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Overall, I don’t know if this game really has much to offer outside of seeing big weapons just mow down enemies. There is the other character you can play as, but the star of the show is clearly the main character. It’s fun for awhile, but the repetitive nature and the lack of a compelling story means it runs out of steam fairly quickly. I got a few hours of enjoyment out of it, though I don’t think I can personally recommend it. Still, it’s only $15, so that might be worth it for some folks.
Chuusotsu! 1st Graduation won’t take too long to clear. It took me about 11 hours to beat the game. There is only one ending as this is a kinetic novel. There are also Steam Achievements, Steam Trading Cards as well as Steam Cloud support for those that are interested. I enjoyed my time with Chuusotsu and found it to be a well-crafted experience. If you are a fan of slice-of-life or kinetic VNs I recommend picking this title up especially at the asking price of $19.99 for the digital version as well as $9.99 for the soundtrack. I’d be interested in more from this world and developer and high quality games like Chuusotsu! 1st Graduation which greatly help set the scene for more high-quality doujin VNs in the future.
The one word that comes to mind the most when playing this game was spectacle. There were amazing spectacles when just wandering around the world or rowing in your boat while Mimir relates the history of the Aesir. There was also amazing spectacle when you fight the massive bosses that you have come to expect from the God of War series. Surprisingly some of the greatest spectacle comes from the human sized bosses who quickly reveal themselves to be other Gods. You discover only a couple hours in that this game has the greatest superhero fights you’ve ever seen in a video game. This game takes around 20 hours for the main story, and around 15-20 more hours to finish everything else (over twice as long as previous God of War games even though it’s the same standard price of $59.99). During none of that time did I feel like I was just going through the motions. I never felt bored, I never felt underwhelmed, and I never felt like the game was taking control or agency from me. This isn’t just an amazing “experience”, this is an amazing game. So yes the other reviewers are correct that it’s a masterpiece. But it’s not a masterpiece despite being a God of War game, they didn’t leave us fans behind. It’s a masterpiece because they took Kratos and they made him even better. Not only did they make possibly the game of the generation, the anticipation for a sequel is rabid and will not abate until we have it in our hands.
Gone Fireflies was clearly made on a low budget with the best intentions. It uses RPG Maker as a vehicle for pure storytelling. Its asset-driven build shows all too well, with generic clip art balanced by a beautiful musical score. It’s a breezy experience you’ll finish in around an hour, but to its credit, its thematic depth at least warrants a playthrough, maybe two. Given it’s only $4.99 and takes around an hour to complete, it’s at least worth it to see Gone Fireflies‘ pathos-heavy story.
There’s a beautiful game in Regalia, but it’s sadly hidden behind a massively cumbersome and counter-intuitive interface. While I’ve been told that there’s an update in the works with numerous fixes planned, and even several for issues I mentioned, I’m not entirely sure though it will fix all of my complaints. Frankly, I’m a bit shocked the game got through Nintendo’s testers in this state. The game costs $24.99 on Switch and provided me at least 30 hours of playtime, and while I can see the good here, it’s currently outweighed by all the bad. I will note that if Pixelated Milk is able to fix the majority of the problems I mentioned, my score would likely be double what it is currently. I can respect the effort here, but it’s hard to recommend Regalia: Royal Edition in it’s current form. Here’s hoping it gets the loving care it needs soon.
I know this review sounds a bit like a glorified changelog, but I wanted to make it clear to everyone this isn’t just Megadimension Neptunia V-II with a new coat of paint and some VR slapped in it. Every system in this game has been redone or tweaked for the better. This game is a testament to just how much Idea Factory has learned over the years, and they have created a near perfect experience here. The DLC characters from the previous release being removed isn’t a huge loss, but the biggest hang up is the pricing. At $60 I find it hard to recommend this to everyone that has already purchased V-II this soon after its release. If you’re a fan of the series or you didn’t buy the previous release this is a must have title, but if you own V-II currently you may wanna wait for a price cut to jump in here.
In the end, I really loved PLAY WITH ME. It’s a really fun and challenging game that required me to use a lot of techniques to solve the different puzzles. For about $10 you really couldn’t find a better game. Despite its issues, I still had a blast playing and would gladly try it again to get a new ending. I played it for about seven hours, and with the multiple different ways to go about things it’s definitely worth the money.
Costume Pack costs $7.99 and I ended up spending about 4 hours with it, which is longer than any of the other DLC adventures (Pirate Queen’s Quest was 3 hours, Friends to the End was 2+). All in all, I feel this was a great sendoff to a game I was happy to crowdfund. Though I didn’t get 100% victory for every mode, it’s pretty good incentive, since the new victory art is pretty phenomenal. I may still feel that Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse is the high point of the series, but Half-Genie Hero has firmly cemented itself as the next runner up. If you love platforming or just like retro, you can’t go wrong with Half-Genie Hero or Costume Pack. I’m happy WayForward is so dedicated to retro inspired games, and can’t wait to play my favorite genie’s next adventure!
iCEY is a brilliant idea abounding with ambition. The meta aspect is cleverly executed and the 4th wall breaking adds a ton of humor, as well as depth. The story is incredibly intricate and it leaves it up to us to think how it all fits together. It’s purposely vague, but perhaps too much so, as too many questions either go unanswered or plot points remain so tangentially out in left field that you don’t know how they’re relevant to begin with. Gameplay is noteworthy due to solid combat, but there is room for improvement and I wish there were more combos to unlock. Finally, the game is painfully short, only taking about 7-10 hours to fully complete. While making sense of the story and unlocking the true ending lends itself to many replays, I feel the game suffers from having everything crammed into such a short experience. Having said that, iCEY is definitely one to consider if you’re looking for quick bursts of destructive satisfactions or an incredibly intriguing story that challenges you to think outside the game.
For me DJMax Respect feels like the elite club that’s always full on Friday night with a long line at the entrance. If you’re dedicated to improving yourself and work hard and diligently you can finally get in and enjoy it with the elite, but the road to get there is just as fun, so it’s worth taking the challenge if Rhythm games are your thing.
So my final thoughts on Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor are that the game is a great game hidden inside of a good game. There are a lot of really neat concepts here, but I felt like they weren’t really that well expanded upon as much as they could have been. The game is 10 hours long and is at a really good price of only $9.99 on Steam, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you plan on doing a lot of tedious work for a few laughs. If you need a good game to play off and on again then I would give this a try, but if you’re looking for something to just sit and beat in a couple sittings then this really isn’t the game for you.
X-Morph: Defense‘s blending of shooter and tower defense is a cool idea that works well on its own. However, the game often feels frantic, as it’s not uncommon for it to make the player feel spread too thin and unable to deal with everything that’s happening all at once. You have to watch your map for new attacks, patch your defenses mid-battle sometimes, regularly collect debris of fallen enemies in the heat of battle to get more resources, and also keep an eye on the map for incoming artillery that will destroy your towers and generally be a big pain in your behind. So you’ve got a lot to manage at times! The game can be a blast when its fun, but other times it can feel quite unfair. It took me about 20 hours to get through both the main campaign and the DLC campaign. If you like a challenge, there is plenty more play time to be had on higher difficulties, and even more if you go for a gold victory on every mission. X-Morph: Defense is available on Steam for $19.99, and it is also on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. The European Assault DLC campaign is $4.99. Do you have what it takes to hold off the human assaults and secure the resources buried deep in the Earth for the benefit of alien kind?
Overall, Bomberslinger is a proper tribute to classic Bomberman games. Despite my praise for the game however, I would like to add a caveat. For fans of the classic games, Bombslinger is a rewarding experience. If one does not follow the classic games however, the experience can very much be dampened, leading to a solid but merely okay adventure. For $11.99 on Steam and Nintendo Switch, it is worth considering what one expects from this game. Overall, I played for about 5-7 hours for this review. In the end, let’s hope this inspires even more developers like Mode4 to provide their takes on other classic franchises.
Eat Beat Dead Spike-san’s mobile roots definitely shine through in the Switch version, both in its visuals and in what it is. If you go in expecting a robust rhythm game experience you’re going to be disappointed, but if you’re looking for a decent BlazBlue-themed time waster then you could definitely do worse (Remember BlazBlue Revolution Reburning? I do, unfortunately). I didn’t exactly expect much going into it, and what I found was a decently fun little rhythm game that plays well and has a cute art style and sense of humor. I wasn’t disappointed with what I played, and I would still recommend it if you’re interested, but part of me wishes that there was more to it. It’s not a bad way to spend time for $7 USD on the eShop, actually costing roughly $4 less than the mobile version with all its DLC while coming with three extra songs and better controls. How long you get out of Eat Beat Dead Spike-san depends on how deep you want to go and how long it keeps your interest – I’ve gotten a good few hours out of it myself so far, although I haven’t tackled all of the songs on Hard mode yet – especially since it actually can get quite difficult as you start doing songs on Hard, but I can see myself coming back to the game from time to time when the mood strikes me.
All in all, I was mostly pleased with Ash of Gods: Redemption. It attempts to mesh two vastly different genres and mostly succeeds. While there are rough spots that were frustrating, I still was able to get through the game without too much difficulty. After my time with the game, I got about 32% of the achievements, meaning there’s still a lot left to discover, including at least six more endings. Though some aspects of the game weren’t as streamlined as I would have liked, I still managed to enjoy my time with it. For $24.99, you really can’t go wrong, especially if you’re a fan of tactical RPGs.
I enjoyed my time with Witch and the Hundred Knight 2. I thought the changes to combat did make it a little too simple and going through certain areas dragged on and became a little boring. This was offset however by the fun upgrade system for the weapons. I was always wanting to hunt down something bigger and more bad ass to slay the hordes of monsters. This was very satisfying when I got that awesome drop and took it back to the atelier and buffed it to the moon. It was a great feeling to go back and lay waste to wave after wave of baddies. If the stages had a bit more variety I would’ve scored this one higher, since I think that would’ve really made it stand out. The story is a mixed bag. It’s very predictable, but I really grew to like some of the cast by the end of the game even if they were terrible assholes to start with. This one took me about 35 hours to finish and I got the true ending. If you were a fan of the first game then you should pick this one up for sure, you will find a lot to love here for the $59.99 pricetag. If you disliked the tone or gameplay of the first game then there’s nothing here that is going to change your mind.
I have to say I really enjoyed my time with Gal*Gun 2. The gameplay flows much better than the first time around. While I found this game a little on easy side I think that actually helped the tone feel more silly, which is what they were going for here. I had a few issues with objects being sucked into my sweeper and blocking my aim and few other random glitches, but it was not enough to spoil my fun at all. Spent around 10 hours with this one and obtained 3 endings. There are couple more you could go for here, and the score attack mode is pretty nice as well since it seems gives you a little more freedom in exploring each level, so I feel there is plenty of bang for your buck here at $60. If you were a fan of Gal*Gun Double Peace this is a no-brainer, pick this up ASAP. If you like Rail Shooters you’ll find a lot to love here as well. You can even use Gyro aiming on the PlayStation 4 if you wish. I played with this a few minutes and it functioned well it seems, but I’m not a big fan of motion controls. At the end of the day if you want some over the top fun with cute girls and some crazy Ecchi, Gal*Gun 2 will deliver.
On a platform that already has dozens of acclaimed platformers, like Celeste, Shovel Knight, and Sonic Mania (I could just go on and on), Shadow Bug is a genuine surprise addition to such esteemed company. It crept up with the makings of a sleeper hit, and it deserves greater recognition. The default control scheme is delightfully intuitive and the level design takes great advantage of it. The lack of story and short length are the only downsides to an overall fun, short-but-sweet escapade. For your next Switch platforming fixation, at the bargain price of $8.99, Shadow Bug is the successor apparent.
In the end, I don’t regret my time with Edo Blossoms. While I am disappointed, I did enjoy getting to know these people. The tale of the Shinsengumi men is one that I will not soon forget. Nor will I forget the struggles Chizuru had to go through. However, I expect better from both Idea Factory Japan and especially Idea Factory International. Hopefully, the company decides to bring over Hakuoki: Shinkai – Fuukaden for the PlayStation 4 and give Hakuoki the treatment I know only IFI can.
Still, while Attack on Titan 2 does have issues, I can certainly recommend this even to people with only a passing interest in the show. It’s a little janky, and the repetitiveness eventually overshadows the novelty, but it’s a fun ride. I got about 35 hours out of it before I put it down, and that’s not too shabby. There could easily be folks out there that could get far more out of it, as I didn’t even touch the higher difficulty mode you unlock after beating the game. I think the only thing that would give me pause is the game’s price. It’s currently $60, and I’d personally wait until you could get it for maybe $40 or so.