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a party with the known limitations in mind can be enjoyable in spurts, but the whole feels stripped almost bare of what originally made it unique.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.

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.

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.

Behind the game's accurate depiction of the Fairy Tail world, I am not quite sure if this game adaptation offers much to anyone besides diehard fans. If a player is already not into the anime or manga, the game doesn't do a great job introducing the Fairy Tail world, and the systems in play aren't especially interesting on their own as an RPG. Fans will get a kick out of the Fairy Tail game, but it's hard to recommend otherwise.

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.

At first, my time with Bandle Tale felt like a slow drudge, especially as I got blockaded by skill requirements and hit many “I can’t do anything with this yet” spots. Once I could zoom through the Bandle City center and knew how to best unlock skills, I enjoyed my time a bit more but I’m not entirely sure if that’s just because I knew I was reaching the end, or if progression was actually enjoyable. Bandle Tale: A League of Legends gameplay and story can feel pretty mediocre, reminding me of childhood favorites but never as entertaining.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon is a very disappointing follow-up to the first game. Its reliance on constant repetitive stage runs quickly become boring. Combat is marred by fickle AI partners on top of horrid framerate drops. Its characters are serviceable, but its unimpressive plot does little to make them memorable. If you’re curious about Gust’s ongoing forray into action RPGs, just play (or replay) the first Nights of Azure.

I come away from Batora: Lost Haven greatly disappointed. With tedious dialogue, a mediocre narrative, and thin gameplay structure, Batora is only salvaged by its adequate combat, respectable art, and a mercifully short runtime.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.