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Reviewing The Shell Part III: Paradiso has been difficult. I’m so disappointed that it wasn’t able to live up to the high of The Shell Part II. This should have been a triumph, it should have been excellent, but it’s not. If you could somehow remove the context of the prior games, then The Shell Part III is an alright mystery visual novel with some gorgeous art and music. I can’t judge it on its own merits alone though, it has a legacy to live up to. I do think it is worth playing through The Shell Part III to see how this story comes to an end, and to get closure for its characters. That said, there is a voice in the back of my head that wonders if perhaps this game needed to exist at all. It does exist, and so this is the series’ conclusion, there’s no avoiding that. I just think maybe I would be happier living forever in the aftermath of The Shell Part II, even if it meant leaving some loose threads behind. Given that I’m wondering if things would be better had The Shell Part III never been created, I suppose I can’t recommend it, as sad as that makes me. I’ll always love The Shell, and The Shell Part II in particular is an experience that I’ll never forget, but I’ll also never forget the disappointment the series’s conclusion has left me with.
SACRIFICE VILLAINS is a superhero nukige centering around the ironic chase for justice using degenerate means. Featuring large amounts of violence and sexual assault, it’s a visual novel that’s definitely not for those who are just looking for a quick and good time. The game caters more to readers who might have unique tastes related to the hobby, promising a large selection of scenes that’s sure to tickle at least one person’s fancy. For people looking for a serious story, this is definitely not the place to look for it. Although it excels quite well in the art department, perhaps due to ramping up the concentration of adult content in SACRIFICE VILLAINS, the more interesting premise of a villainous world order was put aside to focus on creating a satisfying experience rehabilitating rebellious heroines. Most of its story elements are taken for granted and are introduced as convenient plot devices to justify the use of particular instruments in adult scenes. In a way, to best enjoy the visual novel, it necessitates taking its content at face value and just enjoying what you can see and hear. If you’re feeling freaky and craving something new, then SACRIFICE VILLAINS might just have the thing for you.
While Tales of Graces f Remastered won't win any awards for its typical plot about an ever-growing threat, its tale of friendship and the moments between characters just might. It's an excellent remaster of a JRPG with surprisingly engaging combat, and well worth playing.
DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou is a hardcore shmup title to its bones. If you’re new to the genre then this probably isn’t going to be the title that converts you; rather it’s a love letter to ship-flying, credit-popping, bomb dropping gamers who love to hit the wall of Level 3 over and over again, maximizing those scores and using the smallest of windows to avoid colorful death. The lack of an English translation beyond a few menus does a major disservice to this release, but as a whole, it is great to see such an obscure and highly sought title in a more convenient to purchase and play package. It’s a game I’ll be returning to night after night trying to push ever closer to the mythos that is the one-credit clear true last boss which, much like this title, has never been more attainable.
Pirates VR: Jolly Roger gives a good first impression, but this pirate adventure quickly loses its luster. The gameplay has quite a few issues, leading it to be quite a disappointment. I wish I had more to say about this VR game, but there just isn’t really much worth talking about here. Perhaps there’s some charm here in the environment, but I found myself glad that it was such a short experience.
Dreamlike Love with Seira is a sweet romance story about being served by a beautiful maid to comfort you from the hardships of daily life. Indulgent to readers’ fantasies, it is a nice and relaxing read that definitely helps the reader wind down from the high tension stories pervasive in a lot of mainstream media titles. Simple and cute, there’s not much to think about besides putting your feet up and enjoying your time with Seira. Featuring gorgeous art by Rubi-sama and at an incredibly affordable price tag, readers will find themselves satisfied with their overall experience with the visual novel. I recommend grabbing Dreamlike Love with Seira if you’re currently craving a low investment, instant feel-good read to help soothe your wounds from the rough and cruel reality of our day-to-day lives. You never know, you might be the next person to encounter a visit from the girl of your literal dreams!
As a remaster, Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is subtly slick and exactly what it needed to be. While it doesn’t necessarily improve my thoughts on The Oath in Felghana foundationally, it is the best version that you can buy. It looks sharp, runs great, and additions like new artwork and narration for Adol help to further uplift the story. That said, it’s difficult to overstress that these additions don’t fix the game’s problems, nor was that necessarily the point. It still has an anemic story and a noticeably weak first half. Frustrations like poor hitboxes and a smattering of horrible bosses also still remain. While it does have good pacing, I’m also left with the sense that a lot of its gameplay elements aren’t able to fully breathe. To its credit, it comes together quite admirably during its climax and in a few instances offers up some of the most memorable encounters in the series. Once it gets good, it stays good, but the aforementioned problems leave me weary of the prospect of playing it again in the future. Fun for the one time, but ultimately not what I would call a favorite despite its strengths.
No Case Should Remain Unsolved makes for a nice game to scratch that mystery game itch that can be completed in a single afternoon, one that I felt was more than worth the $7 price of admission. While taking a rather minimalistic approach, it executes most everything it sets out to do within a reasonable scope. At the same time, it also feels surprisingly heartfelt and left me quite satisfied by the time the credits rolled.
I have a lot of pure nostalgia for these games, but I also feel that maybe Soul Reaver 1 aging so damn well carries the package here. While not a flawless ride by any stretch of the imagination, the world-building, the writing, and the atmosphere are still unrivaled. Aspyr has developed the ideal way to play a stone-cold classic (and the sadly lacking follow-up).
Divine Dynamo Flamefrit is like a playable version of your standard milquetoast seasonal anime. It’s short and doesn’t do anything to really upset me, but it also lacks any real sense of risk taking or depth. While in the moment, it can provide mild fun, it never once really becomes anything more than that because of how it never evolves and remains so simple. It also feels short on ideas despite its length, with repetitive stage design and few enemy types, with only the boss battles feeling like they got some originality injected into them. Even putting those aside, its aesthetic, music, and story are all quite bland, leaning so hard into its inspirations that it can’t really stand on its own two feet. A bad game? Not really, but even as of writing this, I’ve already forgotten about most of it.
Hatsuyuki Sakura is a sometimes depressing story, but one well worth experiencing. It has a compelling plot and uses the visual novel format particularly well to build it.
Come for the beautiful dioramas, stay for the fun and challenging boss fights. Fantasian Neo Dimension is definitely a game I was left hoping for a bit more out of its story and characters, and it's not without some frustrations and less-than-stellar design choices here and there, but when things click the game makes for some of the most fun I've had playing a JRPG in years. It's a tough game that requires you to pay attention and be willing to change up your game plan if it doesn't work, and it can feel like trial and error in spots, but it's immensely satisfying to progress through and conquer its greatest challenges. While Fantasian Neo Dimension is an experience rooted in nostalgia to some extent, it does more than enough on its own to stand out in a crowded pool of retro-inspired JRPGs coming out these days.
Natsu no Sagashimono ~What We Found That Summer~ has fairly unengaging gameplay, but it does well at creating that feeling of summer in the countryside and getting to know the locals. The slice-of-life scenes are enjoyable and even if brief the more serious elements were welcome. It would've been nice to see improvements in some areas, but it feels fair considering the low price.
With an interesting setting well-supported by its neon-themed colors, fleshed out characters, and meaningful dialogue, I am very happy with the time I’ve spent reading The Restless Sheep & The Lone Wolf. Although abrasive as a read because of the nature of its content, those who are brave enough to take the plunge into the heart of Kabukicho’s underworld will surely be rewarded with a satisfying rollercoaster of a story.
Little Big Adventure – Twinsen's Quest was such a pleasant surprise when it got announced. The original game is one of those titles that I adored back on release but haven’t thought too much about aside from whenever Little Big Planet got mentioned. While I loved replaying Twinsen’s tale in Little Big Adventure – Twinsen's Quest, I can see the many flaws with the game for both newcomers and hardcore fans. But for someone like me? It’s still a great way for me to get my nostalgia fix in a slightly easier way to play it. It’s lacking that charm in places and it is distinctly old school in difficulty, puzzles, and pacing, but there is still quite the gem hidden under all the dirt. It’s an interesting oddity, one that you’ll likely either love or hate this one with little middle ground. It's left me looking forward to the remaster of Little Big Adventure 2 and hope it brings Twinsen and his wacky world into more gamers' hands.
Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake is the best version of a quintessential RPG. Not only does it respect and uphold what the original game stood for, but in many ways it offers up even more depth than it held originally. The story is made grander and more emotional thanks to changes that are so natural, I’d have believed you if you told me they always existed. Combat is made better thanks to new vocations to spice up already strong replay value, the addition of challenging new bosses, and higher difficulties making it the toughest version available. The gorgeous artistic overhaul it received is also among the best I’ve seen for remakes in general. Dragon Quest III isn't my favorite or even my second favorite game in this series, but it says a lot that I still think it's among the very best of RPGs that I’ve played. My already glowing thoughts on it grow ever brighter with this version, and I was skeptical that such a thing was even possible. Even after receiving several remakes that I already thought were great, they somehow found a way to make it even better. 1988 was a long time ago now, but some legends truly never fade.
Metal Slug Tactics is a game that caught me by surprise in a few ways at first. I wasn’t sure at first what to make of the roguelite aspects, and even fifteen hours down the line with the title I still feel it is one of the weaker aspects of the game. The game’s performance on the Nintendo Switch is damning for the title and the user interface being as intrusive as it was didn’t give me the best welcome to the game. I will say I did enjoy the game with the issues put aside. I just wouldn’t suggest picking it up on the Nintendo Switch and would rather opt for either the PC or Playstation/Xbox console versions, which hopefully alleviate the main issues I had with the game and give gamers a much more pleasurable Metal Slug experience with a heavy slice of roguelite tactics.
Arc System Works has once again provided a new, old-school experience with a unique twist on a familiar tale. I enjoyed my time with Kunio and friends in the world of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms once again. The original game had such a strong foundation which carries over to the sequel, but there isn’t much here that will seem new to those who played it. On top of that, some parts such as how dialogue is handled and the lack of the China Heroes mode are a step back for the Saga sub-series, as fun as it still is.
The Mario & Luigi series began to grow stale over time, so I’m happy to say that Mario & Luigi: Brothership is a welcome refresher in several gameplay areas. When it’s fun, it’s very fun, and there are a lot of neat ideas and sections that make this game get generally better as you get more into it. The Plugs and some of the overworld abilities make those sections some of the most fun I’ve seen from the M&L series to date. It also made the leap from handheld to console quite well, with some really nice aesthetics and animations to its visual components. In some ways, Brothership feels like two steps forward and one step back for the series. While not quite the worst game in the series pacing-wise, Brothership still has its share of slow sections that drag on a fair bit more than I would have liked. This ultimately holds it back from being as tight and consistently great as it could have been. I also appreciate that the game’s attempts with its story are a touch more earnest rather than just being fully comedic, and the game still has its charm, but I found its narrative a touch too basic and lacking in interesting developments despite the amount of its runtime taken up by cutscenes. Ultimately though, there’s a lot to like with Brothership. If you want a generally upbeat and at times wacky RPG with a neat and skill-rewarding combat system and don’t mind something a bit simple on the story, it’s a pretty fun game.
Terrifying in its implications on death, DEAD DAYS is an interesting look into our relationship with our mortality. With interesting characters, relatable themes, and heartfelt struggles, it's a great read for those who might want a change of pace from their usual romance or action-filled visual novel story. The only thing holding it back is its focus on its own freak arousal.