This part of the PSOne game has been remade with extreme care, marvellous graphics, and considerable enhancements in terms of both side content and the narrative.
There's no world to explore, battles are as hard as they are dull, the narrative barely progresses, and the game as a whole is far too time-consuming for its format.
Easier, awkward at times, and much less surprising than prior entries, this sequel is still an effective horror game, but not the hardened experience that I have come to expect from the series.
Hollow Cocoon has potential, and is notable for its visuals, but it lacks enough compelling and suspenseful ideas to succeed as a survival-horror title.
While Sword Art Online Alicization Lycoris was bitter, Sword Art Online Last Recollection turns out to be rather sweet.
Furyu's first new gem since The Caligula Effect.
Trails into Reverie is the all-star game of the series fans have been waiting for, but struggles to advance beyond that.
Loop8: Summer of Gods had the potential to be a serious outsider with an innovative approach to the JRPG genre, if only it were better executed. Instead, it's such a massive disappointment that it will make me think twice before purchasing a Marvelous game again.
The vast tactical system, well-designed maps, and great characters alone make Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp a must-have for any Switch owner.
Compelling world-building and a great amount of freedom make Atelier Ryza 3 worth experiencing.
With Engage, the series continues to be the ultimate jewel in the Japanese SRPG crown.
A delightful RPG in its own right, rather than just a good retro-like experience.
Compared to Persona 5, Atlus delivers equally great characters, solid storytelling, mostly attractive design, and compelling battle and progression systems here, but the content is clearly lighter, the world much less elaborate, and the pacing a bit awkward.
Kuro no Kiseki represents, at its fullest, that invaluable joy of diving into a new world.
t takes just enough from Fire Emblem: Three Houses to please fans of the renowned strategy RPG, but dubious writing and a wobbly progression system darken the mood.
It effectively retains what makes the series so enjoyable - including a terrific atmosphere, terrifying opponents, challenging gameplay, and twisted puzzles - while also being dramatically harder than the first two entries.
Ghostwire Tokyo is a cool action game with equally cool design in many respects, but suffers from several shortcomings and erroneous game design choices. There's not enough emphasis on horror, story, or spectacle, and while it tends to attempt a lot of things at the same time - action shooter, horror, RPG, open world, platformer - it fails to excel at most, if any, of them.
Atelier old timers can once again feel at home, even if some important aspects are still lacking.
While the overall quality is outstanding on both a gameplay and graphical level, DICE has unfortunately drastically cut back the amount of content on offer in this latest release, and the loss of both a single player campaign and additional multiplayer game modes is certainly felt.
The clever battle system and the fresh ideas introduced by the series deserved far better than this for a sequel.