Couple of games to add this time.
Name | Platform | Rating | Review |
| Final Fantasy Type-0 HD | PS4 | 7.0/10 | A solid game with plenty of potential that just fails to properly realize it. Too many things in the story go unexplained, too many characters are not properly expanded upon, and as such remain distant all the way to the end. The world the game creates is fascinating, but the disjointed story and lack of character development hampers the experience. |
| Ys: Memories of Celceta | PS4 | 7.5/10 | A very enjoyable action RPG with a likable cast of characters and a decent story. Doesn't overstay its welcome or stretch anything needlessly. There were some minor annoyances that hurt the experience a bit, but overall this was still a very fun time. Ys games are almost always at least good, and Memories of Celceta was no exception. |
| The Legend of Heroes:Trails into Reverie | PS5 | 9.0/10 | Trails into Reverie is the 10th game I've finished in this series, and marks something of a splitting point in its storyline. It serves as an epilogue to both the Crossbell and Erebonia arcs of the series, and hints at things to come in the Trails through Daybreak games. As such, there's a definite sense of an interlude chapter here, and it certainly feels like there are multiple different main storylines fighting for room in the game. That said, it's still an really well-told story with literally dozens of returning playable characters that have been established over the nine previous games. Not among the series' very best, but great nonetheless.
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| Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart | PS5 | 8.5/10 | Pretty much exactly what everyone's come to expect from Ratchet & Clank. Smooth, highly entertaining gameplay with plenty of clever weapons, a variety of cool locations, and perhaps the best story in the entire series so far. Rivet and Kit are great additions to the cast, and the visuals are still very impressive nearly four years after release. |
| Dark Chronicle | PS2 | 7.0/10 | A solid enough action RPG from a studio that would go on to make far better games later down the line. The story is quite forgettable with a lot of seemingly significant events just happening without much build-up, the characters don't get nearly enough development to really create an attachment with the player, and the gameplay gets quite repetitive by the end of the game. Nothing about it is actually bad, but it's only just about good enough to warrant a single playthrough. |
| Shantae | PS4 | 6.0/10 | A charming little platformer held back by its origins as a Game Boy Color title. Probably among the best-looking games on the handheld, though I played the updated rerelease. The gameplay is decent, the transformations are a nice mechanic to centre everything on, the story is just an excuse for the main character to go on this adventure, but it's charming and has some nice humour. The main issue was that the game doesn't really guide the player anywhere. You might get the name of the place you need to get to next, but finding it is entirely up to you, which can get quite frustrating if you pick the wrong direction to go and end up in a dead end after 20 to 30 minutes of platforming. |
Koudelka
| PS1 | 8.0/10 | This was a game I had once played back on the PS1, but never actually finished. I decided to finally see if I could actually get through it, and I'm extremely glad I did, as Koudelka turned out to be something of a hidden gem. A turn-based RPG with a distinct horror style, set in Wales in the late 19th century, Koudelka is also the first game in what would later become the Shadowhearts series. I loved the setting and visual style the game has, and the relatively small cast of characters is really well realized. The soundtrack is also great, though disappointingly short, and the game also has one of the best voice acting of its generation. I also really liked the battle system, except for its sluggish pace that got a bit annoying later on in the game. Still, overall, this was a great game that I wish I had actually managed to finish back in the day, but at least I was able to do it now. |
| Nier Replicant ver. 1.22 | PS4 | 8.5/10 | I had played through the original Nier years ago on the PS3, and while I do love that game as well, it's very obvious that it was working with a very limited budget. The story, characters, and music were all excellent, but the graphics and gameplay lacked polish (Very much the story of Cavia throughout its existence). With this remaster those aspects have been vastly improved, the elements that were already great are still just as good, and they've even added an entire new plot ending to connect the game more clearly to Nier: Automata. Still, Nier Replicant isn't perfect. While I think the way the game handles its multiple ending by adding new storyline details and plot threads to each subsequent playthrough is clever, having to essentially replay the same sections of the story four times after the first ending does get a bit tedious after a while. Not a massive flaw or anything, but still. Overall, Nier Replicant a great game that has massively benefited from the remaster. |
| Demon's Souls | PS5 | 9.0/10 | Despite the fact that Soulsborne games are some of my all-time favourites, I had never actually played Demon's Souls before this, so it was definitely long past due. For the most part, the game lives up to its reputation. Honestly, the main shortcomings are largely due to the improvements that FromSoftware have made in the years since this game was originally released. For example, the bosses are unquestionably on the simpler and easier side compared to later Soulsborne titles, and the gameplay is the archetypal Soulslike experience, but this is the game that largely set the template in the first place so it feels a bit disingenuous to criticize it for that. The one aspect that I did find genuinely irritating are the boss runs. Dying to a boss generally meant several minutes of running back to the boss door just to try again, and it was rarely a challenge and more an annoyance. Still, the atmosphere is impeccable, the gameplay is unquestionably satisfying, and all the things that make Soulsborne games great are here. Later games may have improved upon the formula, but that doesn't mean what we have here is anything less than great. |
| Little Nightmares | PS4 | 7.0/10 | Wonderfully tense horror-platformer that creates an often genuinely harrowing and disturbing world to play in. The platforming is solid, though unremarkable, and the trial-and-error style gameplay can get very irritating at time, but the gorgeous audiovisual presentation does a lot of the heavy lifting in its place. The puzzles are nice too. It is a very short game though, I beat it in less than two hours, but I did not find all secrets or collectables. |
| Little Nightmares II | PS5 | 7.5/10 | Much of the same as its predecessor, just improved slightly in all aspects. The audiovisual side is even better than before, the gameplay has more variety, though there's still a lot of trial-and-error, and the way the game reveals its relationship to the first game is quite well done. It's also quite a lot longer than the previous game, so there's more of it to enjoy. Both of them are well worth playing, if only for the wonderful style and audiovisual design of the world and the characters. |
| Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 | PS5 | 9.5/10 | An absolutely fantastic game. Breathed new life into the turn-based RPG space, with an excellent story, wonderful characters, gorgeous visual style, and the year's best soundtrack to boot. Easy frontrunner for game of the year, and I have trouble imagining any other game taking the top spot from Clair Obscur. |
| Sea of Stars | PS5 | 8.5/10 | An RPG very much inspired by the classic SNES era JRPGs like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI. Gorgeous pixel art, good characters and solid story make for a very enjoyable time. Doesn't quite reach the heights of the games that inspired it, but still great overall. |
| Monument Valley | PC | 7.0/10 | A fun little puzzle game that centers around the shifting of perspectives to figure out solutions to the puzzles. Relatively easy and quite short. |
| Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy | PS5 | 8.0/10 | The Atelier-series has found its niche as these fairly lighthearted RPGs that won't really pose too much of a challenge to anyone even a bit experienced within the genre, but they are a fun time regardless. The battle system is decent, and the item creation system through alchemy has some nice depth and variety to it. |
| Gravity Rush 2 | PS5 | 8.0/10 | A replay of a game I'd beaten once before years ago. Still a very good game that feels like more than the sum of its parts thanks to the unique setting and characters. |
| Fire Emblem: Three Houses | Switch | 9.0/10 | I'd had Three Houses sitting on my shelf for at least two years before I got around to playing it, but I'm very glad I did because I think might now be my favourite Switch game in general. Great, tactically satisfying gameplay, interesting characters that change and develop over the course of the game, really well-told story, and an excellent score on top of that as well. I'll have to give it a bit more time and thought, but I think BotW is no longer my favourite Switch game after playing this. The rating might even go up a bit. |
| Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter | PS5 | 9.5/10 | A remake of the first game in one of my all-time favourite video games series, and it's absolutely brilliant. Falcom did a near-perfect job remaking Trails in the Sky, adding new features while still keeping the game faithful to the original experience. I think this is genuinely one of the best remakes ever made. |
Yakuza Kiwami
| PS4 | 7.5/10 | This is only the second game I've played in the Yakuza/Like a Dragon, and unfortunately it's nowhere near the game that Yakuza 0 is. Another remake, this of the PS2 original, and it shows to an extent. The story and characters are still great, and the setting is wonderfully designed. However, it's the side content that feels a bit lacking here, and unlike in Yakuza 0 where I gladly did pretty much every side quest and activity the game had to offer, here I got tired of most of the side activities very quickly. |
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