Recent reviews by Miss Haruka

Is the game fun? It can be.
Is the game a challenge? For sure (unless you're on easy mode).
Can I recommend it? No.

This game jumps headfirst into some VERY dark and disturbing topics, things that I was honestly not prepped for going in. I've played around 12 hours at this point, and that's over the course of weeks as I play a bit, get uncomfortable, and have to put it down for a week or so. The topics covered range from just general drama all the way up to and including SA/SH/child abuse.

If you are going into this game knowing what you're going into, I think it could be enjoyable if it's what you're looking for. I did not have that, so it's really hard for me to recommend.

A game I came back to time and time again to enjoy with friends, but no more.

If you are unwilling to spend money at install for the expansions, you will be unable to participate in ANY content, as the most recent expansion has removed ALL old content including the F2P campaigns and raids.
This in turn makes this product little more than a demo, with the only actual gameplay being locked behind expansions that you will apparently lose access to when a future expac comes out.

This isn't even that the story moves on-that is bound to happen, and can lead to a lot of great things. This is entire ZONES ceasing to exist. The entire premise for Destiny 2 at launch, practically all of the zones from the launch campaign, the Leviathan Raid, it's all gone.

Do not waste your time or gods forbid your money on this-it's just not worth it.

Well, after 4 hours of troubleshooting, bugfixing, and even reinstalling, I cannot connect to the server my friends have set up. Funnily enough, I'm not the only person with this issue, however it does not seem as though there is any resolution or advice offered by the devs. I cannot recommend this game, as I have been unable to play it in any form.

After playing through the entire story, I feel as though the writing staff ran out of steam. The last few trials really felt lazily constructed, and the ending just plain sucked.

The logic of the trials at times was obtuse, and at others was overly simplistic. If the reader is able to call the twist/trick to the case before we even recieve the evidence to support it, you need to think about how much of your hand you're tipping (looking at cases 4/5/6 in particular here).

The minigames tended to be annoyances, but even on the hardest difficulty, the only one that was remotely hard was Argument Armament. The only reason that one was hard was bcause of how inconsistent it was as a rythm game, regardless of whether I played on Controller or M&K.

I'm not normally a fan of games that release one episode at a time, but I feel Danganronpa could benefit from that format, rather than cramming it all into one package under a deadline.

There's A LOT of postgame content, but it honestly looks so grindy that I'd rather just go play something else. I play Danganronpa for good writing, tricky puzzles, and outlandish trials, but this just seemed over-the-top and phoned in.

The finale we have all been waiting for, and it doesn't disappoint....much...

Let's get the bad out of the way first.
The animation is passable at best, and is littered with minor bugs,
The soundtrack feels a lot less powerful than before, and leans HEAVILY on a few songs from previous games.
The lipsyncing.
The English voice acting ranged from decent to earbleeding at times.
The story, while a callback to the old games that gives some sense of closure, has a number of holes and elements that it doesn't fully explain or wrap up.
The puzzles tend to reuse the same mechanic a few too many times.

OK, now for what's good.
WE FINALLY GET THE FINAL CHAPTER.
The puzzles are extremely fun, but not overly long/tedious.
The decisions feel like they have weight, and it is difficult to predict the actual end result of them.
The interface is exceptionally intuitive, with less issues of needing pixel-perfect inpts to find the thing you are clicking on in comparison to previous installments.
The writing that we do get hits you in the feels from EVERY direction.
The game embraces the M rating without being overt about it, andhe more mature content is done tastefully and impactfully.

In summary, is this a good game worth the price? YES!
Could it have been better with a little more time in the oven? Again, yes.
8/10

For it's pricetag, this is an extremely compelling game. Once you start to get the hang of the interface, each hack gives ou little pieces of information that help you visualize exactly what is going on and why these contracts exist. Of course, that's not to say it's all fun and games. Some missions require you to think fast, work faster, and be prepared for things to go south. 9/10

Well, after 16 hours I finally finished what was described to me as a "masterpiece". While it is definitely a good read, it had a few glaring flaws that need to be addressed.

1) Unlikable characters. There are a few, but there is one constant character who I wouldn't think twice about locking in a trunk which I would then proceed to drop-kick down a flight of stairs into a vat of acid.

2) Archetypal heroines. This one is less of an issue, given the medium, however it really did feel like the author was just going through a checklist of sorts, particularly the side characters.

3) Wasted plot potential/deus ex machina. This was present throughout a lot of the routes, but none more so than the Mizuha route. Seriously, I finished that route and was extremely dissapointed. The book seems to hint and foreshadow at one hell of a plot, then ignores it and either timeskips or pulls some random BS that violates Knox's Decalougue seven ways from Sunday.

All of this said, I thouroughly enjoyed the game, and find it well worth the price. I did splurge and pick up the voice pack, and recommend such to all who would read this one. I also particularly enjoyed the soundtrack, specifically the arrangements of "O Fortuna" really set the tone perfectly.

So, finally finished "The Fruit of Grisaia". Took me 50 hours. No really, that's how long Steam has me listed as reading it. The question is what to do now. Personally, I think I'm going to track down the next book in the series and give it a good read. Fair warning if you decide to read it, it is a visual novel where they had to omit certain scenes to make it onto Steam. Take that under advisement. Definitely NSFW, and not just from a sexual standpoint. Topics covered include child abuse, PTSD, murder, survivor's guilt, just to name a few. Not a happy read, but definitely one of the better ones I've had in awhile.

At first glance, Magic Duels seems to be a very polished product, with a decent tutorial and a viable interface. However, with the requirement to always be online in order to save progress, combined with connectivity issues at launch, this title is not in a functional state as of launch.