Lucas White

“I wish the writing was a bit less shallow, which feels like a side effect of trying to cram so much in a small space and doing so with a sandbox-style structure. Visual novels benefit from guardrails preventing them from catering too much to the player, and Date Everything abstains to its own detriment. But it’s still cute and fun, and there’s no denying the dopamine hits and humor from each new character reveal. Sassy Chap’s debut game is a commendable effort, and more like this can only benefit visual novels as a whole.”

“But when it’s nailing its concept it really nails it, and making your way through the adventure feels like an endearing throwback to the time of WarioWare, Zelda: The Minish Cap, and Mother 3, without being bogged down by loud, boilerplate references. Plus, the 3D handheld thing rules.”

“For a game that is clearly inspired by Returnal, we seem to have really missed the forest for the trees here. But points for trying, especially from a set of studios that haven't played in this space before. I’d love to see another shot, no pun intended.”

“Short, sweet, and smart, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown took me by surprise. It’s not just about how much I enjoyed it, but how intelligently Strange Scaffold came up with a gimmick that sounds bizarre on paper, but absolutely nailed it in practice.”

“It’s a kind of game that feels out of place in time, but benefits from its accidental time travel by doing things a PlayStation 2-era console simply can’t.”

“Puzzles are a divisive element in many Survival Horror games. When you need to justify and expand game time for an experience mostly driven by vibes and avoiding awkward combat, what else can you do? Clearly, one easy answer is to add backtracking in order to sniff out keys and doohickeys to fit into mysterious slots powering absurd door-locking mechanisms. It works for Resident Evil, at least. But there’s a balance in making this stuff actually work. A balance the subject of today’s review struggled with, to say the least.”

“It was a fun game about a bald man who shoots guns at the floor to do Mario Things while Satan says mean words at him from a distance. It is never more or less than exactly that. I had a great time for around three or four hours, and will probably never think about it again. But that’s okay, because I don’t think Shotgun Cop Man intended to reach beyond that outcome. Shotgun Cop Man simply is, and I respect that about him.”

“Skin Deep is a neat, little game that takes recognizable gameplay conventions from immersive sims and repackages them into something smaller and sillier.”

“In The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-, the visual novel and combat parts hit that target, but the social and resource-gathering elements don’t. And those parts happen to eat up a ton of extra time that grows increasingly obnoxious as you explore the narrative.”

“For the most part it’s a success, opting for more of a restorative, hands-off approach meant to make it look like a literal widescreen conversion of a PlayStation game. There are some unfortunate pain points that keep a great re-release from being a total slam dunk, but the other side of that is a brand-new dub that makes up for the awkwardness with its high quality and reverence for the original.”

“At the same time, this game might make you think about what you find important in your own life, or what it might be like to grow up seeing the world differently than people older or younger. This one is gonna stick for a while.”

“This might not crack the top of my SaGa list, but it’s still a worthy entry in my favorite cult RPG series. Frankly though, I’m glad I waited for the remaster to try it.”

“Bleach Rebirth of Souls makes an excellent first impression, with cool, loud menu UI, amped-up music, and in-game action that looks fast and furious from a distance.”

“I see and respect what Bubble Ghost Remake attempted here. Take an obscure game, reimagine it, make it big and beautiful, and offer something fresh to puzzle fans. But as it turns out, “bigger” was a crucial mistake.”

“When I saw that Coulombe was involved in the cult classic, Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden, I knew I was in for a ride simply by association. But I wasn’t fully prepared for the depths of creative madness I was gazing into with Look Outside.”

“Just like its impressively long and unwieldy title, Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land is a messy game. But it’s a messy game with lofty ambitions and a lot to like, even if which pieces you end up liking are not the pieces you expected or wanted to like, especially if you’re a returning Atelier fan.”

“The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty is a fascinating, challenging, and compelling story that uses its form as a visual novel to tell a story about normal, flawed, and vulnerable people.”

“Carmen Sandiego is a fun romp through a genre that I had figured was lost to mobile marketplaces and predatory YouTube channels.”

“If it wasn’t for the tortuous combat I probably would’ve loved Omega 6: The Triangle Stars. It’s weird, it’s funny as heck, and it has ample Nintendo charm despite not being a Nintendo game.”

“This is not a game with ambitions to stand up and box with Hades, and it obviously isn’t “the next Warriors” by any means either. It’s a fascinating experiment that misses as many targets as it hits.”