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There’s really nothing else I can say about Majikoi! Love Me Seriously! This is one of the best visual novels I’ve ever read. The characters are all amazing, the voice acting is top tier, the artwork is stellar, and the soundtrack is fantastic as well. This one is well worth the $39.99 price tag. You can also pick up an All Ages version of this on Steam for $34.99 and snag a patch from JAST’s site, if that is more your style. This one will give you well over 40 hours of gameplay, if you decided to tackle everything there is to see. I have no issue recommending this to any fan of visual novels. There is nothing else that mixes character work like this with action and comedy in such an amazing way.
The Medium is a very dark story dripping with moody atmosphere and ambience. It has an old-school horror feel like the earlier Resident Evil games, but without jump scares. The thick ambience makes the environments very interesting to explore, as you uncover the twisted truth. I very much enjoyed my time investigating the cursed Niwa Resort, and uncovering the truth of the “Niwa Massacre.” However, it should be noted that the story includes some very dark subject matter, including child abuse. Players will get a glimpse into the minds of a number of characters along the way. It is a thought provoking story with an intentionally ambiguous ending. The weak point for The Medium may be replayability, but it does have a bunch of achievements and collectibles to get. The story is good enough that it will still easily be worth replaying again later on. I finished the game in 11 hours according to Steam, with the vast majority of the achievements. The Medium is available on Steam for $49.99, as well as on Xbox Series X|S. Are you ready to brave the darkness, free trapped spirits, and uncover the twisted truth of the abandoned Niwa Resort?
I finished the game in less than 40 something hours (I have redone some maps and spent 10 or more hours doing that as well), and I would have liked to see more calls to respond to. Maybe throw in a curveball or two like traffic accidents and gas leaks, hazmat incidents, and stuff like that, and I would gladly keep playing. Overall, this is a very good game and I will definitely keep playing until the next one comes out, or maybe more calls are added to this one. Either way, I have been very entertained by the game and appreciate the opportunity to review it and offer my opinions.
Potata is an imaginative little romp through an enchantingly rustic, verdant world. Although it falters in its story, as well as its ability to tell it, the gameplay is clever, fun and challenging, and possesses an absolutely remarkable aesthetic effort. The game will only take around five hours to complete, which left me wanting more, and the price point of around 9 USD may seem steep for what it offers. Having said that, Potata remains an easy recommendation, as it will no doubt please those looking for a solid platforming and puzzle solving experience, one that will most definitely captivate you with its overabundant charm.
No long, drawn out conclusion here, the Neo Geo Pocket classic, SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium, is the best Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection title released so far. Fun gameplay, great music and tons of extra content make this one a no-brainer for fans of either SNK or Capcom. Even if you are a casual fan of fighters, I highly suggest giving this one a shot. It’s pretty easy to pick up and play on the lower difficulties, and the amazing mini games will keep you busy for hours on end. I went into this one expecting it to be pretty good, but I was blown away by how well this title has held up over the years. This one is a true treasure that I’m glad SNK has dug out for us on Nintendo Switch.
Golden Force attempts to relive the retro gameplay of yesteryear but, in some ways, falls on its own sword due to a number of issues. It is marketed as “Old school difficulty (but not so frustrating).” This ends up not being quite so true because of the aforementioned gameplay and technical issues, which range from instances of poor level design to noticeable frame rate issues. If you are not hardcore, then I can’t recommend this game due to the punishing gameplay. If you’re interested, I’d say this is probably one to grab when on sale unless you’re sure you’ll enjoy it. Some of the special collectibles are very hard to find, and between that and improving your performance on each stage, it will keep you busy for a long while. It’s certainly not the best retro-inspired title out there, as there are certainly a number of others that play better than this one. Golden Force is available on the Nintendo Switch eShop for $19.99, as well as on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. It is also coming to Steam sometime in Q1 2021.
To answer my question from the beginning of the review, Persona 5 Strikers absolutely blew through any expectations I had. The game has great character development, beautiful anime-styled graphics, an earworm soundtrack, and, much to my surprise, excellent action-based combat. It’s come to the point where I would welcome more spin-offs with this combat system. It took me about 60 hours to complete the main story while completing the Requests available to me, so you have a good amount of content to play through. After beating the game, more Requests unlock, so you have plenty to do even after finishing the story. However, I don’t recommend playing this game unless you’ve played Persona 5 or Persona 5 Royal, or you watched Persona 5: The Animation. P5S spoils events that occur in P5 and you won’t be as attached to certain characters if you haven’t played the original. But, if you’re a huge fan of Persona 5, I highly recommend you pick Persona 5 Strikers up. It is definitely worth the $59.99 price tag, and I promise you won’t leave disappointed.
Aquadine’s characters, sounds and visuals make for a truly extravagant package unlike anything that’s come before it. Aside from minor complaints in the story, people will have no trouble falling in love with the world and its characters. I spent eight hours on this journey and I wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone looking to see what the English Visual Novel scene is up to. Please consider picking the game up on Steam and Itch and enjoy yourself. Congratulations to SoftColors on the release and may everyone know that Anya is the best girl. See you next time friends.
Overall, I quite enjoyed my time with Shantae: Risky’s Revenge – Director’s Cut. It was a fun little Metroidvania-style adventure that took me the majority of 10 hours to complete. I collected all of the Magic Jams and got all of the abilities and perks from the shop. I had a lot of fun with the game, and it still holds up pretty well by today’s standards for the most part. The biggest flaw is probably just that it could use a better map system. You can download a copy from the Nintendo Switch eShop for $9.99. Can you put a stop to Risky Boots’ evil plot in order to save Sequin Land, Scuttle Town, and your uncle?
I have to say, I had a lot of fun with Gal*Gun Returns. I really loved all the characters and the story. The gameplay is still a ton of fun, and the Collection mode actually has some really awesome CGs that are well worth unlocking. I spent about 10 hours with this one and was able to complete all four heroines routes with one ending and Doki Doki Carnival a couple of times. To get all of the endings and complete all the girls’ profiles will take you a bit longer, but this adds a lot of replay value to this one. If you’re a fan of the series, buying this is a no-brainer at $49.99. You will love this one just as much as the previous releases. If you’re new to the franchise, this is the perfect place to start and see why folks adore this over-the-top series.
I really enjoyed playing No More Heroes and No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle on Nintendo Switch. It had been a hot minute since I had played either of these games, but I felt right at home the minute I started, and remembered right off why Suda51 makes some of the most unique games out there. Each game will set you back $19.99, and you’ll get 8 to 10 hours of gameplay out of each with some decent replay value playing the harder difficulties. If you loved these games on the Wii, you should certainly pick up these great Switch ports. And if you’ve never tried out one of these games before, you should do so. There is nothing else out there quite like them.
At $19.99, Ogre Tale is a hard one to recommend, especially over Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds, a game that is not only cheaper, but features more gameplay modes, playable characters, better difficulty balance, a more satisfying upgrade system, and tighter boss battles. On its own, it’s not a bad game, but a really underwhelming follow up to what was a really solid beat ’em up.
Picklock is a fun little indie puzzle game, but, unfortunately, its execution is significantly marred by the grating issues discussed above. The game just feels unpolished and also too short after its abrupt ending. For the most part, Picklock is just a series of missions to beat. You can try to get a perfect run on each one, but this won’t add much extra gameplay. I beat the game with all missions cleared with a perfect score in around 5 hours. In addition to being short, another issue is that all of the stuff you can buy is just cosmetic and has no real effect on the game. Getting a new car just changes what car you see in the cutscenes when you go to locations on the map. Redesigning the interior of your house just changes how it looks. The four exotic properties you can purchase are just static scenes showing your character relaxing, with one or two other animated characters, and maybe some animated water. All you can do when you go to one of these places is listen to a relaxing, tropical themed music track until you decide to open the pause menu and leave. They are accessed via the real estate agency in town. Some players may also be annoyed that once you’ve gotten all the money you can in the game, it’s not enough to get everything. As a result, you’ll have to forego at least one thing in the shops. If you’re interested in the game, it’s one that you may want to wait for a sale on. Picklock is available on the Nintendo eShop for $7.99, as well as on Steam.
Moss is a great game, not only for VR but in general. Quill and the characters she meets are charming, and the storybook nature of this tale are a great hook. The story itself is nothing especially groundbreaking, but it’s well-written, and I love the presentation. The only other animal protagonist I’ve found as endearing as Quill is Trico from The Last Guardian, and that is high praise. I love her. Please give me all the merchandise of her. My biggest complaint is, simply, that the game ends so soon! You can easily finish Moss in about three to five hours, depending on how determined you are to find all the hidden items across the game’s seven chapters, and each chapter is an easily-digestible 20-30 minutes. Since the puzzles always have the same solutions, there isn’t a lot of replayability, but that didn’t stop me from thoroughly enjoying the time I spent with the game and its DLC. This is a must-play for anyone interested in VR and a great showcase for the medium’s strengths.
Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy is just a great game from start to finish. The characters are amazing, the world is very intriguing, and gameplay is just fantastic. I’ve played a lot of games in this series over the years, and this one is certainly one of my favorites. Gust has done something a lot of folks fail at. They took a very well-received title and made a sequel that is even better. It will take you right round 35 to 40 hours to complete the story here, and it’s worth every penny of the $59.99 retail price. I can’t wait to see where Ryza and her crew go from here!
Pendragon has me a bit conflicted; there’s nothing about it that’s bad, I just wish there was more of it. It’s a bit difficult for me to recommend, too. I feel like you really gotta be into the idea of a dynamic narrative and doing playthrough after playthrough to learn more about it. Had this been a more unique setting with unique characters, it might be a different story. It all being Arthurian mythology means that I have at least some familiarity with what happened and who everyone is. How long this game lasts is gonna vary wildly. You could be like me and luck out on your second playthrough and get to the end, and decide that’s enough, but that’s not really a full experience. You could spend a few hours or maybe upwards of 10 hours if you’re into the concept enough. $17 on Steam is a pretty reasonable price, if this sounds like your thing.
Overall, I can’t recommend Tears of Avia at all. At the price of $20, there’s far more tempting offers on Steam than this. It doesn’t bring anything new to the table, and it doesn’t do the things it borrows from other games particularly well either.
At the end of the day, if you’re looking for a basic but fun fighter for your Nintendo Switch, you can’t really go wrong with Fatal Fury First Contact at the mere $7.99 price tag. The fighting is very smooth and the great roster will have you wanting to play around with them for many hours on end. It may not have a ton of modes, but it has it where it counts, and Mai makes a super cute chibi as well!
Overall though, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is a fun, engaging hack-and-slash take on the world and characters of Breath of the Wild, and I very much enjoyed my time with the game, sans fighting with the camera. While the restrictions placed on exploration and travel did occasionally make me long for the freedom of the game’s more open world counterpart, it was still beautiful in its own right, with a wonderful soundtrack, fun, memorable characters, and a predictable but sometimes surprisingly moving story. I will always be happy when I get to see Zelda’s struggles and accomplishments, and this game provided that in a delightful package.
Everyone wants to be the hero of their own story. Whether it’s taking care of loved ones, overcoming hardship, or grasping for a dream, I can think of no one who isn’t seeking some sort of place in this world. To say 2020 has been a bit rough for a whole lot of people would be an understatement, and Ichiban Kasuga was definitely the hero I needed this year. His strong heart, unwavering resolve, and unconditional love for those most important to him were the sort of positivity I craved. He would have been my favorite protagonist of all the games I played this year regardless, but he shone extra brightly in the darkness, and I adore him all the more for it. Ichiban’s struggles and triumphs were relatable and heartbreaking and beautiful, all at once, and helped propel his game not only to Game of the Year status, but also ousted Yakuza 5 from its pedestal as favorite game in the series. Ichiban is the hero everyone deserves, and I think his absolute banger of an anthem puts it best: “You may have nothing, yet you’ve got the bravery to go forth and lead a wonderful life.”