Shaq-Fu: A Legend Reborn is a fun title for as long as it lasts and a forgettable one once it ends.
I wish the return of Fear Effect would have been something to celebrate. Unfortunately, it ends up being a mediocre attempt to revive the franchise.
Blue Reflection tries to take the social aspects of Persona and make them more streamlined and simplified but fails to make them interesting in any way. The combat and beautiful locations and character models add some light to the title, it's not enough to make it stand out or memorable in any way.
Absolver delivers on its promise of a compelling and unique combat system, but falls flat in almost every other way. Some baffling design decisions hold it back, so it's hard to recommend the game simply based on its combat.
Adr1ft has a great concept behind it, but like many others it fails to execute it quite right. The game's lack of urgency makes it hard to believe that I'm struggling to survive in the vastness of space. It's bare bones gameplay may be fun for most,but its lack of interaction and simply drifting through the vastness of space is just simply boring. It can be beautiful to look at and its score is delightful when it's there. Adr1ft just doesn't bring enough to the table to make it a great outer space survival experience.
Forest Grove has a good concept but doesn't take advantage of its unique aspects. The future setting is just a gimmick to see how scenes play out. Though I enjoyed looking for the evidence and making the connections to find out what happened to Zooey, the game constantly held my hand but let it go right at the end when I needed its help the most. It's short, it's simple, and it's predictable.
Infinity Strash: DRAGON QUEST: The Adventures of Dia is a great adaptation of The Adventures of Dia anime, but it's a disappointment when it comes to being a spin-off in the Dragon Quest franchise. Simple combat and a bad mission structure will have you watching screengrabs from the anime more than playing the game. It tires hard to be an epic adventure, but it feels like it was designed for the mobile market before being moved to a console release.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredders Revenge: Dimensional Shellshock is an interesting addition that provides a new Survival Mode to the core game. However, it provides you with fun access to play with your bosses of the game and a fun upgrade system utilizing crystals. Its difficulty holds it back, and it feels like it was designed specifically with the most hardcore audience in mind. Adding two new characters doesn't add enough to the core game to warrant a purchase.
Mato Anomalies tries too hard to please everyone through various genres. It tells a good story when it wants to, but presenting it in three different styles doesn't always work for the best. The long-winded conversations will make your mind wonder quite a bit until it gets to the point. Thankfully its character design is good, and the soundtrack keeps you occupied. Though it features a decent combat system, getting going can take some time. The biggest downfall of Mato Anomalies is the card battle mechanic that constantly leaves you in an unfair position dragging your progression to a standstill.
Baldo: The Guardian Owls tries really hard to mimic the best games in the genre but fails to conquer its glaring flaws. Combat is unfairly difficult and the camera is absolutely atrocious. The game's quests and puzzles are also frustrating due to the lack of any real direction to follow and no types of hints for puzzle solving. Thankfully, Baldo's art style is fantastic and for the most part, exploration is a joy.
It's a shame that Blue Reflection: Second Light couldn't live up to the expectations it set for itself. Though the story and characters development is good, the game is held back by overly complicated combat mechanics that seem to make encounters harder and longer when they didn't need to be. With the franchise now two games deep, I have to wonder if a third entry will ever get the light of day and if so, will GUST Studios finally be able to get the formula right.
Black Legend is a competent game that loses itself in its own cumbersome execution. For every good mechanic, Black Legend introduces it finds a way to make it confusing to learn, and hinders your enjoyment of it in the process. Black Legend crafts an intriguing world that I loved exploring when I wasn't constantly getting lost due to its poor navigation. Where the brunt of issues appear are in the game's cumbersome Catalyst System and repetitive combat animations. Thankfully ,the fun cross-class System keeps things a bit interesting for as long as it takes to finish the title.
The First Samurai is the first piece of content in the entire Nioh franchise that feels underwhelming. Outside of the great boss battles and boss designs, the rest of DLC just feels bland and uninspired. The First Samurai simply doesn't do enough to give the franchise the farewell it deserves .
It's not the worst remaster but Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles should have been a great remaster but Square just didn't do enough to make the game feel like it belongs in this day and age. Co-op is a chore to even get started and having no couch co-op to play with your family takes away the identity of Crystal Chronicles and what made it such a stand out - traveling and exploring as a family.
Disintegration's blend of FPS and RTS is an interesting one, but unfortunately it fails to fully deliver on both. It's a competent game and can be fun at times, but most of its mechanics fail to work in the simplest of ways. Maybe with a little, more time Disintegration could have been something special.
Kill la Kill: IF's incredable animations and presentation can't save it from being a repetitive fighter that outstays it's welcome after just a few hours.
SolSeraph is a good game that tries to do too much. Unfortunately, everything it does is the bare minimum and never really pushes itself to be great. All in all, SolSeraph is a safe and enjoyable title.
It's a shame that Seven Deadly Sins first forte into videogames couldn't have been better. As a big fan I enjoyed the Knights of Britannia for what it is but most will find it mediocre at best.
Episode Gladiolus isn’t the DLC I was hoping for but it is what I expected it to be. Though it's on the short side its asking price is more than reasonable and we get a taste of how Gladio will most likely function in multiplayer in the future.
Hollow Realization is the best Sword Art Online game to date but that doesn't mean it's great by any means. If you're a fan of the franchise this game is a no brainer as it’s packed with so much content you can put as many hours into it as you would an actual MMO. It’s just a shame that a lot of that content is as Hollow as its name suggests.