Jamie Kirk
eFootball PES 2021 Season Update is last years game at a cut price with mostly up to date rosters. It's a beautiful game to play, marred by significant presentation issues and the lack of any killer game modes.
While it might not keep up with the mega JRPG franchises, Star Ocean: The Divine Force is a big leap forward over previous entries, and has a fun combat system and just enough charm to recommend.
HoPiKo is challenging and moves at a lightning pace, although it can't escape the fact that it feels more like a game you'd play on your phone than on a console.
For every cool idea in Sonic Forces, there is a half-hearted execution, and while that may give me warm memories of my childhood, it doesn't make for something I could whole heartedly recommend.
The Last Remnant is a fascinating and frustrating experience. Beneath a fundamentally mediocre game are a lot of interesting ideas. The story is epic and interesting, but only in parts. The battle system is wholly unique and feels massive in scope. Except you have to play the game for hours and hours before it becomes any fun. The Switch is full of quality RPG ports at the moment, and there are plenty more coming. The Last Remnant is not one of them.
Oninaki is disappointing. Mostly because the right elements were in place to make it great and it's so thoroughly mediocre. Tokyo RPG Factory have yet to release a truly essential game. As it stands they've released three games with interesting ideas and spotty execution. Perhaps one day they will get it right and release a defining RPG. However, today is not that day, and Oninaki is not that game.
Syberia and its sequels suffer a common fate with many classic games released on the Switch. It is expensive. 15-year-old PC games should not be double the price of pieces of genius like Celeste, there is a problem. Nostalgia should not extend to the feeling of knowing you've been ripped off because Electronics Boutique is the only store in town that carries the game you desire. If these games were half the price, I'd suggest looking in to two hidden gems of a mistreated genre. As it stands, I hesitate to whole-heartedly endorse it. Fans of the series may get a kick out of it, but there's so much more out there.
Deadly Premonition is both very hard and very easy to recommend. For fans of the series it's a no-brainer. It's another 30 hours with York and his gang of nutty friends. The story is Twin Peaks meets True Detective put through several extra filters of oddness. For newcomers to the series the gameplay, graphics, animation and loading times may simply be insurmountable obstacles. For those that can look past it there are so many interesting ideas at play and the game can be genuine fun. In short it sucks, but it may also be one of the more interesting games of the year. It's destined to be a Let's Play classic.
An affecting story and dazzling presentation is marred by a series of frustrating gameplay mechanics.
An interesting real time take on the strategy JRPG genre. Unfortunately bogged down by a generic story and a lack of purpose between missions.
World of Warriors may look great on the PS4 but it become tedious...