Josh McGrath
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Gamer EscapeLatest Reviews
Despite some weird framerate issues during cutscenes in both games, Bayonetta and Vanquish are both well worth your time (although I’d personally lean toward Bayonetta more if I was forced to pick between the two). If you don’t mind the occasional difficulty spike, and especially if you’ve never played either...
The problem is, everything here has been done before, and better. It does feel like Toge Productions wanted to craft a homage to Valhalla, but doing so puts them right up against a cult classic. I truly think that they should have done more to differentiate themselves, to stand out...
At $14.99 it’s priced about right (although it’s a bit short at three hours to complete), and the game isn’t offensive, it’s just that there’s so much better available now in virtual reality, and things in Eclipse that would have been impressive at the time are fairly standard now.
Orangeblood is a game of half measures. It feels like it’s afraid of taking its bold style all the way, and the game suffers for it. While it did catch my attention at PAX West last year, actually sitting down with the full release was a disappointing experience.
Despite those issues, though, Virgo Vs The Zodiac is still a solid experience, and a great JRPG that just popped up out of nowhere at the end of the year. If you’re looking for something to play through during the holidays, this is a title definitely worth considering.
As a budget priced title, Tokyo Dark is worth the look if you’re in the mood for a quick and concise mystery. For those looking for something with a bit more meat on its bones, though, I’d probably point you in the direction of the also recently released AI: The...
If anything, it feels like Ryza may be Gust’s attempt to step out of the niche they’ve carved for themselves. This game feels like one that the general JRPG fandom could get into, rather than just the subset interested in zoning out and crafting items.
The only thing keeping it from being perfect is that its battle design can become repetitive and boring if you let it. It is much too easy to fall into a rut, repeating the same combos to steamroll your way through much of the game. If you actually play with...
Despite that complaint, Gunvolt Chronicles is just simply a fun game to play, and is very much worth your time. I would recommend playing the baseline Azure Striker Gunvolt games first if you care at all about the world and lore that’s expanded on here, though.
If you’re looking for something to play with friends and kill some time, Contra: Rogue Corps may be worth a look once it goes on sale. For such a beloved franchise, though, this really isn’t the best way to reintroduce Contra after a near-decade hiatus.
As I mentioned, this was my first taste of games of this ilk, but I probably should have known what I was getting in to what with already having a distaste for grind-heavy games. I feel like I would’ve had more fun with this title if I didn’t have to...
If anything, at least the game looks stunning. The character designs and artwork are easily the standout of this entire package. However, with the rest of the experience they’re attached to, I can’t say it’s worth picking up the game just for some pretty pictures.
