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Gauntlet mode is a fantastic contrast to the main Story mode of Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate Definitive Edition, plus a great means of “grinding” characters without feeling like you’re just replaying the same things over and over again. You can jump into it right from your first moments with Warriors Orochi 3, so long as you’re careful — but the mode is solid and substantial enough to also make for excellent endgame content, potentially keeping you busy into perpetuity.
1943 is a good choice for the free game in Capcom Arcade Stadium. It’s a nice example of Capcom doing what Capcom does well: a game that is easy to get up and running with, but which is hard to master. There are better games in Capcom Arcade Stadium as a whole — hell, there are better games just in the 194X series — but, well, they’re not going to give away the cream of the crop for free, now, are they?
On the whole, then, The Tower of Succubus is another excellent addition to the Succubus series as a whole. While its somewhat more niche-interest source material might make it a little bit of a harder sell to those hoping for another Zelda-like, once you start working your way up that tower it’s hard to stop. With 77 floors to challenge, this will keep you busy for quite some time — so you better get climbing!
This is a strong start to this second collection. While some may bounce off it due to the relative lack of big-hitters available up front, it serves as a great reminder that many of our favourite video game developers and publishers from over the years are considerably more than just their most famous titles. Sure, those famous titles are great — and that’s why some of them are included here — but it can be incredibly rewarding to discover new experiences that you didn’t previously know existed. And that’s where the real value of this collection lies.
Once you get your head around this, the game becomes much more enjoyable — and it also stands out as being something more than a simple attempt to ape Star Fox with modern tech. While it’s very obvious that the original intention of the Ex-Zodiac project was “let’s make Star Fox”, it’s also clear that at some point along the line, the developers decided to take things a bit further and give the game its own clear sense of mechanical and structural identity also.
While you’re playing, though, allow yourself to relax. You earned this time to do nothing of any real importance — and while it can be tempting to think that you “should” be doing something of greater value either to yourself or to society at large, sometimes it’s important to just be selfish and do something for no other reason than it feels good.
Assuming you’re on board with the non-optional adult content — which, let’s face it, if you’re reading Rice, you probably are — then The Sword of Succubus is one of the best non-visual novel adult games you’ll ever play. It’s a magnificent example of what the adult gaming sector has to offer to gaming in general, and a title which deserves recognition and praise — and simply for more people to enjoy it.
In fact, you may well find that you sometimes reach points in Story mode where spending some time in the other modes of Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate Definitive Edition is very much to your benefit in terms of raising bonds between characters, earning Growth Points and Gems, or simply taking on some different types of challenges.
There’s no denying how many hours it’s possible to sink into College Craze, even in its current state of development. With its newly added gallery feature, you can see how much material you have yet to find — including 109 CGs (not including multiple variations in some cases) — plus the sheer number of choices throughout provide a variety of outcomes from even the most seemingly throwaway of selections. College Craze already surprises me by being free in its current state.
There is enough game here to keep you busy for literally years — and over the course of this deep-dive you’ll see just how many different ways there are to enjoy it. Including through playing as characters from Dead or Alive, Ninja Gaiden, Bladestorm, Warriors: Legends of Troy, Soulcalibur and Trinity: Souls of Zill O’ll.
All in all then, Otoko Cross: Pretty Boys Klondike Solitaire does exactly what it sets out to do, and it does it well. It would be nice to see these characters incorporated into a more ambitious project at some point in the near future — but as a means of establishing them as an ensemble cast and getting people familiar with them, these casual games are doing a fine job, and I certainly wouldn’t object to seeing more.
So yeah. Consider that a ringing endorsement, and if you have the slightest interest in Castlevania-style games — and wanted to like Simon’s Quest but just couldn’t quite manage it — then I can’t recommend Midnight Castle Succubus enough.
The Test is a fascinating series that is well worth experiencing; each individual entry is less than £2 and takes maybe 30-45 minutes to work your way through, depending on how quickly you answer the questions. The final results you get from each game are thought-provoking and worth reflecting on even if you have no intention of moving on to plug your secret words into Randumb Studios’ other games, and this idea of “video game as therapy” is definitely a solid one that is probably worth exploring further.
Descenders is an absolute delight that I can highly recommend to anyone in the mood for a good, silly, arcade-style racer with a significant but optional extreme sports stunt element. It’s a game with potentially limitless replayability, yet one which doesn’t make unreasonable demands of your time; it’s the perfect thing to have on the back-burner when you’re in the mood to just play something which excites and thrills, but which doesn’t demand commitment or too much brainpower.
Castle in the Clouds feels like a game that simply wants you to have a good time without compromising on either its lewd content or its solid gameplay.
Despite its age, Kamui is an absolutely magnificent shoot ’em up that every enthusiast should have in their collection alongside the other two The Tale of ALLTYNEX titles. Following the closure of Nyu Media a few weeks back, the ALLTYNEX games have been picked up by prolific doujin publisher Henteko Doujin, so it seems like they’re in good hands for now. So if you’re in the mood for some top-tier 32-bit-style blasting, nab yourself a copy of Kamui now — you won’t be disappointed!
Birushana may not have quite knocked it out of the park for me personally, but it’s definitely one that will be enjoyed by plenty of otome enthusiasts. Take your time with it, and don’t come to it expecting anything super new or revolutionary in terms of story. Just know that the heroine, characters and a couple of the routes in particular make Birushana well worth checking out — and then you can join me in celebrating Tomomori in all his glory as best boy, however much he might make your parents question your morality!
Metallic Child looks great, sounds great and most importantly feels great to play. It’s a satisfying game that runs super-smoothly and slickly on both Nintendo Switch and PC, and with its compelling combination of relatively short individual play sessions and its absolute mountain of challenges to overcome, this is absolutely a game you should have in your collection. So if you’ve passed on it up until now, I urge you — give it a go, ’cause Studio HG are clearly immensely talented, and their work deserves to go recognised!
Anyway, if you enjoy platformers that strike a good balance between accessibility and challenge factor, Micro Mages should be high up your list of games to give your time and attention.
The Price of Flesh’s sexual content is optional, and whether or not you have it turned on does not affect your completion status of the game, since all achievements are unlockable regardless of setting. And with gender-neutral writing and selectable pronouns, it’s a game that can be enjoyed by anyone and everyone who enjoys horror — with the additional option of adding erotic scenes. That said, the developer themselves warns players to expect mostly dicks if you’re going in search of that erotic material; there are two main male characters and just one female, after all. Not like I’m complaining.