Overall, I had a great time with Silent Hope. The combat is fun, the story is interesting, and I felt like the dungeon crawling was fair with a good amount of checkpoints on your way down the abyss. The music is very good, and the way they work the voice work into the actual story is very unique and something I’ve not seen in my many years of covering games. I feel like fans to dungeon looters will have a great time with this one at the $39.99 price tag. There is a lot to love here with the solid gameplay and loads of different weapon options to keep players busy for hours. I’ve spent over 30 hours here and still have the post game to go. Casual players shouldn’t be afraid of this one either, as the normal difficulty is pretty fair and easy to get into. Now, if you dare challenge the harder modes of the post game, that is a different story, but that just adds more value to this great title.
While Mugen Souls Z does have some issues, it’s still a really fun game. The combat is still very unique, the story is great with a lot of fun interactions between the characters, and the bath minigame finally being uncensored is a great addition to the game as well. I spent about 40 hours with the game and got the true ending. I have also done some of the absurd post-game battles thanks to the crazy amount of included DLC that will make you very OP starting out, but these post-game battles are still a big challenge. I feel like this one is well worth the asking price of $39.99. It’s not perfect, but fans will find a lot to love here.
Overall, I really enjoyed my time with Rune Factory 3 Special. I can see why people love this series; its laid back game-play is welcoming but it has enough depth to keep you coming back for more. I had a blast figuring out the best items to give all the Bachelorettes, seeing their reactions to them, and watching their stories unfold. The combat here is a ton of fun, and I can certainly see myself wanting to take on the extra dungeons and challenges at some point down the line. The game is well worth the $39.99 asking price, and I think any fan of the series should jump on this day one. If you’ve never played one of these games you should give them a chance. I didn’t think this would be up my alley, but I was mistaken. I look forward to checking out Rune Factory 4 Special sometime in near future.
Sugar Sweet Temptation isn’t a deep visual novel that will have you pondering many of life’s crazy questions for hours, but it is very much comfort food for those looking for a laid back sweet experience. That’s not to say there isn’t plenty of substance here: the routes here cover topics like following one’s dreams and figuring out exactly what makes you happy in life. I feel like we all should take more time to search for these answers rather than delving into darker areas of life. The game will set you back $24.99 and will take you about 12 to 15 hours to cover all of the content offered here. Players opting for the Steam version will need to download a patch to access the H-scenes, and you could fully play this one without them, but I feel like you wouldn’t get as much out of it, especially in Kōri’s route. I have no issues recommending this one to fans of laid back visual novels or those looking to spend some quality time with some cute girls. You will find this sugary sweet purchase well worth your coin.
Overall I have to say Arcadian Atlas is a pretty good game. The story is interesting, the graphics look great, the OST is one of the best I’ve heard in a long time and the combat is fun. I feel like the lore of the world could’ve been fleshed out a bit better, but this is only a minor gripe. There are a few balancing issues present here as well, but the developer is working on hotfixes that really will address most of what I encountered. Even though this is a quality release, I feel like it’s a bit pricey at $29.99, but when it’s on sale, fans of Strategy titles should pick this one up. While it’s not perfect, there is plenty here to love.
All in all I had a good time with Master Detective Archives: Rain Code. The game really has a focus on death, which is pretty much what you should expect from this team, but it went a little hard for my personal tastes. Those who loved Danganrompa and the other works of this team will be right at home here, and there is nothing wrong with that since they are the target audience. If you love mystery games that have a wild twist to them, you would probably want to check this one out as well. I feel like it is well worth the $59.99 for those into this, and the DLC cases will likely add icing to this already wonderful cake.
This is really just a taste of all the different things you can work with in Monster Menu: The Scavenger’s Cookbook. If I explain all of this thoroughly, this review would be way too big, and at first, I wasn’t sure this was going to be a game for me. By the end though, I really was enjoying myself. I don’t think I would’ve had as much fun on the higher difficulties since you would be at the mercy of the game’s RNG as it generates the floors and materials. There were times I didn’t have enough to make food for my party for a few floors, and things got dicey quickly. At the $49.99 price tag, I think there is a good amount of content here, and if you like rogue-lites with some inventory management and survival mechanics thrown in, this will be a pure joy for you. Playing on easy difficulty would be a good way for someone to get into games like this, or old folks like me that want a decent challenge without it being a total stressor. I’m not sure I would say this one is for everyone, but I’m happy that NIS tried something different here. In the end, I think there is certainly a lot of flavor here, even if it’s not to everyone’s tastes.
While Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord is a very basic Strategy game, I had a lot of fun with it. I know this is mostly because of these characters and setting, but I think this would be a great starting point for newcomers to the series as well. The combat is fun, graphics look nice and music is exceptional. I played about 40 hours to get an ending on this one, and there are more things I have left to explore. I feel like this one is well worth the $49.99 asking price; it may not be anything fancy, but it’s good food for the fans.
At the end of the day, this is probably the best release of Mugen Souls we’ve got here in the West. The content is complete, and while the game doesn’t run perfectly on the Switch, I don’t think it’s terrible either. The story here is still pretty solid, but I would’ve liked to see the localization get more of an update. The personality names really bother me, and this would’ve been a good time to fix this. The excuse of “folks wouldn’t know the anime terms” is weak. Anyone buying this game would know exactly what they were. At the end of the day, even with my gripes, I feel like this one is well worth the $39.99 asking price. I still had a lot of fun with it, and having all the content from the Japanese version is a big plus. I hope EastAsiaSoft decides to port Mugen Souls Z next, since I feel like it plays better than this release, but I always liked this story just a bit better.
At the end of the day, Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & The Secret Key is everything I could’ve hoped for. It’s a fantastic end to this amazing series, the gameplay is fantastic and I love this cast almost as much as the Arland crew, which is quite a lot. I would love to see them revisit Ryza someday as she takes an apprentice just to see how things changed down the line. This game is worth every penny of the $59.99 price tag and I would highly suggest everyone check out all of Ryza’s titles. They are all amazing in their own ways, topped off by this truly amazing final chapter.
Overall I really enjoyed my time with Alice Gear Aegis CS Concerto of Simulatrix. The combat is a lot of fun, the characters are great and the customization here will keep you busy for hours. I spent about 10 hours and competed each of the girl’s story modes at least once. I feel like at the $29.99 price tag for a digital copy, this one is a nobrainer for fans of anime with cute girls or action game fans. You won’t be disappointed.
Overall, Cions of Vega is an average Walking Sim. The game only lasts a couple hours and even though I feel like the story is lacking a bit, it did keep my interest. The music is very good the few times it plays and while this isn’t a great looking title, it’s not a terrible one either. At the $6.99 price tag, fans of the genre will probably like this one, or XBOX users looking for a quick 1000 points to their Gamerscore might wanna jump on this as well.
Overall I had a blast with Grim Guardians: Demon Purge. The gameplay was very solid and a ton of fun. The writing here is great, and there are plenty of things here to keep fans of both Castlevania style games and Gal*Gun happy. My only real complaint is there is no way to pull up the castle map while in the stage. This makes looking for some of the hidden rooms more a pain than it should be. The game will take you around 8 hours to complete an ending. There are a three of these in total and some extra things to collect once the credits have rolled. I feel like this one is well worth the $24.99. It’s rare to find a game that would please these two very different fanbases, but this one will certainly do just that!
I have to say Labyrinth of Galleria: The Moon Society is one of the best DRPGs I’ve played in a long time. The exploration is great with lots of variety, the artwork is fantastic and combat has tons of depth as well. The story is very interesting, and I’m very interested to see how the second half of this plays out. In the end you’re getting an amazing game with over 100 hours of gameplay for $49.99, and the game is well worth that. If you’re fan of DRPGs or RPGs in general you don’t want to miss out on this. I’ve played a lot games in this genre in my many years of gaming, this one of the best!
Overall, I think Neptunia: Sisters Vs. Sisters is a fine entry in the franchise. The new characters are a lot of fun, the story is well written and feels like a Nep game, and combat is really fun as well. I got some help from a friend on Twitter, so I was able to get the true ending during my playthrough. There is the endless tower you could challenge and an awesome photo mode here to play around with for hours as well. I feel like this one is well worth the $49.99 asking price. I think it’s pretty insane that IFI has decided folks who want the swimsuit DLC should have to buy the Digital Deluxe Edition at $69.99 with no way for anyone buying a physical copy to obtain these, and I probably wouldn’t be as pissed about this if there were any alternate costumes in the game, but that’s not the case. I hope something they do in the next entry is bring those back. Doing that and adding some more CGs to unlock would go a long way to making this an even more solid Neptunia title. That being said, fans shouldn’t miss this one, the sisters are still as cute as you remember, and this a fantastic adventure.
At the end of the day, Samurai Maiden is a mediocre game that could’ve been better with just a few tweaks. There should’ve been some unlockable costumes, more enemy variety and a few tweaks could’ve been done to combat to make it feel less cheap. In the latter stages where the bigger enemies get a ton of minions, you will see just how cheap this can all be when you’re getting hacked on and juggled by things you cannot see. That being said, this is still a decent action game that has a great soundtrack, some good looking graphics and an amazing voice cast. I feel like the price tag is a bit much, but if you picked this one up on sale I think most folks would be satisfied with it. I know I really loved seeing Tsumugi and these girls grow closer on this grand adventure, even if it certainly wasn’t a perfect one.
Overall, Absolute Tactics: Daughters Of Mercy is a good SRPG that is dragged down by its subpar story. The gameplay here is good and fans of the this genre will find a lot to love here. The story being the way it is really hurts this, since most of these games you are driven to complete the story maps to see how it progresses. The bad writing here makes you not really care halfway through, so it begins to feel tedious. I spent right around 17 hours with this one on normal difficulty, but this will vary depending on the level of difficulty you choose to play on. It’s hard for me to fully recommend this one at the $24.99 price tag, unless you are just a hardcore Strategy RPG fan. That being said, if you snag this one up on sale down the line you will probably find things you enjoy about it.
While I’m not sure I liked This Way Madness Lies more than their previous releases, this is still a really solid RPG, with witty humor, deep combat and fun story. This isn’t a very long game – you can wrap it up in about eight hours on the standard difficulty – but it’s quality and well worth the $9.99 asking price. If you are a fan of Zeboyd Games’ other releases, you should snag this up ASAP. You will find a lot to love here. If you haven’t played any of their other offerings, and love humorous RPGs, you should certainly give them a shot. You’ll be glad you did.
At the end of the day, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Burst Forth!! Choro-gon☆Breath is a decent title overall. Fans of the series will have a great time with the cast of characters they love, and shmup fans will find some good gameplay to sink their teeth into. I don’t think this one has a ton of depth, but it is fun to play in short bursts, just to see how much you can improve on each stage and boss. Collecting all of the different collectibles is fun and adds a ton of replay value. I do think the $39.99 price tag is a bit much, but if you’re a big fan of the series, you’ll probably be alright with it. Everyone should pick this one up at some point, but maybe when it’s on sale.
Overall, I feel like Dusk Diver 2 is a solid title. There is plenty of great fighting action, the story is entertaining and the game looks great. The only real complaint I have with this one is even if you’re leveled and upgraded properly, some enemies feel like damage sponges. This makes some random encounters drag out a bit too long for my tastes. If you’re a fan of 3D Beat-em-Ups with some good world exploration and fun characters, this one is well worth the $49.99 price tag.