The Descent is a decent addition for players who are dying to get back into the game for a bit or prolong their experience, but ultimately casual players will want to skip it, or wait for holiday sales.

With the lessons that Digital Dreams has clearly learned, it’s going to be fascinating to see what the small studio does next. After all, this is a team that clearly understands how to improve over time.

Re Mind rehashes so much Kingdom Hearts III that, when stripped away, leaves little new and worthwhile to dig into. The base game remains as fun to play as ever, but players don’t need to pay extra money to enjoy that. The new Limit Cut battles are a highlight that displays the complexity of the mechanics, but the other new additions aren’t anything special. Scala Ad Caelum and the Final Fantasy characters are deeply disappointing. The new cutscenes are nice, but they don’t answer many of the lingering questions. Kingdom Hearts III remains an excellent game, and Re Mind does allow players to jump back in for a few hours, but $29.99 is too much to ask for a DLC that barely adds anything new.

The lack of multiplayer holds Berserk and the Band of the Hawk back from being the greatest Omega Force title, but players who are okay with this will find an experience that both captures the soul of the source material as well as one of the purest, most hyperviolent, titles to hit the market.

At the end of the day, it’s tough to recommend Life is Strange: The Arcadia Bay Collection as it is near launch. It’s easily the worst-possible way to experience two classic games and not in small ways. The dramatic drop-off in texture quality and abundance of texture pop-in hurts the experience, as do long loading times. The foundation of what made the games so great is still present, but hampered. In hindsight, having it titled as the Arcadia Bay Collection was a tip-off that this wouldn’t be the exact same as the Remastered Collection that hit other consoles. This is a downgraded version of the experience in every way except voice acting and should only be played by those who must have it available on the go.

One step forward and two steps back for the XIII saga and will only attract those looking for fan-service or high-octane combat.

Milestone delivers on its slate of upgrades introduced in Monster Energy Supercross 4, but the racing remains frustrating and unapproachable for new players. The Career Mode is a welcome addition even though it may not match up to other franchises that are out there, while The Compound gives players a new location to free roam around in, but is ultimately the same thing outside of the location. The PlayStation 5 version allows for better visuals and the inclusion of the DualSense Controller, but the engine that everything is based on is old. Those that are hardcore fans of the series will enjoy these additions if they continue to overlook the legacy issues. The next-generation version is basically an improved version of the previous-gen version by default due to the hardware, and outside of the Career Mode, Monster Energy Supercross 4 is more of the same.

If you’re a returning player of the Payday franchise, you’ll like what Payday 3 offers with multiple heists and keeping its core gameplay design intact. Increased visual fidelity is a big bonus and adding cross-play to increase the player base allows for even quicker matchmaking when the servers are actually online. The first two weeks were difficult, but once in, the confined sandbox design of cooperative heist play is still fun and addicting. Going above those means and looking for something more will mean you will be introduced to the grind of unlocking skills and more guns, no matter how much money you make on a heist. When Payday 3 is clicking on all cylinders, it’s a proper upgrade to the previous game and you won’t care about the grind, but rather the fun that is had on each mission.

With some modifications and continuous work, State of Decay 2 could be a great and meaningful experience, but in its current state, it’s far from the best zombie game out there.

If you haven’t been scared off by the concept it presents, then The Novelist shall likely prove a worthwhile experience.

Battletoads revives what was thought to be a long-dead franchise without missing a step. The game benefits from modernized game mechanics but maintains the overall gameplay feel of the original titles. If you have fond memories of the earlier titles, it’s a no brainer that this is a title worth playing. The game does rely on nostalgia, but this is one of the better reboots around. Battletoads succeeds at making a game look and feel modern while maintaining the essence of what made it good so many years ago. Battletoads does offer a variety of different modes in addition to primarily being a beat ’em up title. It’s a truly ridiculous game that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and it’s good to see that after such a long break the ‘Toads are still on top of their game.

Chaos Code – New Sign of Catastrophe doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but what it does provide is a lot of high-quality 2D fighting action. The cast isn’t the most diverse in gaming, but still offers up a great deal of variety when it comes to play styles and the usual fast-paced Arc Systems Work fighting action keeps you on your toes at all times. Online play is a huge missed opportunity due to the sheer of lack of players currently, so anyone looking to buy it for that would be wise to wait a bit until the player base is built up over time. It’s a visually-pleasing game despite some archaic aspects to the graphics and presentation, and delivers a satisfying soundtrack alongside exceptional sound effects that make each blow feel that much more damaging.

It is still an icy tomb, but even the wrecks are rather glorious once you get up close to them (and loot them for rare books and whatnot).

Despite its brevity ultimately doing some notable harm to it, Rise & Shine is still ultimately a solid platformer for the most part, one that has a lot of cute callbacks to classic video games while still having its own unique charm, along with some impressive graphics and nifty ideas sprinkled throughout. The action gets nice and intense, and save for the end, puts up a meaty yet fair challenge. So while it isn’t exactly the greatest at skewering gaming culture while also honoring it, it’s still an overall good game.

The solid controls and reasonably-exciting gameplay make it fun for a while, but the modes are far too similar with only surface-level changes beyond the overall length of the events to set them apart.

Not only does it look perfectly like a modern iteration of the classics, it also provides fast, frantic tank gameplay. The single player mode gives a great space for players to practice before taking a shot at helping others out online. Unfortunately, an already middling amount of server activity makes this mode’s future worrisome.

Monark weaves an engaging story even though it may rely on tropes and archetypes to do so. While characters and certain themes may feel familiar from playing similar games there ego centric method of character development helps carve a unique identity for Monark. The puzzles and exploration aren’t very difficult but occur in a way that feels organic within the story. The tactical turn based battles do offer a challenge but nothing that can’t be overcome through learning the system and properly strategizing. Level grinding can become tedious quickly and can disrupt the overall pacing. In spite this, Monark is a very enjoyable RPG that offers satisfying combat along with a compelling story.

Whether or not this brief glimpse into the future of Metal Gear Solid is worth 20 or 30 bucks is up to you, but I can say without any hesitance that Ground Zeroes displays the biggest evolution of the series seen since the original Metal Gear Solid on Playstation, even if that evolution only lasts for a short, fleeting instant. Bring on The Phantom Pain.

On top of the fun gameplay, the art direction is a great stylized approach to incorporating the Voodoo influence and Alistar Lindsay’s soundtrack fits the style perfectly.

Zombasite may only require roughly a third of gig of hard drive space, but it crams a lot of substance into that small section of hard drive space.

Mario Party 10 takes tantalizing strides towards the innovation players have been calling out for, but its lack of commitment to any of its modes ultimately sees it fall flat.

The Sims 4 on both PS4 and Xbox One is a welcome addition for the series, allowing players that might not have the PC capabilities to enjoy a beloved series. It maintains its level of quality from PC, but still needs some work in various technical areas, seeing as the mouse/camera isn’t the best and the game will consistently hitch, especially with longer play sessions. Everything that makes for a great Sims game is in The Sims 4, and with updated creation options and attention to detail unmatched by other games in the series, The Sims 4 is worth it, giving a freedom of play most games just don’t offer. It’s unfortunate that EA didn’t bring mods over from the PC community, especially with other big games doing this, but maybe later down the line they’ll follow suit. Not to worry, though, plenty of extra content will be available at launch, with four expansion and item packs coming out alongside The Sims 4 at launch, making sure to give much of the available content to console players right away.

It’s over far too soon, but you’d be hard pressed to find many better small scope narrative role playing experiences than Consortium, and it certainly leaves you wanting more.

When everything runs as it should, Echoes of the End is visually pleasing, but the actual gameplay and animations are lacking. What the game does end up doing well are the variety of ways you can handle the combat as you progress. Many of the issues lie with how the combat itself has been handled, with animations from both your main character and enemies being sluggish and hard to read at times. With proper love and attention to ironing out those edges, Echoes of the End has the potential to transform into an amazing title.

It's like candy for your eyes. [Vol 3, Issue 2, p.56]

Planet of the Eyes is a short but memorable trip through a weird-worlds sci-fi alien landscape.

A must play for anyone who is a fan of retro arcade style beat ‘em ups, especially if they can appreciate a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The character and enemy designs are visually interesting and the gameplay mechanics make playing through this tongue-in-cheek adventure enjoyable. The enormous character roster and multiple game modes provide a good value, but the biggest problem lies in the nature of the genre. The gameplay is repetitive even with the different fighting styles of each character, which can get old quickly, especially on single player.

Charming as it might seem, Krillbite’s attempt at horror turns out about as scary as a brightly-colored bed sheet.

99 Levels to Hell is all about action, jumping gaps and gunning down hordes of enemies in the finest arcade traditions.

Those looking for a narrative video game with distinctly slick presentation will no doubt look at Knee Deep, Act 1: Wonderland with excitement. It does not quite live up to expectations, but then again, this is just the start of a larger series.

It may be one step forward and two steps back in the overall Final Fantasy XIII series, but it is still an attractive package.

The visual novel portions are good and offer a change in pace, but feature limited animation and come off as low-rent as a result. That holds true for the similar texture work in a lot of environments, which doesn’t do justice to the impressive character models used and the solid animation across the board. For fans of either franchise, there’s a good amount of content here to enjoy, but this isn’t the kind of game that is likely to make new fans of either series on its own.

Those seeking a slower-paced action-platformer with a mix of real-time resource management thrown in will adore Firegirl Hack ‘n Splash Rescue DX. It’s a tough, but fair game and one that feels a lot more fair than the original release thanks to tweaks with the balance and an in-game rewards system. If you’re in the mood for a fun, challenging adventure and have an affinity for side-scrolling action, Firegirl Hack ‘n Splash Rescue DX is a must-buy.

Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World improves upon Monster World IV in every way. The gameplay flow is more organic and modern, and the remake feels like a full-on modern game instead of a modern-looking game over the top of an older game’s shell. It’s impressive to see how much more fun this version of the game is to play than the original — and the original release is no slouch — but the developers have taken great care to keep everything that made it work and improve upon it. It plays better, looks better, sounds better and is a more cohesive experience now than it ever was before. Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is one of the finest 2D side-scrolling platformers on the market and the best remake of a classic game in quite some time.

Bleeding Edge has a ton of potential, largely thanks to its fun and well-designed combat, colorful style and characters, and nicely-crafted levels and goals that emphasize the need for teamwork and strategy. But in trying to deliver so much when in comes to the fighting elements, it lets a few awkward moments slip through, and worse, puts less emphasis on elements like the story that need it, as well as a need for more content. It’s still an enjoyable multiplayer brawler as is, but future updates and additions will act as the true test to see if Bleeding Edge can truly improve and stand alongside the greats.

Just Dance 2016 should (and probably will) be the franchise’s last physical release. While the core gameplay remains fun despite some questionable choreography, the overall package reeks of complete and utter apathy.

Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner becomes slightly more interesting after the initial tutorial hump, but it's really hard to overlook those first few hours, especially when so many of the game's major characters are so annoying and cliched. [Mar 2007, p.57]

Those who can get invested in learning and mastering a deep combat system, however, will find a lot to like in Final Exam.

Combat feels stiff, unresponsive, and overwrought, though it captures the visual excitement of the anime nicely. If that were all there is to the game, it would be pretty average, but everything else just gets in the way.

It’s for the thinkers; the true appreciators of fine-tuned designs and engaging puzzle solving. It’s a satisfying, refreshing and, most importantly, an incredibly fun romp through Team17’s take on a classic.

Overall, Quidditch Champions gets tedious quickly, but in short bursts, it can be fun. The different roles one can take are well done, especially with the seeker, but the lack of skill shots or moves does hamper the enjoyment. Getting new unlockables might be the lifeblood of the game as they feature fun references to the movies for the fans. Hopefully, that will be enough to keep the game forward with a solid player base, despite its repetitive nature.

While the game invokes memories with those who grew up playing the Neversoft games, the content is a bit skimpy and the gameplay behind its time.

While its party games may be largely disposable, the core gameplay alone is worth the budget price tag.

Home Sweet Home does an excellent job of creating a solid foundation for fear, yet overly relies on cheap jump scares to carry the horror. Despite its flaws, however, the game utilizes its gameplay strengths to create a fun survival horror game with unique Thai personality. Home Sweet Home is a worthy addition to any horror fan’s playlist and leaves us asking for more.

In the end, the whole of Sonic Unleashed is slightly greater than the sum of its parts. [Dec 2008, p.45]

Great moments simply getting to know the world were cut short whenever a new puzzle or platforming bit would rear its cumbersome head. With that said, there is still worth in playing through NaissanceE to see the moments it gets everything absolutely perfect.

As it stands, Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days proves to be the perfect weekend rental. In that weekend you can plow through the campaign with a friend in an afternoon, and get as much as you want out of the multiplayer.

All things considered, Black Knight Sword is truly a one-of-a-kind experience thanks to its imaginative art direction, soundtrack, narrative and overall concept. For $9.99, those qualities might be enough to warrant a purchase.

While fans of 2D platformers will enjoy it, Concursion has rough edges when it comes to its slightly-unresponsive controls and overall gameplay smoothness.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2+ is an excellent game that makes the transition to the Vita quite well.

Despite a few flaws that harm the pacing, Mineko’s Night Market is a truly impressive life sim that stands out among a sea of similar wholesome games thanks to its jaw-dropping visuals, unique emphasis on Japanese culture and arts and crafts, and a cute story at the center of it all filled with wonder. It’s a terrific little game that can be enjoyed by those of all ages, plus, again, you get to pet hundreds of cats. Really, that alone should make it worth it.

As it stands, A.R.E.S Extinction Agenda EX is a highly polished 2D platforming shooter that is able to seamlessly blend influences from three great franchises and turn it into a fun and unique experience in itself. A.R.E.S. doesn’t redefine the genre, but it doesn’t have to because of how well-executed it is.

It might not resonate as strongly as Earthbound, but Citizens of Earth is arguably more fun to play.

Unepic is an enjoyable retro style action RPG. It has not gotten the attention or acclaim of some more recent retro style 2D platformers such as Axiom Verge or Shovel Knight, but fans of that style of gameplay should give this one a look.

There is fun to be had and there are much worse anime titles out there, but there are also much better ones. Dedicated Naruto fans looking for fast-paced, gravity defying multiplayer beat ’em up action need look no further, but for those looking for a worthwhile single player experience or multiplayer with voice chat can skip this one.

It’s essentially Wii Sports Tennis with a fresh coat of Mario-themed paint, which at this point is just not enough to warrant a purchase.

FireFly lives up to its promise of producing a better-looking version of its first games, but that’s all they live up to.

Laserlife had immense potential. Choice Provisions created a game that only they could make, but they did so in a way which doesn’t feel complete.

NASCAR ’14 offers up a solid racing experience, and should be a satisfying pickup for fans of the sport. Casual fans may want to wait for a price drop, but die-hards will easily get $50 worth out of — especially with DLC coming monthly that updates everything to the current season.

For a title that dropped out of nowhere, Kirby Fighters 2 is filled with all the charm of the average Kirby title but without a world map to explore. The fighting is fun and challenging with a surprising amount of variety in characters. The gameplay can almost start to feel repetitive at times but with fights being so short most of the time it’s easy to switch it up and hop back in feeling refreshed. There’s a lot of value here that gives in to what could be a ridiculous amount of gameplay for people who love completing every challenge. Anyone looking for a Kirby title with faster-paced combat and a focus on fast-paced fights should dive into Kirby Fighters 2.

Despite a short wish list of things that would improve it, Operation Wolf Returns: First Mission VR is a pleasant surprise. The assumption was that it would trade on the name but be a big standard VR rail shooter with nothing to really add. Instead, newcomer developer Virtuallyz Gaming threaded the needle, making a title that is reverential to the original arcade, while doing new things to amp up the action. It’s not the second coming of a VR rail shooter, but it’s extremely solid and just darn fun. It’s understandable if people see this and think it’s just another VR shooter, but this game is a reminder that, when well made, sometimes simple is better.

Elegy for a Dead World may be a jarring departure from traditions, but unlike the more pretentious attempts at alternative gaming experiences we’ve seen in recent times, this is one idea that should be encouraged.

You're given the story setup, the potential of the control system, and a sharp visual style....but it comes with training wheels. [Spring 2008, p.50]

It’s a marginal enhancement over Armored Core V, but it’s enough to keep its core fanbase invested in the game. It’s just a shame the series is so unwilling to expand past it.

This is a remaster where the highs of unleashing the Force conflict with the lows of the original product. Quality-of-life improvements like the inclusion of traditional controls and the bump to the resolution help improve the game immensely. At the same time, the gameplay’s clunkiness, glitches and performance issues found on the Wii remain persistent issues in this remaster. For $19.99, there’s a decent amount of content and a chance to explore an old chapter relegated to Legends territory. Unfortunately, many of the more pressing issues were never addressed in this remaster. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is fun in short bursts on Switch, but the further you go, the more contained the Force starts to feel.

The Vita’s RPG library is gathering steam this year and Compile Heart’s latest is yet another wonderful installment in that collection.

Payday 2: Crimewave Edition isn’t broken to the point of being unplayable, but it has just enough issues to make it annoying.

You don't have to be good at or even like on-rails shooters to enjoy it, and because it's such a frustration free experience, maybe it will even act as a great gateway game for the genre.

Shelly Harrison sets out on a cross-country action-FPS trek to find the lost artifact of the Demon Core. Intense firefights are interspersed with slower exploratory segments, making it more a late-90s FPS throwback than prequel game Ion Fury's Build Engine adventure.

Ash of Gods is obviously a huge nod to The Banner Saga, but does its own thing enough to hold its own; it just doesn’t carry itself with the confidence that could push it towards greatness.

With its almost complete lack of Bond flair past the voice acting and character models, the game just comes across as a Bond-themed run and gun shooter that lacks the suave sophistication of a secret agent.

Crymachina is a thrilling science fiction adventure that offers fast-paced action in a post-human dystopia.

Madden NFL 24 feels like the most complete game since jumping to this generation. EA Tiburon continues to build on the core that was established four years ago. The changes for this year’s game are numerous, but results with inconsistencies and ultimately need more polish. Hopefully this will come in the coming months with patches. When everything works, it’s cool to experience it all coming together that can result in a big play. This also ties into the resolution mode which is playable and offers excellent image quality. There could have been more implemented with the Training Camp mini-games, but they’re a fun change of pace that add to the Franchise Mode experience. The games also do not feel as scripted, even though the division games in Franchise Mode aim to level the playing field no matter the difficulty. I have had enjoyable and drama-filled tight games this year and the AI brings more of a natural level of opposition compared to something that’s pre-designed. There are bugs, but the overall experience in Madden NFL 24 is getting closer and closer to properly replicating an NFL broadcast.

While InnerSpace struggles a bit on the technical side of things, the core game is a wonderful flight through worn-out but still beautiful sci-fi landscapes.

Overall, it’s not the most sophisticated title on the block, but it’s worth it for the nostalgia value alone.

G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra brings one of the most popular cartoons of the '80s to life in a retro-inspired beat 'em up. The limited story development and virtually nonexistent dialogue, however, lead to G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra falling short of its potential. What could have been a nostalgic return to real American heroes thwarting Cobra instead feels like just another brawler wearing G.I. Joe cosplay. It's a decent enough beat 'em up that fans of the genre and franchise could find enjoyable, but die-hard fans will likely be disappointed in how bare bones G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra ended up being.

Final Fantasy XIII has its own set of problems, mainly consisting of a mediocre story and incredibly linear progression for the first forty hours, but the poor PC optimization puts it over the top.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 shouldn't work. Coming a year after the controversial Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, six years of pent-up resentment towards an irksome matchmaking system and years of increasingly abhorrent monetization, Black Ops 7 had a massive hill to climb. Despite all this, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 not only works, but vastly outshines recent Call of Duty releases. Treyarch's focus on refining the mechanics of Black Ops 6, rolling back many of the franchise's controversial systems of years past and building fun spaces to play in has paid dividends. The campaign is a mixed bag thanks to a weak overarching plot and terrible Avalon missions that are offset thanks to strong character moments and the brilliant Endgame mode. Multiplayer launches in the best state it's been in years thanks to movement tweaks that put more emphasis on gunplay skill over sliding, open matchmaking and the best set of launch maps in years. Zombies also gets a glow-up thanks to the brilliant Ashes of the Damned and Dead Ops Arcade 4. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 doesn't break the mold or make meaningful changes to the formula, but it does refine the current formula into the best launch experience a Call of Duty has had in years. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is the win the franchise has been looking for.

Unrest is a choice-driven RPG with little combat to speak of that touches on relevant social issues.

Unfortunately, the inability to speed up the game when you have about an hour of troop-building ahead of you, or when your hero must rely on auto-regen to heal, means that you'll be watching HoAE more than you'll be playing it. [Mar 2007, p.61]

This game is strictly for DBZ fans who, in addition, are crazy about the early Budokai games. [June 2007, p.63]

The concept is reasonably well-executed, but this isn’t the kind of experience that gives you a lot to sink your teeth into. Still, as a bonus thrown in with another game and made available as a super-cheap download, it is easily worth its asking price.

Nearly seven years later, and Gigantic: Rampage Edition is still just as fun to play as it was back in the genre's heyday. New additions like Rush mode are fun and make for a quicker blast, though hopefully we can find a way to deliver more major content later on. But as is, there's still a crop of fun heroes on display, all of whom are still a joy to try out, and it's just a joy to see a unique bit of action like this again, especially with Overwatch still having soured its reputation. In fact, if this takes off, maybe we can see about reviving Battleborn in a similar way next, if only because it would make for one hilarious scenario...

Deathbound is a game that has a lot of great ideas that seem amazing on paper, but few of them actually end up hitting the mark. The clear high points of this game pretty much all relate to the setting, the story, and the characters presented, but even this is marred by the goofy vocal performances and the frequency of the swearing in a bid to seem edgy and cool. But in the end, the game is dragged down by a wonky multi-character combat system, a messy health system, an all-round unresponsiveness, which is a death warrant in a Souls-like such as this, and the fact that the game's performance is enough to make you throw in the towel before you even have a good reason to write the game off. It feels like a game that would have benefited from pivoting to an all-out hack-and-slash format because, despite labeling itself as one, Deathbound simply doesn't have the polish or the attention to detail needed to truly call itself a Souls game.

Edens Zero is an enjoyable action RPG that offers solid variation in combat skills and an interesting look into Hiro Mashima’s work. Despite its worlds feeling oddly devoid of life due to the lack of interactive opportunities beyond battle and looting, it’s still a good journey to depart on.

Bubble Bobble Sugar Dungeons tries to update the formula of the series with new ideas that are very popular in the indie sphere. While the concept is interesting, the end result is actually much more frustrating than anything else. Repetitive and artificially padded, the ideas end up not shining as bright as they should, though fun can still be found by understanding its limitations from the start.

Kane & Lynch is more "Freedom Fighters" than "Hitman", so it should appeal to action junkies looking for their next fix. [Dec 2007, p.67]

There are so many glaring flaws right up front; the framerate bottoms out, the story characters forced upon the players are atrocious and the always online requirement simply eats up bandwidth while adding nothing to the experience. When it hits that perfect line, however, this manages to be a satisfying and beautiful experience.

While Blacksad: Under the Skin shows a lot of promise in its story, world and a couple of neat gameplay mechanics that help put you right in Blacksad’s shoes, it unfortunately suffers when it comes to the execution. Be it clunky pixel hunts, an awkward interface or a myriad of potential glitches, the end result comes off as a bit of a janky, unpolished mess. Pendulo isn’t exactly a perfect developer, but this may end up being their weakest work yet, at least until future patches can improve things. For now, though, best to just turn down this case.

Unfortunately, even a stable framerate can’t save it from faulty mechanics, kicks that cross players without landing, some iffy visuals and weirdly ’90s animations.

Taken on its own, the game is fairly enjoyable — albeit pretty limited — but with games like Smarty Pants on shelves, I really can’t recommend TV Show King.

Overall, this is more of a game to snag out of the bargain bin than buy new. [Apr 2007, p.52]

It’s simple, fun, and funny. Sure, it’s not overflowing with content, but for five dollars, you could do a lot worse.

Risen 3: Titan Lords is a clunky mess of a game that fails to capitalize on the potential it has put forth. While the concept sounds alluring, and it’s chock-full of charm, it’s weighed down by stodgy design and a lack of polish.

As a whole, Pro Cycling Manager suffers from too many elements that are closed to the player unless they’re dedicated to uncovering the confusing interface. Indeed, the game can’t be recommended to those not willing to spend hours trying to come to grips with the huge amount of detail within it. That said, those who put plenty of hours into the game will be rewarded with an addictive and satisfying experience that is well worth working past the flawed and mind-numbingly difficult opening that most players are sure to have.

Skelattack doesn’t know what it wants to be but despite this I did end up getting just a little more enjoyment than aggravation out of it. There were two areas I simply got through rather than explored, because they just weren’t worth the annoyance, but for the most part the story and characters carried it along. It didn’t hurt that the game is short, and I beat the whole thing in a single four-hour sitting, which meant that when any one section was in danger of wearing out its welcome another was coming right along to replace it.

Tears to Tiara II: Heir of the Overlord is a more than competent SRPG.

Unfortunately as enjoyable as the combat is everything else about this title comes up short. It’s not that the ideas presented in the story are bad, it’s that they are so minimal they make the game almost feel incomplete. The potential was there to make Valkyrie Elysium one of the greats, but instead there’s an uneven experience of great combat with uninspired storytelling and level design.