- Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (Switch)
- Joe and Mac 2 (SNES via Switch Online)
- Stardew Valley (Switch) - New
- Cosmic Star Heroine (Switch) - New
Joe and Mac 2I beat this shortly after Bloodstained, so I'm going back in time in my memory, but there were somethings that stood out. This game looks and sounds worse than the original Joe and Mac, and it harder in an annoyingly cheap way. The worst example is the last level which features a boss rush with no life refills, and the last boss hits hard. I had to save state my way through the gauntlet. It also has an overworld map that is pointless since the levels are all pretty linear in terms of how you advance and play them. This is a pretty basic platformer trying to pretend to be something more than it is. It does not stick the landing. I don't think if you enjoyed the first one you'll naturally enjoy this one.
Not recommended.
Stardew ValleyI have been told this is a lot like classic Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing. I have only played a little GC Animal Crossing, so this is largely a new experience for me. I sank a TON of time into this game. It's overwhelming at first, trying to balance money in and money out by way of farming (planting, watering, and harvesting, and then also trying to fit in socializing with the villagers, foraging, gathering materials like wood and stone, combat, and also your energy levels. If you don't learn to compartmentalize and prioritize you're a goner. Some people find this very relaxing, but I actually found it pretty tense. Fun, but not at all relaxing. There's a point in the game at which you can consider it beaten but still do and play a lot more, and I played past that point quite a bit. I went about 50% past the "beaten" point in the game before finally feeling like I'd done all I wanted to do. There are some tasks left undone and nooks left unexplored, but I'm satisfied. The characters in the village with you are all quite interesting, and some of them quite flawed, but with a lovable core, even those you might be tempted to write off as damaged goods. The world is also quite strange. It seems so normal, but then it's also so not. Very personality-filled game. If this kind of micro-management seems like it might be up your alley, you'll probably love it.
Recommended.
*You can probably play this game in a relaxed way if you just decide certain game elements aren't as important to you as others, or once you reach a kind of equilibrium state. I apparently lack this skill.
Cosmic Star HeroineThis is a western-made J-style RPG that is often compared to Chrono Trigger. That comparison is both very apt and also very misleading. The graphics are nice, with character designs pretty decent and very nice backgrounds. The music is pretty darn good. The gameplay is relatively fast (most of the time). The game also has a variety of challenge options so you can experience the game on your terms.
But let me break this out a bit. Mechanically speaking, the game is mostly pretty fantastic. Combats are not random, but set encounters on the map, some of which you can avoid, much like Chrono Trigger. But rather than having any kind of active battle system, this is purely turn-based (thank goodness). Each character has 8 ability slots and will eventually have far more abilities you can assign to those slots, meaning your battle-to-battle ability set is customizable. Abilities can be single attacks, multiple attacks, or even radius attacks that hurt enemies within a certain proximity (sort of Chrono-like). There are also healing and defensive abilities. You also have 3 or 4 shared item slots, also customizable, usable by any character once per battle. Items are never "used up", only tapped out for a particular battle. Each character may also have a small number of spells from their equipped defensive item, usable once per battle. When it is your turn in combat you choose an ability, item, or spell to use and that slot becomes "used". Abilities can be recharged, making them usable again. So if a battle drags on long enough that you have used 6 of your 8 abilities on a character and none of the remaining abilities would really be helpful or relevant, you can use your always-present 8th ability to recharge your ability slots, opening them back up for use. Most actions also build Style, which increases your damage and effectiveness (up to 100%). You can build up to 300% style, and style can be expended through special Burst abilities that are boosted by the amount of style you have and which is subsequently drained to zero. But enemies also accrue Style, so they become more dangerous as a battle drags on. You also enter Hyper every few turns (varies by character), which amplifies whatever ability you use that turn.
The battle system does have some flaws, however. The game tells you which stats are supposed to affect which kinds of attacks, but the terminology used is pretty general, so there are several cases where it can be very difficult to figure out how to improve the efficacy of certain attacks or effects. The combat system also has a lot going on between Style and Hyper and how status effects work, and while they're loosely explained, the explanation isn't really good enough once you hit mid to late game. You'll end up having to look on-line if you want to really be impactful.
The game also has distinct characters with interesting personalities. But this part of the game is also where it sort of falls down. There are big things afoot in the world, but events and important character decisions feel really rushed. The game wants to be a brisk RPG, but it's telling a story and using characters that really want more time to properly tell. So basically, the designers achieved making a brisk and fun RPG, but you'll end up wondering how on earth characters decided to make critical decisions with very little lead-in. This also robs some of the characters of their potency, because you can see that they are intended to be shaped by the events of the game, but the way the events are presented they just don't have the proper impact. Basically, they paired too much potential for depth and seriousness with too brisk a pace of storytelling. The combat comes very close to experiencing this same problem. There's a lot of complexity but it is sometimes treated a tad to cavalierly. Fortunately, the combat came off a lot better than the storytelling.
Overall, this is a relatively quick RPG to play, with combat that balances speed with complexity really well (once you figure out how stuff works). The story has a lot of promise and managed to be fun thanks to the interesting character personalities and despite the interesting world which seems sort of rushed over at times. In fact, this is the way in which this game is not at all like Chrono Trigger. The world feels like it has more depth and world building behind it, despite the rushed pace.
Highly recommended for JRPG fans, especially fans with no time for a 100 hour jaunt.
