Sadly, Belladonna proves to be less than the sum of it's parts, though fans of Gothic settings and short stories may be able to find that special something which evidently eludes me.

Yet another game to add to the pile of mediocre, free-engine made RPGs.

For fans of traditional RPGs with a twist.

Surprisingly immersive horror adventure that fails to amaze due to several annoyances, dated graphics, and lack of conclusion.

A disappointing and boring fantasy romance game that has potential but fails to fulfill the most basic expectations of a visual novel.

Another compelling visual novel from MoaCube.

A new direction for Aveyond that could divide fans.

Still, Part 3 contains all the elements that not only make Part 1 & 2 great, but also the essence of choose your own adventures, albeit twisted in further permutations. Fans of the genre should definitely proceed down this path.

If you ever wanted a partner who is willing to do everything to make you happy, ignoring their own happiness, this is a sob story for you.

Ara Fell is a solid example of what RPGMaker games can be, and while it never wows it's certainly a lot of fun.

The Eyes of Ara succeeds in providing just the right balance of difficulty in its puzzles while expertly weaving them into the environment.

It's hard not to be charmed by OZMAFIA!!'s out-there concept and larger-than-life characters. It's got a beauty contest in which you compete against a sunhat-clad duck, for goodness' sake.

Part 4 dismantles the player's reliance on rewinding and introduces a debatably better mechanic in its place. Without the revive feature, it would be difficult to complete the game by simply selective rewinding, and I'm glad they decided against it. With so many more creative puzzles and tricky events to resolve, Sorcery! Part 4 definitely provides a resounding finale to the series.

I feel a little cheated by the quick ending, which I suppose hints at a glimmer of enjoyment.

I wanted to like Tokyo Babel so much. I'll admit I haven't seen every ending, but while I really liked the concept and the ideas behind the narrative, I just couldn't bring myself to spend a few more hours trawling through pages of text with a group of characters I hardly cared about.

If Kokurase were a person, I would heartily say that senpai has noticed you. I had a great time with the first episode and want to experience more of the misadventures of Kokurase/Cupid's Helpers. If you enjoy wacky anime hijinks with a quirky cast of characters and lovely music, give this game a shot, especially since the first episode is free.

Lieve Oma won't be for everyone. Not a lot happens over its short duration, but not a lot needs to. It's a brief, relaxing moment in time for our protagonist, and ostensibly it is meant to be the same to the player. In that sense, Lieve Oma is a successful experience, and one that made me fondly remember the time I spent with my own grandmother.

I must say, I enjoyed MajorMinor far more than I thought I would. The game is an undoubtedly acquired taste and I can see some players potentially getting turned off before even completing the first couple of chapters. The game's pacing is deliberate and characters aren't immediately likable, but if you can get past that, the game definitely opens up and blooms. For those who have enough open-mindedness, patience, and suspension of disbelief to give MajorMinor a chance, hopefully the game will grow on you as it did on me.

Star Story: The Horizon Escape possesses an indescribable "cool factor," but I didn't love it as much as I wanted to. I felt like the variety of gameplay styles and creative ideas should have kept progression fresh, but instead the game was a more casually paced affair that I couldn't play for more than 5-7 minutes at a time. Perhaps it's just my personal taste, but when I'm playing a graphic adventure, I want to be engrossed to play a marathon session like I'd be engrossed in a book that keeps me up past my bedtime because it's such an incredible page-turner; unfortunately, the thin narrative of this game lacked the punch to keep me coming back for more. Star Story: The Horizon Escape is not a bad little game and it has some good ideas, but I want to see Evil Corporation's future projects take this game's concepts to the next level.

Echoes of the Fey: The Fox's Trail is a cool little game with lush graphics, composed sound design, and intriguing characters. Although I would have liked more insight into some of the characters and their backstories, I suppose that is what the supplemental materials are there for. I plan to check those out while waiting for the next episode, because it looks like a whole new heap of trouble will land on Sofya's doorstep.

With a great amount of variety and choice, Last Dream: World Unknown is an RPG Maker game that deserves to be celebrated. The game is here to remind us that old school RPGs can still be fun, but it also brings back memories that we don't always want to admit — that some parts are best left in the past. Regardless, if you love the NES and early SNES days of turn-based combat, I highly recommend this game. Otherwise, the archaic dungeons, awkward world map navigation, and the basic plot might put you off.

Accel World VS Sword Art Online is a fun game that will provide enjoyment for established fans of Accel World and Sword Art Online, and they're the only ones I would recommend this game to. The interesting controls and varied battle mechanics make for dynamic boss battles, but exploration is ponderous, keeping the vast number of characters adequately leveled is a chore, and following the plot is wholly dependent on prior knowledge of both series. Still, I have to give credit to the game for having some well thought-out aspects to it, saving it from being a complete throwaway as games based on popular licenses are wont to be.

Much like vanilla ice cream, MidBoss suffers from a severe case of creative bankruptcy. From its aesthetics that seem like straight asset rips, to its extremely shallow gameplay that tries to impress with numbers only, the final product is a meager roguelike that desperately clings onto a single gimmick to stand out from the rest of the crowd. While that might make for a passable game that you can kill time with every now and then, it doesn't make for a very memorable one that you'll think about playing again just for old time's sake. With this in mind, unless you're a diehard fan of roguelikes, you can safely keep MidBoss out of your Steam library.

Visual novel fans have enjoyed a feast of quality titles this year, but The Last Birdling needs to be on your list of games to try. I have not been this emotionally affected by a game in years and cannot express how powerful the storytelling was to me. If my review doesn't convince you to check this game out, there is an available demo on the InvertMouse website you can sample. Truth be told, playing the demo months ago is what sold me on this game. As soon as the demo ended on its tense cliffhanger, I simply had to know what happens next. I had a feeling the full version would be a good game, but did not expect it to be something this special.

If I had to come up with an example of a simply good visual novel, Symphonic Rain would be it. While its dabbling in the rhythm game sections does it more harm than good, it takes just enough risks and twists in its writing to keep you engaged throughout the five-to-seven odd hours it takes to finish a route. Symphonic Rain hits a little too close to the monotony of life at times with its gameplay, but the great quality of the writing certainly makes it a visual novel worth checking out.

I've got some hang-ups with Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana, but ultimately it's a beautiful and exhilarating little game that's worth your time. Falcom has managed to craft a lovely series out of excellent combat, endearing characters, and snippets of story; that formula has worked well in the past, but some of the risks haven't paid off in this entry. The Vita version is sadly missing all of the PS4 and PC additions, such as the extra forms for Dana, but what you do get is a beautiful adventure in the palm of your hands. Everyone should try at least one Ys game, and this is yet another entry in the series I recommend — just expect something a bit different this time.

My immediate thought after playing Fighting Fantasy Legends is that I'd rather reread/replay my old, if dusty, Fighting Fantasy gamebooks. The books had haunting text and astonishing artwork that were captured beautifully in inkle's Sorcery! video games, but were sorely lacking in Fighting Fantasy Legends. This is largely because Fighting Fantasy Legends' repetitive and luck-dependent board game format made me feel completely disconnected from the adventure and did not engross me the way that Sorcery!'s "visual novel with RPG elements" format did. Fighting Fantasy Legends' menu option to increase font sizes pleased me and leveling up my dice was nifty, but I still found the game a disappointing waste of my time.

Despite some pacing issues early on, The Fruit of Grisaia is an unforgettable experience, and a hallmark of romance visual novels.