Astlibra is the definition of a rough gem. The combat generally feels very satisfying and the difficulty combined with the multiple layers of customization and growth systems makes you feel like you're always growing stronger and you're constantly pushed to make use of all your different tools. The soundtrack is radical and the artstyle is immaculate with some excellent backgrounds. It won't really win any awards for its writing but it has a very earnest desire to tell a dramatic, fantastical tale which is a lot more than I can say for several other indie games. Unfortunately the last 1/3rd of the game was so consistently frustrating that I just got sick of it and didn't want to put in the time to grind it out. I'd still recommend it to everyone since anyone willing to put in the time to grind has several ways to get stronger and overcome the countless hallways full of of obnoxious enemies. I just don't have that kind of patience.

Wario Land 4 was one of my childhood favorites so this was a very pleasant and somewhat nostalgic experience. The gameplay manages to be very fast-paced without just devolving into "hold right to win" and new fun gimmicks are introduced frequently to keep things fresh. Unfortunately the artstyle isn't really my cup of tea. While I appreciate the amount of effort put into the presentation, I ended up finding peppino's myriad wacky expressions to be a lot more punchable than endearing. The ultra instinct was pretty sweet though.

I actually had a pretty good time with this. The decade of hearing people complain endlessly about it certainly kept my expectations low which probably helped me see it in a better light. Sure there's plenty of dumb things like EDI's cringe hookup with Joker, Kai Leng hopping out of a naruto fanfiction into a mostly-serious sci-fi world, and the unbearably goofy child PTSD dreams, but there's plenty to like as well. The rest of the game is still Mass Effect and it's still enjoyable to go on missions with your squad and make choices in the story, regardless of it just building up to the "choose your ending" scene. There's plenty of solid interactions, especially in the Citadel DLC, and I quite enjoyed how high-stakes the story felt leading up to the final confrontation with the reapers. Also Javik is cool.

Cool game. They put a lot of work into the atmosphere, cutscenes and enemy designs and it paid off pretty well. The gameplay is an interesting blend of survival horror and JRPG and despite it being simple, the shooting is weirdly satisfying. The story isn't amazing but it was fun, and it was cool going back to the police station between chapters instead of just being all isolated like in a resident evil or silent hill. It can occasionally be difficult to tell what can be interacted with in the environment, especially with how specifically you need to face some objects to search them and that can be pretty annoying. Dodging enemy attacks can also be frustrating given how tight some of the battle areas are along with the awkward movement.

Another excessively mediocre neptunia entry. I had some hope for this one since I greatly prefer the candidates to the goddesses that have been played-out for years, but it's really just another disappointment. I find it especially baffling that after they finally managed to make a decent JRPG with Neptunia VII, they continue to do everything in their power to avoid iterating on it and instead insist on making subpar action games that don't even hold up to 4GO. Also hearing the same music for like the 15th game is insanely grating.

Despite some surprisingly modern-looking character designs, Engage is very much a classic-style fire emblem game and a high quality one at that. The maps were enjoyable to clear and the emblem system added a fun new layer to the combat and character building. The writing is certainly a step down from Three Houses since it returns to the roots of the older games with its simple plot about an evil country trying to revive a big bad dragon and several simple characters that are easy to forget after their introductions. The supports are also very short and forgettable and the cutscene presentation could use a lot more time in the oven. All that being said, the story does pick up a lot more in the later chapters and it ended up feeling substantially more impactful than those of the older games by the end. While I do greatly prefer 3H, I do enjoy the endearing simplicity of the classic games as well so I had a good time. I quite like a lot of the character designs as well and Goldmary was far and away the best girl. The stupid cheesy anime OP is cringekino and I laugh every single time the guy says "engage!"