RPGamer's Reviews
When push comes to shove, there’s just no way to ignore the terrible blow dealt to the game by its one-of-a-kind translation, evident in everything from the philosophical musings of the plot to how character arcs unfold. And if that alone wasn’t the deathblow, then the frustrating and plain unfun balance issues that made me beg for credits certainly did the trick.
The game is just missing too many staples that other farming sims feature. There is little main story, no NPC interaction, a near featureless battle-system, no side quests, and barely any small intermediary goals throughout the game.
The music at least alleviates some of the monotony and players won’t need to spend too long with it to spark the ending credits, but the combat and systems contrive to make the gameplay far from enjoyable, and the story is almost not worth mentioning. One can only hope that it allows lessons to be quickly learned ahead of any future action RPG endeavours.
Simply put, the game seems unfinished and was likely rushed to market resulting in a horribly broken world that offers no incentive to return to it, even if future patches alleviate some of the myriad of issues.
While there may be a few interesting ideas in the story, it’s not worth suffering through the dungeons and needlessly verbose scenes to experience them.
A complete failure to make the setting interesting, insipid progression, and mediocre gameplay make for a thoroughly underwhelming experience, with the primary appeal being to fans of the franchise who simply want to see the characters extol the unshown virtues of fictional VRMMORPGs.
While the nostalgia may appeal to some fans of the original release, newcomers are likely to find little to redeem this lackluster remaster.
It is a game that tries to compete with the popular farming sims, but never quite does enough to stand on its own feet. While there are kernels of good ideas, they are marred by questionable design choices, with quests and goals that never feel satisfying.
The creative combat mechanic that skill swapping offers is, unfortunately, the only meaningful source of entertainment value this game offers.
The result is a game that, despite the notable effort put forth into its writing and storytelling, is constantly dragged down by technical issues and an unrefined combat system.
Some of the puzzles and challenges are good fun and satisfying to complete, but there are also many that are made more frustrating than they need to be. With a flawed match system that becomes trivial once its workings have been figured out and technical issues that stack up as the game progresses, it’s incredibly tough to recommend.
While some gamers will find themselves engrossed with monster hunting, others will find themselves frustrated by how Metal Max Xeno: Reborn is still unable to get things right, even after being fully reconstructed. A campy sense of humor can only carry a game so far. Unfortunately, this second chance at life is inexplicably held back by the same quality issues that plagued its progenitor.
There is scope for the humour to work, but factoring in fighting with the camera and struggling with the controls the whole experience is just not worthwhile. In a self-fulling prophecy, Naomi points out a lot of faults in games that The Good Life just blithely repeats itself.
While it was a noble effort to port the game to consoles, the transition is rough around the edges and makes for an uncomfortable playing experience.
Aluna: Sentinel of the Shards simply plays things too safe in creating a game that is functional but not interesting.
Despite some interesting ideas, Biomutant commits the cardinal sin of media — it’s boring, and that ultimately seals its fate. The game has a gorgeous world and adorable character designs, yet it’s soulless and falls far short of its ambitions.
Those looking to spend more time with the goddesses will at least enjoy more of their humour, and VTuber fans will likely get a kick out of their cameos. However, gameplay is very much lacking, with everything being done considerably better elsewhere, and ultimately, as an overall experience, Neptunia Virtual Stars remains a disappointment.
Its setting comes with plenty of interesting ideas, but they necessitate a strong execution. Unfortunately, that execution is sadly lacking here, as those ideas fall down due to a lack of support from the rest of the game and they simply aren’t strong enough to carry things on their own.
Unfortunately, the game underserves both the source material and players on the Switch. While fans of the Seven Knights mobile game may enjoy this title, there are scores of more fulfilling experiences available on the console.
Fantasy of Expedition is ambitious for its attempt to combine elements from real-time strategy games, roguelikes, RPGs, idle games, clicker games, and 16-bit nostalgia. However, the resulting product feels time-consuming and not rewarding in its power creep or challenge.