarts Legacy is a visually stunning open-world adventure that masterfully brings the Wizarding World to life, despite a few bugs and long load times on the PS4 version. With an original narrative set a century before the Harry Potter series, the game offers engaging gameplay, rich lore, and a high degree of customization, although the spell-based combat may feel monotonous over time.
Hello Neighbor: Search and Rescue transitions the popular franchise into VR, offering a non-linear adventure filled with puzzles and jump scares, but falls short in delivering a truly immersive experience. While the game's multiple playable characters and VR functionality add a unique twist, its lack of clear direction, potential for motion sickness, and limited object interaction may detract from the overall enjoyment.
Zombieland: Headshot Fever Reloaded is a humorous VR action game with varied missions and competitive gameplay. While the story is thin and humor repetitive, it offers decent replay value with speed-run levels and weapon variety. Best enjoyed in short bursts and group play, it's a fun, if not groundbreaking, choice for genre fans.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails To Azure offers a rich narrative and engaging characters, with commendable English localization. Despite an outdated combat system, the game remains engaging due to varied attack options. It improves on its predecessor with a fast travel system and diverse side missions. However, dated visuals and a high entry barrier for newcomers are minor drawbacks. Overall, it's a solid RPG that will satisfy fans of the series and narrative-driven games.
Planet of Lana is a visually captivating side-scrolling platformer with a narrative delivered through environment and character actions. Despite minor control issues and simple puzzles, the game's stunning art style and compelling story make it a worthwhile experience.
Last Labyrinth struggles to deliver an engaging VR escape room experience, marred by sluggish gameplay mechanics, repetitive level design, and inconsistent puzzle quality. Though the game's mysterious premise and multiple endings hold promise, the novelty of its VR features quickly fades. Overpriced and lacking replay value, Last Labyrinth falls short of providing the immersive experience players might hope for.
The Tale of Onogoro offers an engaging VR experience with vibrant visuals and inventive puzzles, setting it apart from its predecessor, Last Labyrinth. While the game excels in delivering an immersive world and clever mechanics, it stumbles with repetitive combat and excessive cutscenes that interrupt the gameplay. Despite not fully realizing its anime-driven action-adventure ambitions, The Tale of Onogoro provides a more replayable and enjoyable experience overall.
Disgaea 6 Complete introduces accessibility features and 3D graphics, providing smoother combat and humor-packed content. However, the game sacrifices some charm and complexity, presenting a cliché story and simplified mechanics that may alienate long-time fans. This mixed bag offers an enjoyable, yet different experience for both new and veteran players.
Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened, despite visual inconsistencies and limited accessibility for newcomers, remains a solid entry in the series. Its Lovecraftian twist, complex mysteries, and character development engage players. While some areas need improvement, the game offers a captivating experience for Sherlock Holmes and adventure game fans. Frogwares delivers a notable adventure, albeit not perfect.
Across The Valley is a disappointing VR farming simulator with numerous bugs, poor controls, and tedious gameplay. Despite its visuals and budget price, the game's core experience remains underwhelming.
Townsmen VR delivers an immersive experience on PSVR 2, with intuitive controls and engaging gameplay for VR newcomers and RTS beginners. Despite some control challenges and the absence of a fast-forward option, it remains a well-implemented and entertaining VR adaptation.
GrimGrimoire OnceMore is a remastered strategy RPG set in a magical world, boasting a captivating story and strong characters. Despite its repetitive gameplay and dated concepts, the game offers adjustable difficulty and a unique gameplay blend for committed players.
PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is an excellent visual novel game that blends Japanese mythology and fiction to create a compelling story, with a unique art style and fascinating lore, making it worth the price for fans of the genre.
Octopath Traveler 2 is a fantastic sequel that retains its distinct features while enhancing its overall coherence. It's a top-tier JRPG from Square Enix and a strong contender for 2023's GOTY. Although pacing issues persist, the game's narrative rewards perseverance, resulting in a memorable experience. Whether new or returning, players will find plenty of entertainment and engagement in this title.
Like a Dragon: Ishin is a Yakuza franchise spin-off set in 19th-century Japan with a lively open-world experience, four unique combat styles, and plenty of substories to complete. The addition of Trooper Cards might not be appealing to everyone, and the game's visual presentation is dated with some minor bugs, but it's still a decent remake of a 9-year-old game.
Persona 3 Portable is a game with a darker tone and philosophical themes, with enjoyable gameplay but a repetitive tower of Tartarus. The main cast of characters is likable and social links provide interesting side stories. It may not have the same level of quality content as its successors, but it is still worth playing for fans of the series, but newcomers may prefer to start with a more recent entry.
Persona 4 Golden has cemented its place in the pantheon of great JRPGs, and revisiting the game on a big screen only serves to reinforce that reputation. From its charming young cast to its twisting and turning story, this game has everything that makes a great RPG.
One Piece Odyssey might not establish a new standard in the JRPG genre, but it is still an entertaining experience, especially if you are a fan of the franchise.
Valkyrie Profile Lenneth is one of those obscure but famous JRPG titles that deserved a revival, and while the new game was less than fantastic, its predecessor has been remastered for current platforms with the respect it deserves.
If you are a fan of the series, Romancing SaGa -Minstrel Song- Remastered is a worthy release, but for newbies to the JRPG genre, this might be a challenging first step. It's still a lot of fun if you give it the time it needs to understand the many gameplay mechanics.