Deltarune (Chapters 3 and 4)

Four years later and we finally get more Deltarune.  Was the wait worth it?  I think so.  The passage of time (nearly seven years since the first chapter dropped) has done nothing to deter Deltarune's unique charm. Toby Fox's world and characters are as supremely creative and delightfully unhinged as ever, with one chapter taking part as a demented TV game show with a surprisingly tragic bent, and the second continuing to build up the unique world and characters present.  The character chemistry is brilliant, the dialog is consistently hilarious and the emotional beats all land; simply put, the writing is phenomenal on every front.  The games also contain some of the most beautiful spritework I've ever seen, with incredibly expressive characters, incredible use of lighting and shockingly fluid animation.  Combat retains the same gimmick but remains as fresh as ever, with every battle (even with mundane enemies) finding new ways to surprise me and implement new ideas, never becoming monotonous.  The fact that it does all this in chapters that only last about 4-5 hours apiece is commendable too; they pack more personality and charm into those few hours than every Ubisoft open world content-for-contents-sake turd combined.  Really, the only negative aspect is I know I'm going to have to wait many long months to see more, but the memories these chapters have made are more than enough to tide me over.

Developer: Toby Fox
Publisher: Toby Fox, 8-4
Released: 2025
Platform: PC, macOS Switch, Switch 2, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4

Magician

Magician is a fairly obscure NES RPG by Eurocom and published by Taxan with some unique design elements and a notorious difficulty level among those who have heard of it.  But is there some merit to be found in this mostly forgotten game, or should it just be left buried in favor of other, better known 8-bit titles?

Magician is a mostly forgotten RPG these days, and even among fans of retro console games it's not really one that comes up much in conversation. Not for a lack of trying, though, as it's one of the more unique RPGs on the platform. Taking place in a sidescrolling view, the game also utilizes a stage-based format, with nine levels in total. However, there is no way to backtrack to a previous level, so if you miss a key item from an earlier stage it can potentially mean restarting the entire game. Numerous things can also kill you instantly, from falling in a pit to triggering a trap to starving to death; that's right you have to manage your character's food and water meters, and both deplete at a surprisingly rapid rate, effectively putting your progress on a strict time limit. Shops to replenish food and water supplies are also very few and far between, and though you can occasionally find more supplies as part of treasure hordes, that likewise means being constantly wary of traps and enemies that can deplete significant amounts of your health, shields and magic. While you can save your progress at any time and there four slots to save to, you only get fifteen saves per playthrough, so one must ration them carefully throughout the game.

Magician features a relatively novel spell-crafting system - you create spells by combining different syllables in the pause menu, then click the spellbook to memorize them.   Unlike Dungeon Magic, however, not all combinations are viable.  In fact, the vast majority result in an "unknown spell" that will have completely unpredictable effects; usually instant death to your character with a surprising number of different animations exclusively for this purpose (although on rare occasions you may also get a full heal or other beneficial effect).  The manual only tells you how to access a basic attack spell, while the rest must be discovered in-game by finding or purchasing scrolls at hefty cost (though the manual does also provide spaces to write discovered spells down, saving you money on later playthroughs).  Spells can also be adjusted to four levels of power, which annoyingly plays into some puzzles; the swamp stage is one notorious example, requiring you to constantly adjust the power of your Jump spell to leap to the next platform, with a level too low or too high usually sending you plummeting to an instant death.  (Just casting the Fly spell to avoid this isn't an option either, as you'll be struck by lightning the moment you leave the ground for - yep - another instant death.)  

Combat is Magician is pretty bland and monotonous.  There are four elements in the game (Physical, Venom, Fire and Power) and four varieties of shields to cast which completely block those elements, depleting themselves as they do.  Thus, battles typically boil down to casting shields to block the enemy's attacks, then spamming one attack spell repeatedly until you knock your way through the enemy's shields and eat away all of their life; preferably before they do the same to you.  Thankfully it's not nearly as prevalent as it is in many other NES RPGs - all encounters in the game are fixed events - but it's still something you end up becoming annoyed by rather than looking forward to.

All in all, Magician is a fairly clunky game with some annoying trial-and-error puzzles, irritating difficulty compounded by limited saves, and underwhelming combat that mostly consists of raising shields and spamming one attack until your enemy falls.  However, it is very well presented, with detailed backdrops, smooth character animations and some stellar music by Neil Baldwin.  In fact, I dare say it ranks among the best soundtracks on the NES, lending the game a heavy, foreboding atmosphere throughout and showing off some impressive technical tricks, like simulating wind sounds for the forest stage theme.  So while the game itself isn't really anything special, the soundtrack is well worth a listen for fans of chiptune music.  The source code has been released by the developer too, which may be of interest to those interested in making their own NES games (or possibly improving on this one's clunkier aspects).

Developer: Eurocom
Publisher: Taxan
Released: 1991
Platforms: NES

Recommended Version: N/A

Legacy of the Wizard

The fourth game in the Dragon Slayer series; a name not very well known in the west, but Japan knows it as one of the first action-RPG series ever made.  That said, each game in the series is a very different experience, from top-down dungeon crawls to tactical combat experiences.  Legacy of the Wizard is certainly no different, having you control five family members who each have differing abilities, and navigating a rather enormous maze in search of a magic sword that can slay an evil dragon.  Each family member gets a different set of items to utilize, and with these, they can reach a section of the dungeon no other can and retrieve one of the four crowns; Xemn (the father) gets a glove that can push blocks around; Lyll (the daughter) can destroy blocks with a mattock and leap to absurd heights; Meyna (the mother) can fly using magical wings; Pochi (the family pet) is a monster and therefore ignored by nearly all other monsters in the dungeon (even being able to use them as platforms); and finally, Roas (the son) is the only one who can wield the Dragon Slayer sword, necessary to defeat the final boss.  It's a game that definitely requires the manual or a strategy guide, as there's very little text in-game and no explanation given for what all the items actually are or how they work, but there's a surprising amount of longevity and depth to be found here.  You'll also need to master some very precise jumps and quirky controls (especially for the block-pushing with Xemn's glove), but the charming graphics and an amazing soundtrack by Mieko Ishikawa and (of course) Yuzo Koshiro keep it from getting too frustrating.

Developer: Nihon Falcom
Publisher: Nihon Falcom, Namcot, Broderbund
Platform: MSX, MSX2, NES, Switch (as part of the Namco Museum Archives Vol. 2 collection)
Released: 1987, 1989

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero

The fourth Shantae game and yet another step forward for the series, with some amazingly gorgeous animation throughout; easily some of the best animated visuals I've ever seen, in fact.  It even has a pretty fantastic theme song called "Dance Through the Danger" with vocals by Shantae's voice actress (the always awesome Cristina "Vee" Valenzuela).  However, it also made the controversial decision to rework the gameplay, going from a largely open metroidvania style of exploration to a more stage-based layout, requiring you to revisit some areas later with new powerups to collect everything (not unlike the Mega Man X games).  It also made the controversial addition of adding DLC missions, adding more content (including the ability to play as Sky, Bolo, Rottytops and even Risky Boots for the first time in the series) and costumes for Shantae herself to change up the gameplay.  It's all quite good quality, though paying $7-8 a pop for it atop a $30 game makes it seem a bit pricey compared to most.  (One also has the option to buy one of the later "Ultimate Edition" releases, which include all of the DLC).

Developer: WayForward
Publisher: WayForward, Xseed Games, Pqube Games, Oizumi Amuzio
Released: 2016
Platforms: PC, Playstation 4, Playstation Vita, Wii U, Xbox One, Switch, Stadia, Playstation 5

Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice

Disgaea 3 made the leap to the Playstation 3, and things were now moved to an even-sillier setting - a twisted "academy" for demons where ditchers are honor students and those who attend classes are delinquents.  Befitting this, characters are now assigned to Class Clubs and get bonuses based on who they're seated next to in the classroom, and elements like the Class World exist to bolster character stats.  Characters can now mix-and-match unique abilities thanks to the Evility system, and monsters can temporarily morph into weapons with the new Magichange mechanic.  However, a less-auspicious element soon showed itself in the game's DLC, which infamously racked up in price to well over the sticker price of the actual game ($86 in total bought separately or $50 in an all-encompassing mega-pack).  There's still much to offer here for powergamers and those who love to grind out stats, but it's not hard to see why this is one of the less highly-regarded games in the franchise.  The main character being voiced by disgraced actor Vic Mignogna probably does it no favors either. 

Developer: Nippon Ichi Software

Publisher: Nippon Ichi Software

Released: 2008, 2011

Platforms: Playstation 3, Vita

Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories

 The first Disgaea was a slow-starter in the west, but it did well enough over time to get a reprint and eventually a sequel in the Playstation 2's later days.  Naturally, the game underwent a significant visual overhaul, as well as adding in new classes, features like the Dark World and the Land of Carnage (adding even more content for die-hard grinders and fans of puzzle maps), unique abilities for each character and class, and a strange new "Felony" system that would grant characters more experience for committing various "crimes" like attaining a certain level or killing a set number of enemies.  At its core, though, not a great deal is different from the original game - grinding and overcoming the monstrously difficult postgame content is still the main draw of the experience.  It provides a lot of that for stat-grinders, but those looking for a more gripping storyline experience or gameplay less based on sheer numbers may want to check elsewhere.

Developer: Nippon Ichi Software

Publisher: Nippon Ichi Software, Koei

Released: 2006

Platforms: Playstation 2, Playstation Portable, Windows, Mac OS, Linux

Crypt of the NecroDancer

 There are quite a few roguelikes out there, especially now that the indie scene has become such a prominent sight in gaming.  Crypt of the NecroDancer attempts to put its own twist on things, though, by having everything synced to music - "turns" are all carried out to the beat of the backing track, with the player also required to time their actions to the beat, getting a bonus multiplier the longer they go without missing a beat and without getting hit.  Enemies all move and act in predictable patterns, so learning and memorizing them is key to success, as it using the numerous weapons, items and spells you pick up along the way.  Between deaths you can also purchase upgrades for your next run - health, weapons, armor and even bonuses like more chests or starting with a higher coin multiplier.  It takes a bit of work to adapt to, but for fans of roguelikes, Crypt of the NecroDancer has a very fun and inventive bent.

Developer: Brace Yourself Games

Publisher: Brace Yourself Games, Blitworks

Released: 2015

Platforms: Windows, OS X, Linux, iOS, Playstation 4, Playstation Vita, Xbox One, Switch, Android

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

A direct followup to the Game Boy Advance's Aria of Sorrow, even retaining most of the same characters and the same gameplay mechanic of absorbing souls to learn new abilities and power up your character.  It certainly takes advantage of the DS's capabilities too, for both good and ill - the game looks and sounds fantastic with high-quality music and high resolution graphics for the period, but bosses now cannot be killed unless you use the touch screen to quickly draw a "seal" on the screen after sufficiently weakening them - fail to do so within a few seconds and they get some health back and resume the fight, which can get very irritating.  The game also loses its gothic feel in part, as cutscenes now have all the characters drawn in more of a generic anime style.  It's still competently made and fun overall, but definitely not as good as the original, and to me at least it marked the beginning of a turn into stagnance for the series.

Developer: Konami

Publisher: Konami

Released: 2005

Platforms: Nintendo DS

BS Zelda no Densetsu: Inishi no Sekiban

 In the same vein as the original BS Zelda, Inishi no Sekiban (translated as "Ancient Stone Tablets") is a reworking of Link to the Past, this time with an added narrative (voiced in Japanese and in text at the bottom), reworked episodic gameplay, a time limit and a score table, challenging the player to complete two dungeons and collect as many rupees as possible before time expires and possibly (in the 90s when it aired) earn prizes.  Also somewhat unusual is the fact that the player doesn't control Link in the original release, instead utilizing their avatar from the Satellaview's BIOS menu in game and some of the text changing accordingly.  Other than that, this is much in the same vein as the original, with reworked dungeons, timed events that can grant the player bonuses like temporary invincibility or unlimited bombs for a short while, and a clever new twist on LTTP for those who know the original game like the back of their hands.  Like the first BS Zelda, it's only available nowadays through emulation, but it's a great piece of history that's well worth a look for any serious franchise fan.

Developer: Nintendo R&D2

Publisher: St. GIGA

Released: 1997

Platform: Satellaview

Actraiser Renaissance

Billed as a remaster of the SNES cult classic, Renaissance is actually more of a full-blown remake, adding numerous new mechanics, a redone soundtrack (with Yuzo Koshiro returning to update all the tracks) and a visual style oddly reminiscent of an early PS1 or Sega Saturn game - CGI models turned into sprites are the pervading graphical element here.  The sidescrolling action stages give you slightly more of a moveset to utilize (tip: your down-slash gives you a crazy amount of invincibility frames), while the city building is much more goal-driven, giving you numerous milestones to hit and occasionally having you defend your settlements in a minigame that feels like a cross between a tower defense game and a real-time strategy.  You set down forts and barricades to slow enemies while moving around hero units to engage them, and when things get too dicey you can also utilize your god-powers (formerly just used to clear terrain for your cities to expand) to deal damage and slow down enemies.  It does have a few strange technical issues - I saw an awful lot of screen-tearing on the PC version, and turning on Vertical Sync in the options didn't seem to fix it; however, turning the framerate setting to Unlimited did.  But even with those, it's a pretty solid update of a well-regarded SNES title, and worth a play for old and new fans alike.

Developer: Square Enix/Sonic Powered

Publisher: Square Enix

Released: 2021

Platform: Steam, Playstation 4, Switch, iOS, Android

Deltarune (Chapters 1 and 2)

The companion game to beloved indie darling Undertale, Deltarune actually began development several years before it, and appropriately for a game still yet unfinished, it goes for much greater scale in both its gameplay and narrative design.  But does Deltarune manage to capture the magic of its sister game even in its unfinished state, or does it simply get overshadowed by it?

2015's Undertale is a game that attracted an enormous following despite its humble origins, low budget and being built in Game Maker, even being nominated for numerous awards in shows usually almost exclusively reserved for big-studio productions, and even winning a few (with IGN awarding it their 2015 award for Best Story and even naming it the 20th best game of all time).  So, when a followup was finally publicly announced, it of course generated a lot of buzz and high expectations; moreso when it was revealed to have begun development well before Undertale and, as of early 2022, remains unfinished.  Toby Fox saw fit to release the first chapter of the game as a free demo and, during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, released the second one as well, giving people a chance to see just what it had to offer in comparison to Undertale.  

The answer, as it turned out, was quite a lot.  While its exact relationship to Undertale still isn't entirely clear (it retains numerous characters from it, though whether it's a sequel, prequel or alternate universe is left ambiguous, at least so far), it retains many elements from its sister game.  The warm characters, the simple-yet-stylish visuals, interesting gameplay and the sense of fun it carries all remain intact.  However, Deltarune also aims for much greater heights on every front - all characters show much more fluid and technically-proficient animation, with little to none of the "floating joints" style that was evident in the first game, and its use of lighting effects and shows are surprisingly effective even with the minimal color palette.  The combat screen is also given a Final Fantasy style side-view rather than a more basic Wizardry-styled UI, allowing the player character and his allies to show off their own animations.  The music, as ever, is phenomenal, perfectly highlighting the epic combat as well as any mood the story attempts to go for, and stands as proof that well-composed electronically-generated music is as timeless as any other.

Even in its unfinished state, Deltarune's gameplay also shows quite a bit of depth and polish.  Rather than simply controlling one character, you now control up to three as the story dictates, and they're given distinct abilities to match.  Kris serves as the protagonist and the one primarily responsible for non-violent interactions with enemies (though they can also order the other two characters to participate as well, using one/both their turns that round to move enemies closer to "Tamed" status).  Ralsei, as a compassionate and friendly character, serves as the party's healer and can knock enemies out harmlessly with Sleep spells, which also offers an alternate way to Tame them.  Susie, being a more hot-headed and violent character, uses primarily offensive moves and acts on her own for a good portion of the first chapter, with the other two having to warn enemies of her attacks in advance if you wish to remain on a pacifistic route (though she will eventually become more of a team player and start to take orders). And of course, your choices do actually make a difference; not so much the dialog choices (which seem to actively poke fun at the lazy flat good-or-bad-choice plot branching present in so many modern RPGs), but in pursuing a pacifistic or deadly route through the story, events and story outcomes for each chapter will change substantially.

Combat retains the minigame-based approach that Undertale implemented, with basic attacks and specials alike playing out as minigames based on timed button presses, and avoiding enemy attacks playing out by having the player move a small heart icon around within a box to avoid patterns of projectiles.  (This also comes into play outside of battle, where the player must avoid traps or hazards by keeping their player's heart icon outside of their hit zones).  Spells and special techniques now operate off a "TP" bar that is shared between the three characters, and which can be boosted by using the Defend command (effectively skipping a turn), or by narrowly avoiding projectiles during the dodge minigames - a second outline appears around your heart icon, and any projectile passing through that outline (while not hitting your heart) will boost the TP gauge slightly.  So, in effect, doing well requires not just avoiding attacks as they come, but having enough confidence to let the attacks narrowly miss you so you can build meter, similar to a mechanic in Radiant Silvergun where you'd gain points by narrowly avoiding a fatal shot.  Items can also be used in a pinch to recover HP or TP without requiring meter to be spent, though these are quite limited in how many you can carry at a time, they're best used as a last resort.

Of course, Deltarune wouldn't be nearly as memorable or captivating as Undertale if it didn't have a great cast of well-written characters.  It certainly does not disappoint there; yes, much of the cast from Undertale returns as the inhabitants of the player's hometown, but they mostly serve as ancillary characters, with care taken so that they don't upstage the main characters of this story.  Thankfully, the new cast is just as brilliantly realized as Undertale's - vivid, expressive, with some great well-written dialog and genuinely funny jokes, and never once falling into being lazy cardboard-cutouts.  Even the story's antagonists are very well-realized, three-dimensional characters with their own histories, motives and personalities, and show genuine emotions throughout, including that very human yearning for acceptance that all of us have.  Similarly, the story isn't afraid to show its emotional side, running the gamut from hilarious to disturbing to tender as events warrant while never once feeling forced or out-of-place.  Basically, Deltarune has a sense of energy, fun and warmth I've not had with a game since the likes of Chrono Trigger and Earthbound, and that's saying a lot considering the sheer number of RPGs I've played.

So, with only two chapters publicly released and five more to be released at some indefinite point down the road, is it safe to say that Deltarune lives up to the hype?  I certainly think so.  It's a game with a lot to offer on every front - its polished gameplay, heartfelt writing, stylish visuals, amazing music and sound design and a sense of fun and passion that few other games I've ever played have captured all make it an incredible experience that proves budget ultimately has very little to do with a game's quality.  AAA Games only seem to be concerned with getting larger and prettier, with gameplay and storytelling relegated to a shallow, heavily-compromised afterthought at best, and most just bore me to sleep within only a couple hours of starting them up, leaving me wonder why I even bother to keep up with current gaming tech.  Then comes a game like Deltarune to remind me of why I love video games and RPGs in particular.  Even with only two chapters done, it's a brilliant experience; hell, even if it never gets finished it'll still be one of the best games I've ever played.  In an era where 99% of all time and money in the medium of video gaming goes into pretty-yet-empty 3D backdrops, models and textures that'll age about as well as milk, and algorithmically-generated bland filler just to meet some arbitrary publisher-mandated length quota, with another 3 years of multi-gigabyte patches to follow just to make it slightly resemble an actual, finished product, it's nice to see developers who still remember what really makes gaming great.  And since the demo is currently free, there's little excuse to not at least give it a chance to win you over too.  Some games really are worth the wait.

Developer: Toby Fox
Publisher: Toby Fox, 8-4 Ltd.

Platform: PC, macOS, Switch, Playstation 4

Released: 2018, 2021

Recommended Version: I'd say play the PC version if you can; according to the developer the console versions have had some issues with updates breaking things, and patching for them may come slower than the PC version.

Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age Definitive Edition

After more than thirty years of uneven success in the west but massive popularity in Japan, Dragon Quest's eleventh numbered entry was released to considerable worldwide acclaim.  But does the series' long-standing traditional design still pay off after three decades, or does it just begin to fall by the wayside after a slew of changes and innovations in its competition? 

It's been 35 years since the Dragon Quest franchise's debut, and surprisingly little has changed for its eleventh numbered entry. Even with a leap to gorgeous HD, some excellent orchestral music and high quality voiceover, it's instantly recognizable as Dragon Quest. Akira Toriyama's character designs, writing and design by Yuji Horii, the punny enemy and spell names, many of the music cues and sound effects, and the combat still being relatively simple turn-based fare with a party of up to four characters haven't changed a bit. Combat is visually three-dimensional and you and enemies move freely around the field, though this is purely a visual effect and has no bearing on the gameplay whatsoever. But if even the modern aesthetic is too much, you have the option to change the game to a 2D art style reminiscent of the Super Famicom Dragon Quests; even mid-run if you wish.

However, some nice quality of life changes are made for Dragon Quest XI S.  You can speed up battle animations and assign each character AI patterns to quickly deal with random encounters, then toggle them off at any time when you need to deal with tougher fights or bosses.  Healing after a fight is condensed into one simple menu command, which saves quite a bit of hassle, particularly later in the game.  Monsters are visible on the map, doing away with the irritation of frequent random fights and letting you engage on your terms.  You can give yourself a slight edge before a fight as well - if you approach an enemy in the field and then strike them with your weapon, you'll sneak in a free hit before the fight even properly begins.  Some added challenges are available right from the get-go too, labeled in the startup menu as "Draconian Quests"; things like making all the enemies stronger, causing an instant defeat if the main character is defeated, not being able to equip armor or use shops, or the rather annoying effect of "Shypox" which causes characters to randomly lose turns.  A nice way to give genre veterans more of a challenge, and the game even notes on the menu when you've completed a playthrough with one or more of these activated for the duration so you have the bragging rights.  (You can also deactivate them at any church if you find them to not be to your liking.)

It's not all standard '80s RPG fare, though.  After gaining levels you will earn Skill Points; these allow you to customize your party by unlocking bonuses, depicted in the form of grid with panels that flip over when you spend points (not dissimilar to Final Fantasy XII's License boards).  Generally speaking, these let you give your characters greater attributes, bonuses when using specific weapon types (extra damage, chance to parry or get criticals, et cetera) or learn new attack skills.  Some panels with particularly strong bonuses are also locked at first, and can only be opened (and points spent on them) when you unlock at least four panels surrounding them.  One can also freely respec their characters if a current build isn't working (or they just want to use a particular skill temporarily) by visiting any goddess statue or church, though this does carry a small fee.

Another prominent mechanic is "Pep".  During battle, and after taking several hits in a row, using a particular skill, or just randomly as a fight starts, your character may become Pepped Up, which gives them a boost to their stats for a few turns;  the exact stats boosted vary from character to character, but generally emphasize their abilities.  Pep wears off after a few turns, but it does carry over between battles as well, so any turns you have left on it after winning a fight don't go to waste.  Some particularly skills are also only available during Pep status, and generally (but not always) require two or more participants to be in Pep at the same time to use them.  Generally, these are quite powerful attacks that use every character's turn (somewhat similar to the Dual/Triple techs in Chrono Trigger), but the sheer power they offer makes them worth using when the opportunity arises.

Crafting returns again for this entry, this time in the form of the Fun-Size Forge, a minigame that allows you to turn various items into new weapons, armor and accessories. It's largely optional (unless you're playing with shops disabled), but generally worth doing, as items you can forge at a given stage will often be better than what you can buy at shops. If you do well at the forging minigame, they'll get some nice bonuses on top too, even boosting innate abilities like status resistances or stat bonuses.  It's worth it to explore around a bit whenever you reach a new area - gather up items you find in the field and scavenge for more jars/pots/chests whenever you hit a new town or dungeon.  Sidequests frequently award uncommon or rare crafting components too, so keep an eye out for those.

While the franchise is still quintessentially old-school in design even three-and-a-half decades out, Dragon Quest XI manages to stand out as distinct and memorable regardless.  Its traditional, yet highly polished gameplay remains its strongest asset, ensuring it's a game easy enough for newcomers to get into while long-time genre fans can tweak settings to give themselves more of a challenge or find obscure tricks to give themselves an edge.  The world of Erdea is brought to life in 3D in brilliant form, its environments managing to look like a gorgeous modern game, yet losing none of the colorful cartoon style and personality of Akira Toriyama's distinct art.  All the familiar sound effects and music cues that have been here since day one return, but the new stuff is great too - the voice acting is perfectly on-point, while the music is beautifully composed and adds tremendously to the atmosphere of any given area.  Dragon Quest takes relatively few risks with its fundamental gameplay, but when it takes care to hone the format it's followed for over thirty years to virtual perfection, it's hard to complain.  Whether you love DQ's adherence to tradition or hate it, it's one franchise that's here to stay.

Developer: Square Enix, Orca, Toylogic, Artepiazza

Publisher: Square Enix

Platform: Nintendo 3DS, Playstation 4, PC, Switch, Xbox One, Stadia

Released: 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021

Recommended version: Any of the later versions (released as "Definitive Edition") are the ones to go with, as they add new content and the redone orchestral soundtrack which sounds much better than the synthesized one.  The Playstation 4 version has this available as a downloadable upgrade to the original version (as well as a physical release), while the PC, Switch, Xbox One and Stadia versions all have it packaged in by default.

Ikenfell

Ikenfell is an indie RPG seemingly inspired by games like EarthBound and Undertale, trying to win players over with some sincere charm in its writing and visuals while retaining overall familiar gameplay and design.  But does Ikenfell succeed in this endeavor, or is it simply a derivative and forgettable experience?

There have been many success stories of indie games in recent years, some even rivaling (or surpassing) big-budget AAA titles with million dollars in terms of acclaim and quality.  Undertale is one of the more prominent examples; despite its relatively low budget and level of technology, it was nominated for awards in numerous prominent game shows, drew a lot of favorable comparison to its main inspiration (the SNES cult classic EarthBound) and continues to be a strong-selling, highly acclaimed modern classic today.

Ikenfell is a game that seems to be built on that same model, utilizing a fairly simplistic, colorful comic strip style of art and animation.  A common thing for indie games to be sure, and the low-resolution style is easy to dismiss as being overused and derivative, but I honestly found it charming here; the animation is fluid and the characters are surprisingly expressive given the low resolution of their sprites, and they all sport quite a few frames of animation more than classic 16-bit RPGs, so they feel familiar, yet fresh at the same time.  The game's music is quite high-quality as well; little surprise considering they got Aivi & Surasshu (best known for composing the soundtrack to the animated TV series "Steven Universe") on board to compose it, giving the game atmosphere in spades and even a few surprisingly well-performed vocal tracks; "Paint the Future" in particular is fantastic.

Gameplay draws a lot of inspiration from games of the era as well, most particularly games like Super Mario RPG and the Mario and Luigi franchise, incorporating minigames into the combat experience.  Basically, every attack you have deals additional damage if you time a button press right as the move impacts; getting it close will get you a "Nice!" and deal extra damage, while getting it perfect will earn a "Great!" and deal even more.  Similarly, enemy attacks can have their damage reduced (and status effect infliction negated) by timing a button press in similar fashion as it connects with your character.  Late in the game, mastering the timing of hits and blocks is essential - unblocked attacks start to rack up major damage, and whittling through enemies' high HP becomes an arduous task if you don't have the timings down by then.  The execution isn't always perfect on this, though - the timing on some moves isn't always clear, and even when I seemed to time a button press perfectly I would sometimes still only get a "nice" or even an outright miss; fortunately, if you're not a fan of this type of design or simply can't get used to it, you do have the option to disable the timed press requirements in the menu.

Ikenfell adds a new layer of depth to the Mario RPG format, though, by also working in some light tactical RPG elements.  Combat takes place on a wide grid (3x12) and each characters' spells are only able to target tiles within specific ranges, so positioning your characters carefully to deal damage, stay out of enemy attack range and within reach of one another's healing abilities is another major component of the game's strategy. One can also set traps on panels to harm foes, set up decoys to impede enemy movement and draw attacks, and knock targets around with certain moves (potentially pushing them into traps or one another for extra damage), so it encourages some creativity on the player's part to deal extra damage.  It's nowhere near as deep or intricate as something like, say, Divinity Original Sin II or Final Fantasy Tactics, but it's a nice changeup and certainly adds another layer of planning to what would otherwise be a fairly simplistic combat system.

Like its primary inspirations, though, Ikenfell's gameplay is solid and entertaining for the most part, but not the primary focus.  The main emphasis here is on its characters and writing, and it succeeds handily there, bringing forth quite a lot of funny dialog but also some surprisingly complex and well-realized characters, and seeing the way they interact and their growing relationships with one another forms the heart of the experience.  Ikenfell takes a bolder step than most, though, as most if not all of the central cast falls under the LGBTQ+ umbrella; this does get played for humor in one prominent case (Gilda, the recurring rival character who also has an enormous crush on Maritte), but for the most part it's done far more realistically than in any other game I've played, never feeling like cheap pandering or falling into lame stereotypes.  Their identification as gay, nonbinary or asexual is just one facet of their personalities, and just like real life, it generally has very little bearing on who they are or how they interact with other people.  Because of that, their inclusion feels like it comes from a genuine place, rather than just feeling shoehorned in at the demand of a marketing committee to boost sales and have a cheap way to write off any legitimate criticism of their game as being the work of "hateful bigots".  Not to mention that most multi-billion dollar companies that do this sort of thing generally only do because their highly conservative board of directors just want to use that extra fame and revenue to give themselves some sweet salary bonuses to throw at the next election and whatever anti-union/living wage/healthcare/social improvement/LGBT+ measures are on the ballot, so people who take their minimum-effort "Pro-LGBT" statements at face value and blindly wage war in their names for it are easy marks at best and unpaid sycophants at worst.

In short, Ikenfell definitely draws inspiration from old 16-bit RPGs in its aesthetics and mechanics, but does much to set itself apart as well, building upon its familiar gameplay with strongly written characters and sharing their experience through a simple, sincere story.  It may not be flawless or the most groundbreaking of games, but it never pretends to be, either - it's clearly a work of passion from a small-name indie dev who wanted to tell a fun story while entertaining you with familiar, yet creatively remixed gameplay, a high level of polish and a reasonable runtime, and that gives it way more mileage with me than some overstuffed AAA release that takes itself way too damn seriously while giving you nothing to see or do that's actually entertaining (but which has plenty of fanboys and paid viral marketers who insist that its uninventive, disingenuous 'message' is too important to not slog through 90+ hours of tedious busywork and $85 of DLC for). So, for being a well-made and entertaining passion project, yet humble enough that it doesn't have to stop every 8 seconds to milk every last brownie point out of its woke element in pursuit of superficial accolades, I say Ikenfell is very much worthy of a purchase.

Developer: Happy Ray Games

Publisher: Humble Games

Platform: PC, MacOS, PS4, Switch, XBox One

Released: 2020

Recommended version: All versions are more or less the same as far as I can tell.

Nier Replicant Ver.1.22474487139...

 A remaster of the low-key hit Nier, which proved to be the last game released by cult company Cavia before their closure.  But does Ver 1.22474487139 prove to be a worthy update to the original cult classic, or should fans simply stick to the original?

Cavia as a company was a pretty low-key name for a lot of its existence, mostly known for producing licensed titles and a few originals like Drakengard, which were largely regarded as mediocre save for their grim storylines and twisted themes.  NieR was the last game they released before being absorbed into their parent company (who would later merge with Marvelous Entertainment to become Marvelous AQL), and like many of their original offerings, its reception was muted at first; however, it went on to become a cult classic for its grim, emotional storytelling and innovative narrative design, probably helped in no small part by the runaway success of its sequel, NieR Automata.

NieR's original release was an odd one, though, owing to some regional disparity.  In Japan there were two versions that differed slightly; "NieR Gestalt" was released for the XBox 360 and had the player control Yonah's father, while the Playstation 3 got "NieR Replicant" and instead had them play as Yonah's brother (a much more bishonen design).  However, when the game was localized for other regions, we only got Gestalt's protagonist regardless of platform choice.  The narrative and gameplay was nearly identical regardless, but it seemed that Square was trying to appeal more to a Western audience (whose games, movies, shows etc. generally feature older protagonists) when the game was published outside of Japan.

The 2021 remaster, however, goes in the exact opposite direction, only affording you the opportunity to play as Yonah's brother, with the "dad" protagonist making an appearance in some of the game's added content.  The story has also had some new scenes added - some that were intended for the original game but cut owing to time constraints, and some new scenes that help bridge the story gap between the original NieR and Automata.  They do a surprisingly good job with it too, as it all feels natural and well-integrated; more than I can say for the added content in games like Final Fantasy and some of the more recent Atlus outings.

Another point of criticism for the original NieR was its rather bland visual design; environments were large and empty and combat animation was rather stiff.  This of course gets updated in the remaster too; while the environments' designs don't change in any significant way, they definitely take advantage of the added technological power of modern platforms, with much nicer-looking textures, flora and fauna seeing a new level of detail, and more expressive character animation on the whole.  The overall style also more closely matches Automata's, with a dark-clad protagonist standing out against the lighter washed out environments.  It looks really good for the most part, though some of the more distinct character designs (Grimoire Weiss in particular) don't stand out nearly as much, going from a black-and-gold motif to looking flat gray in most shots.

The voice acting for the remaster was also overhauled, with the protagonist getting two new VO's (Zach Aguilar and Ray Chase); no surprise given the age shift.  Nearly all the dialog in the game is now voiced as well, with many actors from the original reprising their roles - definitely a good thing to most fans, as the voice acting was one of the major highlights of the original NieR.  Liam O'Brien in particular is perfect as the arrogant Grimoire Weiss, while Laura Bailey's Kainé perfectly captures the pain and angst of her character and the tragedy she's endured.

Probably the most significant change overall, though, was the revamped combat system.  While not hugely different from the original NieR, Replicant 1.2's physics and overall feel have received a major overhaul under the supervision of PlatinumGames' Takahisa Taura, who also worked on Automata.  The result is certainly evident, too - combat went from being a stiff, tedious affair to feeling much more fluid and satisfying, with every blow feeling significant and affording the player the ability to seamlessly switch from attacking to effectively dodging, parrying and countering enemy blows.  As in any good combat-focused action title, one can also easily switch between ranged attacks and melee owing to the intuitive setup, using the shoulder buttons to govern blocks, parries, ranged projectiles and stronger ones that must be charged up before firing but do significantly more damage.  It's still not on the level of depth as something like, say, Devil May Cry or Bayonetta, but I actually ended up looking forward to battles instead of dreading them, so it's still a major improvement over the original.  One can also now access items (both healing and temporary buffers) and change up their special attack selections via a D-pad quick menu, ensuring that the player is never drawn away from the combat for long.

One must keep in mind that the core game is essentially the same despite the remaster, though.  So it's got a lot of the same faults that befell the original - somewhat clunky physics and movement, a lot of rather boring sidequests and sub-missions (many of which just feel like filler meant to make the game longer and add achievements rather than feeling rewarding to do), and a fair bit of tedious farming being required for some things.  That said, one can ignore most of the sub-missions if they wish to and still get the full story experience, so only die-hard completionists need to deal with these.  One must also play through the story a total of four times to see everything; not just the four endings, but several new story elements are also revealed through subsequent playthroughs, with a fifth and new ending added for this version.  So even if you do only bare-basics to complete the main story, it's a fairly time consuming experience if you want to see all NieR's narrative has to offer.

In short, NieR Replicant 1.22474487139... is an excellent remaster, taking a cult classic game, keeping everything that made it such and improving upon several things that drew criticism in the original.  It's still the same game at its core, but with smoother action and combat, nicer visuals on the whole and some very well-integrated new elements, there's a lot here to enjoy for fans of the original and newcomers alike.  If you skipped the original NieR or just found it too clunky to be fun, give the modern remaster a go; you'll see why it's so beloved amongst fans of strong, emotional storytelling in games.

Developer: Toylogic
Publisher: Square Enix
Platform: Playstation 4, XBox One, PC
Released: 2021
Recommended Version:  The console versions seem to be more or less the same.  However, there are reports among some users that the PC port features bugs and bad optimization as that platform's port of Automata did, so keep that in mind.

SaGa 3: Jikuu no Hasha - Shadow or Light

The second Racjin remake of the early SaGa titles was also a notable one for overhauling the original in a number of ways, reintroducing a lot of SaGa's trademark elements that were mostly left out of the initial release.  But does making it into more of a traditional SaGa work in the third game's favor, or does this simply end up losing the element that made it distinct?

The SaGa games on the Game Boy (localized as "Final Fantasy Legend" despite being from an unrelated series) were ultimately not the most well-received of Square's library, but they nevertheless proved to be quite successful financially.  The original was Square's first game to sell over a million copies worldwide (being released in close proximity to the Game Boy's launch), while the second was a more polished experience that introduced a few new elements but kept the quirky setting and gameplay of the original mostly intact.  The third game, on the other hand, was not developed by Akitoshi Kawazu (who was busy working on Romancing SaGa for the Super Famicom), and so it was handed off to Square Enix's Osaka studio instead, who opted to make a more traditional RPG in most respects. As a result SaGa 3 utilizes more linear progression, experience points and levels, non-decaying weapons and a more traditional magic system.  It still garnered some fans, but ultimately was overshadowed by the first two games and ended up being the last SaGa localized until the Playstation 1 era rolled around.

But years later, after Racjin's remake of the second game proved to be a successful one, Square decided to commission them again to create a remake of SaGa III on the DS as well.  This time, however, the game would be overseen by Kawazu, and perhaps as a result of that, it re-incorporated many of the series' iconic elements.  The experience point system was ditched in favor of semi-random stat gains, weapons and spellbooks now decay with use, and skills are now semi-randomly "sparked" during battle, with a much higher chance of learning them during challenging fights (particularly bosses).  Transforming into beasts and monsters via meat also retains something of a random element too, gaining and losing traits (which can be good or bad) and skills they have at the whim of the RNG.

That idea may bring dread to fans who got used to the later, less randomness-based SaGa titles, but they did add some new twists to each of these elements to keep them from getting too irritating.  One notable change is that stat gains are actually applied mid-battle (not afterward), which can potentially help to turn things around for a fight you're struggling in.  They are given out with a bit more logic, too - utilizing weapons that utilize a particular stat (Strength for swords and hammers, Agility for bows and rapiers, etc) will give it a higher chance to be raised, and fighting tougher enemies will give greater odds for HP boosts - a significant improvement over the original games where they were largely random.  Skills make some more sense - spending more charges on a weapon, usually in exchange for greater damage and extra effects (debuffing enemies, for instance).  One can also repair weapons and spellbooks to restore used charges, which isn't cheap, but can spare the player from constantly having to replace them.

One of SaGa III's defining elements remains largely intact, though.  Each of the four playable characters begins as either a Human or Esper (Mutant in the localized FFL3), though by eating meat or installing parts from certain enemies, they can change form.  One part turns them into a cyborg, two turns them into a robot.  Eating one piece of meat will turn them into a beast, and another into a monster, while doing the opposite will roll the process back one step toward their base form.  Strangely, though, Espers can become Human and vice versa via this process now too, so characters are now fully malleable.  They can also retain traits from transformations, keeping some skills, elemental strengths or weaknesses, resistance to status effects, and so forth, all semi-random depending on the enemy types they take meats/parts from.

Another strange change is that each form has their own particular weapon proficiencies, and they will only power up if they're used by that particular form; Cyborgs, for example, wield heavy axes and hammers, humans use swords and katanas, and Espers wield bows and rapiers (in addition to all magic types).  Other races can still use weapons they're not proficient with (and will retain any skills they learned whilst in the form that utilizes them), but they will not gain proficiency with them.  So, unlike the original game where form changes were mostly done out of convenience - to gain a particular resistance or skill for a boss fight, generally - here it's a more integrated part of the game, encouraging the player to shuffle characters between all of the various options to fully customize and empower their party.

Some changes from later SaGas (and the remake of 2) return as well.  Encounters are still visible rather than random, and touching an enemy who is nearby another one can cause a "chain encounter", basically forcing you to fight multiple battles in a row, though you also reap greater benefits from doing so, having a higher chance to spark new techniques or gain stats.  Attack animations can be skipped via the Fast Forward feature, which helps to speed up combat in general.  After a certain point, a new mechanic also becomes unlocked; namely the Time Gear mechanic.  Basically, you fill up a gauge on the screen by taking actions in battle, and once at least one of the five pips is full, you can spend it at any time to create a time-duplicate of another character who repeats their last action at the end of that turn.  This can prove handy at times, letting you sneak in a heal before the next round begins, or to tie into another prominent mechanic - combos.  As in SaGa Frontier and later games, certain moves will combo with one another if each characters' turns are adjacent on the time bar, dealing extra damage and potentially doing a powerful finishing move if certain sequences of moves are completed.  Enemies can do combos too, however, so keeping the party's speed on point quickly becomes key to surviving in the late stages.

The remake also adds quite a bit of new content to really set it apart from its Game Boy predecessor.  In addition to the usual Square remake mainstay of a monster compendium (handy for finding particular skills or resistances you may want on your own characters), a number of sidequests now exist in the game.  These usually entail hunting down a particular monster at a specific location, granting extra money or items for completing them.  One can also find passwords (which let you claim free items, and can be sent to friends so they can claim them too).

I can certainly say I was pleasantly surprised by SaGa III's remake.  I was a bit worried when I heard it would re-implement a lot of the series' trademark randomness, fearing it would turn into an irritating grindfest with frustrating combat as the original games often were.  Thankfully, though, that isn't really the case - while you still have to grind quite a bit to get the most out of your characters, it's made more interesting by the reworked class system, and the improvements to combat and the user-friendliness in general helps to offset the frustration factor associated with the usual SaGa tropes of awkward balance and near-constant status effect spamming.  The updated presentation is honestly quite nice too - I like the updated character designs quite a bit, and the redone music sounds excellent, bringing an epic and energetic feel to the original tracks.  It's still very much a frustrating old SaGa game, but it is at least an interesting new take on the original version.

• Developer: Racjin
• Publisher: Square Enix
• Platform: Nintendo DS
• Released: 2010
• Recommended Version: N/A

Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer featuring the Legend of Zelda

A spinoff title built on the same engine as Brace Yourself's Crypt of the NecroDancer, Cadence of Hyrule is a rare example of the Zelda license being lent out to a third party. But does it provide the same timeless brand of fun that the series is known for, or is this another flop on par with the infamous CDi Zeldas?

Crypt of the NecroDancer was an oddball fusion of genres, combining roguelike elements with a rhythm game - all combat in the game is timed to music, either the game's default soundtrack or MP3 files provided by the player.  It proved to be quite a popular game as a result, being released across just about every major platform available since 2015.  I don't think too many people - the game's developers included - expected it to get an official tie-in to Zelda, but it eventually happened too, becoming a Switch-exclusive release in 2019 (with a physical release following in 2020 that included all of the DLC released for the digital version).

Cadence of Hyrule bills itself as a roguelike, and it does retain a few elements of that genre while working in many of Zelda's familiar design cues.  The world is heavily reminiscent of Zelda's with its numerous hidden secrets and puzzle rooms, though its overworld and dungeons are procedurally-generated to a point.  The overall aesthetic of NecroDancer is reworked to resemble Link to the Past, utilizing many iconic songs from that games and other Zeldas near that era, and most of the playable cast is comprised of Zelda characters; indeed you can play as Link or Zelda at the start, with more characters becoming gradually unlocked as you play (including Cadence from the original Crypt of the NecroDancer, Impa and the Skull Kid, among others), each having their own slightly different movesets.  One also has the option to enable Mystery Mode (making all items unidentifiable until used) and Permadeath to incorporate more of a roguelike feel, though neither one is required; dying with the latter disabled will simply restart you from any Shiekah Stone you activated, taking your rupees and some of your items away.

NecroDancer's central gimmick remains in place too.  Rather than the traditional turn-based design of most roguelikes, "turns" are now is synced to the beat of the music (with some visual cues in the form of a metronome at the bottom and a movement grid that alternates colors in time with the beat).  Enemies and traps all move in distinct and predictable patterns to the beat, allowing the player to learn their patterns, evade damage and strike when they are vulnerable - an answer to the prevalent element of many roguelikes where the player could be doing well, but still die to an overwhelmingly powerful enemy or a cheap trap they simply couldn't avoid.  The player is expected to move to the beat too; missing beats can cause them to flub an action, while going for long periods without missing a beat and avoiding all damage will give them greater rewards than normal.  A nice touch in this regard is the ability to calibrate the game to account for TV delay (which can vary heavily from model to model), so that the game can still be played regardless of what hardware you have. One can also change to "Fixed Beat Mode", which operates more like a traditional turn-based roguelike - the action pauses completely until you take a turn, so enemies and traps will only move when you do. (This is perfect for those with some accessibility issues as well.) 

In addition to the usual Zelda mainstay of utilizing various items to solve puzzles and uncover hidden items, there are a number of random treasures in the form of expendable items and weapons.  Weapons are of course your main asset in combat, though they come in a variety of forms.  You begin with a simple dagger that does a single point of damage and has one space of range, but others will be found, upgraded or unlocked over the course of the game; two prominent examples are the Spear (which has a two-space range) and the Broadsword (which hits three spaces in the direction the player is facing, potentially damaging multiple targets or hitting around corners while staying safe from harm).  Utility items like the shovel (digging through dirt) and torches (burning stumps and lightning up dark areas) surface too, as do limited-use sub-weapons like bombs and boomerangs and scrolls like the Scroll of Fire or the Scroll of Need (which purportedly gives you whatever you may need at that moment), as well as Zelda mainstays like the Hover Boots, Hookshot, Boomerang and empty bottles to store potions, bees and fairies.  Dying will remove most of your expendable items and equipment, but you will be taken to a shop where you can spend diamonds (earned by clearing screens) to purchase some back and make things easier for yourself on the next attempt.

Cadence of Hyrule is also one of the handful of Zelda games to support co-op play, and it's fairly unintrusive as the series standard goes - one can begin a game with two players, or drop in or out at any Shiekah Stone in the world.  The core game remains the same either way, just with two players operating in tandem to clear enemies and puzzles - no extraneous item collecting or dopey "press two switches at once" puzzles.  That alone puts it a leg up above games like Four Swords in my book.

I didn't know what to make of Cadence of Hyrule at first, but I'm glad to say that it was a pleasant surprise.  The classic Zelda format is a surprisingly good fit for a roguelike engine, and whether you want to play it as a traditional one or not - utilizing permadeath, secret item effects and a traditional turn-based structure are all optional - it's quite a fun game.  Being able to predict and avoid enemy attacks and traps cuts down on the "cheap deaths' of many roguelikes, and as a long-time franchise fan, it's quite fun to hear a lot of the remixes of classic Zelda tunes.  An experiment that paid off for both companies involved.

• Developer: Brace Yourself Games
• Publisher: Nintendo
• Platform: Switch
• Released: 2019
• Recommended Version: I recommend picking up the physical release of the game if you can, as it contains all of the DLC released for the digital version.

Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together

The original Ogre Battle was a novel combination of real-time strategy and RPG elements with plenty of replay value owing to its random elements and multiple endings. Tactics Ogre, first released a few years after, continued that philosophy but changed the combat up into a turn-based tactical system.  But does it prove to be a worthy sequel to a cult classic, or does it simply pale in comparison? 

Ogre Battle was a low-key hit on the Super Nintendo; though released in very limited quantities (reportedly only 25,000 copies were released in North America), it won acclaim for its open-ended design, numerous endings and the sheer amount of customizability the player could have for units - not just equipment and class, but they could recruit virtually every unit they came up against in the game to their party.  From dragons to zombies to vampires to werewolves to the Pumpkin Mage, you certainly weren't wanting for options.

Tactics Ogre, later released on the Super Famicom and Saturn, wouldn't see a western release until several years later, when Atlus once again released it in very limited quantities on the Playstation.  While a well-received game among fans and critics, it was overshadowed by Square's Final Fantasy Tactics (another Yasumi Matsuno creation) coming out the same year.  In fact, the series wouldn't get much mainstream attention until more than a decade later, getting a high-quality PSP remake several years after Square bought out Quest and Yasumi Matsuno made several other games under their label (including Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy XII).

As the name implies, Tactics Ogre trades in the real-time strategy gameplay of the original Ogre Battle for a turn-based tactical combat system.  Battles are also smaller in scale, with skirmishes of 6-12 units on either side duking it out until one remains or a win/lose condition is met (such as defeating a particular unit).  A few unique elements are present, though.  A notable one is that mages don't start with full MP and gradually decrease over the course of the battle; quite the opposite, in fact.  Their MP actually starts at 0 and will slowly regenerate over the course of battle, so if you want to get in spells early, using items is a must.  One can also recruit numerous special units, enemy soldiers and even monsters to their army, though with some restrictions - only two "large" monster units can be in the player's fighting force at a time, and those who directly oppose a player's alignment or reputation will be much harder or even impossible to recruit.

As in the original game, Tactics Ogre's narrative is one that is left in significant part up to the player.  The story does branch out at several points depending on the player's choices, and there are several distinct story paths for the later chapters branching from key choices in preceding ones.  Reputation plays a major role once again - individual units in your army may agree or disagree with your decisions or grow to like you less if you let them fall in battle, and if you become too unpopular with them, they may leave your army entirely.  As mentioned above, others will will be harder to persuade to your side or even refuse to join you outright depending on previous choices, and these of course play into the ending too, showing more scenes or alternate outcomes depending on your choices throughout (though considerably fewer in number than Ogre Battle's 20+ possible ends).

Character customization is once again a huge part of the game, and there are certainly no shortage of options in Tactics Ogre.   Almost any character can utilize basic classes like Soldiers, Wizards and Beast Tamers, but once stat and alignment requirements are met, stronger classes like Dragoons and Terror Knights become available, having unique and powerful abilities and often complementing other units (Warlocks can power up Golems, for example).  Earning new spells (especially ones that sync up with a character's elemental affinity) is also a challenge, and the PSP remake adds another layer to this in the form of Tarot cards - as in the original game, collecting one will raise (or lower) a character's stat, and they can be used as items in battle to grant temporary positive statuses on an ally or negative ones on an enemy.  A new Rogue class is also present in this version - a strong, but rather fragile unit that can turn cards into traps for enemies to spring, and disarm traps on the field to gain more cards.  Figuring out which cards affect which stats, and having appropriate units collect them, quickly becomes essential in this version.

As in most of Matsuno's games, learning the ins and out of the mechanics are mandatory to succeeding in the game.  The difficulty quickly ramps up, with many fights even early on being all but unwinnable unless you've spent a significant amount of time honing your team (particularly ones where you have to defend a single vulnerable unit from death throughout).  This is further enforced by the fact that the AI is almost too good - enemies will do their best to target highlighted characters (costing you the mission or a potentially useful recruit for future battles), mages always target your weakest fighters, and if left alone for any period of time, injured units will retreat, heal themselves and leap right back into the fight.  This might be the only strategy game I've seen where the enemies will try to win by sheer attrition.  This is mitigated to a degree in the PSP version, which allows the player to rewind up to 50 turns in battle, though they were smart enough to disallow "scumming" with this feature - rewinding after a blocked hit and picking the exact same move again will always have the same result, so it's not as abusable as you may believe.  Still, it's also a good idea not to rely on this too much, as fights will only get harder and just barely scraping by in each one with repeated rewinds will make winning in the final stretch of the game all but impossible.

Tactics Ogre, like all of Matsuno's works, is one that shows a love for storytelling and the mechanical elements in every facet - the narrative is a dark and complex one, the gameplay pulls no punches with its difficulty, and it's a very deep, complex experience that will require a lot of experimentation and fine-tuning to find your niche in.  Still, it's an ordeal you're glad to undertake because it's all so well-done; his passion shines through and gets you invested in the world he's weaved, ensuring that you want to puzzle out a road to success and see your way to all of the possible story paths and endings it has to offer.  Definitely not an ideal choice for beginners to the genre, but those who want to see an intricate tactical experience and some finely-detailed lore and worldbuilding will find a lot to enjoy in Tactics Ogre.

Developer: Quest, Square Enix
Publisher: Quest, Riverhillsoft, Atlus, Square Enix
Platform: Super Famicom, Sega Saturn, Playstation 1, Playstation Portable, Switch, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, PC
Released: 1995, 1996, 1998, 2010, 2022
Recommended Version:  The 2022 rerelease ("Reborn") is a marked improvement over the previous versions, adding in voiceover, revamping the UI and overhauling the leveling system so that individual characters - not classes - have levels, which greatly cuts down on grinding.  Your party's maximum level is capped but will gradually increase as you complete story missions (plus you can still train up weapon/magic skills in training battles), and you also earn and equip skills more organically in this version, not having to grind a ton of TP to unlock everything.  It still has some weird balance issues and slow pacing, though.

One Step From Eden

An action-roguelike with combat and deck building inspired by the long-dormant Mega Man: Battle Network series, One Step From Eden has gotten a lot of acclaim in the short while since its release.  But is this another worthy one for fans of short-but-tough games, or is it one they can pass up?

Roguelikes are of course primarily associated with classic PC gaming, with numerous genre classics like Beneath Apple Manor, Nethack and the eponymous Rogue being highly acclaimed even now, decades after their release.  They never quite had the same presence on consoles, though, mostly being relegated to cult classic status or mixing in action elements to make them more accessible to fans on those platforms, with a few of those going on to become cult hits in their own respect (Binding of Isaac being a prominent example).

One Step From Eden is another action-oriented roguelike, this time also working in elements of another cult favorite series, the Mega Man: Battle Network franchise.  Getting its start in the early 2000s for the Game Boy Advance and spawning six total games before being getting a sequel series in StarForce (which spawned three more games), it was quite a popular series for a while.  It wasn't hard to see why, either - the basic premise of Mega Man was present, having you battle a plethora of creative bosses and foesm but it was put into an RPG-like format centered on a deck-building element.  You would build a deck of one-use weapons (referred to as "chips") and have a few of them randomly given to you each turn, utilizing them to clear a 3x6 grid of enemies while evading their attacks.  Winning battles, as well as completing story events, would give you more chips to choose from, as well as allowing you to purchase character upgrades to make later challenges easier to tackle.  Another interesting element is that you have the option to spare defeated bosses, which causes them to heal some of your HP and occasionally show up to assist in later battles; killing them, on the other hand, may cause them to drop rarer spells or artifacts, so it's another tactical decision to be made in the course of any given run.

Much of that remains present in One Step From Eden, though there is more strategy required here too owing to the setup.  The grid is expanded to a 4x8 one, allowing you a bit more freedom of movement, and the challenges you face in each stage vary.  Some stages may have you defend hostages for extra rewards or free healing (a valuable resource in any roguelike), some may contain a chest that will vanish after a short while but will award an item when broken open in time, and others may contain hazards that hinder your effort to clear the board, like a missile launch that will deal massive damage to everything on the board after 30 seconds have passed or a volcano randomly setting tiles ablaze.  Finding a camp will allow you some free HP recovery, while visiting a shop lets you trade money for new spells, make "pacts" that put you at a disadvantage for a few battles in exchange for some kind of reward, or purchase upgrades for existing spells.

Spells serve as the equivalent to Battle Network's Chips, and each character begins with a small handful, gradually gaining more as the adventure progresses.  Spells all run off of "Mana", a continually-regenerating meter at the bottom of the screen, with their costs varying based on a number of factors.  Each time the player runs through all of the spells in their 'deck', they will have to wait a short while for the deck to be "Shuffled", refereshing all of their used spells so that they can be used again.  Spells can be purchased from shops or awarded by completing special events, though the overwhelming majority are simply rewards from battles - every battle will give you a pick of three, letting you select one (or none if you choose).  The deck size itself has no real upper limit, though having too few or too many spells can be detrimental - too many will make it hard to get a particular spell the player may need in a pinch, while having too few can constantly force you into shuffle, leaving you helpless for long periods.  Forging a good balance is key, as is picking up cards that further a particular strategy and ditching any that don't.

Spells often have secondary effects which can aid or hinder the player, which may affect the player's choice in wanting them in their deck.  For example, some add temporary "Jam" spells to the player's deck, which have no effect, effectively making it harder to get a spell they want at a particular time.  (However, Jam spells can be upgraded with Artifacts, making Jam spells useful if the player manages to get some of those).  Flow spells add Flow counters to the player, and will get additional effects if the player casts them while they have Flow counters, such as faster mana regeneration or getting an additonal spell cast at no cost.  Similar to those, Trinity spells will add Trinity counters, with special effects activating once they have three Trinity counters - usually casting a more powerful spell instead, or casting a spell twice for the price of one cast.  Others can leave behind mines, fire or spikes on tiles that damage anyone passing through, crack tiles (making them temporarily impassable), or have additional effects like rooting the player in place for a short while, applying Fragile counters (causing the player or enemy to take extra damage from the next attack they receive), or rooting the target in place momentarily if they hit.  Many of these effects can also be applied randomly to spells; both those found randomly as rewards and those the player chooses to upgrade at shops.

Artifacts are another major element of strategy in the game, and are received as rewards for completing challenges or defeating bosses.  These serve as "armor" and "accessories", usually granting upgrades to the player with few or no drawbacks.  Granting the player seven seconds of invincibility at the start of a battle, giving all enemies Fragile counters at the start of battle, granting a small chance to follow up any spell the player casts with an additional effect, and so forth.  It can be difficult to get a particular one you want owing to the highly random nature of the game, but as few of them have major downsides, they're often worth taking regardless.

Of course, no roguelike game would be complete without unlockables, and One Step From Eden certainly has no shortage of those.  At first you only have one character to play as, but playing the game will unlock more spells, artifacts and playable characters to make later runs with.  The bosses in the game all double as unlockable characters, and each character also has several different variants to play with, allowing for a wide variety of different strategies.  Most characters also have unique weapons they can utilize at any time and may have unique artifacts as well, giving them all a very distinct feel.  For example, Saffron's default variant gets a weak but rapid-firing gun with no mana cost, affording her an attack option even with no spells ready to cast, while Reva is a more defensive character, utilizing her unique Eschaton Artifact to generate shields each time she moves and her Reflector Gem weapon to bounce enemy attacks back at them.

In the end, I was surprised at how fun and addictive One Step From Eden really is.  It's easy enough to pick up and play, but deceptively deep, with a lot of mechanics to weigh and challenge in building the best deck and character loadout you can with whatever options you're given at a particular moment.  It gets very tough as the game goes on, too - you really do have to stay on your toes, learn to recognize and counter enemies and their patterns, and make the most of every ability your character has in their arsenal if you want to survive all the way to the end.  Still, like any good roguelike, it never feels "cheap" or unfair, and because of that you keep coming back again and again for "just one more try" before you realize that it's 2 AM and you've got work the next morning.  Great game, and easily one of my favorites of 2020 thus far.

Developer: Thomas Moon Kang
Publisher: Humble Bundle, Maple Whispering Limited
Platform: PC, Switch
Released: 2020
Recommended Version: All versions seem to be pretty much identical.  The PC version does have Lua modding support, though, and already has a considerable presence on Steam Workshop (including several characters and weapons from the Battle Network series - appropriate considering the game's inspiration).  That's the one I'd personally go for.