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It's Prinny Making A Splash d00d!

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Developed by Nippon Ichi Software and published by NIS America, Disgaea 7: Vows of The Virtueless is the latest entry in the long-running Strategy RPG series and is a return to greatness for the franchise with great gameplay and a story that will have fans grinning from ear-to-ear. Is this enough to recommend the game? Absolutely, and here's why:



The story in Disgaea 7: Vows of The Virtueless is amazing with tons of references to past entries in the series and a strong cast of quirky and lovable characters causing mischief and mayhem in their wake! The gameplay is also fantastic with tweaked battlefield features as well as gigantification which allows your characters to grow to unimaginable sizes to wreak havoc on the battlefield for a limited time.

The controls are responsive and easy to learn and the game is a time-sink to complete! While you can beat the story in a couple dozen hours if you try to power through the game, in order to do everything it'll take players upwards to hundreds of hours!



As for the audiovisual-presentation of Disgaea 7: Vows of The Virtueless? They are fantastic with gorgeous story backgrounds, gorgeous 3D characters, and eye-popping special effects. While there are some slight fram-rate dips, the game runs quite a bit better than Disgaea 6 did on the Nintendo Switch!

As for the audio side of things? The voice acting is great in a 90's Saturday morning cartoon sort of way which fits this kind of game perfectly! The music and sound effects also hit the right notes and give this game a lot of character!



Bottom-Line: With and amazing story, awesome gameplay, flawless controls, and a fantastic audiovisual presentation, Disgaea 7: Vows of The Virtueless is one Strategy RPG on the Nintendo Switch that is an absolute must for all fans of the genre and as such we give the game a nearly perfect level of recommendation!

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Score: ★★★★★★★★★¾ 9.75/10

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#Review #NISA #NipponIchiSoftware #Switch #Retail #eShop #PS4 #PSn #PSN #SRPG

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Soaring High In The Azure Sky!

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Developed by Nihon Falcom and published by NIS America, The Legend of Heroes: Trails To Azure is the thrilling conclusion of the Crossbell story arc in the long-running Trails series, and it might be one of the best on a storytelling standpoint! Continue reading the rest of our review to get the full scoop regarding our thoughts and opinions of this game and how it stacks up to its predecessor, The Legend of Heroes: Trails From Zero!



The story in The Legend of Heroes: Trails To Azure picks up a few months after the events in The Legend of Heroes: Trails From Zero, and is a substantial step-up in relevance to the Trails of Cold Steel series which most of you are likely more familiar with. This game will likely fill in a lot of the blanks that were caused due to the Crossbell games not being localized till now, and the new members of the SSS, Noel Seeker and Wazy Hemisphere really add a lot to the game with their personalities, strengths, and weaknesses. This game ties up most of the loose ends and will set players up to be fully informed of the lore for when The Legend of Heroes: Trails Into Reverie releases in July in the Western Wazysphere, bad puns aside Azure has some of the finest storytelling in the history of the series and has enough twists and turns to keep players on the edge of their seats!

The gameplay in Trails To Azure is absolutely amazing and adds a ton of new nuances such as decking out and riding the new Orbal car. The origin of Master Quartz is revealed as the feature from The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel made its debut in this title, giving characters a much higher degree of customization which is always a good thing! In-terms of content, the game is loaded, taking 50-60 hours to beat, while completionists can expect around 100+ hours to see everything The Legend of Heroes: Trails To Azure has to offer! The controls in the game are intuitive and just as easy to use as they were in Trails From Zero.



As for the visual presentation of the game? The visual novel cutscenes look a bit more vibrant this time and the characters have a few extra expressions which is a nice touch. The rest of the game has a bit more polish in the visual department with extra details in the character sprites and textures, as well as a bit flashier special effects which add some extra flare to the overall nice looking game!

As for the audio presentation, Trails To Azure has one of the best soundtracks in the entire series, especially the battle and boss themes which are REAL bangers and set the mood for the entire game! The voice acting again is in Japanese with no English option which is a bit disappointing, but expected from a budget standpoint to make localizing these older games a bit more cost effective. The sound effects are quite good as well, adding to the overall audio presentation!



Bottom-Line: With an amazing story, excellent gameplay, and a flawless audiovisual-presentation, The Legend of Heroes: Trails To Azure is a masterpiece in every conceivable way and will draw in any player willing to give the game a shot and as such we give the game a perfect level of recommendation for all PS4 and Switch owners!

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Score: ★★★★★★★★★★ 10/10

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#Review #NISAmerica #NISA #NihonFalcom #PS4 #PSN #Switch #eShop #JRPG #Kiseki

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Trails From Tio-Tot!

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Developed by Nihon Falcom Games and published in the West by NIS America, The Legend of Heroes: Trails From Zero is the first game in the long-awaited and previously skipped story arc in the series "at least outside of Japan" starring Lloyd Bannings, Elie MacDowel, Randy Orlando, and Tio Plato formally known as the Special Support Section A.K.A. the SSS. Their job is to restore the Crossbell PD's broken reputation and help civilians in need, but things aren't always so simple. There's a HUGE reason why the Crossbell games are so well-loved and are necessary to understand the series' overarching story in both Cold Steel III & IV as well as in Reverie, and Kuro I & II. Singularly Crossbell's storyline might be the most important one to the series' story as whole. While we obviously can't spoil major story content, we can at least give context as to why. As always continue reading our review to find out why and we hope you enjoy it!



The story in Trails from Zero is absolutely amazing, taking the storytelling of the Sky games and upping the bar several fold. It's an extremely important chapter for giving context in future installments of the series as well such as Trails of Cold Steel III & IV and it is recommended you play this and Azure first if you haven't played anything past Trails of Cold Steel II yet. The gameplay is quite interesting and differs quite a bit from the Cold Steel arc, but is also a bit different from the formula seen in the Sky arc as well.

The battles are also much improved over the Sky Trilogy's, but uses the same engine with grid based movement. There are a bunch of new nuances, but the UI and targeting are far better in Zero. It's really just a ton of small changes that culminate into a much better experience overall. The game even features a trophy system that pops a notification when you earn a trophy and is a nice touch for sure, something we'd like to see used more often in Switch games. The game also features a speed mode to increase gameplay speed from 2-8x normal speed which is a HUGE time-saver for sure, especially when the game itself clocks in at around 100 hours in length give or take 40 hours depending on your pacing.



The audiovisual presentation is really good in this remaster with sharp high quality HD textures, character models, and enemies, gorgeous special effects with equally good lighting and shadowing effects. It is honestly hard to imagine at its core it ever was a PSP title. And the music is exceptional as well with loads of bangers that fit the game like a glove! Overall the game's presentation is a HUGE step-up from the Sky games and looks gorgeous in this remaster!



Bottom-Line: With great gameplay and a ton of content, an amazing story, and a masterpiece of an audiovisual presentation, The Legend of Heroes: Trails From Zero is a nearly flawless game from start to finish, and just barely fails to reach the heights of the Cold Steel games "with the exception of Trails of Cold Steel I which we gave a 7/10 for being a SUPER slow burner in-terms of how quickly or lack thereof the story pacing was in the game". Overall we give this game a nearly perfect level of recommendation!

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Score: ★★★★★★★★★½ 9.5/10

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#Review #NihonFalcom #NISA #Kiseki #Trails #JRPG #Switch #Retail #eShop #PS4 #PSN #SpecialSupportSection #Geofront

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A Journey That Any Archeologist Would Absolutely Love!

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Developed by Nigoro Games and published by NIS America, La-Mulana is a remake of a 2005 freeware pc title with vastly improved graphics and music and is an enhanced port of the WiiWare and Vita versions of the game. The WiiWare version of the game saw many delays and the previous publisher even cancelled the North American and European releases, luckily EnjoyUp games picked up the game and it was finally released in North America and Europe in 2012. Is this game worth checking out? Continue reading our review to find out!



Story and Gameplay

The story in La-Mulana is fairly important despite how it feels, the story and events often uncover clues to difficult puzzles so the difficulty of the game can vary depending on how well you pay attention to what's going on around you. The game is a platformer that feels a lot like an Indiana Jones meets Metroid style of game with tricky puzzles, platforming, and treasure hunting this game will never leave you bored!

The bosses in the game can be nightmarishly difficult or very easy depending on your weapon choices so be sure to not use up all of a particular sub weapon before fighting the boss of a temple.

A word to the wise collect the item near the start of the game because without it you may need to backtrack or worse yet could end up stuck in a pit or other trap with no way out forcing you to reset the game!



Also avoid a particular item in The Temple of The Giants that will literally tell you not to open it and if you don't heed this warning the game will unleash Anubus like reapers everywhere that are virtually immortal and can one-hit K-O you regardless of how much health you possess and it will remain like this for the rest of the game making it nigh impossible for all, but the most skilled players to beat. We left this out in our previous reviews of La-Mulana, but we thought to ourselves, who doesn't like a free tip?

A unique feature in La-Mulana is the .EXE system that grants you power-ups from .EXE files that can be found, but your cpu memory is limited so don't expect to use every good .EXE file you find at the same time.

The game is very long and can easily take more than 40 hours to beat, but can take over 80 hours for completionists to collect every item and fully explore every area in the game which is absolutely incredible!



Graphics and Music

The graphics in the Nintendo Switch port have been slightly improved over the WiiWare and Vita versions of the game as the details are breath-taking as every single area looks not only beautiful, but also completely unique with so many background objects and enemy designs you'll wonder how Nigoro put so much detail into a retro-styled MetroidVania!

The soundtrack is quite possibly the most impressive feature of La-Mulana as there are easily 50+ music tracks in the game and every one of them sounds like something straight from a PS1 platformer! How Nigoro managed this we'll never know, but you won't hear a better sounding CD quality 8-bit soundtrack very often on the eShop!



The Switch Difference: The Switch version comes with the usual handheld mode upgrade which is done really well with little to no difference in frame-rate or visual quality. There is a negative and that is the Joycons' abysmal d-pad which is extremely cumbersome in this game. If you play on Switch either the handheld exclusive Switch Lite or Switch Pro Controller is recommended.

Bottom Line

With fun, yet challenging gameplay and unrivaled retro graphics and soundtrack, La-Mulana is as fun as ever and with the added features as well as a boss rush and time trials mode as well as great arcade borders to replace the black bars on your screen, and the handheld mode on Switch is superb with little to no drops in frame-rate or graphical quality, however the Joycon d-pad will prove frustrating to those without a Switch Pro Controller or Switch Lite. The addition of being able to play on-the-go with no reduction in the quality of the gameplay is what really gives this version a leg-up over the others and as such we give La-Mulana for the Nintendo Switch a nearly perfect level of recommendation to all Switch owners who enjoy a challenging MetroidVania!

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Score ★★★★★★★★★½ 9.5/10

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[size=18]#Review #NISA #Nigoro #Switch #eShop #PS4 #PSN #Platformer #MetroidVania #Adventure #Action

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This review can also be viewed here[/size]

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An Off-The-Rails Epic Adventure With Class VII!

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Developed by Nihon Falcom Games, the developer best-known in the western hemisphere for its Ys series. We have recently fallen in absolute love with the Trails series which is one of the most well thought out series we've ever experienced! Does the third entry in the Trails of Cold Steel arc of the series live up to the previous two games? We think so and here's why!

After a nearly three year wait, Class VII is finally back in session, but this time you, as Rean Shwarzer take on the role of instructor of the class in the newly built Thors Branch Campus. The game starts off quite similarly to the first Trails of Cold Steel title, and there are tons of nods and parallels to the first game between the storytelling and the structure of the game's chapters.



the game is a whopper in length as it can easily take well over 150 hours to do a 100% run and nearly 250 hours minimum to earn the platinum trophy. Divine Knight battles return, but the system has been streamlined and is much more fun this time around!

Battles have also been revamped with new turn bonuses as well as the new order command system that allows you to use BP to issue orders that grant beneficial buffs and effects for a set number of turns which adds another strategic layer to the series' already deceptively deep battles! The menues have been streamlined as well both in and outside of battles and visually look much tidier which is a nice touch!



The controls are flawless in this game and the game's difficulty is well-balanced regardless of which level of difficulty you select, though Nightmare is not recommended during your first playthrough. The visuals in this game are by far more detailed and gorgeous than the first two Cold Steel titles, with excellent lighting, and amazingly detailed textures and character models! The music is amazing as well, though a few of the best tracks are missing from previous games which is a shame, but otherwise the audio-visual presentation is simply flawless!



The Nintendo Switch Difference: The Switch version of the game brings with it a slight visual downgrade, but this pales in comparison to the improvement of the frame-rate when compared to the PS4 version. Gone are the slight frequent dips in frames and jerky movement, but even better is that you can play the game on the go with almost no drop in resolution or graphical quality compared to playing in docked mode. Overall we'd say the Switch version is the superior port of this game, the only downside is parts I & II still aren't available on Nintendo's hardware which needs to be rectified at some point.



Bottom-Line: With an amazing story, excellent gameplay, flawless controls, and an absolutely fantastic audio-visual presentation, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III is one of the best JRPG's of the generation and there's really no reason not to add it to your Nintendo Switch collection of games. better frame-rate and almost no drop in graphical quality in handheld mode make this version the definitive port of the game! We do highly recommend playing the first two Cold Steel games first, however. Overall we give the game a perfect level of recommendation!

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Score: ★★★★★★★★★★ 10/10

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#Review #NISA #NihonFalcom #Switch #eShop #PS4 #Retail #PSN #JRPG #PerfectScore

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A Landmark SRPG Series Returns!

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Developed by Chara-Ani Games and published by NIS America, Langrisser I & II are HD remakes of two iconic GENESIS/Megadrive SRPG's. Does this remake collection live up to the original releases? We think so, but you'll have to read the rest of our review to find out why!



Pre-dating the Western localization of the Fire Emblem series by more than a decade, the Langrisser series was the defacto go-to for strategy RPG fans outside of Japan, at least until Final Fantasy Tactics was released and even still this series was superior to FF Tactics in depth and strategic gameplay in many ways. The story, while good shows its age with very simple storytelling, which isn't necessarily a bad thing since the light story elements allow you to quickly get into the heart of the game which is its strategic gameplay!

As with any good strategy game you've got grid-based combat, units that can be promoted, tons of different unit classes, and a surprisingly good skill system with attacks, support, and even passive skills and attacks. The games are pretty long, with Langrisser I clocking in at 25 hours in length and its sequel Langrisser II clocking in at over a whopping 40 hours in length. The controls are easy to learn and are quite a bit better than those in the GENESIS versions of the games.



The game has a both modern and original audio and visual options which is a fantastic touch, while it's mostly fantastic some of the character sprites are pretty low quality and have a mobile freeware feel to them, but overall the visuals and soundtrack are top-notch!



Bottom-Line: With a good story, excellent gameplay and controls, and a mostly top-notch audio-visual presentation, Langrisser I & II is a superb title for any aficionado of SRPG's and RPG's in-general and as such we give the collection a great level of recommendation!

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Score: ★★★★★★★★★☆ 9/10

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#Review #NISA #CharaAniGames #SRPG #Strategy #PS4 #Switch #PSN #eShop

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A Journey That Any Archeologist Would Absolutely Love!

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Developed by Nigoro Games and published by NIS America, La-Mulana is a remake of a 2005 freeware pc title with vastly improved graphics and music and is an enhanced port of the WiiWare and Vita versions of the game. The WiiWare version of the game saw many delays and the previous publisher even cancelled the North American and European releases, luckily EnjoyUp games picked up the game and it was finally released in North America and Europe in 2012. Is this game worth checking out? Continue reading our review to find out!



Story and Gameplay

The story in La-Mulana is fairly important despite how it feels, the story and events often uncover clues to difficult puzzles so the difficulty of the game can vary depending on how well you pay attention to what's going on around you. The game is a platformer that feels a lot like an Indiana Jones meets Metroid style of game with tricky puzzles, platforming, and treasure hunting this game will never leave you bored!

The bosses in the game can be nightmarishly difficult or very easy depending on your weapon choices so be sure to not use up all of a particular sub weapon before fighting the boss of a temple.

A word to the wise collect the item near the start of the game because without it you may need to backtrack or worse yet could end up stuck in a pit or other trap with no way out forcing you to reset the game!

A unique feature in La-Mulana is the .EXE system that grants you power-ups from .EXE files that can be found, but your cpu memory is limited so don't expect to use every good .EXE file you find at the same time.

The game is very long and can easily take more than 40 hours to beat, but can take over 80 hours for completionists to collect every item and fully explore every area in the game which is absolutely incredible!



Graphics and Music

The graphics in the PS4 port have been slightly improved over the WiiWare and Vita versions of the as the details are breath-taking as every single area looks not only beautiful, but also completely unique with so many background objects and enemy designs you'll wonder how Nigoro put so much detail into a retro-styled MetroidVania!

The soundtrack is quite possibly the most impressive feature of La-Mulana as there are easily 50+ music tracks in the game and every one of them sounds like something straight from a PS1 platformer! How Nigoro managed this I'll never know, but you won't hear a better sounding 8-bit soundtrack very often on the eShop or PSN!



Bottom Line

With fun, yet challenging gameplay and unrivaled retro graphics and soundtrack, La-Mulana is as fun as ever and with the added features as well as a boss rush and time trials mode as well as great arcade borders to replace the black bars on your screen this is the definitive version of the game and as such we give the game a perfect level of recommendation!

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Score ★★★★★★★★★★ 10/10

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#Review #NISA #Nigoro #PS4 #PSN #Platformer #MetroidVania #Adventure #Action

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This review can also be viewed here

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Overlord of The Century!

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Developed and published by Nippon Ichi Software, Disgaea 4+ Complete is a collection that compiles Disgaea 4 and all of its DLC into a single bundle and to be honest it is an absolutely amazing deal! Continue reading our review to find out more about this fantastic title!



Disgaea has always been the epitome of excellence when is comes to Japanese strategy based tactical RPG's and this game is no different with a superb and zany story and excellent gameplay that we'll be talking about shortly, overall this game oozes of quality and any SRPG fan should checkout this amazing series!

Now as for the gameplay itself the game is split into a few different parts, a city hub where you shop, train your units, among other useful things, missions where you battle in strategic grid-based battles against enemy units, and there are online matches to test your mettle against other players! There are other gameplay modes as well, but these are the three primary sections of the game.



The hub of the game has a ton of various functions as is typical in the series, but there are new things to do such as expeditions, which are basically roguelike missions that can pay players off handsomely assuming they can complete these missions. The story missions are well thought out and the story itself is quite enjoyable.

The controls are easy to learn as expected from a strategy RPG, and the game can be quite challenging at times so don't expect to breeze through the game. The audio-visual presentation is terrific as the characters, objects, and areas are vibrant and detailed and the voice acting and soundtrack are equally as good and fit the game beautifully.



Bottom-Line: With a humorous story, great gameplay and excellent audio-visual presentation, Disgaea 4 Complete+ will hook fans of the genre almost immediately and the included DLC with many hours of additional content will keep them coming back for more! We give the game a great level of recommendation!

Score: ★★★★★★★★★☆ 9/10

#Review #NISA #NipponIchiSoftware #PS4 #PS3 #Vita #Retail #PSN #SRPG #Strategy #RPG

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An Off-The-Rails Epic Adventure With Class VII!

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Developed by Nihon Falcom Games, the developer best-known in the western hemisphere for its Ys series. We have recently fallen in absolute love with the Trails series which is one of the most well thought out series we've ever experienced! Does the third entry in the Trails of Cold Steel arc of the series live up to the previous two games? We think so and here's why!

After a nearly three year wait, Class VII is finally back in session, but this time you, as Rean Shwarzer take on the role of instructor of the class in the newly built Thors Branch Campus. The game starts off quite similarly to the first Trails of Cold Steel title, and there are tons of nods and parallels to the first game between the storytelling and the structure of the game's chapters.



the game is a whopper in length as it can easily take well over 150 hours to do a 100% run and nearly 250 hours minimum to earn the platinum trophy. Divine Knight battles return, but the system has been streamlined and is much more fun this time around!

Battles have also been revamped with new turn bonuses as well as the new order command system that allows you to use BP to issue orders that grant beneficial buffs and effects for a set number of turns which adds another strategic layer to the series' already deceptively deep battles! The menues have been streamlined as well both in and outside of battles and visually look much tidier which is a nice touch!



The controls are flawless in this game and the game's difficulty is well-balanced regardless of which level of difficulty you select, though Nightmare is not recommended during your first playthrough. The visuals in this game are by far more detailed and gorgeous than the first two Cold Steel titles, with excellent lighting, and amazingly detailed textures and character models! The music is amazing as well, though a few of the best tracks are missing from previous games which is a shame, but otherwise the audio-visual presentation is simply flawless!



Bottom-Line: With an amazing story, excellent gameplay, flawless controls, and an absolutely fantastic audio-visual presentation, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III is one of the best JRPG's of the generation and there's really no reason not to add it to your PS4 collection of games. We do highly recommend playing the first two Cold Steel games first, however. Overall we give the game a perfect level of recommendation!

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Score: ★★★★★★★★★★ 10/10

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#Review #NISA #NihonFalcom #PS4 #Retail #PSN #JRPG #PerfectScore

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Labyrinthian Platforming At Its Finest!

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Developed by Nippon Ichi Software and published by NIS America, Lapis x Labyrinth is platformer with RPG elements, great aesthetics, and unique gameplay, but is it worth diving into? We think so and here's why:



The gameplay in Lapis x Labyrinth is absolutely bonkers, but in an ingenious and highly enjoyable way. There are tons of genres crammed into this title ranging anywhere from puzzle to platforming and even JRPG elements and the gameplay elements meld together seamlessly. The story is hilarious and fun as expected from a game developed by Nippon Ichi Software so expect to have an enjoyable romp!



There are a ton different enemies in the game and the bosses are creative and a blast to take down! The controls are intuitive and easy to learn and the game's difficulty is nicely balanced! There are tons of skills and a balanced leveling system that adds a JRPG feel to the game as well.

The audio-visual presentation is superb with gorgeous character and enemy models, gorgeous level designs, and a fantastic soundtrack it's hard to not love this game!



Bottom-Line: With great gameplay, intuitive controls, and a fantastic audio-visual presentation it's hard to not immediately be immersed in Lapis x Labyrinth's amazing world and there's no real negative aspects to the game! Overall we give the game a good to great level of recommendation!

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Score: ★★★★★★★★¾☆ 8.75/10

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#Review #NipponIchiSoftware #NISA #PS4 #Retail #PSN #Platformer #Puzzler #Action #JRPG

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Discovery of The Year!

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Developed by Studio Artdink and published by NIS America, Neo Atlus 1469 is a simulation game that tasks you with exploring and mapping the entire world as well as creating trade routes with other nations and more in this thrilling strategy title, but is it worth checking out? We think so and here's why:



Neo Atlas 1469 is a remake of the 1999 classic, Neo Atlus II with an enhanced audio-visual presentation and a bit of extra story content, but is otherwise the same game. The gameplay is fairly straightforward, you must explore the vast and mostly unexplored world and create trade routes while trying to survive natural hazards such as storms, sea monsters, and tsunamis as well as pirates and vessels from enemy nations. This is not easy, but is thoroughly enjoyable despite being somewhat repetitive. The world is randomly generated as you explore it, but luckily if you don't like what generates during a voyage, you can retry to get a desired outcome which is a wonderfully useful feature!

The amount of micro-management in the game is pretty deep, but not to the point of being hardcore in this regard so it's a little more accessible for newcomers or players who aren't used to the genre, than say, Civilization 6 in this regard. The game's length is literally infinite, though once the world is fully explored it's actually much more fun to start a new game. In-terms of a single playthrough most players will probably take between 30 to 50 hours to fully explore the world, perhaps longer if the RNG isn't in your favor which is a reasonable length in our opinions!



The controls work amazingly well so there are no complaints from us there, and the audio-visual presentation is fantastic for a game that is over 20 years old, even if it's a remaster! The visuals are definitely better than the likes of Civilization II, and Sim City 2000 that were released in the same time-frame. The soundtrack is great albeit a bit repetitive as well, but it has aged gracefully!



Bottom-Line: With great gameplay, excellent controls, and a fairly large amount of content, Neo Atlas 1469 for the switch is a superb strategy title that's deep, but not too deep and is accessible to newcomers of the genre! The audio-visual presentation is also superb for a game that was released 20 years ago. For these reasons and more, we give Neo Atlas 1469 for the Nintendo Switch a great level of recommendation!

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Score: ★★★★★★★★★☆ 9/10

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#Review #ArtDink #NISA #Switch #Retail #Strategy #Simulation #Exploration

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Lying Has Never Been So Fun!

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Developed by Nippon Ichi Software and published by NIS America, The Liar Princess And The Blind Prince is a heartfelt tale about a wolf with a beautiful voice and a prince who is accidentally blinded by the wolf and their journey to restore his eyesight! Continue reading our review to find out why we highly recommend the game to all PS4 and Switch owners!



The story is most certainly the strong point of the game and is absolutely amazing! The storybook style storytelling is gorgeous, will the script is touching and at times, enchanting! The downside is the game is quite short so you'll likely wish there was more content, but what is there in-terms of story is nearly flawless!

The gameplay is the weak-point, but is still solid. Basically it's a puzzle-based platformer and its mechanics are excellent, though there isn't a whole lot of variety between the various stages which holds the game back from getting a perfect score. The game can easily be beaten in a few hours and there are a couple of different endings which adds a bit of replay value to the game.



The controls in the game are pretty easy to learn and are quite simple to master to be quite honest, and while the platforming aspects are for the most part exceptionally easy, the puzzle elements can be quite sadistic at times so expect some mind-bending puzzles that might leave you scratching your head for a spell or two.

The audio-visual presentation is nothing short of amazing, whether it's the storybook cutscenes, the gorgeous artistic backgrounds in the stages, the superbly detailed characters and enemies, or the amazing soundtrack, it's top-tier stuff and is nearly perfect!



Bottom-Line: With an amazing story, solid gameplay, excellent controls, and a nearly flawless audio-visual presentation, The Liar Princess and The Blind Prince is a great game that is worth looking into if you're an owner of a PS4 or Nintendo Switch the only downside is that the game is quite short. Anyways we give The Liar Princess and The Blind Prince a good to great level of recommendation!

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Score: ★★★★★★★★½☆ 8.5/10

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#Review NipponIchiSoftware #NISA #PS4 #Switch #Retail #Platformer #Puzzler #StoryDriven #Atmospheric

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Bewitching Tides?

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Developed by Nippon Ichi Software and published by NiSA, Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk is a dungeon crawling RPG that has a bewitching theme, no really! Is this unique witch theme enough to entrance you into loving the game? Probably not, but it has other things going for it, though even still it's only enough to make the game a decently enjoyable experience and here's why:



The story in Labyrinth of Refrain is pretty unique which is both good and bad. In-terms of storytelling the game falls flat, but the dialog is hilarious at times and there are serveral unexpected plot-twists that will catch you completely off guard which is the sign of good story progression, but some of the voice overs are just barely passable and some of the lines are cheesy as heck which does hurt the game's overall score.

The gameplay in LoR:CoD is pretty enjoyable with a few unique quirks, but overall the developers played it safe and as a result the gameplay is average at best. The few unique elements are enjoyable at least including the ability to pay the leader of the caravan a certain amount of mana to get her to pass decrees that boost stats and or add new gameplay elements to the game among other bonuses. Then the puppetry aspect where your puppets a.k.a. party members can lose limbs which affect their stats and other unique attributes really adds to the overall experience of the game!



Then the dungeon itself is quite impressive and has many traps and other dangers that require you to tread new floors carefully or risk being wiped out. The battles are standard fare, though the enemies are quite unique and have a wide array of attacks and skills that will test any would-be adventurers skills!

The game is quite difficult so expect to be thoroughly challenged. The game is very long as well clocking in at over 50 hours in length so don't expect to beat this during a weekend binge! The controls are also quite intuitive and easy to learn which is always a good thing in our opinions!



The audio-visual presentation in Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk is above average with excellent dungeon designs both in sensibility and visually, the music is also terrific, the only thing that is somewhat of a letdown are a couple of the voice actors, but overall the audio-visual presentation is good to great!

Bottom-Line: With solid albeit uninspiring gameplay, superb story, excellent audio-visual presentation, and top-notch controls, Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk can be fun at times, but the developer played things far too safe and as a result the gameplay feels far too similar to other games in the genre. Overall we give the game a decent to solid level of recommendation.

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Score: ★★★★★★½☆☆☆ 6.5/10

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#Review #NipponIchiSoftware #NiSA #PS4 #Retail #DRPG #FirstPerson

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Hits Like A Typhoon, But Never Reaches The Stratosphere.

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Developed by Kadokawa Games and Published by NiS America, Metal Max Xeno is an action game that pits a platoon of tanks against a bunch of iconic and not so iconic mechanical monstrosities in a bizarre turn-based JRPG series. Is this a top-tier game? No, but it has its moments, do we recommend the game though? Continue reading our review to find out!



Metal Max Xeno is a game in the long-running Metal Max series, but is only the second game in the franchise to see a western release. The first was "Metal Saga" which released in North America in 2005 on the PS2. The story is REALLY dark, the world is an absolute hell, and the few people left are being hunted down by a diabolical Artificial Intelligence. The characters are pretty messed up as you'd imagine, but some of them have pretty decent character growth during the game's story!

The gameplay is quite unique, with turn-based battles featuring fully customizable tanks. Think of it as a cross between Valkyria Chronicles, Car Battler Joe, and MS Saga? It's really hard to describe, but all comes together rather well. The game is pretty standard length for a JRPG, clocking in at around 50-60 hours, but the game is tough-as-nails so expect your first playthrough to be substantially longer. The game is also a complete grindfest for the first 15-20 hours, luckily it becomes much more enjoyable in the last two-thirds of the game.



The controls are somewhat cumbersome and takes a bit of time to get used to, but overall it's not bad. The audio-visual presentation is pretty average, though the voice acting is good, the music is rather uninspiring and the visuals are extremely drab with the exception of the characters which are detailed and look amazing. This is easily the game's biggest flaw, but overall the game is a solid and unique JRPG.

Bottom-Line:

With excellent yet unique gameplay, a decent story, and a ton of customization options, Metal Max Xeno for the PS4 is a refreshingly unique JRPG that can be great fun after the early game grinding. The audio-visual presentation does hold the game back quite a bit, but overall we give Metal Max Xeno a solid level of recommendation!

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Score: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 7/10

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#Review #KadokawaGames #NiSA #Action #PS4 #Retail

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Scantily Clad Girls Everywhere!

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Developed by SNK and published by NIS America, SNK Heroines is a fighting game for people who for a lack of better words like a full cast of female characters in their fighting games. So you know there will be oversexualized characters, however once you get into the meat of the game it is excellent at least in-terms of its gameplay mechanics, but is this enough to earn a passing grade from us? Keep reading to find out!



The story is mostly forgettable, but the characters are quite humorous and will constantly complain about things such as their bust size, or their outfits which is hilarious to be honest. The gameplay mechanics are actually quite accessible and easy to learn and the combo input is definitely fast-paced so expect battles to end rather swiftly rather than slow-paced technical fights.

Overall SNK Heroines feels like an old-school arcade fighter in every way which is nice for longtime fans of the genre. There are several modes, but nothing all that unusual for a fighting title



The controls are intuitive and easy to learn which is always a must in a fighting game. The visuals are nice, sure they won't blow you away, but are definitely detailed and at times quite pretty. The music is also quite solid and fits the game perfectly.

Bottom-Line:

With great gameplay and controls, and solid audio-visual presentation the game had potential to be extremely good, but a forgettable story and ridiculous amount of fan-service held this game back from its potential, regardless the game is still a solid choice for fans of old-school arcade-fighters and as such we give SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy a solid level of recommendation!

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Score: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 7/10

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#Review #NiSAmerica #NiSA #SNK #Fighter #Arcade #PS4 #Vita #Retail #PSN #Switch #eShop

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Battle of The Damned!

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Developed by Kadokawa Games and published by NIS America, The Lost Child is a dungeon crawling JRPG with heavy religious overtones, and gameplay similar to the Shin Megami Tensei  games, but does it live up to the aforementioned series? Not really, but it's still a very solid game in its own right and here's why:



First off, The Lost Child has a very compelling story with an extremely dark overtone. It starts off very strong, but then kind of peters out for a while before picking back up, which is somewhat disappointing. The character development is slow, but the cast is great so you'll love them right away. Now to the real meat of the game, its gameplay is good, but never really does anything to set The Lost Child apart from previous games in the SMT sub-genre.

The gameplay while great gets quite repetitive after a while which is a shame and hurts the game's overall replayability. In-terms of content, expect the game to take somewhere over 50 hours to finish. The Lost Child is also an extremely challenging game so expect to die a lot!



The controls are pretty good and responsive which is nice. The audio-visual presentation is varied on one hand the visual novel style cutscenes are gorgeous and full of character, but the world itself, especially the dungeons are VERY bland and lifeless. There isn't a whole lot of variety in the dungeons designs either, however it still "feels" good despite the poor design choices which proves that this game could have truly been great if things had been better designed, however it's still quite fun as is.

The soundtrack is great for the most part though there are a few lacklustre tracks in the game, the sound effects and voice acting are great by the way! It was kind of weird hearing the english voice actress for Botan from the Yu Yu Hakusho series in a Anime style game after all of these years, but it was a pleasant surprise, Bingo!



Bottom-Line:

With good, albeit somewhat repetitive gameplay, superb story, a fantastic audio presentation, fantastic anime-style cutscenes, and solid controls, The Lost Child is a good game, however somewhat bland and lacklustre dungeons that are also somewhat lacking in creativity really hold the game back. At the end of the day, however the game is solid to good so we give the game a good level of recommendation to all fans of dungeon crawling RPG's.

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Score: ★★★★★★★¾☆☆ 7.75/10

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#Review #KadokawaGames #NiSA #DungeonCrawler #JRPG #PS4 #Vita

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Wandering Lady In A Strange Land.

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Developed by Aqua Style and published by NIS America, Touhou Genso Wanderer: Reloaded is a roguelike mystery dungeon game with a very Eastern theme and it is among the strangest games we've played, but we enjoyed every minute of it! The only problem is the game's price. Continue reading our review to learn more:



The gameplay in Touhou Genso Wanderer: Reloaded for PS4 is more or less pretty typical Mystery Dungeon stuff, but it's done quite nicely with very few of the traps or shortcomings of the genre. The problem is, that it never tries to do anything new and as a result feels like a solid, yet somewhat stale game in this regard. The controls are intuitive and easy to learn which is always a good thing in our opinions.

As for the battles, they are fast paced and easy to figure out, but mastering some of the nuances can take a few hours. The battle system is quite solid overall. The story and characters are extremely weird albeit in a very endearing way with bizarre plot-twist and excellently quirky characters!



The game is breathtakingly beautiful visually with detailed characters and a colorful and lush world. The enemies are just as gorgeous, while the visual novel style storytelling and handful of CGI cut-scenes are superb. The soundtrack and Japanese voice acting are great though we'd have liked to see an option for English voice overs, but otherwise we thoroughly enjoyed the game's presentation!



Bottom-Line:

With a solid gameplay and story, great controls, and a superb audio-visual presentation, Touhou Genso Wanderer: Reloaded is a solid game that worth checking out if you enjoy mystery dungeon titles, however the game does lack a bit in creative and unique gameplay and it's pretty expensive to boot. Overall, however we did enjoy the game and as such we give Touhou Genso Wanderer: Reloaded for the PS4 a solid level of recommendation.

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Score: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 7/10

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#Review #NISA #AquaStyle #PS4 #PSN #Retail #MysteryDungeon #JRPG

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Money Rules Over All!

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Developed by Nippon Ichi Software and published by NiS America, Penny Punching Princess is a rather unique beat 'em up with a funny story where money literally is king and sometimes throwing the mighty coin is more effective than pummelling your opponents! Is this fresh and unique take on the genre enough to catapult the game into greatness? We think so and here's why:



Penny Pinching Princess is a brawler at its core, with each stage consisting of many different rooms and quite a large variety of enemies, but where this game separates itself from the plethora of other games in the genre is the bribe feature, can't beat an enemy? Bribe him, need to get past a locked gate? Bribe it, you can literally bribe just about anything in the game, if you have sufficient money that is.

The game is reasonably lengthy clocking in at over 20 hours from start to finish and PPP can be quite challenging too. The controls in the game are somewhat challenging to get used to, but are quite good otherwise. Penny Punching Princess' audio-visual presentation is quite pleasing, sure its not going to wow you, but the visuals are cheerful and vibrant and the soundtrack and voice overs are all well done. Overall the game is top-notch in this regard!



Bottom-Line:

With flawless and unique gameplay, solid controls, and a top-notch audio-visual presentation, Penny Punching Princess is one Vita game any fans of the brawler/beat 'em up genre will thoroughly enjoy and as such we give the game a great level of recommendation!

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Score: ★★★★★★★★★☆ 9/10

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#Review #NiSA #Vita #PSTV #PennyPunchingPrincess #BeatEmUp

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The Longest Battle Ever!

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Don't let the name and trailer fool you, The Longest Five Minutes might look and sound like Half Minute Hero at a glance, but The Longest Five Minutes is by far the better game and is a truly incredible JRPG in many ways! Continue reading our review to find out why:



The Longest Five Minutes is a turn-based JRPG similar to the first Lufia game in-terms of many of its mechanics, however where this game really shines is its incredible story which will have you relive the main protagonist Flash Back's journey to defeat the demon king. In this regard it's sort of similar to Half Minute Hero, however the story is much more coherent with up to three to five hours of gameplay per sequence it feels like a true JRPG unlike its spiritual predecessor Half Minute Hero.

The gameplay and story are also as good as most of the SNES classic's from the 90's with great plot-twists and other surprises, The Longest Five Minutes is an instant classic in our opinions! The game is also somewhat longer than we were expecting clocking in at between 30-40 hours in length. The only gripe we have with the game is that it's very easy to beat, though completing the game is a tricky proposition given the complex optional branching story paths the game possesses, because some of which are extremely challenging to trigger. The controls are simple and easy to learn and the game is PSTV compatible which is always fantastic news in our opinions!



The Longest Five Minutes is a very nice looking game with crisp and vibrant 16-bit HD graphics that look amazing! Visually the game looks somewhat similar to that of the Romancing Saga 2 Vita remake. They aren't going to wow anybody, but they're exceptionally good looking, especially the character and enemy models! The music is also top-notch and fits the game's mood perfectly so overall we feel that the audio-visual presentation of the game is nearly perfect!





Bottom-Line:

With a unique story, excellent gameplay, and nearly flawless audio-visual presentation, The Longest Five Minutes is a fantastic game that every JRPG fan who owns a Vita should snatch up, while the excellent controls and PSTV compatibility is the icing on the proverbial cake. The only downside of the game is its low level of difficulty, but otherwise the game is a genuine masterpiece and as such we give the game a great level of recommendation!



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Score: ★★★★★★★★★☆ 9/10

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#Review #NiSA #TheLongestFiveMinutes #Vita #PSTV #Gaming #JRPG #PSN #Retail

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Dungeon Crawling of The Afterlife!

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Developed by Nippon Ichi and published by Nis America, Cladun Returns: This is Sengoku is the latest installment in the Cladun series of games and though it may not impress visually, the game is an absolute masterpiece! Continue reading the rest of our review if you want to know why!

Cladun Returns is a bite-sized very fast paced dungeon crawler that has a decent amount of content and deep gameplay that'll likely entice players who're fans of dungeon crawlers and for good reason as it truly is an incredible game at its core.



Cladun Returns is a classic Nippon Ichi game with a homebase town and dungeons separated by chapters, things get interesting after these basic familiar concepts however. First of all you can give your characters an actual personality which greatly affects the dialogue of the game's story which makes each playthrough feel unique. You can also create subordinates to not only aid you in battle, but also bolster your stats and grant unique abilities to your leader unit.

The battle formula is hard to explain, it's not a strategy board with grid-based battles, but more along the lines of a roguelike, or even more accurately the battle system in games like Stardew Valley and Rune Factory are quite similar in many ways. However Cladun Returns has a very deep system that can be quite daunting at times unlike the aforementioned titles, the best thing to do is play at the easiest level of difficulty to get used to the formula and once you get through the steep curve you'll be ready for the tougher battles.



The story is decent albeit a bit on the forgettable side and the game is quite short compared to other Nippon Ichi titles such as Disgaea. The controls are fairly tight and easy to learn which is always a good thing.

On the audio-visual side of things, the game's world looks great with an excellent art-direction and theme, however the character and enemy models are hilariously bad looking which does the rest of the game's visual aspects a grave injustice. It's rare for games to look so pretty in certain aspects and so bad in others. On to the positives however, the soundtrack is excellent and fits the mood and theme of the game quite nicely and is one of the strongest aspects of the game!



Bottom-Line: With great gameplay gameplay that's fresh and unique, excellent controls, and a wonderful soundtrack, Cladun Returns: This Is Sengoku is an instant classic that should entice any Nippon Ichi fan into purchasing the game, however dreadful character and enemy models and a steep learning curve might put off some potential customers, however if you can get past its flaws there's a beautiful gem of an experience to be found in this game! We give Cladun Returns: This Is Sengoku a solid recommendation!

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Score: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 7/10

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#Review #CladunReturns #NipponIchi #NisA #Vita

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