Like a Miyazaki-movie love of food, from the glorious ramen Mr. Saitou slumps next to at an izakaya to the strange confectionery available at a convenience store run by fungus. And the RPG Maker interface that you'll need to hit F11 to force into fullscreen. And a soulful bittersweetness that means it's likely to, cliché as it sounds, make you laugh and make you cry. At least a little bit. It's not the full emotional rollercoaster of Rakuen—it's more of a bite-sized experience, a quick ghost train through a bouncy castle where you can whip to the last stop in a single sitting if you want.
Brainhacking will blow your mind, but you'll want to get the cop out of your head by the end.
Not hard enough to be a challenge, but not painless enough to be relaxing.
Rogue Trader gets 40K's atmosphere right, but it's buggy and the rules are a mess.
Too much games-as-a-service cruft gets in the way of a potentially decent action-RPG.
With its emphasis on crafting and trading rather than action, Last Epoch puts the cart before the horse.
The knockabout glee of classic Saints Row ultraviolence is here, but held back a little by new-found restraint.
The Surge isn't the same as Dark Souls but comparison's inevitable. Like that cyborg whose torso I severed, it struggles to stand on its own.
Unique folkloric inspiration and interesting tactical considerations are let down by a slow second half.
If you found Slay the Spire's oppressiveness off-putting, Mahokenshi's easier and dressed up in a pretty kimono.
At its best when it's strangest, Inscryption doesn't know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em.
Better than Borderlands 3, but not quite reaching the heights of Borderlands 2 at its best.
A cute chess set for 40K fans and an unusual twist on the classic game, but skip the campaign.
Dead in Vinland combines resource management, RPG combat, uneven writing, and a lot of diciness into something I couldn't stop playing until I finished it.
A better Warhammer game than the last few.
A puzzle-platformer that's elevated by its winsome anime aesthetic.
Like a board game you play to death then put on the shelf to bring out on special occasions, but with street urchins and priest-stabbing.
Better than RollerCoaster Tycoon World, but doesn't do much to innovate on the formula.
A long game of choose-your-own-chosen-one with high highs to balance the lows.
This three-games-in-one package is convenient, but I can't help thinking these games deserved to be remade separately over several years, ditching stuff that doesn't work like the minigames, reinstating cut content and filling gaps rather than just draping shinier skyboxes over them. Still, ME1 is better than it used to be. It's no longer tempting to skip straight to ME2, though once you leave the Citadel you should stick to the main questline and only do side missions when your squadmates ask. And play as a woman if you want to hear a really great voice performance.