Gaming Gamma
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Rock of Ages 2 improves on the first game in almost every way. Aside from mostly lackluster boss fights, and a sound design experience that doesn’t have any impact or memorability, the sequel does what every sequel should do by raising the bar on what mechanics already exist instead of trying to make a flurry of new ones nobody asked for. For a small team indie game, you can’t ask for much more than that.
If you’re a long term Ys fan, sure the story content may not be to your liking, but as it’s own thing, once the game lets you go out and explore, it’s one of the best in terms of gameplay.
Yakuza Kiwami honestly rides on the thin line between remake and reimagining of a classic game. It keeps all of the original story beats and brings the games visuals into the modern-day while incorporating a lot of the newer games mechanics without hampering the original games integrity. This game is honestly the best way to experience the original Yakuza.
Omega Force proves once again they can cater to a franchise’s main fanbase while honoring the more niche iterations in the series. Though the story suffers from the cliche writing and tropes JRPGs are often made fun of for, it can’t bring down the well crafted game found here. There are tons of content, and tons of characters; an improvement on the first game in almost every way.
What you have with Dark Rose Valkyrie feels like two different things. On one hand, the story is very well done and comes across as almost like a visual novel, mixed with a JRPG that misses the mark and a lot of potential. That said, Dark Rose Valkyrie is definitely a good game if you are looking for something to beef up your JRPG collection with.
At the end of the day, Miitopia really is a letdown. It tries to bridge Tomodachi Life and the JRPG genre, but without adding anything that would make the gameplay endearing. I could only recommend this game to someone who is looking for a quick pick up and play game for short play sessions but doesn’t want to get invested in a extremely in-depth JRPG.
Hey! Pikmin feels more like a side entry to the main Pikmin series than some simple spin off. I really enjoyed everything this game tried to do, and I honestly feel like with a bit of reworking Hey! Pikmin could have been a game to be held up there with the original trilogy.
Tokyo Xanadu is a game I really wanted to enjoy. Not to say that I don’t like it, because I do, but I was expecting a bit more. For what it eventually excels at in dungeon design, it lacks in combat. For what it excels at in world building, it fails in originality and almost feels by the book. I’m not sure what Falcom was trying to accomplish by trying to make Tokyo Xanadu a derivative of their Trails franchise. I’m not happy or even upset that they do, but what they do leave me as, is very confused.
At the end of the day Persona 5 is the perfect dance of gameplay, music, story and design that mixes together to be the pinnacle of the JRPG genre and the best entry in the Persona series, and maybe even Shin Megami Tensei, to date.
If those rough edges were fixed, then the game would be held in a higher regard. But for what is there, coming from the fundamentally flawed Natural Doctrine comes the fundamentally solid God Wars. Due to the fact that the game has been delayed several times to fix bugs and even include user feedback, it shows that Kadokawa was truly dedicated to making the battles the best they could possibly be and it sure does show. If there is ever a sequel for God Wars, I’ll be right there waiting.
At the end of the day ARMS is an extremely well rounded arena fighter brought to us from Nintendo, and is looking to do what Splatoon did with third person shooters (but with fighting games.) ARMS is nothing but pure chaos in the best way possible.
Even though the presentation didn’t get the upgrade it needed, there are options to make it much more appealing to the player. Enjoy some of the most satisfying stories in the Visual Novel genre.
Overall, Rev 2 is a great step above other fighting games available in terms of content. While I enjoy the addition of a fresh face and that of the veteran, I don’t see the justification of making a whole new version, but the several new additions found around the game and new balance patch definitely helps ease my concerns towards Rev 2.
In the end, this game is pretty out there in terms of it doing what it’s doing, as while the SRPG elements are good, there are so few far in between the amount of good yet bloated story content there is it feels like there’s no real point these SRPG parts. That said though, the SRPG elements while not terribly difficult, are certainly fun to play.
At the end of the day, despite being the definition of insanity, Disgaea is an absolute blast to play. Story and characters aside, the game itself is just fun. One of the best parts about Disgaea 5 is that you can ignore 90% of what the game allows you to mess with, but it’s still a fully featured SRPG at it’s core. Everything else is the icing on the cake with nothing that spoils it, but only adds on to it if you choose to go deep into it.
Strafe is a love letter to 90s FPS games with a lot of potential that falls to the wayside due to a lack of polish as well as a slew of generic and boring design choices.
Overall, Birthday’s the Beginnings is an interesting new IP from Wada-san. While it fails to capture the same magic as the “Story of Seasons” series has managed to, he was still able to create a game that could be seen as (almost) as relaxing. Despite some control issues and fighting with the game’s own mechanics, I found myself really enjoying this game.
Overall, Atelier Firis is probably one— if not the most ambitious— entries into the franchise. Following Firis through her journey and seeing how excited she gets is a great reminder that games like these are amazing. The character interaction, battles, and alchemy all mesh together to create a story about a cute girl that seriously wanted some fresh air.
All in all, Yooka Laylee is neither as bad or good as most say. It’s a solid platformer that caters to the old school crowd while occasionally getting lost and muddled in the game mechanics of a time long gone. There is charm and wit in its writing, and frustration in its controls. For every positive, there is a negative. The takeaway is an extremely okay platforming experience with extreme amounts of nostalgia and decent potential for a future franchise.
This game tries to say a lot by only telling you bits and pieces which is perfectly fine. Everything about it feels very well constructed as I’ve never had any issues of any kind. In the end though, while I wouldn’t call this game boring, after I finish a session of playing it, it feels pretty forgotten which is kind of sad because I was ready to love this game like I did Yomawari.