Moonless Knight is a meal with an interesting assortment of ingredients, but they entirely fail to come together into the intended dish. The compelling Japanese-Lovecraftian fusion just cannot be executed with this rough, lazy script. It’s a failure of a Metroidvania, and it’s a bad and clunky action RPG as well, with progression mechanics that fail to synergize with the rest of the gameplay and ultimately drag the experience down even further. The experience is wholly disappointing, and Moonless Knight is simply not worth a player’s time.

It all adds up to a game that’s more commendable on paper than in its execution. GreedFall: The Dying World is an ambitious title by a smaller developer that tells a story from a perspective not often seen in the medium. A story about the horrors of colonization, not to mention told from the point of view of the colonized, is a laudable endeavor. But there isn’t much about the game that makes it a fun outing. Characters lack personality, and it’s entirely up to the player to seek it out where it exists, combat is an overly complex mess of options layered on a foundation made for brute-forcing, and both presentation and technical optimization are in need of fine-tuning. With the change away from the more action-oriented combat being a questionable one, fans of the previous installment may still be on board for another chance to visit the world of Teer Fradee, while all others may want to miss the boat this time around.

Calamity Angels: Special Delivery is an ambitious title that took one-note jokes way too far. A title about deliveries at its epicentre has promise, and the character designs are very enjoyable. Combat has moments where the absurdity all connects, and a wonderful finishing move is shown on screen that always brings a smile, but that smile quickly becomes a twitchy bunch of frustrated nerves when the party will not listen to commands. The constant chatter and disdain from the party is easily annoying, and while the game is only twenty hours, it still feels painful herding them to complete the most basic survival instinct-related things. This constant source of manufactured tension sadly overshadows most of the good on offer here. This courier is anything but dull, but the chaotic frustrations will cause many prospective clients to look elsewhere.

Despite all of its environmental detail, scope, and promise of a wider, more exciting space-faring adventure, The Outer Worlds 2 is a disappointment. While it offers divergence and choice, its paper-thin satire, tonal mishmash, and balancing oddities see the experience crumble under the weight. In addition, the review build’s far too many immersion-destroying bugs, blocked questlines, and other sequence breaks ensure that the game’s issues outweigh its redeeming qualities.

Varlet has a few interesting elements. The story is enjoyable enough to experience, with a welcome cast, and it’s quite enjoyable to listen to. However, the gameplay is ultimately little short of a disaster. While Varlet does a lot wrong, players can still readily get through it. However, the worst failing the game has is that it feels a significant improvement could simply come from excising much of its gameplay.

I do not enjoy being harsh on any game, but I can’t recommend Nova Hearts. It’s a game with no spark or excitement. While I don’t mind some chaos and messiness in my stories, and prefer that, the story, characters, combat, and music all suffer from a level of disjointedness that is too noticeable to overlook. This is one of those games where more time in the oven and a less-is-more approach truly could have helped it hit its full potential. Unfortunately, as it stands, Nova Hearts is a half-baked game that tries to do too much, and does none of it well.

All in Abyss might be that title that caters to the most specific of niches of what is already a subset of gamers. The narrative lacks any redeeming characters, the poker gameplay tends to get old fast, and the gameplay is reductive. Most offensive, however, are the perverse torture scenes that are treated as collectible trophies but will turn the stomachs of many. The gratuitous cruelty simply isn’t enough to sustain a worthwhile game experience, and it quickly plummets from “going overboard” to “growing overly bored”. Those who feel intrigued by this concept may still find a good time here, but all others would do well to steer clear.

Unfortunately, it’s very hard to find reasons to recommend Reynatis. The story has some intriguing elements that provide curiosity about where it’s going to go next, while there are some interesting gameplay ideas and the music is decent. However, the game’s execution across the board undercuts all of these. The stronger parts just don’t have what is necessary to make Reynatis much more than a curious disappointment.

All in all, it’s hard to imagine many players will get a lot out of Bleak Faith: Forsaken. It successfully pushes to the forefront an alien and otherworldly experience which is indeed as bleak as its name implies, but this alone does not an enjoyable time make. With large-scale issues embedded within its narrative structure, progression, exploration, and combat, the cons easily outweigh the pros. There are reasons to praise the design team’s overall effort — particularly given the game’s scope and the extreme limitations they had to cope with — but beyond an academic appreciation, Bleak Faith simply isn’t a fun game to play. With no shortage of far superior similar titles available on the market, this one may be relegated to go down as a hopeful starting point for its creators, but not one that will stand tall on its own merits.

There’s a good premise locked behind bad execution in Fate Seeker II. There’s plenty to explore and everything is connected to something. The detective work is meticulous and the awful translation makes reading for any amount of time a headache. Combat is sprinkled in as a highlight, but when most of the game is dialogue heavy, it is not enough. The poor presentation magnifies every weakness so avoid this headache at all costs.

Astor: Blade of the Monolith feels like a game that needed a few more months to cook. The gameplay is underdeveloped, there are multiple bugs, and and the plot really could’ve done with some punching up. While this adventure has potential for improvement, but it’s very difficult to find reasons to recommend it in its current state.

The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered fails to live up to its promise of delivering a captivating dungeon-crawling experience. With its lackluster narrative, uninspired combat, and flawed progression systems, the game struggles to hold the attention of players and ultimately falls short of expectations. While the nostalgia may appeal to some fans of the original release, newcomers are likely to find little to redeem this lackluster remaster. As players journey through the world of Avalon, they’ll find themselves longing for a more fulfilling adventure, leaving The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered to fade into obscurity.

I wanted to love Fae Farm, but honestly, the full package was mostly disappointing. It is a game that tries to compete with the popular farming sims, but never quite does enough to stand on its own feet. While there are kernels of good ideas, they are marred by questionable design choices, with quests and goals that never feel satisfying. I am all for the coziness revolution, but Fae Farm, unfortunately, feels anything but.

I adored Rhapsody and Rhapsody II, but Rhapsody III feels like an unnecessary addition to this fun series. The game feels like more of a cash grab, offering mediocre stories regarding the series’ wonderful cast of characters, and it’s accompanied by uninspired dungeons and question combat design. Rhapsody III was a rollercoaster I was begging to get off because the constant ups and downs felt like whiplash. Two out of six short stories are not enough for me to recommend Rhapsody III, even for series fans, but one could say its presence for a bundle helped finally give Rhapsody II its welcome western release.

I had every intention of enjoying Xuan-Yuan Sword: Mists Beyond the Mountains; I quite liked Xuan Yuan Sword 7 when it received a western release a few years back, and I am generally a fan of throwback, pixel-art styles with turn-based combat. But it didn’t take long for the game to tear down any goodwill built up by its predecessor or my personal inclinations. When push comes to shove, there’s just no way to ignore the terrible blow dealt to the game by its one-of-a-kind translation, evident in everything from the philosophical musings of the plot to how character arcs unfold. And if that alone wasn’t the deathblow, then the frustrating and plain unfun balance issues that made me beg for credits certainly did the trick. There’s no two ways about it: Mists Beyond the Mountains would have fared better staying shrouded in the fog of ancient obscurity.

Soulvars will hold limited appeal to turn-based RPG fans. Those looking for a compelling plot and lovable characters will likely want to search elsewhere. The battle system is good enough to entertain players, but offers little to compel them to return to the game once it is beaten as the replay value is nearly zero. Unfortunately, its soulless plot and characterization make it a grind to get through.

Miasma Chronicles is more than just a solid tactical RPG experience; it’s a game that’s both tongue-in-cheek fun and darkly mature, chronicling a humankind on the brink of extinction. The world-building and presentation offer much to take in and enjoy, while the combat is deep and sound, with tons of variables to constantly keep up with that can turn the tide of battle at a moment’s notice. It also has quite a keen edge, and those who enjoy a firm challenge will be well-served by what’s on offer. Despite a few technical hiccups in its current state, Miasma Chronicles has a lot to love, and is an easy recommendation for those wanting to scratch their next tactical itch with a game that asks much of its players, but also offers a wealth of quality in return.

I am not such a purist that I can’t enjoy a lower-budget indie take on the Souls-like formula, and the team at GoldKnights shows its chops in several of The Last Oricru‘s aspects. The writing and world-building are enjoyable, and the vision of giving the player lots of choice in how the story should unfold has been well realized. But when it comes to combat and performance, the game is a mess. Even if one is lucky enough to avoid game-breaking bugs, combat is executed so poorly that it spreads its taint onto the rest of the experience. When having to restart a game completely due to a bug isn’t even the worst issue encountered, I think that about says it all. In the end, the development team has much to prove to bring the gameplay in line with the good elements it showed it is capable of.

Soccer Story provides some enjoyable basic entertainment that comes from just kicking the ball around and taking on the challenges and targets as players explore. Some of the puzzles and challenges are good fun and satisfying to complete, but there are also many that are made more frustrating than they need to be. With a flawed match system that becomes trivial once its workings have been figured out and technical issues that stack up as the game progresses, it’s incredibly tough to recommend.

Metal Max Xeno: Reborn is allegedly a refined experience of the initial game, but there are simply too many under-baked mechanics thrown in for anything to stick. At the end of the day, Reborn feels more like a tank management simulator with occasional forays into combat and exploration of an empty, generic-looking wasteland. Players are simply dropped into Dystokyo and left to their own devices. While some gamers will find themselves engrossed with monster hunting, others will find themselves frustrated by how Metal Max Xeno: Reborn is still unable to get things right, even after being fully reconstructed. A campy sense of humor can only carry a game so far. Unfortunately, this second chance at life is inexplicably held back by the same quality issues that plagued its progenitor.

It’s not trying to be big, flashy, or grandiose. There is no greater message it is trying to convey. It is simply a game wherein cute puppy dogs run around blowing stuff up with machine guns and missile launchers, and that is all it needs to be.

The Good Life has a name behind it in SWERY, and as such, the story brings all the insanity and the confusion one has come to expect from his previous titles. There is scope for the humour to work, but factoring in fighting with the camera and struggling with the controls the whole experience is just not worthwhile. In a self-fulling prophecy, Naomi points out a lot of faults in games that The Good Life just blithely repeats itself. Throwing a crazy ad-lib together and keeping fingers crossed the game works may have worked in the past, but this game has none of the fun or the charm to be successful nowadays.

I’d like to be able to say that aside from the bugs, Monster Harvest is a great game, but that’s just not true at this point. The game is just missing too many staples that other farming sims feature. There is little main story, no NPC interaction, a near featureless battle-system, no side quests, and barely any small intermediary goals throughout the game. Even beating the final boss is greeted with a single line of dialogue and zero fanfare. Publisher Merge Games has repeatedly claimed additional content will release when debugging is complete. It would be worth RPGamer’s time to wait for both of those events to occur.

What’s hard about WitchSpring3 is that there is so little in it that is enjoyable. There is no personality in the game, and everything that is happening in the story or the gameplay feels so unremarkable. I appreciate how short an experience it was and that it was very direct in its approach, but there was so little in it to explore and engage with. This is a hard game to recommend as it can be welcoming for some gamers, but this port feels as though very little effort was put forth. WitchSpring3: Re:Fine is a boring and hollow experience that cannot be recommended at a $39.99 price point.

Aluna is really an interesting character and it is a shame that she doesn’t get the full showcase in this game. Aluna: Sentinel of the Shards simply plays things too safe in creating a game that is functional but not interesting. No risks were taken with the characters, the story, or the combat leaving a very linear game that is only really noteworthy for its setting of 16th-century Latin America. Even those die-hard enough to travel back in time for the experience are given an unfulfilling trip, consisting of stilted visuals rather than vibrant tapestries. The concept and the background of the game hold so much promise that they make this by-the-numbers, low-risk effort that much more disappointing.

Despite some interesting ideas, Biomutant commits the cardinal sin of media — it’s boring, and that ultimately seals its fate. The game has a gorgeous world and adorable character designs, yet it’s soulless and falls far short of its ambitions. What makes it even more depressing is that, although it has potential, it’s plagued by too many poor gameplay elements plus a story that’s bloated with exposition and undermined by poor character development, as well as the rampant technical issues. Offering a main story that can easily be completed in less than fifteen hours, Biomutant is a quick experience but the dullness still comes in that short amount of time. Ambition is a beautiful thing to have, but if you cannot fulfill it, it’s nothing but wasted potential and time.

Those looking to spend more time with the goddesses will at least enjoy more of their humour, and VTuber fans will likely get a kick out of their cameos. However, gameplay is very much lacking, with everything being done considerably better elsewhere, and ultimately, as an overall experience, Neptunia Virtual Stars remains a disappointment.

Woodsalt feels like something whose ideas would have been better served as a visual novel. The sparse gameplay that is there is so superficial that it ends up detracting from the experience. It’s at least respectful of the player’s time in that one can easily get a playthrough done in well under ten hours, but even then it’s very hard to recommend.