A timepiece to a sense of nostalgia I have no relation or memory of having, but I can still feel through the work itself. A delightful story with twists and revolutions that constantly shifts the player's interpretation of the story as it goes on. It is rather short and simple, but the story is worth it for home much impact it made in such as short time. Puzzles can be a bit questionable, some being fun, others being tedious, as well as having a bit of a "guide dangit" when it comes to specific triggers and collection points. As well, the game could be a bit slow to work through, as you somewhat move pretty slow. All in all, the story and characters are a real hit and make the experience all worth it.

Initially, I was interested in the series due to having the same writer as the Zero Escape series and in that I was not disappointed. The game is funny and largely light-hearted, despite being centered around brutal murders and a serial killer on the loose. The story has good twists and turns with some being more surprising, but more obvious when you look back with foresight.
On the topic of the story, I think it has a good balance of keeping the comedy and serious aspects appropriate. This may not be the case for everyone, but for myself, I was never bothered when the transition happened.
Gameplay can occasionally get too silly or perverted which distracts from what your goal is, but the options during the Somniel portions are always entertaining, even when you screw up.
All in all, this game is good for those who enjoy murder mysteries and do not mind silly anime nonsense. It separates it, both positively and negatively, the degree in which is subject to the viewer.

This was a game I did not have much expectations for. I had heard murmurings of positive things and just decided to take the plunge. Thankfully I did, as I found a very enjoyable adventure with fantastic gameplay that kept me engaged throughout my adventure. I have heard numerous complaints about the plot and characters, but I found them both acceptably done. While some characters blend in and don't ever get the attention they need, others receive interesting developments, for better or worse. Plot-wise, the game achieves what it needs to, but does struggle with some character favorability, which does get in the way of the overarching plot.
Gameplay-wise, the only major issue is the crystal system which is confusing and difficult to manage. You get plenty of crystals throughout the game, but can very rarely construct the things you need without some level of grinding, only getting the appropriate ability to grind those crystals after the game becomes dramatically easier and you no longer need them.
The game has everything an RPG enthusiast needs. A lot of exploration, side quests, customization, and solid gameplay. The only major issue is how easy the game gets at the end. It starts with solid challenge, but you get so many means of leveling up (in this game being in the form of boss kills or collection rewards) that the latter half of the game becomes a breeze and requires self-imposed challenges to be satisfying.
All in all, a satisfying adventure that won't stand alongside your childhood favorites (as nothing really can), it has enough heart and finesse to be a worthwhile and enjoyable experience.

Ultimately: a huge letdown. First and foremost: the game is gorgeous, with beautiful vibrant colors and dynamic style. That is about where the good ends, as it was largely the reason I chose to pick it up. The issues lie in how unintuitive the game was; with a gimmick like time travel, battle were often cumbersome to complete, especially due to how long they could be, as well, it never felt like you did anything impactful.
The game just kinda meanders with characters you are not given reason to care about, a world you cannot care about, and gameplay that does not hook you. I eventually game it up soon after getting the fourth party member and noticing how much work would be used to make him competent and realized I did not have the care or patience to play it any longer.
As well, numerous tech issues, the game frequently crashed for me, as well, going in and out of battles took a century, which made me lament each time a random battle took place.
Perhaps there is a good game hidden past the very specific time which I quit, but I somehow doubt it; if I play as many hours as I did and remain annoyed throughout, it perhaps is not worth it.

Personally: one of my favorite games of all time. Probably the most unique Fire Emblem game in the series, it is separate into different arcs and storyline perspectives until it ultimately comes together in part 4. This method of storytelling helps to lend tighter gameplay in having limited means to progress through individual chapters, due to the amount of characters usable and progression being erratic; this does cause issues in part 3 and 4, as the majority of the characters steamroll ahead or will wind up drastically unbalanced. The game is most certainly not perfect; the story can be underwritten, especially in part 4, not helped by new characters lacking backstories to make them equal to the old ones, especially due to the new support system. The support system is unique but lacks the charms of the rest of the series as it does not lead to unique conversations or character establishment, but is consistently helpful and varied in gameplay. Biorhythm is the biggest issue, being more of an irritant to make guaranteed hits that can be calculated miss and lead to killing a character, but typically it impacts nothing other than occasionally being annoying.
While this is negative, these things never bothered me, and the gameplay and constant changing of dilemma kept me engaged to the point that every playthrough felt different, due to self-imposed challenge or new strategies to try out.
All in all, a great step forward in some aspects, but a big step back in others. While subjective, I have such a fondness and always find something else to enjoy when playing the game, despite near 20 playthroughs, which is not something I am keen to do with videogames.

As someone who has never played Dangan Ronpa, but has seen others play it (where I can skip the cringe and boring), this did not endear me to these types of games. I love mystery novels and this provided an adequate experience.
I did not find myself too invested in any of the plots of the cases, as I was able to figure out the culprits, simply due to how few characters there were and how easy they were to eliminate. Most of the twists I had formulated long before they were revealed, with only seldom being surprised at an event. This was enjoyable, but not fully engaging and did not leave me thinking the same way something like Ace Attorney does.
Character-wise is where I have issues, as the majority of the side characters range from okay to intolerable, with Shinigami doing so between dialogue boxes. I found myself struggling to care about the cases when the tone fluctuated so unevenly, if something was serious there would be too many times a silly, goofy thing would happen that would break immersion.
Atmosphere-wise, this game is stunning. It looks gorgeous and invites so much awe at the sound of the rain, the neon in the dark, the sense of danger, and the collective grief that comes through from the state of the city.
Gameplay is so-so, it works but is just a movable visual novel, which I do enjoy, it helps to keep the player attentive and does not bog down the player with seemingly endless text. I hope to never see a game of hangman again; it ruins the immersion of the game, it is stupidly complicated, and never seems beneficial to play.
In conclusion, the game is enjoyable, but not particularly memorable in story or character. I would play a sequel, which seems to be implied by the ending, but fine-tuning the mysteries and how the gameplay intersects could turn this series into something special.

The Life is Strange series is one that will constantly be compared to the first game, as it sets the precedent for how players engage with the rest of the series. True Colors has a lot that is similar to the first game, but with a more positive outlook. Whereas the first game was a tragedy with good scattered throughout, the second game was a tragedy that got worse as it went along, and the third game is a tragedy that gets better and shows the positives of life.
While bad things do happen, the player gets to experience something the other games do not show: healing. The mood is largely nice and does not revel in the misery of its characters allowing them to grow beyond the situation.
Saying all that, it does lead to the game being less impactful than the rest of the series. I played this game far more recently than Life is Strange 1, but remember far more than I do from True Colors.
Gameplay-wise, the game has everything I like it: you get to explore fairly freely, talk to whoever you want, see others develop without your influence, and use empathy to interesting effects. While empathy is the least impactful power in this series, it is used well, just with fairly obvious conclusions that come from choices regarding it.
All in all, a nice departure from the trends of the series that blends tragedy with hope to provide a more light experience than the rest of the series.

This was my first (and probably only, I am rather intimidated by the other games) Pikmin game and it did not disappoint. It is a game of satisfying feelings. The feeling of collecting useless junk and adding meaning to it, the feeling of caring for pixels because they made sad sounds when they die, the feeling of euphoria when a dandori goes just the way you wanted it to. This was a surprising feel-good game that I could not take my hands off and it seeps good vibes out of its core.
All in all, don't worry, just dandori.

Genuinely a surprising experience. My first impression of the game came from its rather "mobile" appearance, bearing a resemblance to cheap mobile games that lack a touch of passion. What the game does on the contrary is amplify the best parts of farming sims, with likable characters, a story that actually tries, and providing the players with an obvious sense of progression that is satisfying.
While this is a farming game, it operates more as a crafting game, with crops being used to help produce goods that are useful for other recipes. Another thing that separates it from its contemporaries is the use of magic in the game, which provides useful buffs and helps to act as landmarks to further plot progression.
The story has actual stakes as well, with the town becoming fearful of each other leading to conflicts that reveal deeper complexities, leaving the game to not be as mindlessly cheerful as other sim games can be. An issue is the lack of a cohesive "villain revealed" moment. While the player knows their is someone evil, the identity is revealed near the end of the first year with little fanfare and is resolved very shortly thereafter.
While the game has a fantastic sense of progression for the first year, the second year adds little to explore. By that point, relationships are likely maxed out, collectibles collected, and major plot points completed. There is not much to keep you playing afterward, but it never becomes stale, rather uneventful.
In conclusion, even with its faults, I found myself utterly addicted to the game playing it at any given opportunity and growing to love this fictional world and characters. The faults are not so grand to get in the way of what turned out to be a surprisingly excellent experience.

As a long-time Fire Emblem fan, although admittedly a mediocre player of the games, Fire Emblem: Three House is certainly a game in the series. While that sounds negative, in my experience Fire Emblem struggles to combine good gameplay with good story. 3H falls into the latter category with an engaging story that is nuanced and complex, with many different dimensions to observe it from.
The plot and characters have genuine depth that is often neglected in Fire Emblem games, bringing the best written characters in the series. The plot itself struggles to fully develop the themes of the games and reeks of being rushed and unfinished, especially due to the two of the storyline paths being nearly identical and another being shorter than the other ones. Not to mention Those Who Slither and Add Little to the Plot.
Gameplay is... fine. It functions, it is fun, just not particularly deep. Much of the gameplay is routing enemies with not too much diversion from that. When it does divert from that, the game improves, with more intensive and memorable moments.
While the characters are fun to customize, it does lead them to lose a sense of identity, which somewhat goes against the Fire Emblem character formula. The individual personality and backstory will keep you engaged with them, however.
In conclusion, Fire Emblem: Three Houses is a good direction for Fire Emblem with complex plots, themes, characters, and customization, but doesn't quite stick the landing in many ways, with a seemingly rushed execution and gameplay that can come off mindless due to its lack of variety.

Bright, colorful, inventive, and enjoyably surprising. Frequently whilst playing I found myself being surprised by whatever Wonder Effects took place, which provided that quick hit of nostalgia-ridden dopamine reminiscent of my childhood.
I played the game with my partner, who is not an active gamer and typically struggles with more complex games, but they were able to understand and enjoy whatever surprises came around the corner. This game came off as introduction-friendly while bringing enough challenge and creativity to keep more experienced players interested.
The only major negative is the boss fights, as many others have mentioned. There are only two bosses, with one repeated multiple times with almost identical strategies throughout. Additionally, the final boss lacks a challenge even for novice players, leaving it to be more tedious than rewarding.
All in all, a fantastic game with creative ideas that both the experienced and unexperienced will enjoy, as well with polished gameplay that is satisfying to play and experiment with.

As a fan of Werewolf-style games, this was a story I found myself enraptured by with a constantly evolving cast and story revelation and twists. The game begins slow with allowing the player to get acquainted to the world as an outsider to the actions before getting them involved in it. As well, much of the game subverts the expectation of the player, especially in how players would likely jump to the conclusion that their actions will be the proper solution when that is quickly proven incorrect.
The pacing is an exercise in removing the player from the player insert character. Haruaki Fusaishi is most certainly not a conventional protagonist, with him spending the majority of the story being both selfish, self-centered, and conniving, but never to the point of being the active villain in the story, which was very surprising to see.
Gameplay-wise, issues for players may arise. The game is almost strictly visual novel, with the only player input being from branching path choices, which will largely be pointless as most lead to game over screens. Mileage may vary for each player, but for me, I was not bothered due to the strength of the mystery and character interactions. Additionally, the game is very wordy and does not have a dubbed option, so while I would have preferred to have had the option, I was able to get through it.
All in all, this is a game best liked by people who can handle a strict visual novel, but quite frankly if it doesn't hook you after the first trial, you'll likely never get hooked. I may be rating it too highly for its faults, but even years after playing it, it still revisits my mind, so the impact was apparent.

After finishing the first game, my first thought was "I cannot wait for a second game" and when this finally arrived my thought was "it was okay". I would not say the game does anything worse than the previous game, but more so that it does not exceed what was already established beforehand. The major difference is that the game is split between two new protagonists: the previously seen Mizuki and the new Ryuki. The game is primarily established to give more context to Mizuki and it does that in some rather ludicrous ways; without spoilers: almost everything previously learned about her is altered, for better or worse. Ryuki, on the other hand, does not measure up, he is a more serious character, but it leads him to be harder to care about, especially considering how much he was meant to act as the opposite of Date.
Another issue with the cast for this game is that they would routinely drag characters from the previous game to this one, often times just for the cameo, to which they somewhat took time away from establishing the new characters. The new characters are likable and endearing, especially in how they are involved in the overall story of the game.
The plot is significantly less gory, but no less horrific. As well, the structure is fascinating in how it manipulates the player's perspective on events. The overall story and conflict is equally, in my opinion, as the first game, but the path to get there is more tumultuous.
Gameplay-wise, the Somniums continue to be fun, but can be annoying in this early mistakes are almost impossible to recover from, which can be annoying depending on the player.
All in all, a solid sequel with an interesting story, but lacks what the French say "that one thing" to really make the experience impactful at the deepest level.

Probably one of the games that formed my very understanding of an utterly engrossing experience. Growing up, I was a well-behaved and responsible child to a fault, never buying an M-rated game beforehand. For Christmas, this game intrigued me like nothing before and I bit the bullet. What I found was a story that still plays in my head to this day.
I could talk about he story and characters all day, but simply said they are fantastic. I came out of this game hooked to the fictional lives of these characters, as well as almost feeling like I was experiencing the story with them, as diagnosable as that may sound.
To keep it short, I enjoyed the puzzles, but that is not the reason to stay involved, the story goes places surprising and enlightening, and when I would figure something out, it would continue to twist that impression that I made.
This was a fantastic experience for myself and a good starting point for others who are interested in this genre of game without going into something more complicated. Serious when necessary, silly in doses, but never obnoxious, it hits the right notes for emotional impact and lighthearted character building that will leave a long impression on the player.