The Tengu's Disciple is a great addition to Nioh 2. It was great to go back and play through some of the original game locations before the protagonist William made his way through Yokai-infested Japan. The Splitstaff adds a great new weapon to master and some of the fresh enemies provide a great new challenge. Unfortunately, some hurdles the expansion puts in front of you feel incredibly unfair even for Nioh's standards.
Fairy Tail is a good first attempt to bring this massive franchise to home consoles. GUST does a great job of not only recreating the world and characters of Fairy Tail but goes out of its way with great writing and character development. It's not every day you get to play a game that rewards you for every task you complete in it. Combat is a highlight but the exploration leaves much to be desired.
A broken mess in almost every way. Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris doesn't deliver on it's promised product. With so many technical issues it's hard to imagine anyone with the patience to get through the game. Alicization Lycoris should have been the crowning achievement in a beloved franchise but instead, it ends up being the worst title in the Sword Art Online franchise.
Radical Fish Games has taken eight years to craft one of the best indie titles of the year. With an interesting story, great combat, exciting and rewarding exploration CrossCode not only pays homage to some of the best retro action-RPGs it also proves that a small studio with love and passion for their project can rival the million-dollar blockbusters we've grown so used to. Trust me, you won't want to miss out on this future classic.
The Coma 2: Vicious Sisters is an interesting take on survival-horror. You don't get to fight your way out of the situations you find yourself in. Instead, hiding is your best weapon. Devespresso Games have crafted a unique horror experience shrouded in Korean horror lore. It's just a shame their unique approach is hindered by some questionable QTE moments and item management.
SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated is not only a good platformer its a great example of a game taking full advantage of its license. Fans of platformers will sure enjoy their time in Bikini Bottom, but fans of the franchise will gobble it up. Battle for Bikini Bottom features plenty of action and humor to carry your through the 15-hour campaign and some of its puzzles are definitely headscratchers, which is more then you can ask for in a solid platformer.
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.
What should have been a great return for the ten year old classic ends up being one of the worst remaster I've ever played, with almost no graphical updates and staggering framerate issues. A remaster should fix the issues of the original not make them worse.
Daymare: 1998 is a great alternative to the Resident Evil Remakes. Though it feels a little dated by today's standards, it nonetheless ends up holding its own with some great atmosphere and exploration. It's just a shame a lot of its mechanics are unnecessary and quite honestly questionable.
Sakura Wars is a great little gem. It's the perfect title to get into the franchise and see why it's regarded so highly in Japan. Sakura Wars has some incredible writing and character development, it's hard not to fall in love with everyone you meet in the world. It's just a shame the combat isn't on the same level and at times take the steam away from the fantastic narrative.
Element Space looked like such a fun game to play but ended up being a nightmare. In 2020 your game shouldn't be crashing every hour of playtime Element Space simply isn't optimized and need a lot more time in the testing stages.
Masterfully crafted and executed, Nioh 2 sets the benchmark for action/adventure games that people just have to experience. Team Ninja's latest provides one of the most in-depth combat systems and an addictive loot system that may put all but the best dungeon crawlers to shame. It's quite simple, Nioh 2 has Game of the Year written all over it.
Fighting game fans may find it too simple but Granblue Fantasy; Versus is the easiest and most accessible fighting game I've ever played. Though a small roster and simple competitive game modes will be expanded on later, the big focus here is the game single-player RPG mode which the game pulls off wonderfully.
There is plenty to love about the Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection. With great new additions like Casual Mode and a Checkpoint system, the Zero franchise can be enjoyed by both new and longtime fans of the franchise. It's just a shame that improvements seen in later games weren't retroactively put into earlier games to bring them all completely up to date.
Dawn of Fear tries to bring back the nostalgia of classic survival horror but fails in almost every way. The poor controls lead to most of its problems and a lack of necessary mechanics creates problems that shouldn't exist in this day and age from the simplest of games.
A beautiful adventure that will stay with me forever. Arise: A Simple Story is one story told through amazing animations played through a beautiful world, accompanied by a soundtrack that makes this game a masterpiece in every piece of its design.
Sparklite is a fun title that is born from a wealth of classic influences. However, it may test the patience of players in the latter half of the game due to it's procedurally generated world and crazy difficulty spikes that force you to grind as much as possible just to give yourself the smallest of advantages.
Dusk Diver rewards you for everything that you do. A visual treat that just keeps on giving. Dusk Diver's pace also keeps the fun going until the very end. It's just a shame that it suffers from some translation issues and a story that never really realizes its true potential.
Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout makes some fundamental changes to the core mechanics that may get under the skin of long-time fans but are welcome for those looking to jump into the franchise for the first time.
From start to finish Blasphemous kept me engaged. Even when I reached the end I just wanted the game to keep going. I'm not the biggest fan of its approach to storytelling but the combat and exploration borrows from the best the genre has to offer.