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Iwakura Aria is a sapphic mystery visual novel that features themes of womanhood, violence, and sexual abuse. Set in a society going through modernization, it brings together people from different walks of life to create a message that cuts through social upbringing and age groups. Heavily character-driven, the game's narrative is moving and highly relevant even today. It employs subtlety skillfully in the presentation of its topics, emphasizing introspection and reflection in garnering insights about its subject. It's a great title to read if you want to generate discussion amongst your peers about women's experiences. Although written with a strong thematic base, it falters quite a bit in the mystery department despite its premise being anchored on that very aspect of its story. Readers who are mainly interested in the suspense of its underlying plot may find themselves dissatisfied with the shift in focus near the middle of the visual novel. In terms of Aria as a character, however, the game makes great effort to unravel multiple layers to her character, making her development very endearing to experience through Ichiko's own context. Perhaps with a stronger cast to solidify the story's grasp on its mystery, it could have had a stronger union between its romance and mystery elements. With a cast of main characters that are easy to empathize with given their struggles, Iwakura Aria paints a good picture of how love is, in a way, equal parts joy and pain. It shows how tearing down the barriers between people can be challenging, yet rewarding in its conclusion. Fans of sapphic romance will find themselves well at home in the title as it validates their unique experiences. Just be a bit careful with your pacing; it's a slow burn, so don't feel the need to rush like how this game ended!
Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact felt like an experiment in a few ways. For me personally, it was a chance to just play a fighting game based on an anime I had no history with, going in just on the basis that it was in-part an Eighting jam. Unfortunately, I had a miserable time with this game. It’s an awkward to play, bland offering with poor netcode and a bare bones single-player experience. On the other side, it seems like the developers experimented to see if a low-budget fighting game could succeed using a popular IP and the growing popularity of tag fighters. In the end though, I feel like this game is liable to be almost instantly forgotten by both the fighting game community and Hunter x Hunter fans. Bushiroad Games have sadly added another stinker to Eighting’s inconsistent past, and certainly made this brawler think twice before I give the benefit of the doubt.
Ready or Not has quickly breached its way into one of my most played games of the year. I can see myself going back to it time and time again, trying to beat my scores and playing on higher difficulties. The range of options and the seemingly random generation on levels make each run a fresh and terrifying experience in equal amounts. Run-and-gun fans need not apply. But if you think you've got what it takes to command the situation and make the toughest decisions, I have but one thing to ask you: are you Ready or Not?
Sometimes it feels like I am banging the same drum when it comes to these Nightdive remasters. They almost always take great titles and make them even better. Seeing Nightdive take on System Shock 2 as a remaster after the fantastic remake of 1 might feel like a step back, but they have done enough to make a great experience a phenomenal one. And isn't quality why we are drawn to this kind of work? If you love immersion, horror, and sci-fi, System Shock 2 is still one of the greatest to ever do it, and System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster is a great way to experience it nowadays. Now it's much more palatable by modern standards, and playable with a controller. Or in my experience, on the Switch 2 with the convenience of portability. Grab yourself a headset, turn the lights off, and step out of your cryopod, because the Von Braun and The Many await.
Donkey Kong's and Pauline's journey to the center of the Planet Core is one worth taking. Donkey Kong Bananza is one of the most creative and entertaining 3D platformers of recent years, with a huge world full of challenges with plenty of fun to find hidden throughout it if you take the time to explore.
There are so many things going for Umamusume: Pretty Derby! Despite its off-the-wall premise, it has engaging story sequences with memorable characters, well-built roguelite mechanics, and above-average production values for a mobile game. It also helps that the races the game revolves around are always a thrill to watch! This quality is sadly marred by sluggish progression and an awful gacha system that is less consumer friendly than its contemporaries. But at the end of the day, it’s a free game meant to be played over a prolonged period and the foundation surrounding its monetary system is sturdily built. The fact I’ve already invested over 40 hours into it is proof of this! If you were like me and dismissed the game just off the premise alone, give it a try; you might just end up as a fan!
Patapon 1+2 Replay is a faithful remaster of the rhythm/action games from the PSP era. While simple in its conceived gameplay loop, it rewards skillful play by providing significant bonuses through systems like Fever and good decision making through telegraphed enemy actions. By paying close attention to stage gimmicks and behavior patterns, you can guide your cute anthropomorphic eyeball tribe to success as they journey to the promised land of Earthend. Because it is a faithful remaster of the original games, Patapon 1+2 Replay retains the same problems and inconveniences that their predecessors had in both its repetitive gameplay, random loot system, and sometimes weirdly timed introduction of progression items. As a series that encourages the player to grind, the lack of variation in its minigames and non-repeatable story stages make for a less than stellar post-game experience. The novelty of the game within the rhythm slash strategy genre, however, makes it a memorable pickup back then and even until now. For a respectable $30 US price point, Patapon 1+2 Replay delivers with incredible quality for remastered games’ standards that seamlessly runs on modern machines. With quirky, fun backgrounds and creature designs that’ll have your heart hurting with their cuteness, Bandai Namco’s rerelease of this beloved classic is one both new and veteran players can appreciate. Just take note of the possible input delay in some features of the game; it can make or break your overall experience if you get fixated on it.
Futamata Ren'ai: Two Times the Trouble starts strong with an amusing premise, heroines with unique personalities, plenty of comedy, and an interesting if minimal plot hidden in the background to reveal. It does however start to fall down when it comes to romance or developments beyond the common route. It's worth giving it a read, but much like the other ASa Project titles, it looks great when it comes to visuals, but the balance and style of comedy won't be to everyone's tastes.
There are maybe two kinds of people whom I can recommend Mado Monogatari: Fia and the Wondrous Academy to. The first is the type of Compile Heart fan who will play just about any cute, low-stress, and/or marginally charming moe JRPG on the market. The second is anyone battling chronic insomnia looking for a powerful soporific to help them get a good night’s sleep, because this game is a snoozefest. It functions, it’s cute, it has a couple of funny moments. Beyond that, it’s much too dull of an experience to recommend anyone spend the 25ish hours it takes to beat.
No Sleep for Kaname Date - From AI: The Somnium Files just feels more like a mediocre fandisc than a proper, satisfying entry of this series. It doesn’t need to exist, nor does it particularly justify its existence on its own merits. It’s too limited by being set in between the far more eventful games in the series, both in its plot and its characters. While Nirvana Initiative felt like it might have had a bit too much ambition and stumbled at the end for it, this title feels woefully lacking for any real ambition and stumbles the entire way. Most of the tension feels rather unconvincing, the comedy is a lot more one-note, and the cast of characters are at their worst in the trilogy. The game just doesn’t feel like it has enough trust in me as a player to actually solve its escape rooms myself, even when it ostensibly gives me a difficulty choice on how many (or few) hints I want.
Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is a smooth blend of many of Atlus’s best traits. In terms of tone and premise, it's rather masterfully executed and I think even among their enormous and storied library, it remains distinct for largely good reasons. As a game, certain elements leave something to be desired. While I praise the combat for being a surprisingly successful blend of action gameplay and the turn-based systems present in mainline Megami Tensei, I don't feel the same way about the investigation portions. It feels like they wanted to do more with the adventure game element, but it feels quite basic and solving things is easy. It would only take a few adjustments for it to really come together, but as it is now it's kind of a neat time-waster and not much else. Overall, I enjoyed what I played and I think there's great untapped potential in more of Raidou’s yet untold stories. While I think a remaster of the second PS2 game is a matter of “when” and not “if”, a third game with modern graphics and a rethought investigation system could potentially make it an Atlus hallmark. As it is now, I would still recommend it as a nice time capsule of when Atlus got really daring.
Summer Pockets REFLECTION BLUE is a nakige that dabbles with the idea of having a perfect summer vacation. On an island far away from your home, with friends you’ve made during your stay, under the heat of the sun and the salty breeze of the seas, it paints an experience filled with wholesome friendship, self-discovery, and possibly even the promise of a romantic encounter. Through companionship and the willingness to make yourself vulnerable, it’s an emotional journey that’ll have you feeling nostalgic about happier times with people you love. If you’re looking for some space to reflect on experiences and memories from warmer times, why not take a trip to Torishirojima? Summer Pockets REFLECTION BLUE might just have that thing you’ve been seeking that’ll help you reconnect with your inner child. Simple yet full of emotion, it offers you a chance to live a summer vacation that’s sure to be a memorable one.
ToHeart is a rather mixed package. Ultimately, it falls short of an unreserved recommendation, despite having an enjoyable time spent with the heroines and it being a very reasonable price considering the amount of scenes. Certain aspects just set it back too much, including how underdeveloped each heroine’s story is, the systems it uses, how the graphical redesign was handled, and some very odd design decisions. Despite that, while I’d not suggest it’s a priority to pick up, the ToHeart remake does carry over a lot of that retro charm and it’s easy to see why it was so popular when it first came out with just how lovable many of the heroines are. Time has moved on, and writers have learned how to more effectively target the hearts of genre fans, but the roots can clearly be seen here and appreciated for what they are. Even if I’d not suggest that you rush out and get it today, it is worth experiencing both as an important part of visual novel history and in its own right.
At its best moments, AI: The Somnium Files – Nirvana Initiative was some of the most fun I’ve had playing an adventure game ever, even topping its predecessor on occasion. The characters are still fun, the game made me laugh plenty, the Somniums are similarly creative, and there’s still plenty of enticing mystery to go around. Unfortunately, while the first AI: The Somnium Files manages to pull its story together to a thrilling conclusion, I cannot say the same for its sequel. Outside of one particular part, its final act is immensely unsatisfying and does not hold up well under scrutiny, with a big twist that felt more to the detriment of the story than to its benefit. Some of its new characters are welcome additions, others are not, and the antagonists of the story don’t contribute much value. It also adds some unnecessary retconning that feels worse coming off the first game. The story is fun in the moment and has a strong first half, but doesn’t carry its own weight all the way through and feels lacking the same substance that made the first game so memorable for me long after I finished it. AiNi still has a lot going for it, but for a game where so much of the enjoyment is centered around its story, I really wish it could have brought it all home. It’s still a really engaging experience, it’s just substantially more uneven.
I really enjoyed the excuse to load up Lies of P again and consider it my favorite non-Fromsoft title of the genre. The new areas in the Overture DLC are fantastic and the boss fights are easily on par with the best ones from the base game with a fantastically emotional final boss fight. Admittedly, the playtime vs cost might not be for everyone in this post-Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree world, but for someone who loves the world of Krat, Pinocchio, and the Stalkers, I found it to be well worth the wait and the price.
AI: The Somnium Files became one of my favorite adventure games through its combination of inventive concepts, great use of sound and music, a thrilling mystery, and a strong emotional core that made me care about the characters the story was happening around. It’s delightfully weird, often to its benefit and occasionally to its significant detriment, but it’s unabashed in what it is. It has its rough edges in places, but it was made with a lot of love in spite of its limitations. It’s compelling and hilarious, but most of all it’s immensely rewarding to play through.
Is Deltarune worth purchasing? Yes, 100% yes. It’s such a unique and quirky title with so much to discover in its more than 20 hours of gameplay across the two routes currently. In addition, that purchase is your down payment on another 3 chapters of the game, a game that is getting bigger and quirkier with every chapter to the point I wouldn't even be able to hazard a guess at where the game will end up. While the world is still lavishing praise for several recent releases being a return to form for the JRPG genre, why not take a walk on the wild side and join the fun squad with the anti-RPG, rebellious teenager who has an obsession with anime, monsters, and bullet hell? Deltarune is one helluva drug.
For a pretty modest price point, Kanade is ultimately a sweet and short visual novel, and how much you enjoy it will depend on what you’re looking for and how you feel about the bubbly main character. It’s very cute, at times endearingly funny, and has just a pinch of sentimentality to spice things up. There’s not a lot of depth to its characters even with its small cast, and its attempts at theming feel like they only scratch the surface of what they maybe could have with an otherwise rather interesting concept for a setting, which left me a bit wanting for more of substance. Still, I enjoyed my few hours with Kanade for what they were.
Survival Kids is best suited to playing multiplayer and could be an ideal title for a gamer to play with their child or a younger sibling. Even alone though, it's a fun survival game with some light puzzles, and a good amount of charm to it. There's a good amount to discover here and a higher level of challenge than you might expect, at least if you want to clear all of the objectives.
It’s difficult for me to really pin down exactly how I feel about A Tithe In Blood on the whole. Its setup, its theming, and its presentation are all incredible, making for a memorable experience with reading the visual novel. As a story of the experience of grief and living through it, I connected with it quite a lot. Once it gets to actually having to progress its narrative, however, things gradually get shakier and shakier in the way it pieces together its various sections, and it features an overall letdown of a conclusion. While in its set-up act, it’s one of the most emotionally resonant and striking parts of a visual novel I’ve read in some time. Unfortunately, by the time I was done, I spent more time dwelling on how I felt about the story rather than the impact it had on me, the sign of something with a share of missed potential with the direction it took. Still, there are compelling aspects to this story and a lot that I did really like about it. There is something genuine beneath it all, and I found I got more out of it than I do from a lot of attempts at this subject matter. It won’t work for everyone and the story that it tells is rough and uneven, but it manages to have the memorable good aspects to stand out just enough.