Cullen Black

“Raidou Remastered is a charming remake of one of ATLUS' most experimental PS2. It succeeds in preserving that legacy, even if it holds it back from true greatness.”

“This well deserved remaster of Xenoblade Chronicles X makes it easier than ever to appreciate one of the best open-world RPGs out there.”

“Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon- is easily the best-looking visual novel I’ve ever seen, and I’m excited to see where they go next with the second part of the remake. Even if that takes ages, or somehow never sees the light of day, I still view this part of the remake as a perfect experience. I tend to love the works that contrast the horrors of existence and the evils of man with the small moments of genuine bliss, and Tsukihime gets that. That we can make time to appreciate the gentle kindness hidden around us as long as we look for it. It was probably the most life-affirming piece of art I got to experience in such a mentally exhausting year for me.”

“Calling El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron “weird” doesn’t give it nearly enough credit. I think it was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, because the rise of indie games and uniquely told video game experiences has made titles like this a lot more common. We have an expectation for linear experiences, but El Shaddai’s take on action games still makes it stand out. While I wish combat could have more bells and whistles to it, I appreciate how easy it is for most people to jump into. I struggled to decide if I was sad to see its combat not evolve meaningfully after the three weapons are established, but I equally appreciate it locking in its core mechanics so early. This is something you experience, and while the performance issues take away from that I don’t think they hamper it too much. And who knows, they could even get addressed in a patch. This feels like a definitive title in the seventh console generation and is definitely worth a play if you want to experience a bit of gaming history.”

“This small feature, something easily missable, is emblematic of Front Mission 2 Remake. The art is gone now, and the beautiful contrast of disparate elements with it. It’s all homogenized, safe in a way where love cannot bloom.”

“Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster is a fantastic remaster of an all-time classic FPS, but I think mileage will vary. I find games like this to be fascinating time capsules of a foundational era of the industry. While there is a good amount of content in this package, and the classic visuals have been preserved beautifully, the price is also pretty steep. If you’re more of a Star Wars fan than a classic shooter fan I’d say maybe give DOOM or DOOM 2 a shot, which also have solid ports on the Nintendo Switch. While I think this gameplay is more approachable than those two games in some ways, it’ll give you a good idea of how they play and if you’ll like this kind of design. I’m not as much of a Star Wars fan as I used to be, but this ended up being exactly what I wanted out of the franchise right now. I have qualms with the game, but they’re minor and overshadowed by all of the love put into the remaster. I’d love to see a modern port of Dark Forces II, which is apparently a bit notoriously difficult to run on modern machines. I’ll at the very least take a look at the Kyle Katarn games currently available, because this left a great first impression.”

“While I’m happy gaming has become more accessible, I also miss its more obtuse era where games were willing to let players sink to learn how to swim. The depths of Hitman: Blood Money – Reprisal are immense and it took me quite a while to find my footing, but the game design is so strong I’d say this is worth taking a look at some point. It has already hooked me on this kind of game, and I’d be very interested to see if more of the classic titles ever make their way over to Nintendo Switch.”

“The Dragon Quest Monsters series makes a great return on Nintendo Switch, but in regards to its story it does very little to properly honor the legacy of the game it takes inspiration from.”

“Loop8 is a game full of great ideas that never comes together.”

“Harvestella is Square Enix's endearing first attempt at a farming sim RPG, only slightly held back by its budget.”

“I think calling moon a “parody” of the RPG genre is both slightly fitting yet doesn’t give it enough credit. It’s rather impressive that a smaller budget game released over 20 years ago has aged as well as it has. In so many ways it feels incredibly ahead of its time, with a focus on minute details so extensive that most modern games can’t even match.”

“This light-hearted spin-off of Steins;Gate offers fans something they never knew they wanted.”

“The best way to play the best Atelier games to date, now on a system you actually own!”

“The remake of the incredibly innovative 1996 classic has finally come west, but sadly doesn't live up to it's tremendous legacy.”

“Spike Chunsoft's latest revival of their old PSP dungeon crawler/dating sim hybrid unfortunately ends up unmemorable despite it's incredibly outrageous premise.”

“Another great and content-packed SPRG lands on modern platforms.”

“AI: The Somnium Files is a sureal new murder mystery game by Kotaro Uchikoshi, and might just be his finest work yet.”

“I hope GungHo supports the collection after launch with patches to polish things up, but even in its current state, I find this to be a solid Remaster.”