Infinity Strash: DRAGON QUEST: The Adventures of Dia is a great adaptation of The Adventures of Dia anime, but it's a disappointment when it comes to being a spin-off in the Dragon Quest franchise. Simple combat and a bad mission structure will have you watching screengrabs from the anime more than playing the game. It tires hard to be an epic adventure, but it feels like it was designed for the mobile market before being moved to a console release.
The Holy Grail War kicks off what I hope to be a continuing run for the Fate franchise. Fate/Samurai Remnant tells a good story with plenty of well-written characters and twists and turns. Its combat is simplistic but manages to keep you going for a fairly long duration. I hope this is the first step of great things to come for this unique franchise.
Baldur's Gate III is a generational game that manages to amaze at every corner. When you think you've done everything you can do, you find more and more ways to be imaginative in combat and exploration. Baldur's Gate III features some of the best writing and character development you'll experience in an RPG and the true freedom of playing just how you want to. Nothing is impossible in Baldur's Gate III; you are only limited by your imagination.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredders Revenge: Dimensional Shellshock is an interesting addition that provides a new Survival Mode to the core game. However, it provides you with fun access to play with your bosses of the game and a fun upgrade system utilizing crystals. Its difficulty holds it back, and it feels like it was designed specifically with the most hardcore audience in mind. Adding two new characters doesn't add enough to the core game to warrant a purchase.
Daymare 1994: Sandcastle is a fun title that improves on almost all the issues from the original. It provides an excellent atmosphere and fun combat situations where you can use cryo abilities. It's not a perfect game, though, with some bad voice acting, really dark lighting, and being unable to dodge attacks leaves you open to strikes. Invader Studios will hopefully build on these qualities for the promised third instalment in the series.
An original IP is always a good thing. An original IP that's also fun to play is even better. Immortals of Aveum is a fun magic shooter that takes the great arcade shooting of DOOM and combines it with fun exploration and puzzle solving. Its great animations and voice work help move a slightly sluggish story forward as best it can. But none of these issues kept me from enjoying my time as an Immortal.
It's always great to see a sequel improve on the original while keeping the spirit of the original alive. I loved my time in the crazy world of Blasphemous 2, with plenty of secrets to find and great combat that keeps you on your toes. Though its story could be a little more cohesive, it doesn't take much away from the overall product. Blasphemous 2 is easily one of the best indie titles of the year.
Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg is a nice Remke that allows you to experience where the franchise began. Though the game is constant timing you on everything you do the time to prepare for whatever tasks ahead can lead to some great discoveries. With great visuals and entertain and simple combat there should be plenty for fans to enjoy and for new comers to discover.
Trails Into Reverie should have been the best sendoff one could ask for in this great franchise. Unfortunately, it's the complete opposite. The duality of its story takes away from the narrative, and the introduction of every gotcha mechanic present in most mobile RPGs hurts more than it should. Though its combat and writing remain stellar, the rest of the game fails to capture the greatness of the titles that came before it.
Loop8: Summer of Gods tries many ideas but doesn't execute any of them well. Most of the game involves you building your relationship with people who don't even want to help you save the world. Its combat is unrewarding and doesn't even feel like its necessary. Its only saving grace is its great art design and, on most occasions, its voice acting.
I had a great time with Miasma Chronicles, and I legitimately didn't want it to end. The accessible tactical combat had me coming back for more, and I loved the environments and the visually pleasing destruction the Miasma has wrought. Though its story is pretty wonky, I still enjoyed what I experienced and hope that a sequel will fully flesh out what is happening in this world.
Piccolo Studios has once again managed to take something dark, desolate, and painful and find the beauty in it. After Us is a haunting tale of humanity's atrocities against the planet that hits closer to home than most people would want to accept. The game's mesmerising imagery haunted me at times and at other times had me in awe with its gorgeous vistas and art direction. It may be a simply platformer but it has a power message that everyone should pay attention to.
Respawn Entertainment solidifies itself as the best Star Wars developer around. Crafting a big galaxy to explore with an epic story that borrows and explores past Star Wars lore. Jedi Survivor improves on its predecessor and surpasses it in every way.
An excellent remaster of an excellent game, Live A Live influence can be spotted in many titles to this day, and most people may have never even heard of it. After 30 years, consumers can finally enjoy one of the most unique and compelling JRPGS from the SNES area.
Trinity Trigger plays it as safely as possible with an all-star development team. It's a shame it didn't try harder to elevate the genre like the Y's franchise constantly does with every entry. Trinity Trigger isn't a bad game by any means. It has a decent story, and exploration and combat can be fun; it just doesn't do enough to be a memorable title in a crowded genre.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure is easily one of the best entries in the franchise. A compelling heart-wrenching story is made better with excellent character writing and world-building, while the fun combat system keeps the best elements from its predecessor and improves it to make it stand out as much as possible. If you have to only play one of the Trails of titles, make sure you play Azure.
DC's Justice League: Cosmic Chaos took me by surprise. It's one of those games you go into without expecting much and coming away with a lot of fun and entering moments. There is a lot to like about Cosmic Chaos including the excellent writing, animated cut-scenes and fun yet simple combat. Don't be discouraged by its cartoony look. There is plenty here for everyone to enjoy from children to adults.
Mato Anomalies tries too hard to please everyone through various genres. It tells a good story when it wants to, but presenting it in three different styles doesn't always work for the best. The long-winded conversations will make your mind wonder quite a bit until it gets to the point. Thankfully its character design is good, and the soundtrack keeps you occupied. Though it features a decent combat system, getting going can take some time. The biggest downfall of Mato Anomalies is the card battle mechanic that constantly leaves you in an unfair position dragging your progression to a standstill.
Though it seems like a simple anime dungeon crawler, Little Witch Nobeta is a fun romp with an excellent combat system and fantastic world-building. It also features some great exploration full of plenty of secret rooms and treasures to find and I found myself lost for hours just looking for that next little collectable or scroll to level up my magic. Little Witch Nobeta takes what made a lot of the souls formula great and introduces it to the more casual player.
Dyschronia Chronos Alternate - Episode 1 is a nice start to visual novels in VR. It delivers a grand story that is held back by the lack of actually solving anything on your own. Most of the game has you interacting with objects just to leave the protagonist to figure out what to do with those objects for you. It simply holds your hand for its entire experience. There just simply wasn't enough interactivity with the medium of VR, and when the most important aspects come into play you're simply an observer.