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Alpha Mission II has some nice ideas, and the occasional spectacular set-pieces that were pretty forward thinking. The armour system feels fun to play around with, and provides a lot of different options to try out over multiple playthroughs, but without more of its own identity there isn’t all that much reason to playthrough it more than once on single or co-op play.
The Nonary Games brings together two excellent games which I highly recommend.
The loose design of the system embraces the loose nature of actual rap and hip hop.
Considering its themes and atmosphere as well as frustrating gameplay, A Rose in the Twilight might not be for everyone, but there is some enjoyment to be found for the puzzle enthusiasts that enjoy more punishing gameplay and the game's rather slow mechanics. Everyone else might find more enjoyment in titles like Yomawari or The Firefly Diary we covered previously.
Toukiden 2 is amongst the best in the monster-slaying genre.
Score Attack hammers home how straightforward and bland the dungeon design is.
Atelier Firis' focus on more open-world elements is refreshing.
JRPGs will never be the same again.
Breath of the Wild is true exploration.
Himawari is a sweet tale which blends slapstick humor with more serious themes. The first chapter does drag on for far longer than it's welcome and some jokes miss the mark entirely. However, the game makes up for this in its later chapters. If you are the type of person that loves to gaze into space in deep thought of all the possibilities it might offer, Himawari may be the shooting star you have been waiting for.
Touhou Genso Wanderer is fairly accessible to newcomers. And, while the game falls among the shorter in the genre, the added bonus content after you beat the game for the first time is a nice addition. Touhou and dungeon crawler fans alike would enjoy this title, but at full price it might not be for everyone.
NieR: Automata is a special game and one that will stick with you long after the credits roll.
Danganronpa 1.2 Reload provides an excellent opportunity to get stuck into the series for anyone who missed it on the Vita.
Berserk and the Band of the Hawk captures the essence of the series in spectacular fashion.
Princess Maker Refine lacks many of the improvements brought to us by the second instalment. Even with that said, it may very well be one of the best raising simulators on the market. Not only that, but the game is unbelievably affordable, priced at half of the asking price of its sequel. If you still haven’t played the series, this might indeed be a great starting point since you won’t be spoiled by all the enhancements of later games in the franchise.
Even with pixelated rose-tinted glasses, it’s difficult to recommend Double Dragon IV to anyone but the most die-hard fans of retro games and the series in general. It brings back all the frustration, but does nothing to improve upon the formula. It does offer around an hour of fairly entertaining co-op with a buddy, but your time could still be spent better elsewhere. If you want your Double Dragon fix, Double Dragon: Neon is a far better investment and holds true to the retro style gameplay with modern day improvements and online co-op.
Yakuza’s first foray onto PS4 is nothing short of great and the future is shining bright for the series.
It's great to see the life of this really fun 3D fighter extended with more content across the board. Picking up Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 again, the mechanics of the fighting are just as easy to get into and as exciting as they were on release. Road to Boruto doesn't add a crazy amount of new content (and considering the anime movie is well over a year old by this point, not all that new), but what it does add is nothing but good. It would have been nice to see more, but there isn't a whole lot more of the Boruto story out there yet. It does prove that more Ultimate Ninja Storm is definitely a good thing — and maybe we'll see it return in the future.
Despite being a tactical game, Dynasty Warriors: Godseekers very much has the heart of the franchise. You have your one-man-army officers, accessible and addictive gameplay and the famous groovy music. It’s far from a perfect game, since its technical flaws and simplistic nature leave a lot to be desired. However, at the same time, it offers just enough complexity to keep things surprisingly engaging while keeping the whole game accessible to both newcomers as well as long time Dynasty Warriors fans.
A brief but precious look at what the future holds for Kingdom Hearts.