Godlygamer

A while back I was interested in a game called Aeternoblade, but was put off by the large amount of negative reviews it had been getting. Recently I noticed it was on sale for about $1 (yes, I am not exaggerating), so I decided to take the plunge and download it. While it is a bit rough in many areas, I can confirm that it is certainly not as bad as it has been made out to be. You play as Frejya, a girl who is out for vengeance against an evil creature named Beladim that has just destroyed her village and killed everyone in it. The plot is fairly standard, with a few twists and turns along the way that are, to be honest, a bit predictable. I will mention here that the game has two different endings, and not to spoil anything, but if you don’t want to restart the game all over again just to get the true ending, I recommend that you use a guide to figure out what to do to get it. Aeternoblade plays as a metroidvania hack-n-slash with light RPG elements mixed in. The game is split across seven different stages, where you will be fighting enemies, solving puzzles, and facing a boss at the end. Freyja’s moveset is quite small at the beginning, but as you level up her abilities combat really begins to open up, and it becomes quite fun to destroy hordes of enemies with one large combo attack. I will say that the level design was not very inspired: the levels seemed a bit bland and some dragged on for a long time, with every single level having a bunch of rooms where you would have to kill a bunch of enemies before you could progress. I don't know if this is common place for hack-n-slash games, as I have not played very many, but I found that there were just way too many of them here. Each stage was also muddled down by the very frequent load times. After travelling a few screens, you would have to wait for the area to load, and while the load times were never too long, they got annoying after a while. The puzzles stem from Frejya’s weapon of choice, the Aeternoblade. This sword lets Frejya travel back in time for as far as 10 seconds. This one aspect can bring you back from the dead and try to win a particularly difficult battle. Other parts of the blade allow Frejya to teleport to a manually-placed checkpoint on the map, rewind the movement of objects in the world to reach a new area, and more. The puzzles were, for the most part, quite fun to solve, and some left me scratching my head for a long time. I found the end-stage bosses to be the hardest part of the game. To take down each foe, you would have to learn their moveset and attack patterns before you could effectively take them down. I don't think I ever beat a boss on one try; they are that tough. The visual presentation of Aeternoblade is... not very good, to be blunt. The character models, animations, backgrounds, and occasional cutscenes look like they came from a PS1 game, and while I personally thought it was quite charming, it may leave others with a bad taste in their mouth. However, one thing that Aeternoblade absolutely nails down in presentation is the music. I honestly was not expecting much on this front, so I was pleasantly surprised when I got to listen to it. The music for each level is atmospheric and often catchy, while boss music and other events were fast-paced, emotional, and downright comical. I would say the music was the best part of the game overall. Aeternoblade was a fun surprise. While it is rough along the edges in terms of gameplay and visuals, it certainly is not a bad game. It is priced at $17 in Canada (I believe it is $15 in the US), and I would say that is a bit too steep of a price. The game took me about 15 hours to complete, and there was still plenty of things left to do after, so you definitely get a good value. I believe there is a sale every year during Christmas that drastically cuts the price down, so if you are patient then I recommend you wait until then to pick it up. For fans of metroidvanias and hack-n-slash games, I would say Aeternoblade is a great way to pass the time.

Demon King Box is a decent and cheap tower-defence game. It’s nothing special, but at the very least it is not a bad game. The story is about the Demon King, who was sealed in a box during a war with humans and is out to get revenge on them. At least, I think that was the plot. The story is told with such a broken English translation that I could not follow the story at all. At the end of the day, however, it’s the gameplay that matters most, not the story. I would say Demon King Box plays a bit like Swords and Soldiers: you have three lanes that you can place your units on, and the main goal of each stage is to beat all of the enemies before they can kill your hero (who is placed at the beginning of the stage). As you progress through the story, you will unlock different heroes to use in battle, which all have a specific skill that can be used during a stage. You can also level up the monsters and heroes by using food, which will upgrade their stats. There are also a few “hero battles”, which pit you up against a new hero. These battles are a bit more difficult than the others, as the other hero can use skills in the same way that you can. Speaking of difficulty, I found the game to be quite easy. While there were a few levels that made me lose a lot, it was overall a very mindless experience for me. The graphics are nice, with landscapes being bright and colourful and characters being portrayed in well-done anime portraits. The music is also quite good, which surprised me. While there are not very many tracks, the ones that are there range from catchy to atmospheric, with a few duds in between. Overall, Demon King Box is a decent strategy game, but nothing more. The main game lasted me around three hours, which does not include any of the post game content. The game is only $5 in Canada, and for that price you can not really go wrong. There are much better games in the genre, but Demon King Box is still an ok game for fans of strategy games.

Maybe I shouldn’t give this game a 10/10. I mean, it’s a virtual novel-dating simulator. What about that warrants the praise of a masterpiece? Well. That is not something I am willing to discuss in this review. I don’t even wanna say anything about this game. Just experience it for yourself (not really a review if you don’t talk about the game, I know, but please trust me on this one, ok?). What I will say though, is that it’s free on steam and is one of the biggest surprises of the year for me. It’s characters, music, graphics, plot—you might be surprised at just how fantastic it all is.

A fantastic Rhythm game, one of the best on offer for the Switch. As of this review, I believe there are about 160 songs in the game, with 3 difficulty levels (so, around 480 total charts to play), which is an insane amount of content for $20 (or perhaps $35 if you’re Canadian, which is still a deal). The songs themselves can range from generic to downright amazing, and thankfully most of the songs fall under the latter. If I did have to complain, there is a bit of an oversaturation of electronica, but otherwise the soundtrack is solid. Gameplay is what you would expect from a Rhythm game: notes fall down a column, you tap/hold/slide them to the beat, and continue until the end of the song. Depending on how well you do, you can get a letter ranking, and further ranks are given for getting a full combo or all perfect notes. It is very addicting, and offers a decent challenge too. Easy difficulties will allow newcomers to the genre to have fun, while veterans can try their hand at the harder difficulties (which can be very, very, very, very brutal). There is a story in this game portrayed through diary entries. To unlock these, you must meet certain conditions in the main game (ex. clear 10 songs on hard with an A rank). The story itself is a typical slice of life affair; it’s nothing too important or noteworthy, but it’s there for people who might get a kick out of it. This is a Switch game that I absolutely recommend to anyone that is a fan of the genre. Out of the over 200 game on the Nintendo eShop, this is not one to be missed.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Parascientific Escape: Gear Detective (which I will refer to as Parascientific 2 for the rest of the review) is the continuation to the first game in the series, 'Parascientifc Escape: Cruise in the Distant Seas.' Like the first game, Parascientific 2 is a solid visual novel that expands on its predecessor in almost every way. The story takes place a few year's after the events of the first game, and focuses around a new protagonist, Kyosuke Ayana. He is a detective with the ability of Chronokenisis (the ability to control time), and is accompanied with his partner, Mari. The two are tasked to find out who has been behind all of the serial murders in their neighbourhood, all while protecting their client from this killer. The plot gets much more interesting as the game goes on, and has plenty of twists and turns throughout. The game also has three different endings you can get based on the choices you've made. The endings are quite different from each other, so it is recommended to get them all. Thankfully, the game doesn't end as abruptly as the first game did, but the endings still feel a bit abrupt. It also raises more questions about the world of the game, which will hopefully be answered in the final game of the series, which has released in Japan. Hopefully it gets localized. Gameplay is the same as before; you will often find yourself trapped in a room and will have to find a way to escape. I found the puzzles to be much more difficult than in the first game, which is nice, as the first game had puzzles that were too easy. Thankfully, there is a hint system in-game that will provide you with help if you get stuck. You can use your power of time-manipulation to solve puzzles, though the process of doing so is quite monotonous. However, the puzzles themselves are still quite good. The game looks decent enough. Characters are represented through anime portraits, which look detailed and are expressive. The music, however, is the same music from the first game. They are decent tracks, but they will get repetitive after a while. Overall, Parascientific 2 is a solid visual novel and an excellent sequel. With a good story (which, I should add, isn't too confusing, even though time manipulation is a major plot point), good puzzles, and budget price, I would definitely recommend it to any fan of the genre. While the game is quite short, taking around 6-8 hours to complete, the multiple endings will extend your playtime by quite a bit. While the presentation is decent and the music can become repetitive, the pros far outweigh the cons. Personally, I hope the final game gets localized; it would be a shame if this series doesn't get the proper closure that it deserves.

Parascientific Escape is an enjoyable visual novel game, albeit a bit short. The plot is very reminiscent of the original Zero Escape game; four girls become trapped on a cruise ship that has recently been bombed, and they must escape before the boat sinks. The plot is, of course, more detailed than that, but I would very well use up my whole character limit trying to explain the game's plot. It's not extremely complex like the original Zero Escape game, **** does get slightly confusing. I really enjoyed the game's plot. My only complaint is that the ending was a bit abrupt and was not as satisfying as I would have liked; hopefully the ending becomes more clear in the game's two sequels. Gameplay revolves around escape-the-room puzzles, where you look for items and solve puzzles in order to...well, escape the room. The puzzles aren't too difficult, but I did find some of the later puzzles to be more challenging. I suppose I should also mention that in this world, some people have psychic powers, and the main character has said powers. You use your powers of telekinesis to solve puzzles in a different way. It's a nice change of pace, but I felt that it got used too much later on. I enjoyed the gameplay quite a bit, although the puzzles were a bit easy. The graphics are quite nice, with anime portraits representing characters when they are speaking. I especially enjoyed the music, which consists of mainly piano pieces. There aren't many songs in the game, but the game isn't too long that they begin to get repetitive. Speaking of length, Parascientific Escape is quite short. I believe I managed to finish the game in around 4-6 hours. However, this isn't much of an issue considering it's cheap price. Overall, Parascientific Escape is a solid visual novel that kept me hooked until the end. A great presentation, story, and gameplay all make this game a hidden gem on the eShop. It may be short, but it's $5.00 price tag should convince fans of the genre to purchase this diamond in the rough. It's not necessarily a must-buy, but I highly recommend fans of the genre pick this one up if they're in need of a new visual novel.

Asdivine Hearts is a good JRPG that, despite being a bit generic, should provide fans of the genre plenty of enjoyment. Kemco is known for producing bad to mediocre JRPG's for mobile devices, but I'd say this is one of their better offerings. The story is about two orphans, Zack and Stella, who set off into the woods to release their pet wildcat. However, a conflict between the two Deities of the world, the Light Deity and the Shadow Deity, causes the Light Deity to get sent to the world of Asdivine. From here, the Light Deity gets trapped inside of the wildcats body. Together, they travel the world of Asdivine to try and make things right in the world. It's a pretty basic story, but there are some plot twists that make the story entertaining. Something that should be praised is the quality of the writing; it's surprisingly decent. Some of the lines had me smiling ear-to-ear, and there was a surprising amount of character development. The presentation is nice enough, with anime portraits to display the characters during text and pixel representations of the characters during the game. Personally, I found the music to be quite catchy, with some of the songs getting stuck in my head long after I finished the game (take this with a grain of salt, as many reviewers have said that the soundtrack to this game is generic). There is quite a bit of extra content too, with side quests, a battle guild, and multiple endings. Some have said the game will take you 20+ hours to complete, but it took me around 40 hours to just beat the game. There is definitely a lot to do if you get invested. The battle system, the meat of the gameplay, is very good. Incredibly good. Call the game generic if you want, but this game's battle system has been perfected to a tee. You have your standard attack, special skills, and magic attacks, but the system has this extra layer of polish and charm to make it so good. Now...I've said a lot of positive things about Asdivine Hearts, but I do have some complaints. For one, I found the dungeon design to be incredibly generic and forgettable (with a few exceptions). They do reward you with chests if you look carefully, but this doesn't make up for the bad design. The amount of music tracks is also very limited. Sure, they're catchy, but they can get repetitive. Also, I found the movement to be unresponsive sometimes. I'm assuming this is only a problem with the Wii U version, and not a problem with the mobile version, but it is still a problem nonetheless. Overall, Asdivine hearts is a good JRPG that fans of the genre should play. It's not a must-buy, but if you're looking for a good RPG, Asdivine Hearts definitely will not disappoint.

The Legend of Dark Witch is better than any $4 game deserves to be. A rockin soundtrack, beautiful sprite work, fun gameplay, and extensive replay value all make this an entertaining platformer. It should be noted that there are a few spelling errors in the game's text, but since most people won't play this game for the story, it hardly matters anyway. If you're a mega man fan, this game should be a no-brainer; fans of platformers should also consider giving this one a shot, too. As long as you're fine with a little bit of difficulty in your games, I highly recommend purchasing this hidden gem ****.

*I would like to disclose that the devs (who are some of the nicest people, might I add) gave me a code for the game for absolute free. This will not make my review biased in any way* Polara is a very interesting game. It is a free runner, so all you have to do is jump and switch colours. Switching colours allows you to use certain contraptions to get through the level, and not die. The story is intriguing. The music is really good. The graphics are also quite good (but I never cared about graphics). Basically, Polara hits alot of the right notes. The replayability is also really good, too. After you beat each level, you can go back and collect letters (P-O-L-A-R-A) and find a special object. Collecting a certain amount of these letters and specials can unlock other game modes. The game also challenges you to not die in each level. Another thing: the game is hard! And this is coming from a guy who beat Super Meat Boy with the keyboard! If I have to say anything bad? There ARE some spelling mistakes (but thats the publishers fault), and there MIGHT be some dips in framerate (I really can't tell, but I think it does dip in some parts). The game will only cost you $5.00 (or $7.00, if you live in Canada), and I DEFINITELY think it's worth the asking price!

It's a cheap, fast-paced 2D platformer. It's a bit like Sonic the Hedgehog, but it differs in some of the mechanics. Don't expect much, and you'll have a good time.

Call me crazy, but I think this is my favourite game of all-time. This is really the first SRPG I've ever played, and it is AMAZING! I found the music to be catchy as hell, and there wasn't a single track I didn't like. Bear in mind, if you dislike anime and J-pop, you might not like the soundtrack as much as I did (basically, the "witches" songs are sung by professional Japanese singers). The game looks nice enough, with chibi models on the battle field and anime portraits during free time (plus, there are some beautiful anime cutscenes thrown in there). The gameplay was very addictive, and there wasn't a single moment where I was bored. The plot, albeit cliched, has some of the best writing I've seen in a video game. And the game is LONG, too! It'll take you roughly 50+ hours (unless you grind), and there are multiple endings to be achieved. GET THIS GAME! Even if you hate anime, don't be off-put by the anime-style of the game: you regret the time you spend in Stella Glow.

****...jeez, why did I pay actually MONEY for this! Bubble gum popper is a match 3 game where you match bubble **** least, that's what I THINK you do in this game! I just don't like it! Mechanically this game works fine, but the music is horrible. The gameplay get's REALLY boring, and I say this game works better as a mobile game. Actually, I believe this game is a port of the mobile version of this game! I paid 0.69 cents for this, and that's a fine price. The only reason I bought this was because It got positive reviews on the eshop! This game has 100 levels in it, but they all feel the same. DON'T BUY THIS GAME! Unless you absolutely need a match-3 game, then download Pokemon battle trozei, or Pokemon shuffle! Pokemon shuffle is FREE, too! Don't buy this! Your better off buying actual gum!

I've Got To Run! Is an endless runner where you play as Roy the marshmallow as he runs forever. Their are 3 modes in this game: Endless classic, where you try to survive as long as possible with 1 jump, Endless double, where you do the same thing but with a double jump, and Endless Special(?) where you do the same thing, but you can speed up and slow down if you collect power-ups. The controls are really tight and for it's cheap price it's a pretty good deal. I bought this game for 1 cent, and for that price this game is a must buy! But, their isn't a lot of modes, and their isn't a good reason to go back and beat your high score (other than posting your score on miiverse). Buy this if you are a high-score chaser and you absolutely need an endless runner on your Wii U. If your on the fence, wait for a price drop.

Journey Of A Special Average Balloon is not special nor average. I got this game at 0.69 cents, and I think that is a great price for this game. Basically, You play as a balloon controlled with the left stick. Collect three coins and the rainbow shard without getting hit and you win. Some levels have a treasure chest in it. Their are other modes, too, such as multiplayer and this slingshot game, which is nice. You can customize your balloon with different skins, and their are trophy's to unlock, too. Their are only 21 levels, and the plot was thrown in, I'm sure. The controls work fine, but their used so weird when your traversing the menus. On the main menu, you use the d-pad to move and A to select. When you pause playing a level, you touch the option you want to choose! It was very confusing at first. Overall, JOASAB is decent game with good controls, but just isn't really fun. It has nice extras and stuff, but is over quickly. It is not special nor average, so it goes good at a 5/10. The graphics and music are okay, by the way, but the music drove me crazy after a bit.

This is Nintendo's first big attempt (Steel Divers: Sub Wars and Rusty's Real Deal Baseball are different stories.) at the free to play market, and...I'm gonna say it, Nintendo got greedy with this one. Basically, it's a Pokemon match-three game, but free to play. So, you have five hearts, and when you play a level, you lose one heart. It takes 30 minutes for 1 heart to regenerate (2 hours, 30 minutes for all of them to regenerate.) or you can use jewels to get them back. And that's when this game get's greedy with micro transactions. The most you can spend on a pack of jewels is around 55$. You can use jewels to get coins and hearts. Honestly, I haven't spent a penny on this game, and I never will. But, at least the game's not lazy. Their are 165(?) levels, and the game is updated regularly. On each level, you can get a rank depending on your score, and a chance to catch the Pokemon. (the catch rate is horrific, by the way) They also add daily Pokemon, events, expert stages. Overall, a good Pokemon puzzle game, but really greedy in micro transactions. (don't even get me started about the later mega levels...)

I was really looking forward to the next Sonic game. And I was quite impressed! First of all, the story. Amy is kidnapped by a giant snake named lyric, so Sonic gathers of the team ( Tails, Sticks, and Knuckles) to rescue Amy. The plot isn't the best, but at least it works. The gameplay has you running around giant levels trying to get to point A to point B. Regular plat forming stuff. But your gonna want to collect as much as possible in each level, because if you don't, your gonna have to do some backtracking. Their's quite a bit of content, but the game is short. Not too short though. My complaints? Well, the game doesn't look the best. I could definitely look better. The 3DS can run smash bros! It doesn't look the WORST, but it could look better. Secondly, the backtracking starts to get annoying, but never too much that you stop playing. Overall, I definitely recommend getting this game! Try and find it on sale, but if you can't I think it's worth full price! (Kinda...)

This game is one of the best games I've played this year! (Next to Tomadachi Life and Smash bros. Wii U, of course.) The puzzles are great, not to challenging, but they ramp up in difficulty just a little. The plot, which I won't spoil, Involves Risky Boots asking for Shantae's help to defeat this guy named the pirate master, before he destroys all of sequin land! That didn't spoil it, right? Anyways, you basically become a pirate! And you have a move set like a pirate! Pirate things happen. So yeah. It depends what version you want to get, though. 3DS version because it 's portable? Wii U version because it's HD? I got the Wii U version. So buy this game now!

This is basically a portable Dr. Mario game. It lacks in modes, and it doesn't have online.(Even though that doesn't work anymore.) But, it's Dr. Mario, and it's portable! It looks good, it sounds really good, and it's just as fun as any other Dr. Mario game! It's only 500 points, too! The wii one has more modes and has online, but online doesn't work anymore and it only has 1 or 2 more modes. Plus, it's 1000 wiiware points! So, if you like Dr. Mario, you will definitely like this game!

This game is amazing. And it's only 500 dsi points! Basically, your matching shapes falling from the ceiling and destroying them by adding more cubes to the shape. You get a certain amount of cubes at the start, but eventually you'll have to let the shapes falling from the ceiling touch the ground so they become cubes. No, this is not a Tetris rip-off! Once you destroy a shape, the colour of the shape goes to the top screen as a pixel and forms a picture. (Part of it.) Here's the catch: the shape your making is nintendo-themed! And the music is awesome remixes of the nintendo game! Then there's a dark world and a jukebox...500 points! It's kinda hard to describe this game, so you should just go buy it yourself! It's awesome!

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]