Timothy Nunes's Reviews
As far as visual novels go, Witch On The Holy Night stands among the best in the genre. Strong writing, great characters, and stellar world-building make this a memorable experience. While chapter length is all over the place and some plot points feel a bit forced, Witch on The Holy Night keeps you well-invested and rewards you with a strong body of work from beginning to end.
Not everything is perfect in this current-gen upgrade, but the additions, new choices, and improvements make this version of the game feel complete. Despite the oddities that come with the new camera option, the presentation across the board just feels superb. It even lets those who missed the expansions jump right into that content from the jump. Such a great update to a beloved game comes free with the PS4 version, leaving this as almost a requirement for everyone who even remotely has an interest in playing it again or experiencing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for the first time.
Very little about Samurai Maiden makes the game appealing. When you combine overtly simplified and imbalanced combat with slow attacks, fast enemies, and an incredibly humdrum storyline, a bad time is unavoidable. Unless you want something with mindless anime girls and half-baked gameplay, Samurai Maiden is not the game for you.
The Knight Witch makes a strong case for itself with its simplistic gameplay and charming writing. The overall balance between development and gameplay feels a bit too weird to ignore. Still, this twin-stick shooter-meets-Metroidvania has a quirky intrigue about it that makes it a worthy purchase for any fan of the genre.
There's validity to Tactics Ogre being a classic, and Tactics Ogre: Reborn showcases that. Tactics Ogre: Reborn offers the kind of simplified presentation combined with fantastic writing and voice work to create a cohesive package all around. Despite showing its age in places, the game offers more than enough to convince even the most anti-tactics gamer out there to give it a try.
There's no question that Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana is a beloved entry in the franchise. However, bringing it to the PS5 offers next to nothing to the entire experience, bringing only the most miniscule of adjustments, another Trophy list, and a free PS5 upgrade.
The Chant is a flawed experience filled with some fantastic moments, stellar monster design, light exploration and puzzle-solving, and a solid narrative to keep things moving. Despite its dated visuals, oversized linear world, and simplistic AI, you can find a nice survival horror romp in The Chant if you let yourself be taken by it.
The Last Onicru features some cool narrative choice work, putting some true impact on your choices. If you can get on board with the cheeky dialogue and peculiar main character, you should be able to overlook the lackadaisical combat.
Potion Permit offers up quite the accessible life sim experience, making growth progress more quickly than most games in the genre. A bit of the luster is lost in this change of focus, but the product itself is a fun, engaging, light-hearted, and accessible time.
Soulstice etches its own namesake in the hack n' slash genre. While it lacks the same level of combat depth and demand, it focuses more on narrative quality, accessibility, and presentation to reach success.
NBA 2K23 makes some worthy adjustments to gameplay, making this more entertaining without losing the game's fundamental presentation and feel. At the same time, even the map shrink in The City isn't enough of an addition to make 2K23 worth a must-buy status. Not enough of the game changes to merit a purchase this year, unless you maxed out everything in last year's release and want a fresh start. NBA 2K23 is more for die-hard fans than every before.
While far from perfect, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R brings an enhanced version of the 2014 release to modern consoles. Network choices, lack of any narrative flow, and almost zero jumping-off point for newcomers makes this a title almost strictly for the JoBros. Thankfully, that doesn't keep it from being an intriguing fighter in its own right.
Steelrising puts together a solid, accessible Soulsborne title complete with fun combat and simplistic RPG elements. However, the dated aesthetic combined with the overstretched narrative and the foibles that come with it make this feel like a Spider Entertainment game and more of a basic third party title. The heart of the development team shows from time to time, especially near the end of the game. But, the way the team executes this formula knocks the fundamentals out of balance, creating an uneven experience with too much of its weight on the back end.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles : The Cowabunga Collection compiles the best TMNT games from the 80s and 90s into one convenient package. The included enhancement options help to alleviate some of the inherent issues from past hardware, but it could have given the Green Team a little more love to really push this over the edge. Either way, this collection carries nostalgia in spades and gives newcomers and fans alike another chance to don their bandanas and take it to the Foot Clan.
Cursed to Golf puts a unique twist on the golf formula. Combine that with a charming aesthetic, and the combination makes for a good time for the right audience. Unfortunately, it doesn't go enough into that twist and relies heavily on the game of golf to carry the day. Then making the game of golf into a rogue-like further specifies the fanbase. While a fun spin on a beloved sport, it still requires a lot of love of the sport to stick with it.
Despite its potential, Sword and Fairy: Together Forever gets bogged down by a slow start, odd writing, repetitious fetch quests, and unpolished boss mechanics. Occasional variety in gameplay and well put together segments can carry the day for some, but too many lulls and too much tedium get in the way of what could have been a solid experience.
Madison does so much well that it makes genre tropes succeed. From atmosphere to execution, this short horror romp takes you and doesn't let go. It's not without issues, with one progression point halfway through the game lacking the kind of intention and care that the rest of the game receives. Then there's the save corrupting error. However, once that error gets patched out, Madison will have the complete package worthy of anyone up for a good scare.
Even though Disgaea 6 Complete brings in accessibility options, the game itself reacts negatively to some of them. A simplistic AI can't contend with automation, while the hefty price tag alone for a year old game makes this a hard pass. There are hints of fun here for a new player, but in making this game easier to play, Disgaea 6 Complete makes the franchise formula look antiquated.
Dolmen attempts to add some potentially good ideas into the Soulsborne formula. Unfortunately, it misses the mark far too many times in important areas to make it worth the effort you need to play it. Great level aesthetic and enemy design are wasted on far-too-flawed combat. With so many other Soulsborne clones available, Dolmen can easily be passed up.
I cannot overstate how much fun I had with Soundfall. It has a few shortcomings along the way, but absolutely nothing stopped me from jamming out while I shot up baddies. Drastic Games combined two different genres into one engaging and entertaining package. Soundfall is a 2022 sleeper hit!