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Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter is a fantastic follow-up and brings back the gorgeous art style and brutal combat the original was known for. The addition of magic is hit and miss, though I did enjoy how imbued weapons factor into combat. The story, though similar in structure to the original, packs a punch and I found myself entirely invested by the time the end battle commenced. Tails of Iron 2 has a few downfalls, but overall is well worth picking up.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak II feels like a game in stasis. The story starts off strong, but fails to deliver and quickly becomes uninteresting. Those who really love these characters will enjoy spending more time with them, but the combat doesn't feel improved enough to make this feel like a significant step forward.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is a special RPG that ranks with the Skyrims and Witchers of its genre. Despite a high learning curve, I found myself lost in its clutches for hours on end, immersed in the world of 1400s Bohemia. An absolutely gorgeous setting that's satisfying to explore, combined with rewarding progression and an outstanding narrative makes KCD2 a lock for awards season.
Flint: Treasure of Oblivion feels like an incomplete game with poor storytelling and little to do. At about 10 hours to complete it's certainly not worth the $25 asking price. If you're looking for real-time exploration and turn-based combat, look elsewhere. Games like Divinity Original Sin 2 or Baldur's Gate do everything Flint wants to do but exceedingly better. If Fantasy isn't your jam, check out XCOM.
Behemoth is certainly ambitious and uses VR in unique ways to create a sense of scale rarely seen, but it fumbles what should be its best aspect - the behemoths. Still, Behemoth is unquestionably epic, combining precise sword fighting, great climbing and grapple mechanics, gorgeous graphics, and epic boss fights to create a world that feels great to explore. While the behemoth fights are certainly a spectacle, I found the lead up to the fights far more entertaining than the fights themselves. Still, Behemoth is well worth picking up.
In a saturated market with games clambering to echo the soul of Animal Crossing, Hello Kitty Island Adventure has finally grabbed that baton and ran with it. It ticks every box in what I want from this genre, chucking every possible game mechanic at the player to play around with so there's never a dull moment, and probably won't be for quite a while. My only gripe is that I had to stop playing it in order to write this review!
Let's be real here. Sniper Elite: Resistance clearly doesn't reinvent the series, as it simply expands on where Sniper Elite 5 left off. Those looking for a full fledged next-generation sequel will surely be disappointed, but those looking to play more Sniper Elite will rejoice at the small refinements introduced in this new package. Viva la Sniper Elite 5.5!
Donkey Kong Country Returns HD remains a classic and often challenging platformer brought to new life with a gorgeous HD makeover. Unfortunately, aside from a new gameplay mode which makes the game slightly easier and its updated visuals, this remaster is relatively lacking in new features. Still, fans of Donkey Kong or well-designed platformers will find a lot to love here.
Jedi Power Battles struggles to hit its mark but does enough to be a fun time to play once or twice either alone or with a friend. The addition of new characters is exciting and sometimes ridiculous, but if your goal is to beat the levels, most of the additional characters won't get it done. If your goal is a trip down memory lane or the chance to show a friend a game that is nostalgic for you, this game is it.
Arizona Sunshine Remake feels like a modern VR title, despite first releasing in 2017. Though relatively short, Sunshine provides an exciting, fast-paced, zombie shooter filled to the brim with intense situations, great gunplay, and humorous dialogue. The addition of horde mode and two DLCs certainly add value, though one DLC fares better than the other. Still, as an overall package, Arizona Sunshine Remake is well worth the cost of admission.
Fitness Boxing 3's weak voice work and shoddy motion detection somehow do little to keep you coming back for more. By gamifying the exercise, it keeps you engaged and motivated, and you'll quickly find yourself surprised at how tired you become from these exercises.
Caves of Qud is a game that will reward you more and more for putting in the time and effort to learn about it. Even just from scratching the surface, however, I am absolutely entranced by the worlds the game can create.
The My Sims Cozy Bundle will give you a nice hit of nostalgia and charm, but not much beyond that. MySims and MySims Kingdom are pretty simple and repetitive games, what you see is what you get. While you can make your own fun, it's only within the limitations of each title.
Overall, Tales of Graces f Remastered is the same enjoyable experience from over a decade ago brought back in a clean package that runs well with some decent quality of life additions like the markers and toggles. Bandai Namco and the developers nailed it this time, no strings attached with this remaster. As for Tales of Graces itself, it stands out in the series with its sillier cast, striking art style, fast paced combat, and easy-to-understand and fun to master Title system. While I think this is the Tales Of game that benefits from co-op the most, you're getting a fun RPG with a lot of "power of friendship" speeches so if that appeals to you, you're in for a great time.
Party Versus is creative, engaging, and beginner-friendly. It's a fantastic immersive party game. The only downside I saw to it is the fact that it's quite difficult to play seated, which can be a turn-off for some players who must or who chose to play seated.
Dynasty Warriors: Origins represents a commendable yet contradictory effort to rejuvenate the series. In balancing familiar elements with new features to create a refreshing experience, it loses sight of what made the originals fun and fails to improve on what made them monotonous.
Cave Hikers is clearly intended for younger audiences, and while quite simple, it still manages to be a cute and charming bed-time story adventure. It's a point-and-click "mockumentary" that can make for a fun evening, but there's little else beyond the simplicity save for the amusing artstyle and great narrator.
The Oath in Felghana stands strong as one the best Ys entries to date. Its sharp and compact game design makes just as strong of an impression with this Memoire release as it did when I first played it over a decade ago. Unfortunately, this rerelease does not bring much more to the table than a great game to new consoles. Its priorities when it comes to updating the game's visuals are questionable at best, but thankfully far from fatal.
Mindcop is an innovative detective experience with a killer style and well thought-out mystery. It blends non-linear gameplay with real-time puzzles and detective game aspects that fit pretty well together. This is due in part to time being at the forefront of every little action you make, from checking what's in a bin to uncovering someone's secrets, every minute counts which creates a tantalizing mystery to sink your teeth into. The game is gorgeous and quirky in its unique style and boasts a cast of fun yet troubled characters. However, Mindcop stumbles in how overwhelming it can be at times, penalising your mistakes and lacking just enough direction so you're often running around like a headless chicken.
On Your Tail has a lot of heart, but that's sadly not enough to support a mystery that is constantly falling flat on its face. Its puzzles are infuriating rather than fun, with no real clues to follow and determine the culprit ahead of time. The characters are incredibly charming, Borgo Marina is gorgeous, and the life sim elements are fun, but the core of this taste of Italy is incredibly bitter.