The mystery of what FFXIII holds is far more pleasing than the experience itself.

Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness is by no means a bad game; it just happens to be an uninteresting one. Five games into the series, it's become far too predictable.

Heroland has charming character art, hilarious dialogue, and a unique premise. Unfortunately, its style can't make up for its repetitive, monotonous gameplay and unwieldy length.

Only for the most devoted roguelike fans who want a quick fix.

Though Death end’s engaging narrative pushes me to reconsider my skepticism of games whose titles include semicolons, this Switch port’s monotonous combat system, cookie-cutter progression mechanics, and serious technical failings keep me from dumping this aversion altogether. For fans of top-notch visual novels willing to tuck in for the hours of tedium much the rest of the game amounts to, I can wholeheartedly recommend Death end re;Quest — just not on Switch. To all others: steer clear of this one or, if you can’t resist experiencing this odd series for yourself, nab this on PS4 or PC and dodge this technical travesty.

Breathtaking graphics, beautiful soundtrack, poignant ending—unfortunately these are not enough to carry a game through to the end. Silence feels like an ambitious project that got cut short, and it's unfortunate considering the exponential room for growth in the game.

If you’re just here for the gameplay, then you’ll get a lot out of Torchlight III. But the balance is askew if you’re wanting a substantial story and cast to support the wending journey from point A to B with no deviations in between. Perhaps future updates will refine the weaker points in the game, but at the moment, Torchlight III is far from the definitive entry in the series.

At the end of the day, Neversong is a game that lacks in creativity as much as it does in execution. Its incredibly short runtime clashes with the themes and emotions it tries to convey in its story, while the minimal gameplay and easy puzzles make for a decidedly unsatisfying gaming experience. With neither gameplay nor story fully covered, the end result is a game that can’t quite decide if it wants to be a point-and-click adventure or a puzzle-platformer, and quite frankly, it doesn’t try very hard to make you want to find out.

Overall, Jikandia: The Timeless Land is a rather disappointing game that pales in comparison to similar titles like Half Minute Hero.

In poking fun at RPGs of old, Artefacts Studio elicits laughs, but it loses sight of what makes those classics special: an engrossing narrative. The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk’s threadbare story does little to help you stay engaged beyond its opening hours, and inexcusable technical failings dampen the fun thereafter. I recommend The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk to fans of the source material and anyone with a high pain tolerance in desperate need of SRPG combat goodness. But for all others, you’re better off picking up one of the RPGs this one mocks.

Rondo of Swords could have been a great strategy RPG.

Even though this game was trash, if it gets enough support, then there may be hope for a <I>real</I> Lunar 3 in the future.

Repetition and game-breaking bugs cannot be excused. While I understand that some bugs just slip by and patches will likely rectify issues like the one I experienced, this is what separates top-notch games from the rest.

I went into Reynatis with many expectations formed by the previously mentioned Crymachina and The Caligula Effect 2. I expected a jankfest that would narratively punch skyward, seeking to shatter the heavens with razor-sharp words like its predecessors. Instead, the result was middling, and I feel this is due to the dual protagonists having to split the story—and thus split the focus. Reynatis has a bit of an identity crisis, and rather than it feeling like clean cuts on where one ends and the other begins, it’s all blended up into a mess that is both fun and taxing to play, both narratively intriguing and vapid, and both exciting and mundane. My one consolation is that if The Caligula Effect 2 and Crymachina are anything to go off of, a sequel to Reynatis could be one of my favorite games of the year. With that hope in mind, I eagerly look forward to the next strange FuRyu collaboration.

If not for the grating gameplay and clunky controls, Weird West would be another Devolver classic. I love Devolver’s games, and I was excited for this one. Weird West would be fantastic as a novella, actually–I loved the writing, atmosphere, and unique narrative. Chef’s kiss stuff right here. I’m sure some folks out there will find the gameplay good enough, but even knowing how fascinating the story is, I wouldn’t have put over twenty hours into this game if I knew at the outset what I know now.

Fragile Dreams offers an intense RPG mixed with a survivor horror eeriness that is bound to provide some with hours of enjoyment. Those who don't the patience to put up with the game's flaws, however, are best to look at a survival horror game for their survival horror fix or to an RPG for their RPG fix.

It’s too bad because the positive things this game does with its gameplay, characters, and how those elements interact with one another are impressive, innovative design and could easily be scooped out of this game and dropped into a much more agreeable story. But the premise and the all-around gross vibe drag down Kowloon High-School Chronicle. There is fun to be had if you’re willing to wade through the muck, but some people just won’t want to.

While it starts off fun, Nights of Azure gets boring very quickly and never seems to fully utilize its array of other features.

Do yourself a favor and wait until this game hits a major price drop. Honestly, I've never felt so let down by a Kingdom Hearts game. As fans of the series, we all deserve better than this.

The Devil in Me brings a very uneven first season of The Dark Pictures Anthology to a close, and I’m left a little ambivalent from the experience. I enjoyed all four of these games to some extent, and I’m curious as to what they’ll do with the next game, Directive 8020. But it’s clear after playing The Devil in Me that Supermassive needs to give these games a little more breathing room. While it’s certainly impressive that they’ve maintained a yearly release schedule for the Anthology, games like The Quarry show that these experiences could be made so much more. I genuinely hope that The Dark Pictures one day become truly great horror games rather than just novelties.

Though Farabel possesses quite a number of interesting ideas, the end product isn't as polished or complete as it could be. I enjoyed the short venture I had through its rewinding war, but I'm in no hurry to try again. Perhaps the developers will be able to take the refreshing concepts in Farabel and push it two steps further—I would love to play that game.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but when the imitation does little to add its own twists and ideas to an already established formula, it ends up as little more than a cheap copy of the original. For those desperate for Sony to finally port Bloodborne over to the PC, Thymesia might be a good stopover. Still, for anyone looking for a genuinely good Soulslike experience, your time is better spent elsewhere.

Overall, Record of Agarest War Zero is a lackluster title that does not bring much to the table for gamers who are not devoted followers of the series.

Eldest Souls has a New Game+ mode where the bosses hit harder, players heal for less, and the enemies have significantly more health — as well as new moves — but who wants to go through that? If you’re hungry for a fresh Souls-like experience, this isn’t it. If you’re the type of player who craves a challenge and loves memorizing boss patterns, then this could be for you. Just don’t expect to have meaningful options.

There are more little gripes with the game, but nothing game-breaking or truly miserable. It's the larger issues in gameplay, combined with an almost indifferent attitude to plot, character, and story that send this game into the realm of nigh-unplayability.

BRS is not actually broken, but there's nothing about it that will make you glad you put even 10 hours into it.

The amount of heart and soul Last BeNeVoLeNcE put into his entire Tales of the Elements project is readily apparent. There is simply no denying this game's eccentric vibe and excellent soundtrack. Unfortunately, clumsy controls and grindy gameplay marred my overall experience. Game aside, I wholeheartedly recommend lending an ear to Last BeNeVoLeNcE's soulful music on Bandcamp and taking in his evocative rhymes and lyrics. Tales of the Elements is a one-and-done game for me, but I totally see myself grooving to Last BeNeVoLeNcE's music over and over again.

The Longest Five Minutes does well with its unique premise, but falls short in providing a fun gameplay experience. Most of the gameplay is a waste of time and only serves as an obstacle to experiencing the story. Flash Back's adventure is only worth it for the good art and final revelation.