It feels antiquated, but give it a chance, and you're likely to enjoy it. Plus, more support for the series means more likelihood that the rest will somehow, someday reach our Falcom-starved fingers.

Mato Anamolies is an appropriate name, as the game is something of an anomaly itself. I want to rate it higher than I have here regarding its overall presentation and solid first and middle narrative portions. Yet the final segments and how they contrast everything that happened beforehand hold me back. It’s frustrating, as I genuinely enjoyed my time with the game in its first two-thirds and could easily see it being a good fit for those looking for a compelling cyberpunk plot or an RPG with a similar tone to Persona. I wouldn’t mind revisiting Mato one day. I hope the next visit’s outcome isn’t so bizarre an unraveled experience.

Cyanide obviously care very much for the source material, and their earnest desire to do right by the Sisyphean task of a celebratory Lovecraft adaptation is hard to fault. I may have struggled with the poor stealth segments, but I did feel compelled by its campy cast and cosmic intrigue to see the game through to completion — something that can't be said of Infogrames' or Bethesda's attempts. Cyanide's take on Call of Cthulhu is undoubtedly the best yet, for better or worse.

A lovingly-crafted though flawed adventure in the Sierra mold.

Innocent Life would be more of a game for a casual gamer or, because of the ease of difficulty, maybe someone just starting out in the series.

Being a budget eShop title, Knights of Justice clocks in between 3-6 hours, but I'd had more than enough of it long before I completed its (incredibly frustrating) final battle. And that's a shame: I adore River City's cartoonish sprites and unique action RPG spin on the beat 'em up genre, and I genuinely enjoyed much of Knights of Justice's combat when I wasn't battling its inventory system or making up for lost time from unfair deaths. What could've been a breezy send-up is instead hampered by multiple terrible systems. Skip this one and wait for River City: Rival Showdown instead.

Hero's Saga has some good points such as actual, strategic challenge and some pretty visuals, but the game as a whole is weak.

The isometric grid muddies the waters instead of providing meaningful depth, the companion and charm systems feel several iterations short of being finished, and the core deck mechanics lack the consistency and design work that make its inspirations so enduring. Shuffle Tactics is brimming with things to unlock but starved for meaningful ways to enjoy them, leaving it less a cohesive “greatest hits album” of roguelite elements and more of a confused compilation of good ideas played out of tune.

The Mystery Dungeon games are definitely different than most Pokémon games, and there's fun to be had with them, but there are still a lot of better games available on the DS (including the second Pokémon Mystery Dungeon), which makes Blue Rescue Team difficult to recommend.

As a dungeon crawler, The Lost Child really doesn't do anything wrong, but it also clearly never strays too much out of its comfort zone either. El Shaddai fans in particular will no doubt find something to enjoy in The Lost Child, and even diehard dungeon-crawling fans might have a good time. Those without nostalgic fondness for El Shaddai or who aren't quite sold on the genre might be best served giving a series like Shin Megami Tensei a try as their first take on a story-driven dungeon crawler instead.

The long answer is that Chantelise is a fun indie RPG that just needs a good polish.

Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2, and the Path of the Ninja series as a whole, is proof that an RPG based on a popular license can be good.

If there’s entertainment to be found in the schadenfreude of watching your characters retch as they eat the disgusting food you serve them, it wears off quickly, leaving a solid — if frustrating — roguelike as the bulk of Monster Menu. While there are some great ideas at play, those ideas don’t automatically coalesce into a fun or enjoyable experience. Some may appreciate the challenge, but that’s the only hook beyond the thin main gimmick. Like a plate of grubs, Monster Menu may fill you up, but there’s no guarantee it will make you happy.

Legend of Dungeon is fun to play, but it's a game that you're unlikely to actually finish without trying a great number of times. And since you can't save your game, each attempt is a fresh start. The question is whether you'll continue to enjoy the game's randomness long enough to attempt it that many times.

I enjoyed my time in Rainy Woods, but I wish The Good Life would have given me more reasons to stick around longer. It’s a refreshing experience that encourages you to slow down for a minute and take the time to smell whatever it is that grows out there. And for SWERY fans, The Good Life feels like his most polished effort to date and probably a greater realization of what he had attempted to do with Deadly Premonition, at least in terms of free, exploratory gameplay.

It's no secret that I thoroughly enjoyed Analogue: A Hate Story. The writing is stellar, the music and graphics are stylish, and the interactive gameplay elements are immersive. I also appreciate its unapologetic attitude toward mass appeal, instead opting to please a very specific kind of gamer. Those who want to see a fine example of elevated video game storytelling would do best to check this game out. It may not be a long ride (5-7 hours for a single playthrough), but it is a satisfying one.

I appreciate Infinite Guitars ambitiously shooting for the moon, even though it missed by a mile. The game’s aesthetics are spectacular, and I loved the dynamically adjustable difficulty levels, but the iffy controls and poorly put-together plot crippled my overall enjoyment. Another round of copy editing to peruse the script and tighten up the writing would have elevated the game into “you gotta check this out!” territory. Infinite Guitars has also been extremely buggy and glitchy since its release. Though multiple patches have been released and continue to come through (Nikko Nikko has been exceptionally responsive to player feedback regarding bugs), Infinite Guitars could have used more development and QC time before its stage debut. Should Nikko Nikko expand the Infinite Guitars concept into future games, I expect more polish, improved storytelling, and would like to see the evolution of Infinite Guitars into “Infinite Rock Band” featuring additional characters who play instruments other than guitar.

I don’t ever want to be frustrated or overwhelmed with a game like Alchemic Cutie, and I applaud the amount of content that’s available here, but it feels like this jar is jam-packed to the point where the glass is cracking. While other contemporaries offer a variety of activities that benefit your progression, there doesn’t seem to be any reason to carry on in Alchemic Cutie once you’ve beaten the story. Unless you really like that pink-coloured jelly with the bear ears and you want to keep them forever.

A short adventure worthy of the breezy gamer's attention — once multiplayer is fixed.

Conception II overrelies on eccentricity to mask its unexciting game mechanics.

All-in-all Trinity Universe swims the seas of mediocrity. Whilst it's not a bad game, it doesn't try very hard to appeal to a large audience.

Lord of the Rings: War in the North is far from perfect, but it's an incredibly well-balanced beat-em-up.

I had some skepticism on how this RPG/board game hybrid would work out, but it turned out to be better than the sum of its parts.

Fans of this archaic throwback to Wizardry dungeon crawling of old may enjoy the nostalgia captured here, but those craving story and more engaging gameplay best look elsewhere.

If you know what you're getting into, Unchained Blades is an enjoyable game that doles out pain and pleasure in equal capacity.

Demonicon is ugly, awkward, and unknown, but it's still an average action RPG.

Metal Max Xeno lacks just about all of the characteristics that made the series interesting to begin with.

Class of Heroes manages to complete the job of being an introductory RPG, and it does a couple of things right, but it wasn't much fun.