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Etrange Overlord is an interesting idea, essentially telling a light novel villainess story through the medium of a game. However, it doesn’t really deliver its message, in part due to the short playtime, minimal story scenes, and the use of some of its time on skits and silly moments, which could’ve been better used to develop its themes. However, the humor and Étrange as a character do somewhat save it. The gameplay is also simple and lacks overall difficulty, but it is action-packed and genuinely fun for what it is. Dashing about the various level mechanics and grabbing items from the conveyor belt makes for a great time, and the levels are short enough to never overstay their welcome.
As a simulation game and as a sandbox game, Pokémon Pokopia does a lot of things very well. Time just melts away as you get immersed in doing all sorts of tasks and hanging out in this world of Pokémon. It uses the Pokémon very IP well in how it uses theming in its aesthetic and gameplay to create a world that is both familiar yet quite unlike anything I’ve seen thus far in the franchise. Its story hits in a way I never saw coming, in a way this series has only ever once done before for me. In all, it's one of the first true "must own" games for the relatively nascent Nintendo Switch 2's library. Pokémon Pokopia reminded me just how much love I have had for Pokémon across my life. I’ve never had a game confront me on what it means to be a fan of it quite like this one did. And for all the fun I had playing the game, I think that’s going to stick with me more out of anything.
Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen are clean-cut distillations of why the series has endured in the eyes of millions. The tried-and-true gameplay loop of exploring, catching, and battling is in a beautifully simplistic form here. With little written narrative and simplified visuals, my mind is allowed to wander and craft a story of its own. It makes for an especially striking contrast and compliment to Switch titles like Legends: Z-A or Scarlet/Violet. While it’s hard not to argue that these Switch conversions are a little too no-frills for their own good, you’re ultimately still left with a Pokémon game that’s extremely fun to revisit again and again thanks to its open-ended world and the broadly engaging layout of Kanto. Full stop, these are deeply charming and easy recommendations.
I want to like Homura Hime a lot more than I actually do. It doesn’t have the type of patently obvious mistakes that the bad sorts of action games have, and I can tell the creators were genuinely trying to make a game that can stand next to the greats of the character action subgenre. It gets a lot of the important macro details right with its presentation and overall feel. It just misses on a lot of the finer and subtler elements that take enough away from the game to make it harder to recommend. The platforming doesn’t do enough to keep the repetitious enemy mob encounters from feeling stagnant, and the misused parry system dampens the impact of what should have made for significantly more fun bosses. The story never really elevates the game due to direction and writing choices that don’t really stick the landing on the game’s twists or emotional components. There’s a modest amount of enjoyment to be had with this game, and it’s certainly competent, but it never quite graduates from adequate into the realm of standout.
FATAL FRAME II: Crimson Butterfly REMAKE has gone the route of the more successful remakes: it keeps everything that made the original game so memorable while adding extra content, changes the visuals, and makes it a little more unique rather than just improving the graphics and calling it a day. It does a great job of not outright replacing the original but offering a new version of it for fans and newcomers alike, alongside a new level of challenge. This is an absolutely phenomenal jumping-in point for people who may have been curious about the series before, but were intimidated by starting with the fourth or fifth entry. It’s still not going to be for everyone, but in this day and age where the survival horror is pulling quite the comeback, FATAL FRAME II: Crimson Butterfly REMAKE is going to once again prove the rule of two remains untouchable.
I’ll be completely transparent with you, dear reader: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is my favourite Resident Evil title post original Resident Evil 3. To have the complete package, playable in handheld and looking and handling the way that it does, is like a fever dream for me. While I wish Capcom had addressed some minor issues with the game in terms of skippable cutscenes and the like, and maybe offered a cheeky little bonus like the Mercenary mode from a few of the other games, the fact this port gives the full experience with nothing removed in a form I can just pick up and play is already far too enticing an offer for me to do anything other than recommend this game to everyone who will listen. As a game and a port, this version of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard Gold Edition is basically perfect as is. It’s the survival horror that I had been missing since the series took a more action approach, and this port is a solid reminder that 7 still remains undefeated within the franchise as the perfect modern horror.
Resident Evil Requiem is a great game that almost hits the heights of being one of the best in the franchise. Unfortunately, the pacing gets a little too unruly in the latter half of the game, and creates a divide between the two characters and the feelings associated with them. While Grace’s sections encapsulate the true Survival Horror, it only remains grounded as Leon until you reach the Raccoon City section of the game, where all of the horror is stripped away completely, and you don’t get back to Grace for a good few hours. By then, you’ve become numb to the game's horrors and are just fully focused on dishing out pain. I loved Requiem, but I feel it should have been two separate games. Initially, I looked forward to the brief Leon sections, which felt like a nice palette cleanser and broke up the tension nicely, but when the game switches to have more of a Leon focus, it felt a little too close to the uninteresting Resident Evil 6 for me to truly love the game. Requiem is still an amazing experience and highly recommended, but at times feels like there were a few too many cooks in the kitchen for this one.
The Demon Queen’s Dire Dilemma is a rather short and amusing OELVN. It’s lighthearted, has a fun premise, and doesn’t overstay its welcome. The dynamic between the “failgirl demon queen” and princess-turned-maid makes for an entertaining time reading this title.
Dracu-Riot! nicely mixes an engaging supernatural action plot with a slowly unveiled mystery and plenty of moments of romance and comedy. Some routes do cover the same or similar secrets as each other, but even when this happens, it’s explored in a different way and still makes for an interesting read. Backed up with high production values and a modern engine with plenty of features, it’s a visual novel worth experiencing.
Ys X: Proud Nordics offers the definitive outing of a game I already know I loved, but it’s precisely because of this that I’m left a little bit disappointed that they didn’t go bigger with potential changes. If this was DLC, I’d have called it great and left it at that, but this is a full game purchase that still stands alongside the original version of Ys X. Knowing that, it’s hard not to say “that’s it?” when seeing how it aims to improve that original version. While I already loved that game on both a mechanical and narrative level, this new iteration presented opportunities that just weren’t taken. The game still looks underwhelming a lot of the time, which is less forgivable given its made the full jump to current gen hardware. There also wasn’t much thoughtful reconsideration given to certain balance quirks. For players who are new to Ys X or simply decided to wait on this version, you’ll have a great experience to look forward to. The original game was already decently generous in terms of content and length, and here it’s even better thanks to the new additions and improvements. Not only that, but the new content made specifically for Proud is far and away the best it has to offer. This is an excellent game packed with lots to enjoy, despite the cynical handling of its release overall. Some years from now, that won’t matter much, but I think this kind of thing shouldn’t happen again. It really could have just been DLC.
I wanted to like Tokyo Scramble so much. A Switch 2 exclusive horror with dinosaurs and a generous dose of that sweet, sweet jank is exactly something I can get behind. Trust me, I can somewhat look beyond janky visuals and horrendous sound, but what I can’t get beyond is just how devoid of fun this game is. It’s stiff, awkward, and restricting, much like the undercity in the game, which is the nicest thing I can say about this one. Tokyo Scramble is a scrambled mess of poor choices and bad gameplay, and I couldn’t recommend this one to even the most seasoned horror jank veterans.
Wayblazer Dämmerung is an adult visual novel that incorporates turn-based dungeon crawler gameplay to keep their audience engaged with the game for long amounts of time. With four veteran artists working at the helm, it offers an impressive set of visual assets that help bring to life its fantasy setting. Although its story has incredible potential as a worldbuilding piece, its execution is a bit unsatisfying because of its flexible approach to story progression, leaving the sequence of events mostly up to the reader’s discretion. As a result, the cohesiveness of the story is compromised, with overall momentum greatly being butchered by the segmentation and non-linearity of the common route’s events. The lack of character for Mark further compromises this, with romantic segments largely feeling like self-inserts instead of budding relationships between members of the team. Despite these shortcomings, there’s still a lot to love with Wayblazer Dämmerung. For one thing, it establishes a pretty interesting setting that both old and new entries into the series can take advantage of. It does this through the partial resolution of some issues, where the relevant character’s arc finishes despite the persistence of the issue in the setting. Additionally, the healthy amount of equipment and items present in the game makes it actually plausible to build characters different from what you’d normally expect. Although there are stats that are glaringly more impactful than others, the numerous fallbacks present as quality-of-life functions in the game allow players to adjust the overall experience of the gameplay portion according to their own preferences. This extends to resources as well, where in-game references such as the glossary help with planning out your farming side trip. Except if you’re looking for a monster drop, which you’d have to sift the Unit List for because apparently they’re not included in the resource glossary as something that can be directly referred to. If you’re looking for a timesink with a decent story and a grindy gameplay loop, Wayblazer Dämmerung fits the bill nicely as Eushully’s present-day entry point to their expansive visual novel-slash-RPG series. Although a bit on the pricier side, chasing full completion of the game will surely get you back that bang for your buck, especially if you play with the external adult patch distributed by Shiravune. There’s also a DLC available, adding an additional dungeon and a new recruitable character. Now the only question is, do you have enough time to do so?
Production limitations unfortunately lower the ceiling for DMLC! in a way that makes any recommendation have a blatant caveat, having left me really wishing it had a bit more budget and emphasis placed on its look and sound. Its writing can also be a touch convoluted at times. Not every character is easy to like, and the “main love interests” aren’t as focused on as some others. The mere concept of the story sounds somewhere between parody and a touch cynical, and you’re likely to come away saying “I expected something different” if you go into it blind. However, I think there’s a lot of heart to the story it’s trying to tell. It features an initially wacky backdrop to initiate a story of several deeply troubled and flawed individuals struggling to come to terms with and move on from a wide variety of difficult circumstances, trying to grasp complicated emotions as they relate to those in their lives. The protagonist and several supporting characters have some great developments and character moments, and the story takes some wild and unexpectedly gripping turns. In some ways, DMLC! punched above its weight class, delivering something I enjoyed and liked more and more as it went on. Even if I didn’t entirely love its final conclusion.
Fighting Force Collection is a curious title. It seems solely aimed at people who enjoyed these titles back when they were released. Neither of them are particular cult classics and while I was happy enough to play both of them again, not enough has been done to bring in a new crowd . I feel the lack of different versions of the games or much in the way of other bonuses really just makes it feel like a bare bones product just thrown out for the few people craving their next retro fix. If you enjoyed the Fighting Force games back in the day and have a hankering for jumping back in, I would say go for it. But in a market full of retro rereleases, Fighting Force Collection doesn’t even scratch the top dogs of the market. Much like the original releases, there isn’t enough here for it to be a true standout.
While I was a little skeptical of the new direction for Dynasty Warriors: Origins at first, I found myself thoroughly impressed after diving in. The more complex take on hack-and-slash combat kept me playing this for hours at a time, and the plot and character moments kept me gripped, even as someone familiar with the series and various takes on the story it’s based on.
Dynasty Warriors: Origins Visions Of Four Heroes is a nice addition to the main game, but it has its highs and lows. The highs, such as Zhang Jiao’s story, a few additional moments in other scenarios, and just being more of the already excellent Dynasty Warriors: Origins make this package hard not to recommend. But the price is somewhat high, and some of the new additions aren’t really the highlights I would’ve hoped for.
I am fully aware of my fanboy stance when it comes to Grasshopper Manufacture, and I believe that most people who are fans of their titles have the same stance as me: you either vibe with their titles or you don’t. I would go out on a limb and say Romeo is a Dead Man is one of their easier titles to jump into. Much like No More Heroes, Shadows of the Damned, or Lollipop Chainsaw, it’s a title that cleverly uses addictive combat and gameplay while slowly indoctrinating the Grasshopper way onto the unsuspecting gamer. You’ll get the absolute most out of Romeo is a Dead Man if you’re a fan of Grasshopper Manufacture and Suda51, but even if you are new to the "Sudaverse," you are still presented with an absolutely wild and refreshing AA-feeling title. If you were a gamer around the PlayStation 2, 3, and Xbox 360 era, it will absolutely ring that nostalgia bell. If you always wanted to know why a certain section of gamers go wild for the name Suda51, or you’re like me and have replayed the entire Kill the Past series in sheer anticipation for this one, Romeo is a Dead Man is a great game. It does a fantastic job of reminding gamers that there is a healthy middle ground between "Indie" and "AAA." Long live Suda and the cult of the quirky AA game.
Dragon Quest VII Reimagined is a game I feel is only a few small changes away from being the best of its ilk. Its dedication to being accessible means that newcomers will likely have a great time with it, but that’s at the cost of overbearing quality of life and mechanical changes. Its adventure and explorative elements are left wanting due to the across-the-board simplification of puzzles and Reimagined’s overeagerness to tell the player exactly what to do. In some places, it feels as though it’s a remake that’s embarrassed of its own legacy when it really shouldn’t be. It’s a stark contrast to the Erdrick trilogy remakes, which wholeheartedly embraced and expanded upon the things that defined them. On the other hand, this is an ambitious remake in other places. Most notably, the artistic facelift leaves it as perhaps the best-looking Dragon Quest game to date thanks to its diorama style and excellent use of color and lighting to convey mood. This is especially important in that the story is still Dragon Quest VII, one of the very best in the entire genre. Here in Reimagined, it’s been elevated thanks to new additions to the story that are emotionally considerate of its legacy while also being surprising for returning players. Thanks to voice acting and more expressive cutscenes, it’s also the most fun version of Dragon Quest VII’s story to simply watch unfold. Tying all of this together is the familiar yet strong core gameplay of Dragon Quest, and you have a great, if undoubtedly imperfect iteration of one of the series’ more hard-to-breach titles.
Sadly and not so shockingly, Ebola Village isn’t going to be the title that dethrones any of the kings of horror. And looking at it, did any of us really think it would be? There are flashes of good in the game, but for the most part, it just feels like a painfully phoned-in Resident Evil Village clone with a poor excuse for a story and some unintentionally shocking and funny things going on in the rather short run time. I knew I was in for a ride when the game gave me an option to watch a movie. I assumed it was the intro, so I chose to watch it, and the game just opened up my browser and started playing a bizarre live-action short film based on the game, which was oddly hosted on a Resident Evil fan channel on Youtube rather than implemented in the game itself. Whatever strange puzzle-coded apartment you live in, I wouldn’t recommend you leave to venture out to Ebola Village, not even to save your family. Instead, save your money and pick up literally any other bigger-name horror game, and you’ll have a better and more cohesive time. Now, excuse me while I go get hepatitis and try to immunize myself from this series.
While full of comedy and amusing situations which are enjoyable in their own right, Ren'ai 0 Kilometer has some moments where we get a real insight into the characters and their relationships. It’s an interesting look at the bond between sisters, the forms that familial love can take, and the odd bit of drama to spice things up. The visual novel itself is quite dated in some ways, and the modern release of it by kawaiinium certainly has some issues that I would’ve liked to see ironed out. Despite this, it’s still worth experiencing.