VGChartz's Reviews
Despite the lack of ancillary features, Volume 3 is the best installment of the Irem Collection so far. Not only are the games here rarer than in earlier volumes, but they're better. Indeed, there isn't a bad one in the bunch; all of the titles range from good to great. If you're a diehard shoot-'em-up fan on a budget who wants to invest only in a single volume, make it this one.
Lumpy pacing and some odd puzzles aside, Daedalic's adventure can compel anyone to venture down this rabbit hole.
By retaining the core components of the franchise — farming, fighting, and flirting — and infusing them with addictive town planning and people management aspects, deeper tactical and strategic combat options, and more meaningful romance pathways, Marvelous has pushed the franchise forward in a bold new direction.
Judged on its own mechanics, systems, and merits, it's a brilliant racing game, a GotY contender, and one of the finest entries in the entire Mario Kart canon, not to mention another in a long line of exceptional launch titles from Nintendo.
Survival Kids on Switch 2 is a middling game — not because it doesn't follow the template of the Game Boy original exactly, but because it fails to leverage its rules and mechanics in interesting, engaging, and dangerous ways. As it stands now, it's fine for younger and less experienced players, but not ideal for those seeking something more involved, challenging, and long-lasting.
If Fast Fusion featured online multiplayer, better image quality, and 6 or 7 more race tracks, it would enter the game-of-the-year conversation. Even without those things, it's yet another gem from Shin'en Multimedia. The Munich-based studio has once again punched above its weight, delivering a blisteringly fast, mechanically nimble futuristic racer with outstanding track design and excellent music.
Provocative and entertaining, American Arcadia's high-concept premise, inventive storytelling, and creative gameplay scenarios place it alongside its closest inspirations.
A Pirate's Fortune rests between two strange polarities: stretching Outlaws' flawed mechanics to their furthest extent while nonsensically resetting its previous narrative goals.
No matter how you experience Capcom Fighting Collection 2 — online or offline, in single-player bouts against CPU opponents, or in versus mode against human rivals — you're likely to have a good time.
Bendy and the Ink Machine succeeds in capturing a specific personality and aesthetic, but falters in its gameplay craftsmanship.
Going into Deliver At All Costs, you would understandably assume it was mostly about driving, destruction, and Grand Theft Auto-esque high jinks. And for its opening hours — its best hours — it is. But the game quietly and gradually moves away from open-world mayhem toward a more focused, intimate narrative adventure, gaining emotional heft but losing some ingenuity and player freedom in the process.
Infuse Studio has a better grasp on incorporating storytelling & tone, but everything goes south once its worst open world impulses get in the way.
Apropos its soccer-themed subject matter, Despelote pulls off an impressive hat trick: successfully fusing unique aesthetic, narrative, & mechanical decisions with an assured vision.
For a narrative-driven game about the virtue of coexistence, it's a shame that's rarely felt emotionally or mechanically.
Between gameplay tempo, aesthetic, & characters, FragPunk's inherent chaos sets it apart from other hero shooters, but the cards aren't always in its favor.
Death end re;Quest Code Z marks a stunning comeback for Compile Heart and is a treat for fans of the first game.
While Storm in a Teacup's about-face from mechanical simplicity is audacious, Steel Seed is something I'm more compelled to admire than recommend.
Last Defense Academy has a lot of disparate parts working simultaneously, but it never creates any sort of disharmony. If anything, the visual novel, turn-based strategy, resource collection, and relationship management aspects complement and reinforce each other, creating a product far greater than the sum of its parts.
With so few positives across both tapes, Bloom & Rage easily ranks as one of DON'T NOD's worst albums.
Still replete with Metroidvania elements and satire, this sequel offers more of everything from the original.