Thi Chao
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COGConnected Latest Reviews
Arise: A Simple Story was originally released on the PC and consoles in 2019 and now has found a new home on the Nintendo Switch. It’s hard to tell a concise story without the use of words or dialogue, especially one that has a goal to invoke emotions in the player. But developer Untold Tales was able to do just that by weaving a beautiful tale told through only muted cutscenes.
If you’ve ever wondered and wanted to learn more about the world under the sea, E-Line Media has you covered. In collaboration with BBC Studios, Blue Planet II, Beyond Blue allows you to explore the depths of the ocean to learn more about sea life in this soothing, relaxing, and educational game. So let’s suit up and be prepared to go on a soothing dive with the whales and more on the PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and the Nintendo Switch.
The Nintendo Switch is increasing its horror genre library with the spooky port of first-person psychological thriller, Layers of Fear 2. If it’s one thing Bloober Team knows how to do best, it’s their use and portrayal of spine-tingling atmosphere and narrative storytelling skills that have us both intrigued and terrified. Originally released in 2019 on consoles will the unsettling themes and scares still as effective on the Nintendo Switch?
The Atelier series has been a deeply loved series for fans of the alchemy JRPG genre for many years. But it wasn’t until Atelier Ryza’s release in 2019 that we saw some record-breaking sales and it’s no surprise that a year later we would see a sequel so soon. Unlike previous entries into the series, Ryza’s bright and bubbly personality returns to us once again. Instead of taking more of a support role, she returns to us as the main protagonist in this story. Atelier Ryza: Lost Legends & The Secret Fairy brings us everything that we’ve loved in the first title and gives us more world exploration with an engaging story.
Grand strategy titles are fun, but when it comes to the tedious micromanaging that comes with such titles like Nobunaga’s Ambition and others of the genre, it can be a bit of a drag especially when it comes to the importance of economics. Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia takes away the economic micromanaging elements we might be used to and focuses more on the combat. With more of a focus on strategic maneuvering and tactical gameplay, I found a game that I was able to adequately play and not feel like I was scratching my head in confusion most of the time.
I love when developers switch up the norms of typical rhythm games and combine them with elements of a different genre, like The Metronomicon or Crypt of the NecroDancer. So you can imagine I was excited to hear about a new action-oriented title that would take the idea of beat matching and pair it with a satisfying ‘smash everything’ gameplay loop. And I’m happy to say, with Metronomik’s release of No Straight Roads, I experienced the zany adventure of Mayday and Zuke all the while listening to some great music and taking in the visually gorgeous art style. Though, it did come with some minor frustrations along the way.
The idea of exploring foreign lands in search of new opportunities, finding hidden treasures and making new alliances for trade has always been deeply rooted in our history. In this rogue-like adventurer and expedition simulator, Curious Expedition, has us taking on the role of various famous explorers such as Chares Darwin and Marie Currie to name a few. Will your adventure end in fame and riches or will your expedition be stopped mid-way by various animals, the terrain or by your own comrades?
The Rune Factory series allows players much more to do than simply tending to a farm. Loosely described as Harvest Moon but in a fantasy setting with swords and magic, Rune Factory 4 was highly regarded as one of the best titles in the series in 2012 for the 3DS. Unfortunately, the original developer Neverland Co. went bankrupt. However, the publisher, Marvelous Entertainment, brought in the devs from Neverland to bring us the Switch port of Rune Factory 4 which acts as a prelude to the upcoming Rune Factory 5. While I’m an avid lover of the Harvest Moon series, I never actually had the chance to play any of the Rune Factory games so when the opportunity arose to review this title, I immediately said yes.
When Attack on Titan season 1 first aired, I was immediately sold. From the unique art style, incredible animation to the deaths and violent fights to protect humanity from the titans, it was an instant hit all over. When the original Attack on Titan 2 was released, I heard many mixed reviews, more on the negative side, I decided to not pick this title up. But since its release, season 3 has aired and Koei Tecmo has released a new DLC pack, Attack on Titan 2: Final Battle, to follow and continue the story.
There’s something about the long-running Atelier games from developer Gust and publisher Koei Tecmo that always has the same consistency throughout each title. While most JRPGs focus on a greater goal to save the world from some bad mojo, the Atelier games have scaled it back for its players for a more laid back experience. While of course there will always be towns or kingdoms to be helped, it’s never as something so drastic and really more so focus’ on the characters and alchemy. Atelier Lulua: Scion of Arland is now the 4th game to the Arland Trilogy which originally premiered almost 10 years ago. It’s pretty rare to see an Atelier game to get more than three releases per title, so let’s just see how this game will hold up.