Redemption Reapers has a promising combat system, but the story fails to impress and the early game maps prevent the combat from truly shining.
Fire Emblem Engage's story may not impress, but its excellent gameplay more than makes up for the narrative shortcomings.
River City Girls 2 is a rare sequel that improves on almost every aspect of the original, a must play for fans of the first game, and highly recommended to anyone who likes beat 'em ups.
Arcaxer combines an excellent adaptation of turn-based combat with a comical, fourth-wall-breaking script to make a game VR RPG fans won't want to miss — as long as you aren't looking for a gripping narrative.
Hooked on You has a great premise that will make it appeal to Dead by Daylight fans, but it doesn't bring much to the table to draw other dating sim fans in.
RuinsMagus is a serviceable option for JRPG fans clamoring for a JRPG in VR, but it fails to live up to the great first impression it makes.
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes is a more than worthy successor that improves on the storytelling of Three Houses and introduces action gameplay while integrating iconic Fire Emblem mechanics.
Though Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons lacks a standout feature, it makes up for this with oodles of quality content and several smaller, well-executed new additions.
Fire Emblem Gaiden is full of great ideas, but they don't make up for the huge amount of boring or tedious maps.
While no particular element of Rune Factory 4 Special stands out, the game sums to a better experience than its component parts.
The combat system of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light works great, but it's let down by frustrating maps and poorly presented information.
Final Fantasy VII Remake on PC is an excellent port of a must-play RPG for fans of the original and newcomers alike.
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl are extremely faithful remakes that provide a great entry point to the Sinnoh region for new players and a trip down memory lane for established fans, but a lack of new features or content will leave some players wanting more.
Pokémon UNITE is a promising entry in the MOBA genre with the potential to be great given continued care from the developers.
Overall, between the game’s story and gameplay, nothing sticks out as individually exceptional. Still, Final Fantasy comes together as an experience that is better than the sum of its parts. The Pixel Remaster does an excellent job of keeping the surprisingly well-aged gameplay that started the series intact while updating it with more modern pixel art and a beautiful soundtrack. Outside of a few confusing moments and poorly balanced bosses, Final Fantasy is a game I would readily recommend to modern RPG fans, and it’s a great introduction to the genre’s classics.
All in all, this title is an uneven experience. The story is more substantial than most roguelites but is hampered by the randomly determined pacing. A few classes are a blast to play, while others feel too weak at high difficulties without good luck. For the first 20 hours or so, you are regularly getting new story content and new upgrades, and it’s easy to sink hours into Tainted Grail: Conquest. I just wish it kept up the pace all the way to the end of the story.