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Eiyu*Senki Gold doesn’t have an amazing plot, but it has a huge variety of great characters. The time that you spend with them is the attraction here I feel, which is only helped by the wonderful artwork representing them. I do wish I could’ve spent more time with favorites, but the idea that quantity has a quality of its own certainly prevails here. The SRPG portions of the game are fun if not standout, but there are some serious issues that I’ve gone over in the full review. These really bring the game down, making it a worse experience than it could have been. Some might be overcome by referring to the Wiki, but this isn’t really an appropriate solution.
While Phantom: Covert Ops only contains several hours of content and the guards may need training, I enjoyed replaying missions and completing the short challenges. The rowing felt great and trying to completely avoid detection and figure out the best routes kept me interested in the campaign, along with the active world. This is no Splinter Cell or Metal Gear Solid, but it is a unique virtual reality experience.
I wanted to like Gal*Gun Returns, especially because of my love for IntiCreates and their games, but for the first time, they’ve let me down. That’s not to say the game is bad; it’s serviceable, but it’s not what I’ve come to expect from the studio. Despite it being called a remake, the game as a whole is quite shallow and certainly doesn’t look like much touching up was done in regards to its visuals. The formula was dramatically improved in future games, so why they couldn’t include any of those improvements in this remaster is beyond me. I know our editor highly recommends Gal*Gun 2, so that might be a better choice.
Root Double -Before Crime * After Days is not a bad game, there were many great story moments I had throughout the game and enjoyed while unraveling the mystery. The biggest problem it faces is it hastily changes the tone and storytelling is all over the place. It’s filled with unnecessary long story sequences instead of a straight-forward, suspenseful and thrilling story which is what on the surface Root Double -Before Crime * After Days makes out to be.
Kowloon High-School Chronicle is a hard game to recommend. It’s old in a way that makes it unpleasant at times, but the core concept is rock solid. Once you get past that initial wall of text, you’re in the clear. That being said, there are much better dungeon crawlers out there, and Kowloon is not good enough to recommend over them. What it has in spades, however, is a theme that is quirky, endearing, outlandish and totally unique. I would wait for a sale before you pick this up, and even then, only if you really appreciate Japanese-Indiana Jones-Anime-Horror-Comedies.
Overall, Aquadine is an amazing experience. I wish I could talk more about how much I loved it, however, know if I did, it would hit the spoiler category. I won’t go there because I want you all to experience it. If you enjoy visual novels with a big amount of world-building and emotional development, then this is the right choice. I just feel it could’ve been a bit slower at times. I also feel it could depend less on some tropes to elevate it to higher ground.
I had a lot of fun with Persona 5 Strikers. I was a little surprised at how much of it was like a JRPG as the trailers and discussion online seemed only focused on the combat aspect. How easy it was to get into for someone who hadn’t played the previous game was also impressive. The quality was high despite a few issues and I felt like the combat was done particularly well. The progress through the story is what kept me wanting to play through, along with the deep RPG mechanics. I felt like they mixed really well with the hack and slash aspect.
I really enjoyed Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy. It felt more of a solid adventure story than some other Atelier games but kept the strong focus on the characters and it had plenty of scenes to get to know them. The gameplay is one of the best I’ve experienced in a JRPG too, through the various traversal options, a wide variety of systems, and genuinely fun battles.
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- The Prophecy of the Throne has a rather interesting mystery and makes use of the looping mechanic to unveil it in a unique way. The characters are great and it works well as an extra arc for those who have watched the anime or read the light novel. I also liked that the gameplay didn’t take the expected route of direct fighting, but had a more roundabout way of dealing with problems. While I did have a few complaints, these were fairly minor in the scope of things and overall I really enjoyed this visual novel.
Scott Pilgrim VS The World: The Game is beat’em up bliss and ideal if you’re looking for a palette cleanser between Triple-A titles.
I have to say that Nexomon: Extinction is worth picking up if you enjoy monster-catching RPGs. While it does suffer from a lack of real innovation, it does a great job at competing with the more well-known titles in the genre such as Pokémon or Digimon, despite a budget price. I'm personally hoping to see more from this series in the future.
I love beat’em ups and had an absolute blast with several others. My main reason for not being swept away by Double Dragon Neon is it lacked the same charm. The vibrancy was not there and neither was the personality. For these reasons and more, I can’t say anything else but this isn't recommended.
Taking about twenty-five hours to complete, Immortals Fenyx Rising was a fun experience with some enjoyable combat, great humor, and some interesting puzzles. While I do wish it was a little less heavy on the puzzle side of things, it is refreshing to see compared to the standard combat-heavy games of this type. I had a great time with this. I do think that the humor will make or break it for some people, but as long as no-one goes into this expecting something similar to one of Ubisoft’s more serious titles, I doubt they’ll be disappointed.
Woodsalt is a mystery wrapped in an enigma tied together with a riddle. A bizarre little title that doesn’t quite know what it wants to be, and therefore has a tendency to elicit a sense of confusion as to why it exists in its current form at all. Its story is genuinely interesting at times - despite pacing issues - but I think it would have been better served as a visual novel. What really killed the game for me, however, was the numerous bugs that took me out of the experience. They halted progress and inevitably broke the game and prevented me from achieving even one of the many endings this game seemingly offers. In its current state, I simply cannot recommend it. If it ever gets fixed, then this might be worth a look
Majikoi! Love Me Seriously! is a fun title with great characters, a lot of comedy, and a huge amount of content. It’s very character-focused, but it never feels like this is an issue. While there are some issues around the graphics and sound, the writing is enough to propel it to become one of my favorite visual novels and number 2 on our Top Visual Novels of 2020 list.
Creating a great Metroidvania is no small feat. You need a solid progression system, challenging map and enemy design, and a way of rewarding the player for exploring the entire map. Touhou Luna Nights does this and so much more! It does fall short in regards to its balance and certain systems, but this is a quality title that you could compare to other greats in the genre like… well, like Metroid and Castlevania. Even if you aren’t a fan of the massive Touhou series, the game’s quality stands on its own, with the source material serving as the cherry on top for fans of the series! If you’re looking for a new Metroidvania to play, Touhou Luna Nights should be high on your list!
If you are looking for a game to play in short bursts on breaks or just to have a little bit of fun, definitely get One Finger Death Punch 2. For a game like this, I would suggest getting it on something mobile as I really think the game will shine more on there. It's more of a pickup and play game that's not meant to be taken seriously. If you like games that test your reflex skills, then this is also a game for you. With the game being so simple by nature, there's not too much more to be said. It's simple, but fun. Honestly, I can even say that I even had more fun with it than some other triple-A games on the market because its simple gameplay is just addicting. I had a lot of fun with this game and I think you will too.
I’ve played every game in this series now and Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition has been the best so far. The variety of gameplay, the over the top stylish action, the amount of customization, and the just sheer fun of how it plays. I had a really good time with the game. That’s before even considering the graphical improvements. I would have liked to see more unique content in the Vergil playthrough, but that’s a minor gripe and his addition to the roster was very welcome.
I found CrossCode to be enjoyable. Despite my depth issues, they’re minuscule in comparison to the good. While the game is grind-heavy to obtain items needed to trade, it’s all mindless and the perfect activity to do while you’re listening to a Podcast. Though, I will say the music in-game are great listens. The map is interconnected and will encourage you to explore. Do so to find ways to climb cliffs and to find secrets. I was enamored with learning the lore and Radical Fish Games did a fantastic job of immersing me. They hit it out of the park with the online game feel. Perfectly emulated. The gorgeous pixel art and combat is a love letter to the SNES era. The influence of Secret of Mana is too obvious. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw the homage after defeating a boss. The sound effect and explosion. The writing is charming and the amount of effort put into this should be acknowledged. While the Nintendo Switch version had issues at launch, those have been largely fixed. What hasn’t been isn’t enough to be a dealbreaker.
There’s some fun to be had with Morbid: The Seven Acolytes. The fact I was able to replay it immediately is a testament to how good. The controls are snappy and responsive. The music paired with the sounds of weather helps bring the world to life. I loved the pixelated look and I felt the level of detail they were able to pull off is spectacular. A lot of work went into this, but I do wish they innovated more.