Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is a successful puzzle and exploration game with platforming elements. There is a lot to discover and experiment with, and most of the hints also help in trying out new approaches. The encyclopedia is convincingly implemented both as an incentive for research and as an illustrated book. Unfortunately, some outlines do not look particularly appealing in handheld mode. The discoveries themselves contain a great deal of creativity, and only very few creatures feel somewhat weaker than the others. The level of interactivity and the constant stream of new discoveries make Yoshi and the Mysterious Book a worthwhile title.
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Bluey's Quest for the Gold Pen is a competent adventure game that, while clearly aimed at children, does not shy away from offering a modest level of challenge. The levels are varied in design, and recurring puzzles and platforming challenges noticeably increase in complexity over time. The stages themselves are also surprisingly large. The cutscenes between levels are entertaining, and although the physical edition does not include any bonus content, it works perfectly well without requiring additional updates. The only significant drawback is the stuttering that occurs when collecting pearls, which can be somewhat distracting. While Bluey's Quest for the Gold Pen is primarily targeted at fans of the series and younger players, those outside its intended audience can still find plenty to enjoy.
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Kioku: Last Summer is a relaxing summer vacation adventure that unfortunately still struggles with a number of technical issues. The in-game week offers plenty of variety through all kinds of holiday activities, and while the overall tone is cheerful and lighthearted, the story also includes a few more serious moments, particularly during interpersonal conflicts. At the same time, however, the adventure is not yet entirely polished on a technical level, and some of the bugs are distracting enough to noticeably affect the experience. As a result, I can currently only recommend the title with some caution.
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The Remake of the End of the Greatest RPG of All Time is a multilayered meta puzzle game in which both the game itself and its meta level are highly compelling. Clues are hidden in a wide variety of ways, and knowledge is frequently recontextualized. Progress is sometimes tied to newly acquired abilities, but even more often to newly gained understanding. The puzzle-based battles are built around an engaging concept and remain fresh through the constant introduction of new ideas and approaches. On top of that, the game features a richly layered meta dimension with developer commentary and more, all of which interlocks remarkably well. Right now, I’m simply happy that I had the chance to experience TRotEotGRPGoAT.
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The parody RPG Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1+ gets a little too lost in repetition. Whether it is the constant jokes about pudding or the endlessly reused dungeon layouts, the game often falls back on the same ideas. Many of its references are entertaining, but the abundance of comedic moments and fourth-wall breaks eventually becomes overwhelming, leaving the dialogue lacking in lasting substance. In fact, their sheer frequency even undermines the worldbuilding. Despite being heavily built around references and satire, the setting contains a number of genuinely interesting concepts that never receive the attention they deserve. As a result, the game ultimately earns only a limited recommendation, primarily for players who already enjoy its particular brand of humor.
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Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: Sisters Generation is an entertaining parody of the video game industry, but as a sequel it offers relatively few gameplay improvements. The RPG’s dialogue is somewhat less over-the-top than that of its predecessor, yet it loses none of its fondness for references and industry in-jokes. The dungeons, however, stand out for the wrong reasons. Their repetitive nature becomes even more noticeable over the course of the game, and the highly passive Stella’s Dungeon feature does little to compensate for this shortcoming. Even when played as a standalone title or with a significant gap after Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1+, the humor is not quite enough to fully offset the weaknesses in the gameplay and dungeon design.
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Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth3: V Generation is likewise a highly repetitive parody RPG, both within its own structure and in comparison to Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1+ and Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: Sisters Generation. The story is somewhat more compelling this time around, and the dialogue once again delivers plenty of references and humor without restraint. At the same time, however, the gameplay remains almost entirely unchanged, which ultimately leaves this entry with only a yellow-light recommendation as well.
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The creature-collecting RPG *LumenTale: Memories of Trey* brings back memories of the feeling of playing earlier creature-collecting games. The combat system seems more complex than necessary, but it works well for the most part—even when it comes to attack points and 4-on-4 battles. The Holoken offers a few interesting ways to interact. However, Trey’s journey is quite uneven when it comes to the tasks leading up to a boss battle. The fact that I experienced the biggest highlight right at the beginning makes the rest suffer even more. Additionally, an important puzzle didn’t work at another promising point. Furthermore, there is a lack of detailed explanations at times. All in all, the highlights aren’t quite enough to completely overlook the low points.
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The visual novel Temirana: The Lucky Princess and the Tragic Knights develops organically from a humorous common route into, at times, very serious character routes. Many mysteries and character motivations are seeded early on, and the worldbuilding is equally well developed. Occasionally a little over the top, but always within a convincing framework. Even the weaker routes never left me dissatisfied, and visually, countless details contribute to the overall atmosphere.
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Sektori is a well-crafted arcade twin-stick shooter packed with mechanics that make every new run feel fresh. Ship upgrades and cards complement the gameplay in meaningful ways, and alongside the campaign, the additional modes offer plenty of opportunities for chasing high scores. The only real drawback is that the bosses on the lowest difficulty vary noticeably in how demanding they are, and a few mechanics could benefit from clearer explanations. That would also make the easiest difficulty feel less challenging overall. Even so, Sektori is always worth jumping into for a quick session.
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The dungeon-crawling RPG Mado Monogatari: Fia and the Wondrous Academy unfortunately ends up feeling somewhat too repetitive from a gameplay perspective. Its strengths lie primarily in the amusing dialogue and in gradually getting to know the cast of characters better over time. The combat system is solid, and the combination of different elemental attributes to create especially powerful spells adds a welcome layer of depth. However, the game constantly throws the same standard enemies at the player, and compared to the bosses they are extremely simplistic, which makes regular encounters far less engaging. Combined with the monotonous dungeon design, this makes it difficult for me to wholeheartedly recommend the title despite its entertaining story.
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Scar-Lead Salvation is a mechanically competent third-person shooter with a slightly too low camera angle. Its roguelite elements strike a good balance between forgiveness—offering many ways to restart after a failed run—and meaningful risk, which often leads to interesting decisions about whether to push forward or retreat, or whether to use teleporters or avoid them altogether. At the same time, the game does not strongly encourage switching weapons or skills unless a weapon is lost on death, which makes many of the loot chests feel somewhat redundant. The room layouts are fairly schematic and similar, so repetition does not immediately stand out, but it is still present. Standard enemies also lack variety, and the brief window of invulnerability in Onslaught mode is almost negligible. For players with action shooter experience, the overall difficulty remains fairly moderate. As a result, it only just manages to earn a limited recommendation.
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Saros is a mechanically well-executed bullet hell shooter that unfortunately suffers a bit from a lack of variety in level design, weapons, and run-altering artifacts. Because dying and retrying is a core feature, this does lead to noticeable repetition over a playtime of 20–30 hours. However, the option to start in the current biome rather than always having to begin in the first one helps to mitigate this repetition. The core gameplay—3D bullet hell combat combined with dodging, blocking, and parrying—is consistently enjoyable. The Carcosa modifiers can be adjusted to personal preference, even if there is no intrinsic reward for increasing the difficulty. Still, the game manages to surprisingly well compensate for its repetitive structure in moment-to-moment play. Overall, Saros is a good game that ultimately falls a little short of its full potential.
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Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a very amusing life simulation that unfortunately also relies heavily on repetition between its more absurd moments. The character creation system offers plenty of options, missing only a few small additions. User-created content can further expand the experience, and it is easy to design through stamps and templates. At times, however, the game leans a little too heavily on self-created content, which then appears disproportionately often in minigames. As a result, dialogues sometimes differ only by a few words, which slightly reduces the overall entertainment value. Nevertheless, even hours after seeing the credits roll, the game still manages to surprise with new scenes, dialogues, and interactions, and I am still busy populating my island with additional characters. All in all, this quirky simulation is definitely worth a look.
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Ancient Farm is a rather uneven farming simulation. The fact that I am mostly alone on my farm—apart from the occasional trading ship—does not bother me at all. The tutorial is quite extensive, but beyond that there is a lack of incentives to engage with the various gameplay systems. In particular, the acquisition and use of water is overly complicated, requiring too many tools. On top of that, these tools break far too quickly. The seasons only differ in terms of which crops can be grown, which makes the overall experience feel somewhat shallow. As a result, the game comes across as a bit thin, and I can only offer a limited recommendation.
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April Grove builds its woodcutting loop quite effectively, with skill upgrades, increasingly difficult trees to fell, and a gradually expanding movement range. However, the integrated idle mechanics make the grind feel somewhat excessive, as the game does not automate progression enough for its cutting requirements, while at the same time the automatic woodcutting is too slow to fully satisfy active play. In addition, side characters and the surrounding world lose much of their significance over time, fading into the background. As much as I enjoy chopping and collecting wood, the slow progression makes this woodcutting simulation unsuitable for everyone.
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The fact that I personally felt rather emotionally distanced is a shame, but I don’t hold that against the title. What is actually more problematic are the obstacles present in each subsequent playthrough after the first. Repeated sections can usually only be fast-forwarded slowly rather than skipped entirely. With a single ending, this would not be much of an issue, but with a total of four character routes, large portions of the playtime end up consisting of repetition. This is especially unfortunate because the individual routes can be quite compelling, yet overlapping events significantly lose their impact. In a sense, it makes it difficult to find a way forward.
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Alchemic Cutie struggles with poor performance on the Nintendo Switch and repetitive gameplay. With the severe frame rate drops, I can currently only give it a red rating. Otherwise, it would be yellow. Even then, the core gameplay largely consists of constantly gathering resources or slimes with very little variety in the breeding process. The colors are often pretty, but there are far too many of them—at least in its current state. Just having information about which color I actually need would already be very helpful. As things stand, I have to guess and experiment too often to find the right color. Not to mention that I currently cannot save my progress at all. But even if I could, Alchemic Cutie would still feel too sluggish. Even for me, despite usually not having any issues with simply picking up random plants from the ground. At present, I can only advise against the Nintendo Switch version of this slime-breeding game. But even independently of that, Alchemic Cutie is really only suitable for players who can derive enjoyment from collecting repetitive resources.
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Aquadine is a very successful debut from SoftColors. The characters—and especially the world—are well developed, and the cast has a lot of charm and humor. At times, however, their impact may weaken slightly due to repetition. The atmospheric and varied musical score more than makes up for this. Still, it is also a rather sad story, dealing with Torrie’s serious illness, fears about the future, and at times even doubts about the value of one’s own existence. Yet friendships and family can provide a great deal of support, especially when the characters are not too convinced that they must handle everything on their own. Overall, I had a great deal of fun accompanying the girls on their journey and watching them grow up.
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