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Derek Heemsbergen


Favorite Games:
  • Earthbound
  • Xenoblade Chronicles
  • Anything by Falcom!

82 games reviewed
75.9 average score
78 median score
49.4% of games recommended

Derek Heemsbergen's Reviews

A connoisseur of all things RPG, Derek has been writing about video games professionally since 2010. His educational background in linguistics and Japanese coalesced to form a fascination with game localization, a field he recently started working in after publishing research on the topic. He has a deep and abiding love for Japanese developer Nihon Falcom, and his heart is prone to go pitter-patter at the sound of the word "Ys." Aside from his kinda-sorta-almost-all-consuming love of gaming, Derek enjoys staying active, improving his mediocre cooking skills, drinking too much coffee, and covering his body in geeky tattoos. He lives with his partner in Arizona and seeks to expand his family by once again welcoming several ferrets into the fold.

Trails of Cold Steel III marches the long-running series ever closer to an explosive climax with satisfying combat, characters, and music.

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Jul 25, 2019

In reinventing Fire Emblem for a new console generation, Three Houses doubles down on its philosophy of player choice, but neglects to make all choices equally valid.

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Jul 5, 2019

Shadowbringers is more than just a masterful arc in a beloved tale; it's one of the best Final Fantasy stories ever realized, showcasing an MMORPG at the apex of its craft.

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8 / 10.0 - Slay The Spire
Jun 19, 2019

A loving homage to a niche sub-genre of days gone past, Slay the Spire uses procedurally-generated challenges to keep its deck-building gameplay fresh.

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Lulua is an exceptionally safe Atelier title that feels less like a return to form and more like an achromatic stroll down the rugged cobblestone of memory lane.

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Jan 29, 2019

Kingdom Hearts III is the biggest, boldest, flashiest entry in the saga—one that builds upon the gameplay systems of its forebears in a kaleidoscopic carnival of action RPG jubilance.

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Jan 16, 2019

A surreal, weird, and original RPG quite unlike anything else in the (Soul) space, YIIK's heart beats stronger than its technical shortcomings.

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Oct 24, 2018

This anime-styled fighter goes plus ultra for fans of the My Hero Academia franchise, but its lackluster single-player content feels phoned in.

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7.5 / 10.0 - Super Mario Party
Oct 3, 2018

By ditching previous entries' clumsy attempts at innovation, Super Mario Party reminds us how fun it can be to crowd around a TV and roll dice with the Mushroom Kingdom crew.

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9 / 10.0 - Timespinner
Sep 28, 2018

Beautifully trim, transcendently polished, and unexpectedly inclusive, Timespinner is among the most capable endeavours to spring from Castlevania's picked-over carcass.

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Sep 25, 2018

An enjoyable but extraordinarily safe follow-up that carries the torch for this beloved strategy RPG series into the next generation.

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Dragon Quest XI's strength lies not in defying conventions, but in refining the concepts its predecessors pioneered to the absolute apex of what a Dragon Quest game can be.

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7.5 / 10.0 - WarioWare Gold
Aug 9, 2018

While unlikely to ever eclipse the popularity of games starring his do-gooder counterpart—lo, art imitates life—Wario's series of wacky microgames nevertheless exudes such raw charisma and fun factor that it's hard not to root for him.

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Jul 19, 2018

Octopath Traveler is a sublime mélange of classic role-playing sensibilities and modern conveniences that speaks to this RPG aficionado's soul.

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This hack-and-slash romp is as good as it was in 2014, but remains fundamentally the same game, making it best suited for those yet to experience Hyrule Warriors whatsoever.

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6.5 / 10.0 - The Swords of Ditto
Apr 24, 2018

While indisputably overflowing with cartoonish charm, the more tedious aspects of The Swords of Ditto's design prevented me from fully engaging with everything it has to offer.

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A novel, thematic conceit is the most interesting element of this repetitive experience; the rest is weighed down by crybaby characters and vague, unsatisfying gameplay objectives. Atelier is overdue for a revamp.

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7.5 / 10.0 - The Alliance Alive
Mar 26, 2018

The Alliance Alive's one-of-a-kind atmosphere and decadent soundtrack are high notes in an experience otherwise subject to the whims of random number generation.

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Mar 19, 2018

One of the best JRPGs released in ages, Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom is as charming as it is intricate, full of expressive characters and addictive gameplay systems that mesh together in perfect harmony.

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Mar 8, 2018

The Royal Pack is a well-realized bundle of miscellany that refines the core Final Fantasy XV experience while reminding us that it's still an incomplete game sixteen months after launch.

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