Recent reviews by Ashen Jedi

Fear and Hunger... A hellish game with a darker tone. But man is it really cool, the writing is really insanely detailed (When you get to it), the brutality just sets a tone of it's own, (also tells you to get gud), the mechanics mesh in a way that allows you to win with perseverance but also makes sense in this insane Cthulhu-like horror you have to constantly endure.

The sound design is on another level, no other game has gripped me quite like this one has on such an auditory level, every little step, or sound makes you JUMP to attention.

The game is not for everyone or the faint of heart, heck I'm not even sure how I got so deep, (I finished a run finally as of this writing, ending A, and I want to do more and actually finish a Termina run as well).

But if you have an iron stomach or the morbid curiosity, you could find yourself rewarded with something rather rich if depraved.

Those of you willing to deal with a brutal but well crafted true dark fantasy world, well the deplorable is suddenly much more normal... This is where you delve. The Dungeons of Fear and Hunger.

Disgaea 5 is a fanatastic SRPG. With fun characters, and a predictable but fun plot that pulls from G Gundam and several other things I find really fun.

Killia is probably my favorite protagonist in the series since Adell, and coincidentally they're both fist fighters. I just love my martial arts okay?

Disgaea 5 evolves gameplay and several aspects from the prior 4 games masterfully and streamlines the process of getting new classes, doing the assembly and such. The attacks and animations are as over the top as ever and then some.

Honestly my only gripe is that the OST is fairly forgettable besides the hub theme which is a banger.

SF6 is funny because it's the opposite of SF5 and by that I mean the more time passes the worse it gets as opposed to SF5 where it started really poor but got better as time passed.

SF6 has really solid single-player content, but besides that, it's one of the least enjoyable fighting games I've had the displeasure of playing, despite starting really fun.

Not to mention the glacial pace at which their updates are released, patches are nearly nonexistent, outfits are scarce, and characters take way too long to come out. The Street Fighter team currently at Capcom shows an unwillingness to shake things up or to commit to a particular direction, leaving the game itself feeling soulless.

Ah Onimusha, a series of Capcom's i'd been meaning to get to for years. With a friend getting me it for Christmas no better time than the present.

The coolest thing with this game is probably how simple yet mechanically solid the combat is, this game is the inbetween of Resident Evil of the time and Devil May Cry 1, and this is why it focuses on efficient combat rather than fully on resources or style, you have to use your block and dodge just right. Or blitz your opponent or get good at issens ~~or just abuse your magic attacks lol~~

The story is VERY simple but what results from this is a fairly breezy game that challenges you to get good at it and speed through it multiple times. The CG scenes are REALLY good like insanely good for 2001, was reminding me of like Square or Blizzard of the timeframe.

I loved the multiple swords, and their special elemental attacks, they all looked cool and the special attacks were all very fun. The bow and matchlock were funny to use when range opened up, especially with their upgraded arrows/bullets.

The only things I was really iffy on was the early focus on Nobunaga but then not really doing anything with him, but from what I understand 2 goes more into this, plus as mentioned the game is rather breezy.

Also the Kaede sequences were... interesting but felt kind of undercooked, the fact I couldn't get Souls and she was so squishy was kind of irritating.

Samanosuke is a neat protag, it was funny seeing him abrasive to basically everyone besides the Princess and Kaede. I'm definitely curious to see how 3 characterizes him when I get to it.

In the end as I described to my friend, Onimusha Warlords feels like a time capsule of 2001 Capcom specifically and I find that very interesting.

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is fantastic. It's a lovingly recrafted version of the original game. The scope and everything has just been made from the ground up amazingly. Pretty much every detail is redone to a perfect degree.

Both the Subs new seiyuus and the Dubs old VA's do fantastic work.

The combat system utilizes the original Sky as a base, with the later Crossbell, Sen/Cold Steel, and Kuro/Daybreak systems weaving into a masterful blend, and one of my absolute favorite combat systems in the genre, along with the series itself.

The music is a little hit and miss, the remixes that are well done are really well done, and the misses while not incompetently done just miss the original vibe of the original track.

Estelle and Joshua's dynamic is wonderful as ever, along with Schera, Olivier, Kloe, Agate, Tita, and Zin. Who now benefits from Cold Steel's addition of active voice dialogue to get even more out of them all, along with their original scenes, which are well handled; they never toned back aspects like Tita getting slapped, among other hard-hitting scenes, which I respect Falcom for.

The script is mostly well handled, although some terminology is slightly off, but from what I hear, that's more on Falcom's actual end than Gunghos (Who I just played their remasters of the Grandia games earlier in the year.)

I heavily recommend this game, whether you've played the series before or are new to it and wish to journey into one of my favorite RPG series of all time.

When Sky 2nd is closer, I'll be heading back in on Nightmare mode even.

A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!

Addicting gameplay loop similar to Princess Maker, adorable, fun and quirky characters abound. Good music, fun interactions, generally very wholesome, much needed in the world of 2025.

Dispatch felt like a very good season of TV and considering how barren of a wasteland that's been for like 15 years, it's really saying something.

Robert was both the leading man and the best part of the game, he was a different take on the Iron Man or Batman type, Aaron Paul did an absolutely fantastic job with the role as well.

The entire cast was honestly really good, and the story kept bouncing from high to high with only a couple of minor low points. It was a gripping Superhero story, something that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has faltered on for a decade+ now.

Choices did feel impactful in particular moments, which is more than I can say for old Telltale but there is obvious loop arounds that feel like some choices could have meant more, but this and the over abundance of swearing at times are my only gripes.

The comedic timing was also a huge highlight, especially Flambae's karmic rebounds. The entire Z-Team played off each other really well and I liked how the gameplay segments rewarded you for knowing who vibed best with who.

I went with Invisi, but Blazer was great too, they're both great leading women.

Speaking of, the Dispatching gameplay, it's addicting and the finale test of all you learned was REALLY fun I'd play an entire mode dedicated to a roguelike system.

In conclusion? Dispatch is awesome. It does have some mature elements, so be aware of that going in.

Absurdly addicting and fun, also it has Castlevania, Contra and other content!

The Castlevania content alone is absurdly detailed and awesome.

A fun mash up of 2010's Ys and Trails, using the Ys Seven engine but with RPG systems more in line with Final Fantasy Dissidia creates a very interesting game, and all the touch ups the refint/games team did are nothing short of impressive. The models touch ups, rollback netcode and getting the english casts was not an expected thing for a small fun spinoff getting localized finally in 2025.

Unfortunately in it's current state this port of Aquapazza isn't worth it.

Performance issues, the old delay netcode (which was horrendous even for delay standards), and many other small things add up to not a great port unfortunately.

I hope one day this can be reversed. Because I really wanted to play as my girl Touka in a functional fighting game along with a cool interpretation of set play via Hakuowlo.