Payne Grist
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Final WeaponLatest Reviews
Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven is a classic through and through. Not many games have such unique systems and concepts and choose to stick by them after all of these years. This is a remake done with the utmost respect to the original, featuring modern accommodations that increase the ease of play while not diminishing the experience. Battles are strategic and fast-paced with many variables to consider from formations to character customization. The freedom of SaGa is on full blast wit...
Visions of Mana is a wonderful continuation of the series that completely understands the strengths and appeal of the series while knowing what to modernize and what to keep classic. The themes, structure, mechanics, and art all feel explicitly Mana to the point you could swear new main entries never stopped coming out for over a decade. While there are some technical issues, it's nothing that affected my enjoyment of the game. With the closure of Ouka Studio, the basis for what could have be...
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin accomplishes exactly what a solid sequel should. Everything from the graphics to the game mechanics has been upgraded or tuned in various ways to create a smoother, yet new, experience. Improved fidelity, stronger ease-of-play, more cohesive maps, and battle adjustments make Monster Hunter Stories 2 a more modern feeling game while unabashedly still being a proper Monster Hunter AND RPG experience.
Monster Hunter Stories is a fun spinoff that holds its roots close to its heart. Dozens of new ideas were thrown in together to create a fun new take on the Monster Hunter series. With new content, voice acting, and higher framerates, the rerelease of Monster Hunter Stories is one worth your time.
Unicorn Overlord provides hours of gorgeous, meaty, Strategy RPG. Prospective players can be guaranteed strong core gameplay with gorgeous artwork. The beauty and tactics bleed through the parchment and spread through every facet of the game effortlessly and intentionally. Planning out your units, customizing skills, experimenting with squad formations, and proper execution of your machinations only scratch the surface of what's possible. On top of all this, the story and characters polish ar...
Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island is the best Mystery Dungeon game. It's absolutely heaping with mechanical depth and a breadth of content. The gameplay requires acute focus and a smart mind in order to progress. Items and enemies have a staggeringly high amount of interactivity that makes exploring even more engaging. Those who don't like roguelikes or strategic RPGs may not enjoy the randomness, as poor luck or focus can ruin a run in a flash. The game's story a...
Dragon Quest Builders is an excellent game. It smartly fuses the crafting elements of Minecraft with the engaging JRPG design of Dragon Quest. Even the aesthetics are beautifully combined to create an appealing world to interact with. The PC version is also the best way to experience Dragon Quest Builders, with customizable graphics options that allow the game to achieve higher spec graphics than its preceding versions and can run the game well even on low-powered systems. Not to mention the ...
Another Code: Recollection is a smartly made remake that's beautiful to look at and heartwarming to play. This collection combines both games with a unified art style and presentation while smoothing out the plot to create a cohesive whole. This game is very different from its original versions, so if you were a fan of those don't expect the same presentation or puzzles. I do find the puzzles weak overall and the story enjoyment will hinge entirely on what you want out of Adventure games.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince displays and waves the banner of its pedigree proudly. It offers the same wonderful tone and gameplay of Dragon Quest with some nice twists. The game also gives fans of Dragon Quest IV especially some lovely fanservice that ties in properly to the melancholic, yet hopeful, story. The loop of finding new monsters, training them, and synthesizing them is very addicting and streamlined. Making new teams and refining your strategy over time is super engaging...
Cuisineer is an adorable game. If aesthetics, side content, and difficulty were deterrents to you in other roguelikes then Cuisineer is a perfect game for you! Half of the draw of the game is running a restaurant while interacting with cute townsfolk. The roguelike elements are designed to be more forgiving and less brutal than many of its contemporaries while keeping an incredibly solid and polished combat experience. Many of these elements Cuisineer don't wholly appeal to me beyond a differ...