Overall, this is a very solid port. While a few things could definitely be improved, it's still by far the best version of the game that you can play now, and I feel confident in giving it our strongest recommendation.

SaGa Scarlet Grace is an RPG that took a lot of risks, to be sure, but the end result is a fascinating RPG that you won't truly find anywhere else - one that you owe it to yourself to play. Even SaGa's normally obtuse nature isn't nearly as much of a barrier this time around, as the game comes included with Tips that can help you get started with the world. Scarlet Grace is easily the best RPG I've played this year, and might just be the most memorable game that I've played in a very long time.

Life is Strange 2 is not always comfortable to play, but that’s essentially the point. You’re supposed to be heartbroken about everything that Sean and Daniel go through. You’re supposed to take the experience and reflect. Reflect on why they had to fight so hard just to survive, and why the Diaz brothers had to suffer so much prejudice along the way. A simple happy ending would not work for the story that Life is Strange 2 set forth to tell. Episode 5 is every bit the conclusion that this series deserved, no matter how painful that is to truly say.

In addition to its gameplay, Mary Skelter 2’s story is its main selling point. Filled with twists, the narrative is enjoyable and is a notable improvement over the first game. Players looking for a complete overhaul with the story will likely be disappointed, but those who were disappointed with the ending of the original will likely be much more satisfied with the sequel’s.

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.

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.

Although Romancing SaGa 3 is a wonderful game, I hesitate to recommend playing this game without any prior knowledge of the series or knowing what to expect. The obtuse nature of the game is very different from many other traditional RPGs, and I advise interested new players to go into the game with an open mind. Veterans of the series, on the other hand, will know what they're getting into, which is essentially the definitive version of Romancing SaGa 3: a port that improves aspects of the game without ruining the appeal of the original. Hopefully, Square Enix can give some of their other retro titles the same treatment they gave for this game.

Looking beyond the technical hitches, Jedi Fallen Order is an extremely strong, confident Star Wars adventure that shows how much potential the universe still has in gaming. If this is the A New Hope of Star Wars games, then I can’t wait to see the Empire Strikes Back.

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.

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.

Although the title lacks some of the popular features of other farming simulators, such as dating, Doraemon: Story of Seasons is a charming game that I think is great for kids and a great starting entry for the genre. It doesn't add anything new to the genre, but if you wanted a game that is a great farming simulator along with an establishment of a popular IP, then Doraemon: Story of Seasons is worth a look at, as well as being a much better game to play for a younger demographic. But there are plenty of other competing options out there and it will probably not be your go-to title.

Disco Elysium is a wonderfully written RPG that defies preconceptions of what RPGs can be. Whether or not it somehow marks its own paradigm shift or inspires a new sub-genre remains to be seen, but for now, I encourage anyone who wants to experience some of the best game writing on offer to give it a try.

While I may have enjoyed Atelier Lulua more, that title comes with three other games’ worth of baggage to deal with. Atelier Ryza is a fresh start, and a perfect title to jump right into the series with.

I wasn’t expecting to have this much fun with Disgaea 4 Complete. The story didn’t blow me away, but the humorous dialogue and amazing cast go a long way. It’s still an incredibly addicting game with multiple endings and an insane amount of content. If you’ve already spent countless hours on the Vita version you might not find too much of a reason to grab Complete +, but this is the definitive release of one HL of an SRPG. That’s all from me, I’m off to go kill some more time in the Item-World now, dood.

Trails of Cold Steel III is an absolutely massive game, as even with utilizing turbo a large portion of my playthrough, I still sunk over 90 hours into the game by the time the credits rolled. There's so much more I could talk about. Side activities like the new card game, Vantage Masters, which is absolutely a Gwent styled game on its own - with dozens of characters throughout the adventure willing to play a set with you - and more. At the end of the day, however, I'm just happy to see that the series appears to be in good hands with NIS America.

The presentation being lacklustre should in no way be a dealbreaker though. Obsidian have crafted a smart, witty, deep RPG experience that feels confident in its own shoes. It keeps its focus on having good role-playing mechanics, whilst still managing to have an involved combat system that improves on what we’ve seen done in the genre before. Microsoft and Obsidian seem set on making The Outer Worlds a franchise, and if that’s the case then this is a hell of an introduction.

All in all, it’s hard to argue against this collection, even with those small technical issues. For less than a full-priced game you are getting not one, but two great and substantial RPGs. Cyber Sleuth is easily among the best Digimon games and stories, while Hacker’s Memory might have its downsides compared to the base game but still is an good game on its own. If you ever enjoyed Digimon but haven’t played either of these games, then this is the way to experience modern Digimon at its best. Even those who haven’t heard of Digimon can have a good time since they’re great RPGs, and those who already played them can even go back to the original Cyber Sleuth and enjoy its improvements taken from Hacker’s Memory. If the future of Digimon games takes notes from this series, then I’m excited to see them evolve even further.

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.

Going through Baldur's Gate for the first time is a reminder of what makes a classic RPG -- It’s hard to miss the ways it influenced the genre two decades years ago and how its impact can still be seen in games today, but as a modern experience, it does require a new player to meet in the middle a bit in terms of quality-of-life and the slightly-dated presentation. Despite that, this is the perfect game for a fan of the genre like me to finally play and having an updated version of the game available to a wide new audience is an opportunity for new fans to see exactly why it remains so highly regarded to this day.

Going through Baldur's Gate for the first time is a reminder of what makes a classic RPG -- It’s hard to miss the ways it influenced the genre two decades years ago and how its impact can still be seen in games today, but as a modern experience, it does require a new player to meet in the middle a bit in terms of quality-of-life and the slightly-dated presentation. Despite that, this is the perfect game for a fan of the genre like me to finally play and having an updated version of the game available to a wide new audience is an opportunity for new fans to see exactly why it remains so highly regarded to this day.

Dragon Quest XI isn't going to be a game that is going to win any award on innovation, but it is a game that has great fundamentals on what makes a traditional RPG good and does it perfectly. If you have already played the previous release of Dragon Quest XI on PS4 or PC, there are plenty of quality of life changes added here to give it the Definitive Edition tag and Dragon Quest XI S is a must-have title for anyone's game library. However, I feel the newly added content doesn't really add all that much if you have previously beaten Dragon Quest XI from last year, so you're basically paying a full-price game for quality of life improvements. If this is important to you, then you should get this right away, and if you haven't played it before, this is one of the best RPGs of this generation and the perfect port on the Nintendo Switch.

Indivisible is extraordinary. It’s a very focused game that cuts out a lot of the fluff in RPGs. There’s no skill trees, no crafting, no mundane ‘kill 10 of this monster’ type of stuff, no weapon or armor system, and not even money to spend things on. There’s one basic currency you collect to upgrade your attack or defense. I think this works in Indivisible’s favor in an era filled with games full of massive checklists, endless progress bars, and so forth. Lab Zero has an admirable vision of where it wanted to take Indivisible; it may be a streamlined experience, but it’s a damn good one.

Despite everything, I enjoyed my time with Borderlands 3. Not to say that the game as a whole isn't good – but rather despite all of the game’s numerous technical troubles, I do believe that once everything is said and done, Borderlands 3 will be a game that most series’ fans will be more than happy with, and a title that is more than worthy of recommendation. I just don’t think that day is today.

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.

The Surge 2 makes several smart gameplay refinements from its predecessor that polish up some rough edges, and environmental design & traversal have improved considerably. However, the lack of enemy variety, disappointing boss encounters, and overreliance on blocking prevent The Surge 2 from making the full next step into being a great action RPG.

AI: The Somnium Files is a must-play for fans of detective games. It’s risky, creative, fascinating, and feels like the next step for the visual novel medium. There are plenty of valid worries I’ve seen pop up from people who felt burnt by ZTD, but I feel like all of those were addressed here. It’s far from perfect, but the flaws are incredibly minor and it still delivers the strongest narrative I’ve seen from a game all year. Fans and newcomers will find a lot to Love with AI, don’t Sleep on this game.