Star Trek: Resurgence is a remarkable narrative adventure game set in a classic space opera universe. I’m incredibly impressed by its scope and the well-written story it conveys. Like an interactive Star Trek show, Resurgence is a game where your decisions have a real impact. I enjoyed playing this title even as I acknowledge the weak points holding it back, mainly its graphical hiccups. Still, Star Trek fans should give Star Trek: Resurgence a try, though, as should any adventure game fans who like sci-fi too. I hope this isn’t the last we see of the U.S.S. Resolute and her crew!

Sometimes brutal, but always fun, Overfall will give you hours worth of roguelite enjoyment.

While RPGolf Legends doesn’t have a robust story to match the vibrant personality of its protagonist and has to overcome some recurring lulls in gameplay, it’s a simple, charming game with enough allure to make it worth its relatively short run-time. Give it a swing and go for par.

Chapters is a solid game, but the gameplay rarely engages and the ending of the story leaves too much unsaid. Still, there is plenty of intrigue and a fantastic cast of characters driven by a superb script and delightful voice acting.

Admittedly, Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light is not the same as the classics from two decades ago, but nothing ever will be. This is as close as we're getting for now, so take advantage of this opportunity.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with Champions of the Continent, and its high quality outweighed its flaws. So long as you don’t mind not having “the best” party composition, completing the main story Paths without spending a penny is feasible. Regardless, I wish it had been a ground-up premium experience: an Octopath Traveler 1.5. The original Bravely Default had a “half sequel” in the form of Bravely Second before the numerical mainline sequel Bravely Default II. That kind of approach would have worked wonderfully here. For what it offers, I’m not sure Champions of the Continent would be appealing to people who aren’t already fans of Octopath Traveler. However, as far as mobile titles go it’s an easy recommendation and delivers an enjoyable experience that will keep fans busy until Octopath Traveler II.

So, in the end, what we have is an exceptional local-multiplayer action RPG with a good story and great combat and production values, fused with some of the best-loved trappings of the hack-and-slash loot-grab genre.

Dairoku: Agents of Sakuratani doesn’t take each opportunity it gives itself for unique worldbuilding based on rich Japanese folklore, but it’s at its best when presenting feel-good resolutions, which it does on every route. It’s not lore-heavy like Olympia Soirée nor is it a grand spectacle like Code: Realize; rather, it’s a simple but charming palate cleanser of an otome game, and that makes it unique enough to add its own kind of variety to the genre’s lineup.

Although Avalon Code would be without a niche had it not included the Book of Prophecy, the package as a whole is one full of variety and enjoyment.

I had a great time playing Xuan Yuan Sword 7 and can only hope that Western gamers will get the chance to experience more games in the series at some point. We’ve clearly been missing out on a compelling series if this entry is any indication! It might not have reinvented the action RPG wheel, but Xuan Yuan Sword 7 is a well-rounded and incredibly solid take on the genre with a phenomenal story at its core.

This thrilling game of high-stakes detective falls short narratively but remains strangely compelling throughout.

Cultist Simulator is a posthumanist spiral that, like its endless card combinations, is greater than the sum of its parts.

Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure is a wonderful little treat, and I’m glad it received a modern port. The game is blissfully short and quickly paced – coming in at around 12-13 hours – but it’s not without its faults. With extremely easy combat, an absurdly uneven encounter rate, and heavily reused maps for dungeons, the game operates almost exclusively on its charm. With how short it is, overlooking its flaws is easy as players zip from one location to the next, listen to musical numbers about how great frogs are, and learn the meaning of true courage as they help Cornet rescue the love of her life. Rhapsody is definitely worth playing, though it’s little more than nostalgic novelty some twenty years later.

Mass Effect: Andromeda presents plenty of great ideas, but these tend to be either aped too closely from its predecessors or buried under issues that are surmountable, yet frustrating all the same. It excels most keenly at crafting environments that drip with atmosphere, suffused with rich color and ambient, spacey sound. Though this new setting lacks the depth and texture of BioWare's Milky Way, would-be explorers and romantics will find their odyssey to Andromeda sufficiently enjoyable.

Fans of Minecraft might enjoy it on the surface for its in-your-face references, which is fine, because not much exists beneath the surface. If you're thinking about purchasing Telltale's newest title, do so with these considerations in mind. Similarly, if you buy it, approach it knowing what to expect and be prepared for light, childish adventure.

The 3rd Birthday is disappointing; it brings back a series and a character that fans adore, and destroys what fans held as a paragon. The narrative is filled with holes and problems, the tough Aya people were hoping for is absent, the gameplay is a mess, and the story tries harder to throw you into cheap plot twists rather than to be enjoyable.

It took me roughly fifteen hours to play Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn, but I could see it taking someone else either longer or shorter, depending on how they approach the game world, battles, and quests. I enjoyed every moment I played it and was astounded whenever I uncovered something new about one of its massive areas or thrilled when I came up with a winning strategy for a tough fight. Regardless of your thoughts on soulslite games, I think Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn succeeds at being an engaging action RPG. Nor and Enki are fantastic characters with whom I immensely enjoyed traveling. There’s more than enough black powder charge left in this pistol to make a spark happen if you decide to pull the trigger.

Because of its hybrid nature as an RPG/visual novel, it's quite different from our previous tastes of Gust (in Atelier Iris 1 and 2). And, when you stop and think about how rare the dating-sim, visual novel, and love adventure genres are in the US (some Hirameki titles and a few other obscure releases), it's great to see a game like this represent that faction of Japanese culture, on the PS2 no less.

Quality of life improvements over the already good Megadimension Neptunia VII make this the best Neptunia game to date.

If you're invested in this series already, this episode is absolutely going to deliver. If you're not a fan of Back to the Future or the previous episodes, it's not going to change your mind.

Although Detective Pikachu unequivocally has a charming lead, it's ultimately a few sparks short of being a true bolt of brilliance.

The ultimate downfall of Michonne's tale is that the writers attempted to shoehorn what should have been a ten-hour narrative into three hours.

While the ending is fitting in wrapping up this story, it feels presumptuous that it’s clearly pushing for a sequel, especially as some aspects of The DioField Chronicle feel underdeveloped. I think there’s still potential for this to become a series, but any sequel would need to go far above and beyond what’s here in the first entry. As much as that statement sounds like it’s looking ahead, it also indicates my feelings. The vast potential is still there, but it’s as yet unrealized, and the battle is far from won. The DioField Chronicle joins the vaunted Square Enix SRPG canon, yet it’s only just there.

MHF is definitely not a game for newbies, and it's not a big fan of loners, but there's some real fun to be had along with the frustration.

Despite having themes and concepts that speak to me, the game was ultimately a mediocre experience. I liked the vivid graphics and endearing characters but was turned off by the tepid music and mushy controls. My final thought regarding Viola: The Heroine’s Melody is that it’s simply another game that falls into my “I wanted to love it, but I didn’t” category.

With stunning pixel-art graphics, solid combat, and a considerable amount of character customization, you can easily sink a few hours into Foregone, maybe more if you delve into more challenging difficulty levels. However, if you’re looking for a complex Metroidvania full of backtracking and deep lore, I would look elsewhere. Foregone may have left me feeling a bit cold, but if you’re looking for some straightforward side-scrolling action, I suspect it will nicely scratch that itch!

For all the twisted, macabre, death-worshiping crap that's found in this game, it only makes sense that the game itself should suffer a terrible fate.

With the basic layout of the game's universe out of the way, the developers were able to refine and revise to their heart's content and make a respectable sequel.