RPG Fan's Reviews
All in all, this title is an uneven experience. The story is more substantial than most roguelites but is hampered by the randomly determined pacing. A few classes are a blast to play, while others feel too weak at high difficulties without good luck. For the first 20 hours or so, you are regularly getting new story content and new upgrades, and it’s easy to sink hours into Tainted Grail: Conquest. I just wish it kept up the pace all the way to the end of the story.
In short, Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis is a potentially incredible and enjoyable MMO that is ruined by archaic gameplay systems, poor monetization practices, and a total lack of content. Hopefully, in the future, a lot of these things will be fixed, but at launch, New Genesis is what it is: a game released in 2021 that’s stuck in bad practices from 2012.
Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! is capable of eliciting strong feelings. It is not always an enjoyable experience, but it is just that: an experience. When I encounter any work that transcends its medium like this, I take special note of it. I am grateful (for lack of a better word) that Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! came my way, and I strongly encourage fellow visual novel aficionados to join the literature club too.
If you listen to Cris Tales talk, it sings with love for its influences. But sometimes, maybe we can love too many things. The game is remarkable on a variety of fronts, notably its look, its sound, and its love for Colombia. All of that works. But it feels the weight of its many influences. Eventually, when the developers throw so many things at the wall, it starts to get messy, with a story that tries to do too many things, combat that never fully lives up to its potential, and a bloated run time.
It feels like a bit of a shame that this is the case, because The Girl Who Stands Behind‘s visuals and full voice acting act as firm yet soft cushioning that can very well welcome onlookers and entice them to take those first steps into the genre. Nevertheless, It’s a solid enough game that makes it worth a try for those interested in the subject matter—remember to check out The Missing Heir first—but be prepared for a few rocky patches on the way up.
Despite my gripes with the narrative and framerate, Monster Hunter Stories 2 is an exhilarating ride from start to finish. I had a blast getting lost in its addictive combat, collection, and customization systems and appreciating its wondrous visual style. Whether you want to collect Monsties or battle them, or if this is your first or fifth foray into Monster Hunter, you’d be remiss to overlook Monster Hunter Stories 2. Regardless of whether it dethrones Pokémon as the king of monster collecting games, you’ll find it injects welcome innovation into the subgenre and stands on its own merits as an RPG well worth your time.
Despite my grievances, this is a competent, tightly developed game. I would argue it’s played even a little too safe. Although a genuinely enjoyable experience, I am shocked at the lack of surprises or variety in storytelling and gameplay. This is a perfect example of a game that needs more time in the oven. I can’t imagine the developers will leave this project behind anytime soon, but I certainly hope updates are free and don’t come in the form of paid DLC — at least for a little while. Wildermyth feels unfinished, but the core is sound.
There is no question that players would welcome a gameplay experience more refined by better system upgrades to explore this wondrous world, but Legend of Mana remains enjoyable despite this. If you’re patient with the murky controls, can get lost in the mystifying crafting and pet-rearing systems, and embrace the enchanting world and cast, Legend of Mana will leave a lasting impression from a game that plays like little else.
Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance is a game with great promise but poor-to-mediocre performance, depending on your affinity for action-oriented loot hunting and patience for AI and other technical shortcomings that should have been nipped in beta. But with promise comes optimism; Tuque Games has a robust DLC and expansion roadmap planned, so its continued investment in the game could lead to patches ameliorating my gripes. If it does, you’ll find that Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance reaches the lofty heights of its renowned spiritual predecessors. But if Tuque Games neglects these issues, Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance will remain a fun but prohibitively frustrating game I can recommend to series devotees and few others.
The Definitive Edition is certainly the strongest version of the game out there and offers one more gameplay mode to explore with local co-op, but it isn’t without its problems either. Given the anime and notable JRPG influences of the series, I hope that RWBY fans will one day get a stronger RPG-adjacent outing to play through. As it stands, RWBY: Grimm Eclipse is simply a game for fans to play in short, diversionary bursts. Playing for much longer can diminish the little bit of fun there is to be found.
For visual novel fans, these shortcomings are a small price to pay for such a stunningly polished product, but they still stick out like a sore thumb amidst the rest of the jaw-dropping surroundings. Mystery fans and visual novel fans alike would be remiss not to check out this brilliant revival of a classic title, but they must be prepared with an extra set of thinking caps that otherwise shouldn’t be necessary.
Scarlet Nexus is definitely worth playing for any fan of action games and JRPGs, doubly so if you vibe with the art.
Though Death end’s engaging narrative pushes me to reconsider my skepticism of games whose titles include semicolons, this Switch port’s monotonous combat system, cookie-cutter progression mechanics, and serious technical failings keep me from dumping this aversion altogether. For fans of top-notch visual novels willing to tuck in for the hours of tedium much the rest of the game amounts to, I can wholeheartedly recommend Death end re;Quest — just not on Switch. To all others: steer clear of this one or, if you can’t resist experiencing this odd series for yourself, nab this on PS4 or PC and dodge this technical travesty.
Solasta: Crown of the Magister takes the mantle of the “most” Dungeons & Dragons video game out there, if not quite the best. Though the game has a modular adventure setup that strongly suggests there will be more stories, this one falls too flat for its 40- to 50-hour length. However, the combat system is merely a few tweaks short of perfection, so I’d still be interested in sending my heroes on another adventure in the realm of Solasta.
Episode INTERmission gives Yuffie the lease of life she deserves and delivers some future teases that will excite fans old and new.
I found myself immensely enjoying the time I spent playing Dark Deity. It particularly reminded me of playing some of the more recent Fire Emblem titles like Awakening and Fates, but I arguably found myself becoming more invested in the plot and caring even more for its characters. The gameplay, while somewhat reminiscent of those Fire Emblem titles, also provides some key differences that help greatly emphasize the strategy component of the game’s campaign. To SRPG fans looking for another Fire Emblem-esque experience, I’d wholeheartedly recommend giving Dark Deity a chance. It is a truly enjoyable addition to the genre, and one I’m glad I got the chance to further peruse.
I walked away from Backbone puzzled about the ending, and in truth, I was a little disappointed. The game kind of squandered the excellent setup it spent hours developing, but because the setup is so good, I don’t feel totally let down. I still enjoyed my time in this dystopian Vancouver populated by animals, and I would almost certainly play a sequel if one were ever developed. But there’s the rub. Backbone feels like it needs a sequel. The story just doesn’t feel complete right now, and given that the game is pretty short (you can probably beat it in about 5-7 hours), it’s hard for me to enthusiastically recommend it. If you’re still interested despite the issues I’ve outlined, make sure you’re prepared for an abrupt conclusion. If you’re on the fence, well… maybe wait for a sale.
With stunning pixel-art graphics, solid combat, and a considerable amount of character customization, you can easily sink a few hours into Foregone, maybe more if you delve into more challenging difficulty levels. However, if you’re looking for a complex Metroidvania full of backtracking and deep lore, I would look elsewhere. Foregone may have left me feeling a bit cold, but if you’re looking for some straightforward side-scrolling action, I suspect it will nicely scratch that itch!
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- The Prophecy of the Throne attempts to appeal to both casual visual novel fans and Re:ZERO fans but ends up disappointing both. The macabre elements that Re:ZERO fans expect are all but absent, and the result is a dime-a-dozen visual novel that even casual genre fans would gloss over. That said, the interactive gameplay elements, though shallow, are welcome, and the English dub is par excellence. A single playthrough took me about 14 hours, and there is only one ending. However, clear data unlocks some amusing hidden scenarios, so a second playthrough isn’t a total repeat. TPoT is not a bad game, and I actually enjoyed my time with it, but its compromises and a lack of focus keep it from being a good Re:ZERO game.
From the most hemmed-in of interstices, the deepest of all swales, and the coldest, most ruinous morning of your life, you exist. You might awaken with bloodshot eyes, a headful of regret and a stomach filled with things far worse. But today… today is always the day you can begin again. We can be better, save each other from the crevices and darkened corners where we’ve kept ourselves hidden. It won’t be perfect; it won’t be pretty. In fact, it’ll probably be ugly as shit. You might kick and writhe, scrape and struggle until your nails bleed and your throat turns to sandpaper. But it’ll be right. And life will go on.