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Food Girls is a thoroughly likeable game that does its best with what it has, much like the girls in the street market. At times, its low budget and lack of polish is apparent — most egregiously with a couple of untranslated lines that are still in Mandarin Chinese — but for the most part, the heart, soul and passion of its developer shines through, creating an enjoyable, memorable and thoroughly comfy experience.
If you’re looking for deep gameplay and an intriguing story, TheDawn might not be the right game for you. However, if you’re interested in a simple shooter with a cute anime girl to fill an hour of your life, this is a free game worth checking out. For a game made by a bunch of students, it definitely overachieves in the best way. I really hope they got a good grade for this in the end.
Overall, this is definitely a game for fans of the original. However, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity still delivers the fun action of Dynasty Warriors is known for while looking and feeling like a true prequel to Breath of the Wild, which is not an easy feat.
Melody of Memory is a competent if simple rhythm game that serves as a solid recap of the series for existing fans, making it a worthwhile purchase if you’ve followed the escapades of Sora, Donald, and Goofy through the years. However, it does showcase how impenetrable the plot has become, but even seasoned fans will get enjoyment out of the confusion. Its what we’ve done all this time anyway, right?
Overall, the title has an immersive story and impressive world-building, making it an easy suggestion for those who are new to the otome genre who may or may not be the targeted demographic. It’s simply that good. With a story rich in detail and the especially exciting moments of exploring the “Isekai” side of the game, it’s filled with unexpected twists and turns by the latter part of its story. Café Enchanté is in the higher tier of otome titles to me, with a plot that exceeds expectations and is equipped with one of the most endearing and delightful otome casts within the genre. It sits comfortably up there with the likes of Collar x Malice and Code: Realize.
While I may have criticized Yakuza: Like a Dragon for a decent chunk of this review, there’s still a lot to love about it. Ichiban is the perfect character to usher in this new era of Yakuza, and the amount of things to do outside of the main story is almost overwhelming. However, Yakuza 8 will need a lot of work put into it to make the RPG elements more balanced and engaging.
While I’ve played worse, Vigil: The Longest Night just has too many flaws for me to wholeheartedly recommend it. The visual style, despite the bad animations, is still pleasing, and you’re generally rewarded well for exploring. I just wish that the combat had more impact to it, especially the bosses.
If you enjoyed Monster Prom (which you did because you have excellent taste), then Monster Camp is a great continuation of that experience. It doesn’t change things up massively as far as gameplay goes, but that’s because very little needed changing from the original. Monster Camp is still one of the most exciting dating-sim/visual novel releases this year, with mountains of content for those of you get through. So gather your friends, get on voice chat, and get ready to woo some monsters.
While the tech used for Mario Kart Live is undeniably impressive, most people will get more out of the £100 required to play it by getting Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and a few years of Switch Online instead. The way tracks are created in game limits the designs you can create, and you’re out of luck if your house has a limited amount of useable space, or flooring that isn’t completely flat. Still, there’s fun to be had for at least a few hours before the novelty wears off, and it’s hard not to enjoy seeing Mario speed around track you have made. There’s potential, just not enough for this to be worth it for most Mario Kart fans (though cats certainly seem to love it).
Genshin Impact is genuinely fun, is set in a wonderfully vibrant world with stuff to be discovered everywhere you go, topped off with some fantastic waifus and best boys. As someone who is entirely free-to-play, the gacha system is horrendous. However, it doesn’t take too much away from the general enjoyment that I get from the game. You should definitely give the game a try.
Littlewood is a sweet, fun game that has a lot going for it. If 2020 has you looking for something a bit more wholesome from your gaming experience, then it is absolutely worth checking out this one.
As a solid dungeon crawler, Moero Crystal H is often enjoyable. Filling in the map of each floor, gaining levels and skill, adding your selection of party members; it’s nothing groundbreaking, but it doesn’t need to be. As for the fanservice, it often just gets in the way of everything else. The touching minigames in particular are repetitive, and seem counter-intuitive to actually delivering fanservice. There is a lot to do in Moero Crystal H if you’re a fan of the genre, as long you’re fine with the premise — and the less-than-stellar localisation.
While the RTS sections might drag things down a little, 13 Sentinels is still a fantastic story driven game that offers up a unique experience. It’s not quite the game that I thought it would be, though in some ways that didn’t turn out to be a bad thing. The future is looking bright for Vanillaware, and I hope that their next game goes all-in on the adventure elements, without anything else getting in the way.
Ghost of Tsushima may or may not be the game of the year for a lot of people. Between the stunning visuals, solid story and characters, and one of the best uses of the open world framework I’ve seen, it is a strong contender for me, even in a year that has included some fantastic releases.
As a stand out in the Project DIVA series with its notable additions of customisation options, MegaMix is welcoming to newcomers with accessible and adaptable difficulty, and for fans who are craving a new experience in the series with the exclusive Mix mode.
If you’re a new player looking to dip your feet into fighting games as a genre, and not just here for the single player modes, GranBlue Fantasy Versus is a wonderful place to start!
While parts of it feel dated at times, all the charm and joy that the series brings to the table are there so it is worth picking up.
Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia is an extremely engaging and challenging SRPG, a rarity in this day and age. For such a polished production and top notch style, Runersia is a delight to all the senses, despite slight hiccups such as certain translation errors.
I really recommend fans of Sakura Wars or people who are into anime and visual novels to check this one out!
Despite pulling my hair out on a certain boss towards the end of the game, this game is brilliant.