RPGamer's Reviews
The isometric action RPG may start sluggishly, but it recovers recovers soon enough to become a fun entry in this long-running franchise.
While drawing inspiration from tabletop adventures, it certainly isn’t short on ideas, as it combines an alternate history 1930s decopunk setting with an intriguing turn-based combat system replicating car chases. Its fine use of noir stylings within its story and narrative helps give players an engaging experience, even if there are some missteps along the way.
Hades II delivers a truly great action roguelike experience, buoyed by strong, exciting combat. It remains addictive across multiple runs, even with poor Boon balance, keeping combat artificially elongated.
Pragmata is boosted significantly by its sublime, crisp visuals, delightfully unusual combat system, tight level design, oppressively lonely and sterile atmosphere, and an enjoyable dynamic between its two main characters, making for an outstanding experience.
The narrative is fun if a bit nonsensical and predictable, the characters are a blast, and the musical numbers are a nice touch that distinguishes it from its contemporaries. Unfortunately, the lack of a great combat core combined with monotonous gameplay makes the game ultimately difficult to recommend.
Though the narrative is laudable both in terms of its uniqueness and for mirroring similar real-world conflicts from the colonized’s point of view, the game falls afoul of some of the same shortcomings as its predecessor and, in the case of its revamped combat system, even makes some new missteps all of its own.
Avowed is one of those games with an interesting narrative and a world that will leave players wanting to explore and understand the finer details. While the game doesn’t translate perfectly to consoles, its presentation and world-building certainly keep it exciting.
While it’s certainly an odd pitch, happily, its novel, refreshing take on turn-based RPGs delivers on every front. The combat is deliberate and tightly designed, while its story strikes chords both hilarious and touching. All the while, bright, eye-catching visuals jazz up the experience, and the soundtrack harmoniously ties it all together, making for a well-paced, impressive, and highly original adventure.
The game initially presents itself as a colorful retro adventure, but beneath its eye-catching aesthetics lies a deeply unsettling exploration of trauma and escapism. By intertwining its RPG mechanics with emotional storytelling, particularly by shifting the boundary between dream and reality, the game transforms familiar genre conventions into a means of expressing its protagonist’s internal struggle. It is a game that understands grief better than most, one that resonates in a way that is hard to shake and even harder to explain.
The teams at Game Freak and Koei Tecmo’s Omega Force not only show that the series has plenty more to offer players than Pokémon battles, but they convey it with so much conviction that Pokémon Pokopia has set a new precedent for the level of craftsmanship that I want to see in the Pokémon series going forward.
DIRGA’s Thysiastery builds on the sub-genre’s basic concepts with the wrinkles of roguelike gameplay, unique skill progression, and random character creation. Its roguelike nature makes the gameplay fast-paced, and building parties is enjoyable even in defeat, making for a fun yet basic loop.
It is crunchy and combat-driven, with narrative as an afterthought, and it makes no apologies about that. It is, was, and shall remain a mid-tier JRPG, but sometimes that’s just what an RPGamer needs. To anyone looking for a game that lets them tune out and wreck monsters without high drama attached, it’s certainly worth a look-see.
As a full tome, Ariana and the Elder Codex has quite a lot of potential, but among its genre and the RPG landscape as a whole, it doesn’t stand out too starkly on the shelf. While it has some charming visuals, lore, and some good voice acting, its gameplay and story are only ever serviceably engaging, and predictable twists and excessive endgame lore dumping dull the adventure.
After forty hours in Mewgenics, it is easy to see how this is a “dive-in and lose track of time” or “just ignore it” title, as it is really hard to stay in the middle ground. Trying to experience everything will take hundreds of hours, which makes this a cautionary tale for perfectionists.
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection doesn’t aim to completely reinvent what’s been established in the previous two entries in the series. Instead, it smartly tweaks and iterates on what worked and what didn’t work to create a much more refined and enjoyable monster-catching experience.
While Esoteric Ebb certainly doesn’t try to avoid the direct comparisons to Disco Elysium’s style, it manages to stand out through its original setting and entertaining set of mysteries. The ingrained usage of skill checks to help guide conversations and what the game reveals to players helps keep them engaged, with plenty of highly enjoyable quests and interactions to be had all the way through.
It may not be up the alley of those looking for deeply engrossing gameplay, but for players with a passing interest in the franchise who have not yet committed to this installment, now’s the perfect time to dive in and get their feet wet.
While the perfect product wasn’t synthesized, Lydie & Suelle was a step in the right direction for the series, blemishes and all.
On the whole, Resident Evil Requiem is a game of contrasts: Grace vs. Leon, panicky rookie vs. grizzled veteran, micro trauma vs. macro trauma, survival vs. action, but all of these contrasts serve one overarching purpose: fear. Whether I was fleeing some horrific mutant or perilously being pushed against the wall by zombie hordes, Requiem scared the daylights out of me.
The puzzle-solving elements — including the boss fights — are easily where the game is its strongest, but it never really steps out from the traditional top-down adventure template, and the lack of any substantial narrative and mediocre overall combat prevent it from distinguishing itself from the crowd.