DENNIS GAGLIARDOTTO
Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online Review
Nep-Nep and the gang of console inspired heroines return to bring players into a brand new landscape of virtual MMO goodness that takes inspiration from the likes of .hack and Sword Art Online while of course having that Neptunia charm players have grown accustomed to over the years. While many Neptunia games have either seen simultaneous releases with the Vita or future ports, Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online is built from the ground up for the PlayStation 4 and makes sure to deliver a Neptunia experience unlike ever before, with fresh combat, increased quality in animations, and so much more without having to dial things down a bit for parity.
Trulon: The Shadow Engine Review
Taking the simplistic and inevitably addictive nature of card games and incorporating them into an RPG sounds like a great time to be had, giving the feeling of, "What if Yu-Gi-Oh! was an adventure game or something along the lines of the Pokemon Trading Card Game on Gameboy Color, but for the modern age on current-gen consoles", and while Trulon: The Shadow Engine does well to give a bite-sized RPG, its use of cards isn't so much a focal point as you'd expect, and comes with a lot of technical mishaps along the way.
Mary Skelter: Nightmares Review
Mary Skelter: Nightmares has you adventure with two main protagonists, Jack and Alice, who escape a supernatural concoction called The Jail, which spontaneously came to be one day and began consuming humans via torture, actual ingestion, holding them hostage, and many more tragic and sinister activities that have also caused corruption both inside this living tower as well as the surrounding city. Explore dungeons and floors within The Jail to help break out others, find items and resources, and inevitably tear down The Jail and give humanity a second chance.
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana Review
Stranded on a cursed Island, Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana takes you on a journey of recollection, mystery, and adventure as you go on a journey in the shoes of Adol Christin - the recurring main protagonist throughout the Ys franchise. While stuck on the island due to an attack on his ship, The Lombardia, Adol must find a way to get back hope and find others along the way that have been stranded to help him on his journey.
Observer Review
Observer, brought to you by the talented folks behind a horror hit Layers of Fear, has a cyberpunk setting that's believable and curious to go through. You'll play as an old man, Dan Lazarski, who's been a neural detective - a specialty officer with the ability to hack into the minds of suspects - for quite some time that's looking into the disappearance of his son, who suddenly calls him one day but seems to be in a need of help...
Tacoma Review
Tacoma sees developer Fullbright take on their next mission with a title following their big hit Gone Home, which captured the minds, hearts, and feelings of players around the world back in 2013 on PC before being ported to consoles just last year. Though Tacoma has a lot of similarities to Gone Home, it shouldn't be seen as such just because it's the same developer. Traits carry over, but despite that, the overall atmosphere, premise, and execution is very different from what players had to go through with Gone Home. There will still be tons of emotional value and context provided in the game, with a diverse cast to help bring the narrative to life, and as the player explores the ship of Tacoma, they will uncover the secrets within and all the events that have transpired since the ship has taken off and the people on board had joined the crew.
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles Review
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles has you playing as an explorer who gets shipwrecked along with their crew on the land of Gemea, an unfamiliar and uncharted territory for everyone who ends up there. After waking up, your crew is nowhere to be found, and as you escape the cavern you find yourself in, the player is then greeted to a beautiful, vibrant world in which there are towns, villages, a ton of wildlife, mystical creatures known as sprites that help you along your journey, and much more.
Valkyria Revolution Review
Valkyria Revolution brings back the beloved series in a brand new direction from its Valkyria Chronicles predecessors and takes everything we've known mechanically about the series' past and turns it on its head. While hardcore fans of Valkyria Chronicles may be disappointed by this new direction, Revolution does well to stand out and become its own thing. This is a brand new look for the series and introduces some welcoming new elements that freshens it up, but there are also lots about it that feel either backwards or much to be desired.
Perception Review
Unable to see but plagued by nightmares and images of mementos, Cassie forces herself to travel to a house that's caught her attention due to similar events that have occurred in her dreams. Despite being blind, she's determined to investigate what exactly has been haunting her, and uses her echolocation ability to help traverse the darkened land before her, and uncover secrets of the large mansion.
Dark Rose Valkyrie Review
The year is 1929 and a good portion of humanity has been wiped out thanks to a rapidly spreading Chimera virus brought down by a meteor impact. Japan is forced to close off their nation to keep the virus from spreading, but many lives have already been lost in the process. A special military unit known as ACID, the Anti-Chimera Interception Division, is formed to combat this deadly virus and the effects and horrors it has on people, turning them into corrupt creatures with inhuman power. It's a great premise that has a sci-fi horror-ish spin on it but delivered in a more lighthearted, fun fashion, but the story is heavily undermined by the poor quality of the overall game and lack of polish delivered in almost all directions.
RIME Review
There are times when a game comes out - whether it's highly anticipated, a sleeper hit, an Indie darling, etc. - that simply takes your breath away and renders one speechless. The last couples of years alone has seen releases that do just this, both big and small, that have made it no better time to be playing video games. So many fantastic games have achieved this through a collective effort of polishing and making all aspects of the game feel whole and complement each other equally without sacrificing anything in return. RIME can now be added to this list as a stunning game with an incredible atmosphere, impeccable score, and world to explore as you find out who you are while experiencing the wonder and beauty Tequila Works has crafted with their new title.
Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception Review
Imagine waking up one day in the middle of nowhere, where it's cold, snowing, the woods are endless, and you're surrounded by are the chirps of birds, the rustling of the trees and the sounds of your footsteps. You don't even know your own name or what to do in the situation except your basic human functions. Utawarerumono - which means The One Being Sung in Japanese - puts you in the shoes of an unnamed man in this exact position where he must find out why he woke up there, how he ended up in that position, and journey back into the discovery of who he is along the way.
Akiba's Beat Review
Akihabara. It's a beautiful city that no matter how many times games take us there virtually, it'll always be a sight to see. It's especially a treat to gamers who tend to lean more towards Japanese developed titles that step away from the typical Western FPS and shoot-em-ups we see more and more of from developers. Akiba's Beat brings us just there to Akihabara, and brings the universe of Akiba's Trip with it, being a successor to it. It may have not been immediately obvious thanks to the 180 approach Akiba's Beat takes and has virtually no similarity to Akiba's Trip, but it still holds its own, even if all the magic and quirkiness of Akiba's Trip is mostly gone from Akiba's Beat, for better or for worse.
Outlast II Review
Outlast II sees the return of the instant classic that shook the gaming community years back with the original release of Outlast from Indie studio Red Barrels. Just like the original, Outlast II lets the world know that the Horror genre is not dead - far from it. Red Barrels brings with its sequel another incredible entry and a game that will be remembered for quite some time, just like its predecessor.
Operation Babel: New Tokyo Legacy Review
The sequel to NIS America's Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy, Operation Babel: New Tokyo Legacy, arrives exclusively on the PlayStation Vita nearly two years later and brings with it a brand new mission in the heart of Tokyo, where otherworldly monsters known as Variants have crossed over into our dimension and have begun to wreak havoc. It is up to you, a high school student unbeknownst of the powers you hold, to form a team of others like you and help save Tokyo from a potential demise.
The Caligula Effect Review
The Caligula Effect sees Persona's prestigious writer Tadashi Satomi at the helm taking on this new JRPG adventure set in the virtual setting of Mobius, where players will awaken and realize their lives are a lie and that they must escape a music-filled landscape of corrupted individuals or be destined to remain there forever. Given ATLUS's quality of localization and Tadashi Satomi's credibility, get ready to go on another unique adventure with a stunning art style along the way.