Reviews by Neppy

It did take some getting used to at the start because it has aged slightly. Once you get used to the controls and combat, the Witcher is a fun journey and a good start to a wonderful franchise of RPG games with alchemy elements. I do wish fast-travel was implemented since it was at least part of Chapter 2, but that's me being spoiled by current-gen games. I say this because travelling is a major part of the game. I also would have liked to see decisions have more impact on the story of the game instead of mostly Geralt's story and the characters he interacts with. Of course the story does alter slightly on your decisions, but the flow of the story will mostly remain the same. It is only the relationship with characters and Geralt's own story that changes, which is still good of course. Choices you have made here can also be transfered over to the next game in the franchise. While it is not necessary to play this game before any of the others which are arguably better, if you're a fan of The Witcher or RPGs in general, I would recommend picking up this game. Do keep in mind that you may have to get used to the game at first, which at worst may take an entire chapter.

Boson X is a very addictive auto-runner where you rotate the stage around you to avoid falling into the abyss. The goal is to walk on flashing platforms to increase the meter and beat the stage at 100% or continue for that delicious highscore brag. Every stage offers their unique (visual) obstacles. You have to think fast because once you're in the air, you can't move anymore. It can be infuriating but at the same time understandable to keep a good level of challenge. One thing that does greatly annoy me however is when you hit 100% and then suddenly boost ahead, occasionally leading into a death. This makes getting a score past 100% tougher to do because when you're in a bad position, you'll have to start all over again. Fortunately Boson X is a fast paced game so that whenever you do die, you can start over almost right away.

Being the sequel to my favourite game of all time, it had a lot to live up to. I'm pleased to mention that the final game in the Sky trilogy has lived up to that promise. While the game has become more linear than it ever was without cities to visit and people to interact with, it makes up for it by giving us a lot of stories about the characters we've grown to love. These are hidden behind doors most of the time, and I definitely recommend visiting every single one of them. The world of Phantasma is still an interesting and mysterious space with many secrets. I don't think it holds up to an actual world such as Liberl but I have had no problem going through this world at all. The story is as great as ever, giving us a lot of information about the Grailsritters and the Church that we may very likely see again in future Trails games. And especially towards the end, some of the most hype moments in the entire trilogy happen. People who have played this game very likely know what moments I am talking about. This was also the first time I played any of the Trails games with the newly added DirectX9 features and I am so grateful for that. As much as I love the games, I can't deny that some cutscenes do take forever while it usually comes down to basic movements. Now that I can speed them up without losing any story details, I am even more happy with the Trails games. I love this trilogy so much if that wasn't clear yet. Please please please, if you are a fan of JRPGs and fantastic world building, do play this trilogy. You will not regret it.

Strikey Sisters takes the idea of Break-out/Arkanoid and completely runs with it. Taking a fantasy setting with monsters and magic, use your magic ball to break all of the bricks to end the stage. There are tons of power-ups, enemies to register in your logbook, alternate exits to be found through items and much more. At the beginning I thought this game was a bit too hard due to enemy attacks, but over time I actually felt like I got much better, and that's the best reward you can wish for: the feeling that you're improving. Also, do not forget that you can charge up your sword to give your ball extra speed and power. It might take some getting used to, but this will benefit you greatly during later stages. There's also co-op which I haven't checked out since it's local co-op but I can imagine it being fun chaos.

Really great 2D platformer with a good pixel artstyle and very lovely soundtrack that just oozes SNES era. There are some varied gameplay styles like shoot-m-up stages but most importantly platforming stages with their own unique season changing mechanics. This is used to freeze lakes for or extinquish fires for example. Each stage also has three to four different collectables which all have their own benefits like upgrades to your skills, or secret stages. Most of these cannot be gathered on your first playthrough due to not meeting the requirements yet, but stages are fun to revisit and it also extends gameplay a bit because overall it is not that long. Usually I wouldn't mind but I wanted more of this game, and hopefully we'll see more of this great team of developers. There is one slight negative that I have to mention and that's with how the main protagonist controls during combat. It doesn't hinder gameplay too much, but I felt Rick to be clunky with how he is unable to use arrows while in the sky, or cannot do a ground stomp with just a regular jump and instead needs to double jump. I think that if Rick was even more agile, we would have an even better game here. But if that's the worst negative critisism I can have about a game like this, you know it's definitely worth your time

A narrative 2D action platformer which reminds me very much of games such as Rayman Origins combined with RPG elements, which is definitely a good thing in my book. The former reference mostly translates to the great graphics and puzzling- yet high action stage design with many collectables in them, and these collectables are in turn used to upgrade one- or all of your three forms which can be switched to at any time and are enjoyable to use. You originally start off with only the Bravery aegis, or in more literal terms the Knight form. Eventually you'll also get the mage and the agile archer, which all have their unique movesets and combat capabilities. They do all also get upgrades over the course of the game, and in the latter half your skills with the three forms will be put to the test. For some puzzles you also have to switch between all three continuously, though with my amnesiac mind I often forgot which button switched to which form. The bosses, especially the later ones were great as well and I thoroughly enjoyed fighting them. Unfortunately can't comment on the music as the Steam version is very quiet and I couldn't get it any louder. This is probably only a ''me'' problem (I don't see other people talking about it at least) and it's a shame since apparently this game has a beautiful score. I definitely recommend this game and look forward to a possible sequel/continuation in the future!

It doesn't happen often that you play through a game as a pure evil bastard. Not just a morally evil one, but one that is just completely off the rails. On that front Evilquest certainly delivers, as he is as unrelatable as a character can be. Though that is helped by the lackluster story and characters, as we do not know in any way why this character is evil despite him multiple times mentioning it's because of revenge. There are also a select amount of characters that appear and then never do again. They probably wouldn't have been able to do anything but it at least gave us more characters to remember. What I did not expect however, is the gameplay to be heavily based after the ARPG classic Crystalis. Weapons can be charged up and there are multiple different elemental weapons, and the dungeon layout feels very similar to Crystalis as well. I certainly am happy with that and while it's not as fleshed out as that game (puzzles happen seldom, new weapons make previous weapons completely irrelevant, the game is completely linear), it does the job well. This is because you can charge to the maximum potential right from the start of the game while Crystalis gave you charges over the course of the game, and certain obstacles could only be passed with these swords and charges. In the very first stage you can use a charged shot to hit objects from a distance, but that is never again used for puzzles. Other than that the save points are too far in-between, and there were a few cheap deaths. Regardless, I still had fun with the game and it was time well spent.

I tried, I really tried. I just can't recommend this game, but I do have my reasons and perhaps they are too personal so do take a look at other reviews and gameplay if my reasons are of no effect to you. I'll start off with my first major reason: the visual effects. There's a serious lot of visual effects and colours happening on screen and while the colourfest might look beautiful, it's very distracting in a game where you're being barraged by enemies. I constantly had issues concentrating on my character and avoiding bullets, even with the filters turned off. This does not necessarily mean that the game is difficult as checkpoints are pretty generous and there are enough perks to fit your own playstyle. Given that it's a small screen you're playing on, the last thing you want to happen is to take damage because of distraction. I'd like to mention that I am actually first on the leaderboards as of right now so it's not like I downright sucked at the game. Although coming back on that, it seems the leaderboards are being reset pretty often which I don't really see the point of? So long for the people in the beginning days of the game who actually achieved a very high score, just for it to be gone now. Every so many stages there are also bonus challenges and while I appreciate them being there for extra points and cash, at the same time you can get damage from these bonus challenges and potentially hinder yourself further. That's not what I'd like to define as a bonus challenge, and they are not skippable either. Or what about temporary buffs that suddenly come flying on the screen in the form of spidroids, and you receive damage AND are unable to get the buff when they hit you? Other than my above mentioned issues, Ultratron is a solid game that does little harm. But because of those issues, I'm afraid I can't recommend this game.

Being a movie licensed game, expectations are already lower than your normal games. This is no different for Astro Boy: The Video Game and indeed, that is the case. Gameplay is completely brainless, especially with how easily you are able to spam super moves and recovery. Despite being both a shmup and beat-m-up in one, there is not much difference between either mode. Stages do have secrets in them which made otherwise boring stages at least bearable. Fortunately the game only takes 3-4 hours.

Before I start off this review I would like to mention that I am in no way an expert on fighting game mechanics. I do enjoy playing them, but generally I can not say how well this one stacks up with other fighters. If you are looking for information about how competitive this game is, this review is not for you.

Being a fan of Tsukihime and Nasuverse in general, it doesn't come as a surprise that I did thoroughly enjoy this game. That said, I also believe this game to be one that should mostly be played by people interested in the nasuverse. The online multiplayer is pretty much dead from what I've gathered so most of your time may be spent in the arcade with stories and definitions you most likely won't get as an outsider. As a non-fighting game expert, I would say the gameplay itself overall is pretty good so even if you're an outsider, you'll still get a good game. It is not necessarily noob-friendly as there is no tutorial or anything else that will explain the basics to you. As a result I also struggled with my earlier fights, though I did get much better over the course of the game the more characters I tried out and the more I played. There is a pretty significant roster of characters to choose from, each with a good set of alternate skins as well. Though a select amount of this roster is just the same character but slightly different, there is still a character for everyone. There's also a good amount of stages, and the fanservice towards the nasuverse characters is top notch. There are also three different styles for each characters, bringing even more diversity. Minor complaints include the game now showing which Arcade mode you have done, or an overall in-game progress tab. There is not much to do outside of Arcade, but what there is to do is pretty good. If you are not a Nasuverse fan however, I would probably wait for a sale or take a look at other reviews which might give you a better look at the fighting mechanics.