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I enjoyed and continue to enjoy my time with Shin Megami Tensei V, but it isn't the title I envisioned when it was announced a few years back. It's a top-shelf JRPG with a lot of content, charm, and game time to keep the most engrossed of players demon negotiating until the wee hours. For me sadly the game lacks the identity I've come to expect from the main Shin Megami Tensei series. That alongside some performance issues, the weighty day one DLC, and the draining pace issues means this is one title that has strayed further from God than I would have liked.
Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain is a great way to keep your mind active, as well as a way to fairly compete with people of all ages. As someone who rarely has to use math beyond basic addition, I could feel the skills slowly coming back to me as I continued to play. It does have some limitations such as direct multiplayer being local only and a limited selection of minigames, but considering the budget price and accessibility, it’s worth picking up.
I feel like The Humbling of a Holy Maiden will be most appreciated by a niche audience – those particularly interested in the kinks on display here. That said, there’s still certainly a lot to enjoy about it. It has an interesting setting, wonderful art, and some great voicing. It is a bit short, but it packs a lot into that time.
Henchman Story is a hilarious ride with a real heart to it, and its comic book style and full voice acting make it stand out from the crowd of English language visual novels. It’s an easy recommendation, especially if you’re looking for a change of pace from the usual anime-adjacent fare that visual novels are known for.
Knights of the Old Republic is still a fantastic RPG. Its best years are certainly behind it, but what it does well, it does better than most games released today. If you can look beyond the clunky controls and slightly janky systems, you will find a story and cast of characters that will stick with you for life.
I went into Dohna Dohna ~ Let’s Do Bad Things Together with some skepticism. I’d mostly heard about the adult scenes including forced prostitution and rape, which isn’t my type of content. Alongside that though, I found a genuinely interesting story with fun characters, surprisingly great gameplay, and amazing art. There are certainly a few issues that bring it down, but I enjoyed it a lot more than expected. As long as you know what you’re heading into and aren’t put off by those aspects, it’s one to play.
I wanted to love Demon Turf and at its bone, there is a good title here. It just seems a little disjointed and awkward at points that make this little demon stumble. The asking price is more than fine for the game, and you get around 20 hours out of it. Just note that not all of it is gold, and has more padding than a push-up bra.
Shin Megami Tensei 5 is a bastard to rate. What we have here is a game that, when everything is working in tandem, is possibly the greatest JRPG of all time. The depth, the mechanics, the loop – it’s perfect. The things it fumbles, however, makes getting to that greatness a chore at times, and it does serious damage to the overall experience. This is a 10/10 game, trapped in an 8/10 body – which is a real shame.
The biggest factor in Growing Up that convinces players to play the game more than once is its character stories, which I personally find are sufficiently good rewards in exchange for the whole grueling gameplay the game puts me through. If coming-of-age stories of young students are not one’s cup of tea, then they would have to be quite the completionist in order to stay motivated enough to replay it for all the different career endings. Otherwise, the game mechanics themselves — from the disappointing parents to the numerous Brain Maps that are easy to grow weary of — actually discourage one from replaying too many times. But considering one to three playthroughs, this game is worth playing. Its strong points lie in the art and music departments, and the general portrayal of the 1990s. All in all, Growing Up is a so-so stats-raising game with some meaningful and thought-provoking stories to tell.
Diablo 2 Resurrected is a fantastic remake of Diablo 2, in the sense that it is Diablo 2 with prettier graphics. Outside of that, Diablo 2 feels dated at best, bland at worst. There are so many better games in the genre that outshine Diablo 2, and one of those games exists within its series. This is a nostalgia trip of the long-toothed foggies, and not much else. The bugs don’t exactly help either.
Bright Memory: Infinite has a nascent vision of what it wants to be. And honestly, that vision is kind of good. With the right elements around it, Bright Memory: Infinite’s combat could have shined. Unfortunately, everything else is an incoherent mishmash of undeveloped ideas, lazy design, sloppiness, and technical problems. Even at the budget price of $9.99 I can’t recommend this mess.
If everything works properly, To The Rescue! is an average casual management sim with really cute art and chirpy music. I appreciate the work put into this game, including settings that allow players to fine-tune various aspects of the game to get the optimal difficulty level for themselves. The game could be more fun if its Shelter Construction provides players with more creative freedom. Including more unique visitors with meaningful or educational storylines could have been impactful too. However, as it stands (v1.0.7), To The Rescue! is so buggy that the bugs have overshadowed the actual game content. But all is not lost; the developers have been hard at work squashing the bugs since release. Thus, for those who wish to check out this dog shelter management sim, especially in its intended form, I’d advise waiting a bit longer.
While I had my issues with the ending of Blue Reflection: Second Light and didn’t feel the overarching plot was amazing, it easily won me over with its strong focus on the characters and their relationships. All those little moments stood out far more than uncovering the mystery of what happened to them. Supported by a particularly solid set of gameplay systems for a JRPG, it’s worth the purchase.
I find myself conflicted when it comes to Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX. It still remains the same great game I enjoyed as a youth in many ways, but perhaps it hasn’t stood the test of time in others. The second title is certainly the better of the two, and I’d happily recommend that. It could still be improved, but it’s better. As a package though, perhaps it’s worth waiting.
Love Flute tells an intimate character-driven story that has more to it than you might think. The simulation gameplay lacks depth, but if you like collecting things you might still enjoy it, and if you don’t, you can mostly ignore it. If you’re in the market for a short visual novel I’d recommend giving Love Flute a look.
I still recommend the game. Beneath all the baggage that the Ultimate version introduces, it’s still fantastic after so long. Despite having played the Switch version in particular, which is much worse off than the other versions, I still enjoyed the game enough to 100% in less than half a day. While I don’t regret my time doing so, by the end of it, I was slightly disheartened. Disheartened that, despite all the promises Sega made about ensuring more quality Sonic experiences, these promises end up coming out feeling like half-truths. I can only hope that future Sonic re-releases and remasters, including the upcoming Sonic Origins, have more time and care put into them, as the series truly does deserve better.
Mario Party Superstars is a great return to the past of Mario Party titles. Featuring some of the best of the previous games and adding a few new features to modernize, it’s worth picking up. It could do with some more content for staying power, but it’s certainly a good time.
Gleylancer is a fantastic shoot-em-up that holds up to today's standards. It also puts the vast majority of classic shoot-em-up ports to shame. The game has no noticeable input delay, it has loads of options for play, it adds in quality of life features, and it even throws in a modern control scheme for kicks. Sure the scoring system is a bit naff, but everything else here is golden.
Raiden IV x Mikado Remix is a return to form for the flailing Raiden series. Age be damned, Raiden IV’s core gameplay still holds up - the additional content on offer here is just the cherry on an already scrumptious cake. Fans of the genre should jump on this release, and newcomers can gently slide into the game thanks to its myriad of accessibility options.
Far Cry 6 is just dumb fun. It has its issues, but I couldn’t help but jump in for an hour here and there just to mess around and have fun. The story was a hoot too, and honestly, grinding missions just to see more of Giancarlo Esposito was more than worth it. It’s not going to blow your socks off, but there is a lot to see, a lot to do, and most of it is pretty darn good.