Rice Digital
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I went into Gestalt: Steam & Cinder with some hope despite the delays. I came out feeling like I’ve played one of the more forgettable metroidvanias in recent years. It’s far from the worst I’ve ever played (the short runtime actually helps it out in a way). I just can’t see myself recommending this unless you’ve absolutely exhausted the best this genre has to offer already.
Athenian Rhapsody is billed as a game where each player’s experience is different, and that you can play through multiple times to find new paths. But due to the focus on wacky characters over good writing, I had a hard time even wanting to finish a single run. I’d imagine some people might still have a good time, but I can safely say Athenian Rhapsody was not for me.
Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution’s poor framerate, terrible gameplay, and story with no stakes combine together to make for a thoroughly unpleasant RPG. While the game’s entire goal is to make better and better games, the actual Neptunia series seems to have instead gone on a steep downward decline.
Rabbit and Steel is an incredibly enjoyable game, merging raid mechanics and roguelites in a way I didn’t think would work so well. There’s just enough variety to keep runs fresh, while also not going too far and making it harder to learn each boss encounter. I’m more than looking forward to grabbing a few friends at launch and seeing how multiplayer turns things up another notch.
Anomaly Collapse is an interesting game, but one I’d maybe recommend waiting on a few patches for to see if certain issues can be ironed out. Despite the cute characters, it’s not for the faint of heart, and it certainly doesn’t do the best job of onboarding new players.
Terra Memoria comes across as a much larger project that had to be heavily cut down to get something out the door. I really liked the initial premise, and the character designs have a lot of charm. But everything else is just far too simplistic, leading to a story that is unmemorable and combat that requires no thought. Despite this, I wouldn’t be against another game in the same world that’s entirely focused around the robust building systems, since they hold a lot of potential.
The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered is a barebones port of a flawed JRPG, now with a hefty £44.99 price tag. When you can get the various SaGa ports and remakes for far less, I can’t even recommend this game for fans of more unique RPGs.
Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore doesn’t quite reach the goofy highs of The Wand of Gamelon and The Faces of Evil, and its gameplay is still going to pale in comparison to modern platformers. But as a homage to the CD-i, it’s still full of charm (and actually decent to play, unlike the aforementioned games). If you go in knowing what to expect, then you’ll have a decent time
Piczle Cross Story of Seasons is a simple game, perhapss too simple for some. But if you like Story of Seasons and relaxing puzzle games, it’s absolutely worth giving a try. As a bonus, it’s also under £10 to buy, making it cheaper than the disappointing Pioneers of Olive Town Expansion Pass!
Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island is another solid entry in the genre, and a decent starting point for newcomers (though I’d argue The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate is better for this due to its cheap price point). It’s not for the faint of heart, but for those that do brave Serpentcoil Island, you’ll find a rewarding roguelike experience to sink your teeth into.
Astlibra Gaiden: The Cave of Phantom Mist can offer a few hours of familiar action combat, with a few tweaks here and there. But the reuse of assets and a randomised dungeon system that offers no variety makes for a rather bland experience over Astlibra Revision. However, if you’re fine with the lack of story content and just want to blast through some monster-filled areas, then The Cave of Phantom Mist is the cheap DLC for you.
Speaking of impressive the title also has an extensive codex despite it being just an appetiser. The foundation of its world is solid and intriguing, so much so that it’ll be one of the biggest reasons as to you will be wanting to see the end product come into fruition. That’s because much of the terminology and information vaguely presented in the game suggests of underlining happenings and foreboding events that its full release will almost undoubtedly return to and expand upon.
Omnimus will likely be of interest to any fans of dystopia, futurism and science fiction, but there’s also no shortage of media in these genres. Overall, while I appreciate the vision and the artwork, it read to me a bit like a Sword Art Online AU, which wasn’t what I was expecting based on the retail listing and key art. But if you’re just looking for a no-frills visual novel with some sci-fi flavouring, Omnimus might be up your alley – check it out on the Switch store today.
That can all be true, and I can still be mad about V3 for its mishandling of such a contentious theme, primarily because it led to such a hazy and frustrating ending. But maybe this is a sign that Danganronpa has run its course – after V3, I’m almost certain that there’s no one-upping its meta-meta conclusion without it starting to get even more wanky.
When romance and psychological horror comes together in a perfect match like it does here, with a female main character to boot, From Madness with Love is the kind of dating sim I wish would grace us much more often than it currently does. For £14.29 I cannot recommend this game enough.
I think that Trails into Reverie will delight long-time fans. Despite being the shortest title in the series so far, Reverie offers up a whole new world of possibilities for combat. Some of the set-dressing could definitely stand to be improved, however, not to mention the pacing, which does let the side down a little bit. The game is quite unavoidably bloated, and I think could have massively benefitted from shaving off a few surplus characters, but it nonetheless remains a solid addition to the Trails series. While I don’t think this title will see much success in onboarding many new players, I hope Trails into Reverie will keep its hardcore fans well fed for a long time.
In closing, both games could not be any more different to one another really, and it will depend on what you are looking for to determine which will be more worthwhile to experience for yourself. But for my money, Charade Maniacs strikes me as a game that has potential but feels distractingly and disappointingly unfinished with the two routes I have currently experienced, while Jack Jeanne’s overall polish outshines it as well as its depth being apparent from just a single playthrough.
In closing, both games could not be any more different to one another really, and it will depend on what you are looking for to determine which will be more worthwhile to experience for yourself. But for my money, Charade Maniacs strikes me as a game that has potential but feels distractingly and disappointingly unfinished with the two routes I have currently experienced, while Jack Jeanne’s overall polish outshines it as well as its depth being apparent from just a single playthrough.
This is how big-budget games should be. They should feel like they’ve had time, effort and money thrown behind them, but they should never feel like the “business” side of things is more important than the “creative” side of things. So many modern triple-A games get that completely wrong, and Final Fantasy XVI puts those titles to shame. It’s an absolutely magnificent video game, and one I hope is looked back on as a major milestone in the series.
This release is a slap in the face to Sonic enthusiasts, game collectors in general and those concerned with video game preservation, and I sincerely hope that Sega — and the gaming community — learns from this.