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The Lost Child isn’t bad game, but I don’t really think I would call it a great game either. This one is very middle of the road and basic. I did have fun collecting all the different types of enemies, and the story is kinda interesting. There is really just nothing here that makes this one stand out. You’ll get a solid 40 hours of gameplay here and a bonus 100 level dungeon after completing the story. If you’re a fan of Dungeon Crawlers and you need to scratch that itch this would probably get the job done at its $49.99 price tag. Just go don’t go into it expecting the next evolution of the genre.
Figment is the purest definition of “sleeper hit”. It was quietly announced for Switch a year ago and made its way out on all platforms last month, launching in a sea of quality goodness that has become the Switch’s weekly shtick. While Figment is short but sweet, the only bring-downs on offer are its lengthy load times, sometimes interminable puzzles, and a $20 price point that might be a touch too much for the run time. If you’re interested in taking a solid adventure with likable characters and a colorful style, Figment is a good fit for your action adventure indie needs.
Don’t let that last statement deter you though, as I still adore this game. The story and characters are wonderful, and the music is absolutely breathtaking. Normally with games like this you only get about three to four hours of gameplay, but this game managed to rack up a full seven hours for me to beat. I still have the urge to go back and play it again just to get the other 14 or so achievements that I missed. At $19.99 this game is a must buy for anyone who loves a good story with some dark and soul-crushing undertones.
Lost in Harmony is a charming game that is perfect for newbies and long-time players of rhythm games. The music fits the mood of both stories. However, with its limited amount of unlockables and levels in general, you will probably finish the game in a few hours. That might not be a bad thing for its $6.99 price tag on the Nintendo Switch. Lost in Harmony is now available on Nintendo Switch and PC. Though with its short and mobility focused nature, I highly recommend checking the game on on either Nintendo Switch or mobile devices.
Hexologic is a simple and enjoyable little number puzzle game. It’s very easy to get into, but beating every puzzle is not so easy. There are a handful of Steam achievements to get in the game as well. There are 60 normal levels and 15 of the harder special levels. I got through all 75 levels in a bit less than 5 hours. That was across multiple play sessions, though. Hexologic is available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, Android, and iOS. You can get it on Steam for just $2.99. The one downside is that the game feels like it’s over too soon, but it’s a fun little game while it lasts. Can you beat the game and defeat all 15 special levels?
So, what to do if you’re a fence sitter? Given this release’s full $60 price tag, fans who’ve played it on either or both of its previous versions should consider whether they’re burned out on the whole ordeal. This experience can gobble up dozens if not hundreds of hours for all the characters, levels, and modes to max out on. If you’re not too hot to trot on the repetitive Warriors-style of gameplay, Hyrule Warriors will bore you out of your wits. If you’re a Zelda fan who’s also a Hyrule Warriors virgin, give it a go. It’s a little rough around the edges, but Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition has enough fanservice goods to keep you hacking and slashing for a long time.
I don’t think Full Metal Panic! Fight! Who Dares Wins is a bad game, but it certainly has some issues. I would’ve liked to have seen a more fleshed out recap, the graphics could’ve been better, and some of the skills not functioning properly is inexcusable. Still, underneath all of its faults there is a basic Super Robot Wars game here with a pretty sweet Full Metal Panic! theme. The game costs $61.99 at Play-Asia and takes about 10 hours to complete. You can get a little more mileage out of replays for the alternate scenes. If you’re a fan of the series I think you could really enjoy this title, but if you’re not a fan I would be hard pressed to recommend this as a starting point.
In summary, 20XX is a great game that nevertheless has a few rough edges. My only nagging complaints were that I wanted even more. More bosses (hidden or otherwise), more characters, even more levels. Given the inspiration for this game, I would have even liked some mini bosses that perhaps popped up mid stage and offered you Core parts when you beat them. And ultimately, I wanted more plot. Or any plot, really. The game is charming, but it would be more so if I knew what the hell was going on. That said, it’s still very addictive and I would highly recommend it to fans of platformers. It provided at least 10 hours of gameplay for only $17.99, and that’s without unlocking 100% of the items. If you love rogue platformers and want a Mega Man experience on your Switch right now, you can’t go wrong with 20XX. Just be prepared to scream at the game when you die of bullet hell.
It all combines into a game that has its flaws and doesn’t make a good first impression, but sticking with it will pay off depending on how you feel about the characters. I ended up liking the middle of the game the most, when I could leisurely work my way through while enjoying building relationships with my party members and watching interactions, while the beginning has fewer characters to work with and the end focuses more on gameplay and finishing the main story. The story is fine – not particularly original, but it is well-told with good writing – but the characters are by far the thing that makes it the most enjoyable and engaging. Even if it seems like I spent a lot of this review complaining, I ultimately did enjoy the roughly 40 hours I spent with Shining Resonance Refrain. It’s a decent game for $50 USD, including all the content that was originally available as DLC for the PS3 version and the new Refrain mode, where you have former NPCs and enemies Excella and Jinas as party members. If you’re interested there’s a demo featuring the first chapter, but keep in mind it’s short and I think it doesn’t highlight the game’s biggest strengths. Otherwise, if it sounds interesting and you can deal with some problems, I’d still recommend Shining Resonance Refrain.
For better or worse, this is the 2004 original but crisper and sharper. Lumines Remastered is a fiendish, stylish, and addictive puzzle game that has held up over the last 14 years, and this re-release makes it easy to see why. Like with Tetris, it’s the kind of puzzle game experience that sucks your mind out and makes you lose track of time. You might just start having the “Tetris effect” compulsions and convulsions herein. For only $14.99, with hours of replay value and a lifetime to practice, Lumines will consume you all over again.
While the Switch version does have some control issues and not getting Ultra Street Fighter IV is a bummer, that doesn’t mean this version is terrible. You trade off these things to have 12 of the best fighting games of all time portable. I do hope they address some of the control issues with patches like the not being able to map 3 kicks or punches to a button. If you have a Switch and love Street Fighter I think you would be satisfied with this release despite its flaws. I mean at $39.99 you’re spending less than 4 bucks a title for some great classics.
In the end, Azure Saga: Pathfinder unfortunately is a sub-standard RPG. It has a good idea going for it, but it is simply the execution and stale style of the game that brings it down. As a writer myself, there are things I would change such as how characters interacted with the world around them. If one doesn’t rush through the game, the game goes for 30-50 hours depending on how much side content the player does. Even for $12.99, a small price drop feels warranted. Overall, I hope MassHive Media’s next attempt fares better, since it is obvious they actually tried, even though they didn’t succeed.
It took me seven hours to complete the game with its two endings, but it can probably be done in around five. For $20 it seems a bit higher than what most of us are used to, but I still feel that if it’s the sort of game that interests you it would be money well spent. As a standalone game, YUMENIKKI -DREAM DIARY- is a fun, but short game. For me this is the type of game that you play on a Sunday afternoon after finishing a long game to play something different and unique. I’m not a huge fan of games with open narrative and this is not the type of game that I would recommend for its story, but in general if you prefer games that you can sit and analyze at the end, this is one of those.
The physical Gamecube release can be a bit pricey these days, so the $14.99 Switch price tag is not much in comparison. If you can get over the initial learning curve, Ikaruga is a game that will truly challenge your reflexes and abilities to think on the spot. The game may only be about 40-minutes long, but you will more than likely be coming back for more to see how you stack up against the world in the online leaderboards. One of the biggest problems Ikaruga had was that it was not the most accessible game as physical copies of the Gamecube version are a bit uncommon today and the Japanese Dreamcast release is just as sought after. These days, the game has been released on enough platforms via digital distribution that a wide arrange of players can now experience it. If you like shooters, Ikaruga is a no-brainer. I do hope Ikaruga is just the beginning of releases like this in that if this release does well enough, Treasure will be motivated to port over some of their other games from their catalog of excellent titles.
I have to say, West of Loathing is one the most fun and unique games I’ve played in a long time. The combat is fun, the writing is hilarious, and the art style and animation are fantastic. I’ve rarely seen a game where you can tell there was thought behind each design decision and it all blended together perfectly. This one will set you back about about $11 on the eShop and it took me around eight hours to complete it, but you can get a lot more out of this. There were tons of quests I could’ve done and every choice you make can have an effect on the ending you receive. I feel this is a must own title for Switch owners. It’s one of a kind, and this is the best kind there is!
Without Escape is a pretty short game overall. It makes up for this with a little bit of replayability in the form of five additional endings to get. The game has a handful of achievements on Steam, too. The replayability does suffer since every playthrough is nearly identical, with the exception of some extra areas you can find to get some of the endings. If you know what you’re doing, you can blow through a playthrough in under an hour. I’ve spent two to three hours in the game with one complete playthrough and part of another. The game is available on both Steam and the Windows 10 App Store for $6.99. You can also get the soundtrack for an extra $1.99. It’s entertaining for a while, but it’s not a game you will play very many times. Can you find and solve your way through every obstacle and uncover the bizarre truth of what’s going on in your home tonight?
The best thing I can say about Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time is the good production value. Visually, the game looks very nice. Every line of dialogue is voiced. There are even short animated cutscenes every now and then. But this is all surface stuff. Dive into the game, and it becomes apparent very quickly that most of the focus on the game was just making it look good. It’s a game that barely manages to hold your attention for several hours stretched to almost 30. At a $60 price tag, I’d give this game a hard pass.
In the end, what you get out of BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle depends on what you want from it. Gameplay is energetic and fast-paced, and while the controls and inputs are simplified that doesn’t mean that the game lacks depth. Each character feels different, and it’s not difficult to work with any team you want to use. That being said, it’s still got its drawbacks; it feels light on content, both in terms of single-player modes and playable characters. I can’t see why all 30 characters who appear in story mode aren’t part of the base roster, especially considering that both Blake and the first pack of DLC characters seem to be day 1 DLC. Fortunately the price is somewhat reasonable at $50 USD for the base game and $20 for the full set of characters, while Blake and Yang are each free. It’s a practice that shouldn’t be encouraged, but at the same time I enjoyed BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle too much to justify not recommending it. If you’re on the fence, I suggest you check out the demo, but I’m aware that if you’re already against the game due to its DLC then nothing I say will change your impression of it. That being said, if you’re a fan of any of the series involved and are fine with the light singleplayer content, I strongly recommend BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle.
I have to say, Azure Reflections is a fantastic package. It’s easy to pick up and play, but offers plenty of challenge thanks to the 4 difficulty levels. This game is perfect for those just getting into Shmups since it offers some training features and will even display your hit box to help you learn to maneuver more effectively. While a run of story mode will only last a couple hours, with each girl having a unique story, the amount of unlockables and amount of fun trying to complete the game on a harder difficulty give this one plenty of substance. I feel this game is well worth the $24.99 asking price. If you’re a fan of Touhou this is a must have title for the PlayStation 4. If you’ve always been curious about the franchise and are looking for something to get your feet wet, this game is perfect for that as well.
My only complaint about the game is that it’s a bit shorter than we’re are used today. The main game took me 3 hours and an additional hour to collect all the items and complete the additional quests. At $13 I wish there would be more things to do, but in general I really enjoyed the game and the simplicity of its story.