Recent reviews by Moud

A simple game, but with a pretty fun idea. The concept is to kill each boss in a single turn. It feels satisfying at first, but that feeling doesn’t last long. What really makes the game fun is the deck-building aspect built around this idea.

There’s a good variety of cards, allowing for very different and fun deck builds, especially considering the game’s length. The bosses and story are okay, and the visuals and music are very good.

The main downside is that the game is short and doesn’t have much replay value. You can keep testing decks or try infinite combo builds, but it doesn’t add enough to make you want to replay the game.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is a refreshing experience that preserves the charm of Persona. I was very excited for this game, especially knowing the studio behind Atlus’ masterpieces was returning with an entirely new journey built on the same formula we love. Now that I’ve finished Metaphor, I can say the studio truly succeeded in their new adventure

First of all, the strongest new element here is the story and the world-building. The narrative talks about diversity and what it means to create an ideal country. The way they present and explore these themes is amazing, all inside a beautifully designed fantasy world with deep lore and well-written characters. I especially want to highlight the main villain: every time he appears, the team makes the cutscene feel special, showing his aura, personality, and his belief that what he’s doing is right

If I divide the story, I’d say it has three parts: the first part is very interesting and hooks you immediately; the second part is slower, personally, I didn’t enjoy this section much, and the third part progresses very quickly, reaching an intense peak and delivering a strong ending

The only remaining issue with the story is the main dungeons. They are part of the narrative, but after the first two excellent dungeons, the rest become very short. Yes, they each have a special idea and move the story forward, but some of them barely feel like dungeons at all.Overall, the dungeon design could have been much better

Now for the gameplay. The gameplay focuses on two major pillars. These two elements shape the whole experience

The first pillar is the Traveler Simulator. Here you increase your Royal Virtues, which are important for talking to certain characters. You raise these Virtues by doing activities, for example, speeches increase Eloquence, bounties increase Courage, and so on. The activities themselves are really good. There’s even an NPC who tells you the history of their tribe, which is interesting and increases the protagonist’s Wisdom

Another part of the system is the quests. In general, they involve bringing items you find while traveling, exploring sub-dungeons, or visiting villages, or doing certain activities. The sub-dungeons are very fun and actually more well-designed than some of the main dungeons, both in exploration and combat. Yes, they can become repetitive, but they’re still enjoyable. There’s also a cool mechanic when you start traveling toward a dungeon: the available activities change depending on the journey, and you must pay attention to the weather because it affects the difficulty of the sub-dungeons

Finally, there are the Bond hangouts with party members. These are well-written, and for some characters I wanted even more depth because their themes were interesting. However, the main issue is that the Bond events feel like they progress in a completely different direction from the main story

The second gameplay pillar is the battle system, which is divided into two parts. But before that, the most important mechanic to understand is the Archetype system, basically your classes. Archetypes define each party member’s role and abilities, and you can switch them freely before entering turn-based battles. The strategy here is incredible. You can merge skills from two Archetypes, build teams with strong synergy, and experiment in ways that are much more flexible than in Persona. All party members can change Archetypes, and you’ll need to do this constantly to counter different enemy types. About half of the strategy comes from choosing the correct Archetypes before the battle even starts

Once inside a turn-based fight, you apply your strategy based on the Archetypes you selected. The turn-based combat is very fun. The overworld battles are designed to save time, you can instantly kill weak enemies without entering turn-based combat. But if enemies are your level or higher, you need to stun them first to gain an advantage or you’ll be at a disadvantage

Overall, the gameplay is refreshing and full of deep management and strategy

About the UI, OSTs, and presentation, if I summarize it in one word, it’s Atlus. And if you know what ‘Atlus’ means, then you know: top-tier visuals, smooth and stylish UI, incredible soundtracks, and presentation that perfectly fits the game’s fantasy theme. The voice acting is also very strong and matches each character perfectly

I’m really looking forward to seeing what new games this team will bring us after the big success of Metaphor

Amazing game. The art style looks awesome, super stylish and unique. The story had me hooked all the way through, and even the side quests were fun and interesting

The main bosses are all different and really fun to fight. Each one felt fresh and stood out in a good way. I had a great time from start to finish

10/10

Overall, the game is great, and it has the potential to become even better since it’s still in development. the music and atmosphere are excellent, and the art style, animation, and character design are the most appreciated aspects of this VN. The story is well written, and I liked the random twists. All features of the gameplay, art style, and music support the narrative, like the hands that stay on screen and the choices (even when there’s sometimes only a single option)

The gameplay is a visual novel with mini-games one of which and the most used is typing words shown on the screen, it’s a basic mechanic but it still serves the narrative, as the game progresses, it introduces new mechanics, but it remains very simple. However, the additional keyboard-typing segments, where you need to type quickly to unlock extra files is very fun. It would be nice to see a bit more challenge or perhaps a hearts system in the main game’s typing sections.

This game is still alive, they released Chapter 5 last March and Chapter 4 in December 2023. Each chapter improves on the previous one. I’m looking forward to the remaining chapters

This game is the best of 2025.
It doesn’t introduce something entirely new, but what it offers is impressive: the gameplay is a fusion of Souls, Paper Mario, and Final Fantasy, and combined with its graphics, it becomes both creative and very fun. As for the story, I’ve seen similar plotlines and twists before, but the story here is far superior. That’s not surprising, since this game comes from developers who are passionate gamers and truly love the industry. You can see this on their official site, where each person’s bio lists their favorite games and they combined all the games they love into one.

The first thing that stands out is the theme menu, and the more you progress in the story, the more you realize that the soundtrack is a masterpiece. sometimes I stopped fighting bosses because I feared ending those battles before I finished enjoying the ost. Another aspect I really like is that the lyrics narrate the story: understanding the words changes your perception of the ost. The lyrics themselves evoke vivid imagery, so I highly recommend reading them after you complete the game (there are some spoilers in the lyrics). “Une vie à t’aimer,” “We Lost,” and “Rouge d’Iris” are the best boss themes for me, but “One-Winged Angel” and “The Extreme” remain my favorite first and second boss themes.

What completes this masterpiece is the world itself, it’s stunning with its creatures, dungeons, and overworld. I loved seeing giant creatures in the mountains, and each dungeon is outstanding, this world painted by great artists. It’s no wonder, since this world springs from a story and journey filled with lovable characters and emotional experiences. I was immersed in the dialogue, voice acting, and cutscenes, it felt like watching a high-quality movie, not a typical game cutscene. I appreciated how my perspective of the story evolved as I progressed, and how courageous the writers are to include major twists that significantly alter the story’s direction without fear of ruining it. Normally, the final act should be the most beautiful part, but they don’t link optional content directly with the main story. The game expects you to complete the story before tackling optional content, but I did the opposite and I’m glad I did. I don’t think I would have appreciated the ending as much if I had done the optional content afterward. Even though it’s optional, it’s on par with the main story and gives you full satisfaction of all the game’s content. The only issue is that the story feels like it doesn’t progress in the final act if you tackle optional content first.

Without forgetting the main element "gameplay" it’s turn-based with parry and shooter mechanics. Parrying is satisfying and requires quick thinking; this is the first game that makes the enemy’s turn more fun than your own. The shooter aspect is excellent: shooting differs depending on where you hit. There are weak spots that, when hit, deal very high damage. Pictos and Luminas add a lot of strategy and freedom in gamplay and creating builds that stargie you want to each characte, this is the best feature in game. But there are some things I don’t like. First, the game introduces many features that could have been exploited better, like status effects that reduce aiming precision and make it hard to aim; this status effect occurs only once, and other status effects could have been used more. Second, the game doesn’t really require much strategy in battle, most of my turns ended very quickly because it was obvious what I should do at the start of my turn. In summary, I liked the gameplay and didn’t get bored at all, but it could have been much better. Also, the bosses and enemies here are lovable and well-designed in both gameplay and visuals.

That’s all I want to say about the game. You don’t need to play previous Expeditions especially Expedition 60 to avoid confusion about the story. Otherwise, grab la baguette, le croissant et l’éclair, and play this game for those who’ve played this game before and said: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a masterpiece

I like this game more than the first one, although it's a bit shorter. This is literally episode 2, so it's mostly similar to the first game in terms of gameplay and art style. However, the soundtrack and humor are much better here. The only problem is that this game made me even more interested in the franchise and now I have to wait an entire year for the sequel

Great game! The voice acting is awesome. The deduction here is cool and requires some thinking to solve the mystery. I really like the art style, and the characters are well written. If you want a cozy detective game, I highly recommend this one

Cool game, but it would be even better if there were a mode where if you win you get an achievement and if you lose System32 folder gets deleted

I like this game and enjoy uncovering the mystery by completing each difficulty. The art style and soundtrack are great. It's satisfying, enjoyable, and a challenging bullet hell experience. I recommend this game

Hmm... GREAT SHORT EXPERIENCE! All side activities and micro-stories of each character are really fun. I recommend trying this short game and unlocking all achievements to get the full experience