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Fallen Legion Revenants feels like a game that actively fights itself. There’s a lot of potential here but it’s squandered by superficial ideas. Prolonging the combat with damage sponge bosses is a cheap way of doing it. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind when this is the case. It’s the tedium of the system as a whole that has me scratching my head. Sadly, none of the potential this franchise has was realized with this entry.
Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town is a mixed bag, to say the least. Its strengths don’t necessarily lie in its qualities as a game, but its inclusion in a genre that is inherently addictive. The formula the genre uses has been refined and mastered to the point it has become quite the potent drug, and Olive Town can administer that narcotic effectively when it wants to. The issue is, I found it didn’t have any staying power. I was hooked whilst I was playing, but once I put it down, it was a real struggle to pick it back up. There were just too many niggling little issues that hindered my enjoyment long term. As far as farming-sims go, this one is passable and worth checking out if you have exhausted other, better games in the genre.
JRPG fanatics need to add Persona 5 Royal to their collection. The character development and fearlessness to jump into dark and mature topics were appreciated. It took standard tropes and turned them all in their head. It’s visually stunning, and the music causes an ear orgasm. Atlus really paid attention and polished this four-year-old diamond, making it utterly and beautifully radiant. With the vanilla Persona 5 costing less, is it worth buying an enhanced version? Yes – all the extra content is amazing, and the quality of life additions make Persona 5 Royal the definitive version.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Heart of the Forest may have a run-time shorter than its title, it might fumble some of the characters, but it absolutely nails the landing. As someone who is relatively new to Visual Novels, it has opened my eyes to the potential of the genre, the scope in which the genre can encompass, and kept me engaged cover to cover. If you want less anime tiddies, and more gritty, grimdark monster mashing, then I cannot recommend this title enough.
he Climb 2 is as much of a challenge as you want it to be, which I appreciated a lot. Whether playing around in casual mode or going for achievements on professional mode, I had a good time. While there were some issues and I’d like to see more content, it kept me playing until I got tired and then I dove back in for more. I especially liked the variety in each level.
It’s always a gamble when a new game releases in the Neptunia franchise, since Idea Factory and Compile Heart love to experiment with the IP. As for Neptunia Virtual Stars, I’d say it’s an above-average title and one of the better spin-offs in the franchise, but that doesn’t make it great. Issues with the story and game design harm the title’s overall quality, which is a shame because the game looks and sounds brilliant! If you’re a fan of the franchise, you’ll undoubtedly get more out of the game, but it’s not an easy sell for someone new to the series.
All in all, Undermine is a lot of fun and it lived up to the hype I had for it. While there are small issues, I never felt my overall enjoyment was tainted in any way. I would love there to be a physical release and I want DLC.
Littlewood isn’t just a fantastic little game, but it’s a quaint, chill experience. It’s hard to think this was solely developed by Sean Young. One man put his heart and soul into this and came out with a literal gem. My concept of time was gone the moment I began to chisel against the rocks in the mines. The pixel-art is the utter definition of simple but is way more detailed than it has any right to be. All the mechanics work together beautifully and the music is just catchy as hell. I absolutely enjoy the grind and couldn’t get enough of collecting all the items. The banter between NPC’s was enjoyable and I loved the little portraits of the villagers. There are, however, a few blunders that I came across. Littlewood has a stuttering problem and chugs when walking on flowers. Seeing such sudden jumps in frame rate was jarring, to say the least.
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.