Latest Reviews
As confusing as it is that this game happened at all, I loved having the chance to play it. Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed might look like a game that should have stayed on the PSP, but the satire and humour is there, the grainy rendition of Akihabara is still...
Death’s Door is a tremendously well-designed game, with superb production values and a tight core gameplay loop. I was immersed and impressed the whole way through, ready to rise to any challenge the game would throw at me, because I was so in love with its design and its world....
Risk System is something of a connoisseur’s shoot-em-up, with intelligently designed enemies and bosses that reward careful practice and precise movements. The demanding level of difficulty might cause some initial frustrations, but a determined attitude and a calculated approach to risk will help players emerge victoriously. After a few hours...
I really hope the other platforms that Cris Tales has been released on have better performance, because those loading times alone take something special, and unfortunately undermine it. This is one of those rare times to me where technical issue really do mess with the experience, disrupting the carefully-structured panic...
None of this is to say there aren’t issues, and I do think that Skyward Sword is aging less gracefully than Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. Part of the problem is the motion controls, and I’ve done a separate video to discuss my issues with...
There’s not really much else I can add to those two reviews for this Nintendo Switch release, but Goichi Suda and NISA bringing these two visual novel classics together to the Nintendo Switch is a good thing. Both are magnificent examples of what can be done to give games a...
Overall, I had a great time with Boomerang X. The action is tight and it always feels like an expression of skill whenever a level is successfully beaten. The surreal fantasy setting also matches the game’s tone perfectly, providing moments of surprise and wonder with each new level. The simplicity...
I have no idea how I missed the original Monster Hunter Stories on the 3DS, because the idea of Monster Hunter, but in turn-based JRPG format, is very much my jam. See, as much as I enjoy the aesthetics, design, and concept of Monster Hunter, I’m really not good at...
For all I’ve written above, Doki Doki Literature Club really isn’t really interested in being a game. It’s more a kind of interactive essay, which isn’t about presentation values, beyond their ability to enhance the bait-and-switch that sits at the heart of the subversion. The four girls in the game...
I’m very torn on Mario Golf: Super Rush. On the one hand, the aesthetics are gorgeous, the charm is there, and the basic golf mechanics are wonderfully accessible and yet have enough given that there is room to master them. Putting aside the silly “manually chase the ball” nonsense in...
In effect, Legend of Mana is less interested in being a JRPG as it is a story of immersion. You’re given these truly beautiful, art gallery-worthy environments to explore, these eclectic, memorable characters to interact with, and a narrative that is broken up into a series of vignettes that keeps...
For all of the above criticisms, there was one feature that I really liked and felt was a genuine Dungeons & Dragons moment; after major battles, a campfire would pop up, and you would have two options. You could take a “short rest” (a term cribbed from Dungeons & Dragons)...
