The gameplay of Xuan-Yuan Sword: Mists Beyond the Mountains is an unoptimized mess. There is no attempt at balancing or scaling, with the only positive being a unique presentation. When it comes down to it, this has the capacity to become truly and unironically great, but the translation and mechanics need to be rebuilt from the ground up. As it is now, you’re better off not wasting your time and money.

Something went terribly wrong with the development of Tamarin. Nothing works and everything comes off like it was slapped together causing this entire adventure to feel like a random and confusing mess. Still, if you’re trying to experience one of the most bonkers 3D platformers ever developed, you found it, but I urge you not to put your money into this game.

Ancient Weapon Holly falls short of delivering a compelling roguelike action experience, marred by its overly simplistic gameplay, lack of narrative engagement, and repetitive dungeon layouts. While the game introduces a unique combat mechanic, it fails to build upon this foundation, resulting in a monotonous and unrewarding experience.

Classic Collection is so bad that it is actively driving people back to the original game as it bleeds players, and given that the original is less than a third of the price, I can't blame anyone for that. This is an unfinished, shoddy product that doesn't feel good to play, and that's if you can play it at all.

Waking will have you eager to wake up within the first few hours. Its compelling self-reflective narrative is overshadowed by some of the worse adventure mechanics and systems that I have played in quite some time. Perhaps the game should go through some self-reflecting of its own and figure out exactly what it wants to be because this is a complete mess.

By using the shortness of procedurally created dungeons without any positive unique skills or mechanics, Shachibato just ends up feeling like an RPG that ends way too quickly, without any reason to continuously play it.

Super Crazy Rhythm Castle is a game that you’ll want to end as soon as it begins. I feel like it’ll find success as a novelty game where people challenge their patience or within indie circles of pretentious gamers who argue that this narrative is genius and we’re the ones not capable of understanding its brilliance. Regardless, it’s not a good game, but in retrospect, I’ve never experienced anything like it, so that’s a positive.

No Place for Bravery, while visually interesting on the surface, is left shallow and clunky. The combat is choppy and frustrating, the stage design is confusing with perspective, enemies and other NPCs lack personality, and the majority of the sound design is unbalanced and often desynced from the actions on screen. However, it excels as a psychological horror experience. The entire game would have been much improved if they had focused on that. While the experience only lasted about 10 hours, it wasn’t an amount of time I’d say I enjoyed.

Deadly Premonition 2 might be fun for a tiny group of gamers, but I had a terrible time drudging through it. The B-movie esque plot and narrative scenes can be enjoyable in a cringy sort of way, but everything from the graphics to the controls makes it insanely hard to enjoy. Instead of wasting 20 hours with this game, I’d say you’re better off just going back and replaying Deadly Premonition.

Arc the Lad R is a disappointing experience whether you play any of the PVP or PVE modes. Auto-battle will get you through most encounters, but this is as barebones as you get. It’s sad to see such a memorable series be reduced to this gacha element, but it’s still nice to be playing an Arc the Land game in 2021.

If I could offer any advice, stay away from SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-Off. Its laughable $30 price tag had me thinking I was hallucinating as it is borderline robbery. These colorful visuals may catch the eyes of series’ fans, but it’s all a facade for a shallow and limited experience that is first and foremost a free-to-play mobile experience brought to Switch for a premium price.

Code Violet is a deeply flawed survival horror title that struggles to justify its existence. While it offers occasional moments of visual density and fan service appeal, its lack of coherent design, constant technical issues, and frustrating gameplay mechanics make it a chore to play. The narrative is confusing, the systems are poorly explained, and the experience feels like a mishmash of abandoned ideas. Despite some visual ambition, Code Violet ultimately fails to respect the player’s time or intelligence.

Tristia: Restore is fundamentally broken. It is one of the worst experiences I have ever touched in video games, and the first time in my life I have ever felt regret for playing one. I wish I had Nanoca’s skills to make a time machine and tell the developers to invest all their money in Tristia: Legacy instead. That game deserved more.

There is a promising premise presented here, but sadly, Waifu Impact fails to make an impact at all, let alone a splash. Even if the concept isn’t fully realized, there could always be hope for some notable systems. Unfortunately, this couldn’t pull off any of that, leaving me confused. Games can be cheeky but still present some value with how comically bad they are, Waifu Impact doesn’t even come close. With poor gameplay and visuals, this game is dead in the water.

Silent Hill Ascension, with its promising live participation concept, initially piqued my interest but ultimately fell short due to a rushed narrative, generic characters, and an array of microtransactions. While it successfully brings the community together for some collaborative decision-making, the game’s overall experience leaves much to be desired. The repetitive endurance segments, issues with the PC interface, and the high cost of the season pass further diminish the appeal.

Secret Kiss is Sweet and Tender is not going to be for everyone. The premise is going to turn some VN fans away at the door, plus the simplicity and lack of overall narrative depth aren’t going to win any awards. On top of that, the price and the slightly middling translation don’t do it any favors. Still, this could be a sweet and fluffy experience for yuri fans, but it might be better to look elsewhere first for your escapism fix.