Ys X: Nordics is a very fun action game with loveable characters and a soundtrack that’s sure to have one or two tracks that’ll stick in your mind. The Cross Action System allows for players to enact beautiful destruction and is sure to be a hit with action fans. It has a story that does enough to capture your attention and keep it through the duration of the game, and is a perfect starting point for those new to the Ys series. The naval gameplay does need some polish, but Falcom gave an excellent first attempt. While the game was hampered by some technical and visual issues, this should not deter you from playing this game. Longtime fans of the Ys series, as well as newcomers, will find a lot to enjoy in this game. I certainly had a lot of fun playing through it.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak is an outstanding RPG and an exciting start to the Calvard arc. It has a mature story that’s accessible to newcomers, interesting characters, beautiful visuals, a stellar soundtrack, a unique hybrid combat system that caters to both action and turn-based fans, and an exceptional localization made with care and respect. Combine all these elements and you get an experience that is sure to grip you and not let go. It was so close to perfection, but the barebones Field Battle mode and lack of minigames held it back from that exclusive class. I highly recommend this game to long time Trails fans and even newcomers who love RPGs. This was an unforgettable experience and I’m definitely looking forward to the next game in Van’s story.
It took me around 32 hours to complete the Main Story and Postgame Story in Relink. I found no glaring grammatical issues throughout my playthrough, which is a big plus. Afterwards, an even more difficult level (Maniac) for Counter Quests is unlocked, and completing those quests will unlock an even tougher difficulty level (Proud). Completing the Main Story also unlocks the Chapter Select, which allows you to replay past Story Chapters at different difficulty levels, and also lets you find collectibles you may have missed the first time around. The Chapter Select menu also tells you how many collectibles you found in each chapter, so you can be on the lookout for certain things as you replay the chapter. However, this only tells you overall the missing collectibles. This is an issue because when you choose to replay a Story Chapter, you can choose a specific part to start from. So if you choose to start a chapter from a specific point, you could possibly be skipping over a collectible and not even realize. You really have to go through each chapter from the beginning with a fine tooth comb if you’re looking to find all the collectibles. So, with the addition of new Counter Quests to tackle and the ability to replay Story Chapters, there’s plenty to do for the completionists out there. And even if you’re not a completionist, you can still tackle more difficult Counter Quests online with friends for fun.
Fate/Samurai Remnant is a welcome addition to the Fate franchise with interesting characters and a story filled with mystery and branching decisions. The combat is fast paced, fun, and balanced, with a good mix of both easy and challenging fights for players to tackle. The game has high replayability, as you’ll want to play through the game more than once to get the full scope of the story. I had a lot of fun playing through the game, and I’m certainly going to come back for more. I can easily recommend this to both fans of the Fate franchise and newcomers to the series. The story will suck you in, the graphics are beautiful to look at, the music will have you looking up the track names, and you’ll have a ton of fun slicing through foes.
The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails is a straightforward adventure with action gameplay that isn’t too complicated. While not as epic story wise as other Trails games, and not as challenging an action game as those in the Ys series, I think it’s still worth going through this journey with Nayuta. It’s easy to get into for newcomers and veteran fans alike, and the great cast of characters and outstanding music will charm many players. If you’re looking for a fun action RPG that won’t eat a lot of your time, then look no further than Boundless Trails.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie is an outstanding RPG with a rich story and memorable characters. The turn-based combat is well polished and the music is amazing. It easily places in the top three of my favorite Trails games along with Trails in the Sky the 3rd and Trails to Azure. I highly recommend fans of the series to play this, they will definitely enjoy the journey. Unfortunately, some issues hold this game back from reaching that coveted perfect score, but this should not deter you from picking the game up. Trails into Reverie was worth the wait and a satisfying conclusion to the Erebonia and Crossbell arcs. It is a bittersweet feeling, however, as I know future games will be moving away from these regions and characters I’ve come to know and love so well.
Trinity Trigger isn’t a bad game, but it isn’t the best game either. Its strong points are its simple combat, loveable main cast, and charming graphics. However, it could use some work in the story and sound departments. I do hope the game’s development staff continues to stick with this world they created, as there are some interesting concepts, they just need to be expanded upon. I think newcomers and veteran action RPG players can find something to like about this game, just don’t come in with super high expectations. Due to the short playtime, I can’t recommend purchasing this game at the price of $49.99 (digitally). I suggest waiting for a sale before picking this one up, if you’re interested.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure is one of the best RPGs I’ve ever played, and one of my favorite games in the Trails series. The thought provoking story is memorable, the characters look fantastic and are full of personality, the turn-based combat is polished, and the music is phenomenal. Trails to Azure absolutely lived up to the bar Trails from Zero set, and surpassed it with flying colors. I did run into a couple bugs, and there were some issues with the translation, but those were not enough to bring this one down too much. I highly recommend this game to fans of the franchise and RPGs. However, since this is a sequel, you should at least play Trails from Zero before getting into this one. Trails to Azure will set you back $39.99 digitally and $49.99 for a physical copy, and I say it’s worth every penny.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero is an outstanding JRPG with a great story, memorable characters, solid turn-based combat, and an absolutely amazing soundtrack. Going back to my question in the beginning, was the game worth the wait? The answer is a resounding yes. While the game’s localization can be a bit rough in some places, this shouldn’t hold you back from experiencing this title. I highly recommend this game to fans of the franchise, JRPG fans, and even newcomers. For the price of $39.99, it is definitely worth it.
I have a love-hate relationship with Rune Factory 5. I love the relaxing atmosphere and simple daily life activities, straightforward combat, and the Rigbarth citizens. My experience was unfortunately muddied by questionable enemy design, an absurd difficulty spike, and numerous issues and bugs that found their way into the final product. I think if you’re a longtime Rune Factory fan you might find something to like. However, if you’re a newcomer, I cannot recommend buying the game at its $59.99 retail price until they fix some of the issues I mentioned earlier. If the game is on sale, and the game is updated, I say knock yourself out. The best way to play the game is on PC, and I guarantee you’ll at least love the characters and simple farming life.
Sifu is a solid action game. The kung fu techniques were a treat for the eyes, combat is fluid and fun, the main character designs and environments were beautiful, and the difficulty felt just right. Add in the great soundtrack and sound effects, and you got a pretty good package. Unfortunately, the game is held back by some visual issues, a short length, and low replayability. If you’re a kung fu enthusiast, or a big fan of action games with a good amount of difficulty, I think the game is worth the $39.99. However, if you’re looking for a game you can play long after you finish the main stages, you may want to look somewhere else.
I enjoyed my time with Neptunia ReVerse. It was great seeing these loveable characters interact with each other again, and I appreciated how much this game improved upon the original. ReVerse is such a significant improvement over Hyperdimension Neptunia, that if your only experience with the first game is the original, I highly recommend picking this one up to see how much it changed. If you’re new to the series, this is probably the best way to get into the Neptunia franchise, seeing as how this is a remake of the very first game. If you already played Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1, I think you can skip this one since the story is essentially the same. I think $50 is a bit high for an upgraded port of a PS Vita game, so I recommend waiting for a price drop before picking this one up. Neptunia ReVerse is available right now for PlayStation 5.
NINJA GAIDEN: Master Collection bundles three good action games that are still fun to play years after their original release dates, and have made a pretty smooth transition over to Nintendo Switch, despite some of the hiccups I mentioned earlier. While some aspects didn’t age well, like Sigma‘s camera issues, I still think these three titles are solid action games and worth picking up. I think that NINJA GAIDEN fans, and fans of action games in general, will still find a lot to love here. The games still have fun combat, good music, beautiful character models, and the baddest ninja in the world, Ryu Hayabusa. A standard edition copy will cost $39.99 on the Nintendo eShop, and I feel this bundle is definitely worth that. If you want something extra, you can also get the deluxe edition for $49.99 which comes with a digital art book and soundtrack. Are you ready to fulfill your ninja fantasy and step into the shoes of the world’s strongest ninja?
To answer my question from the beginning of the review, Persona 5 Strikers absolutely blew through any expectations I had. The game has great character development, beautiful anime-styled graphics, an earworm soundtrack, and, much to my surprise, excellent action-based combat. It’s come to the point where I would welcome more spin-offs with this combat system. It took me about 60 hours to complete the main story while completing the Requests available to me, so you have a good amount of content to play through. After beating the game, more Requests unlock, so you have plenty to do even after finishing the story. However, I don’t recommend playing this game unless you’ve played Persona 5 or Persona 5 Royal, or you watched Persona 5: The Animation. P5S spoils events that occur in P5 and you won’t be as attached to certain characters if you haven’t played the original. But, if you’re a huge fan of Persona 5, I highly recommend you pick Persona 5 Strikers up. It is definitely worth the $59.99 price tag, and I promise you won’t leave disappointed.
I enjoyed my time playing Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris, especially after all the recent updates. The game has a decent story, very fun combat, a well-implemented soundtrack, beautiful environments and great looking characters. However, it is still affected by technical issues, an absurdly long first chapter, a questionable use of character creation, the omission of characters such as Yuuki and the CUBE shop system which shouldn’t be there in the first place. It took me about 121 hours to beat the main story while doing side missions and Bond Events as well. Once you beat the story, you can tackle Raid Dungeons, try to test your mettle against high level foes, try to get high rarity weapons or even try to unlock all the event CGs. So there’s still some things to do even after beating the game. Would I recommend paying $60 for this game? I would only recommend doing that if you’re a hardcore Sword Art Online fan like me. If you’re not, I recommend waiting for a sale or waiting for the technical issues in the base game to be mostly fixed. If you do decide to take the dive, know there’s an immense amount of content waiting for you.
I very much enjoyed Sword Art Online: Lost Song. The combat in the game is fast paced, the controls are easy to get used to and Multiplayer is very fun and will drain almost all your time in the game. Those sub events are also extremely fun to watch. The only problems I really had with it were the recycled dungeon and enemy designs, and how easy and repetitive the combat could get. Also the story was pretty underwhelming. Those issues aside, if you’re a fan of ARPGs or Sword Art Online in general you should definitely give this game a shot.