OVER REQUIEMZ - Nintendo Switch Review

OVER REQUIEMZ by developer Idea Factory and publisher Aksys Games—Ninetendo Switch review written by Natasha with a copy provided by the publisher. 

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes 

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Enjoying a relaxing day on my reading couch, playing my visual novel in my bedroom, when suddenly a giant rift rips open a hole through reality. A soft voice beckons you near.

“I've sensed a strong spirit riddled with curiosity and couldn't stop myself from tempting you into another world!” 

Spoke the rift as I slowly lowered my Switch and gasped, in awe, at the fact that this scenario was really happening. I corrected myself before this unknown phenomenon could question my lack of pants and matted hair. As I realigned my glasses I boldly replied:

“What's in it for me?”

“A land of mystery filled with dangerous criminals that must atone for their sins. With YOU as their guide!”

“Are they hot?”

“Scorching!”

“Emotionally scarred?”

“Forever traumatized!”

“Unhinged?”

“Viewer discretion is advised!”

I aggressively zip up my sweater, grab my carrying case, a stick of deodorant and some pants.

“I'm in...”

~

Welcome to the Land of Oz

In a typical day for our protagonist, Yuhiru, she didn't imagine she would be pulled into another world. As a rift ripped opened in front of her, Yuhiru's curiosity won out and she stepped into a strange Kingdom of magic and ruin. In OVER REQUIEMZ Yuhiru is thrown into the castle of Oz and is immediately accused of trying to assassinate the King and shoved into the dungeon. Not only is she treated like a criminal, but apparently her black hair and eyes are the sign of a devil child. Many wish for her to be hanged, however there are those who are given a second option of possible freedom. Journey to a “Ruin” and take care of the strange monster that threatens the residents of this world and you will be given a pardon. With no other choice but to choose survival, Yuhiru and her band of merry, Wizard of Oz inspired, men set out to seek and destroy. Will she be able to gain the trust of the other criminals that journey with her or will she be consumed by a delicious darkness that seems to stick close to them all.

With a Click of your Heel, The Line-up is Revealed

The land of Oz is unique. Not quite the same as our ruby slipper heroine who goes on an adventure down the yellow brick road, defeats the wicked witch, and returns home after making memorable friends. Similar, but different. You are NOT Dorothy, no Toto, and no jeweled shoes. However, you do travel with very good looking men and each of them represent a piece of Oz' story in some way.

Kaize Ozma (VA: Azakami Youhei) {Radiant Tale, 9 R.I.P.)

• Prince of Oz

• Will talk dirty to you, but can't talk to girls?

• Hide and Seek

Kaize is the second prince of Oz and is the representative of the Great and Powerful Oz himself. Accused of killing the King he joins everyone to be pardoned of his crime. He comes off shy, but back him into a corner and watch him turn into someone demanding and suggestive. Born with black hair and eyes, he too was shunned as a child by everyone except his older brother. How can one lead his country if everyone thinks he's a devil.

Claude Grain (VA: Furukawa Makoto) {Lover Pretend, Cupid Parasite, Birushana}

• Botanist

• Child at heart

• Man Eater (or is it Woman)

Claude is a travelling researcher and is the representation of the Scarecrow. He was thrown in jail for murdering his entire village and believes himself a danger to those around him. Even though he has a perma-scowl he's actually quite approachable once you get to know him. His giant scythe will cut down enemies with ease, and surely your heart. Hopefully you can cut through the vines that are wrapped around his soul.

Molly Woodland (VA: Ishikawa Kaito) {Piofiore, Bustafellows, Dairoku}

• Good with his Fingers

• No Rain, Please

• No Strings Attached

Molly is an undertaker for his hometown and is the representation of the Tin Man. He was imprisoned for attacking and killing a travelling merchant. Coming off frivolous at times, he will take every opportunity to flirt you up. I guess even a criminal still needs to impress. Strange since this is the same attitude he has when working with corpses. Hopefully he's not too hollow inside. Maybe he just needs the right person to re-kindle his cold heart.

Noil Bestia (VA: Suzuki Ryouta) {Jack Jeanne, Tengoku Struggle, Mistonia}

• Royal Loyal

• No Personal Space

• Orphan Life

Noil is a knight to the kingdom and is the representation of the Lion. He massacred his entire platoon, which sentenced him to life behind bars. He's got a mean demeanor but takes his duties seriously. As an orphan he's always had to count on himself and no one else. Perhaps he just needs the right gal to set him straight and to help heal his mind from his dark past. Then, and maybe then, you'll be able to see the real lion from within.

Dorothy (VA: Horie Shun) {Olympia Soiree, Uchronia}

• Interdimensional Man of Mystery

• PINK! Why so much Pink?

• Double Sided Coin

Dorothy is the Mage of the West and the representation of, well... the name speaks volumes. Unlike the others, he is the guide and keeps a watchful eye on the group of criminals he's been assigned to. He's especially excited about you and how you came to this world. To him you are like a brilliant piece of glass; delicate and beautiful. He wishes nothing more than to protect you in a very intimate way. Don't let his devilish smile ensnare you, or you might end up being whisked away.

Love is like a Yan-DERE

OveRequiemZ seems to do something unlike most Otome games. It pushes the boundaries, but also gives you the choice whether to go down the regular romantic path or the dark and twisted one. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Allow me to explain what I mean in depth.

You start off in the “Prologue”, this will throw your main female protagonist into the story and discover very quickly the type of scenario you're in and set you on your way to discover and develop your relationship with your 5 companions. After that brief intro, you'll be given the opportunity to choose your LI. Yes! All 5 bachelors are available to select from the get go. No waiting to play through other routes to unlock later ones. Nope! You can choose the man of your dreams to start.

Once you've selected your lover, each one plays through pretty much the same as the others. That being the run through the first 5 chapters to get to know one another. You will eventually get to a point in chapter 5 where you will have to choose between the good endings or the dark ones. Notice how it's plural? That means each route has 2 possible endings, equaling a total of 4 endings to unlock per LI. You'll know fairly quickly if you're in the good or dark, as each one will be labelled “Fact” (for the good) or “Dark”.

There isn't much of a love meter that keeps track of your affection level, but I found that when you've chosen the correct answer, you'll be rewarded with a bonus line track in the main menu of the game under the “Special” category.

The final thing I'd like to point out was the pacing. It's excellent! I found I didn't linger in any chapter for too long. They're sweet and to the point and progress the story along at a nice pace. I never felt like the story dragged.

Ototo, we're not in Kansas Anymore

I found the story behind this world of Oz to be unique. It became legend that Oz was nothing more than a desert oasis with a small Kingdom. One day unknown structural ruins appeared and brought with them luscious greenery and deadly monsters. The first King of Oz ordered that all structures were to be heavily guarded to protect his citizens, but also to keep the ruins intact as they were providing the land with rich soil. So the once desert kingdom blossomed into the full landscape of forests, mountains and rivers.

It Takes Courage, Brain and Heart to find your New Home

To conclude, OVER REQUIEMZ was such a shocking surprise. The fact that the game gives you the choice to choose between a romantic and/or dark route is something we Otome fans are rarely blessed with. If dark and twisted themes of romance isn't your poison, then you can stick to your original “Safe”, routes. The world is tempting and so are the characters and their background stories. I never found myself bored, only intrigued to find out how both routes end. I give this game my approval of 9.5 out of 10. The perfect visual novel for my dark romance girlies and gents, tip-toeing the line between good or bad!

~

As I battle my way through dimensional dungeons overrun by mutated monsters, something pulls my attention away. A new rift opening up in front of me, pulling me back to my world.

“No! I'm not ready to go back. There's so much more to do. Please! Just a little longer.”

I quickly whipped my hand behind me, grasping for any one of my companions' attention as my body was slowly returning to my world. Only my hand remained before I felt a strong grip tug me back in, but the rift was stronger, adamant on returning me to where I belong. With one last ditch effort, I thought of the only other way to end this. I pulled inward, rocking back into my world with whoever was in tow. A massive weight tumbled on top of me, clouding my thoughts and pinning me down. Once I regained my center of self, I opened my eyes to find my metropolis lifestyle had returned, but with a bonus. It seems everyone joined in on trying to help. I turned to peer up at five guys, dazed and confused.

“Looks like this journey isn't over yet!”

I cooed as I wiggled my eyebrows. 

Score: 9.5 / 10

 

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STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT - PC Review

STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT by developer MAGES. Inc. and publisher Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd.— PC(Steam) review written by Mike with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes.

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Our story begins in Akihabra, Tokyo Japan. The protagonist Okarin… Or rather Rintaro Okabe, (Voiced by Mamoru Minyano) is a recent high school graduate who rents an apartment with his best friend and resident computer hacker, Itaru ‘Daru’ Hashida (Voiced by Tomokazu Seki) during the summer of 2010. Okabe adopts the persona of mad scientist Hououin Kyouma, going on misadventures with Daru and childhood friend Mayuri Shiina (Voiced by Kana Hanazawa) whom he considers his “hostage” and first lab member. Thus sets the stage for STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT.

Okabe’s group eventually hack into the research organization SERN and use their data to power an experiment of a phone and a microwave, from which they send bananas back in time, turning them into piles of green gelatin. Their research quickly progresses when Okabe recruits American scientist Kurisu Makise (Voiced by Asami Imai) who is visiting Japan to give a lecture. She frequently disagrees with Okabe, dismissing his science, but agrees to join his club.

This eventually leads to the scientific breakthrough of D-mails. A text message sent to the past in order to alter it. This results in everyone changing world lines, with only Okabe being able to retain memories from different timelines. A D-mail can arrive years before it was sent and change literally anything. The world lines don't coexist and only one is ever real, but there are an infinite number of world lines. Send a message to someone in the past, and the present will change, reconstructing itself and rewriting everyone’s memories, due to the butterfly effect.

The story has perhaps the best portrayals of loss of innocence in fiction, with its narrative paced to perfection. Its first half might start off slow for some, but it is completely necessary in order for its midway character progression to hit so hard. A devastating price Okabe pays for unlocking time travel, and he ultimately realizes that it isn’t worth it. The knowledge he gains of the technology and the future becomes a burden he’s better off without. Okabe has perhaps one of the greatest character arcs in fiction that moulds into place almost instantly halfway through the events surrounding his exploration with the newfound technology; evolving from an immensely selfish and self-absorbed man and transforms into someone whose life goal is to save others.

The lab, which is the sanctuary of the science team, is the Radio Kaikan building, a real life location in Akihabra. The locations depicted through the story are beautifully drawn, painted, and harbor talent with a love of the art throughout every scene. The character art and style of the story captures a unique and broad array of talent and dedication to the presentation, the soundtrack is masterfully made, suiting the storytelling scenario contributing to the overall experience.

When I first learned of this story a few years back, I became invested with the entire concept of time travel and multidimensional timelines existing in tandem with one’s decisions and mistakes. After all, if you could send a message back in time to your former self, what would you say? What would change? Would it matter at all?

The character cast starts off as feeling very similar to stereotypes, feeling goofy and cliché. This erodes away as the progression of the story embeds them as solidified, relatable, at times enjoyable. These anchor characters and their relatability might fill you with a desire to learn more about them The deeper you invest into the story the deeper the characters’ history with Okabe becomes.

Utilizing a next-generation animation tool “E-mote” the familiar cast of characters have more animated movements and expressions involved in this rebooted release. Based on the scenario from Steins;Gate Elite the story has been refined for a smoother, evenly paced read.

This Visual novel is a must have title for those seeking a story with multiple possibilities, curiosities of time travel logic, or anyone with a soft spot for lab coats and “Doc P” in a glass escaping the monotony of everyday life. The story ensnares the curious minded and science buffs around the globe taking them on an invigorating narrative into the realms of “What if?”

Through the journey, key words are logged into an index codex “Tips List” that provides further background and lore for the world around you, allowing a deep dive into the history, past of the characters, locations, and certain items of notable interest. This allows elaboration to obtain an immersive and rooted connection with the narrative story in the manner of foot notes through the chapters of this tale.

I found myself oftentimes reading up on these bullet points midway though dialogue to gain a better understanding and comprehension of the characters ties with each entry. Some I would cross-reference with a real world interest to discover a plethora of knowledge and information I would otherwise dismiss as “Science Jargon”.

The story progression and its ending will change depending on Okabe’s management of his calls and messages through his cell phone. Deciding whether to answer, reply, or ignore will shape the future into something different.

The background music has been remade by the composer Takeshi Ado, as the Japanese voices through the story have been re-recorded for this title, providing a face lift to a keystone story of time travel cause and effect, not to be missed by those with, or without an interest in science, time travel, or conspiracies. The experience will have the player wanting to play again and again to chase their true ending, or to undo what mistakes were made in the past. Will the choices made resolve the tragedies or refuel them? Only time will tell.

Score: 8.5 / 10 

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Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 1+2 Dual Collection - PS5 Review

 

Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 1+2 Dual Collection by developer and publisher Inti Creates Co. LTD—Sony PlayStation 5 review written by Richard with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes.

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Are you ready for the package deal for the Azure Striker spin-offs before the third title in the spinoff series drops? Do you love the Megaman X games but want something fresh and musical? Do you wanna feel totally inadequate when you get a crappy score rating after beating what you thought was a tough fight? Well, look no further than Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 1+2 Dual Collection.

If you aren’t familiar with the Gunvolt series of games, I’ll tell you right now you’re probably going to be rather confused by the first game in this package deal, and while I totally recommend playing the first two Gunvolt games, they aren’t, strictly speaking, required before going into Luminous Avenger iX. So, what does Luminous Avenger entail? Well, you take on the role of Copen, a researcher turned vigilante fighting against the Sumeragi Institute, a group that has some rather negative history with Copen. Together with his AI partner Lola, he aims to take on Sumeragi. Well, at least in the first game. In the second he is involved in a portal that sucks him into another world and he’s trying to escape.

Both Luminous Avenger iX 1 and 2 behave rather similarly, although they do have a few key differences. Both games involve a 2D side-scrolling adventure through different stages culminating in a boss fight. Making your way though a stage you have a midair dash, a lock-on mechanism to fire homing shots at enemies, different weapons you can earn from bosses, and various upgrades you can purchase if you earn enough currency. You will be making your way through stages by dashing over pits, defeating enemies in your way, and interacting with the environment such as pushing blocks or destroying walls. Each stage culminates in a boss fight where the boss is generally weak to a special weapon earned from another boss.

Stages also have bonus emblems to collect that you may have to replay a stage once you have a new special weapon, and collecting them all may reward you with another special something! In addition to the bonus emblems, you are also scored based on your performance. There are some slight differences between the two games, but for the most part defeating enemies and not getting hit are the keys to getting good scores. In the first title, getting hit too much when not on the easiest difficulty will get rid of your score, called Kudos. There are also checkpoints which record your current score to add to your total that can’t be removed. Getting a piece of a bonus emblem also nets you a decent score. If your score hits 1000, you enter an overdrive mode where your abilities are enhanced. Losing your score gets rid of this overdrive mode. In the second game you are given a healing ability which also cashes out your score when used.

Largely speaking, the Gunvolt games, Luminous Avenger iX titles inclusive, are an interesting take on the traditional Megaman format. There are lots of abilities to help newer players or those struggling, such as the prevasion system in iX1 that negates damage in exchange for two bullits which you can reload, or the healing system in iX2 since the bullits are done away with. That being the case, if you rely on those too heavily your score will be poor. While getting a good score isn’t necessarily required, it does actually present a lot of benefits in the form of overdrive. As mentioned earlier, upon hitting 1000 Kudos Lola will get a new form to join you, singing to buff Copen but losing this mode upon losing score. Playing well lets you keep this mode activated and can make boss fights or even stage completion a lot easier.

If you can’t keep a good score, no need to worry. While I wouldn’t say I’m particularly bad at this style of game, I definitely wouldn’t say I’m the best. I scraped by most stages with an adequate to poor rating most of the time, and still managed to clear almost all of the content provided, barring one bonus stage and DLC fight from iX1 and the endless battle mode from iX2. Clearing the iX2 unlockable mode was certainly rough, and while you do have an assist mode you can activate it that doesn’t decrease the difficulty, just increases survivability, so any content you want to do is relatively well manageable. As an additional deal, sometimes when you die Lola will resurrect you with Anthem mode, so a death isn’t always the end, although it is a little random when it happens.

On the subject of content I didn’t clear, let’s talk about the DLC fights and endless battle mode. The DLC fights are bonuses that were DLC in the originally released games included in the Dual Collection to start. You can basically do those fights right from the start after the tutorial stage, and iX2’s bonus fights will give you some new abilities you can toggle on or off while iX1’s bonus fight will make you cry. The iX2 fights are pretty fun though. In terms of the endless battle mode, it’s basically just a sort of boss roulette that keeps going until you quit or die. Chances are if you’ve cleared the extra stages in either game these won’t be particularly difficult if you go for free play. The restricted mode may be a little more challenging.

So, let’s discuss some of the differences between iX1 and iX2. First up, in iX1 you can midair dash as long as you had bullits. In iX2 there are no bullets, and you can only midair dash once as long as you aren’t in overdrive. Also in iX2, your default blaster attack has been replaced with a melee buzzsaw, which is certainly a choice I wouldn’t have made. It was cool for a little while, but it quickly got a little annoying. In addition a ground-based dash doesn’t lock on to enemies unlike in iX1, so you have to jump and dash into enemies a lot, which also tends to eat any other dashes since you can’t chain them unless you’re in overdrive mode. Both modes have the same point requirement for overdrive and general gameplay for the most part.

Both titles share in an art and sound direction, featuring some interesting locations to explore and a number of songs that Lola can sing when you enter overdrive mode. The songs are catchy, the graphics are retro but not bad retro, and the background music is pretty good. The gameplay is a fun mix of accessible for newer players but still allowing for the more veteran players of the genre to have fun with advanced challenges and score missions. So, should you get the Luminous Avenger iX1+2 Dual Collection? Well, if you’ve played Gunvolt and want to play Luminous Avenger iX, have played iX1 and not iX2, or want a megaman X style game with very little world building or story explanation, I’d definitely say give it a shot. Those who already own both titles probably won't find much different enough to warrant picking up this collection, although there are a few balance adjustments that have been done based on the original releases.

While I did quite enjoy my time with iX1 and 2, there are a few issues that can be seen in both titles. First up is the lack of any real world building. It seems the developers have assumed you either played or remember the story from Azure Striker Gunvolt. Unfortunately I don’t really remember much, so while I could pick up on the key notes, a lot was also going over my head. And then iX2 feels almost like a spin-off to the spin-offs, with a general outline and then very little of anything else substantive. Don’t go expecting any big in-depth storytelling here, gotta play the main-line games for that. My second complaint is that some of the bosses have some pretty arse movesets. More of an issue in iX2 since you can heal, but good god man the special move for the last boss of iX1 took me a long time to learn and figure out how to perfectly dodge! In iX2 there are some moves I just flat out had to take to the face because I couldn’t figure out how to dodge. Final thing to note is that the additional content can be very challenging, so if you aren’t up for it you’re probably going to be very frustrated. While this isn’t an issue if you want the challenge, just be aware if you’re going in wanting the 100% completion that it might get pretty rough at some points.

Overall Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 1+2 Dual Collection is a nice combination of two good side-scrolling action games complete with DLC included from the original releases. A good combination of games and content that will give you fun for a while. With some good game tracks and solid gameplay, 2D side-scrolling action fans will be interested to give this a try. While it may be confusing jumping into this spin-off series if you haven’t played the main Azure Striker Gunvolt series, you’ll probably still be able to enjoy the gameplay. 

 

Score: 8 / 10 

 

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Erenshor's Largest Content Update Titled The Planar March is Out Now!

U.S.A. July 2026 | The wait is over! The Planar March, the largest content update ever released for Erenshor, is now live on Steam!

Designed to recreate the thrill of classic MMORPG raiding without requiring other players, the Planar March dramatically expands Erenshor’s endgame with four sprawling raid zones, more than 20 unique boss encounters, new progression systems, and over 120 pieces of new gear to collect.

To celebrate today’s release, Burgee Media has also released a brand new launch trailer showcasing the scale of the update, including massive raid encounters, new environments, powerful enemies, and coordinated battles alongside Erenshor’s signature SimPlayers.

Unlike traditional MMOs, Erenshor lets players experience epic raids entirely on their own schedule. Using the game’s handcrafted AI-powered SimPlayers, adventurers can build their ideal raid group, tackle complex boss mechanics, and earn increasingly powerful loot, all without waiting for a guild to log in.

The Planar March Features:

• Four brand new raid zones
• 21 unique raid bosses with mechanics inspired by classic MMORPG bosses
• Over 120 new equippable items, plus new spells and skills
• A new Raid UI for organizing and commanding SimPlayers
• Raid progression with tiered difficulty and increasingly powerful rewards
• Cosmetic equipment slots (transmog)
• Improved loot systems, quality of life upgrades, balance improvements, and numerous gameplay enhancements
• Roughly 30-40 hours of new content for average players, with considerably more for completionists

Since launching into Early Access, Erenshor has earned praise for its unique take on the MMORPG genre, delivering the feeling of exploring a living online world while remaining a completely singleplayer experience. SimPlayers level alongside the player, form parties, join guilds, acquire gear, and continue their own adventures throughout the world, creating the illusion of an active MMO without requiring an internet connection or other human players.

The Planar March represents Erenshor’s biggest milestone to date and brings players one step closer to the game’s full 1.0 release.

Watch the Planar March update trailer here.

Article by: Susan N.

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Echo Isle - PC Review

Echo Isle by developer and publisher Josh Koenig Games—PC (Steam) review written by Richard with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

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Hello everyone and welcome to Echo Isle! A land with a mysterious lighthouse, monsters prowling the woods, and a wonderful throwback to some classic games I enjoyed in my childhood. Are you prepared to reignite the lighthouse and restore the island in this 2D adventure game? I sure hope you are!

The story of Echo Isle centers around a lighthouse that has been guarding the peace of the island. Unfortunately the lighthouse has gone out and monsters have returned to terrorize the neighbourhood. Luckily for the inhabitants, the Astral Knight Aster has been summoned to the island to resolve the crisis! Can Aster find the Echo Stones needed to bring light back to the island? Only you can help answer that question!

Echo Isle is a short but sweet adventure title that made me immediately think of the Legend of Zelda game Link’s Awakening. No, not the 3D remake, I mean the original Gameboy/Gameboy Colour version. The 2D top down style. Echo Isle takes the hero Aster around the island locating dungeons with Echo Stones in them, solving the puzzles inside, beating the boss monsters, and then claiming the stones. You start off with nothing but your name, but are quickly pointed towards a cave where you can grab a sword. From here you embark, earning new tools to help you explore and fight in each new dungeon. Collect lucky clovers to boost your health, and uncover secret stones to get a hidden reward!

If you’ve ever played a top-down Zelda title, even if it is the Link’s Awakening remake, you have a good idea of the style the game is going for. Once you pick up your sword, you have an action of either using the sword or whatever tool you have equipped. You can swap between tools pretty easily, and you aren’t constricted by ammo which is fairly handy. As you explore the island you will find the game is separated into “screens”. On the island, each “screen” is a block on the map, meanwhile inside a dungeon each “screen” is like it’s own self contained area. The fact I need to describe this for younger audiences makes me feel old though, I have to say. Nowadays you can load a full dungeon instance, but back in the day it was done one screen at a time.

Echo Isle at it’s core feels like a love letter to older games, particularly the Zelda franchise, and I love what it’s offering. While not very long, clocking in at around an hour or a little more, Echo Isle left me wanting to see more. While it wrapped up well enough in it’s own way, I would love to see another title from this developer with a longer game. There’s definitely the potential here, and the way Echo Isle was done leaves me hopeful for potential future releases.

In terms of the aesthetic direction, Echo Isle draws heavy inspiration from retro titles, utilizing a bit-like style that would feel at home on a Gameboy Colour, and a musical suite that matches the aesthetic. More than once I sat back in nostalgia remembering my childhood days struggling through dungeons looking for Owl Beaks, or that one key I was missing in the Tower dungeon because screw that place.

There was only one real glitch that I found, and that was when I accidentally blew myself up with a bomb when I was collecting an Echo Stone. I could move around during the scene that played, but as soon as it was over everything went back to normal, so it’s not a big deal. In terms of dungeon design itself, I’m happy to say that the dungeons are a reasonable length and size, and make good design choices to lead you into getting the new tool within and teaching you to make use of it. While I wouldn’t call the game particularly difficult by any means, that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun. I only died once during the last boss fight, but if you haven’t been searching for the optional hidden things, it may be a lot more difficult for you.

Overall I have to say that Echo Isle is an absolutely wonderful title full of retro nostalgia done right. I highly recommend picking up Echo Isle. It might be a little short but it’s also cheap, so no worry about breaking the wallet. With a fluid control system, some neat dungeon design, and an absolutely wonderful aesthetic, Echo Isle is certain to give you that nostalgic kick you’re looking for.

 

Score: 9 / 10

 

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Isekai Villain - PS5 Review

Isekai Villain by developer Exe-Create and publisher KEMCO—Sony PlayStation 5  review written by Richard with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes. 

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Hello everyone and welcome to the next instalment of KEMCO RPG: Isekai Villain! This time we get to witness the tale of a regular dude who gets transported into his favourite webnovel, but as a villain mob character!

Isekai Villain starts out with a guy walking home while reading a webnovel on his phone, falling in an open manhole, breaking his leg, passing out, and then waking up to find himself a part of the Crown Eaters, a gang of villains in the webnovel he was reading. The catch? He’s a low level grunt named Gray. The other catch? The Crown Eaters aren’t part of the story past the early-ish chapters. Gray now has to balance his old world sensibilities, new world budding villainy, as well as trying to survive as a villain grunt.

While Isekai Villain is pretty similar to the other same stylized KEMCO RPGs, there are a few notable differences in how it’s handled. For those who haven’t played a KEMCO RPG, well, it’s a pretty generic retro style RPG for the most part. You’ve got your random turn-based battles, dungeons to explore and find treasure in, bosses to beat, sidequests to complete, and characters to interact with. What is somewhat interesting here is that unlike in most RPGs of this nature, there isn’t a world map, just a location directory. This makes going between different areas a lot easier for sure. While you’re in a location, be it town or dungeon, you get a 2D area to explore, chests to open , and characters in town to talk to and shops to visit. Dungeons will also have those random battles.

As is tradition with most KEMCO title with the same art style, there are plenty of quality of lifestyle options for players. Getting in too many battles and need to tone them down? You can reduce encounter rate. Need to farm some enemies? You can increase the encounter rate to every step. Enemies too hard? Well, there are five difficulties to choose from. Also back for your pleasure is the “store” and all that comes with it. Essentially the store is the place where you can buy “cheats” with earned in-game currency. Every three battles in-game you get a number of evil gems depending on difficulty setting. You can use these gems to exchange for permanent passive effects, such as increased exp or money, items such as keys that let you into special areas, or you can exchange for lottery pulls, where you might win the best weapons or armour. The Evil gems are fairly easy to earn on the easiest difficulty, so if you really need the boost and aren’t playing for the challenge you can grind some out to help you out.

In terms of combat, things are mostly traditional RPG style. Combat is turn based and you have a character gauge at the top of the screen indicating turn order based on a character’s speed, with different moves available such as normal attacks, skills, items, or you can stand by to recover some MP. You also have summons you can use as well, although only once per summon and character per battle. Some stronger enemies will have a guard you can break by using skills matching the symbols under their sprite. For example, a down arrow indicates a skill that hits a full column, whereas a star symbol is a single target. When you go to use a skill it will also show you the associated symbols. Guard breaking an enemy allows other characters to chain in and use follow up moves, potentially resulting in massive damage to a strong enemy or boss.

Acquiring new skills is a bit of an interesting departure. Unlike how it’s usually handled, in Isekai Villain skills are unlocked through a skill tree. You can earn skill points primarily through reaching certain milestones such as levels, or increasing your notoriety within the villain community. Once you’ve acquired some skill points, you can unlock and upgrade skills in each character’s skill trees. Needless to say the further down the tree you go, the better the skill usually is, but the more costly it is to use and get to.

Another cool introduction is passive skills. These are earned by performing certain actions or milestones, either in or out of battle. For example, using different types of skills will increase or earn some passives, while switching your party formation to a certain layout may unlock others. These can usually be upgraded by performing the same actions repeatedly a set number of times if the skill can be upgraded.

Among the neat aspects this time around we actually have a sort of LITE base building. When you return to the Crown Eaters base, once you unlock it you can go talk to a certain NPC and get them to build stuff in your backyard. These buildings can have a variety of purposes, some unlocking stores or game mechanics, and some just giving a general stat increase to your characters. Most buildings that feature some sort of shop or gameplay mechanic can be strengthened to increase the effects, making it worthwhile to check in occasionally if you have some extra building materials.

Now, I do have to talk about the storyline a little bit here. It isn’t exactly bad, but it does have some ups and downs. For the most part, characters in Isekai Villain tend to be rather un-idealist. They're all for going for what they want, but are more than willing to recognize that things aren’t always going to work out if you don’t make changes or compromise on things, both in the heroes party (not you) and for the villains. Also props to the devs for having good and bad people on both sides of the conflict and not stacking it one way or the other. Unfortunately the translation is…pretty rough to be honest. There are a ton of awkward sounding sentences or words I didn’t feel were particularly well translated. A bit of a departure since most of the KEMCO titles I’ve played have tended to have a decent translation. While it isn’t the worst, it definitely makes getting involved in the plot a little tougher.

In case you are a returning KEMCO JRPG enjoyer, the style is in the more anime-esque style instead of the more RPG-maker more realistic style. The music, backgrounds, and a bunch of enemy sprites are certainly reused from other games, but I feel like if you’re playing these KEMCO titles you probably don’t mind too much. While the music direction is similar in that regard as well, at least all the music and animations are well fitting.

Overall Isekai Villain is a decent addition to the KEMCO RPG line-up. While a poor translation makes it a little harder to enjoy the storyline, there are a good number of features to allow you to customize your experience to create the difficulty level you want in your RPG. The colourful cast of party members are all extremely unique as well, and not very often you find their type of personalities. If you are looking for another retro JRPG to pass some spare time, check out Isekai Villain. Just remember, don’t be too evil now.

Score: 7 / 10

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Clockwork Ambrosia - PC Review

Clockwork Ambrosia by developer Realmsoft and publisher OI games - PC(Steam) review by Richard with a copy provided by the publisher

Estimated reading time: 11 minutes

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What was your last vacation like? Did you visit an island? Tour the local industries? Get your airship shot down by a giant mechanical dragon? Well Iris from Clockwork Ambrosia has, and boy is she going to need a new vacation when she’s done with this 2D metroidvania adventure.

Clockwork Ambrosia is a rather ambitious metroidvania adventure developed by a small group of people who really went for something a little different here, and I’m all for it. Setting the scene, we have Iris, a young girl traveling by airship while on vacation. Upon arriving at an island she is shot down by a mechanical dragon. Thankfully for Iris, and eventually the inhabitants of the island, Iris survives the crash and begins to set out to explore the island and discover more about what’s going on. Turns out it’s a robot uprising, that can’t be good.

So begins the tale of Iris and her adventure across the island. Along the way she will encounter a range of interesting characters, enemies, and treasures. To help get Iris through the tribulations of the island, you will need a wide variety of different items: equipment, relics, and of course weapons. Relics will act as your one time pick-up that will give you a new ability or allow you to access more areas of the game.

Equipment involves your weapons, two of which you can have equipped to swap between at a time, but also includes the rest of your apparel, such as shirt, skirt, boots, and gloves. An interesting choice to have so many pieces of equipment, but mixing and matching to fit your playstyle or exploration needs is actually quite nice. If you also take into account how you can expand your equipment slots to eventually equip two pieces of equipment for each slot, and suddenly you get a ton of customization options. Additionally, as you beat enemies they may drop crafting materials that will allow you to upgrade your equipment once, either enhancing the current effect or adding a new one. For example you can wear goggles as a piece of equipment, and upgrading a specific one adds an item collection function that draws items to you.

Speaking of customization options, let’s finally take a look at what is probably the most focal point of Clockwork Ambrosia: the weapons. As you explore the island you will pick up some weapons to help fight off the aggressive local fauna and raging robots. You’ll be able to get a blaster, a rocket launcher, a revolver, and a grenade launcher. Don’t let the fact that there are only four weapons fool you however, because Clockwork Ambrosia has a ridiculously extensive weapon modding system. I could tell you how each weapon works, but depending on what mods you attach your functionality could be completely different from what I liked to use. The only real hard fact is that the rockets and grenades tend to be better for dealing with armoured enemies, although based on your setup even that may not be strictly true.

Clockwork Ambrosia has a bunch of different modding slots for each weapon, and not only can you mix and match mods that fit the slot type whenever you want, even on the fly, but you can discover weapon upgrades and mods that can drastically change your weapon. For example, you could discover a rocket upgrade that allows you to equip an extra firing mod, or a blaster upgrade that allows you to use two different mod types in one of the slots instead of the default one. You can also set up your weapons to be general use or specific use too. A good example of this is the blaster. You can front-load the blaster to deal enhanced damage and consume all your shots at once in a single forward blast, or you could set it up so that you have a huge fan of shots spreading out in front of you. I personally preferred the fan, but how you use the weapon is up to you.

Another interesting aspect of the weapons is that they all have ammo. The blaster works on a sort of energy capacity that needs time to recover, whereas the other three weapons you need to reload, either when out of shots or manually. Depending on mods your weapons can have more or less ammo slots as well. Using my rocket setup, at one point I had I think eight shots available before needing to reload, but at the end of the game I was down to five in exchange for firepower. It’s really cool to be able to get such a diverse feeling from the same weapon depending on how you change it yourself.

So, we’ve talked a lot about customization mechanics, but how about the core gameplay progression? Well, the developers also decided to implement some cool ideas here, but for the most part it plays like a tried and true metroidvania. You have side-scrolling adventures through the island set up as individual “rooms”, shooting up enemies, exploring for chests and items, fighting bosses, collecting power-ups that allow you to explore new areas, and collecting crafting materials. You can pick up a cartography set pretty early on that allows you access to a pretty traditional metroidvania type map, where rooms are square blocks with key points of interest noted. You can also put down your own indicators of a question mark, item bag, or circle with a line through it in order to mark areas of interest or where you need an ability or item to get through later. There are hidden rooms and walls, so be careful and pay attention to your surroundings.

The cool aspects implanted by the dev team revolve around how the exploration functions. Basically, while the first few areas are mandatory, after a point you are pretty much free to explore in whatever direction you want how you want. While I’m not completely sure it’s intended strictly speaking, I was able to finagle my way into areas I probably shouldn’t have been able to without a specific ability or item. Is this game breaking? No, because eventually you’ll have to explore around anyway, and I never got hard stuck in an area, and I didn’t really skip anything, but it is kinda nice if it was intended. For the most part ability upgrades are primarily for the area you’re currently exploring, and while they certainly help out in other areas, you do have some ways of getting around a lot of that, barring one or two exceptions and the final stretch of the game.

Ooh, and one of the things I thought was really cool? The map wraps horizontally. If you keep going left enough, you will end up on the right. You can see this if you open up the map and hold left or right, the map will eventually come full circle. I think the last time I saw this done that I can remember was in Metroid Fusion, and even that was all hidden and you probably wouldn’t ever realize on a casual playthrough. While I would have liked a little more in the way of map customization icons, three felt too few to me, and that’s more of a 100% completionist. This comes from my metroidvania enthusiast mindset rather than a strictly inherent problem. Pro tip by the way, you may want to make personal notes written down about things to come back to or to investigate later, because I definitely found myself forgetting what some of my map markers were for.

I’ve got one last particularly interesting design decision to share, although I don’t know where I should put it exactly. As with almost all metroidvania titles, you’ll gain the abilities necessary to jump either higher or further. There are actually multiple ways to do this, and some involve equipment, which I wasn’t expecting. Normally exploration enhancement is done through permanent upgrades, and not say equipping a certain pair of boots. A really interesting choice, and while I’m not sure how most people will feel about this, I thought it was a really cool idea. Since the equipment can also be upgraded, this means if you invest in finding the upgrade resources this could help you out a lot. I can positively state that the exploration equipment made the last boss about 30% easier for me personally, although I assume others may prefer more combat focused gear for that.

Clockwork Ambrosia also has a really wonderful aesthetic to it. Somewhat reminiscent of older titles such as the Gameboy advance Metroid or the mid collection Megaman X games, Clockwork Ambrosia sports a bit more of a retro feeling graphic-wise, both in spritework and in background graphics. This actually works really well with the gameplay and thematic design, and I’m really happy to relive some of my nostalgic metroidvania retro past. The sprites are also really expressive for the different characters, which is pretty impressive considering they all have their own personalities that really show through the animation and design work. The background music collection is also really well put together and is fitting for the areas they play in, and I found enhanced the ambience of the region I was exploring.

While I absolutely loved my adventures in Clockwork Ambrosia, there are a few areas that caused some issues. The most notable is probably an issue with the soundtrack looping. Occasionally the soundtrack would stop for about a full second before starting again during the looping sequence. I also found that if you transition areas too fast or often, the game might not play the correct soundtrack, instead playing the track from the area you came from instead of the one you have entered. Additionally, fast travel is unlocked fairly late into the game depending on your choices, so be prepared for that.

As a pretty much unavoidable issue in a game like this, boss difficulty is…well, a mixed bag I suppose? Early game bosses I found really easy, and the late game bosses I shredded because I had upgraded and modded my weapons to a dirty degree. Mid game bosses were a little tougher while I was figuring things out. Unfortunately this is really a matter of personal experience rather than balancing. If you feel the game is too easy, try experimenting with other weapons or mods, or maybe challenge yourself somehow. I managed to beat a few of the final set of bosses way too fast, but it’s really hard to balance that against players that may not have the same mods and skill level. It’s certainly a tough job balancing a game like this where you can take different routes and mod the heck out of your weapons, so this may be more on the player to figure out. Perhaps a difficulty option for increased boss health for those who want a greater challenge? According to the steam achievements I’ve explored more than 95% of the map, so take this with a grain of salt since I’ve unlocked a ridiculous amount of mod options and equipment.

In terms of gameplay, I discovered two things of note, although the specific situation they can happen in are a little restrictive. First up is screenwrapping issues. Basically, if you try and escape through an edge of a room you aren’t meant to, but manage to anyway, you’ll get put on the opposite side of where you were. I used this twice accidentally and ended up in a closed-off area I was supposed to go around to get to or solve a puzzle for. I’ll take this over the game crashing, and it’s not like it resulted in sequence breaking in these circumstances, but I’m sure there are areas of the game where this could produce some bigger issue. There was also a boss room near the top of the map that would shove me away after I beat the boss and tried to reenter later. I managed to power through by repeatedly dashing at the entryway, but it was certainly weird. Only the one time that ever happened though.

Overall I have to say that Colckwork Ambrosia is a really wonderful metroidvania title. With a really fun weapon and equipment customization mechanic, some rather unexpected ability upgrades, and a cast of interesting characters, I can wholeheartedly recommend Clockwork Ambrosia to any metroidvania fan. While there are some areas of concern, such as music looping, some minor glitches, and a map that definitely needs more pin options, and a sliding difficulty that’s super player dependent, the amount of chaotic fun you get from the weapon mod system and exploration dynamics certainly outweighs the minor issues. While a bit on the shorter side, clocking in at between 15 to 20 hours of gameplay, I’d say it’s well worth it.

 

Score: 9 / 10

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Erenshor Celebrates One Year Anniversary on Steam!

A milestone for the acclaimed “simulated MMORPG” that lets players explore classic MMO gameplay - on their own schedule.

❓WHAT’S THE NEWS?

Today marks the one-year anniversary of Erenshor’s Early Access launch on Steam. Brian, the solo developer behind Erenshor, shares some history on the development of the game and his personal reasons for deciding to steer the “MMO experience” exclusively towards the single-player direction.

Read the full story via the Steam Newshub post.

🌎WHY IT MATTERS

Since launch, Erenshor has developed into a distinctive single-player “simulated MMORPG,” shaped heavily by its community. The developer credits players’ ongoing support, feedback, and enthusiasm as key factors in the game’s evolution and continued development over the past year.

In a Steam anniversary write-up, Burgee Media reflects on the journey, thanking players for helping make Erenshor what it is today and emphasizing appreciation for the community’s role in its success.

🚧WHAT’S NEXT

Looking ahead, the dev confirms that raid content is in development, with additional reveals planned soon as the next major step in Erenshor’s roadmap.

🔑KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• One-year anniversary of Early Access launch
• Developer Steam Newshub post reflects on development and thanks the community
• Community credited for shaping the game’s development direction
• Raid content confirmed as next major feature, already far along in development
• Additional reveals teased for upcoming announcements

🗨️DEVELOPER QUOTE

“Today is the one year anniversary of Erenshor's launch into early access! It's truly been a crazy year, and I can't wait to show you guys what's coming next. (Hint, it's raids, and there's gonna be some reveals soon!) You guys are awesome, the things you do to support the game have helped make Erenshor into what it is today and I appreciate you all. Thank you all for the past year, and here’s to the next one!”

 

Article by: Susan N.

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Good Luck with Crazy Physics-Based Platformer on Steam!

On April 8, Good Luck, a physics-based urban survival game, will debut on PC. In this crazy platformer, your goal is to reach a meeting, but the city is filled with absurd traps and unusual hazards at every turn. Good Luck features single-player and online co-op modes for up to 5 players. The game will later arrive on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles.

It was developed by the independent Turkish studio Happybara Games, with Ultimate Games S.A. as the publisher for PC and consoles.

Survive the Urban Jungle!

Good Luck is a third-person arcade platformer. Filled with lighthearted humor, the game's objective is to reach your meeting by navigating streets, jumping, and climbing. The city is having a bad day, and if something can go wrong, it will.

Players can expect absurd traps, unexpected threats, and high-stakes situations where no mistakes are allowed. In Good Luck, even a banana peel, trash can, or streetlight can be deadly.

Total Chaos and Crazy Co-Op

The game stands out for its unpredictable physics-based chaos and lack of checkpoints, offering single-player and up to 5-player online co-op modes.

The creators at Happybara Games say Good Luck uniquely blends urban survival with mechanics typical of the "rage game" subgenre. It shines in co-op, where chaos and frustration mix with epic plays.

Good Luck – Key Features:

• Make it to the meeting;
• Survive the urban jungle;
• Don't count on checkpoints;
• Battle chaotic physics;
• Play solo or with friends (up to 5 players online).

The PC (Steam) release date for Good Luck is April 8, 2026. The game will also launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles later.

Article by: Susan N.

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Mullet MadJack By Hammer95 Studios is Coming to Nintendo Switch!

São Paulo, March 26, 2025 | The frenetic, neon-drenched, no-holds-barred chaos of Mullet MadJack will soon fit in the palm of your hand, as the title releases on April 30 on Nintendo Switch.

Developed by Hammer95 Studios and published by Epopeia Games, Mullet MadJack has won over hundreds of thousands of players around the world with its unique premise: an FPS where you must eliminate enemies every 10 seconds to survive in a future dominated by billionaire robots—all wrapped in a visual style that pays homage to classic anime from the ’80s and ’90s.

The Nintendo Switch release follows a successful run on other platforms. The game quickly became a phenomenon on Steam, amassing around 97% positive reviews and hundreds of thousands of players, as well as ranking among the best-selling titles in its genre on the platform. On Xbox, the title further expanded its player base, surpassing 800,000 downloads across Steam and Game Pass.

Recognition also came from critics and the industry. Mullet MadJack won the Best Brazilian Game award at the gamescom latam BIG Festival 2025, establishing itself as one of the leading highlights of the national and international indie scene.

"We love the golden age of Japanese anime from the 80s and 90s, and we want to pay tribute to that magical era with this game." says Alessandro Martinello, Game Director.

On the Nintendo Switch, the game retains all the intensity that made it a hit: fast-paced combat, roguelite-style progression, dozens of power-ups, and an insane vertical campaign where every floor is a new challenge—and every second counts.

The launch of April 30 will happen during gamescom latam 2026 and it marks a new chapter for the title, now accessible to a new audience and ready to captivate the players in the Nintendo ecosystem as well.

What makes Mullet MadJack Unique?

Exciting and dynamic combat: Race against time and infiltrate a building alone, overcoming each floor until you reach your objective.

Campaign mode: Clear floors filled with robots, and in crucial moments, execute ultraviolent finishes on your enemies to survive.

Survival mode: Utilize your skills in an endless mode and outdo your friends.

Unique visual and art style: The contrasting colors between black and vibrant neon evoke the aesthetics of violent and adult anime from the era of VHS tapes.

Engaging narrative: Set in an Old School cyberpunk world full of robots, the aesthetics of 90s anime merge with an action-packed environment.

Nostalgic soundtrack: Inspired by the synthwave genre, the soundtrack sets the tone and urban atmosphere of the game.

Evolve your character: Enhance your character with smart choices so that you can reach the top floor in the best possible time or you'll have to try again, all in the best Rogue-Lite style. But remember that each upgrade will affect how the game is played. 

ABOUT MULLET MADJACK

Mullet MadJack is a highly fast-paced first-person action-adventure game designed for single-player. It draws inspiration from the Badass Old-School classic anime of the 80s and 90s, featuring a retro aesthetic and immersive gameplay that transports players back to the nostalgic era.

The game features vibrant colors, memorable characters, and a unique story, providing an authentic experience for both gaming enthusiasts and anime fans alike.

ABOUT HAMMER95 STUDIOS

Hammer95 is a collective of 3 devs who love the aesthetic of old anime and aim to bring back that nostalgia!

For more information, please follow our social media profiles:

• Tik Tok
• Twitter
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Discord

ABOUT EPOPEIA GAMES

Epopeia Games is responsible for other games that have already been nominated for several awards, but now promises to innovate in terms of the farm game theme with its new release. Gaucho and the Grassland, which has already been awarded in the category: BEST REGIONAL ASSOCIATION GAME PITCH at the Big Festival 2022 in São Paulo, has a final release date planned for 2025, but in the future it will be released on other consoles such as Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and Playstation 4/5.

Article by: Susan N.

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