In 2017, there was a reason why Resident Evil VII: Biohazard made such a splash. Five years before the series had hit a roadblock with the over-the-top, three-story action entry that abandoned almost everything that made the series great. Then, Ethan Winters goes to Louisiana and discovers true terror.
Dragon Quest VII Reimagined is one of the best-looking RPGs out there and offers a genuine alternative approach for Square Enix to the 2.5D approach popularized with Octopath Traveler. I want more games like this! That’s the problem, though. I want more games like this. As I followed the beats, my mind kept wandering to which games I want to get this kind of treatment, and there are a few.
What mostly won me over was how very campy everything is. Yes, the shifting around is methodical and precise, if a little annoying at times due to the trial and error, but the underlying narrative is pure teen drama.
This brings us to Ys X: Proud Nordics, and that’s where the conversation gets complicated. If this were some AAA juggernaut franchise, we probably wouldn’t be here. But it isn’t. There are probably a lot of players who haven’t enjoyed the standard release, or even played a Ys game, and there is nothing here that stops the franchise from delivering everything fans love about it. It’s just unfortunate that those fans are the ones it’s hardest to justify this title for.
There are some imprecise controls in Romeo Is A Dead Man that would hold any other developer back. With a Suda 51 and Grasshopper Manufacture game, you are probably well aware of what you will get. For the trade-off, you get epic action and fast-paced gameplay that never fails to be fun. You get a bizarre story that gets more engaging the further into it you delve, and tons of replayability along with that
Dynasty Warriors Origins tries plenty of new things, though not things the team at Omega Force is unfamiliar with, to breathe new life into a series that has been going on since 1997. For the first time, though, I really didn’t feel like I was playing just another Musou, just another Dynasty Warriors. Yes, it’s just as fast-paced as it has always been and just as zenning if you let it, but no longer will it just let you have your way on the battlefield. It bites back, making the process more engaging.
Every element of Fairy Tail Dungeons has a certain charm to it, bolstered by the retro indie aesthetic that harkened me back to the classic era of anime games. The charms quickly fade, however. The turn-based mechanic is interesting, but it quickly drags on in the repetition of trying to bolster my characters for the coming boss fight ahead. The boss fights feel like the absolute worst example of card-battling RNG.
There is a lot in Formula Legends that I could see why it is appealing. The reason I was interested in it is that it didn’t look like your typical racing experience. For the most part thats kinda true, though not in the way that was desired on my end. The game is extremely punishing, even on its easiest setting, and it can be weirdly selective on when it wants to really force you into a sim experience and when it doesn’t.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon is a fun game once it starts going. This has been an issue with the series since the start, though. A slow beginning that bombards you with names you should know, events you probably should have seen, and important narratives that will require twenty or so hours to become relevant can become fatiguing. Thankfully, great lore building and enjoyable performances make even the slower points manageable, especially when you know what’s eventually coming.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 fails to fully delight with its story; this much I’m hard-pressed to deny. The interesting twist to the formula is that the form of the hallucinogens leads to some interesting outcomes, but not always rewarding ones. It is also used far too often to harken back to Black Ops 2, which invites constant comparison to a game that is objectively better designed, with a much better villain than the one on display here. All this being said, the story has some bright points, like the open world you eventually unlock, and the ability to level through its tight gunplay.
There are a lot of ideas at play across Demonschool, and a lot of inspirations that really don’t act as a backdrop but are fully apparent. They are never used as a crutch, though, serving to build a great game rather than trying to invoke another. The story, which could very well be my favorite thing about the experience, plays to both horror and comedy and lets both have their moments without sacrificing the others while managing to tell a collection of coming-of-age stories set against an impending demon invasion. Mixing this with the puzzle-based combat takes the best aspects of a turn-based game and somehow doesn’t use them to that end at all is just crazy.
Atelier Ryza DX Trilogy could come off as dated for its time, especially when compared to other Japanese franchises in the genre. Coming into the trilogy, it was still finding its own footing, and the popularity the series absolutely deserved. More importantly, though, Ryza is just fun. It has a great combat system mixed with the best version of alchemy that the series has seen both before and after.
If we are going to compare Ninja Gaiden 4 to its predecessors, it is a strong return to form. It never hits like 2 did, but compared to 3, it is a much more genuine experience that players have been waiting years for. At its heart, it is competent, and the fact that the combat is so good detracts from most of the negatives throughout, though with traversal, they forced me into it so often that it just can’t.
DM: Japanese Drift Master does something a lot of indie developers do well, and that invokes nostalgia for the classic games, movies, and yes, manga that inspired it, but it also does something else, and that’s build a racing game that is strong in its own right. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in the story, where it draws you in with a familiar plot but then hooks you with the characters and narrative that is right here and right now. The world of Guntama Prefecture is big, bold, and most importantly, beautiful, with every street becoming a new adventure you just raced the right tunes to give it style
I didn’t walk into Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 hoping to feel the way I did walking out. Hell, I had checked my expectations at the door the second they showed that new gameplay demo right after The Chinese Room took over. Here we are, though, with me trying to find the bright side, and I am struggling to do so. I think the absolute worst part is looking back and knowing what made Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines a special RPG ahead of its time.
It’s not like the intention was to come into Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree and hate it. These are the type of games I love, with Yasha: Legends of the Demon Blade being one I praised earlier this year, despite the flaws that it had. Here, though, there are bafflingly bad choices that play pivotal roles in the game, and it is really hard to get past that. Combat, especially the constant switching between blades, creates massive pacing issues in fights, not to mention making the company frustrating rather than fun.
Wander Stars is a great piece of nostalgia that does what anything attempting to evoke those feelings should do. The experience feels like something I remember from years ago, using the art of Akira Toriyama and a vibe familiar to fans, and feeling like I grew up with it, to create an experience that doesn’t feel like it is just a rehash.
Frostpunk 2 is, for the most part, the same great experience that was released on PC last year. A city-building management sim based around the worst possible choices that, in a normal society, we might frown on, but in one where you are one day away from death, it might just be the best choice. Do you bury your dead or burn them for fuel? Do you train the children to be part of the workforce, or allow them to just be kids, even when your workforce is dwindling and the resources are too?
Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar lives up to its title; it’s absolutely the grandest game the series has ever produced and a perfect love song to everything great about the series, and that drew people into the franchise. At its heart, it’s fun, keeping a grind that can easily become repetitive without feeling bland or boring. The wind and the jumping offer the player so much versatility in how they traverse the town, with invisible walls feeling few and far between.
Herdling’s most lasting question, at least for me, is just what the meaning of your travels are. Since the game doesn’t give you answers, in fact, it features no dialogue, the open-endedness of it leaves a lot of room for interpretation. The journey starts off, and before you know it, you are attached to these Calicorns. Guiding them isn’t just a task you took on; it is a responsibility that you feel attached to through the clever use of subtle nods to individuality in a group of like creatures.