I am frustrated with Criminal Girls 2, because on one hand it's a very solid dungeon crawler that most of the time doesn't outstay its welcome. It has the right pacing, the battle system has some neat little quirks to it, and yet the downside is that it becomes grindy in more ways than needed. While I didn't hate my time with Criminal Girls 2, I feel like it needed a much clearer direction to make the gameplay and story components more cohesive, and that's where it fails. If you liked the first game, this review likely won't sway you, but for those who are curious, just be prepared for a lot of scrubby brushes and goo flinging awkwardness.

As an action RPG it doesn't do enough to be memorable, as the simplicity of its gameplay is definitely going to be a turn off for some. However, there's a huge amount of promise in this game, and the world-building and characters really highlight the potential that Gust was aiming towards.

My World, My Way is certainly for players who are into collecting items from battles, and very simple, but sometimes challenging, dungeon-crawling.

There's certainly an argument that The Longest 5 Minutes could be considered more of an interactive visual novel than an RPG, but it's a good one. Though the gameplay is very basic, the events and dungeon-crawling sections do enough to convey the actual adventure, and it ties in nicely with the events of the final battle. The game plays to its strengths and mitigates its weaknesses well, providing an enjoyable experience that feels more involving as the timer ticks along.

Those prepared to battle through the tough times will find much to like from Growlanser: Wayfarer of Time, but a good number of players are likely to be chased off by some of the more frustrating parts. For me the enjoyable story and cast were more than enough to outweigh those sections where it felt like the PSP might go flying soon and it is a game worthy of serious consideration for those who enjoy the more story and text-heavy RPGs, even if those frustrating gameplay sections prevent a universal recommendation. On a whole it was an experience I would be happy to volunteer for again.

Shiness teases us with an adventure that is pure fun. The developers bring back much of the style from the early 90s games that inspired them, while successfully infusing the game with modern gameplay elements and mechanics. The world is engaging and the story presentation is great, complimented by a competent soundtrack, vivid visuals, and stylish manga-like cutscenes. The ideas behind the battle system are carefully architected and work wonderfully together to offer variety of play, action, and battle planning. Unfortunately the game seems to be a case where the realities of the world caught up with the developers' fantasy too soon. As a result, it fails to follow through on both its story and the promises of its combat system, and is marred by a lack of technical polish and bugs, leaving players with a distinctly average experience.

Melding real-time and turn-based mechanics cannot be easy, but Nova-111 does it deftly, with its gameplay being the top priority. Unfortunately, this interactive puzzle game has no story or substance to make it feel like more than a collection of mini-games. The game itself is a blast to play in handy bite sized chunks, and seeing the new ways puzzles, enemies, and mechanics all combine together can be quite fun. The game’s relatively short length also adds to its grab-and-go nature. With puzzles that don’t feel too punishing, it’s easy to jump in and feel rewarded for solving each well-crafted and thoughtful area.

Legacy of Ys provides a peek at what might have been for JRPGs had Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy not run away with the genre. Ironically, the gameplay in Ys has aged better than these ultimately more successful series originals.

Ar Nosurge is an interesting game that suffers from a lack of tender love and care on the localizer's part.

From its trailers and screens, Fara promised an epic role-playing adventure in a beautifully crafted world. In actuality, Fara produces an extremely short adventure game with average music and visuals, insufficient difficulty and story, and hardly any RPG elements. While some RPGamers may find Fara to be a worthwhile use of two hours, most would be better off leaving this unwilling hero stranded on that island to fend for himself.

Players coming to Shenmue III will find neither a fast-paced plot nor an action-packed story. Instead, they will pour many hours into mundane things and accomplish very little for their time and effort. But that is the point of Shenmue. That is its greatest strength and weakness: to pass time doing the insignificant things while enjoying what’s around them. Fans of the previous games will love the third instalment, and those who disliked the previous two games will not find anything here to change their minds. This game shamelessly and unapologetically retains the old-style gameplay in spite of two decades of new developments in the game industry. The magic is still there, though diminished to a degree due to a few poor design decisions, mainly in the broken QTE and food systems.

On the whole, AI LIMIT hits the target it aims for. It is a solid, if somewhat thin, Soulslike with a pleasing anime aesthetic. The combat is fun with a few decent innovations, the narrative is compelling, and the presentation manages to toe the line of being unique while also feeling familiar to its contemporaries. Unfortunately, a few missteps in the enemy design, voice acting, and technical departments hold it back from true greatness. Those that don’t enjoy the genre are unlikely to find that AI LIMIT solves any problem they might have, but those that do will find a fun addition to their collection.

Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: Sisters Generation proves to be a solid port on the Vita, one that may even be technically superior to the PS3 rendition.

Code of Princess provides an excellent means of satisfying the reptile-brain impulses within me, and like many other games in this genre it will be there whenever I need a sudden adrenaline boost. That makes it a difficult game to recommend for anyone without a reptilian brain that sometimes demands relief, but it satisfies the urge to concuss everything in sight splendidly.

While it does have its flaws of being repetitive, I found myself constantly picking it up every night before bed and just powering through sections at a time because it was just a blast to play. Miitopia isn't going to turn heads, nor grab the hardcore RPGamer crowd, but it's a fun little romp for those who want a much more compact and simple RPG experience.

Sword of the Necromancer includes a love story with queer characters who can revive monsters to fight alongside, a good variety of items, randomized senarios, and options to customize difficulty, with the promise of adding more content in the near future. Although it doesn’t shine brightly in any aspect, it does a fair job in all departments and proves that crowdfunded campaigns can work.

So while Two Worlds II might be lacking in polish, it is pure and simple fun without the headache of over complication.

As far as Wii games go, Fragile Dreams is definitely one of the most attractive out there.

Maglam Lord has enough that some will thoroughly enjoy their time with it, particularly those looking for an enjoyable story and cast. However, it’s brought down by uninspired missions and poorly realised combat. It’s certainly not a bad title, and thankfully the issues that are there are such that they don’t create an active barrier to progress, but the entertaining parts are steadily diluted enough that the experience as a whole misses out on being something to be fully celebrated.

The best indicator of whether a given gamer will appreciate Black Rock Shooter is its visual style. The game offers moderately entertaining combat and sad girls in snow, but these can be obtained elsewhere at a fraction of the aggravation. At its core, the story is a familiar one that isn't able to justify its retelling with a new twist. There is something to be said for a game that embraces zoning out and rhythmically blowing things up, but it's not always a straight-up compliment. Look, but don't touch.

Monochrome Mobius: Rights and Wrongs Forgotten is an enjoyable game with a good story and a couple of interesting ideas in its battle system. It is an easy recommendation for fans of the series and those looking for a traditional RPG that does not try to invent the wheel. Monochrome Mobius: Rights and Wrongs Forgotten does nothing wrong yet nothing remarkably right to make it memorable.

I played some of the original Final Fantasy Adventure but never completed it. Now that I've played Adventures of Mana, I don't think playing the original again will ever be necessary. Square Enix originally made this version for mobile phones, which perhaps explains why not much was changed. It's still a minimally-altered rendition of something I wasn't enthralled with in the first place. Many others have much more affection for the original than I do, and will doubtless be overjoyed that Square Enix allows them to play it on a modern platform without rendering any memories of how to progress inaccurate through alterations. Those hoping for something more akin to certain acclaimed later installments of the series, or a title that plays in a fashion better taking advantage of the Vita's capabilities, will be disappointed.

It's a game that has a lot of promise, but feels cheaply made. There's some great ideas that are overshadowed by gameplay elements that don't add anything meaningful to the overall experience. While I loved the overarching themes and the characters, those elements were outshined by boring, repetitive gameplay, with boring and repetitive tasks that felt directionless most of the time. I can only hope, if a sequel is made, that Gust refocuses on how they want to make the gameplay interesting, because as it stands Blue Reflection lacks meaningful gameplay that doesn't work well with the storytelling it is attempting to provide.

It's hard to recommend Operation Abyss to anyone except hardcore dungeon crawler fans. The story just doesn't have the content for a game of this length, and dungeon design issues often make exploration and advancing a major annoyance.

This game is a mini-game collection masquerading as an epic adventure, and it doesn't even pull that off well.

All of the problems listed here are clearly something to take into consideration when looking at Ragnarok Odyssey, but this game is not a typical start-to-finish RPG. It's best played in chunks with occasional bouts of co-op thrown in for good measure.

Fans of the Arland trilogy will surely adore their experience with Meruru, but for newcomers, this may not be the best place to start if you want to get a feel for the entire world. Still, Meruru is the silver lining at the end of this wonderful trilogy, and it will no doubt bring joy and closure to the long-time fans who stayed along for the journey.

Although it is riddled with annoyances and oversights throughout, The Last Remnant is an addictive game.