With limited role-playing components, a so-so narrative, dialogue choices that don't seem to have significant impact, and a lack of replayability, Strays Gods: The Roleplaying Musical doesn't quite come together as well as it could. Still, this unique blend of styles will scratch those with an itch for an urban fantasy musical with entertaining songs.

Wastelanders won't convince anyone who thought Fallout 76 was irredeemable to begin to believe otherwise, it's simply not enough of a marked improvement to wholesale change many people's minds. For those that left a sliver of a chance for redemption, however, it's one small, wobbly step in the right direction.

With three more episodes to come, it wasn't a surprise to discover that The Council: Episode 2 - Hide and Seek was more transitionary by design. It has its fair share of minor revelations to make, but, continuing to be hampered by the same technical issues, it's important the next episode needs to up the ante and correct some missteps before my interest in the whole spectacle falls apart.

Mary Skelter: Nightmares straddles the line of having fun mechanics and story hooks with a mediocre plot featuring a poor conclusion. If you’re into the whole dungeon crawler with cute anime girls approach, like Demon Gaze or Operation Abyss, you’ll appreciate what Mary Skelter has to offer, providing dozens of hours of interesting content. While I wouldn’t recommend picking it up right away, it’s at least worth a try whenever it goes on sale.

Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony is destined to be a title the fans are going to be split over. The game has a very clear message it wants to rub off on the player, and it’s the sort of thing you’re going to have to mull over for a while to determine whether or not it earns its thesis. For me, it all just felt like desperation laced with fatigue. When the game wasn’t dragging me through incredibly long-winded exposition and plot bits, it was disappointing me with the direction the story took. If Spike Chunsoft wanted me to get a sense of closure from the series, they may have succeeded, because I’m not sure I’m up for another one.

Super Neptunia RPG is a fun little game but leaves a lot more to be desired. I could see a sequel full of potential, but at its current state with all the technical hiccups, it really boils down to you being a Neptunia fan or not. The game lacks enough polish for it to be a great game, but perhaps a sequel down in the line or even using a fresh IP without Neptunia holding it back can make room for a more interesting project.

God Wars has a surprisingly cohesive job and skill system under the hood. However, the rest of the game falls short in too many places to make it an easy recommendation in the genre. If you can't get enough tactical RPGs, God Wars can be worth checking out but it's not a stand-out in the genre.

While Trillion: God of Destruction does an exceptional job in setting up its premise and having you care about the plight of its characters, the gameplay and combat mechanics left me feeling disappointed. Fans of turn-based dungeon crawlers may want to give this one a try, but be prepared for a marathon of character building.

If you really enjoyed Tales of Arise's cast or combat, then you may come away from Beyond The Dawn satisfied, as there are certainly more battles and banter. But stale questing, trite plotting, and thin content overall mostly left me apathetic more than anything else.

When I hit the credits of Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree, I felt a little bit bummed out. I don't regret my 25 hours spent playing the game, but it never elevated beyond just being an acceptable action roguelike. Many of the game's unique components in the combat & structure feel either inconsequential or insignificant. The overall presentation is stellar, and the Shinju Village NPC stories are endearing. However, stale combat, underbaked sub-systems, and a mediocre overall narrative bring down a game that I wish left more of an impression on me.

Star Ocean: First Departure R is a fine port of a mediocre RPG. It's great that the game is playable now on modern platforms outside of a PSP UMD, but the all same flaws are still present, and a couple of small opportunities to potentially smooth out the experience weren't made. Check out the game if you are curious to experience the original Star Ocean story in some form, but it doesn't stand tall against its peers.

Tokyo Dark isn’t necessarily breaking new ground for adventure games, but it’s one worth checking out. Its spin via S.P.I.N presents an intriguing approach to depict a psychological thriller. Instead of leaning heavily on environmental puzzles, Tokyo Dark focuses more on multiple solutions to character interactions. The uneven pacing and inconsistent artstyle hold Tokyo Dark back from being great, though it’s certainly an impressive first game from Cherrymochi.

The truth of Hellpoint is that even with all the jank and annoyance, it’s working with a well-known and beloved formula in an interesting setting, with enough tweaks to feel like its own thing. All of the satisfaction from near-deaths against big bosses and slow mastery of enemies and mechanics is here, it’s just dressed differently. The technical issues and world progression hold Hellpoint back, but for fans of the Soulsborne or sci-fi horror genre it’s worth checking out.

I wouldn’t be against seeing a Monark 2 one day, I’d love to get more of this combat, and if they can get the character models to look more like the drawings - even better. If we do get a sequel, I will definitely be approaching it with far less excitement than I went into this first Monark game with. Get yourself the free demo and when it’s over, ask yourself if you would have fun doing that same stuff over and over and over. If you think you would, then maybe you will have a better time with Monark than I did.

Even though Atomfall didn’t fully click for me, I believe its unique approach to the survival genre will attract a passionate community. I applaud Rebellion for its extensive accessibility settings and innovative “Lead” system, which I hope they refine in future games. However, for every aspect I enjoyed, there were two or three strange omissions or design choices that held the game back. I hope Rebellion revisits this IP in the future, but next time, I’d like to see Atomfall feel more cohesive and fully realized.

Eastward Octopia is a fun little distraction, that doesn't stray too far from the usual farming sim formula. Changes to certain important side jobs like fishing and mining help to elevate it, but the lack of constant progress mid-way really drags the experience down. I’d really not rather wait around for a game to let me play it, and in my sixteen hour playthrough (which you can continue after the credits roll), at least a couple hours were spent heading straight to bed each day until something changed. On it’s own as a farming game Octopia isn’t really comparable to the major hitters, even if it does get most systems right, it’s still not competing with them on the same level. If you’re a fan of Eastward who also happens to enjoy farming games, this is a light recommendation. For anyone else, you should definitely try Eastward first.

Chocobo GP is a wonderful controlling Final Fantasy-themed kart racer held back by a lack of content and uncomfortable monetization. When you’re in the zone, playing a race, you’ll be sure to have a great time. However, it’s hard to give the game an outright recommendation when all the fun is locked behind a story mode that is easy to bounce off of. There’s also a strange lack of QoL in vital areas and a menu that presents its modes in an unintuitive way. It’d be nice to see Chocobo GP make a comeback from its messy launch. There’s potential here, and a brilliant Kart Racer underneath the monetization. Your mileage will vary on how much they impede enjoyment in the short term.

Right now, I don't recommend System Shock remake on Switch 2 if you want to play handheld. If you want to play docked, it is better than last month, but not as stable as it should be. This is definitely one to play on PS5 or Steam Deck if you have access to those platforms. I hope the Switch 2 version improves before the physical cartridge release because I was excited to buy that for my collection. I don't think I will bother if it ships with this current build though.

Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden is an overall more streamlined experience than the other entries. With the frequency of releases in the series compared to the number of improvements made, the cards are starting to wear a bit thin. My playtime sat at around eleven hours, including filling in the whole map, clearing every difficulty in the mini-game, and doing half a quest line. This could perhaps be the shortest of the (so far) three games, and I feel if you’re going to make three entries in less than a year, paring things down is probably not the best approach. While I’m a fan of these games, I do hope there’s a bit more of a break before they go fish another one out. It’s still an enjoyable game but this third entry sits distinctly in third place to me.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla is a great-looking open-world game with impressive landscapes and cinematography. However, the checklist collectible open-world still needs some work to feel truly engaging, and combat is too tedious and too frequent to be compelling. As a lapsed fan of Assassin's Creed trying to see if I can click with the series once again, Valhalla didn't quite hook me as I was hoping it would.

Disgaea 6 makes a lot of changes, not all of which are for the best, leading to a somewhat unsatisfying experience. The autobattle system is useful in some aspects but could cheapen the experience for those who don’t restrain themselves. Parts of the campaign, like constantly having to fight the God of Destruction at the end of each chapter, got extraordinarily tiring. Due to streamlining, the systems in and outside of battle shouldn’t be hard to grasp for new players. Yet I feel a lot of returning players will find this entry inadequate and not just because of missing classes.

It's difficult to recommend 7th Dragon III: Code VFD. The unique class and party systems are watered down by mundane structure and generally low game difficulty. Story beats are either too predictable or lessened by a connection to other games most English players haven't experienced. Those who are fans of turn-based class systems can still find enjoyment here, but it's hard to see the game leaving any lasting impact.

All in all The Witch’s House MV is an okay indie horror experience but nothing spectacular, especially given other similar games with more compelling narrative that have since then been released to better effect. However, those familiar with The Witch’s House’s original release may enjoy the slight graphic upgrades and those looking for a short, quick scare might also enjoy this re-release.

There are aspects about GreedFall: The Dying World that remain compelling -- the overall world-building remains top-notch, the RPG progression systems are well-designed, and fans of GreedFall's established lore will have plenty to latch onto. However, the narrative doesn't carry the same inventiveness as the original game, the combat changes appear to be courting a more niche playerbase, and multiple gameplay and technical shortcomings compromise the experience entirely. If Spiders and Nacon can manage to support the game after release, it's possible that many of these issues could be addressed, but the state in which this game was released doesn't have me feeling optimistic.

Peril on Gorgon is largely more of the same as what's found in the original game, with a bit more of a focus on exploration than questing. It's a fine addition for those who just can't get enough, but I feel it is not enticing enough on its own to spend $15 to revisit the game if you already completed The Outer Worlds months ago.

Through the animations alone I can see there was a lot of care put into creating this game, with some serious attention to detail (even down to Sanji refusing to damage the sole female enemy in the game). But there are some very basic design decisions, especially regarding game progression that hamper the experience greatly. The backtracking continues throughout even all the way to the very end, to the point that I really wondered what the extra padding was for. I’m not even interested in the post-game quest of fighting tougher opponents since all the boss fights prior were so basic. The great cast just isn’t enough to not make certain parts of the game feel like a chore. For the One Piece fan who can handle a bit of tedium and lackluster bosses, I can recommend it, for anyone else I wouldn’t suggest it.

While some of the tank building and character class systems in Metal Max Xeno are moderately interesting, nothing else in this RPG is remarkable enough to stand out, which makes this a difficult game to recommend. At least the game's relatively short run-time and budget price means it's not a tremendous investment for those curious enough to check it out.

Even though its severe issues with optimization and gameplay balance have soured me on it, Little Town Hero is a neat game that I don’t regret checking out. Listening to the amazing tunes of Hitomi Sato and guest composer Toby Fox of Undertale fame throughout my 15-hour playthrough made for an enjoyable experience after all is said and done. There are a plethora of creative ideas inside Little Town Hero and I wish it came together more cohesively. Several performance and quality-of-life enhancements will go a long way for this game if it ever receives those patches.

The First Berserker: Khazan is a typical Soulslike-inspired action RPG that takes a lot of inspiration from Nioh, and offers nothing new that separates itself from the dozens of others out there. Even in the many aspects it takes from Nioh, it often does them worse. Its beautiful art direction is largely held back by a deliberately dull color palette. Additionally, its combat has some great animations, yet overall feels sluggish because of how restrictive its stamina system is. I was prepared to have a great time with The First Berserker: Khazan, but there’s so little that I enjoyed because it always took two steps back in every step it took forward.

Atlas Fallen is an average action RPG with some interesting Momentum combat mechanics, a respectable open-world design, subpar presentation, and a disappointing narrative. In some ways, it feels like a step down from The Surge titles, and I'll always look forward to what Deck13 works on next, but Atlas Fallen didn't land as strongly for me as I hoped it would.

Elex II is a disappointing game that fails to build on the potential of the original. While at some moments it manages to capture some of the same strengths, it feels like a poorly implemented retread in several ways. Slight improvements to combat don't make up for a less interesting story, worse characters, weak quest design, and a stark lack of polish.

These are games that anyone that has ever considered themselves a Pokemon fan deserves to play; but not today, and not in this state. One can only hope that a day will come when that recommendation can come easily; I’d like nothing more than to be able to do so.

These are games that anyone that has ever considered themselves a Pokemon fan deserves to play; but not today, and not in this state. One can only hope that a day will come when that recommendation can come easily; I’d like nothing more than to be able to do so.

I thought about giving Guardians of Azuma a 7, because what game is here isn't strictly terrible, but unfortunately it is extremely disappointing on a wider scale. Boring dungeons, bland combat, lackluster progression, and thin customization are propped up by a fun cast of characters, pretty good voice acting, and pretty good village editing tools — but it's not enough to make the game fun to play. If you only care about the character interactions and marrying the love of your Azuma life, then the combat and village management is a tedious means towards that end, and if you're looking for engaging progression systems, you'll have to look elsewhere, I'm afraid.

When I wasn’t getting frustrated with New Pokemon Snap, I was having a great time – but I really can’t help but question the thought process with saving the best of the game for after the player has exhausted so much of the game’s content. It feels like I’m being asked to prove I deserve to play more of the game I fell in love with on the Wii’s Virtual Console by finishing a huge stack of work first. For a game that seems so determined to relax the player, I feel like they forgot to consider that there’s a fine line between relaxation and boredom. New Pokemon Snap didn’t have to bore me, and that’s what makes it all the more frustrating.

Cryptmaster was a game I had hoped I would enjoy more. In the end, it's a solid proof of concept with a few hints of what it could be in the future. Cryptmaster is a game with a lot to say, but much like with the game's undead protagonists - it feels like its a bit confused on how to say it.

Iron Danger is a unique tactical game unlike most others out there. Clocking in at around 12 hours long, it doesn't overstay its welcome. It's an interesting take on a tactical style, but I don't think it will leave a lasting impression on me.

I’m supposed to care about the drifters, which would make the ending of the episode all the more harrowing, but I never got enough time with them to care. Still, Episode 4 will be sure to strain some heartstrings, and in hindsight will probably make this episode a bit better, when it releases.

If you’ve already played The Outer Worlds then getting it on Switch might only be worth it if you’re wanting to play it on the go, as there aren't really any other additions here worth the purchase. If you’ve not been able to play it then, despite some graphical and technical downgrades, The Outer Worlds is still completely playable on the Switch and a fantastic game no matter what platform you play on.

Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization is easily the best SAO game made by far. Not only is there plenty of things to do, but the combat, gameplay mechanics, and production is far better than the prior entries. It is clear a lot of work went into making this game, and they continue to add content with nearly every patch they've released so far. Unfortunately, it's weighed down by a low-stakes plot; awful party intelligence; and one too many systems at play. They've an ample amount of potential here, but unless you're a fan of the series or at least have a passing interest, it's difficult to recommend.

While the multiplayer is nice to have back, and the controller support is solid overall, I was otherwise left uninspired. I will always appreciate games becoming easier for new people to experience or getting a console port, but between the harmless-but-still-annoying bugs, the bland menus, and the lack of meaningful quality-of-life updates, I don’t feel like this release lives up to the “enhanced” moniker it's given itself. The package feels like a missed opportunity. Enhanced Edition is okay. It didn’t crash on me (I’m not faulting this game for crashing due to a mod that wasn’t designed for it), so that’s always good, but that’s a pretty low standard to hold. If you want to play Neverwinter Nights 2 with your friends without installing a mod, or on a console/with a controller, sure, pick up the Enhanced Edition. If not, then there is really no reason to buy this version over the Complete Edition that is readily available and at a lower price.

Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to recommend this game as enthusiastically as Kodaka and Uchikoshi’s other works. While I found many of the characters likable, the story didn’t register any stakes for me. All the twists seemed to take away urgency from the story, so much that the triumphs felt predictable by the end. In that way, World’s End Club is like the watered-down version of the two works that inspired it. Understandably, it’s not supposed to be the same. However, World’s End Club still doesn’t quite stand on its own. To its credit, it's successfully uplifting and heartfelt -- just not in the most cohesive way. I’d give a light recommendation to those who enjoy coming-of-age anime stories without the need to overthink them.

I struggle to pinpoint any particular facet of Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree that is exceptional. The combat is serviceable, the narrative is adequate, and the exploration is fine. There's some comfort in navigating the map & finding new secrets in a way that search action games tend to be comfortable, and there's some satisfaction in the gameplay in which soulslike games tend to be satisfying, but I'm mostly left with indifference.

MegaTagmension presents an unspectacular experience that could have presented a lot more with the concept it had. When put side-by-side with Neptunia U, I had a far better time with the latter - at least when it came to the single player mode.

If you're looking for a Persona spin-off, Persona Q is a much better use of your time and money. Meanwhile, if you're looking for a rhythm game first and foremost, there are much better options for you to pursue. Persona 3 and 5 Dancing aren't bad, but in today's rhythm games climate - they needed to offer a lot more to stand out from the crowd.

Assassin’s Creed: Origins offers an engrossing and deeply satisfying open world in the lands of Egypt. Gorgeous visuals make it a lovely place to explore with rich environments. Still, the excessive amount of bugs at launch are devastating and hampered my experience significantly. Add to that a poorly paced narrative devoid of substantial character development and a battle system that fails to meet its full potential and I can't help but feel something important is missing, Regardless, Assassin's Creed: Origins has a lot to offer new and old fans alike - though the state of its technical performance at launch is highly questionable.

If you're looking for a Persona spin-off, Persona Q is a much better use of your time and money. Meanwhile, if you're looking for a rhythm game first and foremost, there are much better options for you to pursue. Persona 3 and 5 Dancing aren't bad, but in today's rhythm games climate - they needed to offer a lot more to stand out from the crowd.

Katana Kami: A Way of the Samurai Story isn’t quite the Way of the Samurai game I wanted but that doesn’t make it terrible; there is just an untapped well of potential that it ultimately fails to reach though.

Soul Covenant is one of those games that is frustratingly close to delivering what I wanted it to. RPG progression, while basic, would be engaging if the game had enough content outside of the main story to compliment it through its runtime; the story could've been so much more with more scenes to sell it. Despite it all, Soul Covenant managed to recapture at least some of the feelings I remembered from Soul Sacrifice - but in a way that makes the whole package all the more disappointing. I believe the team had the capabilities to deliver something truly special here. It's just a shame that what they ultimately released is such a mixed bag.

There’s too much unsatisfying combat, too many contrived moral choices, and too much corny writing they expect you to take deathly seriously. By the time the credits rolled, I was more than willing to pound a stake through Vampyr’s proverbial heart.

With Automatron Bethesda has shrewdly managed to zero in on one already compelling point of Fallout 4's experience, dropping in a new twist that solidly expands on that point in an interesting new way. As such, it's a perfect add-on for those either experiencing the wasteland for the first time or returning for a new play-through. It's simplistic and short story component means that it arguably doesn't have enough content to actually draw you back in on its own, and that's a shame, but if more Fallout 4 is on the cards for you already and you love customization, there's a strong argument for playing it with Automatron attached.

ClaDun Returns might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it will definitely fill a void for players who want a throwback to something from the retro days that displays strong fundamentals towards its dungeon crawling roots. The game is loaded with content as there are tons of stages, and its compact brevity is ideal for portable playthroughs. Unfortunately, this same feature is also holding the game back, making it an extremely repetitively and somewhat flawed experience.

Interesting companions, a unique framework, and a strong story were all enough to force me to keep going, to hope that I could somehow navigate the bugs, ignore the failed questlines I wanted to finish, and persevere through wonky balancing in an attempt to reach the game's conclusion, only to be stonewalled on the last lap. In 6 months or so, once the many numerous issues are dealt with both on a performance front as well as balance, this game could be amazing. But right now it's not, and sadly, it's not close.

By the conclusion of Weird West, I thought that the experience was interesting and original enough to not have felt as though my time had been wasted on an unfun experience, but only just barely. The five character stories do manage to build up to a largely satisfying conclusion, and there is enough persistence from character to character to make at least some of the experience feel meaningful and sometimes even poignant. However, I also often found myself ignoring locations and battles and just main-lining toward the next story beat to the finish line because I simply wanted to see how the threads ended up wrapping together, looking for some sort of payoff. Weird West is a creative game full of neat ideas that just didn't quite come together in the end.

What Dream Daddy has to offer is pretty good, but ultimately it feels just a bit unfinished. It feels like this visual novel could have used a bit more time in the oven, fleshing out events and backstories, and providing proper epilogues for the Dads. For a visual novel subgenre that's underrepresented in the West, Dream Daddy is a decent title worth your time, but I can't shake the feeling that it could have easily been so much more.

Zwei: The Arges Adventure is sadly not a very interesting game, but I give XSEED huge props for their dedication in finally bringing the title over to English players. At less than 20 hours in length for the main story, it's a title that might be worth checking out as a sort of curious novelty, but it's probably not going to leave any lasting impression.

There was a chance for these games to be some of the best in the series, and it’s just depressing that the final product that we’re left with is so utterly flawed. What was cut from the experience wasn’t worth what sparse improvements that the games received, and what we got feels like it should match the 3DS games’ price-point, and not a $60 Switch game’s. Pokemon deserves better, and I don’t think that’s greedy to hope for.

There was a chance for these games to be some of the best in the series, and it’s just depressing that the final product that we’re left with is so utterly flawed. What was cut from the experience wasn’t worth what sparse improvements that the games received, and what we got feels like it should match the 3DS games’ price-point, and not a $60 Switch game’s. Pokemon deserves better, and I don’t think that’s greedy to hope for.

There was a chance for these games to be some of the best in the series, and it’s just depressing that the final product that we’re left with is so utterly flawed. What was cut from the experience wasn’t worth what sparse improvements that the games received, and what we got feels like it should match the 3DS games’ price-point, and not a $60 Switch game’s. Pokemon deserves better, and I don’t think that’s greedy to hope for.

Haven is a really enjoyable time if you have a significant other to play with you. It is a decent experience alone, but many of its core systems are designed to be enjoyed with another person. Severe problems with its narrative tone later into the game that sabotage its themes dampened my enjoyment, and I still struggle to understand why the game twisted itself that way. There is so much to like about this game from its clean cel-shaded look, its ethereally evocative soundtrack, its compelling voiceovers for the main couple, and its intuitive co-op friendly user interface. I am left simply mixed at what could have been a strong title in a largely untapped subsection of modern RPGs.

While individually Card-en-Ciel's decks offer a fun and engaging time as you learn to play around them, if anything Grand Battle dungeons seem emblematic of the game's own worst flaws. Inti-Creates had a great idea for a gameplay system, and it's charming to see them use their own IPs as fodder for the cards to populate these systems - but at the end of the day, it feels like they simply didn't know how to design a full game around the system they'd envisioned. Card-en-Ciel isn't a bad game by any means, but you can very much feel the limits of what the team could deliver; maybe the gameplay will be enough to make it worth your while, but it's hard to give a strong recommendation when so much of the experience feels disjointed and threadbare.

There's plenty of fun to be had with Mega Dimension; the new sidequests are neat, the new Mega Evolutions are fun to play with, and even if I didn't gel with the story as much as the basegame I still had a good time with it. Yet, if you were already feeling burnt out by the time the original credits rolled - or are even just unsure if you're ready for more of the same - I can't exactly say if this DLC is worth the price of admission.

Dark Devotion is a beautiful game that borrows from several of the best aspects of its inspirations, but it ends up sampling too many ideas at once to make for a cohesive experience. The quest design and incentives for exploring thoroughly are hindered by the one-way nature of progression from room to room. Too many benefits in terms of skills, blessings, and gear are given to the player as a leniency for dying, but they also end up trivializing many boss fights which would otherwise be spectacles. The bleak environments and low-density narrative are absolutely a perfect fit, but several of the roguelike and Metroidvania elements just stand at odds with each other too often. Dark Devotion is fine, but fails to stand out.

I feel mixed on Grand Kingdom because I want to like it, but it just seems lackluster on its feedback loop of repetitive mission design; there is nothing that significantly caught my attention outside of the intricacies of battle from constantly building parties of different classes. Its story is severely lacking, and the War mode has a few neat quirks that overstayed its welcome rapidly. Grand Kingdom is an entertaining experience that presents neat, unconventional approaches to the genre, but there are so many aspects of its infrastructure that just seem haphazardly unrealized.

All told, Blades of Fire is a mixed bag. I by and large enjoyed my time with it, warts and all - but I'd be hard-pressed to recommend the game in its current state. Worse, without some heavy retooling of the map I don't know if I ever could recommend the game at all without significant caveats. On the bright side, the game's PC port is rather good with a notably good HDR implementation. It's even playable on Steam Deck, if you can bother to get the Epic Games Store running on yours. I definitely appreciate any game that doesn't have traversal or shader compilation stutters these days, and from a technical standpoint MercurySteam has delivered a very good experience.

Code Vein II is a sequel that learned all the wrong lessons from industry trends. I don’t usually like to compare games directly when evaluating them, but games don’t exist in a vacuum, and Code Vein II releasing right next to Nioh 3 puts it at a disadvantageous position because its direct action RPG competitor is superior in almost every way. Nioh 3 allows players to play with each other effortlessly, while Code Vein II removed it entirely. Code Vein II’s open world approach is a lot more dull to wade through, as Nioh 3’s smaller zones allow players to traverse it much more swiftly. The only thing I can muster is that Code Vein II probably should’ve pushed back its release to vastly improve its performance – something that Nioh 3 also has a leg up on.

Unfortunately, boredom is the word that best describes Nelke. You can easily dump hours into the game, but never feel like you get anywhere. Nothing feels satisfying, and while Nelke doesn’t have much wrong with it that feels offensively bad, there’s just nothing that’s really outstanding about the game either. This Atelier spin-off is utterly mediocre.

There are good ideas and elements that almost make this remake worth it, and on the whole it does make some improvements over the original game, albeit slight ones. Still, perhaps it really is for the best to just let these characters go home like they want to and leave the world of Caligula behind.

Little Dragons Cafe is a charming game that has all the ingredients to be an ideal game to play when you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed, but it doesn’t manage to be fun enough to make you want to commit to it. It would benefit from a pace that isn’t abysmally slow and having more activities to partake in. Even with my adorable dragon child following me around and the game’s visual charms, the overall experience lacks the substance to make me want to stay much longer than the customers who visited my cafe.

Some of the core mechanics like the new perk system and pure gameplay loop are actually an okay foundation to build from, but they're mired in questionable design decisions made worse with several technical shortcomings that could take a significant amount of time to fix. Until that happens though, Fallout 76 is a difficult game to recommend to anyone except for maybe the most ardent fans of post-apocalyptic playgrounds.

Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings offers little that I would consider enticing for newcomers. While I am still madly addicted to the crafting system, there is just not a whole lot here worth recommending to those interested in getting into the series, or even for those that are fans like I am.

Birthdays is particularly disappointing in that I really enjoyed the concepts and ideas it brought into the game, but the poor execution does it an injustice. It feels over within an hour of play, but with the various modes and challenges it drags on and on. Birthdays the Beginning is an idea I don’t want Wada to give up on, but until the formula has time to be polished and expanded upon, I would rather sit out on any further celebrations.

There simply aren’t enough engaging and worthwhile gameplay elements in Edens Zero to make it worth experiencing a worse version of the story. Superfans of the series might find something to love if they dig deep enough – but Konami’s Edens Zero, more than anything, is another grim reminder of the unrealized potential of anime-based video games.

Astria Ascending is not a great JRPG. I would hesitate to label it a good one. In a year of winners, it's not a complete outlier but it's no contemporary classic. Despite a few flirtations with intrigue, the story is generally vacant of anything compelling enough to stick around until the credits. Poor writing compounds the problem and unlikable characters can't overcome it. Gameplay ranges from strong to stale, with just enough gumption and innovation to keep things lively. Pound for pound and for all its pedigree, this is a disappointing experience I'm not inclined to recommend.

Darksiders Genesis, assuming some of the technical limitations are ironed out, could be a fun co-op romp for ardent fans of the franchise. For those looking to try out something new, there are better co-op games, and better Darksiders games.

Octopath Traveler was a pretty good game on Switch and a mediocre game on PC. It's so clearly tailored for Nintendo's portable system that plunking it anywhere else is just going to exacerbate the flaws that it has. Yes, this port "works" okay, but that doesn't mean it works best here. For all Octopath Traveler's promises of harkening back to JRPGs of yore, it forgets we loved those games because we loved to see their characters share the load.

For a game that places so much weight on its cast and writing , Digimon Survive struggles to engage with poor characterization and weak storytelling.

Lost Soul Aside wore on me pretty quickly, with its repetitive arena-to-arena flow, characters I never spent enough time to care about or what happened to them, and unpolished issues and quirks. Except for the aesthetics and decent combat (which had their own drawbacks), I can’t really point to a part of LSA that I can say I genuinely had a good time with. While I wasn’t someone that has been eagerly waiting with bated breath for the game, I still was hopeful and intrigued by what the final game would turn out like after being worked on for so long, and it's disappointing how much it fell flat for me. Sometimes being cool just doesn’t cut it.

While the combat system is enjoyable as you have the ability to change your classes, upgrade and discover new abilities, arm yourself with new gear or craft new ones, there is an ultimate feeling of emptiness to the game.

The only aspects I really enjoyed from Infinity Strash were its visuals, music, and spamming Popp’s spells because the game allowed me to shorten his cooldowns. Every other aspect was either lackluster, subpar, or in a few instances, downright terribly designed. I am extremely bummed out because I consider myself a big fan of The Adventure of Dai and Infinity Strash feels like it’s absurdly hamstrung because of how closely it had to be tied to the show. Hell, I even liked how well the game marked locations on the overworld map to provide Dai fans with a better look at where things occurred throughout the story. Regardless, I wouldn’t say that Infinity Strash is infinitely trash… but sometimes I got real tempted to.

‘Disappointed’ really is the key word for Werewolf: The Apocalypse- Earthblood. I went into it with little expectation beyond some fun shape-shifting gameplay and came away with nothing but wasted time. The constant dad rock and bloodshed might be a guilty pleasure for some people and fans of the World of Darkness may get a lot more out of exploring this world than newcomers, but the uninteresting plot and characters make that very doubtful.

I did genuinely find a lot to love in some of the disparate aspects of The Cruel King and the Great Hero, but games can only ever be a sum of their parts. While there have absolutely been games in the past where I was able to overlook poor gameplay due to the strength of everything else in the package, it feels at least a little bit different when said gameplay is an active detriment to everything around it. Likewise, while plenty of games have had localization issues in the past, this feels like a game whose identity is so closely tied to being a fairy tale – to the point that NIS America sent us a literal “Storybook Edition” for the game – probably could have, and indeed should have had another editing pass done. At least the soundtrack is worthy of praise without any stipulations, but it’s hard to recommend the full package with all of its flaws.

In the end I’m not really sure how to feel about The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered. There were points where I enjoyed myself, but I’m also not sure I’d beat it if I didn’t have to for this review. I don’t really mind the game's minimalist approach to narrative, but the dungeon design, repetitive battles, and difficulty walls I hit made it hard to press on. If the skill progression system sounds fun to you, The Alliance Alive HD Remastered is a much better option if you have yet to play it. But, if you’re looking for a game that gives you turn-based combat without much fluff, this would be still a fine choice.

In terms of Fallout 4 DLC, we're still in search of a killer app that'll actually drag you back to the Wasteland.

Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls is a serviceable dungeon crawler that doesn't have anything going for it. Being relatively simple in dungeon design and difficulty, but still containing characteristic quirks found in the genre, it might actually be a decent entry point into Wizardry style games as long as you are willing to figure things out without the help of tutorials. However, there are certainly better dungeon crawlers out there that are more worth your time.

I was, if not confident, hopeful that the lingering issues that I found myself grappling with in Cold Steel I and II had been mitigated when I played through Cold Steel III. However, now that I've seen the whole story, I can only say that those issues never went away. Even if they appeared fixed for Cold Steel III, they were always there, just below the surface. At this point, if I wasn't already in too deep, I'm not sure if I would even want to continue playing the Trails series. I have very little confidence that Falcom will learn their lesson with how to pace their games, and with the scope of both the world and the series as a whole constantly growing I have no confidence that future games won't run into these self-same issues, but to an even greater degree.

As it is, it’s hard for Code Vein to stand out in a group of games that have attempted to be more than just a Soulslike. With good ideas in terms of gameplay that are poorly executed and interesting themes that go completely unexplored, Code Vein ends up being unfortunately just another average Dark Souls clone with a slightly different flavor that it doesn’t even try to offer in spades.

This short visual novel had big shoes to fill, and it missed the mark in most places. I finished the investigation feeling the adventure was simply okay, but nothing I’ll remember like Hotel Dusk.

There's nothing inherently broken about The Lost Child's mechanics or narrative, but there's also nothing compelling about them either. Ultimately, The Lost Child is just a gravely tepid dungeon crawler with nothing interesting to show. Check it out if you love the genre and are simply curious what's on offer here, but this RPG is easily skipped.

I was ready to be done with Crystar after its first 15 hours and leave somewhat satisfied, but the last chunk of the game really soured the rest of the experience. I was willing to give a pass to the stiff combat and the average writing precisely because it was building up to be a tighter, more entertaining experience. However, by artificially extending the length of a game that didn’t even make good use of its extra time, Crystar’s faults end up being impossible to tolerate and very easy to loathe. I really wanted to like Crystar, but I guess I couldn’t find much light in its darkness.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is still a serviceable action RPG as a single-player game, and playing the dungeon content in a party with the known limitations in mind can be enjoyable in spurts, but the whole feels stripped almost bare of what originally made it unique. My renewed excitement for a remastered version of Crystal Chronicles was centered around revisiting a classic with modern multiplayer infrastructure in mind, instead, I found a product that clearly feels unfit for its new interpretation and unfaithful to the original.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Isekai Chronicles strives to retell a chunk of Rimuru’s story, but does so through this medium to limited success. A relatively static presentation and repetitive combat system make this a difficult entry point for series newcomers, while fans of the series may question some of the design choices as missed opportunities to fully translate Rimuru’s adventure from page to screen.

With the 3DS port of the remake coming out soon, there is no reason to pick up the Steam version of Corpse Party unless you're a hardcore fan of the series. There are simply better ways to play this title.

I come away from Trinity Trigger largely apathetic. It's a simple game with some nostalgic charm, but irritating ally behavior, tedious weapon/rune systems, and a mundane plot make it an easy pass, especially as a single-player game. If you have a local friend to play with, Trinity Trigger may offer an easygoing 20-hour experience you can play together, but otherwise there's not much to latch onto here.

Anthem has sadly not resonated with any part of me, and no matter how much time passes, I don’t think this will change.

I will never not love Tales of Symphonia and appreciate that it introduced this wonderful series to me. I will forever love Raine’s manic professor mode, Colette’s clumsiness, and the fact that Lloyd is voiced by Robin from Teen Titans. That said, Tales of Symphonia Remastered has made me realize that unless Bandai Namco deems it worthwhile to do a ground-up remake of the game, I think I’m fine sunsetting Symphonia and letting other worthwhile Tales shine in the spotlight for a while.

Aside from several gameplay design decisions that irked me and a mediocre story didn’t do anything for me, my time with Arcadian Atlas was pleasant and admittedly insignificant. I don’t have any strong feelings for what I played. It took me roughly 12 hours to finish with all the sidequests done. The music had a nice jazz-infused flavor that made it more memorable than I expected. If you’re looking for a new strategy RPG and are willing to give a new independent studio’s first shot a genuine chance, this one is alright.

There are small glimpses that Kamiko could’ve been something more. I liked the rapid gameplay flow it’s going for. Stages are quick to get through and that works for me on the Switch. I just wish there was some variety to them between each of the characters though. For example, a stage could’ve had a new layout and objects in place that only the archer can hit. There’s no harm giving Kamiko a try because of its low price point, but there are much better alternatives.