Josh Tolentino's Reviews
To that end, it's more charitable to see One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows as more of a Hero Association RPG than a fully qualified fighting game. You won't be seeing it on the main stage at EVO anytime soon, but you can at least have a fun few hours raising your own hero.
In the end, Zanki Zero: Last Beginning is a credible and entertaining adventure, but its potential to stand alongside its developers' best works is hampered by its systems and story's inability to come together and elevate the experience beyond the sum of its parts.
The Caligula Effect: Overdose is still definitely a flawed, frustrating work. Its shortcomings are many, and might still be too intractable for some, but the refinements and additions have,for me at least, papered over the cracks just enough to make it worth putting up with. Patient and curious JRPG enthusiasts will find plenty to appreciate, if not necessarily love, if they try for a quick stay in Mobius.
Given that we live in a time with a seemingly unprecedented number of absolutely fantastic anime fighters, that might be a big ask for some. In the end, the game's biggest sin may be not embodying U.A.'s "Plus Ultra" spirit, and simply settling for being a decent, good-looking fighting game take on a popular anime franchise.
While some of Conan Exiles has rubbed off a bit for me thanks to friction with its more cumbersome aspects, it remains a genuinely engrossing experience to play... if you can find a spot in the queue.
Ultimately, while it's a little bit disappointing to see Kadokawa go with such a "safe" design for its return to the tactical RPG battlefield, there's enough in God Wars: Future Past's narrative and atmosphere to recommend it to someone on the lookout for a new Tactics-style title.
While Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception won't break new ground in terms of narrative novelty or tactical depth, it remains an attractive, polished fantasy romp that will especially delight fans familiar with the original story. Everyone else, though, should be prepared to pick up the sequel, lest they leave the story halfway done.
Reactions to Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series will depend largely on how receptive a given player is to seeing more of the Guardians of the Galaxy in general. Unlike their successful big-screen debut, the narrative missteps in Tangled Up in Blue mean that players of the first episode won't immediately fall in love with this motley crew of ne'er-do-wells. Anyone that's already open to their cosmic antics will find a family that seems worth sticking with.
Alice Gear Aegis CS is a solid, if simple, arena fighter with great mecha musume characters. But its thin storytelling doesn't endear players to a world that's largely been Japan-exclusive until now.
Forspoken impresses with its movement and central narrative, but is sold short by annoying banter and open-world meandering.
Front Mission 1st: Remake is a faithful and pretty recreation of a game that hasn't aged very gracefully. It's worth playing all the same.
Take to the stage with the Stratford-Upon-Avon High Drama Society to put on plays and cross dimensions saving the world of Shakespeare's canon from chaotic incursions.
So it goes with Metal Max Xeno Reborn, where yesteryear’s vehicles of war and destruction are the future-present’s platforms of hope. One could also say the same for the game itself, salvaged over the course of years and redeveloped into something quite different — and much better – than before.
Glitch Pitch's Idol Manager is an engrossing industry angle on the Japanese idol scene, but stumbles a bit in the spotlight.
Stellar Blade is a substantial and gorgeous-looking action RPG with exciting combat, but its narrative is undermined by flat characterization and frequently lifeless storytelling.
Despite the rough edges, Dimps' work is easy to like if you're a Sword Art Online fan hungry for something new to advance the franchise with. Though ultimately held back by the jank, it's definitely worth checking out, if for nothing else than a welcome change of pace and setting.
Unfortunately, though, despite the quality of the episode, one complaint does remain, and it's one that Guardians hasn't shaken the whole season so far. Mainly it comes down to tone, in which, unlike other Telltale games, there really does feel like a "right" way for things to end up at the end of Who Needs You.
All in all, though, the game remains an impressive, if flawed, effort. Toting an interesting setting and some standout design choices, ELEX goes farther than any previous Piranha Bytes game in making the case for sticking with it in pursuit of a certain old-school ideal of RPG gaming, even if it can come at a cost in polish and presentation.
Ultimately, while Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series: Under Pressure's array of choices doesn't quite feel as "consequential" as one might expect of the typical Telltale pitch, the new episode improves on the promise of the first outing's strengths in characterization, while still building up the main narrative into something a tad more engaging. Only the future will be able to show if these decisions will snowball properly, but the series now has me wanting to actually see that eventuality, which means it's done its job.
Everything feels to me like a mellow, less aggressive take on Katamari Damacy or Noby Noby Boy, a curious, reflective novelty that, for players in the right kind of mindset, can spark something profound.