If you’ve been reading my reviews for the past several years, you have probably been able to figure out certain things about me, and one of those things is that I am still pining for a sequel to Final Fantasy Tactics. The two that we technically got were both worse in terms of writing, mechanics,
Not for the first time, I find myself taking on the full version of a title that I have already previewed. Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes – Definitive Edition already let me dip a toe into what the game had to offer, and I rather liked what it had on display. So I immediately
So there’s an interesting thing that happens for me a lot as a game reviewer: I am handed a game that I do not personally like very much while I also recognize that it’s not doing anything wrong. A recurring theme in several of my reviews is that you have to evaluate games based on
Match-3 puzzle-based RPGs have been popular ever since Puzzle Quest arrived back in 2007. It seems like a pretty natural formula to fall back on, only slightly impacted by the fact that as a rule, most of them have kind of been absolutely terrible. While the basics of the puzzle gameplay are solid (we have,
It’s always a compelling prospect when a development team, hot off the considerable challenge of releasing a video game, makes an attempt to switch things up with a forthcoming sequel. It can also be equally off-putting; would an alteration of core elements mean a loss of what made the experience click in the first place?
One of the things that’s kind of amazing about reviewing games is the fact that you see things you otherwise probably would never have caught. Souls of Chronos is just such a game. It’s a little indie game from Shanghai-based FUTU Studio, published by Astrolabe Games, and the odds are pretty good that it wouldn’t
Let me start with an anecdote: Kandria, on both its official website and right as the first thing on its Steam page, proudly boasts that the game has zero ability gating and you can go anywhere you want right from the start of the game. The same blurb expresses glee that finally, you will be
I forget exactly when it was I stumbled across Tower Hunter: Erza’s Trial on Steam long ago, but it was at least at a point when the odds of getting new metroidvania titles seemed… not great. So it was a while ago, and it definitely predates my working here. The game launched into early access,
Despite what seems to have become de rigeur for the gaming industry, making a game a roguelike is not actually cruise control for making it a game with endless content. In fact, I can think of a lot of games lately that have tried to keep themselves engaging by making themselves into roguelikes when neither
More and more, I feel like the most important thing in a game’s genre is how it decides to defy it. The way developers take the broad strokes and general idea of the genre and present you with something that feels fresh and new, or at the very least hasn’t been seen in a while.
[Edit 6/1/2022: Particula has added buying options for both D&D Shells and a USB charger since the time of writing. The following review remains unchanged.] The internet rules everything around us. At least, that what tech toy manufacturers seem to think. The jokes of everything being “smart” are kind of old at this point, but
While I’ve played many RPGs, I can’t say I’ve played many based specifically Celtic mythology. So I was rather intrigued to explore this mythological realm in The Waylanders (released out of Early Access for Steam on February 2, 2022), one that I have not had nearly as much experience with as most other RPGs I’ve
RPGs have been among my favorite games for a long time, and today we have the chance to take a look at a fairly interesting one in Wartales, by Shiro Games, now in Early Access. My quick first impression is that it leverages some elements I really like from some unlikely other games I’ve played
This is a weird review for me to be writing. Not in the sense that it has to be a negative one or anything like that, but in the sense that this is the first time that I’ve reviewed a game I previously previewed. As soon as it was clear we would be getting a
There’s a certain je ne sais quoi that accompanies a JRPG that a lot of games try and fail to emulate. It feels reductive to say that these games have to come from Japan, of course, but for every game that manages to feel authentic to its JRPG aspirations despite not originating in the country
Despite their increasing popularity, I am not a fan of mobile games. Maybe it sounds elitist, but I think there’s just something more enticing about playing games on the big screen and being able to see the worlds crafted by game developers in their full glory. That’s why I was really happy when Witch Spring
So, the first of the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters are out. And it is impossible to review the whole product just yet, because the whole product isn’t available right now. We haven’t yet played the Final Fantasy IV through Final Fantasy VI remasters. They’re simply not available to be experienced yet. At the same time,
Never before have I felt both so excited and so afraid to review a title before. The latest in the Little Tail Bronx series of loosely connected games, I’ve been a fan of the series for some time now. However, I also knew the story would absolutely break my heart. It’s a tale of vengeance,
So here it is, the sequel. It’s not exactly a mystery that The World Ends With You became a cult hit on its release, and with good cause. It wasn’t just that it had a very different setting than normal, setting itself in the beating heart of a stylized version of Shibuya with a cast
The thing about Yoko Taro games is that there’s nothing else quite like them. And that is, to a certain extent, the problem with Yoko Taro games, because among the things they traditionally haven’t been is very good. Drakengard was the first Taro game I played, and that was a janky mess that got widely
