Recent reviews by ScorpiusG

Space Exploration: The Mod: The DLC. If you've spent hundreds of hours in the base game, get ready to multiply those numbers.

With this installed, the base game has various tweaks so you can get to the space part relatively sooner. There are other QoL features as well from the start.

Highly recommended. Don't wait for a discount (it won't happen for a long, long time).

Oh, I see. I see the full picture now.

TL;DR: I highly recommend playing the prequel first (CoH AE) and let that be the judge.

At first I truly wanted to recommend it due to this being a sequel, but this has its own issues that are somehow worse than the previous game.

First thing is the localization. This is a new team of two people that is different from the PSP version. Therefore, everything was localized from scratch and everything had to be standardized between both CoH 1 & 2. You can basically forget about the old team and their efforts for their long inactivity. As for the current one, I can't say much because they're just doing their job and are mostly silent (on Steam at least).

Second is that as I was going through at my own pace, there was an update that addresses some of the reviews' problem: A voice volume slider was not present in the options menu. This means people had to tolerate with loud voice acting as character bump into walls and die. That being said, I'm also grateful there was an update at all to help improve other parts of the game too, such as some text fixes and map readability - the map's walls had extremely similar color with the floor before.

Lastly is the game itself. As some reviews pointed out, there are Anti-Magic + Deep Zone tiles present, and they're required to traverse on to advance the main story. You need to build a team, with members preferably with the innate ability to fly (some races do this) or giving them Angelic Cuffs or Stilts. Casting float spells will mean your team's unfair demise past the first three maps.

Now for the fact that it's a sequel. It should be one that improves and builds on the prequel. It is only true to a small degree. The pros are using an MP pool for all spells, having a single inventory bag from the player's perspective, much better gold income, great Japanese voice acting in dialogue, and the game being absurdly faster than the PSP version. The cons are not having MP recovery items, maps being less friendly early on (after the Forest of Beginnings), and low inventory limits for a game that gives you a lot of synthesis junk. Tutorials are either absent or extremely subtle with zero explanation on what each race and course (character class) does. The prequel has its tutorials to explain most of the mechanics, so why can't those be transferred over? As for the courses, there are Steam and GameFAQ guides for what they do so I'll leave that there.

If it weren't for the tutorial and map issues, it would be much easier to give a thumbs up. But after beating the last boss in the story, I can't. Instead, I recommend playing its prequel (CoH AE) first and let that be the judge. You need knowledge from the prequel to know what you're doing here. Of course you can dive in blind and expect the worst, but you will have zero rights to complain afterwards.

Regardless if you decide to get this game or its prequel, I highly recommend saving often. Good luck.

Absolutely great port of the Switch/mobile version, which is in turn an upgrade of the PSP version.

For those who are not familiar, Riviera is an old adventure game from the Wonderswan that aged well due to its unique item and field mechanics, and as well as the story that unfolds based on your choices. Unlike Yggdra Union, the difficulty in this game is much more forgiving and has an easier curve to most people.

For those already familiar, this version of the game has many QoL differences from previous versions of the game. Those listed are from my observations from the PSP version:
- As advertised, you can speed up to five times or super-speed with "Skip"
- You can save on the field now (whenever you can open the menu) as opposed to only between sub-chapters and the book in the house
- Auto-saves are present for every action outside battle
- You can merge items in the inventory menu, up to 99 of the same named item
- You can even save mid-battle on any of your character's turn
- You can choose between five versions of the BGM, with the default using the PSP version
- There are three difficulty settings (Easy, Normal, Hard), plus two modes (Casual, Original) which makes it the most accessible possible
- Just like Yggdra Union, you can switch between JP and EN voices anytime. Oddly enough, the game defaults to JP the first time I start
- You can use the mouse and keyboard to play - haven't tested this myself, been playing with a DS4 just fine
- You have access to the gallery in the title screen without needing to find the key items in-game

If you're coming from the GBA version then you should know these few things:
- You can select the encounters in the practice menu instead of the selection being random
- There are more illustrations to see and collect
- A lot of voice acting in dialogue outside the title screen and battle scene
- The list of QoL from above

This is a hardcore Wizardry-like DRPG (Dungeon Crawler RPG). You make a party up to six (three on the front, three on the back), gear 'em up, and dive into the dungeons. I'll give some tips in the latter part of the review.

This series has a heavy emphasis on gameplay over story. It will also not hold hands and will be mean to you when RNG hits, and it hits really hard. The inverse is also true: If RNG is in your favor, you will make good progress.

If you have not played a DRPG before, I recommend Labyrinth of Zangetsu first, as it teaches all DRPG gameplay fundamentals in the friendliest manner possible.

If you've played other DRPGs like this before (Labyrinth of Zangetsu, Eliminage, etc.), then I highly recommend this series. This one (CoH1) has huge emphasis on random dungeon layouts and looting. The sequel (CoH2) has a better story (but still not the main focus), gameplay flow, and introduction of some JRPG mechanics (single MP pool and equipment per character, single item pool for whole party) but this is still a DRPG. I recommend the sequel if you're getting only one CoH game. However, if you get both of them, this is also a good place to start because its introduction quests are tutorials specific to this series.

(As of this review, CoH3 is not here on Steam/Switch yet in English. If it does, I will edit this part here to include it.)

If you've played other similar blobbers such as Etrian Odyssey or Mary Skelter series, you can't do fair comparisons as they are whole different beasts. EO is a mix of Megaten and DRPG. I haven't touched MS in a long while, but I can confirm it's much more story focused and has different mechanics (less DRPG-like).

Apparently, this has been re-localized. My guess is that ATLUS was once involved back on the PSP versions. Now that they are gone, so do with their old localization. The new localization results in old guides using obsolete terms (Tension Gauge is now Morale Gauge) and names (Reiner to Ryna), but most locations do retain their names. I personally don't mind this, but this will cause a huge confusion and upset over fans of the PSP version.

The game as a whole is sped up quite a lot. Like over twice or thrice times fast. You can navigate through the menus and maps (in which both you'll be doing a lot) very quickly. Saving is also super fast now that you're no longer dealing with the PSP's slow save menu.

Like Disgaea, you don't need to go super far (i.e. reincarnation) to beat the game. As long as you're able to survive and deal much damage to bosses before they destroy you, you will reach your in-game graduation (main story end). And yes, there's a post-game if you want to go further.

• Save frequently. Make multiple saves - At least one in an institute and one while dungeon crawling. Like I said earlier: When RNG hits, it can hit your party either mildly or very hard.
  
• Recommended Courses (jobs/classes) for your party are Fighter (tank & damage), Thief (unlocking doors & chests), Summoner or Mage (for magic offense), and Bishop (doubles as a Priest and Mage, can identify items).
  
• Finish ALL the story (categorized as Class) quests on the Bulletin Board in the Library. It will give you a full rundown on mechanics, the game's lore (compatible races, which does matter gameplay-wise), and unlocking locations for progression.
  
• Resting in any institute's dorm for MP is free. Combine that with your healer (Priest or Bishop) for free full party healing.
  
• It's possible to have multiple parties deployed at a time, but this is absolutely unnecessary. You should just stick with one main party to the end.
  
• In the beginning, only your three members on the front can Attack and the rest will Defend or use Breath/spells. This is normal. You want to grind in one of the first three dungeons for materials and gold (G) to slowly but surely gear up your entire party.
  
• When introduced about, you do not have to worry and think about reincarnation/switching courses until post-game. This game is not that hardcore to beat. If your party can get through dungeons just fine, then leave it as is.
  
• Store your loot in Particus Dorms. The ones your party should hold are some healing items, a Return Ticket, and maps for the respective dungeons. Your bag and party can only ever hold much...
  
• When loading a save with your party already deployed outside Particus, select Explore then Resume to return to that party.
  
• Save before reviving a dead party member. When being revived, they have a chance to fail and turn to ash, which is another shot at revival. If you fail this second attempt, they will be permanently lost...

Good luck and enjoy the game!

This is an interesting music rhythm game with a mix of mechanics other rhythm games already have. It's never a bad thing, but the implementation of these is off. It gave me a bad impression in my first hour trying this out.

The long bumper notes want you to press down the button (or move the analog stick) at both the start and end points, as opposed to holding down the button (or analog stick) from the start and then releasing it at the end (from DJMax series).

I was shocked when I was suddenly introduced to using the gyroscope during the tutorial, while playing on the keyboard. It's easy to fail in the tutorial because of this. If you don't have a controller supporting one, there is an option to automate this feature with some penalty. I switched to my DS4 (PS4 controller) for the sake of this. I was able to play better, but my gyroscope kept drifting inconsistently. I think there should be an option to change this to either the mouse or two separate buttons. This feature reminds me of Rotaeno, but it feels very unnatural here.

Most of the options in game at this point are sufficient, which includes rebinding controls and debugging your controller's gyroscope. I tried mapping the controls to match 6B from DJMax (left, up, right, Square, Triangle, Circle) and then realize this setup is unsuitable for hitting left and right at the same time, which is needed for higher leveled charts.

The more I play this game, the more I realize this game may be more suitable with an O.N.G.E.K.I-like controller. I really want to witness someone playing this game with that.

The songs are full of BANGERS. This is the main reason you should step in for simply because it's free (forever, or at least at this review's time).

Believe it or not: The only place I had the most fun in this game is... the Credits sequence. It's really neat to play the mini-game there as you scroll along familiar names from the present music rhythm game community. Although I don't get why the late SHIKI and Akira Complex were mentioned here even though neither have their songs in this game (as far as I know at least).

Overall, this game does indeed has potential and I really hope it will improve over time. It's just not yet ready to present with the odd gyro implementation and the misleading long bumper notes. I will keep an eye on this and update this review when necessary.

I recommend this game if you answer yes to any of these, and ignore the rest of the review:

• Are you a fan of the Touhou Project series?
  
• Do you like Touhou songs? (includes both originals and arranges/remixes)
  
• Are you a casual 4K/6K VSRG player?

...

Otherwise I wouldn't recommend it. There are some big problems that made me want to switch to another game or head to my local arcade. I'll list down everything I find here personally.

• Has a very decent collection of both originals and arranges/remixes in the Touhou Project series.
  
• Graphics are really pretty. The characters, song jackets, and cards are all well done here. Everything else (UI, gameplay, etc.) is alright. Overall, no complaints in this department.
  
• Has just enough gameplay options for a music rhythm game to tweak, and probably more to come over the next update(s). The saving grace here currently is the Auto speed setting, where the scroll speed will try to match it for all songs.

• Sometimes it feels like I'm playing a budget mobile rhythm game. Turns out, it was. This game is the revival of the mobile equivalent version. This is shown in the video on the store page.
  
• You will find only Touhou songs here. There is absolutely no variety outside this, with exactly one exception. (Same problem as THEATHRHYTHM, but with no exceptions.)
  
• Because it's based off a mobile (gacha?) game, there are characters and cards to collect. You must level up the cards if you want to get higher scores and to beat the boss in a Danmaku stage. It can get extremely grindy when you have hundreds of cards to make use of depending on the stage.
  
• Without the right card equipped, judgment is super strict here compared to almost every other rhythm game I've played. It felt like they took Hard judgment from DJMAX/EZ2DJ and made it the standard. This makes some stage missions much difficult to complete.
  
• Danmaku stages felt like a nerfed version of O.N.G.E.K.I./EZ2CATCH/NOISZ/NOISZ STARLIVHT. Again, you need to level up and use the right card if you want to shoot the boss down to 0 HP. Movement is incredibly slow (on purpose) by default to dodge danmaku, with no way to speed up if you want to position under the fast-moving boss at all times.
  
• The story felt like it was made for a much younger audience, as it involves Reimu being a kindergarten teacher while going around encountering trivial mental issues and giving a good scolding and tutoring before moving on to the next area.

This game hurts my DJMAX brain...
But it's free and the story is really good here for a rhythm game. (On par with Arcaea's.)

Just go install it and enjoy. If it helps, it has a lot of great songs and some from well-known artists.

Nice to see this series is kept alive on modern platforms instead of lying in the DS grave.

The EO series is the peak of DRPGs in gameplay. You form your own team of adventurers to venture into the labyrinth. Each game in its series has its own classes, dungeons, and enemies; so it's possible to start from any game as each one is independent from another. The only exception is Nexus on the 3DS. For beginners, I recommend EO3. However, if you have a working 3DS, I highly recommend EO4 instead.

Since this is EO1 we're talking about, this is the one that starts it all. Various things have not aged well here, especially as evidenced in the class skill trees, but that doesn't take the fun out of it. The thrill of exploration and facing powerful foes still remain here. Any false move in one turn can possibly mean your team's end, so you'll need to consider your actions carefully. Fortunately, difficulty options were added for this and the next two games. If you're new to the series or RPGs in general, you can play this on Picnic or Basic. For anyone else experienced in RPGs, playing on Expert from start to end is the intended experience from the original game.

Even on Steam, F.O.E!

This is a strategy game similar to Fire Emblem, but battles are more skill-based (less RNG is involved). And no, you don't lose characters if they lose in battle.

This is also a decent port based on the Switch/mobile version, which is in turn based on the PSP version. That being said; the narrator localization in this particular version is odd, but the rest of the game plays somewhat differently with plenty of Quality-of-Life features.

As someone who has played the original (classic) version two decades ago, this is nothing like that. Overall, this feels like a lazy mobile port with no innovation. The only reason to get into it is the nostalgic soundtrack.

My recommendation: Move on to better, modern rhythm games such as DJMAX, EZ2ON, SDVX, Arcaea, etc. This "thing" has no place here and is not worth your time.