Eric Ace

“There are several high points of Code Vein II, ranging from graphics, different environments, and the character creator. The major complaints that detract from higher praise are bad pacing issues and a story that often takes a back seat. Combat is faster and more fun than the first game, and the much more open world is a needed change from the endless alleys of before. Despite a lot of positive points, though, there is a sense that the entire thing doesn't mesh together to make a better experience.”

“Dark Auction falls into a rare spot that the plot and writing is actually pretty interesting but the story is still tough to recommend. The characters feel real, and the tension and mystery is very good, but it goes nowhere fast. There are certainly some other problems such as the auction puzzle parts being a big letdown, and the main mystery not being as big as it first seems, but mostly it is just that more needs to happen. The overall plot meanders, and it really grinds down what should have been a brisk and interesting story that could have been told in half the time or less.”

“This is a series that has far more iterations and versions that anyone could possibly imagine. While a huge contributor to the 'grand strategy' genre, Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8, even remade and expanded, is too dense with too little payoff to highly recommend to anyone except series fans. General strategy gamers will be put off by the death-by-menu gameplay and lack of interesting things happening for what amounts to playing small hands of poker and shuffling Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.”

“A fairly by-the-book platformer where gameplay never goes to any great heights or depths. Certain small aspects regarding platforming and combat can occasionally become annoying, but these negatives aside, the art and general charm of the game is quiet compelling. The story hints at some dark sci-fi plots, and exploration is satisfying, if sometimes annoyingly difficult. The characters are especially attractive with their highly animated visual novel portraits, which gives a sense of life this genre often doesn't have. Overall, though, Kotama and Academy Citadel feels like it needed more cohesion to really come together.”

“Action roguelikes are a tough genre to screw up, yet Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree manages to do that. From lacklustre in-run upgrades, to permanent progression that is boring, to perhaps the biggest problem of how utterly dry combat is, it drops the ball in many locations. The better parts, such as the banter and voice acting, are not enough to carry the woefully lacking core gameplay.”

“Katanaut delivers a stylish cosmic horror atmosphere and hints at an intriguing story inside a space station full of mutated horrors, but those elements never get enough room to grow thanks to the game’s relentless, fast-paced combat. While swordplay and gunfights are satisfying, the speed and constant action kill any sense of tension or dread that the setting tries to build. Players looking for scares or deeper lore may wish the game was slowed down to explore its world, but fans of quick, action-heavy roguelikes will find the mechanics solid and replayable. It’s a technically impressive indie with promise, though its horror gets overshadowed by non-stop adrenaline, making it a slightly above average experience in general.”

“The root of the story is legitimately interesting, but the problem is that there is a lot of work to get there. Between various platform issues and a meandering plot, the payoff often isn't worth it - which is unfortunate as some aspects really stand out. While the overall premise of the story is memorable, everything it takes to get there is not.”

“Shuten Order is a unique and stylish murder mystery visual novel with wild narrative ambition, but its lack of consistent execution, pacing issues, and underwhelming gameplay variety keep it from reaching the heights of its inspirations. It could have been really good if it was about a third as long. Each side branch takes 5-10 hours when about two is the max they should have ran. Mystery fans and visual novel enthusiasts may appreciate the experience, but most players might wish for a more focused, narrow adventure.”

“Some of the ideas and mysteries in Master Detective Archives: Rain Code are pretty interesting at first, but far too often they fall into the realm of fantastical, which decreases the punch they might have. Further, the amount of deaths and heavy reliance of it really decreases the punch of anything having meaning or interest.”

“DLCs are often targeted at those wanting to expand the core game. Ashes of Elrant, though, is largely more of the same. Problems in Chained Echoes' main quest, like the grind of battle, lack of player progression or questionable ending, are not addressed in the slightest. Those looking for a story-adjacent experience will be interested, but anyone after something new is going to want to pass.”

“While the story’s complexity and ambition shines, and the new art is serviceable if generic, the remake’s user interface actively hinders the experience. Long, sometimes tedious navigation and the absence of meaningful quality-of-life upgrades make appreciating Yu-no's legendary narrative much harder than it should be. Players looking for polished modern visual novel experiences may find these issues particularly grating.”

“One thing Blade Assault does right is that by the end players will feel sufficiently powerful with lightning and projectiles flying off of them at all sides. This alone would be redeeming, except powers are so limited that every run is going to end up nearly exactly the same. The general repetition in levels, power and challenge kill any long term enjoyment. It is fun for a quick romp, but hardly recommended in the growing field of roguelike games.”

“Like many games that are smaller budget, when a game has remotely fancy graphics, gameplay tends to almost always suffer. This is no exception, while the space survival idea is cool, from frustrations in the UI, to constantly glitches and freezes it’s hard to even see the game at its best when so many other things get in the way.”

“Some of the power-ups are fun, like spawning small fighters or missiles, but the core loop of Galactic Glitch is simply far too repetitious, the upgrades are too slow, the meta-progression is glacial, and any driving factor to continue is non-existent. The idea could have been fine, but everything previously mentioned needed major overhauls and pretty much could be summed up by "needing cooler stuff faster" at every stage of the game.”

“Earth Defense Force: World Brothers 2 a lot of fun, with tons and tons of Easter eggs to prior games, all variations of humour, and loads of weapons and characters. There is very little negative to point at. The raw variety of characters, from the bold and aggressive to the fun and silly, to the dark and serious somehow all fits together. All of the upgrades to acquire for weapons, items and soldiers leads to a great experience of wanting to play one more level shooting up some aliens.”

“The general quality of Read Only Memories: Neurodiver is surprisingly good. Between the facial animations, likeable protagonist, and general humour, the game hits a lot of key points that are rare nowadays. What really drags things down is that some segments become very hard to advance due to not clicking on the correct object or mixing items the right way. Further, while the day-to-day story is quite entertaining, the larger plot simply takes far too long to develop, which may leave players to check out before it takes off.”

“Elrentaros Wanderings had so much potential. After one inevitable wall and annoyance too many, the flaws will be too great to ignore any longer and will result in most just abandoning the adventure. From the utterly simplistic town, complete with non-moving NPCs, to various soft locks based on the general lack of a progression system, to simple design choices like the lack of save slots, this feels more like an alpha version or a tech demo, not something that its peers are just far better than.”

“Nailing all the key aspects of what draws players into the genre, each hour or so run is fast and fun. Amazingly, the characters play wildly different, from zipping all over the board to blanketing it with bombs. While StarVaders is missing that rare chance of a single card or move that instantly becomes overpowered, the power curve is typically satisfying. The only thing holding things back are the frequent freezes and crashes, along with Steam Deck problems of buttons freezing. Thankfully, the save system is forgiving, so these are only minor annoyances.”

“The atmosphere, characters and general style are all high points, but Ravenswatch's major issue comes from how repetitious the gameplay loop is and that rarely anything new or cool pops up. The base structure is there to have been a really cool roguelite, but as it's far more strict in its roguelike nature, it's tough to recommend in any large capacity, lacking in too many things to encourage frequent plays.”

“As a side or minigame, Neptunia Riders vs Dogoos might be kind of fun…for about an hour, but as a nearly full price game, something like this is tough to swallow. The whole thing can be beaten in a few hours, and the gameplay is entirely derivative, bland and lacking much in the way of anything interesting. Idea Factory should stick more with the ecchi games or themes, as that's what they're best at.”