This title is a good entry point to first experience Berserk for any newcomers to the series. Longtime fans may be annoyed by the reuse of scenes from the Golden Age movies and wish other arcs past that point received more attention - I know I did. But the game's addictive and satisfying combat ensures Berserk and the Band of the Hawk will remain installed on my PS4 throughout 2017.

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.

Is this the worst remake out there? No. The core game is still great, if this is the only way you are able to play it. But this version needed more than a fresh coat of paint and a shrug. Imagine if this series, or even just the original standout third entry, had been given that Star Ocean 2 Remaster level of quality and attention. I’d be fawning over a loving recreation of a PlayStation game that could galvanize a legion of new followers into this heady mecha series. Instead, we got a half-baked museum exhibit.

I enjoyed my time with Detective Pikachu Returns, in spite of its lackluster presentation and mediocre meandering. Not just because of some silly scenes like the divorce mac and cheese, but because it’s Pokemon, and it’s always fun to see Pokemon living normal lives around human characters (or without). Nonetheless, Detective Pikachu Returns just isn’t a very good game, it fails to meet the presentation quality of the original despite having better hardware, and the gameplay gimmicks don’t make up for the back and forth that lack any real detective work. At the very least it should have combined the first game to make for a complete experience.

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.

When it all comes down to it, Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force's Switch port is probably not the best way to play the game, but considering that the performance itself is perfectly fine in most scenarios - especially in handheld mode, you can't go wrong with picking this version up if you're specifically looking for a more relaxed JRPG to play on the go. Ghostlight's first Switch effort is a solid showcase, and if nothing else leaves me excited to see what other titles the company can bring to the platform moving forward.

Reflecting back on the series' now ten-year history in the West, Tamsoft has made the best Neptunia spin-offs. Much like the other Tamsoft spin-offs, Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars is nothing special, but it's also not a poor game outright. It's a decent action game without a lot of depth, but its simplicity allows it to be fun in small bursts. Neptunia and Senran Kagura fans will most likely find this game an enjoyable addition to the family of both series. I played on PlayStation 4, but the game is also coming to Nintendo Switch and PC next year, so even more fans will be able to check the game out.

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.

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.

Episode Prompto is a significant improvement over Episode Gladiolus, and fans of Final Fantasy XV will enjoy the additional light character development. It's still a bit awkward in places both narratively and mechanically, but it works well enough to fill a gap in Final Fantasy XV.

If you're a fan of the strategy RPG genre and love anime, or twin-tailed girls, and can put up with a Self-Insert protagonist, you should definitely consider picking this title up.

Valkyrie Elysium is an okay game with a fun battle system. Its biggest strength is that it’s fun to play when there are enemies on-screen. Everything else about it is relatively lackluster. This new take on the Valkyrie series is a solid gameplay foundation while leaving a lot of room for improvement in many other areas. Still, I think the developers at Soleil have done a decent job as newcomers taking their own interpretation of the series. I don’t think I’d want Valkyrie Elysium to completely overtake the Valkyrie Profile series moving forward, though I’d be happy with a peaceful co-existence as each strives to improve themselves - given that Square Enix greenlights more Valkyrie titles, of course.

If you're looking to take Neptunia Sisters vs Sisters on the go with you, this isn't a bad port. Compromises have been made to the game from its original versions on PlayStation 4 and 5, but the game itself still functions adequately. I'm not sure if the next Neptunia game will happen to run any better on Switch after the lessons learned here, but one can hope that the games will improve for the remainder of the Switch's lifecycle.

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.

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.

I really wanted to like The Outbound Ghost. Usually, even with disappointing games, I find one feature or facet to rally behind even if the whole package is ultimately underwhelming. However, in this case I struggle to find a single thing to highlight. The Outbound Ghost is a pale imitation that I don't recommend playing.

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.

Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet offers a fresh formula that gives the license a much-needed shot in the arm thanks to its deep customization and enjoyable gameplay elements. Not only that, but Gun Gale Online (the VR MMORPG where the game takes place) presents a far more interesting framework thanks to its sci-fi setting and gun-heavy focus, rather than the fantasy backdrop the property was precedently known for.

I may not have personally enjoyed the writing much, but it’s not inherently bad--it’s just not my sense of humor. There may be sticking points and frustrations in terms of the gameplay, but the core of the battle system is solid. Perhaps being episodic will work to Nuchallenger’s advantages, so they can take what they’ve learned from this first episode and make a truly great second one.

I wanted to love YU-NO, I truly did. It had a lot of great ideas, and for its time was undoubtedly impressive in revolutionizing visual novels as a medium. The problem with genre-defining works is that they sometimes don’t hold up as well as the games inspired by them. YU-NO had just as many glaring flaws in its story as it did innovative ideas, and this remake does nothing to fix or improve them. This was out of respect for the original author and I get that, but it is still a shame.

I wanted to praise Front Mission 2: Remake for being the superior sequel to Front Mission 1st: Remake that it ought to have been. Instead, I’m left with a game that, due in large part to its dry, flavorless, and commonly confusing wordage, trades in some of the boring simplicities of that adventure for moments of head-scratching bewilderment.

I wish I could be coming away from Biomutant recommending it to other players. In fact, before starting it I was damn near certain that I’d enjoy it, but it sadly didn’t live up to my expectations. It’s charming and has a great suite of RPG mechanics and customisation, but it’s also surprisingly generic in most of its mission design and has combat that is unique but unsatisfying. I had some fun with it, and I’m sure others will too, but I walked away from it mostly feeling nothing, which is the biggest shame of all.

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.

Although I have a few gripes with the game, my overall time with Fallen Legion was a pleasant one - the developer did an excellent job with their first game on consoles. While it lacks a bit of polish and is quite rough around the edges, it makes up for it by providing a great experience that doesn't overstay its welcome. I found that many of these issues could be fixed in their next attempt, and I am looking forward to it.

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.

Reynatis is, unfortunately like many other titles in FuRyu's catalog, an underwhelming RPG. In fact, FuRyu has continued to provide a good case study on why we probably shouldn't solely deify individual creators without acknowledging the full ensembles required to make beloved games. But as it is, we're left with an RPG that is average at best, messy & forgettable at worst. I've played most of FuRyu's output, continuing to look for a game that I can easily recommend to fans of the genre. While some games have been better than others, Reynatis doesn't break through the mediocrity. Maybe next time.

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.

Varlet left me disappointed and bewildered. Despite some curious and evident narrative themes of adolescence in the social media age, Varlet's battle & social mechanics are stale at best and broken at worst. I went into Varlet with the best of intentions, but I came out weary and indifferent.

It does both its genre and namesake justice, offering fans one more thrill in its dystopian society.

I wanted to enjoy Monochrome Mobius more than how things turned out. I think I still enjoyed my time with it as a whole, but the best thing I can say about the experience is that it’s a promising first attempt at Aquaplus expanding their development capabilities and that many of my issues with the title can easily be fixed with the eventual follow-up. I want to hope that the next title can be something truly special; Aquaplus is a company with a storied history, and I want nothing more than to see them successfully take that next step in expanding. Monochrome Mobius just wasn’t quite the game I’d hoped it could be.

So if you are the kind of anime fan who doesn’t mind the inclusion of A LOT of fanservice, Moero Chronicle may just be the game for you. For everyone else, it’s a serviceable title that feels pretty basic in design with some funny moments, but tries a little too hard to pull in a particular audience. Just be aware it may take you awhile to get over having Io in your party.

I really enjoyed Millennium Twilight, even without any sort of attachment to the anime that the game represents. It’s nothing particularly revolutionary, but I thoroughly enjoyed most of my time with it. Moments of confusion and the unintentional nerfing of most Brain Burst characters aside, this is a fun action RPG that is worth a look if you’re not a fan of these MMO anime series, and most likely worth a buy if you are.

There’s not much to engage the player here--almost everything about the game is completely average. I wouldn’t say Mercenaries Wings is a bad game, it’s simply difficult to recommend spending your time playing it when there other, more polished games. If you’re an SRPG nut that’s starved for new games then Mercenaries Wings might be the game you’re looking for, but otherwise, I’d spend your time elsewhere.

Vampire: the Masquerade - Shadows of New York is a good game to spend an evening with. On those Sundays where you have all day to relax or those randomly dreary days when any kind of chore feels like too much. That’s when this game will feel just right. Getting both endings doesn’t take long, so it’s easy to play and move on. The main word that comes to mind is: simple. Some parts are good, others tiring. It works as a way to get into some of the worldbuilding involved with Vampire the Masquerade games, but as a standalone visual novel I don’t think it will appeal to the masses.

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.

Made in Abyss: Binary Star Falling into Darkness is certainly not a game for everyone. It is a challenging balancing act between being faithful to Made in Abyss and being a “fun” video game. It does an admirable job in implementing the “systems” and “rules” of Made in Abyss’s world into a game, but the overall result just feels underwhelming in its presentation and execution. Fans of Made in Abyss will enjoy Binary Star Falling into Darkness if they are seeking the hardcore survival aspect of being a Cave Raider in that world, but it has little to offer for complete newcomers.

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.

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.

Despite its various shortcomings, I came away from The DioField Chronicle satisfied with its uniquely refreshing take on strategy RPGs. DioField's storytelling style was specifically a highlight for me, and its take on tactical combat offers something different from its contemporaries. While its mission design, sidequest variety, and some skill systems hold it back, DioField is worth a try for anyone looking for something just a bit different in their tactical RPGs.

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.

YIIK: A Postmodern RPG is a game that falls under the weight of its own ambition. Sloppy storytelling, bad pacing, poor characters, and some questionable (and potentially offensive) writing undermine what could have been an interesting story about young adults in the late ’90s, and the gameplay can’t carry the rest of the experience on its own. Even if it looks and sounds good, it’s just not enough to make its 25 hours an enjoyable time.

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.

It’s a bummer that Yasha: Legends of the Demon Blade just feels sparse overall. While I enjoyed my time experimenting with each of the three protagonists’ different weapon synergies, the identical progression of every single run gets old very fast. Seeing the same stage layouts, same enemy spawns, same boss patterns, and same… everything every time was disheartening. Even when Yasha tries to punch above its weight narratively through some of its cutscenes, the whole experience of playing it is mind-numbingly repetitive. I wish I liked it more, but what it offers feels so little compared to many, many other games competing in the same Hades-like space.

When it comes down to it, Poison Control fails to do anything interesting in any manner. There's nothing about the game that is outright broken, but there is just no substance to anything at all. A forgettable nothing story, forgettable gameplay, tedious maps, all lead to an experience that is an easy skip.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

As a whole, I’m confused with what Conception was going for. It’s not necessarily a bad game, but I’m hard-pressed to find anything it does exceptionally well outside of the localization. It was an enjoyable time once I turned my brain off, but the gameplay doesn't remain engaging and the constant use of sexual innuendo is goofy at best and exhausting otherwise. It’s a solid remaster of a PSP game, but it never felt like anything more than a cleaned-up PSP game -- maybe that description alone is enough.

Despite these qualms, those who are fans of Gust’s library will love what Blue Reflection offers. It's clear the developers had a lot of fun experimenting with this game, and one can hope this inventiveness will extend to their future catalog.

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.

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.

I was excited to see my country represented properly in a video game, and that did happen. Sadly the game itself isn’t worth a damn, it’s a classic style RPG but none of my choices matter and I can hardly make any of them. Many systems and choices are just odd and make it unfun to play. They have a roadmap to change some issues I had, and some minor odd design decisions have already been fixed, but we’ll have to wait and see if that really fixes the poor story. The only real redeeming quality this game has is the art.

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.

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.

Not only did the uninspired (and downright boring) maps dull my senses, but the glacier pacing left me fighting the urge to take multiple breaks during my coverage. I hate to say it, but you should stay far away from this one - there is very little that is redeeming about The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2.

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.

Redemption Reapers is a strange, sometimes interesting, and sometimes frustrating tactical RPG. It has several intriguing components conceptually, both in its narrative and mechanics. But, in places, it falters in execution, leaving behind an uneven though interesting experience.

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.

I'm glad Dungeon Encounters exists. It falters in a few ways and it is definitely not for everyone, but overall it offers a satisfying dungeon crawler with simple rules, subtle depth, and just enough teeth to remain engaging.

Episode Ardyn is fine, but it’s held back by repetitive gameplay that doesn’t really live up to Episode Ignis or Prompto. Unfortunately, the only thing really worth going in for here is the story and how it expands on FFXV universe lore.

Honestly, Best Friend Forever feels like it's having a constant identity crisis. Mechanically and story-wise, everything feels incredibly disjointed. It feels like developers were throwing things at the walls to see what stuck, but then decided the pile of thrown stuff now sitting on the floor was good enough. There's no way I can recommend this title in its current state, and even if it was bug-free, Best Friend Forever still wouldn't be worth your time.

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.

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.

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.

Overall, Summer in Mara has an incredibly strong narrative with character art and light music that only strengthens it. It’s youthful and vibrant, but it also has more somber notes that aren’t always found in farming sims. The only downside is that music and a character driven plot aren't enough to get through all the tedious parts.

Despite everything, I greatly enjoyed my time with Utawrerumono Zan. However, I can't gloss over the title's numerous faults. It's not worth $60, except for the most of ardent of fans. Maybe if a followup title were to happen down the line adapting Mask of Truth as well, it would be worth it. As it stands, even if you're an Utawarerumono fan, it's hard to recommend anything other than to wait for the game's price to drop. It's a solid game at its center, and I'd have no trouble recommending it on a sale, but as a full-price release, it just doesn't make much sense.

For all its ambition, Forspoken doesn't bring much new to the genre, and instead falls into various pitfalls common with open-world games. While the combat is serviceable and fun in spurts, the game's narrative, characters, and exploration all come up short. It's too bad it seems like Forspoken won't get a second chance, because I think there is some potential sitting dormant underneath all the imperfections, but it looks like Frey's journey will remain a missed opportunity.

Outside of the narrative issues, the VN itself is... fine. The art is nice, the music is alright, and the UI is actually surprisingly impressive - one of the most striking UIs I've seen for a VN. It's a shame that the actual story and characters drag the rest of the product down.

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

Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time is truly a terrible video game. There are signs of mediocrity between the seams, but it operates on such a fundamentally flawed level that it turns into a wrestling match between my sanity and its systems. I don’t know if it runs noticeably better on a PS4 Pro or the PC version, but an increase in technical performance does not excuse it of all the flaws in its design. I consider myself a fan of Little Witch Academia and Chamber of Time sometimes made me wish that I wasn’t.

Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness feels like a solid title that got trapped in old gimmicks. It’s beautiful, but empty. There’s nostalgia, but in the wrong places. I still enjoyed much of my time with it, and I’ll even revisit it soon for the bonus dungeons. So many little things hold Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness back, but there’s still something under the flawed surface that’s worth giving a shot.

Across its campaign of forty to fifty hours, Dark Rose Valkyrie tries to be many things and fails to excel or be memorable through any of those attempts. Perhaps it would have worked better as either a traditional RPG or as a visual novel, but it simply doesn’t work as a combination of the two. The story seems promising at first, but it’s average and marred by significant pacing issues. It stars a cast that is likable but not one that you will remember as anything groundbreaking in terms of characterization or development. Its battle system is restrictive and feels unbalanced, and as a result it makes battles have little enjoyment. The voice acting and character designs are great, but those positives aren't enough to compensate for the flaws this game has.

The Caligula Effect is a functional game, and some of the Japanse vocal music is fun to listen to. But it's actually difficult for me to give praise to much else the game has to offer. It's a diluted experience on a potentially interesting concept with some gameplay mechanics that are better off ignored. I can only recommend this to diehard Vita fans who are simply curious about the game, regardless of quality. Otherwise, this one is easily skipped.

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.

While I appreciate their attempt to modernize the experience, this one doesn't seem so much as a love letter to the fans as much as an attempt to fix what wasn't broken. It won’t do anything to hurt a person’s enjoyment of the original, especially my own, but it’s altogether a lackluster effort for something that could have been so much more. In the end, you may be better off investing in the SNES Classic and trying it out that way instead.

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.

MeiQ is a low quality title whose flaws permeate through every twist and turn of this dungeon crawler.

Neptunia Virtual Stars is largely unsuccessful at being a captivating product meant to represent Vtubers. The story is bland. The gameplay is boring. The character interactions are largely uninteresting. Some of its environments and storytelling bits shine momentarily, then drag players back to the reality that it is a repetitively dull experience. Compile Heart and Idea Factory tried to throw so many components and ingredients into Neptunia Virtual Stars that the resulting stew has no flavor at all; no single aspect or element quite stands out and is ultimately forgettable.

I really wanted for this series’ first worldwide release to be great, but unfortunately, Sword and Fairy 6 is just a bad game. It’s difficult to recommend the game to anyone with its myriad of issues, and that’s a shame. Let’s hope that this doesn’t discourage the developer and publisher into trying again, though, as there’s a lot the Chinese Paladin series has to offer. Maybe next time.

I do genuinely think that the story itself is serviceable, but its presentation absolutely destroyed my interest in it. There’s some merit behind constructing a band of characters manipulating an entire nation for their own purposes. It’s a nice change of pace from typical RPG protagonists and though all the story beats aren’t all that good, there were intriguing ideas behind it all. It’s difficult to recommend Valkyria Revolution if you’re looking for an enjoyable game. This was an ambitious direction to take the series to and I don’t think it was the right call.

As it stands, I finished the game feeling like I had accomplished and done absolutely nothing. It's almost impressive how hollow The Princess Guide feels.

‘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.

The gameplay is a mix of Let It Die and Deathverse, but honestly, I don't even care to get into the specifics of it. Yeah, it has a somewhat interesting-if-simple roguelite/survival gameplay loop, and yeah, competing with other reviewers on the scoreboard was kinda interesting for a few nights, but I refuse to give any more of my energy to a game that uses generative AI to undermine the good work the other developers spent on this. I don't know if Supertrick leadership or Gungho leadership mandated the AI usage, but they need to get thrown out with the trash. I am beyond disappointed, not just as a game reviewer, but as a Let It Die superfan.

In its current state, I don't recommend buying Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader on Switch 2. While the first big update brought in some improvements and mouse controls, it was very much a one step forward two steps back patch. Not only was it disappointing that Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader hit Switch 2 with no DLC available or included, but this is by far the worst port I've played on Switch 2 since the console's debut last June.

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.

I really wish The Good Life wasn’t a constant tug of war match. A series of steps forward, and equal steps back. I frequently would find myself loving the richness and detail of the setting, only to be taken out of it by an annoying gameplay mechanic. It overstays its welcome, and rides what it does well out thin. If you can get it on sale or on Game Pass, I’d say you might as well give it a shot. It’s not devoid of positives, but it ends up being painfully average at best. While I hope Swery’s supposed collaboration with Suda51 will be good, I don’t think I will be returning to Rainy Woods.

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

Loop8 is a game full of great ideas that never come together. The most fascinating hooks in the premise fall flat upon execution, and I can imagine how much better of a game this would have been if it didn’t even try to be a time loop game at all. I can see a hypothetical RPG in this setting that hones in hard on the vibes, but that is not what we got here. There are few things I like less than a boring game with no substance and a lack of respect for the player's time. Loop8 is the epitome of this.

When Element Space is bad, it’s bad to the point of having to fully close the game and lose anything from a few minutes to a few hours of progress. When it seems good, I began to wonder if it only felt that way because almost every other part of the port feels unfinished. Overall, I appreciate parts and pieces of Element Space, but it cannot hold its own within the genre. Element Space has potential, but potential often isn’t enough.

New Gundam Breaker is a tremendous disappointment on many levels. Newcomers to the Gundam Breaker series should be wary that this latest entry is not representative of how awesome the series can get. I love the Gundam Breaker series, but this is one of the saddest attempts to reinvigorate a franchise into a new direction. Even if the delayed PC release of New Gundam Breaker were to eliminate all the performance issues, it can’t fix the fundamental flaws that have been embedded into its core systems.

Poor performance is bad enough, but let me put it as simply as possible - the port in this state should not have been allowed to release. It's an embarrassment and Idea Factory clearly knew what a stinker the game was with the haphazard axing of the game's originally planned English dub and NA physical releases. Arc of Alchemist is the worst game that I have ever reviewed, and I sincerely hope that Idea Factory takes the time to really consider how this game came out the way that it did. I know they can do better than this.

All in all, the PC port is simple but sufficient for a first person dungeon-crawler. Performance at windowed resolutions might be problematic for some but hopefully NISA can investigate those issues. Picture Gate implementation is a fun addition that probably should have been explained better.

Resette’s Prescription benefits from its endearing art style and ability to tell a meaningful story in its limited time. I could talk all day and expand upon why the game nails nearly a perfect formula for chronicling the adventures of Resette and her ornery companion, but would do so at the risk of spoiling how it unfolds. Regardless of the times it faltered, Resette’s Prescription ~Book of Memory, Swaying Scale~ is still something I would insist is well worth the time dedicated to it.

I had a good time with Criminal Girls: Invite Only. The dungeon crawler gameplay is entertaining, and I found the vibrant and emotive chibi sprites appealing. Both the Japanese and English dubs are solid, which helps when the game is fully voiced. Yes, the anime tropes are severe and it has a heaping helping of fanservice and BDSM activity on top. Those bothered by that type of content will want to stay away. If you’re not concerned with that, you’ll find plenty to appreciate here.

All-in-all, Operation Abyss' PC port is nothing fancy, but it doesn't need to be. It's a solid an functional port that gets the job done with a couple odd quirks.