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Granblue Fantasy: Relink was a bit of a surprise for me. I was expecting a good time to be sure, but I am shocked by how deeply engaged I’ve become with the game. The story might disappoint some who were expecting a long, in-depth JRPG, but if you know what you’re getting into that shouldn’t be a problem. The combat is phenomenal. The character variety provides an endless supply of fun, with tons of opportunity to experiment and optimize your play. I’m going to be playing Granblue Fantasy: Relink for a long time, even after finishing this review there are a wealth of characters I want to dive deeper into and master, and I want to continue playing with those I’ve already spent hours upon hours with. I hope we see more games like this from Cygames going forward. They have a killer foundation to build on here.
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy is a worthy successor to a beloved original that proudly and successfully carries the Ace Attorney torch. Plus, this new release is a great package, jammed full of content, extras, and quality of life features that make it the best way to experience the Apollo Justice trilogy. While I think Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy could have been even better with a stronger commitment to developing its characters and ideas, it’s still great fun and something I can’t imagine an Ace Attorney fan or fan of mystery games in general wouldn’t enjoy.
With beautiful artwork, great sound direction, and a cast of voice actors that give life to the nightmare, I’m happy that I gave Nie no Hakoniwa a try despite my unfamiliarity with the genre. While definitely not for the faint of heart, if you’re brave enough to make that jump and try it out, I assure you that there’s an interesting story waiting for you when you open the box.
Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island is a brutal, uncompromising game. It carries out all of its unconventional and punishing rules with conviction and smart consideration, making for an unsuspecting RPG that’s one of the most consistently thrilling I’ve played in years. Couple this with dramatically improved presentation compared to past entries, and you have an excellent example of how to modernize an old series without sanding off the edges. It says a lot that after finally completing my first playthrough, I was ready to jump back in again for another round. If you’re feeling brave, enter the dungeon and take a roll of the dice with this excellent iteration on the Mystery Dungeon genre.
Nukitashi 2 doesn’t have the strongest plot, but it makes up for it with humor and high production values. Perhaps it won’t be a hit with everyone as comedy is subjective, but I certainly enjoyed the experience. That said, as a direct sequel I did feel that the change in direction had it fall short of the original.
After finishing Irotoridori no Sekai, particularly having finished Shinku’s route, I am confident in recommending it. Going in, my interest mostly stemmed from some of the beautiful artwork I’d seen, and whilst it certainly delivered on that, it also delivered a compelling, emotional narrative that I’m happy to have experienced for myself. There are some issues of course, a couple of less interesting routes and a bit of unnecessary complexity at times. But I think that messiness is often an unavoidable side effect of earnestness. And that’s my favorite part of Irotoridori no Sekai, you can tell it is bursting with a desire to communicate its story, its characters, and its world to you.
I want it on the record that I love UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II Sys: Celes. That said, I think to try and recommend picking it up at full price to anyone but hardcore fans is too much of a hard ask. Yes, if you pick the game up now you get access to Season 1 with three new DLC characters incoming, but it just doesn’t have the weight of a game released this side of titles like Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, and Mortal Kombat 1 where they had a lot of worth to their offline portions. The gameplay is solid and the visual style is somewhat love or hate, but there is a lot here to love. It doesn’t feel like a major sequel so I would suggest that you either pick this one up on sale or pick an earlier one up first to see if you're new to the series and not convinced. If you’re a fan of the series this feels like a half sequel, but the rollback netcode and extra characters alone should be enough to entice you in.
I had a lot of fun with Dungeon Travelers: To Heart 2 in Another World. The story, frivolous though it may be, is appropriately lighthearted and funny. Its characters grew on me over time, and I loved the variety in their designs. The gameplay holds everything together here. Despite some issues with inflexibility, RNG, and some frustrating dungeon design, the high level of player freedom, the wealth of customization options, and the tight balance of combat make Dungeon Travelers one of the most engaging DRPGs I’ve played.
Persona 3 Reload is a top-tier JRPG with gameplay to match. Whilst the story and characters may not match up to subsequent entries in the series, they're good in their own right, becoming far stronger as it gets closer to the end. In terms of gameplay and presentation, it goes beyond most other JRPGs would ever dream of. It successfully brings the original Persona 3 story into the modern era, making it feel like this was always how it was meant to be.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III is difficult to recommend for Trails newcomers, though there are in-game resources to help bridge that gap. If you liked Cold Steel I and II, then there’s a very solid chance you’ll enjoy III, though plenty of scenes or lines probably still go over your head if that’s all you’ve seen. With that said, Cold Steel III is incomplete by itself. Despite its excesses, its narrative builds slowly into something that isn’t fully resolved until the next game, and it has shortcomings of its own. I still find Cold Steel III to be the best game of the four narratively overall, but it’s also held back by significant pitfalls in combat. Nonetheless, I still got a decent amount of enjoyment out of the game thanks to the better aspects of the story and the core fundamentals of the Trails battle system. It’s a high-maintenance game to get the most out of, with rough edges, but I still found it enjoyable more often than not.
If the main continuous story is the primary reason you want to play The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV, then I’m afraid it doesn’t live up to its own hype. I get the sense Falcom bit off more than they could chew with this arc, dragging far too many plot threads into this already big game and not finishing many of them in a fulfilling way. Much of the story’s tension is manufactured by one incredibly frustrating plot device that did substantially more harm than good to the narrative. Despite this, I enjoyed this game a surprising amount for everything else it has to offer. Plenty of great scenes and character moments can be found outside of the main story. A lot of the bonding events and optional events in this game are genuinely, surprisingly good. While not my favorite game in the entire Trails series in terms of systems, it is still the Cold Steel title I most enjoyed in terms of gameplay sections. Several combat aspects were tweaked enough from III for me to feel like I was genuinely engaging with its systems. This game is noticeably imperfect and unlikely to be enjoyed by someone who isn’t already a fan of the series, but there’s enough to enjoy if you’re willing to spend the time to do so. The lows are among the lowest in the series, but the highs are high enough to salvage a decently enjoyable JRPG for me.
In the end, I feel like KONOSUBA - God's Blessing on this Wonderful World! Love For These Clothes Of Desire! will be enjoyed by anyone who liked the anime. Whilst it's not exactly a great main plot and the gameplay doesn't stand out, it's a lot of fun moments spent with a cast of characters with a brilliant dynamic and plenty of fanservice.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is an excellent game where you can easily spend a hundred hours if you get sidetracked. While it doesn't quite live up to Ichiban's last adventure, it comes close. I imagine long-time fans especially will appreciate Kiryu's closing chapter, while it might spark an interest in newer fans to go back and visit the older titles.
Katana ZERO offers sharp, satisfying action and a creative and immersive approach to storytelling all served up with style and flair. Though its short length and inconclusive ending may be turn-offs for some, I found Katana ZERO to be one of the most memorable experiences in my past few years of gaming. I highly recommend it.
Tevi’s greatest strength is in how much fun the game is to play with its actual mechanics. At its best, it’s an absolute masterclass in 2D action game design. Combat and movement flow together seamlessly to produce a fun and acrobatic gameplay experience that stands with the best of ‘em, regardless of whether we’re talking 2D or 3D, indie or AAA. The developers and publisher poured a lot of love and care into Tevi’s design and production. Unfortunately, it’s bogged down by a weak narrative that felt like more was put into its style than making something of genuine substance, resulting in some jagged and stunted edges. The incompleteness of its latter half led me to feel at least a touch of regret over what could have been. Still, the areas in which Tevi makes good on its potential are more than worth your playtime if you’re looking for enjoyable action-heavy 2D games, Metroidvanias, or even bullet hells.
Aside from a few minor gripes, there isn’t a whole lot that’s not thoroughly great about Tekken 8. The fluidity of the combat, the option to be able to streamline combo strings, and the impressive attention to graphical detail are top-tier. The game only lacks in the most peripheral of ways, but what has always been gratifying about Tekken still pours out from every inch of this latest entry. Tekken 8 is not just a contender, but a champion amongst a legacy of worthy competitors.
Baldr Sky is an excellent sci-fi visual novel, with decent gameplay sections. There are some sticking points such as having to repeat certain sections, but the quality of the overall story overpowers them to make this a strong recommendation.
The Indigo Disk is a decent enough addition to Pokémon Scarlet/Violet, but it could have been a lot better. The story content is insubstantial, the game’s core performance issues remain, and much of the additional content is impotently integrated and tied to a grueling BP grind. The Indigo Disk is fun, but only because Pokémon is fun. I enjoyed my time with the DLC, with some caveats, which is identical to my experience with Pokémon Scarlet/Violet as a whole. It doesn’t do much to excite, but it serves perfectly fine as simply more Pokémon Scarlet/Violet. If you liked Scarlet/Violet, and want more, this is that. If you’re looking for a significant improvement on Scarlet/Violet, sit tight and hope for a solid Generation 10.
Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising is the blueprint for how making the right tweaks in the right places can enhance a good experience to a great one, as long as you want to take that experience online that is. Despite the gutting of single-player content and the overly grindy nature, the core game is still an absolute thrill to play, and shot it back up into my rotation of fighting games. Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising is a serious contender among fighting games and the leader of the anime fighting game faction.
Kingpin: Reloaded could have been a great way to experience a cult title, but frankly it's a poor, missed shot of a remaster in its current state. The excessive use of bloom and texture smoothing does a number on the aesthetic of the game, and at times hinders players. The core experience of Kingpin: Life of Crime is still a fun and unique few hours and there is still fun to be had if you enjoy classic shooters. The poor performance does this remaster no favors. Even with the option to play the “original” mode available, the changes made to the core systems of the game and performance issues persist. More patches are needed before I could even suggest playing this version over the original.