<![CDATA[A-to-J Connections - Gaming]]>Mon, 14 Jul 2025 05:32:18 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[Cultivating The Ultimate Farming Game: An Immortal Life Review]]>Sun, 13 Jul 2025 07:00:00 GMThttp://a-to-jconnections.com/gaming/cultivating-the-ultimate-farming-game-an-immortal-life-reviewBy Manuel
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Players: 1
Platforms: PC (Steam)

Ever since I played Harvest Moon back on the Game Boy, I've been drawn into the world of farming games. I've played just about every one that I could get my hands on since then, and I've also put in an ungodly amount of hours into Stardew Valley. Gaming aside, I'm also a huge fan of wuxia and xianxia media, and was in total disbelief when I learned that there was a game out there that scratched both of those very specific itches. Immortal Life is a farming game/life sim that has a wuxia/xianxia setting, and first saw release in Early Access back in 2022. It eventually got a full 1.0 release last year, and we're finally giving it the full once over here today. It's currently a Steam exclusive, and we'll see if it lives up to the rather high expectations I've set for it. There's going to be a lot to cover in this one, so let's just get straight to the review!
Immortal Life places you into the shoes of a newly arrived student of the Guiyin Sect who has been summoned to take over farming in the nearby Misty Valley. You are able to name your character, and choose their gender, but you pretty much take over a blank slate. The Guiyin Sect has done a lot for the local people, and made a name for itself far and wide due to their success in cultivation. You arrive on a day where other hopefuls crowd the central plaza, seeking to also join Guiyin Sect, but you skip this particular mob as you've already been granted pre-acceptance by the Sect's Elder. This seemingly normal day takes a dark twist when the heavens open up and rain fire and destruction upon Guiyin Sect and much of the surrounding region. Many are dead or injured, and many of the survivors choose to go home rather than deal with the disaster quickly unfolding around them. You already have your mission though, so you choose to stay and rebuild the Sect with a small band of hopeful students who have also resolved to stick it out. Your main goal is still to fulfill the Elder's wishes in making the Misty Valley a prosperous region, but now you also must rebuild the Sect itself. This is quite the task, but you and your new friends are able and willing. Along the course of your journey you'll learn more about the townsfolk, and the backstories of your new brothers and sisters in the Guiyin Sect. There is a bit more to the story that I could tell, but the plot flows in way that sort of moves away from what one would consider a traditional narrative. What's important is that you'll have plenty of tasks always waiting for you, and you'll be given decent story reasons as to why they should be completed. That may sound a bit simple on paper, but I'm of the mind that it's pretty much all you really need in a game like this.
Even though I'd classify Immortal Life as a farming game, there really is a lot more to it than that. I think those who've played just about anything in the genre post-Stardew Valley will have an idea of what to expect here, but those coming in just for farming may be a bit overwhelmed. Your first few hours in the game will basically act as a long tutorial where you're given all the tools and abilities you'll need to complete the game's many tasks. Farming will see you use a hoe and a watering gourd, clearing trees will require an axe, smashing up rocks and other hard debris will see you wield a pickaxe, fishing will require a fishing rod, and so on. Many of these tasks can be augmented via magic learned through cultivation, and this is most especially the case when it comes to farming. Since rebuilding the Guiyin Sect is central to your journey, resource management will be the name of the game in the first few hours. You'll have to amass plenty of food, stone, wood, ores, and spirit stones (the currency of this world) to kickstart your many goals. You brothers and sisters in the Sect will often have quests for you, and you can also get quests from the townspeople via the bulletin board placed conveniently near the docks in town. Both the town and the Guiyin Sect Headquarters will expand as you provide more materials, and the game opens up from there. Oh, and in case you're wondering why I call them "brothers and sisters", that's because Sect members are typically referred to as such, with "junior" and "senior" being added based on age.

Since many first-time players will probably come to the game expecting to do a lot of farming, I guess we'll cover that aspect of the game first. Farming is pretty much what you'd expect if you've played a Harvest Moon title, and by that I mean you'll have a messy plot of land that you must slowly reclaim so for your many crops. Crops all grow from seeds, and the changing seasons mean that certain crops can only grow during certain times of the year. Seeds can be given to you via other characters or quests, purchased from vendors, or simply found at random when clearing grass. You're pretty much given free reign as to how to arrange your crops, though the key to successfully raising them is in consistent watering. Your gourd can be used to water each crop individually, or you can choose cast a spell that summons a rain cloud that can water many crops at once. There are other spells available for use during the planting phase, but I'll leave those for the player to discover on their own. All spells require the use of MP, and MP can be recovered via magical mists that spawn around the world, via items, or by way of resting. Once planted, you'll have to wait a certain number of in-game days for a crop to fully grow. There is of course a spell that can speed up this process too, but I bet you expected that already. Harvested crops can be of varying quality, rated on a scale that goes from excellent, to more standard A-B-C rankings. The quality of a crop affects its sale price, and also the quality of the dishes you can create with them. That's right, there's an entire cooking mechanic in Immortal Life, and many of the ingredients required for crafting dishes will come by way of farming. I wasn't joking when I said that there's a lot to this game.
While one can completely focus on farming and still have a great time, that's only a fraction of the activities you can do in Immortal Life. Fishing is another fun task that nets you saleable items and cooking ingredients, and the fishing system operates in a way similar to what's found in the Animal Crossing series. Rather than have to fight a fish in a game of tug-of-war, or have some sort of complicated versus meter, you simply have to wait out a fish until it tugs extra hard on the line. Pulling up on a false tug will lose the fish, and that will also happen if you take too long to reel it in when it dips below. It's actually easier than it sounds in writing, and it was one of my favorite in-game activities. Fishing aside, you'll also want to find a use for all the wood and stone you'll amass, and one way to put it to use is to rebuild structures in the town or the Sect. Some of your first missions will be clearing out the rubble of the disaster that opened the game, and your next will be providing the base materials to get the game's core systems up and running. One of those systems is crafting, and this allows you to make furniture to decorate your house, and provide special stat bonuses. Besides creating additional storage spaces, furniture will also grant better recovery when you rest. That actually brings me to another quirk of the game, as you technically don't have to rest unless you wish to recover your stats. I've worked well into the night more than once when completing story missions, and it's neat to see how the characters move around the world during the course of an entire day. There might be a point where your character passes out from exhaustion if you don't sleep regularly, but I've yet to reach it if there is.
Besides all the life sim activities, there's also an entire game mechanic that revolves around cultivating your character's special skills, stats, and magic abilities. These unlock as you progress more into the game, and grant you more HP, MP, or stamina. There's also an entire combat system too. There is some amount of combat that will occur for story-related purposes, but you'll be doing a lot of simply by way of collecting needed materials to rebuild the Sect. Similar to mining in other farming sims, Immortal Life will often task you to take out monsters in their dens. Besides more crafting materials and ingredients, you'll also find the ores that are required to rebuild most of destroyed buildings in your adventures. Combat can be a rather clunky affair, but it's there where you'll make the most use of your magic. You'll also have various swords skills, and you'll also want to keep an eye on staying alive as this is pretty much the only part of the game where your current HP matters. Losing all your HP means death, and dying will cost you both time and resources. This means that you'll always want to be careful when it comes to tackling challenges that may be a bit out of your wheelhouse. There's also something resembling a level up system here too, but it's a bit too complicated to explain within the context of a review. Though you can try to avoid combat for much of the game and only go for what's required, you'll still find yourself in sticky situations every so often. Sometimes monsters will raid the inhabited areas outright, so it's best to master this part of the game as best as you can.

One of the last aspects of the game I want to go into in depth has to do with how your character gets along with their brothers and sisters of the new Guiyin Sect. Unlike other games that have a direct romance system, Immortal Life instead goes for a live-in "partner" approach. I'm not sure if this was done to keep things slightly more in line with cultivation stories that often push romance to the side, or if they were just going for the ultimate G-Rated experience, but I did find it disappointing that you could work really hard to get a character to like you only to have them remain friends only. Getting a character to like you can be as simple as talking to them daily and completing the tasks they ask of you, but you'll also want to give them gifts to get a bigger boost. The likes and dislikes of a character can sometimes be gleaned from their conversations, but a lot of it will be trial and error. The game does allow you to become close to any character regardless of your chosen gender, so you don't have to worry about character relationships being closed to you. Then again, this might be another reason why romance isn't a factor at all... Either way, wooing your chosen partner is still lots of fun, as long as you don't go in expecting much.
Before I go off on a tangent regarding how much fun I had playing Immortal Life, I want to go over its negatives. This is far from a perfect game, and I can only wonder what state it must've been in during its Early Access period. My biggest gripes pretty much all center on the game's controls. I can honestly go on and on about how wonky the controls are, as they're so bad that I basically played with a combination of controller AND keyboard and mouse. Thankfully the game allows for all inputs at all times, or I don't know what I would've done. Neither control scheme seems optimized for all aspects of the game, nor I can't wrap my head around how this wasn't the first thing they fixed in the EA days. I've put in over a dozen hours into the game and still don't know how to properly navigate the menus, and there are times when I have to give up on doing something simply because the game isn't doing what I want it to. It can be quite annoying, and it seems to always pop up right as I'm starting to have fun. Making matters worse, the controls constantly display the wrong keys, or seem to assume that players will always be using a Nintendo Switch controller. That may sound very specific, but the game constantly shows the "+" and "-" buttons which can only be found there. The controls are something you can get used to after a while, but they affect just about every other aspect of the game too. I'd occasionally discard items I meant to use, I'd constantly be tilling soil I didn't mean to, jumping and falling sometimes made me feel like I was going to get stuck in the floor, and I can't begin to describe how weird combat feels no matter how you choose to play the game. This doesn't make the game unplayable, but it does make it so that frustration can easily take over. Considering that the game has been getting updates for years at this point, I can only hope that there's one in the future that will hopefully smooth out these issues.
Even though the graphics of Immortal Life do leave a bit to be desired, I do think that the visuals are fairly decent overall. This isn't a game that's going to push the hardware of most computers, and I honestly think that it looks like something that might've been able to run on the PS2. That said, the character portraits and designs do look great, and there's a surprising amount of variety in the enemies you'll face as well. Maybe I'm a bit biased because I was won over by other aspects of the game, but there's something about the visual style that just struck me as charmingly retro. It's not pixel-based, but it does have a sort of early 3D vibe to it that can be just as appealing. It's also a game that improves over time, as the in-game visuals literally improve the more you rebuild the Guiyin Sect. The game world becomes more lively and colorful, and it almost feels like a totally different game by the end. Graphics aren't everything, but Immortal Life is no slouch in that department either.

Things fare quite a bit better in the audio department, as I have pretty much only positive things to say. Not only is there an awesome soundtrack, but the game also features voice acting too. The soundtrack of course is all Chinese-inspired, and each track fits the scene it's used in perfectly. There are calm themes for when you're walking around the town, regal sounding tunes for when you're exploring the fully-rebuilt Guiyin Sect, calm and chill tracks for those farming sessions, and even pulse-pounding tracks for combat. There's so much amazing music here that I think I'm going to grab the soundtrack on its own once I'm done with this review. Not only is the music practically perfect, but the same thing can be said about the voice acting. I should point out that there is only a Chinese-language track, but I don't think anyone will be surprised there isn't an English one. Not only was I not expecting an English dub, but I wasn't expecting voice acting at all. This is a very small release, and voice acting is often only reserved for bigger budgeted games. It is great though, and I'm pleased to report that everyone puts in an amazing performance, to the point where the characters all feel real and alive. Though some other parts of the game may have a been a bit hit or miss in places, the developers really hit it out of the park as far as sound goes.
Other than my (admittedly rather big) complaint regarding the controls, I had an absolute blast playing Immortal Life. I only outlined a fraction of what you can do in game, as there's just way too much to mention here. This is a fully featured game that one can easily sink over a hundred hours into, and it's totally worth its current $16.99 price. It also gets the cozy vibes down perfectly, so those looking for something that scratches that particular itch might want to check it out. There's a freeness to how you play that's just so refreshing. I'm usually not keen on games that keep track of seasons and years, as I always feel like they represent some sort of timer slowly ticking down, but the counters here act more as indicators for what you can grow and do more than anything else. There technically is a way to "complete" the game, but things keep on going, and you can keep playing indefinitely if that's what you want. It's a stress-free experience, and it does a decent job easing new players in. I'll admit that I did get lost more than a couple times because I accidentally skipped a tutorial, but it isn't hard to figure things out. Also, one of the reasons I was able to deal with combat being so wonky was because it never felt like it was a make or break sort of deal. Everything feels totally doable, and the only real limit to what you can and can't do comes down to how much time you have available to spend perfecting the game. It's not without its flaws, but this is one of the best farming games I've played in a long while. Its setting also makes it very unique, as one doesn't often see wuxia/xianxia styled games available in English. That fact alone is sure to draw in existing fans of that sort of material, and thankfully the actual content of the game is good too.
I don't think it'll surprise anyone that I give Immortal Life the fullest of recommendations. It's a must-buy for fans of the farming game genre, those who have done everything they can in Stardew Valley, or anyone just looking for the next cozy game to add to their rotation. There's so much to do here that I feel like I've only scratched the surface at nearly 20 hours. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I can't wait to finish this review so I can go back to the game. It isn't a flawless experience, and its control issues might lead to some frustration, but everything else more than makes up for its shortcomings. I know that a lot of updates have already been put into the game, but I do hope that a few more round out some of its remaining rough edges. I also can't help but wonder if a console release is in the cards at some point... Either way, PC players can grab it now, and I suggest you do so at your earliest convenience. You can thank me later. On that note, I'll see you in the next one!

Check Out Immortal Life on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1201230/Immortal_Life/
Story: A
Gameplay: B
Graphics: A
Music/Sound: A
Value: A

Overall: A-

Pros:
+ A great faming/life sim that has more gameplay mechanics than can be outlined in a review.
+ The wuxia/xianxia setting is a very unique one, and something that isn't often seen in English-language releases.
+ Being able to speed up some of the more mundane tasks in these sorts of games by way of magic is a neat touch.
+ Not only is this a fully featured farming game, but there's also crafting, cooking, fishing, mining, and more.
+ Though the graphics aren't exactly impressive, they do have a charm that's undeniable.
+ Features both an amazing soundtrack and full Chinese voice acting.
+ Does not rush you at all. This is a game that embodies the cozy aesthetic. It's also quite beginner-friendly.
+ There's just so much to do in this game that it feels like a steal at its current $16.99 price.

Cons:
- The controls are quite wonky, to the point where I had to play using a controller AND keyboard and mouse.
- Charming or not, the graphics are a bit on the bland side.
- Even with good controls, the combat mechanics feel a bit off and are probably the weakest aspect of the game.
- There are times when the translation feels a bit off. Those who require perfect grammar in their games will find a lot to complain about here.
- Because there's so much to do in the game, there are times when it can feel pretty overwhelming, especially in the beginning hours.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.
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Mengqing is best girl!
#ImmortalLife
]]><![CDATA[Game Review: Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story 2]]>Sat, 12 Jul 2025 07:00:00 GMThttp://a-to-jconnections.com/gaming/game-review-valthirian-arc-hero-school-story-2By Al
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Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, XBox One, XBox Series XS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, PC (Steam)

Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story 2 (Referred to as "Hero School Story 2" for brevity's sake from here on.) is the latest title from Indonesian developer Agate Games and is the sequel to 2018's Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story and the fourth game overall in the series that saw its origins in Flash-based games. It's a school management sim, with RPG elements, that first released on Steam Early Access in 2022, and is now available on all major consoles. Do you have what it takes to train the next round of Valthiria's heroes and save the world from a looming threat? Is this a quest you're even going to want to take on in the first place? Well, read on to find out!
Hero School Story 2 is set in the titular world of Valthiria. Once united, it is now separated into four rival nations. The first Hero School Story featured all queendoms, but here we have a king among a trio of queens. These four nations aren't exactly hostile or friendly to one another, but they all continue to co-exist with the help of the various academies that act as neutral third parties and train the land's heroes. You are the Principal of a recently established school and are joined by your Secretary Eve and your Superintendent Liavon; you goal is to bring the academy from obscurity, to the heights of prestige. This is easier said than done of course and you start with only one enrolled student, the former mercenary Rodno. As Principal your job is to micro-manage the school and its students, navigate the political intrigue between the academy and the four nations, and ultimately reveal a big evil thing that is going on in Valthiria.

​This all takes place over the course of an in-game decade, with gameplay broken up into months. Each month sees you manage the academy as you see fit (more on this in a bit) with almost all of these cycles also giving you a visual novel-esque story scene that either advances the overall plot, or acts as character building. These scenes help flesh out the world, but you as a player have very little input over the twists and turns the story takes. Now before we get too ahead of ourselves, it must be mentioned that the developer Agate Games has far more experience in the mobile games market. As a matter of fact the Valthirian Arc series seems to be their only console releases so far. I bring this up as it's best to temper all expectations accordingly, and everything just makes a little more sense if you have this thought in the back of your mind while playing. Most everything here has a mobile game "feel" to it. This extends to the music, the graphics, the presentation, and most especially the way that the gameplay loop is experienced and how the story is delivered. It isn't a truly negative point, but it does explain away a lot of the odd presentation players will probably experience, and I wasn't sure where else to mention it. Anyway, let's move on.
Gameplay in Hero School Story 2 comes mainly in two parts, the school management side and the JRPG field combat side. Let's talk about the school management part first. As Principal you're in charge of your student's learning and have to choose what they're going to do in terms of studying, resting, or other activities each month. You're also able to build and upgrade buildings that open up more class options, as well as boost the stat gains they get from studying. These upgrades are all set in stone, and there isn't any real customization as to what buildings make up your school. The only element of personal touch regards where you choose to place buildings, though unless you're willing to demolish and rebuild buildings later this is also somewhat locked in place as the available empty lots open up over time. This means that everyone's schools are going to pretty much look the same, so don't expect something like Two Point Campus here. The first trio of students you get act as something of a tutorial and are also set in stone. Later on you get to choose who enrolls in your school, and your relations with the four nations of Valthiria can be affected by which students you take in and educate. Once you have a student you set up their curriculum within their chosen major. You can go outside of their major, and this is necessary for some mixed classes, but there isn't a lot of benefit for doing so as you're only allowed to set two skills on any one character. After three years a student graduates and you pick a reward in the form of gold, arcstones, and prestige. All three are needed to upgrade the school, but arcstones are the least easy to obtain and are used to maintain the campus' buildings, and are also what each student pays every month in tuition.

Aside from studying you can also send students on errands or quests. Errands are missions that change each month and usually alter the relationships you have with the four nations. They also have no direct input from you and their success or failure rate is based solely on the students you send out to complete them. Quests are where you enter a more standard JRPG gameplay loop and complete tasks like gathering a set number of materials, or defeating a certain number of monsters. If you take on too many quests, or defeat too many monsters in a particular region, you can negatively impact the nation that the region belongs to. These relationships with the four nations and their leaders can be changed towards the positive, or more accurately the neutral, by way of donations of gold and arcstones. This returns the regions closer to "safe" and adjusts the difficulty accordingly. Students can only take so many actions each month before their stamina falters, and then must rest for a month or two. Later in the game it's best to rotate who is resting and who is active so you never find yourself with a month where nothing can be done. Neutrality is the name of the game though, so you'll spend much of the game trying your best to not upset any particular nation while uncovering a certain big looming threat.
Combat is odd as screenshots alone might give the impression that it's standard JRPG fare, but it really isn't. First off combat only occurs in the overworld field areas that you go to when you embark on quests. Enemies are all seen on screen and there aren't any truly "random" battles. If you get too close to an enemy they become aware of you, from here you can either run at them, let them run at you, or use the action button to get a free hit in first. No matter what you do, short of dashing away, you'll then go into battle with your party against the monsters, who might actually be of a different type than what you initially encountered on the field. Combat is turn based, but not all your party members take turns. Turn order is visible on the top left, and you choose which of your characters attack and if they use any of their skills. After you take a turn or two the monsters get to attack, unlike you though they all get to take a turn individually.

​Each monster has a set of "shields" that you can break with attacks of a specific type. These being from a magic user, a cleric, an arcknight, or a fighter, all marked with a symbol representing the correct class that will break it. Once you break all their shields they are stunned and you can take a couple free critical hits before their shields recover. This tactic is very important against strong enemies and bosses, but it's not necessary for most random encounters. Any skills you use come from an AP pool that is set by the levels and stats of your entire party. Everyone's skills draw from this singular pool, and you can sometimes get yourself into some dicey situations if you've used all your points for attacks and find that you can't heal yourself when you need it. Status effects can also be set, both positive and negative, on both your party and the monsters but everything goes back to normal after the battle ends. It's not really game over if you die, but you do fail in whatever your current quest is. If you win your battle you're able to go back to the field, fight some more, continue with the quest goals, or head to a camp or travel gate to rest or leave the quest area entirely. You only get gold for winning battles but it's best to fight as much as you can early on before the game's difficulty curve makes combat much more of a chore to get through.
You may think that story isn't going to be important in a school management sim like this, but a pretty involved plot does eventually play itself out regarding the school's neutrality among the four powers in Valthiria, as well as something big regarding arcstones. The problem is that this game has a long stretch where you're locked in experiencing only a small part of the overall game while much of the later intrigue is set up. This can sort of be described as a long tutorial section, but it honestly doesn't feel like such as you don't really learn new gameplay mechanics for much of it. The game really opens up once your first student Rodno graduates, until then you're stuck with very limited gameplay. This graduation takes two in-game years though, so be prepared for a rather boring stretch where you're unable to actually do much. The reason for this limited gameplay is that most things are only unlocked by gaining prestige, and prestige is something you only get upon students graduating. After that first graduation things really pick up, you start interacting with the rulers of the four nations, and are able to fully take advantage of quests, errands, modifying a building's efficiency, researching upgrades, and more. It's actually very weird how much better the game becomes after about 5-8 hours of mediocre gameplay, and I think I can fairly say that many gamers might have already written the game off by that point. Since the game released in Early Access on Steam I'm willing to bet that this long stretch of nothing was the part of the game that was initially available at launch last year. Rather than fix that part of the game, the developers seem to have pretty much left it alone and added the cooler, more robust, gameplay elements later. This leads to a very uneven experience where only those with the patience to get through the first two in-game years get to experience everything the game has to offer. I'm not sure if the first game was like this too, but it's so weird to me that all I can say is that if you're trying out the game for the first time, just keep up with it until it actually gets decently good.
Hero School Story 2's graphics, put simply, are really cute and endearing. Everything has that not-quite-anime styling you see in lots of East Asian manhwa, manhua, etc., and both the 3D models and character portraits help immerse you in the world of Valthiria. The school, dungeons, and other overworld graphics are well-done too and I often found small details that gave everything an added touch of charm. That's about where the praise ends for the most part though. Monster designs are all pretty generic, and there is something of a disconnect between the 2D portraits and 3D models. Since the game released as an Early Access title, there was probably an effort to release content at a steady pace. I can't help but feel that this harmed the game in several ways, notably by the fact that things tend to look better as the game goes on. I can only fight so many dozens of slimes, oops I mean "pyons", on the same green field before I was wishing for a change of scenery. You then move to a new area, with many new enemies, and see green pyons... Ugh. Palate swap enemies aside, some of the character portraits don't really feel up to par with the rest. This is probably a matter of taste, but I found that Rodno's character portrait felt like it came from an indie RPG maker game, complete with slightly off proportions. His 3D model looks great though, and that goes back to what I said regarding the lack of connection between the two. Thankfully most of the rest of the characters, except maybe for Elias, don't fall into this trap. It's just unfortunate since Rodno is literally the first character you meet in-game. Negativity aside, when the game is working well, it looks great. Animations, cutscenes using in-game graphics, and especially the opening movie, all look amazing.
Music isn't going to win Hero School Story 2 any awards as it can be described as repetitive at worst, or good and serviceable at best. There were a few pieces of music that I really liked initially, namely the battle theme, but I found that I welcomed them less and less after the hundredth time hearing them. The music in most menus, the school, and the minigames, are all similar in that there was occasionally a melody or two that I grew attached to only to dread having to hear it loop again as the in-game months dragged on and looped around. This isn't to say that any of the songs were bad, far from it actually, but most of them were simply there, and I'd be hard pressed to pick any of them out of a lineup of other songs from similar games. That's pretty much all there is regarding sound as the sound effects are fine, but are even more background (or even non-existent as mentioned above) than the music. There is no voice acting of any sort, but I never really found myself wanting for it. Speaking of music and voices in this game, there is a really good vocal track that is only really played if you decide to check out the game's credits (or if you watch the game's trailer online) and I couldn't help but feel that the game could've really benefited from either more tracks like this, or at least a better use for this one. Lastly, probably due to this simple sound setup, I found that the default audio options didn't need to be adjusted at all in-game. This is a complaint I have with most modern titles as I find that they often put music very low in the mix by default.
Longevity is definitely something Hero School Story 2 has in spades; I found myself playing it far more than I initially intended to for the sake of this review, and even contemplated restarting to try out some different things I'd figured out by the endgame. The problem with that is the save system itself. Since the game only autosaves, and has only one save slot, it's impossible to restart unless you're willing to throw away any and all progress you've made in your current playthrough. I didn't want to include later game screenshots for the sake of spoilers, but I did want to include shots of the Female Principal, but ultimately chose not to as I didn't want to abandon all the hours spent on that early grind. I guess that this is mainly a Nintendo Switch issue as players on the other consoles or PC have easier access to their save data, and could probably make backups. That said, one shouldn't have to go to such extreme measures if they want to go through a different run while still keeping their previous hard work intact. Part of me hopes that this somehow gets fixed in an update, but the general "mobile game-ness" to everything makes me feel that its inclusion was somewhat intentional. Hero School Story 2 definitely has the potential for replayability, but I can't see many willing to give that a shot as it currently stands.
For all my mixed feelings on Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story 2 I must say that it really grew on me after the long opening sections, numerous bugs and glitches, and overall wonky presentation. While it isn't the most robust school management sim out there, there is a lot to experience once you get into it. The low price tag of $19.99 feels like a steal for the amount of content you DO get. Taking this into consideration, I give this a soft recommendation, though I'd probably wait a bit after launch to see if the worst of the bugs get worked out. Also, you're going to want to set your expectations accordingly, and get yourself nice and ready for a rocky start. Me on the other hand, I'm going to see if the first game in the series is as good as this one, and patiently wait to see if anything more gets added to Hero School Story 2. Happy pyon hunting!

For More Information on Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story 2:
https://pqube.co.uk/games/valthirian-arc-hero-school-story-2/
Story: C
Gameplay: C
Graphics: B
Music/Sound: B
Value: B

Overall: B-

Pros:
+ The game really opens up to more varied gameplay once you get past the first few hours (An overly long tutorial?) of the game.
+ Graphics and music are both well done, with many memorable music tracks and interesting characters.
+ The main story takes several in-game years to kick in, but once it does its engaging enough to make one want to know more about the game's world.
+ A mostly entertaining, and definitely long-lasting, experience for the price.

Cons:
- It takes about 5-8+ hours for the game to really open up with more robust gameplay elements.
- Only the most patient of players will probably get around to where the game becomes fully playable.
- Much of Hero School Story 2 has a generic mobile game feel to it.
- There are several bugs that mar the overall experience, even if they're not all game breaking.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.
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I actually found this joke really funny, so I'll leave you with it!
#ValthirianArc2
]]><![CDATA[Game Review: Liquor Store Simulator]]>Thu, 10 Jul 2025 07:00:00 GMThttp://a-to-jconnections.com/gaming/game-review-liquor-store-simulatorBy Manuel
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Players: 1
Platforms: PC (Steam)

I spent nearly a decade of my life working retail and absolutely loathed it, but for some reason I love doing the exact same thing in a video game. Liquor Store Simulator is a retail simulation game that comes to us by way of developer Tovarishch Games, and publisher PlayWay S.A. It's currently a Steam exclusive, and it tasks you with opening and running your very own liquor store. It's a rather simple premise, but I'm always down for a game like this. I really don't have much more to say as far as intros go, so let's just get right to the review!
Liquor Store Simulator doesn't have any sort of story beyond whatever you want to put into it, so I guess that means we'll dive right into gameplay. If you're at all familiar with the virally popular Supermarket Simulator, then you know what to expect here. The only real difference is that you'll be running a store focused mainly on alcohol and snacks. If you've ever wondered what it would be like to own your local corner store, or maybe run a less intense version of a BevMo, then this is the game for you. Things start out simple enough at first. You'll be given a mostly empty storefront, two empty racks waiting for stock, and the ability to buy and sell water and soda. Your starting money will only allow you a couple boxes of each, but you'll be earning more money in no time. After a few in-game days, you'll gather enough money to purchase upgrades that allow you to sell beer, wine, spirits, or even more snacks. You'll also expand the size of your store, the size of your stockroom, and even hire an employee or two. Standard stuff so far, but Liquor Store Simulator also offers unique elements like a craft beer system, the ability to fulfill Postmates-like deliveries, and a decent amount of customization options as to how you want your store to look. There might not be a whole lot so far to get excited about, but the devil is in the details.
One aspect of Liquor Store Simulator that is going to strike new players as unusual is the fact that you don't have to count out change or type in credit card amounts to finish customer transactions. In fact, the entire checkout process is streamlined to the point where all you have to do is click on the item to scan it, and then move on to the next customer in line. I'm all for this change, though I will admit it was one of the things I enjoyed messing around with in Supermarket Simulator. Those who had a blast giving only pennies as change will probably turn their backs in frustration at this point. This single omission does make the checkout process quite a bit quicker, but there is something added that players are going to have to watch out for when ringing up customers. Whenever a transaction has alcohol in it, the customer will present their ID, and you have to determine if they're legally able to purchase said alcohol. This is most often done by simply checking the date and making sure they're 21, but craftier customers can also use an ID that has a fake picture. This gave me flashbacks to Papers Please, and I found myself chuckling a bit whenever a young female customer stormed off after I wouldn't believe that she was the old man pictured on her ID. Occasionally funny or not, this is a key mechanic to the game, as messing up ID checks can have negative consequences. Selling alcohol to someone underage or with a fake ID means that you get an ever-increasing fine, and not selling alcohol to someone who is totally legal lowers your store's rating. You also have to restock any alcohol the lying customers were forced to leave behind. I ultimately just hired a cashier so I would not have to deal with it beyond the opening sections of the game, but it is an interesting addition to an otherwise simple gameplay formula.
It's not just checking IDs and selling your merch, as half the fun of games like this is in making your store look and flow the way you want it to. I'm not sure if it's just in my head, but I felt like Liquor Store Simulator made it hard to make "bad" layouts by aligning items to a more concrete grid. I don't really know how to explain this, but I didn't have to worry about things not aligning as much as I did in other games. I also liked that boxes are placed pretty much automatically on shelves in the stock area, and are numbered to show how many of each item are left in the combined boxes. There's also the simple touch of an actual delivery truck that you have to unload, as random piles of boxes from the sky always struck me as odd. You still do need an empty container of whatever item if you want to "unstock" it, but that's just how these kind of games play I guess. The items you're able to stock are also all cleverly disguised versions of real world drinks and alcohol, so that's a nice touch for those wanting to fill their shelves with Coca-Cola, Kraken, Malibu, but don't want to worry about copyright infringement. Setting prices for said items is another aspect of the game you'll have to manage, and I pretty much set them as high as I could without customers constantly complaining. No matter how many times they complained about the price of candy raising, they still bought it. I guess there's some realism here too. There's also an in-game pricing scale that means some items will raise or lower in standard retail pricing, so this is something you'll want to keep an eye on. I should also mention that price changes can be done on the items themselves, but can be mass adjusted on the computer in the office. There are actually a lot of processes that are streamlined in said computer, and it made this game a total breeze to play.
There really isn't too much more to outline as far as gameplay goes, as there's not a whole lot to the gameplay loop that would be unfamiliar to anyone who’s worked a retail job before. There's something fun about doing mundane tasks like this in a digital setting, and there's plenty of other aspects of Liquor Store Simulator that I liked. First of all, the game moves so fast that I didn't even realize how many hours I was spending in each session. It's streamlined perfectly, and a lot of the fluff is taken out. There's no rent or utility bills, days end automatically, and employees can be controlled by the same computer that does everything else. The store pretty much runs itself after a while, and you even have a great soundtrack to jam out too also. Even though I'm positive that none of the music heard in-game is anything beyond royalty free tracks, I absolutely loved that it was a collection of light jazz that even included some Christmas tracks. I'm a sucker for Christmas anything, especially music, and I was not expecting to hear a jazzy rendition of "O Holy Night" when booting up the game. There's also far more music if you turn off Streamer Mode in the options menu, but doing so will add in tracks that can get your stream/video claimed. I also loved how well everything just worked in game. I've played many other simulators where items would sometimes "disappear", employees would be broken, or even games where moving furniture could break certain areas of the store. There are some bugs to be found here if the game's Steam message boards are to be believed, but I never encountered anything noteworthy during my time with the game. The developer is also very active in updating the game, and that's just not something you see in titles like this. Too often these types of games are asset flip situations where a developer makes a quick buck, and moves onto the exact same game but with a different forward-facing veneer. This feels like it was meant to be a real release, and not one that's meant to be dropped forever once the initial sales have run their course. It may not be as fully featured as the bigger names in the genre, but I was impressed by how strongly supported the game has been since release.
It's not all sunshine and rainbows though, as Liquor Store Simulator does have a few negatives I should point out before wrapping up this review. While I did just praise the game for not being an asset flip sort of deal, that doesn't mean that it doesn't use what I'm sure are pre-made character models. If you played a game like this before, then you know that you'll be helping the same dozen or so customers over and over again, in a city that is full of twins and triplets. It's to be expected, but I always long for a bit more variety in games like this. Then there's the fact that in-game pricing feels all over the place. Buying wholesale is a surprisingly steep investment, those fines quickly eat into your profits if you're not careful, and it even costs $50 just to change your store name. Speaking of pricing, I also felt like the path to unlocking everything in the store is far too time consuming and expensive too. I get that you're sort of meant to focus on one path for a while before moving onto the next, but I can easily see players putting in dozens of hours if they want to 100% the game. This is admittedly the case throughout much of the genre as a whole, but it seemed to clash with some of the cozier vibes set by other gameplay elements. Then there's the craft beer system, which the game puts quite a bit of emphasis on. There's a part of your store dedicated to the craft beer setup from the very beginning, and unlocking it was one of my earliest goals. Sadly it was also my biggest let down overall, as it feels far more complicated and time consuming compared to the amount of money it ultimately earns you. I could easily make hundreds selling marked up whiskey, so why would I take time out of my restocking to pour beer? Having listed all those admittedly minor issues, I do have to remind myself that the pros far outweigh the cons. I just want to paint a more realistic image as to what sort of game players will be getting into.

I sunk well over a dozen hours into Liquor Store Simulator both playing solo, and playing with a friend on stream. It's not only become one of my favorite cozy-esque games to play when I'm trying to wind down from a tough day, but it's also become my favorite retail simulation game overall. I don't think I've played one that got the formula as right as this one, and even its foibles like the craft beer system seem somewhat realistic. Who hasn't spent time on a task that hasn't felt worth it before? This is a game that can easily draw in players for even more time than I spent on it, and I think it's going to stay in my regular rotation for quite a while to come. There's really no end goal besides unlocking everything, so it has infinite replayability. The developers are also planning on adding in even more content, so I'm excited for that too. Considering that this game is available for a very reasonable $9.99, I think that picking it up is pretty much a no-brainer at this point.
Even though I had a few issues with progression and annoyances with some of the gameplay elements that make the game unique, I still that Liquor Store Simulator is a game that's totally worth picking up. It's a must-buy for fans of the genre, and has more than enough casual appeal for everyone else. I had a blast playing it, and I'm sure you will too. The fact that it's still being updated and added to is also great, but I think it's more than worth playing even as is. If you ever wanted to start up your own liquor store, or are simply tired of playing Supermarket Simulator, then you owe it to yourself to grab this one now. You don't even have to thank me afterwards. See you in the next one!

Check Out Liquor Store Simulator on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3124550/Liquor_Store_Simulator/
Story: N/A
Gameplay: A
Graphics: B+
Music/Sound: B+
Value: A

Overall: A-

Pros:
+ A fun take on the retail management simulation formula. It gets everything right, and adds in its own quirks.
+ There's a nearly endless amount of replayability and plenty of customization options open to the player. It won't take long for you to have a successful liquor store to call your own.
+ The streamlining of checkout, and the implementation of ID checks, helps move along gameplay in the early hours.
+ Computer-controlled employees are actually efficient, and the store basically runs itself by the end.
+ There's a simple and cozy fun to games like this, and this particular title captures those vibes perfectly.

+/- Has a very jazzy soundtrack, which even includes some Christmas classics!

Cons:
- It can take quite a while to make enough money to expand the store as you want, and this can make the first five hours or so be very frustrating.
- The ID system is a unique gameplay element, but it gets old rather fast.
- The craft beer system needs a lot of work. It's a neat addition, but doesn't make a lot of sense from a store-running perspective.
- At the end of the day, this is another retail simulator. If you're not a fan of the genre, this one isn't going to change your mind.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.
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i still can't believe there's Christmas music in the soundtrack!
#LiquorStoreSimulator
]]><![CDATA[Death Is Not The End: A Death end re;Quest Code Z Review]]>Tue, 08 Jul 2025 07:00:00 GMThttp://a-to-jconnections.com/gaming/death-is-not-the-end-a-death-end-request-code-z-reviewBy Manuel
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Players: 1
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5

I've had my eyes on the Death end re;Quest series for a while now, as I heard it was a gory JRPG with heavy visual novel elements. That sounded right up my alley, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on Death end re;Quest Code Z. Unlike the first two games in the series, Death end re;Quest Code Z is a dungeon crawler, but it retains everything else that's made the series noteworthy. It's currently a PlayStation 4 and 5 exclusive, so fans of other platforms may have to wait a while to play it. We're going to be taking a look at the PlayStation 4 version of the game today, and see if this game was everything I hoped it would be. There's going to be a lot to go over in this one, so let's get straight to the review!
Death end re;Quest Code Z places you into the shoes of a person who helps a character named Sayaka. You do often take control of Sayaka directly, but there are constant references to you being an outside party. Sayaka is aware of your presence, and you two can speak to each other, but no one else seems to be able to notice you. Sayaka is no ordinary person though, she's what's known as a "Luden". Ludens are people who gain powers through near-death experiences that are tied to strong memories. Some strange opening scenes show Sayaka and several other girls meet a grisly end at the hands of a very evil-looking man, but things rewind to the actual opening of the game. That gory opening isn't unique though, as the tutorial lets you know that death is going to play a heavy role in this game. Sayaka starts the game off as an empty slate, but she starts to develop her own personality when she moves in with Shina. Shina is a game designer who was apparently the protagonist of an earlier game in the series, and she too is a Luden. The pair live a quiet life for a few months before a man named Arata appears and kidnaps Shina. This event spirals further and Sayaka has to delve into dungeons that look eerily like digital spaces while meeting a cast of characters who are each more mysterious than the last. It eventually becomes clear what Arata's intentions are, and we also learn the true nature of the world itself, and of Sayaka's past. It's a wild ride that isn't without its share of confusing turns, but I guess that's sort of par the course for a JRPG of this sort.
I'd be lying if I said I understood half of what is going on in Death end re;Quest Code Z. There are some parts of the plot and setting that I don't want to get too far into for fear of going into spoilers, but there's just as much of it that I simply don't understand. This is apparently an alternate universe spin-off game of the main franchise, and it doesn't ease new players into the world at all. There's no "History" section to catch up new players as to what's going on, and context clues can only get one so far. I don't think I've ever played a game that was as pure of a continuation of what came before than this one, and I had a rough time getting into the game at first. I did find other things to enjoy, and I ultimately just allowed the story to take me wherever it decided it would go next. This path more often than not ended in confusion, but I held firm nonetheless. My point to mentioning all of this is that I feel I'm a bad source to discuss this game's plot, as I honestly only understood about half of it. It was totally lost on me that some characters knew each other, or when references popped up, and I didn't even realize that Arata was a good-guy-turned-bad until I looked up the first two games online. I don't want to go into this review immediately saying that most people should skip it, but I do think that it would be a far more enjoyable experience if players came to it after going through the first two games. This may be a tall order, but I have to recommend skipping this one if you're going to go into it as your first entry. It may be an alternate universe type of game, but it does not hold your hand at all. That said, I still managed to have fun here, so I guess you can take my warning with a grain of salt. It also did make me want to pick up the first two games in the series, and I did just that since we're currently in the Steam Summer Sale at the time of this writing. With all of that out of the way, let's talk gameplay next.

Moving the discussion to gameplay is a bit complicated as Death end re;Quest Code Z actually has two completely different styles of play at work. It's both a standard 2D visual novel, and a 3D dungeon crawler that has some light roguelike elements. The visual novel part of the game is pretty much exactly what anyone familiar with that genre would expect, but it too has some unique elements. In that part of the game you'll go through conversations, some of which don't actually include Sayaka, and occasionally make choices in actions and replies. These choices most often will just change a bit of text, but some do alter the course of the story a bit. The differences between the standard visual novel formula involve a map screen that takes you to all sorts of in-game scenes and events. Most of these are optional sidestories you can follow, but there are also special locations like the cafe, the subway, and your house. These locations act as your item shop, dungeon entrance, and main hub respectively. More locations open up as the game goes on, and not all locations are always available in each chapter. Where you can go depends on what is currently going on plot-wise, and players can also choose to skip all the optional stories and move on with the main plot if that's what they desire. Like most visual novels, there is an option to skip already seen dialogue, but players can also skip entire scenes if they don't want to see them again, and previously selected dialogue options are highlighted when seen a second time. It's a fun system that makes me wonder how this game would operate as a standard visual novel, but this part of the game only represents a small aspect of what makes this game unique.
​Dungeons are where you'll spend a lot of the time in Death end re;Quest Code Z, and these play out similar to older roguelike games like the Izuna series, or the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. Each movement or action uses up a turn, and enemies will only take a turn when you do. Room layouts and enemies are generated randomly each time you enter a dungeon, as are item placements, traps, and the exit of the current floor. Combat takes place in real time, and you gain experience for each monster killed. Each monster killed also fills up a meter that allows you to transform into a more powerful form, but this has somewhat limited use. Sadly there isn't much in the way of special attacks, so just expect to do a lot of slashing. Sayaka has two meters that you'll have to keep track of, her health and her sanity. Health is recovered by using healing items or by walking around without being attacked. On the other hand, sanity drops with each turn you take, and can take a dive if Sayaka is attacked or struck by a trap. Sanity dropping to 0 means that Sayaka will most likely cause herself harm with each turn, so it's best to keep it up at all times. Sanity can only be recovered by the use of items, and I'll talk about this mechanic a bit more later in the review. Traps are also a major obstacle in the game, and they're largely invisible outside of using specific items to reveal their locations. You can also reveal them by striking the space they're on, but it's mostly a random guessing game if you choose to go that route. Exploration can net you items, experience, and a better score when the dungeon is complete, but those wanting to move on can simply find the exit and go to the next floor. This pattern continues until they eventually come to their objective, usually a boss encounter, and then the process goes in reverse in order to exit the dungeon.
There's so much more I have to say about dungeon exploration, but let's tackle character progression first. I didn't mention this earlier, but Death end re;Quest Code Z has three difficulty levels, and have a big effect on how one experiences the game. The easiest difficulty option lets you retain everything you have on your person when you die, and you also maintain all skills and character levels when you complete dungeon. The hardest difficulty not only causes you to lose anything you're carrying when you die, but it also resets your levels whenever you complete a dungeon. Basically the easiest difficulty leans more towards a standard dungeon crawling RPG, while the hardest plays like the roguelike games I mentioned earlier. The difficulties also affect things like damage taken. This might sound normal enough, but getting strong in the game actually involves dying on purpose, so you'll want to be prepared for what that means for the rest of the game. Each time Sayaka dies, you'll get a "Death End". These are drawn out scenes that explain exactly how she dies, and you get a unique one for each monster type, boss, trap, etc. Dying respawns you in your home, and you gain a skill point that can be used on the skill tree found in the cafe. These skills are mostly stat bonuses, abilities that allow you to take reduced damage from traps or certain types of attack, and actual skills that can be used in dungeon exploration. These do carry over even if you're playing on the hardest difficulty, so they sort of act as permanent upgrades if that's how you're choosing to play. It's not often that a game chooses to use death as one of its core gameplay mechanics, and I'd be lying if I said that it didn't help draw me into the series as a whole.

How much one enjoys their time with Death end re;Quest Code Z really depends on how big of a fan they are of the two genres present. I thankfully live for games of both types, so I had a blast going through the dungeons, and enjoying the story that I only had the slightest of ideas as to what was actually going on. It's a testament to the charm and fun of the core gameplay loop that I was able to continue through the game despite being left in the dark as to who the characters are, and what is going on in this world. This isn't Diablo, but there was a lot of fun going back into dungeons I'd already completed just to see what Death Ends I may have missed, and I also loved playing around with the difficulty settings. You can change between them at any time, and I moved back and forth from the hardest to the easiest several times to reset Sayaka's level. Sadly, there are parts of the dungeon crawling experience that kept the game from being perfect, and I'll get to those in just a bit. As for the visual novel part of things, the characters and setting made it so that I constantly nodded along to things I didn't fully understand, and resorted to a Google search or two when things got confusing. I once again have to reiterate that this is not a stand-alone game in any sense of the term, but players can still have fun here if they want to take the wild plunge off the deep end like I did.
Even though I mostly had a blast playing Death end re;Quest Code Z, I found that many gameplay elements grew to frustrate me after a while. A good example is the death and skill point mechanic I mentioned earlier. I found that system to be cool at first, but I quickly got tired of all the wasted time needed to get them all. Not only are the scenes themselves long, but you also have to sometimes sit through long bits of gameplay before you actually die. I wasn't fully aware of this system's importance at first, and had a hell of a time getting the Death Ends from earlier on in the game. You can skip them of course, but the game takes yet another spike in difficulty if you do. Then there's that damn sanity meter. Considering that there's only one type of item that regains your sanity, I found it wild that you can sometimes simply not get a single sanity-refilling item at all in some dungeon configurations. This means that some runs end as soon as you start them simply due to RNG. You can of course bring in items from outside of the dungeon, but the cafe's item shop doesn't always carry the item you need, and always has a limited quantity when it does. I eventually started hoarding any and all sanity-recovering items, and seeing that meter drop became the bane of my existence during my entire playthrough. It doesn't help that some traps can halve the meter instantly, and uncovering these traps requires the use of another item if you want to reliably locate them. Speaking of traps, there are tons of items that allow you to place traps for the enemies. I'm going to assume that this factors in more on the higher difficulty settings, but I never once used these outside of messing around for the sake of the review. It's an underutilized system that takes up a lot of inventory space. I guess one can just chalk this all up as the quirks of a quirky game, but it grew to be a bit much after a while.
With gameplay out of the way, let's move on to presentation. While I have mostly positive things to say regarding Death end re;Quest Code Z's visual style, there are some negative points too. Let me start by saying that I'm a huge fan of the character designs, and love just about everything having to do with the visual novel side of the game. Every character looks unique, they have plenty of variety between then, the backgrounds are well done, and there's even some great CGs thrown around too. There's also some slight movement in the character models during the visual novel sections, and they all go through the correct range of emotions that correspond to their dialogue. If this were just a visual novel, it'd be one of the best-looking ones I've seen in a long while. Things take a bit of a hit when it comes to the 3D dungeon sections, as these look like they're taken from a far older game. The SD nature of these sections are cute in their own way, and they reminded me of a far gorier take on the visual style found in the Link's Awakening remake. Just like that game though, I can't help but think that they look a bit dated. The monster and dungeon designs are a bit bland, and the random nature of the dungeons themselves mean that there aren't any unique set pieces. There is enough variety to keep them interesting, but that's more due to gameplay rather than to how they look.  My biggest issues visually have to do with how the game handles its gorier sections. I'm not sure if there is an "uncensored" version of the game out there or not, but the static noise in the death CGs often took me out of them entirely. Even worse, there are only a handful of these that are re-used for different sequences. I was ready to praise the game when I learned about the death mechanic, but quickly walked that backwards once I realized that the frequently repeated CGs did little to hide that rather tedious aspect of gameplay. Admittedly these are rather small points to make, but they do give the game a slightly uneven feel when it comes to visuals.

Things fare far better in the sound department, and I think it's where Death end re;Quest Code Z shines the brightest. First up is the soundtrack, which is full of amazing music that goes far beyond what one would expect from a game that's essentially half visual novel. I've gone on and on elsewhere discussing the elusive genre I call 'visual novel music", but there's none of that here. Rather than have tracks that are meant to exist solely in the background, the collection of music found here feels more like a JRPG that sometimes has its own slice-of-life moments. No matter what's going on, you can rest assured that the music will accompany the scene perfectly. I was a bit disappointed that there weren't any memorable boss themes, but I guess the rest of the soundtrack made up for that. There are also some vocal songs here too that bookend the game, and they're awesome as well. Next up sound-wise is voice acting, and I'm pleased to report that this game is fully voiced in Japanese. I'm sure that some players will lament the lack of an English dub track, but I personally wasn't expecting to find one in a release of this size. Given the subject matter tackled in the game, I'm willing to bet that it wouldn't have been very good anyway. Having said that, the performances here are all spot on, and there are some well-known names in the cast. I'm also not kidding when I say fully voiced, as there are even some random dialogue bits in the dungeon that are left annoyingly untranslated. The game may not have hit it perfectly out of the park, but sound design is definitely where it's at here.
Even though players new to the series may be more than a little lost at times, Death end re;Quest Code Z isn't exactly a long game in and of itself. It will only take about 20 or so hours for most players to reach the end, with that number doubling or tripling if you're going for 100% completion. It's not about rushing to the end though, as there is a lot to see here. Not only are there plenty of optional scenes and secrets to uncover, but you can always go for things like optimized runs or high scores in the dungeon sections. There's also the adjustable difficulty settings for those looking for a challenge, and they add more replayability in ways too numerous to mention here. It's a rather standard length game, and it earns its price tag of $49.99. Normally I'd give a bit more fight regarding quality vs. dollars spent, but this price point feels more than reasonable now that we live in the realm of eighty dollar games. It may not be for all players due to its content, but those that are able to look beyond that do get a lot of bang for their buck.
I'm really at a loss as to how I'm supposed to wrap up this review. On one hand I enjoyed Death end re;Quest Code Z to the point where I now want to play the other games in the series, but it also isn't an easy game to get into for a lot of reasons. It has content that is sure to drive away plenty of potential fans, and it's not very friendly to those who choose to make this their first game in the series. Still, I think that it's worth playing despite its flaws, as it offers a very unique gameplay experience. If you have a current PlayStation console, and have played the first two games in the series, then you owe it to yourself to pick this one up too. On that note, I'll see you in the next one!

Check Out Death end re;Quest Code Z on PlayStation:
https://store.playstation.com/en-us/concept/10008673
Story: B
Gameplay: B
Graphics: A
Music/Sound: A
Value: B

Overall: B+

Pros:
+ A neat mix of dungeon crawling gameplay and visual novel storytelling.
+ Not only do the adjustable difficulty settings allow the game to be more accessible to players of all skill levels, but they also make the game lean further into or away from its roguelike elements.
+ Though I was mostly lost thanks to not having played the first two games, I did find the plot intriguing and full of twists and turns.
+ The visuals in the visual novel section of the game are near perfect. I'd love to see an entry in the series fully explore that part of the gameplay.
+ Dungeon crawling fans will have a lot of fun here with the randomized layouts and increasing challenges by the end.
+ Has one of the best soundtracks I've heard in a game like this, and even features full voice acting.
+ Players can get through this one relatively quickly, but there's a lot of replayability for those who want to fully experience the game.

+/- Though I actually liked the gorier elements, some players may choose to stay away because of them.

Cons:
- This is not a game that's friendly to first-time players. It expects you to have played the first two games already, and those who haven't will be lost.
- There are several gameplay mechanics, like the sanity meter and Death End progression, which feel poorly implemented. The frustration caused by them diminished the fun I was having more than a few times.
- Only being able to save and quit was really annoying. I lost my data at one point due to my PS4 encountering an error.
- It can sometimes be jarring jumping between the very different gameplay formats this title offers.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.
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I need a shower too!
#DERQZ
]]><![CDATA[Game Review: Starlight Legacy]]>Sun, 06 Jul 2025 07:00:00 GMThttp://a-to-jconnections.com/gaming/game-review-starlight-legacyBy Manuel
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Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, XBox One, XBox Series XS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC (Steam)

We have a sort of updated review for everyone today. Starlight Legacy is a retru-themed RPG that comes to us by way of developer Decafesoft, and publisher EastAsiaSoft. It's a game that I followed all throughout its development, and I even reviewed it during its original launch on PC. It's now available on all current consoles, and we're going to be taking a look at the PlayStation 5 version today. This will mostly be an update review, but there will be some new takes and bits here and there as well. That's enough for an intro, let's just get into the review already.
Starlight Legacy takes place in the world of Evaria, where friends Ignus and Teryl head off to deliver a package to King Lennox in the Kingdom Capital. Teryl is a freelance warrior for The Kingdom, but Ignus is simply along for the ride. If you were expecting either one to assume the role of "main character", you'll probably be sorely disappointed. Weak openings aside, King Lennox rules a land made up of four distinct Provinces, one of which is currently in open rebellion. These Provinces are referred to by their main characteristics, Forest, Mountain, Sky, and Desert, though all were independent at one point in time. Delivering the package goes off without a hitch, but Separatists from Lusoria, The Sky Province, kidnap the princess and burn down The Eternity Tree. Though it's never made totally clear as to why The Eternity Tree is so important to The Kingdom, its destruction creates havoc that our heroes must solve. King Lennox sends our unlikely duo, as well as a travelling merchant named Frida, off to collect the Starlight Relics. These three are now dubbed "The Starlight Heroes", and the quest begins. Free travel is restricted, so each Province must be taken on individually. A Relic is hidden in each, and together these Relics can create a new Eternity Tree. Things aren't ever that simple though, as King Lennox, The Lusorian Separatists, and even others you'll meet along the way, all have their own goals in mind that may run counter to those of The Starlight Heroes. It's not the most original plotline out there, but it does a good job in getting you into the world and its mechanics.
I don't want to start off the review with too much negativity, but there are some points about Starlight Legacy's story that I want to discuss before moving on. Put simply, it's messy, written in a style that is a mix between overly serious and campy, and isn't nearly as impactful as anything found in the games that inspired it. Admittedly, it's not the worst plot ever seen in an RPG, but it seems to have gotten the short end of the stick as far as focus in development went. If you're wondering why I seemingly glanced over the trio of heroes, that's because the game pretty much does so too. Teryl is probably the most developed character of the bunch, and that's pretty much solely due to the fact that he's a family man. Ignus literally has no real reason at all to be on the quest, and Frida just got caught up in things as they were happening. They all have a bit more backstory added to them over the course of the game, but it never really extends to the point where they feel like fleshed-out characters. I probably would've liked it more if they were simply blank slates, as this half-assed attempt at characterization feels almost insulting at times. The rest of the plot doesn't fare too much better, but it does flow decently for the most part. The game is essentially split up into several chapters, each being centered on the current Starlight Relic you're searching for. The overarching plot isn't bad, but you'll most likely be able to predict the next turn of events long before they happen. There's a fine line between creating a story that recalls classic games from a simpler time, and creating one that is cliché and boring. While I don't think Starlight Legacy completely fell towards the latter side of things, it did stumble along quite a bit.

It can of course be argued that older RPGs didn't have the strongest of stories, but that would be cop out. Not only can I think of several that did, the 16-bit era is often considered something of a renaissance for the genre. Perhaps there is a bit of the 8-bit take on story here, but that's just me making excuses. I don't think anyone will grow to hate Starlight Legacy due to its weak story, but I'm also willing to bet that plenty of people will probably be disappointed by it. It really was a big let-down for me, and I kept hoping it would go places it didn't. I'm also disappointed to report that the game's many post-launch updates did little to fix my issues with the overall plot. I guess they can't all be winners, and part of this failing can be due to the fact that Decafesoft is apparently a development studio made up of a single person. Anyhow, I guess it's time to move on with the review.
Discussing Starlight Legacy's gameplay is a bit of a messy topic, since it can be very complicated if approached from a certain angle. At its heart, it's a traditional turn-based RPG with random combat that is as basic as could be, but there's more to it than that if you're willing to dig deep. Combat relies heavily on elemental-based attacks and alignments that you can change at most any time, as well as equipment that moves character stats towards three different areas. Elemental affinities can be given to each character via in-game items, and these affinities can affect damage taken or received. For example, characters with the fire element will deal more damage when performing fire-based attacks, but will also take more damage from ice-based ones. You're freely able to change your elemental affinity at any time, and each of the game's main regions tends to have enemies that lean towards one element or another. You can also just go for the basic, non-elemental, alignment if you want. Equipment on the other hand tends to move a characters stats to attack, magic, or speed at the detriment of the others. For example, axes are strong but slow you down, staves provide you magic over strength, and just about all equipment messes with your speed to some degree. Technically defense and magic defense are thrown in as well, but you get the point. It's not just a matter of equipping the best gear available to you, but more like equipping weapons and armor that suit your play style. There are a few more systems we're going to get into in a bit, but I think it's worth discussing how important these mechanics are to the main game.
I'm sort of jumping the gun a bit, but my biggest issue with Starlight Legacy has to be its overall balance. Enemies will absolutely destroy you early on, and that trial-by-fire cycle will repeat itself whenever you enter a new Province. You also start at level one, which makes no sense from a story perspective. Why freelance warrior Teryl is the same level as Ignus is beyond me, but it means you can get one-shotted if you're not careful. I honestly thought I was doing something wrong at first since I kept dying. I think the game wants you to make use of the elemental affinities right from the get-go, but I found them to be very ineffective in practice. The bonuses they grant barely ever feel worth the hassle, and a handful of tough battles leveled up the characters enough so that messing around with the elements seemed even more pointless. Then there are the character skills which can come off as very OP. Get used to abusing skills if you want to get ahead. Also, money is just thrown at you via the near-constant random battles you're subjected to. Items and the like are very expensive, but it doesn't take too long to max out your money if you simply fight every battle the game throws at you. Even though my first couple hours were extremely difficult, I eventually got to the point where I didn't even bother with any of the more complicated in-game mechanics. I reused the same skills and summon magic over and over again, and used my easily replenishable supply of items whenever I needed to heal up. Starlight Legacy is far from an easy game, but it proves that there is a lot of work that goes into balancing an RPG that we as players don't ever seem to notice. This is anything but an example of that balance done right, and even though this part of the game did get some updates over the past few months, very little has changed in the grand scheme of things.
Now that we have that big issue out of the way, let's tackle some positives regarding gameplay. Even though I wasn't too big on how Starlight Legacy handled elemental affinities and equipment, I did like how it handled exploration. Since the plot sees our trio of heroes collecting the Starlight Relics one Province at a time, it makes sense that those Provinces would be tackled in a particular order. In actuality, you can choose to take on the four regions in any order you choose. Level scaling across them all means that they will all (mostly) be in line with whatever your current party level is. The issues I mentioned earlier regarding balance are definitely still present, but I think they would've been there even if a "correct" sequence of Provinces was provided. Not only can you tackle each region in any order, but there's also a lot of freedom in how you do so. Each of the four nations have their own quests and gameplay quirks, but you're pretty much left to your own devices as to how you go about completing them. Each of the Provinces also gives you a new form of transportation that affects where you can travel. These include a magic carpet to get over rocks, a raft to go onto the water, and so on. You can even fly in 3D by the end, but talking about that too much goes into spoiler territory. Since each Province has areas that need all the unlockable forms of transportation to reach, that means that areas tackled later have more secrets to find. It's not quite open world, and it's not quite Metroidvania-like in its progression, but it is cool, and made for a fun experience.

Since the world is broken up into areas you can explore in any order you desire, this does mean that towns, chests, and available equipment can be a bit all over the place too, but these are all also scaled in accordance with the order taken. Each shop in the game is pretty much a copy of all the others in the world, and carry items, equipment, and magic that correspond with your current place in the game. I think they might also be somewhat dependent on character level, but I may be mistaken on that. Also, I didn't mention this earlier, but magic is something you purchase in-game. Some characters might be more proficient with magic-based attacks, but no character learns spells by default. You also can only use four spells at any one time, so some planning has to be made when decided who gets what spells. This all works out in a manner similar to early Final Fantasy games, and was a nice break from traditional mechanics. Going back to the level scaling, chests are handled a bit differently than shops and monsters. Besides some of them being locked off until you acquire modes of transportation only found in other regions, there will also be some chests that have numbers on them. These numbers correspond to the amount of Starlight Relics you currently have in your possession, and you can't open any that are above your current amount. This allows these chests to have items of a far higher level than what is found scattered elsewhere, and is another unique system that I liked. Though I must also point out that its inclusion means that you won't be able to collect every chest on your first run through an area.
I think I've gone on about gameplay for long enough, let's discuss graphics next. I'm a bit torn on this topic, as I really do like the overall look and feel of the world. The retro aesthetic is captured perfectly, and there are design elements I like. I'm a sucker for 2D sprites, and this game has some good ones. Also, the world is presented as a single large area. You go from town to monster-infested roads smoothly, and only break in this immersion comes when entering a dungeon. There are even some Mode 7-style scenes that are fairly impressive too. What's the problem then? Well, I'm of the mind that Starlight Legacy has a generic look that is hard to get behind. This is purely a subjective view, but the entire game looks so by the numbers that it lacks anything that would have it stand out. I'm sure the developer gets a kick out of fans comparing it to older games, but that can only go so far until it becomes a curse. The three main characters not only have very little character to them, but they also look like they were pulled out of a How to Draw Anime book. I don't mean that as an attack to the quality of their artwork, but as to the amount of personality and charm that their sprites and portraits give off. These are not characters you'll remember after the game is finished. At best, they'll just get you thinking about games and characters that possibly inspired them. This also goes with most everything else in the world. Towns, dungeons, and roads look like they could belong to any other 16-bit looking RPG, and the monster designs can be very hit and miss as well. It also doesn't help that each of the four Provinces follow a specific stereotype (Desert, Forest, Ice, etc.), and that the game and world are both rather small in scope. This doesn't really ruin the experience by any great degree, and you may in fact take in the game in a totally different way than me, but I really have to wonder if Starlight Legacy could've benefited from some outside help when it came to aspects outside of gameplay.

All my small issues aside, there's one part of Starlight Legacy that I think is near perfect, and that's its music. The entire soundtrack is full of the same retro vibes present elsewhere, and this is probably the only part of the game where I have nothing at all negative to point out. I truly did like every single piece of music the game had to offer, and I was even starting to look forward to certain themes after a while. It's also a place where the game most definitely succeeded in keeping things both traditional and original. The overworld themes are lively, the town themes are calm and soothing, the battle themes get the blood pumping, and so on. This sounds like it could very well be the soundtrack of a long lost SNES JRPG, and I mean that in the best way possible. There were some tracks that I must've heard on loop for ten minutes or more, and I was never bothered by it one bit. Instead of becoming irritating, I found myself humming along to some of them, and there are even some melodies that have been stuck in my head the entire time I've been writing this review. I don't know if the soundtrack is available to pick up on its own, but I'm going to look into that when I'm done here. I really have nothing else to say. This is a great soundtrack, and I hope that this level of quality is kept up in any future projects from the developer.
While Starlight Legacy does manage to capture much of the spirit of a retro 16-bit JRPG, it doesn't really pull off the length one comes to expect from such a game. It only takes about ten hours to reach the end, and maybe a few more hours more if you're going for the completionist route. That's not a bad length for any game for sure, but it is on the shorter end of things as far as the genre is concerned. There is something to be said about the quality versus quantity approach to gameplay, but I don't know if that's really the case here either. I'm not exactly against the game's reliance on old school gameplay mechanics, but a good chuck of those ten hours will be spent grinding levels. The battle system isn't the worst, so I didn't mind it all that much, but the lack of a strong story really stings when the game's short length enters the discussion. I do think it's more than worth its current $12.99 price tag, and it even went down in price when it made the shift to consoles. With that said, it can be hard to recommend it when there isn't a lot of replayability. That is a problem for many RPGs, but most other RPGs are either longer, or have more memorable stories to fall back on. There are some optional bosses to beat, and secrets to find, but this is truly a one and done experience. Then again, most players will enjoy the ride nevertheless.
It probably comes as a surprise to no one that I give Starlight Legacy the fullest of recommendations. It's by no means perfect, but it's a strong showing from a single developer. Playing it is a must for fans of 16-bit RPGs, and probably for RPG fans in general. It also is short and affordable enough to appeal to those who lean more towards the casual side of things. It's not the easiest of games, but there just might be a little something for everyone here. The developer also did a great job of fixing the game's early issues, so this new console version is quite literally the definitive version. It feels like the game is finally at home, and I hope that there's a sequel in the works. Until then, see you in the next one!

Check Out Starlight Legacy on PlayStation:
https://store.playstation.com/en-us/concept/10012166
Story: B
Gameplay: B
Graphics: A
Music/Sound: A+
Value: A

Overall: A

Pros:
+ A cool take on the retro 16-bit RPG formula.
+ Though some of the advanced gameplay mechanics can be ignored if you so desire, the game does have a level of character customization that is rather impressive.
+ The non-linear aspect of the game almost gives it an open world, or even a Metroidvania, type of feel.
+ If you're a fan of 2D sprite-based graphics, then you'll find a lot to love here!
+ The soundtrack is simply amazing! Some of the best retro-styled music I've heard in a long time.
+ Though the game itself can be rather small in scope, there are lots of optional areas to explore, and secrets to uncover.
+ Its current $12.99 price tag is more than reasonable, and even reflects a post-launch price drop.

Cons:
- Both the story and characters are near paper thin. This is not a game that will remain in your mind due to its plot or characterization.
- Game balance is all over the place. The opening few hours of the game are absolutely punishing, and the latter few hours will see you so powerful that you can simply ignore many of the more complicated gameplay mechanics.
- Though good on a technical level, there isn't much charm or uniqueness to the graphics or character designs.
- At just ten hours or so, the game is on the shorter side as far as RPGs go.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.
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Is King Lennox really King Trump?
#StarlightLegacy
]]><![CDATA[A Fantasy That Isn't Final: A Kaiju Big Battel: Fighto Fantasy Review]]>Sat, 05 Jul 2025 07:00:00 GMThttp://a-to-jconnections.com/gaming/a-fantasy-that-isnt-final-a-kaiju-big-battel-fighto-fantasy-reviewBy Manuel
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​Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, XBox One, XBox Series XS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC (Steam)

It's not often that a game comes around that brings up long-forgotten memories of my past, but that's exactly what we happened when the game we're going to look at today popped onto my radar. Kaiju Big Battel: Fighto Fantasy (Which I'm going to refer to as simply "Kaiju Big Battel" from here on.) is a retro-inspired RPG based on the Kaiju Big Battel media franchise, and it originally released on PC and mobile devices back in 2018. It took nearly a decade, but it's finally made leap to consoles, and it's now available on just about every current platform. I was once a big fan of the KBB franchise, and playing this game really took me back to my youth. Anyway, we're going to be taking a look at the game on the Nintendo Switch here, though I'm sure all versions are identical. There's a lot to go over in this one, so let's get straight to the review!
Kaiju Big Battel: Fighto Fantasy places you into the role of American Beetle, a WWE-styled Hero who is about to have a championship match with his arch-nemesis, Dr. Cube. Things are going good for Beetle, but Dr. Cube goes cheap and pulls out a steel chair. Chaos ensues, and Beetle and his friend Silver Potato soon find themselves transported to an alternate reality full of ghosts and monsters. They're eventually rescued by their friend Dusto Bunny, who invites them onboard the newly redesigned Hero HQ. Dusto Bunny lets the duo know that Dr. Cube has been up to all sorts of nonsense while they were away, and he's currently rampaging his way through time and space. The group doesn't know what he's up to, but there's no way it can be good. Thankfully their new HQ is set up with a time machine, so it's not long before they find themselves in places like Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, 1920s Russia, 1970s London, and more in their attempt to stop Dr. Cube. Dr. Cube is always one step ahead of them, and he's constantly laying traps for them that they can't help but fall into. Cube has countless minions to do his bidding, but our Heroes have more friends that end up joining them on their journey. Dr. Cube's plan does eventually reveal itself, but I'll leave that for players to discover on their own. What matter is that we have a story that goes far beyond anything Kaiju Big Battel has brought us before, and that's saying something.
Let me get it out of the way now that I love the plot found in Kaiju Big Battel no matter how you cut it. It stands strong on its own feet, and gives players a time travel story that isn't total nonsense. It's also really funny, and the humor lands whether you know who these characters are or not. I'll get more into this later on in the review, but I feel like I have to state early on that this just may be one of those licensed games that's actually really good. Let me back up a bit though. The thing is that I used to be a huge fan of Kaiju Big Battel back in the mid-2000s, when I randomly picked up a book from a Borders bargain bin titled Kaiju Big Battel: A Practical Guide to Giant City-Crushing. I knew nothing about it, but I had to learn more once I saw that it was giant Japanese-style kaiju wrestling. From there I bought a Kaiju Big Battel DVD, and made it a point to absorb every bit of information I could find online. I would go on to buy more DVDs, and even recalled seeing them mentioned on G4's Attack of The Show at one point. I wouldn't say I was KBB's biggest fan, but it truly felt like a piece of media meant specifically for me. I then moved on with my life, and only thought about KBB the few random times I stumbled across the old DVDs and book in my collection. Imagine my surprise to learn that an officially licensed game released nearly ten years ago, and it also was an RPG! I mention all this not only to give a bit of my history with the franchise, but to come clean that I may be a bit biased as far as this review goes. Having said that, I'm no stranger to bad licensed games, so don't expect me to heap praise upon a game that's obviously bad. I'll still be fair and honest, but I'm also secretly happy that this nostalgic bit of my past has managed to resurface once again. With that out of the way, let's get back to the review.
Before I dive into gameplay, I think we have to pause a bit to discuss Kaiju Big Battel's difficulty settings, as these have a big impact on how the game is played. There are three modes that essentially act as Easy, Normal, and Hard, with the easiest of them basically letting you play the game only for the story. Monsters are weaker, enemy encounters are fewer, and you're healed after every battle. Normal gives you the basic RPG experience, where the game is balanced to give you a bit of challenge, but not so much as you'll be forced to level grind to get past a particular section. The hardest setting is where things get interesting, as all you'll take more damage, have a higher encounter rate, and even face enemy types that are unique to this difficulty setting. I played the game on the Normal for the most part, but I did try out the hardest one to see if it was playable or not. The game lets you change between these vastly different settings whenever you want for the most part, so players can go back and forth if they find a particular section of the game too easy or too difficult. This is a rather simple touch, but I like what it represents for accessibility. It's not often that RPGs have difficulty settings at all, and the ones here mean that players of all skill levels can still enjoy the game. Having said that, the hardest difficulty is still totally playable as far as I'm concerned, but you'll have a real tough go at it if you don't know the ins and outs of the game. On that note, let's move on to gameplay proper.

Much of Kaiju Big Battel's gameplay is separated into exploration or combat. Exploration sounds simple enough, but there will be plenty of optional secret areas and sidequests that you won't be able to fully explore and complete your first time through. Players will also often find that their path forward is blocked, and that a particular character's overworld skill is necessary to move on. These skills are all tied to a particular characters, so you'll just have to hope you brought the right Hero along. American Beetle can punch through walls, Silver Potato can knock down debris to create bridges, Dusto Bunny can hop through weak floors, and so on. The game will usually give you the party member needed for these sections right before you reach them, but you will have to shuffle around members from time to time. There are also push-block puzzles, locked rooms, and riddles scattered about that may stump you for a bit. I never found these to be particularly difficult, and instead felt like they did a good job of breaking up the standard RPG gameplay formula. The other bit of exploration has to do with NPC interactions, as the game implements a strange dialogue mechanic. Just about every piece of NPC dialogue has reply options that can get said NPC to either like you or hate you, and these NPC feelings are permanent once they've gone into effect. This one mechanic rubbed me the wrong way, as I often picked what I thought would be the "nice" reply, only to have the NPC get angry with me anyway. Also, some NPCs offer up sidequests when you talk to them, and I could never shake the idea that I was soft-locking myself out of some sidequests forever by making a wrong choice. I don't think that actually is the case, but it's something I never got over.
Combat is the other big part of Kaiju Big Battel's gameplay loop, and this is the type of RPG that shows you the encounters on the overworld map. Bigger monsters will be indicated by bigger overworld sprites, and all battles are standard turn-based affairs. Each of your party members can attack, use skills or items, or attempt to flee. Some skills work better against some enemies rather than others, and each of the playable characters have an unofficial character class or role. For example, Silver Potato is the elemental "magic" user, and Dusto Bunny is the healer. You'll be assigned a party in the first couple of hours, but you'll eventually have multiple characters to choose from, and putting together a balanced party is as important as it is in any other RPG. Losing all of your party's HP during combat leads to a game over, and winning a battle nets you experience points and money. The game uses a standard level up system, and stats can also be augmented by equipment. Equipment is made up of weapons, armor, and accessories, but players can also give their characters gems that offer bigger stat bonuses, or even special skills. Most equipment and items can be found in the overworld or in dungeons, but shops of all types also exist in the game. Speaking of which, your HQ will eventually become a hub town of sorts that sells everything from every other shop in-game. There may not be a whole lot of surprises gameplay-wise, but Kaiju Big Battel does a great job of streamlining the RPG basics to the point where the game moves at an almost breakneck pace. You'll spend less time in menus than in other retro-inspired games, and more time beating up monsters.
I guess the big question those on the fence will have about the game is whether or not it holds up well as a standalone RPG, or if it's only going to appeal to existing fans of the franchise. I've already mentioned that I was a big fan of Kaiju Big Battel at one point in my life, but I'm not exaggerating one bit when I say that I hadn't thought about it in over a decade, and had to do a double take when this game popped up for review. I did get a chuckle or two when a character I remembered popped up, or used a move I remembered from way back, but I mostly went into this game blind. I knew about American Beetle and Dr. Cube, but never before saw direct interactions between them on this level. KBB on its own is something that people can jump in and out of casually, and I think that works perfectly when adapting it into a video game. Fans of the franchise will probably get more of the inside jokes, but this truly is a great 16-bit inspired RPG all on its own. It's worth playing by its own merits, and its silly story is enjoyable even if you know nothing about the characters or their relationships before the opening cutscene. Seeing as KBB had its heyday nearly twenty years ago, I think that plenty of existing fans will be in my boat anyway. They may remember watching a few moments from the DVDs here and there, and maybe recall reading the book at one point, but they'll most likely be going in on a level similar to newcomers. My point to all this is that I'm of the mind that Kaiju Big Battel: Fighto Fantasy works perfectly fine as a standalone game, and players shouldn't look the other way simply because it's technically a licensed game. Then again, I'm willing to bet that a lot of potential players haven't even heard of Kaiju Big Battel before, so maybe this entire bit in the review is for naught... Anyway, let's move on!
Kaiju Big Battel has been hitting out of the park so far, and that trend continues as we move into discussing its graphics. This game's visual style borders between something that could've pushed the SNES to its limits, or maybe had an easy pixel-based life as an early PS1 game. It wears its inspirations on its sleeve, and most everything about the game looks and feels unique in some way. I do think some of the settings you go to in-game are a bit on the generic side, but the character and monster designs more than make up for it. Some are outright silly, others make no sense, but there's no denying that there was creativity behind their creation. I do feel a little mixed giving credit for things that came from earlier parts of the franchise, but I guess that doesn't really matter since it would've still been original at some point. All of this adds up to a game that essentially feels like a long-lost 16-bit era RPG, albeit one with slightly more modern humor. There's also a lot of references to other games to found in the visuals themselves. The party menu looks a lot like what was used in early Final Fantasy games, cutscenes feel like they could've been taken from a '90s arcade fighting game, and the arcades in the Hero HQ are obvious references to Space Invaders and BurgerTime. The aesthetics are all captured perfectly, and I really can't find any negative point to bring up beyond what I've already said. Even then, I have to point out that most area maps are on the small and boring side, but there are quite a few of them, and many still manage to look great. No matter how you cut it, Kaiju Big Battel really knows how to put on a great show!

I hate to jump from blind praise to blind praise, but I'm about to rant and rave regarding how awesome Kaiju Big Battel's soundtrack is. The music found in this game is a mix of all sorts of classic video game music genres, with some tracks feeling like they'd be at home in a SquareSoft RPG, and others feeling like they could've been taken from console beat 'em ups like Battletoads or Final Fight. It's a great mix of music that never disappoints, and part of me wonders if any of it was taken from other parts of the franchise's history. I have very little recollection of the music from back then, but if it's anywhere near as great as the music here is, I think I'll have to hunt down some of those old soundtracks! Not only is the music great, but the sound effects are too. Smacks sound meaty, and there's a silliness to everything that you can only achieve with great sound design. I guess the only thing that's missing here would be a few compressed voice samples, but those might've been left out for the sake of authenticity. I still would've loved to hear some crunchy one-liners here and there, but I guess I can't fault a game for sticking to their guns when it comes to recapturing a particular time and place in gaming history.
I'll admit that I went into Kaiju Big Battel thinking that it would be a quick game, but I was shocked to find out that it's actually a decently long RPG. Most players will be able to complete the game in about 10-15 hours, depending on the difficulty chosen. I went back and forth in difficulty options myself, and I did my best to uncover all of the game's secrets. I was pushing into the high teens, and I still have a few more hours to put in before I hit that 100%. I didn't think the game would latch onto me how it did, and it's become my favorite piece of Kaiju Big Battel media in general. If I looked at it from that viewpoint alone, I'd say that its $19.99 price point is more than fair, but there's more to it than just that. Worth it not, this is a port of a nearly ten year old game, and one would imagine that it would've seen a drop in price over the years. Not only did it not drop in price one bit, but it actually DOUBLED when it made the move to consoles. Kaiju Big Battel: Fighto Fantasy is available on Steam for just $9.99 at the time of this writing, and it's also 60% off at the moment due to the Steam Summer Sale. I had a blast during my time with the game, but I don't think there's any reason for that sort of price jump. Those looking to play it will have to make a choice as to whether or not the console experience is worth the increased cost, though I'm willing to bet that there are some potential players who think I'm making a big deal out of nothing regarding the price.
Even though I have a couple issues here and there, I still think that Kaiju Big Battel: Fighto Fantasy is worth picking up for fans of retro-inspired RPGs, and anyone who has fond memories of Kaiju Big Battel. Not only is the game clever, funny, and fast-paced, but it also made me nostalgic for early 2000s media. That said, this is a game that will be most entertaining to those who are already familiar with the franchise, but newcomers will find lots to love here as well. I'm still not totally sure it's worth grabbing on consoles, but I'd say pick it up on whatever platform you wish if money is no object to you. If it is, then maybe look into getting it on Steam instead. I hope that this re-release means that we'll get more Kaiju Big Battel media soon, though that might be wishful thinking. On that note, I think my review is done, and I'm going to go dig up my old KBB DVDs. See you in the next one! 

Check Out Kaiju Big Battel: Fighto Fantasy on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/kaiju-big-battel-fighto-fantasy-switch/
Story: A+
Gameplay: A
Graphics: A+
Music/Sound: A+
Value: B

Overall: A

Pros:
+ A very unique RPG that can easily be enjoyed by already existing fans and newcomers alike.
+ Has a fun and silly story that isn't afraid to poke fun at itself and the tropes it delves into.
+ Easily changeable difficulty settings mean that this game is accessible to players of all skill levels.
+ Overworld character abilities, plenty of sidequests and secrets, and more, make this a game full of replayability.
+ Perfectly captures the 16-bit RPG aesthetic. This could very well be a long-lost SNES title.
+ Has an amazing soundtrack that full of music that sounds like could've come from several retro gaming genres.

+/- It's awesome remembering how great Kaiju Big Battel is in general!

Cons:
- I'm no stranger to console taxes, but being double the price it is on Steam just feels wrong.
- Since the game relies heavily on humor, some players might not have as much fun with it as others will.
- Even though the difficulty settings do a good job making the game playable for all, there are still some balance issues found in each of them.
- This isn't a real negative, but I never liked that NPC relationships can be ruined forever by a single dialogue choice.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.
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Playing this game did sober me up a bit...
#FightoFantasy
]]><![CDATA[Game Review: Alice Gear Aegis CS: Concerto of Simulatrix]]>Fri, 04 Jul 2025 07:00:00 GMThttp://a-to-jconnections.com/gaming/game-review-alice-gear-aegis-cs-concerto-of-simulatrixBy Al
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​Players: 1-6 (Local & Online)
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5

We're no strangers to fighting games that have an anime art style here at A-to-J, but Alice Gear Aegis CS: Concerto of Simulatrix is quite a bit different from what probably pops into your head when you think of that genre. Alice Gear Aegis CS: Concerto of Simulatrix (hereafter simply referred to as "Alice Gear Aegis") is an arena fighting game that released on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 last year. It's the first console release in a series of games that originated on mobile platforms. Hearing "mobile" anything will definitely put off a lot of people right away, but we're going to put that aside and take a look at the PS5 version today. This is going to be quite the ride, so let's get right into it!
Alice Gear Aegis has one of the wildest stories I've heard in a long while. At some point in the future, Earth is invaded by an alien species known as The Vice. The conflict that followed caused humanity to flee Earth via "Shards" left from the destruction of the moon. Centuries later humanity has developed weapons known as "Alice Gear", and are now able to hold their own against The Vice. These gears need people to man them, but they can only be operated by young women who have a latent ability that is needed to use them effectively. These young women are known as "Actresses". Actresses are more than just frontline fighters though, they also represent something akin to celebrities to the people of The Shards. While I can't say for sure what happened to The Vice (I swear the game just stopped mentioning them), the manufacturers behind the Alice Gear have decided to hold a tournament to find a spokesperson for their products. You play as a new employee of a small Actress agency called Narukozaka Manufacturing. Even though Earth is a distant memory, The Shards have largely come to represent places that existed on it centuries before. The Shard the game takes place in is modeled after our present-day Tokyo (convenient!), and it's your job to see your client through the tournament. Your client of course being the Actress you pick in the game's Story Mode. There are 24 Actresses in game, and they all have their own reasons for being a part of the game's central tournament. Honestly, this set-up can be largely ignored, and it's mentioned very little in-game beyond the intro to the Story Mode. Seeing as the individual interactions between the Actresses is what you'll see the most of here, I can't help but wish that the game chose to focus on its characters rather than a convoluted set-up. I kept expecting the Story Mode to take a twist, and The Vice to start an attack or something, but we get none of that here. Maybe that tale is covered in one of the mobile games, or maybe The Vice are all long dead. While I don't know much about any of that, I guess I'll do what this game did and just ignore it and move on.
It's been a while since I've played a 3D fighting game, so while I don't have a lot of recent examples to compare it to, I found that I really enjoyed Alice Gear Aegis' take on the genre. Battles can take place as 1v1, 3v3, or even a 6-person Battle Royale. The latter two have a few additional gameplay elements that make them unique, but they all play relatively similar enough to each other that most of what I'm going to say applies across the board. Each battle takes place in a large arena, with some of them having stage hazards that can be used to block enemy attacks. You're able to move freely around the field in just about any direction, but actually moving directly towards your opponent is a little tricky. That might sound counterintuitive, but it's because most of the combat is meant to take place long range. There are melee attacks you can perform, but you'll largely be using the gun in your hands to be doing a lot of the fighting. The gun you have changes depending on the Actress you're using, but you can eventually equip everyone with any weapon in the game. Each weapon has their own fire rate, damage output, ammo, accuracy, and reload time. Though this might sound a little complicated right off the bat, the weapon varieties follow all the rules that you'd expect, such as the fastest weapons being the weakest, the strongest being the slowest, and so on. You also have gears equipped to each of your legs, and these are always more powerful attacks that have a longer cooldown time. The only other form of normal attack worth discussing here is the aforementioned melee attacks, and these have can be light to heavy as well in terms of speed and damage. Performing a melee attack obviously means you'll have to be face-to-face with your opponent, so part of the lead up to the attack is flying directly into the threat range of the opposing Actress. This creates a sort of risk/reward scenario as melee attacks are often far easier to land, and can be linked together into a small combo. That's about all there is worth mentioning for offensive moves, but there's a lot more to discuss as far as the combat is concerned.

Each Actress has a bar that represents your HP. HP values vary between Actresses, and they can be adjusted slightly by equipping skill modules. No matter the amount of HP though, losing it all means a battle is lost. You can hold off attacks by dodging, which uses up a meter so you can't do it indefinitely, and by blocking with a shield. The shield will be your best friend if used correctly, but you can't rely on it too much as it can be broken by strong or repeated attacks. Some attacks can even leave you stunned, but weirdly this can't be taken advantage of as stunned Actresses are rendered temporarily invincible. Managing an Actresses HP works a little differently if you're fighting team-vs-team as you can actually recover a small amount of damage by cycling in another team member. Team battles are also the place where you'll most likely to use your special meter, as you can use a small amount of it to call in a team assist. This same meter is also used to perform a special move that different for each Actress. These are often very powerful attacks, but others do things like make you invincible, allow you to instantly break shields, and other specific things like that. I didn't mention it earlier since I wanted to cover it along with the team mechanics, but these specials can also be used in solo matches. In my experience though, few solo matches last long enough for the meter to reach its peak. The only other thing that makes team battles different is that all Actresses must be defeated to win. Though it's unlikely, you can pull off a 1v3 win in the eleventh hour if you're lucky or skilled. And just to be thorough before we wrap up combat, Battle Royale plays the same as all other modes, but it's each Actress for themselves, even if they're facing off against former team members. The only unique mechanic to be found in Battle Royale is one that allows you to switch the opponent you're currently targeting. And that's about it as far as fighting mechanics go. It's a pretty simple system to learn, but it has enough depth that it can take quite a while to master.
Most of the game modes in Alice Gear Aegis revolve around straightforward combat, either local or online. By that I mean you'll mostly be performing a lot of individual fights in a perpetual loop of exhibition matches. If you want to know what the game is really about, you're going to have to hit up the Story Mode. This mode sees you pick a single Actress and see her through the tournament. It's also the only time where you'll realize that you're supposed to be playing an actual role in the story yourself, as the Actress you pick will speak directly to you at certain points. Even though you're only picking a single girl, you actually get to play with the team that she's a part of. Each Actress' Story Mode has visual novel-style cutscenes that explain their backstories and reasons for becoming an Actress. Though they're quite the varied lot, don't expect any masterful storytelling here. Still, I have to give the game credit for essentially creating 24 full stories. Though you'll still be doing a lot of fighting in Story Mode, you progress through the tournament on a board game-style map. Each space on the map represents a battle, an item pickup, or a teleporter. Item pickups are self-explanatory, teleporters allow you to explore off the main path while still being able to return for key battles, and battles can either be solo or team. Though all the story-related tournament battles will be done by your entire team, the vast majority will be solo battles. This actually makes Story Mode somewhat more challenging as some fight pairings can feel almost one-sided. It was in this mode that I realized that much of the game operated on a sort of rock-paper-scissors type mechanic, and you lose the ability to match types in solo fights. Though there's a lot of extra fluff along the way, all you really have to do in Story Mode is win every fight. Though winning them all is a must, there are only three fights that have story bits attached to them. That means that this tournament basically consists of the Preliminaries, the Semi-Finals, and the Finals. Pretty simple stuff, and you can get a lot of rewards for playing this mode. What rewards you ask? Well, let's talk about that next.

Customization is the name of the game in Alice Gear Aegis, and you're able to change just about every aspect of each Actress. You're able to change their gear, their weapons, and even add some skill modules that alter their stats. This is probably too complicated to explain in a review, so suffice it to say that you're able to create a very powerful team once you understand what gear/weapon types work best together. When I said you could customize just about every aspect of an Actress, I meant it, as you can change their clothes and accessories to your heart's content. You can put them all in maid outfits, swimsuits, or even bunny ears, the possibilities are (somewhat) endless. All of these items are purchased with credits that you get for completing matches. You can also get some of the items for free in the Story Mode, as that's what the item spaces I mentioned earlier are for. It is an odd system though, as you're required to purchase most of the items individually for each girl. This isn't the case for all things like gears and skill modules, but expect to spend a lot of time amassing enough money to buy outfits for each and every girl. What's interesting is that the changes you make to each girl stay throughout all the offline game modes. This means that if you customize each and every Actress, you'll face them in combat in whatever costume/accessory combo you made for them. A very neat mechanic, even if it can be a little pointless. Unfortunately cosmetic changes don't affect the Story Mode's cutscenes, but I guess that might be asking for a bit too much. Though a side thing for sure, unlocking all the customization options is essentially the only real "goal" in the game.
I guess it's time to move on and talk about the game's visuals for a bit. The fact that Alice Gear Aegis started life as a mobile game was very apparent as soon as I started playing the game. Though I'm mainly talking about the casual-friendly gameplay mechanics, I also mean the simplistic nature of the graphics and menus. I don't want to make it sound like this game is particularly ugly or anything, but it has a generic-ness that can't be overlooked. I mentioned earlier that the Story Mode didn't offer anything too deep, and part of that is because most of the characters follow very standardized character tropes. There's an idol, a delinquent, a gyaru, a country girl, and so on. These aren't just things you have to discover in the Story Mode either, I had most of their characteristics down simply by looking at them. I say that, but it might actually be hard to tell the Actresses apart in their default forms as they all look rather similar to each other beyond their hair color. This extends into the gears they're equipped with too, as they pretty much look the same across all 24 girls. It gets even worse once you realize that you always seem to fighting in the same arenas over and over again. There are actually only 10 arenas in the entire game, and some of them are variants of each other. I actually assumed I was missing something in my first few hours with the game, but nope, the game is just that limited. Thankfully the graphics are saved by things like the decently animated cutscenes, the sheer amount of character customization, and the fact that the game runs silky smooth no matter what nonsense is happening on screen. I just wish that the game offered a more visually appealing experience. These girls definitely deserve it. 

I initially was going to say that I felt the same way about the music as I did about the graphics, but I actually grew to appreciate the music the more I played the game. I use a term called "visual novel music" a lot when I review games of that genre, and much of the music here feels like it's ripped directly from an upbeat visual novel. This isn't a bad thing at all mind you, it's just a style of music that works for what it is. This means the soundtrack is largely inoffensive and settles nicely in the background where it doesn't bother anyone. Alice Gear Aegis may not have a soundtrack where you'll be remember tracks long after you're done with the game, but there also won't be any parts of it that make you reach for the mute button. Rounding out the audio experience is the game's voice acting, and it's here where I think the real magic lies. Just about every part of the game is voiced, and each role is played so perfectly that I almost feel bad for implying that the characters were rather generic earlier. If you're looking for a dub though, you won't find it here. There's only a Japanese-language option, but I wouldn't give up this cast for the world, as they all fit their characters perfectly. I guess this all boils down to me having to say that I feel that music and sound are arguably the best aspects of this game, even if I don't have a lot of things specifically to rave about.
This is the part of the review where I talk about game content, replayability, and how all that compares to cost. I originally wanted to open this section by saying that the game offers a rather hollow experience that is only kept alive by the various versus modes on offer. That changed when as I played through more and more of the game's Story Modes. The sheer amount to see and do here is insane for those only wanting to play the single player offerings, and that gets multiplied by a 100 once you take on other opponents in-game. I actually was surprised that I was able to find a few matches online, as I assumed this would be a game where I'd have to hunt down other owners of the game and schedule a match. I got absolutely trashed in the handful of online matches I took on, but it was fun playing a game like this against human opponents. I also tried local multiplayer with some friends and can report that it plays just as well as online mode, but with the added bonus of making the wins/losses personal. Since every girl falls into what is essentially an anime trope, you can have the true "Battle of The Anime Waifus" contest weebs everywhere want. Jokes and hyperbole aside, its current $29.99 price tag is the perfect price point for the amount of content you get here. I have to knock a small point off because there is some over-priced DLC available that only offers a handful of new costumes, but I guess you don't have to get it if you don't want. That said, I have to admit that there's a very good chance I'm going to grab that DLC at some point down the line just because I'm digging this game so much.
If you're a fan of anime, fighting games, or even multiplayer party games, then picking up Alice Gear Aegis CS: Concerto of Simulatrix is practically a must-do. Even casual players, or those who are looking to get their next visual novel fix, will likely find something to enjoy here. It does have a few presentation issues, and its roots as a mobile game are readily apparent, but it's also lots of fun to play, and that's most important at the end of the day. Pick it up now, and be sure thank me by challenging me to a match online! I'll be waiting with my favorite idol, Touka!

Check Out Alice Gear Aegis CS: Concerto of Simulatrix on Playstation:
https://store.playstation.com/en-ca/concept/10003388
Story: B+
Gameplay: B
Graphics: B
Music/Sound: A
Value: A-

Overall: A

Pros:
+ A fun arena fighting game that has a variety of multiplayer options.
+ Lots of customization for each of the characters that affect both cosmetics and gameplay.
+ The Story Mode really does flesh out of the characters in the game.
+ The sheer amount of characters mean that most players will find ones that suit them best.

Cons:
- I was not at all surprised to learn that this originated as a mobile game.
- While the Story Mode does flesh out each of the characters, it does not do the same for the game's world itself.
- The loop of unlocking customization options can feel very repetitive after a while.
- There really isn't a lot of content here to keep anyone to keep people playing once they've tried their hand in all the game modes.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.
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It really is!
#AliceGearAegisCS
]]><![CDATA[Game Review: Blankspace]]>Thu, 03 Jul 2025 07:00:00 GMThttp://a-to-jconnections.com/gaming/game-review-blankspaceBy Al
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Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, XBox One, XBox Series XS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5

We review a lot of visual novels here at A-to-J, and it always a treat when one stands out from the crowd. Blankspace is a cross between an escape room simulator and a visual novel, and it's out now on just about all major platforms. It's developed by NoBreadStudio, and published on consoles by Penguin Pop Games, and we're going to be taking a look at it on the PlayStation 4. There's a lot to get into with this one, so let's just get right to the review!
Blankspace's plot is quite a weird one, and I can't really give away many details without spoiling some of its best moments. I guess I do have to cover it at least a bit, but don't take my vagueness as an indication of a weak plot; it's anything but that. Blankspace puts you into the shoes of a guy named Chris who wakes up handcuffed to a pipe. Horrible as this situation may be, at least he's not alone. Joining him in this room is a girl currently asleep on a couch across the room, a couch which she is also handcuffed to. The movement causes her to stir, and the girl introduces herself as Beryl. Though in the same bind as Chris is, she seems to know a bit about what's going on. She doesn't really give too much away though, and they do have bigger fish to fry at the moment. Together they figure out the puzzle required to get to the keys that will unlock their handcuffs, but they soon realize that they'll have to solve many more puzzles to get out of the room that they're seemingly trapped in. Speaking of that room, it's plain, grey, and seemingly devoid of life. Depending on choices the player makes, the duo can become unlikely friends, or they can remain untrusting of each other. Chris knows that he needs Beryl's help, but she's clearly hiding a lot from him. There isn't a whole lot of time to deal with the secrets though, as the puzzles in each room keep ramping up in terms of complexity. Who is Beryl? Why are they here? Who set this all up? Those questions are answered eventually, but it takes a while for things to get going. Chris can barely remember what happened the night before, so there's quite a bit to sort out first. It also doesn't help that the rooms seem to change on their own too...
I'll circle back around to the story in a bit, but I want to cover gameplay first. Much of the game is played in a visual novel format, complete with dialogue trees and multiple choice responses. These sections are exactly what you'd expect: Two character portraits talking over a static background. There's nothing wrong with that gameplay formula, but Blankspace delivers something that is far more unique than your standard visual novel. In between the dialogue sections, you're allowed to freely roam around the rooms in an adventure game-style format. Each room will have several areas to explore, and they'll also be packed with puzzles, hints, and necessary items. Your goal will always be to get to the next room, but that typically involves a string of puzzles that often culminate in a very big one that often uses several of the separate gameplay elements. The puzzles are also quite varied, with some involving math, sequences and logic, and even classic inventory puzzles too. It all comes together to make a really neat system, though I do think that there's more than a little moon logic going on with some of the solutions. I don't want to get into specifics, but there were some puzzles that I still don't know how the answer works. (Some I cleared through simple trial and error!) There isn't really a hint system either, though Beryl will help you out in certain situations. I don't want to make the game sound impossibly hard, but it just might push your brain to its limits more than once.

I've played many games that have mixed together visual novels with other gameplay genres, but something about Blankspace's combination of gameplay strikes me as particularly unique. The escape room subgenre of adventure games isn't exactly unknown to me, but it is one of my favorites. I'm a sucker for adventure games in general, but I love ones that basically place you into a locked room that you have to work your way out of. This is funny since I actually can't stand escape rooms in real life. Not only did I find a visual novel themed escape room to be quite entertaining, but it has a lot going for it beyond that. The puzzles all seem very well thought out, and some (sort of) have multiple solutions. There are also several puzzles that require backtracking, or the use of items that you thought were red herrings. It's not exactly a completely open-ended game, but there is a lot of freedom in how you go about completing your tasks. My only real gripe with the gameplay would have to be the overall length of the game. Blankspace is a pretty short experience all things considered, and there were far less rooms to escape from than I was expecting when I booted up the game. This limitation is probably due to reasons I'll get to in just a second, but it didn't change the fact that I was left wanting more.
I really don't want to get too deep into Blankspace's plot, but there are some parts that I think warrant further discussion. I just mentioned the game's length, and I'm pretty sure that it had to be short due to the story it’s telling. It's not that the plot is simple or direct, but it doesn't really leave a lot of room for fluff. Halfway through the game you'll learn most of the secrets behind what's going on, and that's also another slight negative. While there were still some twists to be had in the second half of the game, Blankspace reveals most of its hand quite early. The mid-game revelations were so intense that I actually thought the game was coming to an end then and there. It would've made it almost unreasonably short, but I didn't really see how the game could continue. Continue it did though, and there were still plenty of puzzles to finish. I don't want to make it seem like I thought the game's writing was bad, since I think it's the exact opposite of that if anything, but it felt strange to reveal so much, so early. Having said all that, I do think the twists were quite shocking, and I grew to care about both characters by the end. Neither is particularly likable in the traditional sense, but there's a realness about them that makes them endearing despite that. It's not often that a game leaves me wanting to know more about what the characters after the game or before it, but that's what happened here. Though the plot and gameplay both have their own issues, I still feel like they combine to make this one of the best games I've played in recent memory. Yeah, that's a crazy thing to say partway into a review, but maybe I'm taking a page from the Blankspace playbook.
With plot and gameplay covered, let's move towards presentation. Discussing the graphics of Blankspace is a bit difficult, since the game world is pretty bland on the surface. Everything is very grey, and there isn't a lot of detail in the environments themselves. There are also only two characters, and I have mixed feelings on their designs. Beryl is fine for the most part, though there were times where I felt the fan service was laid on just a little too thick. Chris, on the other hand, is another matter entirely. I'm not sure if I'm just reading too much into it, but Chris looks like Squall, but if Squall were ripped straight from the pages of a "How to Draw Anime" book. It's not just the hair and jacket either, as his mannerisms made me wonder if that's what an IRL, club-visiting Squall would be like. I don't want to make it seem like I hated the designs through and through, and there's lots of other things worth praising too. Bland or not, the game world does contain plenty of small details, and it also mixes in 3D objects in a way that makes them stand in sharp contrast to the 2D characters. This otherworldly look adds to the overall unsettling atmosphere, and I thought it was a really cool touch. The overly grey world also allows the few splashes of color to take center stage whenever they do show up. Add in the sheer variety in the character portraits and CGs, and you got a decent looking game.

Even though I just ranted about the graphics not being the best, I unfortunately have to do the same thing in regards to the game's sound. Blankspace features a soundtrack mixed so low, that I actually wondered if it even had music at all. I played through the entire game without even noticing any bit of it, and realized I couldn't recall a single piece of music for this review. I actually had to go back to the game just now to check it out, and I still don't know what to say about it. Calling the music "atmospheric" may feel like a cop out, but that's really what it is. It exists to exist, and it's more random sounds than memorable melodies. At the very least, I can say that it doesn't get in the way of the gameplay, and the clicks and beeps that come with completing some of the puzzles were very satisfying. Unfortunately those are pretty much all the sounds you get, as there is also no voice acting here at all. I of course wasn't expecting to find fully voiced dialogue in an indie game like this, but it always feels like a missed opportunity when a game with such a small cast doesn't have it. A mixed bag overall, but I guess I've heard worse.
I already mentioned that Blankspace was a short game, as I was able to clear it in a bit under three hours. I did get stuck on a few puzzles here and there, so I assume that my time is about the average. Some players will have more or less depending on reading speed and puzzle solving skills, but I think you get the idea. There are several endings to get though, so there's plenty of replayability. I'm not totally sure what all the endings entail, but I do know that there is a "true" one, and that's the one I managed to get on my first playthrough. This is one of those games that I like to compare to watching a movie, and with that in mind, I think its current price tag of $9.99 is pretty much perfect. It also is the same price across the board, and didn't pick up any extra dollars when it made the jump from Steam to consoles. I am sad that the text-only epilogue DLC didn't make the transition, but said DLC was also 18+, so it's understandable. Short is relative, and I do think you get a lot of bang for your buck here. There are even some bonus spot-the-difference puzzles for those looking for a little more, though I personally didn't bother with them since I'm not really a fan.
Even though Blankspace falters a bit on the presentation side of things, I still think that's it's one of the best games I've played so far this year. That's pretty much solely due to its plot and unique gameplay elements, though the entire package is pretty great all around. Fans of visual novels and adventure games will want to pick it up right now, with special mention given to those who are fans of escape room mechanics. There really aren't many games out there like this one, and I'm glad this game fell into my lap for review. It totally surprised me with how good it is, and I think it'll do the same for you. Grab it now on whatever platform you can, and thank me later. See you in the next one.

Check Out Blankspace on PlayStation:
https://store.playstation.com/en-us/concept/10011484/
Story: A
Gameplay: A-
Graphics: B
Music/Sound: B
Value: A

Overall: A

Pros:
+ A unique mix of escape room puzzles, adventure game mechanics, and visual novel art and dialogue scenes.
+ The plot is free of fluff, well-written, and full of twists that are sure to shock the player.
+ The puzzles really make one think, and are quite challenging in a good way.
+ Though the cast and setting are small, there's something about the game that will make you care about the two characters before long.
+ Multiple endings, plenty of optional dialogue sequences, and even bonus puzzles, make this one highly replayable.

+/- It is worth mentioning that the game does deal with some heavy topics such as abuse, depression, and suicide. Discretion is advised.

Cons:
- The graphics are a bit on the bland side.
- Not only is the music barely there, but there also isn't any voiced dialogue either.
- While I'm not exactly surprised that the Steam DLC was not included, I do find it sad that we don't get the text-only epilogue that it provided.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.
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I make my best decisions drunk, thank you very much!
#Blankspace
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