All in all, playing Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei was a real treat. It has its moments where the story can feel like it’s dragging, as well as a few grammatical errors here and there, but if like me you have aged out of cutesy, under-developed romance games and prefer more mature themes and realistic (albeit still animeish) characters, I recommend you pick this up.

If you’re a hardcore Ninja Turtle fan or someone looking for a fun as hell beat ’em up to play with friends on a pizza-filled Saturday night, you’re going to have a lot of fun no matter what crowd you find yourself in. It succeeds in bridging the past and present, and knows how to hit the mark for any fan. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is a worthy follow-up to an arcade/console classic, and a game worthy of counting itself as one of the genre’s best examples of how to do a beat ’em up right. This is Turtle Power at its absolute best.

More than anything, Card Shark is an experience. It’s not an exceptionally long game, coming in at eight hours, but it very much suits its length. I wasn’t left unsatisfied, nor did it feel padded. The emphasis on the tricks themselves was oddly compelling as well. By the end of the game I had learned the theory behind a good number of techniques, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted to practice some of these for real.

Even with the heavy hitter Dragon’s Trap missing from this selection, Wonder Boy Collection is still a great option if you want to experience a more obscure retro franchise for the first time, or go back and revel in nostalgia. Also, with the prices the original Monster World IV goes for at the time of writing, this is probably the best way to play through that game without blowing up your wallet.

Dwerve is a difficult game to put down. It incorporates the strategic aspects of tower defense with the reactive dodging of action games and fully reaps the benefits of both elements. Having to approach each of the varied combat encounters with tactical and mechanical skill creates a layer of engagement that not every game can reach, urging you to keep playing and tinker with your approach all the way up to its conclusion. Despite its somewhat lacking storyline, Dwerve is a fun, challenging trek through dangerous dungeons and dwarven history that carries itself with aplomb.

LIGHTKRAVTE is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, I freely admit that, but it did the thing that Kurt Vonnegut once said every story should do: It used the time of a complete stranger in a way that didn’t make it feel wasted. And quite frankly? If you’re the sort of person who generally doesn’t think much of visual novels? This might be worth a look after all. It’s a story that not a lot of games tell, told in a way that serves to show off the strengths of a visual novel rather than its weaknesses.

If this game cooked for another six months to a year, the devs could take it beyond just having the basics to being something truly special. But as it stands right now, this game does not really offer enough satisfaction and enjoyment to be worth its asking price.

I think given its replay value and strong narrative foundation alone, this is an easy recommend from me. I just hope that Big Bad Wolf Studio eventually does go in and iron out the evident bugs in the game, both visual and otherwise. I also can’t wait for them to release more narrative games of this caliber. I genuinely think they are a breath of fresh air in an otherwise saturated market.

Neptunia x SENRAN KAGURA: Ninja Wars succeeds at being a fun crossover and a decent enough game to play. It’s solid enough to satisfy fans and newbies alike, has a solid gameplay foundation, and isn’t afraid to let loose when the time calls for it. There’s enough here to keep you busy, and everything involved is at least competent enough to keep your attention. So long as you aren’t expecting Game of the Year material, you’ll find yourself having fun with this one. If your aim is to coast and relish in a little bit of cheesy ninja action, this definitely fits the bill.

If your group of friends is looking for a new party game, you really can’t go wrong with what’s on offer here. If you already own What the Dub?!, though, there really isn’t all that much new here to justify double dipping.

While it may not be as truly groundbreaking as the original, The Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe is a must-play for fans of the original – and if you’ve never experienced the game, it’s the perfect place to learn what made the original so brilliant while finding a number of new twists.

Rogue Legacy 2 is a wonderful, beautiful, crazy-hard-and-yet-not-at-the-same-time game. I can hardly stop playing it long enough to finish writing this review. It is hard to find flaws in this game without resorting to extreme nit-picking. Every aspect of it just oozes polish. The replayability is off the charts, even after you finally reach the ending. Even if roguelikes/rogue-lites or metroidvanias scare you for their reputation of being too hard for the average gamer, play this one. It absolutely deserves a spot right up there with the best of them, including its genre’s namesakes. You may have never heard of Cellar Door Games unless you played the original Rogue Legacy, but I truly and honestly believe you owe it to yourself to give it a try.

I want to like this game, I really do. When it works, it works really well. The core gameplay loop is satisfying, the two ideas mesh believably, and figuring out how best to manage the species on a given level is like a fun little puzzle. Actually reaching later planets makes me feel like Sisyphus rolling a boulder up a hill, with the content I’m repeating feeling no different than it did an hour ago when I started my last run.

If you’re really into management sims, you’re going to get something out of the game. But otherwise, as much as I love the look and charm of the title and the concept, this is probably not going to find a forever home in your library.

Taken as a complete package, Lost Judgment and The Kaito Files serves as one of the best story offerings I can think of in recent memory. With as fantastic as the former’s story was, I’m overjoyed that the story in the latter at least maintains (and often exceeds) the standard we’ve come to expect from Ryu Ga Gotoku. While the somewhat steep price tag might be a bit high for DLC, the densely packed narrative and trademark gameplay helps take the edge off. It proves that Kaito is more than capable of carrying a story, and I can’t wait to see what his future holds.

It’s buggy, the balance is off, and a good 80% of the locations only really serve as random sidequest destinations. But the storytelling drew me in, the stealth worked rather well, and on the occasions when I felt like I had resources to burn it was just so dang satisfying to slow motion dive out from behind a corner while blasting a barrage of shotgun shells.

I dare say the KickStarter that supported this release would have done just as well if it was an actual card game. I think that could definitely work and if it isn’t in the cards (wink), well, it should be. Regardless though, this game is a great value with it’s strong replayability, and it is definitely worthy of recommendation to fans of the genre, but I think even other curious souls out there should give it a go. It’s is very pick-up-and-play and could spark a new interest in a new genre for you if you are that curious soul.

If you have any interest in the old days of FPS gameplay when you were expected to wade in, unleash firepower at top speed, and leave a mess in the process, you will want to play this game. And if you’ve tried to play those games but can’t get over the gap in technology, this is going to be a darn fun experience for you as well. Give this one a shot; it deserves everything it’s asking and then some.

All in all, this was actually a very bittersweet review for me. I am a huge Rune Factory fan and have been excitedly waiting for this new entry in the series. Unfortunately, I can’t say that it met my expectations. The good news is Rune Factory 5 is a familiar experience for those who are used to the genre. The love interests are a bit cringy, and it has god-awful graphics, but if you have a bit of patience and don’t nitpick as much as I do, it will be a mostly enjoyable experience. The combat is easy enough to get into, there are a ton of things to do, and some of the supporting cast will make you smile. I clocked about 64 hours into this game and I’m pretty sure I could have done more, so it’s at least a bang for its buck if anything. I’m just hoping that if Marvelous Inc. makes us wait another ten years for a new entry, it is of a higher quality.

A lot of people have really raved about Triangle Strategy and held it up as an excellent game. I don’t think it’s a bad game, but I do think that it’s ultimately just an alright one. It’s solid and functional, takes too long to get to its plot, has some awkwardness that prevents me from really falling in love with it, and has some fun parts that don’t eliminate those issues even as they make things a bit better. And if you’re like me and still looking out for more Final Fantasy Tactics… well, keep waiting. This ain’t it.

With a more concerted effort to keep the experience exciting as the playthrough carries on, Young Souls could have easily been so much more. Instead, you have a game where you’ve seen the lion’s share of what it has to offer after three or so of the game’s ten hours.

Ultimately, the new narrative in The Witch Queen is absolutely worth checking out, and the game still features what I think is the best gunplay in any game I’ve played- and now it has glaives!

Shadow Warrior 3 is an interesting title and a fun playthrough. But I can’t say it’s one to go out of your way to get your hands on. However, if you have the opportunity to play it, it’s a worthwhile ride.

Atelier games continue to be the mark of a consistently good franchise, and Sophie 2 does little to deter me from that sentiment. It’s the kind of game that deserves to be experienced alongside your favorite creature comforts and maybe a hot beverage to boot. Sophie’s latest outing most definitely deserves to exist, and those looking for a relatively easygoing and chill experience can’t go wrong here. It’s a worthy sequel to a cherished game, and a wonderful way to celebrate the joy fans have experienced over the years.

Final Fantasy VI does an incredible job of re-creating a game that for some is a cherished classic, while also helping to bring it to new audiences (and people like me that simply never got around to it). The game is as good as its ever been (apart from that atrocious font) and I wouldn’t disagree with anyone who says this is the best version of this game. Personal thoughts surrounding the opera scene not withstanding, the Pixel Remaster version of Final Fantasy VI truly feels like it is the best way to experience this game.

The game is wonderful artistically, but it just has far too many problems right now to recommend. The developers, Gato Studio, seem to recognize this and are preparing updates, but once again I find myself reminding game studios how badly things can go if you release something before it is ready. It is really hard to gain back the trust of players after you lose it.

It’s just a perfect blend of difficulty and discovery from start to finish. It’s basic, sure, but sometimes shaving off the excess parts is how you polish something down to its core. It’s not terribly long to beat once – about six hours for a playthrough – but you’ll want to go through at least twice, and there’s even some things that keep things fresh on a second playthrough so you’re not quite retreading the same game a second time. If you’re a fan of old-school action, definitely pick this up!

It may be more initially intimidating to genre newcomers than, say, Guilty Gear Strive or Dragon Ball FighterZ, but being fun to pick up yet challenging to master is the hallmark of any great fighting game. It’s part of the appeal, even, and when you take the consistently deep gameplay of KOF and combine it with greatly improved graphical presentation, solid rollback netcode, and mechanical changes that allow for more player freedom, you get something that truly does “shatter all expectations” as the tagline implies.