In my opinion, the games in this trilogy get a little better with each installment, but they more or less fall into the same ballpark of quality. Perhaps less accessible than the Ryza games, but well worth diving into for RPG fans.

The ongoing mystery of Poisonette and your own situation made for a compelling overarching plot, one good enough that I wanted to play through to the end in spite of the somewhat unimpressive mechanics.

The physics and animation also look quite poor at times. Truly, this looks and sounds like a seven-dollar game in 2021. But it still plays well, and I found myself getting sucked into its simple pleasures once again. It may not be ahead of its time anymore, but there’s still something worth appreciating here.

If you’re interested in the idea of having arcade-style shoot-em-up action grafted onto a more expansive framework, you’ll probably want to give Astro Aqua Kitty a shot.

This is a rough port of an excellent game, and while you can still enjoy it in this form, it’s probably the absolute worst way to do so.

At the very least, you should start with the original Trails of Cold Steel, something that isn’t possible on Switch right now. But when I think of all of the time and effort you’d have to put in to get to the ideal state to enjoy this game, all I can conclude is that it’s probably not worth it. If you’ve come this far, by all means: this is an ending, and you might as well experience it. But had I known back in the day how it all would turn out, I’m not sure I would have gotten into Cold Steel in the first place. I was really hoping for something better than “well, it’s fine". Well… it’s fine.

I’d easily recommend this to those looking for a well-told, emotional story with an interesting presentation, but if you want something that pushes back with its mechanics, it may not be the right game for you.

Final Fantasy 8 Remastered took its time coming to mobile platforms. The port isn’t optimal but it is adequate. Certainly well-done enough that you should be able to enjoy the game for what it is. Now, whether or not that game is going to be to your tastes is another matter entirely. It’s an odd duck, but it has a devoted following for a reason. If you’ve got an open mind for a JRPG that wanders off the beaten path in more ways than one, and not always in a good way, you might end up a fan yourself. I’m not sure it was the right follow-up to Final Fantasy 7‘s blockbuster success, but there’s plenty to love about Final Fantasy 8‘s unique charms.

If you love challenging puzzles, some of which feel like you need to be reading the developer’s brain to figure out, you’ll have a field day here. But I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t frustrating sometimes. Hidden breakable walls become so hard to spot that you start whacking every surface you come across. Logical leaps that probably made sense to someone during development but don’t work out so well for a player trying to figure things out. It can be utterly exasperating. But I still kept on playing it until I reached the end, which I think speaks to the underlying appeal of this game.

I find the original board game a bit shallow and this video game version is no different, but it’s a decent enough game to play with younger kids.

The biggest problem we ran into was that while the chaotic moments were the most fun, the game punishes you for indulging in them. I understand that’s the point of the game, and I suppose it’s not so different from things like Overcooked! in that regard. But here it feels like the competition should be more the focus than the cooperation, and it just doesn’t work out that way. We still enjoyed it well enough to bring it out for a couple of evenings, but no one is in a big rush to cycle it back in again for the moment. I’d say if you do gaming nights often enough, it’s a nice thing to pull out now and then.

The idea of the open world RPG has greatly expanded over the last several years, and it’s perhaps that aspect where Kingdoms of Amalur has lost a bit of shine. But I think there’s a certain charm to its big-but-not-too-big areas, and the impressive amount of polish and high quality of the creative components combined with the satisfying combat make for a solid adventure that will keep you busy for quite a while.

Really, the only thing I don’t like here is that you’re left to adjust the scaling yourself. It would be nice if there were preset modes to get perfect scaling rather than having to tweak with the analog stick until you get it just right. Not the end of the world, but it’s something annoying you have to do for each game once. Otherwise, this is a fantastic set with lots of great games at an affordable price. The

With a bunch of different paths to play through and endings to reach, it’s worth doing a replay or two just to feel things out a bit more. I wish the overarching plot was a little more engaging, but I found enough in the moment-to-moment to keep me quite satisfied.

It’s a little hard to deal with initially, but the game is forgiving enough with its difficulty options that you should be able to get the ropes sooner or later. Once you do, it’s tremendous fun. All up it’s not the longest game around, but you certainly won’t regret the time you spend with it.

Oddly, while I was looking forward to playing the new-to-the-West Saviors more, I ended up enjoying my replay of Stranger more. Still, both games are well-crafted dungeon RPGs and the fact that they offer slightly different experiences is one of the biggest strengths of this pack.

As for whether or not it’s worth buying… for someone who enjoys board games, who has ample opportunity to play with friends or family who also enjoy board games, it’s a definite yes. You’ll get several hours of fun out of it at the very least. For someone looking for a game to pick up who may or may not be able to find two or three or four other players? Probably not. This isn’t a single player game, and while it can be played online, it is really best played in person. But hey, it’s $5. If you’re unsure, it’s an absolute bargain for a decent port of a classic game. Give it a shot!

The level designs are solid and moving your little mole around in them is pleasant. You’ve got a very typical hub structure, a lot of familiar types of levels, and various secrets tucked away for you to find. While the character designs and music let down the overall presentation a little bit, the graphics are bright and colorful, and everything runs quite smoothly. This probably isn’t going to rock anyone’s world, but if you enjoy the genre I think you’ll have a lot of fun going through this one.

Bravely Default II is truly a JRPG fan’s JRPG, and while I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping it would smash my expectations the way the first game did, I’d be similarly dishonest if I were to say that I didn’t enjoy every minute of it.

The random power-up selection between stages makes each run a little different, and the meta-goal of unlocking more character and modification chips makes it all too easy to try again after you lose. Throw in a really attractive presentation, and you’ve got an excellent arcade-style game with a style all its own.

There are enough variations and alternate modes that if you find a like-minded friend you can get a good bit of mileage out of Duel On Board, and that’s nice. In the ocean of party games on the Switch, this isn’t a big drip but it’s not exactly a shower of joy either.

There’s a certain spice missing that keeps this from being genuinely great, but it’s an enjoyable enough romp for fans of challenging platformers.

Ultimately, it’s a well-polished spin that is fun to pick up now and then for a few minutes, if not much more than that.

The controls are a bit clunky, particularly with regards to aiming your attacks. As such it feels like a smart idea to ignore almost every ranged attack item that requires some precision. I like the pixel art, don’t think much of the audio, and found the difficulty curve smooth enough. Not something you’re going to remember even a week after you play through it, but it will entertain you for a night or two.

It all adds up to a game that is frustrating for all the wrong reasons. It’s not unplayable, and it’s fair to say the Souls series has suffered its own share of technical issues over the years, but it’s awfully hard to recommend Hellpoint in this particular state.

It’s very well-constructed and polished to an impressive degree. But it doesn’t do anything particularly unexpected, and for some people that may be enough to make them want to take a pass.

Its presentation is a bit rough in places and certainly you’re not going to get a whole lot from the story, such as it is. But if you want some challenging and enjoyable turn-based battles for under ten bucks, this will scratch the itch just as well as its predecessor did.

There are 80 stages in total, and should you buy into the core conceit you’ll likely enjoy playing through them all. It’s not bad, but it takes more than a bit of graphical flourish to freshen up an idea that QUByte has revisited a bit too frequently.