DENNIS GAGLIARDOTTO
Yakuza 0 Review
Going back to where it all began - long before even Kiwami - we see the upbringing of both Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima, the latter of which is finally playable after being a fan-favorite for so long. With the most polished fighting the series has seen before the Dragon Engine became the new technical showcase for Yakuza, Yakuza 0 remains as fun as ever and serves as a fantastic entry point for newcomers with plenty to love for veterans as well. Now Yakuza 0 on Xbox One has never looked, sounded, or played better as it has on Xbox One X.
Yakuza Remastered Collection Review
The middle portion of the Yakuza saga is here to officially make the entire series be on one console for the first time ever, and the Remastered Collection brings with it a beautiful boost of polish that gives an already extraordinary series the bump it needs to become virtually flawless, making Kazuma Kiryu and co. look and play better than ever before.
The Suicide of Rachel Foster Review
The Suicide of Rachel Foster tackles a heavy topic that most of us have faced ourselves or indirectly through others, and in the shoes of Nicole Wilson you’ll uncover what drove her to such lengths and the truth behind it all. While the game touts itself as horror, it ultimately doesn’t see much of anything happen throughout the duration of its playthrough, and despite its stellar writing that really shines and gives the story the power it needs to make it impactful, the game itself falls flat and impaired as you’ll aimlessly roam around a hotel listening to a conversation for three hours.
7th Sector Review
7th Sector is a stunning puzzle game at its core but introduces many different ways of going about progression that isn't done in a typical level-based fashion, and makes sure that despite its simplicity in approach to gameplay, that the environment around you - especially the background - is one that feels alive and tells a narrative as you play.
Corpse Party: Blood Drive (PC) Review
Bringing the epic conclusion to the three-part series to Steam after being a Vita exclusive, Corpse Party: Blood Drive sees the finale of the story of Shinozaki, facing the morale and immoral between life and death, what’s worth sacrificing, and what you’ll go through to get the ones you love back. With a bump in visuals thanks to a higher resolution, the PC version of Corpse Party: Blood Drive fixes all of the issues Vita suffered from years ago, making this a definitive experience to experience the amazing finale to the seminal series.
Corpse Party 2: Dead Patient Review
Corpse Party returns with a (mostly) brand new story in Corpse Party 2: Dead Patient, focusing on all new character Ayame Itou as she awakens in a hospital with no recollection of who she really is or how she got there. Seemingly abandoned, she must make her way out and find out what’s happened. Dead Patient stays true to the lineage and foundation Corpse Party has set for visual novel and horror games, but despite receiving the game six years after its 2013 debut in Japan, it’s disheartening that all we get is a very short opening chapter to a much broader, deeper game that ultimately remains a mystery for now.
A Knight's Quest Review
A Knight's Quest mixes the likes of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and Portal Knights, bringing them into a fun, accessible package filled with tons of humor that's self aware of its influences. Unfortunately the Switch version, of which this review was conducted with, is clearly at a large disadvantage - almost so much so the inferiority and limitations stacked upon an unpolished, janky adventure not only leave much to be desired, but make for a less than optimal playing experience that, despite its few pleasures, is identical to the protagonist's name: Rusty.
Destiny Connect Review
Destiny Connect: Tick Tock Travelers is a wonderful RPG that's simple yet effective, with a solid score filled with melodies and sounds that take you on your way through past, present, and future, and a story that's wholesome and heartwarming. It’s an experience that’s one-of-a-kind, thoughtful, and innocent while still being appealing to an RPG fan both old and new, young and old.
Mary Skelter 2 Review
Despite the similarities and Mary Skelter 2 feeling more like a definitive edition with altered content, Mary Skelter as a whole still remains to be one of the most unique dungeon crawlers conceived thanks to its dark story with powerful heroines in a unique world of survival and humanity starting over.
Greedfall Review
Greedfall’s unique twist on the RPG genre makes it one of the freshest takes to date, and with its 17th century Europe inspired backdrop, Greedfall has a sense of realism behind it making the world feel familiar yet exciting, implementing new tactics, ideas, and progression systems that feel contemporary and a step in the right direction. Greedfall does well to be inviting and equally surprising, making it a trip worth going on for those that love a little bit of science fiction in their fantasy.
Control Review
Control puts players in the shoes of Jesse Faden, the new Director of the Federal Bureau of Control. With a gripping and immersive narrative, Control gives one of the best experiences in years for the genre, providing an intricate Metroidvania approach to exploration as the mystery of The Oldest House unravels, and one of Remedy Games’ finest titles to date, proving why they’re one of the top teams in the medium for their imaginative and ambitious work.
Solo: Islands of the Heart Review
The idea of experiencing your limited days with someone as you adventure through life, finding solitude, and continuing your legacy through the generations that follow… Solo: Islands of the Heart explores the theme of love on a personal level, and while it’s a well-intentioned game that explores love on a level more personal than other games that have tackled the subject, its lack of variety in puzzles and heavy performance issues make for an experience that elicits a feeling of animosity rather than endearment.
Sairento VR Review
Sairento VR takes some of the best ideas from various science fiction properties and puts them all into a mission-driven, frenetic, and stylish experience that puts players into the shoes of Chieko Hatsuri to live out their cybernetic ninja action flick with plenty of adrenaline pumping moments and satisfying choreography.
Layers of Fear 2 Review
Layers of Fear 2, much like the first, does such a great job at keeping you uncomfortable as you go through the tale of a troubled actor, that every moment is felt like intense improvisation as you try to quickly decipher what to do next before the walls around you seemingly close in, making Layers of Fear 2 a worth successor to the first, which is arguably the most elaborate "haunted mansion"-esque experience to date.
A Plague Tale: Innocence Review
Titles like The Last of Us, the recent Tomb Raider titles, God of War, Telltale's Walking Dead series, Life is Strange, and classics like Haunting Grounds and Silent Hill are considered deep and evocative experiences that have connected with us for years and continue to be talked about, but an important aspect that all of these share and the reason why they latch onto us is down to one thing: companionship. A Plague Tale: Innocence is very much in the same vein as these, following the lives of siblings Amicia and Hugo as they try to survive what we would know in history as the beginnings of the Hundred Years' War and Black Plague.
Moero Chronicle Hyper Review
Almost six years to the date, JRPG and dungeon enthusiasts around the world can finally experience Moero Chronicle in the form of Moero Chronicle Hyper on the Nintendo Switch instead of importing an English copy on Vita. While the game may sound or look updated at face value, however, there isn't much of a difference from how it originally was, and this includes the enhanced port on PC in 2017.
Corpse Party: Sweet Sachiko's Hysteric Birthday Bash Review
Seven years after its initial release in Japan, the rest of the world can finally experience the one Corpse Party title that was elusive to most of us for so long. Sweet Sachiko's Hysteric Birthday Bash is different yet familiar, bringing back all that's made Corpse Party so great for decades, but this time with the stipulation that we must do a romantic comedy or die.
The Caligula Effect: Overdose Review
Fast-forward to 2019 and Caligula Effect loses its Vita exclusivity and makes its presence known now on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 as The Caligula Effect: Overdose. Surely with an increase in power on both of these systems, all the issues that held the Vita version back should be cleaned up and addressed, but unfortunately all we really get here is a feeling of déjà vu made to be covered up by a new story route, avatar, and content that are practically negligible.
Death end re;Quest Review
Death end re;Quest finds itself touching upon the idea of what it would be like to truly find yourself in one to the point where receptors and any action you take mirrors the real world on a neural level, but with a more scary twist than the typical "what if we get stuck in here?" scenario by implementing the idea of a game so early in development it's filled to the brim with bugs - some of which could have corrosive and fatal effects in-game and out.
Gungrave VR Review
With its short length and bare-bones approach to VR tech and gameplay, Gungrave VR doesn't offer much to breakdown and take away as it feels uninspired and more of a way to bring the name back into the modern age for the sake of publicity and remembrance than any kind of merit.