Remothered: Broken Porcelain has difficulty keeping a balance between its story and the game’s main gameplay feature of running. While the game’s worst bugs have been fixed since the PC release, the unique atmosphere is not enough to make the repetitive and often cumbersome gameplay worthwhile.

The unique way in which Left Alive approaches the survival theme is easily its most appealing aspect. However, from graphics to enemy AI, there are just way too many issues. And while it’s high difficulty might make sense from a survival standpoint, the lack of stealth kills and hard to utilize weapons make it so hard that for most players it will be beyond simply “challenging”.

The Quiet Man is one of the worst games I have ever played, but forcing me to play twice to experience the audio left an even worse impression. While withholding all dialogue until the second playthrough is an interesting concept in theory, it added little to The Quiet Man's already terrible story, making the second run even more of a chore than the first.

This is a game for the Arcana fans, by the Arcana fans. The game doesn't explain itself well, but the strong fan community will surely keep introducing new fighting game fanatics to the series.

A fox traveling through a fairy-tale-like world alone is charming enough, but it is how the tale of this fox and a man come together that makes The First Tree so special. This is one of those games you must play before having it spoiled at all costs.

While being a sequel, the 6th entry in Toho Project's fighting series by doujin developer Twilight Frontier is easy to grasp for newcomers. The lack of online multiplayer opponents is a problem, but if you are looking for a unique fighting game that is easy to pick up, look no further.

Obviously inspired by Vanillaware’s games such as Dragon’s Crown, The Vagrant’s graphics are impressive, and the game comes with a ton of replay value, making it well worth your money. However, while its game mechanics are interesting, The Vagrant struggles in finding its own identity.

Obviously inspired by Vanillaware’s games such as Dragon’s Crown, The Vagrant’s graphics are impressive, and the game comes with a ton of replay value, making it well worth your money. However, while its game mechanics are interesting, The Vagrant struggles in finding its own identity.

This walking simulator comes with a lot of reading, making it an experience that should be savored as a short novel. That makes it hard to recommend it to any gamer, and for some the game might feel too expensive given the short playtime. However, think of it this way: it’s cheaper than buying a book and a train ticket and going on a trip by yourself. NOSTALGIC TRAIN offers the experience of a summer holiday through a game in a unique way.

As an official spinoff of bullet-hell shooter series Touhou, Violet Detector. is quite difficult, but both its story and mechanics deserve praise for their design.

An adventure game that, instead of holding your hand, gives you the freedom to figure things out yourself. Unraveling mysteries through information you’ve gathered by yourself brings a unique type of satisfaction.

A new competitive shmup is a rarity in itself, but Rival Megagun can’t quite compete with similar games that came before it. Its simple and casual game design make it a multiplayer experience that is easy to get into, but it lacks depth.

Epic Battle Fantasy 5 is an otaku JRPG, made by a JRPG otaku – made for every JRPG otaku. The game is packed with parodies: You will see huge damage points during the epic battles, treasure chests are fun to hunt, and the dialogue keeps the story interesting. All these factors blend together to create a new landmark for a non-Japanese developed JRPG.

With a minimalistic approach, Tokyo Chronos succeeds in bringing the player into a VR world that feels like a real place. While the shortage of player choices and interaction hold it back a little, Tokyo Chronos shows the potential of a VR adventure game done right.

Devil Engine throws a lot of bullets at you despite being a side-scroller, and often kills you without any warning. However, once you get used to its trial-and-error gameplay, it’s actually a pretty welcoming game, which is testament to how well made it is. However, its conservative design does little to appeal to players new to shmups, making this a title mostly for die-hard fans of the genre.

With a much higher visual quality compared to previous entries in the series, Yokai Watch 4 makes you feel like you are walking through a gorgeous anime. While the wide variety does add a somewhat cumbersome feeling to the gameplay, as an overall experience, Yokai Watch 4 is a great new direction for the series.

While the user-friendly controls and loose collision make for a comfortable experience, Beats Fever VR lacks in uniqueness, and the visuals can make it difficult to understand what’s going on. Still, if you already have a PS VR and PS Move controllers and you like rhythm games, you might want to give it a try.

Mistover’s characters may look cute, but this is one harsh game. Influenced by Darkest Dungeon, this is a game only for players who are looking for a serious challenge.

With beautiful visuals, an epic soundtrack and an exciting world with interesting characters, this hardcore Touhou Project inspired shmup is well worth your time. While the multiplayer mode lacks significant depth, the story mode alone is enough to recommend Maiden & Spell to fans of the genre.

With a high-quality scenario and unique VR presentation, Yuoni Rises immerses the player in its scary yet nostalgic world.

As a rhythm game Soundart has little originality, and the randomly generated music lacks great rhythm or sense of excitement. That being said, if you enjoy customizing and streaming videos, it might be worth a try.

Quotation forthcoming.

Jet Lancer is a shmup with a high difficulty level that becomes a bit tedious halfway, and the storytelling is pretty weak. That said, the refined controls do create an exhilarating experience, making this an interesting new entry to the multidirectional shooter genre.

Aria Chronicle makes the typical dungeon RPG gameplay loop of grinding your characters to face stronger enemies more accessible for newcomers. While heavily influenced by Darkest Dungeon, a more user-friendly design makes this a recommendable game in its own right.

Touhou Luna Nights could almost be classified as a Metroidvania game. However, it has become something of its own by eliminating many elements common in the genre. By getting rid of these elements, the essence of the Touhou DNA becomes more obvious, resulting in a masterpiece that couldn’t have been made if it wasn’t based on the Touhou Project series in the first place.

The game’s illustrations and background art are obviously reminiscent of other works, but together they create a visual style that feels like a good match for the unique story. While not being able to save whenever you want and limited options for text display speed could be seen as part of the presentation, it becomes frustrating when you have to play the same part again.

Bear’s Restaurant’s setting of serving food at a restaurant is an interesting concept for a videogame, and it is beautifully realized with cute Gameboy Advance-esque 2D sprites. While I wanted the story and characters to be a lot deeper, the bizarre twists in the second half of the game still make the journey worthwhile.

Vivid Knight is a dungeon RPG inspired by Auto Chess in which luck is necessary to obtain the unit you need the most in each situation. The reliance on chance as the key to victory means this game is not for everyone, but it sure feels great when luck is on your side.

Wing of Darkness is a robot action game that draws attention with its girl-meets-girl romance elements. While there’s some appeal to the controls and music, neither the gameplay nor story have any real substance. From robot action to flight shooting and romance, none of the game’s main elements are worth your time.

Metallic Child is a roguelike action game with the unique twist of temporary upgrades. While definitely a game of high quality, the lack of new enemy types in later stages of the game makes the gradation of difficulty feel unbalanced.

Sol Cresta is a new entry in a legendary series, this time developed by director Hideki Kamiya at PlatinumGames. While complicated mechanics and a difficulty jump in the game’s latter half make it hard to recommend to newcomers to the shmup genre, the formation-based gameplay and the pull of the scoreboard make Sol Cresta feel fresh while staying true to the genre’s roots. Even with a lack of variation in boss design and simple presentation, Sol Cresta is a satisfying game for fans of the genre.

While easy combat and a story with uninteresting characters left us wanting more, unique boss battles and parkour-action-focused dungeons were enough to keep us entertained throughout the experience.

TOKOYO is a unique roguelite action game in which the dungeon’s layout changes every 24 hours. While definitely an interesting system, we came across the same floors even after 24 hours had passed. The game’s social elements didn’t do enough to give the passage of time enough meaning either, which makes it hard to say that the system has reached its potential.

While paying attention to what it is that makes a VR experience fun, RUINSMAGUS fails to take into account the restrictions of the format. While exciting at first, once enemy attacks grow in ferocity RUINSMAGUS becomes frustrating to control. The story about the weaker among us finding a way to live through their beliefs is compelling and might appeal to some players.

While not bad, Resident Evil Village Gold Edition is an unremarkable version of a great game. The new content definitely plays it safe but delivers what the fans wanted.

Enjoy the Diner is a game that fascinatingly depicts a place on the border between life and death. It succeeds in utilizing the inorganic feel of a minimalist visual novel as an expression of the story it wants to depict.