Final Weapon

World Heroes Perfect was an absolute blast to play, with its fast-paced action and beautiful art style. I had so much fun learning the ins and outs of the game in its training mode, and I also felt really challenged in the arcade mode. While I wasn’t able to try out the online, including rollback code is a nice touch and is going to make fights smooth, which I will be excited to try out. However, the game also slightly staggered in its presentation, with the menu feeling slightly sluggish to control and having a style that contrasts hard against the incredible hand-drawn work from the original title, and the lack of customization with the frames. While not perfect, this was a fun time and has me interested in checking out more SNK games so I can make new memories to go alongside the ones I still hold onto from long ago.

The Cosmic Abyss suffers from an overly long and exhausting plot, a forgettable and frankly unnecessary villain, a stamina system that felt tacked on more than anything else, and an empty, boring world. I wanted to like this game, but the negatives heavily outweigh the good. It’s a shame, because this is a game that does have potential, but it’s never able to realize it at all. In the end, Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss is a mystery best left unsolved.

Invincible VS is a fantastic experience, regardless of whether you're a fan of the fighting game genre and the original series. While the limited roster and bare bones story mode are disappointing, the satisfying gameplay, rich mechanical systems, numerous single-player and multiplayer options, and brilliant netcode will hook you right from the start. I can't wait to see what this game's future brings.

I couldn’t root for any of the characters, and I was bored for most of my time with it. This game is twice as long as its predecessor but has half the narrative depth. It may look and sound great, but that can only take you so far when the story does nothing for you. Still, I can’t say the experience was bad, just a letdown. I can only recommend The Weeping Swan to those who want an epilogue to The Hungry Lamb. Just know you’ll have to finish this disappointing story to get it.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is one of the funniest games Nintendo has shipped in years, and the most expressive Mii sandbox Nintendo has ever produced. I had so much fun and struggled so much to put the game down whenever I had free time. At the same time, it’s also a sequel that often feels held back by its own publisher, considering the 3DS-era cuts, the locked-down sharing model, and systems that don’t quite honor what they ask of you. Living the Dream could have been even better, and it’s a bit frustrating to think about where Nintendo could have elevated this game further. Still, none of those flaws changes what this is. Even with everything Nintendo holds back from it, this is the most fun I’ve had with a Switch first-party game in a long time, and there’s nothing else on the system that scratches quite the same itch.

Shinonome Abyss: The Maiden Exorcist is a diamond in the rough. It's full of clever ideas and dripping with plenty of spooky atmosphere, but it's hard to say that it ever truly achieves excellence. Despite that, players who like mystery dungeon RPGs will likely have fun here.

Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta is a great entry point into the Ys series as it explores a lot of lore of Adol’s childhood and reinforces his inalienable drive as an adventurer. For Ys fans who somehow haven’t played Celceta yet, I certainly recommend Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta since it’s such an important game full of world-building and character development for Adol.

While Tides of Tomorrow hits a few rough patches with its stiff controls and some questionable music selection and voice work, the weight of its decisions left a lasting impact on me long after the credits rolled. Its Story-Link system turns the narrative into a fascinating social experiment, forcing you to confront the legacy you leave for other players.

The story can be predictable, but the emotions aren’t hollow. It’s a sincere exploration of memories and the turbulent feelings associated with them. Playing Opus: Prism Peak reminded me of what makes photography so important.

This is all to say that Yunyun Syndrome!? Rhythm Psychosis is a great rhythm game that I keep coming back to, and its story is really interesting due to its two main characters and how the internet-centric aesthetic brings everything together. The psychological elements make the denpa subgenre more understandable to players who might not be too familiar with it, as I’ve discovered while playing through the game. If you’ve played rhythm games before and need something new to play, it’s hard to go wrong with Yunyun Syndrome!? Rhythm Psychosis. The game respects your time too, so there’s also that for those not wanting a massive time sink in their backlogs.