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I’d say it’s a shame we haven’t seen more games like this from this dream team — but at the time of writing, the follow-up to stablemate Fairy Fencer F, known as Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord, is on the way, and it very much looks like a spiritual successor to Hyperdevotion Noire. So if you, like me, have been waiting nearly ten years for a new Hyperdevotion Noire… well, this isn’t quite it, but it certainly looks like a more than adequate substitute!
It’s clear to me that, just six hours in, I’ve barely scratched the surface of what Mary Skelter 2 has to offer, but it’s already abundantly obvious why this is such a well-regarded series — and that rare example of a Compile Heart game that even the company’s most ardent haters have to admit is actually very good indeed. I’m looking forward to diving further in — and if you’re yet to take the plunge yourself, I highly recommend casting aside any feelings of intimidation you might feel and just getting started!
As you might expect, the idea of jumping one’s consciousness through time and reliving events with different possible outcomes does get a little convoluted by the end of proceedings — but it does make consistent internal sense according to the logic established by the story. It also sets up the next game, Zero Time Dilemma, very nicely indeed — though interestingly at the time Virtue’s Last Reward was originally released, a third and final installment in the Zero Escape series looked like it might not happen.
Pretty Girls Breakers Plus provides exactly what I’ve come to expect from the series: solid gameplay, good presentation, excellent music and a surprising amount of longevity. While superficially similar to its predecessor, its improvements make a major difference, making it a worthwhile investment even if you played the original to death. And if you’re new to the wonderful world of Pretty Girls? This is as good a place to start as any!
I should say thanks to Fire Emblem Engage for gifting us with the Four Hounds though – they are easily my favourite part of the game.
Saint Maker’s design, themes and especially characters make it well worth a shot. It will certainly surprise you one way or another!
It’s a refreshingly light-hearted experience, but one with plenty of depth to enjoy over the long term — particularly if you can either bring some friends along to play it in local multiplayer, or can recruit some buddies to play online. It absolutely deserves to be in everyone’s Switch library — so if you’re yet to enjoy it for yourself, pick it up this weekend and have a chaotic fun time defending the righteous princess from the totally bodacious dudes who seek to cause havoc in the kingdom.
For now, Grim Guardians: Demon Purge comes highly recommended. It may be the best Castlevania in years at heart, but it’s also unmistakably its own distinct thing, too, rather than simply being a slavish recreation of a Konami classic. Its solid gameplay, well-crafted mechanics and interesting structure all show that there’s still very much a place for classic 2D side-scrolling action in today’s video game market, and I sincerely hope it ends up a big success.
It’s generally better to have more options than fewer, particularly if there’s no fixed “best” way to enjoy the game. And Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line sets an exceptionally high standard in that regard. If, indeed, this is the last entry in the series, Square Enix have certainly found a means of letting it go out with a bang.
So regardless of whether or not you’re a Hololive fan — you certainly don’t need to be — I urge you to check out HoloCure if you haven’t already. It’s sure to become your new addiction.
That’s a bold creative statement, and one I very much respect from a passion project like this. Sure, certain elements of Violet Wisteria may cause some folks to bounce off the game — or even steer clear of it in the first place — but for those who are on board with what it has to offer, it’s a very good game that offers a stiff challenge and a decent amount of longevity.
Still, this isn’t a bad game. The cast isn’t quite as good as previous entries but is still solid. The combat mechanics are stellar and will keep you excited throughout the 30 or so hours it takes to complete the main plot. Everything outside the combat, however, feels like it was added simply because they couldn’t possibly ship a JRPG without a host of mini-games to pad out the runtime. I went into Fire Emblem Engage expecting “great”, so “good” feels like a disappointment.
Ultimately it doesn’t matter too much, but for a game that clearly wants to push the boundaries of erotic content on Switch, it seems peculiar that its unlockable content is so flaccid in comparison to the main event. Still, this aside, Shuttlecock-H is a great, genuinely enjoyable game. The gameplay is fun, the art is nice, the erotic animations are excellent and the soundtrack is an absolute banger. So I call that a win.
Suffice to say, 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors remains a classic with good reason. If you’re not an experienced visual novel reader, its relatively brief length (by comparison to some other titles) makes it quite accessible, and its interactive room escape sequences help break things up with some actual “gameplay”. And if you’re a visual novel veteran, you owe it to yourself to check out a true masterwork of the medium; a wonderful example of how the interactive elements of visual novels can very much distinguish them from traditional linear media.
While the majority of these features are ultimately rather unnecessary, it adds some pleasant downtime after all the nightmarish sights and descriptions you’ll find yourself interacting with. It’s a perfect balancing act that helps us show that some characters are genuinely redeemable — and that some are absolute, legitimate sweethearts — compared to the majority, who are walking red flags. But that just makes any piece of fiction all the more exciting.
I recommend giving GoldenEye a go, whether you’re a grizzled veteran of the ’90s or a newcomer to this retro FPS classic. It still holds up a lot better than you might expect — and if you have the opportunity to get three friends together for some multiplayer, you can learn what true joy really is.
With fully realised characters who lead complex lives with some of the most engaging character arcs to come from an indie otome, The Spanish Privateer is truly a riveting time.
Some minor technical issues aside — like hair clipping through character models in a way that feels lazy and haphazard for a big release like this — there is more to like than dislike in Fire Emblem Engage thus far. My biggest worry, looking forward to the next several dozen hours of my life, is that some of the more interesting characters aren’t being introduced as early as I would like. But we shall see!
Whether you’re new to Neptunia or a grizzled old veteran like me, Neptunia: Sisters vs Sisters is a must-play entry in the series — though in the former case I’d perhaps recommend at least playing through mk2 or Re;Birth2 first — and it’s a delight to see the series thriving. Here’s to many more years of Nep ahead of us!
As something of a scrub myself, I found that just a short time with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters for NES helped enormously with both my own sense of confidence and my understanding of some of the genre fundamentals. And while I’m under no illusions that I’m now in a suitable position to jump online in one of today’s fighting games and come anywhere even remotely close to participating on a competitive level, I feel like I’ve definitely improved. And that’s got to be worth something.