As it stands, Artis Impact is an audiovisual masterpiece that fails to convey a cohesive narrative or engage the player beyond its spectacular presentation.

Mistonia’s Hope -The Lost Delight- tells the tale of how one woman’s search for vengeance ultimately transforms into something else entirely, and it accomplishes this in a surprisingly thoughtful manner. The game’s strong-willed and complex protagonist, buoyed by a colorful and memorable cast of supporting characters, is a true standout in the otome genre. I enjoyed watching Aprose’s character growth throughout the various narrative routes. Maybe that’s where the once-lost delight found in the title truly comes from!

The way Legends: Z-A pulls from the traditional mainline games and Legends: Arceus but ultimately doesn’t incorporate the best elements of either is similarly unsatisfying. Still, a vacation must be truly catastrophic to be considered “bad,” and Legends: Z-A is plenty fun with its real-time battles and Rogue Mega-Evolved raids. Yet the game’s itinerary feels like it isn’t making the most of what the Legends sub-series has to offer. Instead, Pokémon Legends: Z-A feels like yet another in a long line of Pokémon game with growing pains. With the commonplace around every corner, you may feel the experience is one big tourist trap, but it’s still a trip worth going on and making the most of while you’re there.

As much as I wanted to love Syberia, I was never fully grabbed and, in fact, was repelled by its straightforward and slow puzzles and the story that goes nowhere (and not even fast, at that!). If Amerzone was pure pulpy fun, Syberia is one of those disappointing magazines with an amazing cover illustration.

Avernum 4: Greed and Glory is akin to reading a good fantasy novel: it’s deeply engrossing at times, requiring a fair bit of imagination to bring the world to life, and likely not the most modern method of accessing such content. But in saying this, the subterranean stories of Avernum, and its many detailed factions and quests keep you moving forward and invested in what’s coming over the next hill cavern. The commitment to playing an open role and of exploring everything on your own terms and time is an element many modern games still cannot offer in the same way. For those with such a bent, and with a willingness to engage their imagination and forgive some older design elements, Avernum 4: Greed and Glory will suck you deep into its yawning, cavernous depths.

Ys vs. Trails in the Sky: Alternative Saga is a nostalgic fanservice game for Falcom’s PSP era. I happen to love both Ys and The Legend of Heroes: Trails, so indulging in this missing localized title was a true delight. It might only appeal to diehard Falcom fans or those who enjoy earlier Ys and Trails games, but if you fall into those categories, it’s undoubtedly entertaining. When all else fails, I’d bet on the little girl with the orbal cannon any day of the week!

All of those quality-of-life features of Dragon Quest III HD-2D are back, too, including quest markers, difficulty settings, and the ability to speed up battles. They’ve even added a few more that I happily imbibed in, including marking treasure chests and secret spots on the map. As always, you can turn off these features if you want a more pure experience, but especially in the still open-ended Dragon Quest II, I am delighted they are here, no matter what my grandma might have thought of them.

At the end of each character’s storyline is an “Inevitable Dialogue” between the character and someone involved in their traumatic past. As you select the right answers to the questions asked, the characters talk through their experiences and steel their newfound resolve to move forward. The importance placed here on communication only serves to drive the point home: it’s not just what you say but how you say it that determines if the message lands or not. Unfortunately, not all of Type-NOISE: Shonen Shojo‘s interesting ideas always land.

Play this if you love the setting and are prepared to sift through repetition for what looks like a diamond. But I’ll warn you now: when you finally dig it up, you’ll realize it’s just a rock. That’s the feeling this game leaves you with. The Outer Worlds 2 is not Obsidian at their best; it might be the worst Obsidian game I’ve ever played. For now, it is a sprawling failure of focus and pacing, a game that is often interesting by accident rather than by design.

Deep Sleep nails its story, setting, and the unusual blend of turn-based combat with item-driven adventuring. But a few frustrations hold the experience back, mostly tied to level progression and controlling Amy’s.

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.

Slice-of-life games like Little Problems remind us that life’s little mysteries are story-worthy. I liked the brief snapshots of Little Problems’ setting and the characters in it. I just wish Little Problems were a longer game with a more cohesive storyline, a smoother narrative, deeper character development, less repetitive puzzles, and a stronger detective theme. McGurk, this is not. Hopefully, DLC or a sequel will expand on what Little Problems started.

Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree has some big ideas that never feel fully fleshed out. This game screams “potential,” but the only aspect that really sticks the landing is the town and inhabitants changing as time moves on. I enjoyed witnessing growth, stagnation, and death. The writers have poignant stories to tell and that is TGST’s best quality. Unfortunately, a commendable combat design that runs out of ideas and creativity quickly languishes the entire experience as I, unfortunately, was eager for the developers to wrap things up.

Absolum is what’s on the tin: a beat ‘em up with level progression, equipment, and spells. Runs can get samey, but Dotemu have done a commendable job of not overwhelming players, while adding just enough to runs to keep us from getting bored. Though not revolutionary, Absolum is worth any fan of the genre’s time.

Illusion of Itehari is a narrative-heavy otome VN with beautiful artwork, excellent voice acting, a good English script translation, memorable characters, and some phenomenally written romance. So far, it’s probably my favorite otome of 2025. I enjoyed it so much that I sincerely hope its fan disc might also see an English localization in the future. A perfect utopia floating through the clouds might be just an illusion, but the entertainment gleaned from playing Illusion of Itehari is very much real.

Lucy Dreaming represents an astounding achievement when you consider the size of the development team and the results they achieved. Playing feels like chancing upon long-forgotten memories of better days. Despite this, the game pushes forwards, making these narrative adventures no longer just abandoned nocturnes summoning dreams of the past, but hopes for what we might see again in the future.

Disgaea 7 is a mixed bag: while it addresses many of the issues present in its predecessor, it also fails to match the sereis’ best games it is trying to emulate. I enjoyed my time with the game, but I’m left wondering where the series can go from here. Disgaea 7 does what it needs to, but I feel the series has exhausted the concept and taken it about as far as possible without a significant shakeup.

Wander Stars proves to be a major delight, especially if you’re a fan of the classics that the developers obviously have a lot of love and respect for. Yet, being a phenomenal RPG with an innovative turn-based combat system and a found family of characters you can’t help but grow to love for their own merits makes it a worthwhile experience on its own. While I find the ending satisfactory, much like many classic anime season closings it honors, I wouldn’t mind seeing further adventures of Ringo and company either. The stars may be far apart, but given constellations and the like, they can always find each other again. The creative Wander Stars is one of the brightest video game stars I’ve played this year so far.

Digimon Story: Time Stranger has a lot to offer as a monster-taming RPG. A heartfelt story lies at its core, despite some dissonance regarding its target audience, and the gameplay mechanics are polished and thoroughly entertaining. You could find yourself spending hours and hours playing the game and experimenting with customization alone! I had a great time playing the primary story campaign in particular, and found myself growing to care about the characters. As far as an interactive Digimon experience goes, I think that sentiment proves just how much Digimon Story: Time Stranger ultimately delivers.

I’m still impressed by how at home Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter feels in its new form two decades down the line. It’s the opening act of an epic, long-running narrative and yet manages to feel down-to-earth and personal. It maintains its tone while updating it to a modern standard of presentation, and despite the stumbles in its dialogue, its characters are relentlessly charming. It’s more than just a great game—it’s a great starting point for a celebrated series, and that’s an utterly invaluable quality for one as daunting as this.

So does Hades II live up to the original? Absolutely. It retains much of what made the first title great while offering a different kind of gameplay. With Hades II, Supergiant Games proves that even Zeus can’t claim a monopoly on lightning striking twice.

I could complain about how The Ivalice Chronicles doesn’t have a revamped soundtrack like we got with the Pixel Remasters, that the PSP content wasn’t included, or that it didn’t have new cinematics, but you know what? This is an outstanding remaster with a subtle touch to rebalancing that fans—and newcomers—will clamor for. Having Final Fantasy Tactics accessible on modern hardware with all the furnishings Square Enix was kind enough to bestow upon us—all I can say is “thank you.” In truth, while an updated soundtrack would have been my biggest ask, I still cannot believe how good this voice acting is. The localization team and actors have absolutely done us a service with this masterpiece, treating this title with the respect it deserves. This epic fantasy that tonally draws from different styles into one coherent, beautiful voice is available to all of us, and if communication from its creators is to be believed, we might see more of this world if we support Ivalice Chronicles. Do yourself a favor and enjoy what is, without question, one of the greatest tales ever told. One of the greatest RPGs ever created.

Varlet could’ve been another pleasant surprise by FuRyu, similar to The Caligula Effect 2, but sadly, it doesn’t reach that level. There’s some mild enjoyment here if you can temper expectations and be patient, but that isn’t something everyone can or should have to do. I think there’s potential here, should FuRyu decide to explore Varlet further in future game projects, but as it stands now? I’d advise waiting to get Varlet on a discount, even if you think you’re the target audience for it.

Despite not living up to its potential, Hyke: Northern Light(s) still has its charms, and I don’t regret the time I spent hanging out under the stars with Hyke and her friends. Hopefully, if she gets another outing, she will pitch up on more pleasant ground and serve us a meal we can properly enjoy.

Strategic yet led by its narrative and decision-making, Sultan’s Game sinks its venomous fangs in, forcing addled players to say: just one more turn. I had several instances in which I wanted to set up my team’s positions so that I didn’t forget what I wanted to do before I quit for the day, but I was so curious about the outcomes that I clicked to end the day and see the events play out, telling myself that I’d save right after the stories finished. Then the next in-game day rolled around and four new events popped up with their dazzling clinging sounds. I hovered my cursor over just to see the titles. That title! I just had to see what that title meant for the event. Before I knew it, I was placing characters into a whole new set of events. That’s the kind of game this is. Of course, like any venom, a little bit over time builds a tolerance, and while the content in Sultan’s Game may feel endless, there is, indeed, an end. Two-hundred, in fact.

I have nothing but praise for Upwards, Rain! The Post Office of Farewells. If I had one critique, it’s that the game does such an excellent job building up its fantasy world setting and the characters who inhabit it that I simply wish there’d been more time with them! But I can’t say that the game doesn’t offer a satisfactory and heartfelt conclusion, despite its shorter length. Upwards, Rain! The Post Office of Farewells‘ underlying message is hopeful and healing, one that I hope many others experience for themselves.

Mado Monogatari: Fia and the Wondrous Academy earns a passing grade, but just barely. Honestly, I did have fun playing through this one… most of the time. But in a market saturated with clever and impressive games of a similar vein (say, Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island), there was no way I could allow Fia and her friends a spot on the honor roll. If you can’t get enough of anime-infused dungeon-crawling adventures, the latest in the Mado Monogatari series might be for you.

Suffice it to say, this game is a solid otome VN experience if you’re the right audience! Those who couldn’t get enough of the first Bustafellows will surely find something to enjoy here, and those who enjoy mystery crime dramas and romance should take a closer look. I certainly wouldn’t mind a possible third season in the future or even a localization announcement for the Nintendo Switch port of its connected Side Kicks! game. More of this story-verse would undoubtedly be a plus. Like the citizens of New Sieg, we can only stay tuned to find out what could be in the works!