Ride on, Rangers: Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, the third entry in the monster-collecting JRPG spin-off series, is here! Can humans and monsters unite to save the world? Bonds of kinship prevail in a fantastical tale revealing how past sins echo through time. Heartwarming and poignant, Monster Hunter Stories 3 builds on an already impressive formula and reaches even greater heights.

The story begins in a kingdom called Azuria with the birth of exceedingly rare twin Skyscale Rathalos (think giant dragons). This birth portends a great calamity, causing the king to make a tragic decision in an attempt to prevent future hardships. Flash forward years later, and much has changed in Azuria. You play as the prince or princess of the kingdom who happens to be the newly minted captain of Azuria’s Rangers: a specialized unit of Monster Riders with a mission to protect the fragile environmental balance between humans, monsters, and nature.

Together with your staunchly loyal Palico attendant Rudy and “Monstie” Ratha, you and the other Rangers face the inexplicable threat of crystallization that is laying waste to monster and human territories alike. Not to mention the increased tensions with the neighboring kingdom of Vermeil, which has been hit even harder by the disaster and is growing ever more desperate. With war on the horizon, can the Rangers, their Monsties, and Eleanor, the second princess of Vermeil, figure out the truth behind the disastrous crystallization and save everyone?

I won’t delve too deeply into the story, as it contains emotional twists and turns. There’s one predictable twist, but it still works narratively. While I’m not as familiar with the mainline Monster Hunter action RPGs, I appreciate Monster Hunter Stories’ focus on humans aiming for harmonious coexistence with monsters. The Monsties aren’t treated as harmless, and Monster Hunters still play a pivotal role in society; however, the monsters are shown with surprising depth and sentience, making their bonds with humans believable.

Monster Hunter Stories 3 is the best in the trilogy at developing party members beyond the protagonist and Rudy. The other Rangers and Eleanor each have their own backstories and motivations. Supporting characters gain depth, and I even wanted more scenes with standouts like Corbin and PK. The game tells a surprisingly epic tale, veering into mature, bittersweet territory.

This leads me into my first “gripe”: the first two MHS games leaned more toward family-friendly, wholesome territory. Monster Hunter Stories 3 attempts to tread that same water while also telling a more grown-up tale of acceptance and coming-of-age. Occasionally, it comes across as not knowing which audience it is trying to cater to. There are some scenes that could be troubling for younger gamers, yet the narrative then pulls back by still retaining “childish/cutesy” elements. For instance, it’s hard to take a scene describing the horrors of war as seriously as was no doubt intended when terms like “Monstie” are used in the same breath.

The cat-like Felynes that populate the world are far too cute, even when in serious narrative roles, given the cat puns they throw around (not that I don’t think they aren’t “purr-fectly” charming and clever myself). Throw in a side quest that involves finding missing Poogies (essentially little piglets), who are often dressed up in colorful attire for some reason, alongside actually racing some of the little guys in mushroom-dotted race tracks, and you’ve got an RPG that seems deceptively kiddy on the surface. But breaking through the egg quartz to find the hidden bounty within reveals a plot with some pretty dark and mature undertones.

In a way, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection symbolizes the “awkward teen” phase of this spinoff series as it finds its footing alongside its more daring cousin. Still more mature and evolving than its predecessors, yet only taking those forays with tentative, regressive steps at certain points. That isn’t a slight against the plot at all, though! There’s a superb environmental message at its core. I also appreciate how the main character (whom I’ll refer to as “the princess” from here on out since that’s who I picked) is so much more than just a blank slate player insert in this tale, as they have a pivotal role and personality that’s front and center throughout.

Gameplay-wise, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection replaces the main MH games’ action RPG mechanics with a more traditional turn-based approach. The princess equips three weapon types, each with unique strengths, weaknesses, and skills. You switch weapons to suit your current enemies and choose the most effective element or type. I preferred heavy blades, hammers, and bows, but all weapon types are versatile. After selecting a weapon, combat involves choosing an attack and entering a rock-paper-scissors exchange: technical beats speed; speed overcomes power; power trumps technical. Winning Head-to-Head lets you deal more damage, or the reverse if you lose.

As a Rider or Ranger, you’re never fighting alone. The princess teams up with a Monstie companion, and both share a “heart” meter to monitor and avoid a game over. In battle, you can use up to six monsters, each with unique behaviors, abilities, and elemental properties. Keeping a mixed roster to match foes is vital.

By default, Monsties pick their moves, but you can override this when you need a certain attack type. If you and a party member target the same enemy part with the same attack type and win a Head-to-Head, your kinship gauge increases faster. This lets you ride your Monstie, combining your health and unlocking a powerful Kinship move. Your AI-controlled Ranger companion and their Monstie function identically, and syncing the ride phase enables a more devastating Double Kinship attack.

Combat requires strategy. When first fighting a new enemy, you’re left to initially guess at their penchant for attack types and counter accordingly. After that initial phase, you have to remember which attack types enemies prefer if you want to do the most damage. There are also status effects and a limited number of inventory items to consider, so plan carefully. Many enemy monsters have multiple body parts to target, often with different weapon weaknesses that’ll have you switching out between different ones as needed. Breaking body parts can stagger monsters or weaken their attacks, but it can make the fights drag on.

It doesn’t help that, aside from choosing your own Monsties’ attacks, you have no control over what your Ranger ally and their Monstie do during fights. Every party member and their monsters have different abilities and equipment, but merely serviceable AI. But they might prefer power attacks even when an enemy targets them with a speed one, or they might not heal you or themselves, even when you’re out of your restorative items and desperately need the support. The ability to direct their actions would speed prolonged battles along.

I often relied on the handy Quick Finish option to instantly KO lower-level enemies or attacked and destroyed monsters on the field before a fight even began, but that only works if you’re sufficiently leveled.

Outside combat, exploration is central to Monster Hunter Stories 3. Monsties have unique abilities for navigating areas. For example, Royal Ludroths’ Swim lets you cross lakes quickly, while Barroths’ Ground Dive grants access to otherwise unreachable regions. Having a party with varied skills opens up more of the terrain, and you can switch Monsties at any time. Exploring reveals dens with monster eggs to bolster your ranks, or you can use a recently hatched monster in reclaimed areas after defeating a Feral Monster and setting up a campground to increase a specific monster’s population.

Habitat restoration enables you to not only strengthen the monster populations of an area, but also “restore” endangered species. First, you must combat invasive monsters. These souped-up monster battles take more strategy to overcome as they require clue gathering and specific tactics to not so much “defeat” the enemy as to make it retreat, at which point you can retrieve an endangered species egg and hatch it.

Returning the newly hatched monster to the ecosystem then starts populating the grounds with more eggs for that species. Continuing to do so can even cause mutations, resulting in powerful monster variations. The fearsome Tigrex, for example, has two such mutant subspecies you acquire by playing along with habitat restoration.

Beyond merely collecting eggs and hatching them, you can also add skills and abilities to your Monsties through the Rite of Channeling. This allows you to transfer specific genes between monsters. There are bonuses to stats should you line genes up a certain way, and the sheer number of abilities you can give a monster is astounding. Genes let monsters access attacks they normally wouldn’t have, like a technical or speed attack skill on a monster mostly known for power, which helps further diversify the roles they take in combat. Narga, my Green Nargacuga variant, became an MVP due to all of the different skills and defensive/resistance bonuses I gave him.

Monster Hunter Stories 3‘s optional side content occasionally opens up, generally of the basic fetch variety, with you having to track down specific monsters or materials. They’re definitely good for resource gathering purposes for crafting or for level grinding, but they aren’t memorable.

The character side stories for the Ranger companions and Eleanor are far more interesting. Not only can you strengthen your comrades’ and their Monsties’ abilities and gear by undertaking them, which in turn improves their combat strength, but you also learn more about their individual backstories and reasons for tagging along with the princess. The side stories further strengthening your companions’ narrative ties and reactions to the main plot. I just wish the rest of the side content were as detailed!

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is a gorgeous and vibrantly colorful game. The environments are lively and memorable with a ton to uncover, and I love the expressive characters. The monsters all have interesting designs, though I do wish there were more variety. For all of the different color variations, you do run into monsters that look quite similar to one another, even if their behaviors are different. I also love the different looks the armor getups have, even though some of them have accessories that could prove distracting during cutscenes, like shoulder horns that block another character’s face during dialogue.

I played the game on a PS5 and didn’t encounter any of the graphical hiccups Ben Love reported in his awesome Switch 2 version preview, so I think the graphics interpretation also depends on the console.

The sound effects and voice work for the English language version are nicely done. Monsters sound thoroughly wild and intimidating when necessary, and the voice actors really give it their all in their performances. The soundtrack is also amazing. The vocal ending theme is lovely and fits the narrative theme nicely, and I loved the catchy intensity of the battle and monster themes such as this one. The script localization is pretty well done, with easy-to-read subtitles throughout all cutscenes.

Overall, I appreciate that Monster Hunter Stories 3 is largely a standalone adventure that RPGFans can pick up and play even if their knowledge of the main Monster Hunter series or the previous two MHS games is nonexistent (though there are some delightful callbacks for fans). The foundation for Monster Hunter Stories was already solid, and this third game largely builds upon this. Most of my issues with the game are relatively minor and nitpicky in hindsight, especially given how much I enjoyed playing it even after fifty hours.

I think Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is a great introduction to this spin-off series, especially to those with a fondness for detail and strategy-heavy monster collecting and explorable fantasy adventures. Given how fantastic Monster Hunter Stories 3 is, if the next game in the series can provide an even stronger outing, I’ll be paws-itively impressed!

The year is 20XX. The great city of Toronto is beset with three warring gangs: the Demons, the Robots, and, perhaps most fearsome of all, the Vegans. If that’s not bad enough, local legend Scott Pilgrim witnesses his best friends-slash-Sex Bob-omb bandmates kidnapped by the mysterious Metal Scott mere hours before their big gig. Can Scott, his girlfriend Ramona Flowers, and a motley crew of Ramona’s repentant Evil Exes band together and save the day? More importantly, is Scott Pilgrim EX a worthy follow-up on a beloved Canadian franchise?

As a longtime fan of the Scott Pilgrim series (and former Toronto resident), I’m happy to say it’s very worthy. Scott Pilgrim EX is the perfect storm: series creator Bryan Lee O’Malley returns to write the story, set after the events of the original comic and its 2023 sequel animated show, as do chiptune legends Anamanaguchi to compose the soundtrack after their incredible work on Ubisoft’s 2010 beat ‘em up Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game and said sequel show. And there’s no better developer to handle a fresh new Scott Pilgrim beat ’em up than Tribute Games, who’ve proven their chops in the genre with 2022’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge and 2025’s Marvel Cosmic Invasion.

But rather than simply retreading well-worn paths, Scott Pilgrim EX surprises with many of its design choices. You and a potential four friends—online or on your couch—won’t be traveling through a series of linear levels of escalating difficulty. Instead, Toronto is an open world of 2D belt-scrolling screens randomly populated by one of the three gangs, procedurally scaled to your current level. This freedom comes at the cost of level length and depth, as it only takes a handful of screens to reach each end of Toronto, and you’ll eventually be sprinting end to end in a matter of seconds.

The game’s progression, then, comes with a series of twelve quests allowing Scott to rescue each of his bandmates and use their instruments in a very Ocarina of Time fashion to travel through rifts in spacetime. This may require a bit of errand-running back and forth, like carrying keys across the city without dropping them, or bringing bombs to cracks in walls a la The Legend of Zelda to find secret rooms.

The payoff of this open-world structure is that Scott Pilgrim EX’s Toronto is a vibrant, living setting, thoroughly gorgeous to behold. Despite the 20XX label, the colorful visuals pay tribute to games of the 1990s (in keeping with the series’ retro game adoration), particularly Sonic the Hedgehog, Street Fighter, and Mega Man. I could list a dozen other new and old games referenced (and I have, in my notes!) However, I think it’s best if players discover the tribute trove for themselves.

Best of all, the callbacks in Scott Pilgrim EX feel joyful and celebratory of gaming’s yesteryears rather than twee or winking. You can chuck green koopa shells down Queen Street to bowl over a line of vicious Vegans, and Guile-flash-kick Mortal Kombat-esque Demon ninjas and Robots that look fresh out of Dr. Wiley’s factory, and it all somehow gels perfectly. I love the visuals in this game.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t shout out the familiarity that clearly went into Scott Pilgrim EX‘s depiction of Toronto. Casa Loma is reoutfitted as the vampire-housing Casa Vania. The iconic nacho joint Sneaky Dee’s is here presented as Tricky Dee’s, an item shop; the same goes for Honest Ed’s (here: Honest Ex’s), the beloved thrift shop that tragically went under in 2016. High Park, the Distillery District, and Dundas all appear, populated by characters of Scott Pilgrim yore. I realize not everyone will get the same kick out of the visuals as I did, but we Canadians deserve this win.

“Yeah, yeah, references. But how’s the punching?” As expected from Tribute Game’s gameography, the combat is another win. Light, heavy, grab, and special attacks are here, as are equipable assist attacks from plenty of characters who didn’t make the playable cut. What’s more, each of the seven playable characters feels unique. I appreciate that beyond Scott and Ramona, the characters from the last Scott Pilgrim beat ‘em up, now the aforementioned friends in need of rescue, are replaced with a new roster (of past villains!): Roxie the ninja, Matthew Patel the puppeteer, wrestler (and movie star) Lucas Lee, zoner Robot-01, and, surprisingly, series antagonist Gideon Graves, here a rushdown “pressurer.”

There are no unlockable moves; rather, battling and collecting or purchasing items boosts your vitality, willpower (mana), strength, and agility. Stick with one character, and by the end of the Scott Pilgrim EX‘s three-hour or so adventure, you’ll be level 300, maxed out, and flying around the screen with each jump. There are also purchasable accessories and badges to boost your stats and provide other bonuses, though nothing that flips the game on its head. I saw no reason beyond sampling movesets to play as more than one character in my first solo playthrough, as the game was rather challenging in its later quests and I needed all the stats I could pour into one character.

The first half of Scott Pilgrim EX, when my vitality was low, was a bit frustrating in my constant need to backtrack to earlier shops to buy corndogs or vegan sodas to heal my character, only to be assaulted by baddies on every street and forced yet again to waste my hard-earned loonies and toonies (that’s 1- and 2-dollar coins for you non-Canadians). The lack of a life system raises the strategic bar going into each boss encounter, but it didn’t jive with the lack of options for replenishing health.

Annoyingly, bosses and main quests are unrepeatable, meaning you have to start a New Game Plus carrying over your character stats and items if you want to, say, see all seven of Scott Pilgrim EX‘s endings. When partying up with strangers online, I couldn’t see what quest other players were on, meaning I was dropping in and out with oddly balanced levels for the sole purpose of earning more money and levels for my own roster. The crossplay coop experience was chaotic yet very smooth (a huge upgrade from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game’s choppy mess), though the game could better communicate other players’ stats.

Another unfortunate miss was the writing. I love the world and characters Bryan Lee O’Malley has created, though the jokes in Scott Pilgrim EX missed far more often than they hit. This is due in large part to the lack of romance between its key characters and lack of seriousness in the the story’s stakes. Teaming up with the former bad guys felt like Mario playing tennis with Bowser, with all past history scrubbed over so that Scott and co. could be Mickey Mouseified to appeal to new (and younger) players.

There is a win in that: this game would be a blast to play even for kids with little knowledge of ‘90s gaming minutiae. But while the lack of story focus here makes it approachable, Scott Pilgrim EX loses a lot of the magic that makes the series worth approaching.

Lastly, the music. I could have spent half the review gushing about Anamanaguchi’s soundtrack to Scott Pilgrim EX. They were my favourite band in high school (around when the movie and first game dropped), and I was overjoyed to see their return here, and with their largest-scale project ever to boot. 71 tracks across an hour and a half means that rather than delve into longer stage-specific songs, each screen and shop has its own short looping track. Anamanaguchi stretches their traditionally 8-bit chiptune sound in Scott Pilgrim EX, as they’ve been doing in their non-soundtrack discography, to make a mesh of tracks that reminded me of the cohesive chaos of Undertale or Deltarune‘s music.

The soundtrack is not always melodically complex, considering players hear short snippets of each track as they dash back and forth through Toronto’s streets, bars, and inter-dimensional subspace highways. Instead, the music favors immediate, looping catchiness and mood-setting. Combined with the eclectic and retro-amour visuals, Scott Pilgrim EX makes for one of my favourite game aesthetics, and one that reminds me why I love this medium.

Scott Pilgrim EX appeals to me in many ways, mostly in how it lets me reflect on my life in and out of gaming. It’s endlessly entertaining on the eyes and ears, and it has the best belt-scrolling combat this side of Streets of Rage 4. The swings it takes in terms of pushing its genre or reaching towards a new audience don’t always connect, but it’s still a quick, joyful experience I’m happy to continue playing both solo and with loved ones (and you random people online, I guess).

Truth be told, I don’t have a lot of familiarity with Souls-likes. I can list the number of games in the punishing-yet-ultimately-rewarding genre I’ve played on one hand, but I hold great respect for them and those gamers who strive to master them, even while wholeheartedly admitting they aren’t in my wheelhouse.

Still, I was largely curious about Bandai Namco’s Souls-like series Code Vein because of developer Shift‘s involvement, since they created the action RPG series God Eater that I’m rather fond of. Code Vein II is a fun game if you’re the audience for it and can get past some incredibly frustrating boss fights, but it can also be a massive time commitment and probably isn’t going to compare to the greats of the Souls-like genre or the Souls series’ critically acclaimed Elden Ring.

Code Vein II is set in a world already wrecked by calamity, and mankind’s place on top of the food chain has been replaced by the near-immortal Revenants (vampires, for all intents and purposes). Some Revenants try to live peaceably with humans, while others see humanity’s waning population as nothing more than a walking food supply. To keep both species from dying out entirely, a group of powerful Revenants in the past became part of a living seal to stave off destruction, an act akin to applying a Band-Aid to a stab wound. Now, in the narrative’s current timeline, the heroes’ sacrificial seals have begun to destabilize, bringing the world once more close to ruin.

The player takes on the role of a Revenant Hunter: a human who combats Revenants to protect people. After a horrific attack, the Hunter is saved from certain death by a gentle Revenant with time-traveling abilities named Lou, who volunteers part of her heart to keep them alive. Thanks to their newfound heart connection, she can physically bring the Revenant Hunter back in time. In a last-ditch effort to save the world once more, the duo must go back in time to awaken the sacrificed heroes in the present and destroy them before their seals erode away completely. Since Code Vein II is a Souls-like game, doing so is naturally no easy task, taking extreme physical and emotional tolls.

To say more on Code Vein II’s story would be to delve into spoiler territory, something I’m remiss to do because its lore and narrative are actually highlights, so I’ll just say I enjoyed the plot immensely, especially how it handled its time travel aspect and how that ultimately leads to acquiring the game’s “good” ending depending on your actions in both the past and present timelines.

The characters are also quite interesting, with the sacrificed heroes being tragic figures you can’t help but feel for and want to help out, even as you know that it’ll conflict with your Revenant Hunter’s overall goals. Supporting characters in the sacrificed heroes’, as well as Lou and the Revenant Hunter’s, orbits are also nuanced and memorable. Even with the difficulty spikes and sometimes incredibly frustrating fights, I found the plot and its characters provided more than enough motivation to keep plowing ahead. I also appreciate that you don’t need to have familiarity with the first Code Vein to enjoy Code Vein II, as its story is largely standalone.

Gameplay-wise, Code Vein II is incredibly challenging and punishing, tempered somewhat by player freedom through customization choices. You have multiple weapons in your arsenal, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. I gravitated towards the one-handed swords and kept a handful of them sufficiently upgraded at all times, but there are also slower-moving powerhouse weapons like two-handed great swords or long-range ones like bayonets. You can also shortcut and equip different abilities and attacks to weapons for a truly versatile array of moves.

You can optimize defense using shields, increase sprinting speed, or parry, depending on the type of defensive gear you want to wield. Tons of strategic variations help you develop a play style that works best for you, with the game encouraging experimentation.

Enemy-dropped Haze counts as your currency, meaning you must choose between leveling up or upgrading gear (provided you have enough crafting materials), further encouraging strategic freedom. Code Vein II also allows you to travel and fight alongside a partner character, who give support or take aggro during fights. They’ll even revive you a set number of times should you fall in battle, though this becomes less helpful the more it occurs, as the health restoration they provide upon revival decreases every time.

Depending on your actions during the main story, you’ll often have choices amongst partner characters, all of whom have different fighting styles of their own. There were three partner characters in particular that I liked to use during fights when given the choice, but only because they balanced out my playstyle. Meeting various Revenants throughout the game awards you with valuable Blood Codes, too, which provide various beneficial stat boosts depending on your playstyle or the abilities of certain enemies.

Of course, the main focus of combat in Code Vein II is its boss fights. While your run-of-the-mill enemy encounters can also prove challenging, it’s the boss fights where you’ll find the most challenge. Boss fights in Souls-likes should be notoriously difficult but also ultimately surmountable, giving you a rush of endorphins once you finally and deservedly triumph. I did find several boss fights in Code Vein II to give me this rush once I found the right rhythm for their specific dance.

Unfortunately, not all of the fights are created equal—some rely on gimmicks to the point where they feel largely unfair and cheap, where I struggled endlessly and only conquered them after I found some previously unviable tactic that I then had to quickly master for that trial alone and with no small measure of luck. I didn’t feel as though I “earned” those victories, so they were both frustrating and hollow. There’s also a lot of repeat boss fights, particularly on the paths to the three endings you can uncover, as they certainly took the “earn your happy ending” sentiment to heart with this game.

Code Vein II features a large, expansive open world. You can travel on foot or by using a convenient motorcycle, and you can also fast travel between mistle save points once you find them. Mistles are where you level up, change your gear, and replenish healing stock. Save for the small settlements you uncover every so often, the world itself is a largely barren place that feels quite lonely even despite your partner character.

There are some incentives to traveling through the world, mainly to acquire haze and crafting materials or to strengthen and increase the number of heals you can use during fights, but I often fast-traveled to get through it quickly if I wasn’t actively trying to do those things or finish up an ally’s personal quest.

You can also travel to the past at various points on the map, creating pockets of areas that are somewhat different than what you’ll find in the present to travel through. Depending on actions taken in the past areas, you can actually change the terrain or story encounters in the present in pretty interesting ways, illustrated in particular through the evolution of the Sunken City area.

Visually, Code Vein II is good-looking, but it also suffers from severe clipping issues. The character creator for the Revenant Hunter is easily one of the most in-depth I’ve had the pleasure of trying out and I love how unique the character designs are, with Lou in particular sporting a standout design. Sure, you’ll have objects disappear through clothing and the like during cutscenes or someone or something might suddenly pop in and out of view as you’re progressing through the game. The camera could also swivel rather unhelpfully during combat, which isn’t great when you’re struggling to survive a boss fight.

I also had a bizarre glitch late in the game that I was never able to fix, where my second weapon equipment slot became completely unusable and acted as if nothing was equipped to it. Thankfully, my first weapon slot still registered, so I didn’t have to punch my way through the rest of the game, but I had a pretty good panic over that bug when it first happened and became nervous anytime I had to fiddle with equipment afterwards.

Sound-wise, I can’t really complain about the voice direction. I love the game’s English voice acting as everyone does an entertaining job in their roles, though the voice actor for Zenon in particular is a standout. The musical number introduction they do for his character alone is worth playing the game for! The localization is spot-on, too, with nary an error in the script.

Speaking of music, Code Vein II‘s lead composer is the illustrious Go Shiina, a composer I’ve been enamored with ever since my early days of playing God Eater, and the soundtrack is definitely a highlight, full of great atmospheric tracks like the Main Theme as well as memorably haunting boss themes and vocal songs that capture a wide array of emotions depending on the moments when they play.

Code Vein II is a game that’s in equal parts frustrating and entertaining. I spent hours on several challenging boss fights and sometimes, admittedly, wanted to cry from fruitless efforts to beat them, but the compelling narrative and characters kept me invested all the way to the end and even prompted me to take on optional fights to see things through to the fullest.

It’s not perfect by any means, and it certainly isn’t the best Souls-like game out there, but it does show the heart and potential Shift puts into their games and has me hoping once more to hear about their future endeavors. If nothing else, Code Vein II is worth more than a cursory glance if it happens to catch your eye.

Adolescence is a messy, awkward journey filled with emotional peaks and valleys. If you could turn back time, would you take back that awful, if honest, thing you said to your mom? Would you reconnect with that old friend you grew apart from? Would you save that unpopular girl from getting hit by a football, roadside splash, or pool noodle? Life is Strange Remastered packages these teenage, time-traveling woes into an entrancing story that achieves the high stakes you’d want from a great season of a TV drama while touching upon some very raw and real emotions.

First, why write this review now? While the complete Life is Strange Remastered dropped in 2022, the original Life is Strange released its five episodes from January through October 2015, meaning we’ve recently passed the ten-year anniversary of its conclusion. While new Life is Strange titles have continually released since, this March’s Life is Strange: Reunion will finally revisit both of the original game’s protagonists, Max and Chloe. I encourage readers to check out Jerry Williams’ 2015 reviews of Episode 1: Chrysalis, Episode 2: Out of Time, Episode 3: Chaos Theory, Episode 4: Dark Room, and Episode 5: Polarized.

The seaside town of Arcadia Bay, Washington, is rocked by the disappearance of young Rachel Amber, a bright student at the town’s prestigious Blackwell Academy. Enter 18-year-old Max Caulfield, returning after several years to her native Arcadia Bay to study photography at Blackwell. When Max witnesses her childhood best friend, Chloe Price, gunned down over a botched drug deal on campus, Max discovers her ability to rewind time. With her newfound powers, Max spares Chloe her tragic fate and ignites a weeklong adventure that will uncover the mystery behind the missing Rachel Amber, throw the natural world into disarray, and maybe, just maybe, snag Max a date to the drive-in movies.

Narratively, Life is Strange has aged very well in that its heightened American drama would nestle neatly among ultra-popular, small-town paranormal TV series that followed it, such as Stranger Things or Wednesday. In turn, Life is Strange pays clear homage to its many inspirations: various license plates reference Twin Peaks or Donnie Darko, many story beats mirror The Butterfly Effect, and Max Caulfield and her journey with self-expression are a nod to The Catcher in the Rye’s Holden Caulfield.

Sure, it’s clearly a French dev team indulging in Americanophilia, but this gives the game a certain timelessness (if you’ll excuse the pun). As the opening track from composer Jonathan Morali sings: “I wish I had an American girlfriend…”

Episode 1 of Life is Strange especially feels like a pastiche of Americanisms with its introduction of the cast. Thankfully, many of the paper-thin side characters (students and staff at Blackwell Academy) are fleshed out and become more endearing with later episodes. The real draw, though, is Max and Chloe. Max goes from a self-cringing, selfie-taking outcast to a strong and empathetic young adult. Chloe, who seems inseparable from tragedy, drops her punk, laissez-faire wall brick by brick, as only she shares in the knowledge of Max’s time-rewinding powers. Max’s love for Chloe will quickly become your love for Chloe.

Gameplay is mainly exploring Blackwell and Arcadia Bay as Max and talking with the familiar cast. Dialogue lines are unskippable unless you’ve heard them before. The voice acting is earnest and believable from Max and Chloe, though many side characters feel like they’re intentionally hamming up their archetypes, be they jock, skater, or… squirrel-whispering janitor?

Rewinding time lets you tell characters what they want to hear, or else navigate a conversational puzzle. Many points funnel you into more linear paths and environmental puzzles that can be menial rather than mentally stimulating. Episode 2 may make you wonder, did Max gain time-control powers just so she can collect bottles in a junkyard or pick up boxes without clumsily knocking something over? But mostly, the puzzles are varied enough that their spotty quality never detracts from the intertwining narratives or the great narrative pacing.

This being my second playthrough, the years have cemented a kind of 2010s time capsule quality to Life is Strange. I was born in the same year as the main characters, and though I may cringe at early dialogue like “ubercool” and “amazeballs,” I’m certainly not innocent of a few “cool beans” myself.

The licensed soundtrack, featuring indie acts like Bright Eyes, Local Natives, Alt-J, and Mogwai, might as well be lifted from the iPod of a Canadian teen just tryna be cool. With every movie reference or bad pun in the script, there’s just as much chance for a character to call out another character (or themselves) for trying too hard. This is art and life eating each other’s tails.

I won’t spoil any more of the story because I truly recommend today’s teenagers to give it a try, but I appreciate how Life is Strange tackles heavy issues like sexual assault, cyber-bullying, and drug use so bluntly (pun definitely intended this time). Though that all may seem like standard TV fare, these are topics seldom explored in gaming even today, and rarely this well. Do you, as Max, stand by and watch Chloe’s stepfather hit her for smoking weed in her room, or do you take the fall knowing the consequences will come back to bite you later?

Max’s ability to rewind time means you can see the immediate ramifications of either course, though there’s no telling what comes later. The heavy choices in Life is Strange go from mere hurt feelings in the early episodes to life-or-death decisions by game’s end.

Seven years between the PS3 originals and the PS4 Remastered collection seems to have done quite little in terms of visuals and performance, sadly. The newer version does feature facial capture performances for some of the main characters, though the smoothed-out textures now make faces plasticky and environments blotchy. In general, Life is Strange Remastered leans more heavily into its borderline Impressionist art direction, often beautiful at a distance yet uncanny up close.

Episode 4’s textures look especially ugly, though the visuals pull back up for the grand finale in Episode 5. I wish the whole package had been given a proper makeover, given the game’s popularity and the years between the original and Remastered releases.

It’s also worth noting that there’s a notorious, nearly game-breaking bug where Max phases through the environment at a narratively sensitive moment in Episode 4 that has still never been addressed, and I only bypassed it with many a Google search and restarted checkpoint. All this to say, if the original Life is Strange is more readily available, it’s not a downgrade.

Life is Strange takes its time setting up a complex pattern of narrative dominoes that fall in increasingly compelling and emotional ways from the end of Episode 3 right up until a gut-wrenching final decision in Episode 5. Its TV-inspired tropes may turn off as many players as it draws in, but it ultimately delivers on its time-warping premise in ways that would make even Ray Bradbury or David Lynch do a double-take. Though the Remastered version doesn’t bring the amazeballs visual improvements this story deserves, this is still an experience I’d readily put in the hands of any teenager, gamer or not.

In Tales of Berseria, the story and the characters do almost all the lifting. It’s a good thing it’s so amazing, because there sure is a lot of weight on its shoulders, especially with this completely superfluous “Remaster.”

It has to overcome some of the most bland dungeons I’ve ever explored. They’re all somewhat gray corridors that have the most basic puzzles this side of, well, I honestly can’t think of many in other RPGs that are more pointless. They’re interminably long most of the time, too. Oh, and you’ll also spend a whole lot of time backtracking through areas for new quests because this is clearly a budget title on many fronts.

That might be okay if the combat was more engaging, but it’s really not, so the burden worsens. It’s a huge step down from Tales of Graces f, with a similar system for creating combos in the free run style introduced in later Tales games. However, it is entirely too reliant on RNG to keep combos going, and if you know what you’re doing, by playing as certain characters, even on Hard, every fight is a complete joke with basically no strategy. Seriously, just play as Velvet, farm for staggers, and keep hitting Break Soul and it’s over before the encounters really even start. For me, that’s pretty fun, and you can play as other characters, but Tales of Berseria‘s combat doesn’t reach the series’ highs.

The additional wrinkles, like using equipment to grab skills and character stat upgrades, or upgrading equipment, might be interesting if the game required any real engagement, But it doesn’t, and every time I spent five minutes in a menu, I regretted it because I remembered I didn’t need to care about my stats. The enemies were my playthings regardless.

Let’s be honest: you’ve already looked at the score below, so surely you’re thinking I have to get to something positive soon. Not yet. I like Motoi Sakuraba more than most people I know, but even for him, this is a pretty unmemorable OST, outside of the fabulous “Theme of Velvet.” The game isn’t much to look at either. Even outside of the gross outfit they throw Velvet in, with pretty thin justification, there’s not much to say about the graphics except that they’re fine and they’re anime. To be frank, this looks like a PS3 RPG through and through.

Yes, that comment even applies to Tales of Berseria Remastered, which is a generous term; therein lies the rub. “Port” is more like it. Sure, there are some nice additions in this version, like increased running speed and the ability to have unlimited fast travel a bit earlier. I guess I’m happy to have access to the Grade Shop to include some boosts that are normally reserved for NG+ runs, but in this game, what does it matter? It’s already so easy. And I suppose if you squint really hard, the game looks slightly better in this version.

But, other than a few minor additions and adjustments, Tales of Berseria Remastered is absolutely, 100% the same game I saw in a bargain bin for the PS4 for five bucks about six months ago that runs just fine on my PS5 (I even ran it alongside Remastered to confirm there’s little visual difference). I’m not one to complain about remasters, or even ports, but why does this even need to exist when other games I want to play in the series (looking at you, Tales of the Abyss) aren’t readily available on modern consoles? The answer, as always, is money. I get that, but even I have limits, and this “Remaster” pushed them multiple times during this second playthrough.

Ultimately, though, I landed on one simple thing: this game still rules, and it’s entirely because of the excellent story, characters, and voice acting. In fact, I might venture to say that this is close to the “platonic ideal” of a JRPG story for me. Sure, it doesn’t go anywhere amazing thematically, but the characters are fabulous, and most importantly, it’s not afraid to look some really dark things in the face and genuinely earn some of the late story beats typical of the genre. I cheered, I cried, and at least in terms of my experience, Tales of Berseria is working on a different narrative level than the rest of the series.

I’ll admit that I’m a sucker for a good revenge story, too, and this game both indulges in the natural pleasures of those stories but also looks at some of the consequences, too. The cast is amazing, and the delightfully weird witch Magilou almost takes the cake, but it’s really Velvet, that broken, enraged, tender woman who moves us through to the end. The voice acting helps a whole lot, too. I’m not sure anyone can shout a name with rage quite as well as Cristina Valenzuela.

Look, I know this is a pretty short review. If you want a more thorough one, go check out Alana Hagues’ lovely take on Tales of Berseria when it came out…less than a decade ago. It’s the same game, and I don’t disagree with anything she said there, so that’s why I gave it the same score. And that’s the problem. Did I still enjoy my time with Tales of Berseria Remastered? Oh yes. In spite of all its flaws, I was still moved to tears and goosebumps multiple times. I don’t even mind all the backtracking because I got to spend more time with the amazing cast. Put simply, the narrative and the characters still carry the load.

But I don’t know who the audience is supposed to be here. If you don’t own Tales of Berseria yet, it’s available in a very similar form on the PS4 and PC. I guess if you really want to play it on the go, you can grab it for the Switch, which is new, but it’s visually inferior to even the original PS4 version.

I guess I can hope that whatever money they make here goes toward finally bringing Tales of the Abyss my way. Assuming you have access to the original in any other format, I’d recommend you not spend yours on it, though.

Setting sail into new waters is the conceit behind the tenth Ys game and something it does with gusto, according to our own Sean Cabot’s excellent review. Now, however, a “definitive” edition has reached our shores in the form of Ys X: Proud Nordics. While a worthy purchase for those curious and those who’ve yet to try the vanilla version, does Ys X: Proud Nordics justify a double-dip for returning players? The waters are murky in that regard.

Set sometime after the events of the second Ys game, Ys X: Proud Nordics sees redheaded swordsman Adol Christin once more embarking into the great unknown, accompanied by his erstwhile partner Dogi the Wall Crusher and the researcher Doctor Flair. It isn’t long after arriving in the waters of Obelia Gulf that the boat they’re riding on is besieged by the Norman forces of the seafaring Balta Seaforce. That encounter leads to the trio’s momentary stranding in the port town of Carnac, where Adol not only encounters a mystical talking seashell but also becomes literally chained to the Norman Pirate Princess Karja.

When Carnac is attacked by an undying, monstrous army and the townspeople are kidnapped, Adol and Karja embark on an epic quest amidst tumultuous waters to protect the entire gulf from being swept into chaos. The truths they uncover about the region’s history hit closer to home than they could imagine, especially for the determined Karja.

That’s pretty much the gist of Ys X: Nordics’ plot, and it’s carried over word-for-word to the Proud Nordics version. Adol and Karja rescue their allies and, in the process, obtain the necessary upgrade materials to strengthen their boat, the Sandras. Their crew sails the waters of Obelia Gulf, reclaiming occupied territory as they traverse through a combination of both naval and land battles. If one has played the game’s original version, there’s very little different here beyond some minor quality of life improvements to make combat flow better and boat travel easier.

It is the addition of the EX quest line involving the large and mysterious Oland Island that truly differentiates Proud Nordics. This island is a large region that allows you to test acquired mana abilities, fighting tough enemies as you travel the dungeons throughout to uncover the mysteries behind why the Normans were forced to leave their ancestral homeland in the ancient past. Adol and Karja meet up with Karja’s cousin Canute and his exasperated Shield Sister Astrid, with Canute coercing the two into taking part in a contest to see who can uncover more of the island’s mysteries. Of course, he has an ulterior motive, culminating in a challenging and multi-tiered final fight.

The EX quests open up about halfway through the game’s ten chapters, and I’d hardly call them “seamless” additions, given their length and how they often divert from the main plot line. This is especially apparent with the last EX quest that activates right before the main storyline’s final boss fight, causing you to hop over to Oland to run through a maze-like dungeon and fight the final boss of the EX quests before jumping back over to proceed with the game’s actual final boss and see the ending.

You get to put your mana abilities to the test with the EX quests, which can be fun and rewarding, but beyond some light lore and world-building, there isn’t too much actual story added into the mix. Canute and Astrid are interesting characters, but the game waits until the end of the EX quests to really delve into them, so they aren’t as memorable as they could have been.

Beyond having new dungeons to explore and bosses to fight on Oland, you can also participate in mana board racing and train up Adol and Karja through coliseum fights. A new mana ability, the Mana Hold, lets you telekinetically lift blocks or yank projectiles out of the air and hurl them in a different direction. To be honest, Mana Hold isn’t my favorite of the abilities Adol and Karja unlock, as Mana String and Mana Board will forever hold those spots, and Hold’s aiming could use some fine-tuning. Still, it’s another interesting way to tackle puzzles and exploration advancement.

Exploring the waters of Obelia Gulf leads to a slew of new discoveries, and I enjoyed uncovering islands to explore, freeing townsfolk to recruit to the ship, finding lost pikkards, and just sailing in general. The Sandras essentially becomes a floating town in and of itself as you go, and I liked getting the chance to raise affinity with its residents and uncover their personal quests, as that often meant I had the opportunity to once again set out and explore to my heart’s content.

The naval battles themselves weren’t terrible either, being less tedious than, say, those in Suikoden IV. As long as the ship is upgraded and retrofitted, they are manageable. The slow boat travel can get tedious, so I often relied on the helpful fast travel option to quickly return to places I’d uncovered once it was available.

The action RPG gameplay after reaching land and traversing dungeons is where Ys X truly shines, with Adol and Karja using mana abilities to quickly get to areas that’d otherwise prove inaccessible. The combo-based combat is both fast and fluid, relying on attacks you program into button shortcuts. You can control either character directly or have them work in tandem, with their joint attacks often having more oomph. It was fun seamlessly switching between the two different styles of play.

While I preferred Adol’s speedier approach to fighting, I found that Karja’s heftier axe and ice attacks were a boon at times. Ys combat is polished to a tee here, though boss battles often proved to be lessons in endurance rather than skill towards the game’s final portion. While I enjoyed the different combat styles of the various party members in other Ys titles, I think the streamlined combat here is a strong selling point, as it really gives the sense of Adol and Karja working as a team.

From a character stance, Karja is Ys X‘s driving force. Her personal journey of growth and development shapes the narrative, whereas Adol’s wide-eyed enthusiasm for adventuring helps place the player directly in the story. I liked most of the other characters too, and the Sandras’ crew all had their moments to shine, though Rafe, Ashley, and Ezer were probably the standouts given their stories and questlines.

I don’t think the Sandras crew might have as much staying power in my mind as, say, the party members from Ys IX: Monstrum Nox or Ys: Memories of Celceta, since they don’t often leave the ship or travel dungeons with you, but they’re well-written nonetheless. I do feel a bit bad for Dogi, though! He’s Adol’s most steadfast companion, and I adore him, given his narrative throughout the series, but even he tends to take a bit of a narrative backseat here. Sadly, that seems to be the lovable guy’s lot in many of the recent Ys titles.

From a story stance, I do think Ys is in an interesting place right now. At the moment, Falcom has two big-name series, with Ys on the action RPG side and The Legend of Heroes: Trails on the other. I adore both series for different reasons: Trails is a sprawling sci-fi/fantasy epic, while Ys is a more self-contained tale of discovery and adventure. Ys is like comfort food to me, and the series has a whole lot of heart and polished gameplay mechanics that make it fun to play.

Even I can tell they’re now trying to expand the narrative more, given Trails‘ success, and I’ve mixed feelings about it. On one hand, it’s certainly an interesting approach, and we get some great characters like Karja through it.  On the other hand, Ys is more about the thrill of adventure and overcoming challenge, meant to be enjoyed at any point in the series’ timeline without feeling beholden to what came before.

There are some interesting teasers going on in this game about possible future story points, including a secret hint you can uncover in the epilogue, but I know that the Ys series leaning more towards being like its cousin Trails has had mixed reception, so Ys is certainly at an interesting crossroads right now. I do wish that Ys got as much development budget as Trails does, though, as some of the visuals, like acquired loot graphics, look less visually appealing and almost “gacha”-esque.

Speaking of visuals, Ys X: Proud Nordics is a good-looking game in many respects. There’s a lovely vibrancy to the graphics. I do think the terrains and enemy designs can have some degree of “sameness” to them, but character models and art are expressive and detailed.

The areas you travel on foot are cleverly designed to help you think and figure out how to best progress without being too frustrating. There were some pop-ups in the final dungeon areas, but I do know a Day One Patch is planned to fix many of those hiccups. The script localization is also really well done, with nary an error to be found; impressive given that this is a meaty script for Ys.

Of course, one can’t really talk about Ys without delving into its music. The soundtrack for Ys X definitely doesn’t disappoint, with several tracks designed to capture the sense of wonderment the game wants to convey and to get the blood roiling during frenetic combat.  Ys X: Proud Nordics even has additional music tracks, which only add to that sentiment, such as “Mighty Blizzard.”

The English voice acting is also relatively decent, with special kudos going to Karja’s actor, Cherami Leigh, in particular for some incredible deliveries. Adol and Dogi’s actors also do a fantastic job reprising their respective roles. Ys X does suffer from sporadic/partial voice acting at times, which is an interesting choice to be sure, as there are oftentimes long stretches of no voice work at all.

Ys X: Proud Nordics is an odd duck: though it’s most certainly the definitive edition of the tenth Ys game, it’s a tall order to get someone to pay full price for a game that could’ve easily been a cheaper DLC expansion, especially if they’ve already played Ys X: Nordics. I greatly enjoyed this game myself and was thoroughly entertained by this new installment of Adol the Red’s adventures, but I’m in the position of not having had a chance to try the original beforehand. I think any newcomers to Ys X should certainly add Proud Nordics to their collection, but those who’ve already crossed these waters might want to wait for a price reduction before doing so again.

Nioh is my favorite Soulslike series of all time. Few games have ever rewarded mastery the way the series’ previous entries did, and even now, I struggle to think of another action RPG that offers the same sense of control once everything clicks. So, going into Nioh 3, my expectations were personal. This is a series I know inside and out. For the most part, Nioh 3 manages to move the series forward, yet its scope often trips over itself.

The most immediate change is structural. Nioh 3 shifts away from strictly mission-based stages and toward an open-world framework, though “open world” is something of a misnomer. Instead, the game is best described as a collection of linear zones stitched together through shortcuts, side objectives, and optional encounters. This approach strikes an interesting balance; it preserves the tight level design the series is known for while allowing more freedom in how players approach each region.

Supporting this is the new exploration-based map system, where completing activities gradually reveals more points of interest within a region. The more you engage with the space, the more it opens up. It’s a subtle incentive loop, and one that feels well-suited to Nioh’s combat-first design. Exploration never overwhelms the core experience, but it meaningfully complements it.

With that said, this checklist-style open world will not appeal to everyone. While the system does a good job of surfacing content, the activities themselves grow repetitive over time. After completing the game twice, once solo and once in co-op, I quickly grew tired of repeating the exact same objectives across each region. The world never quite breathes as a whole, as each region feels like a collection of side quests rather than a sprawling landscape. At times, I questioned whether an open world was necessary, and I expect this will be a divisive point among the community.

Combat, thankfully, remains the foundation everything else is built on. Weapons feel excellent across the board, with smooth gameplay and satisfying impact. Nioh 3 retains the series’ trademark speed, but it also feels slightly more deliberate, especially in how enemies pressure positioning and timing. When the systems align, the flow is familiar and deeply rewarding.

Unfortunately, not every addition lands cleanly. Burst Breaks, a new skill that allows you to repel powerful attacks, rarely feels as impactful as it should. In theory, it’s meant to be a rewarding defensive option, but in practice, it often fails to deliver meaningful ki (stamina) damage or consistent stagger windows. When compared to the visceral feedback of perfect Ki Pulses or well-timed dodges, Burst Breaks feel underpowered and oddly unsatisfying. This becomes particularly noticeable in the later areas. 

The new split between Samurai and Ninja is another design choice that will likely divide players. Certain weapons from the previous games are now exclusive to Ninja, and Ninja gameplay does not use a stance system at all. This gives each path a strong identity, yet it also limits flexibility in ways the series previously celebrated. The Ninja playstyle can be extremely effective thanks to bonuses for back attacks, but the loss of stances removes a layer of expression that longtime fans may miss, depending on their preferred weapon. 

Personally, I found myself primarily playing as Ninja, even though my go-to weapon from the previous games is now locked to Samurai. Nioh 3’s level design just feels more fluid on Ninja, and I quickly grew accustomed to its skillset. 

Co-op is one of Nioh 3’s strongest features. Being able to drop into another world and play through the vast majority of missions with another player is an incredible experience, and it fundamentally changes how the game can be approached. Coordinated play opens up new options, and certain builds clearly shine in an online setting. It’s a shame that technical issues hold this back from being truly seamless. Network instability crops up more often than it should, sometimes requiring a full restart to resolve. It’s rarely game-breaking, but frequent enough to be frustrating.

Of course, not all encounters are suited for co-op. Human bosses, in particular, are satisfying when you face them alone, but become trivial with another player. The game is aware of this and syncs your stats down according to the region; however, it’s still not enough to account for the imbalance. If you want the full Nioh 3 experience, I recommend trying both modes. I enjoyed both my solo and co-op playthrough equally, for different reasons.

Visually, Nioh 3 is an improvement over its predecessors, though not a dramatic one. Character models and environments are more detailed, and the overall presentation is greatly improved, but visual issues remain. The frame rate, in particular, is a serious problem in some regions. Combined with inconsistent platforming and environmental hazards, this leads to one of the game’s more persistent pitfalls: terrain that’s often more dangerous than the fights themselves. For example, it’s often unclear whether water is deep or shallow, and I even ran into a few bugs where I clipped through solid ground.

Enemy variety is another weak point. While familiar foes return with new behaviors, there aren’t enough truly fresh encounters to sustain the game’s length. In fact, I noticed more recycled bosses from the first two games than new ones, including almost all bosses in the open world. The repetitive music makes it even more noticeable, much of it fading into the background rather than elevating key moments. It’s functional, but forgettable; I could only remember a single track from the entire game.

Nioh has never been known for its story, and Nioh 3 gives you one that’s hard to follow and even harder to care about. You play as a sort of time traveler, sent to different eras for reasons that never quite become clear. Plot threads are thinly sketched, character motivations are murky, and events happen with no real cohesion. I found the story mostly something to endure between combat encounters. Truthfully, if I weren’t trying to follow along for this review, I would have skipped the cutscenes entirely.

I expect the menus and systems will remain a debated aspect of the game. Most of the core systems from Nioh 1 and 2 return, with Nioh 3 building on top of that framework. For example, both Samurai and Ninja use a Sphere Grid-style upgrade system (first introduced in Nioh 2) for learning new skills. Longtime fans will likely enjoy digging through these menus, while others may find the structure overly convoluted. Builds are still present and viable, but they feel less fluid overall, an issue that will probably matter more to theorycrafters than to casual players.

Despite all of this, Nioh 3 is still a stellar action RPG. When it works, it works because the core design is strong. Combat is smooth, and both Samurai and Ninja feel satisfying to master, with moment-to-moment gameplay that retains the series’ unmistakable identity. Even with its flaws, it offers an experience few games in the genre can replicate.

Nioh 3 may not be the peak of the series, but it remains a strong title that understands what makes Nioh special. For fans, it’s an experience worth diving into. For newcomers, it’s a deeply rewarding introduction. And for me, it’s another reminder of why this series still stands above most Soulslikes chasing the same crown.

Sometimes I think I played a different game when people talk about the original Dragon Quest VII. What do you mean it’s too long? You want fewer islands? Okay, sure, I could do with things going a little faster in the beginning, but that’s part of the beauty of Dragon Quest VII—it takes its time.

It delights in the small moments where you help the fallen leader of a town, where you protect a child from a Slime, where you discover yet another piece that lets you (literally) put the puzzle together. It’s still pure in its storytelling without shying away from darkness. Put simply, in the words of my friend Mike Sollosi, it’s the most Dragon Quest game, both thematically and in hours of content, and that’s why I love it so much. 

Needless to say, I don’t think Dragon Quest VII needed to be fixed, or even Reimagined. And when I heard Square Enix was cutting islands, the very best part of Dragon Quest VII? Oh no. I want more, not less. Even with the promise of new additions, I was trepidatious that Dragon Quest VII Reimagined might just lose all the, well, imagination.

Luckily, it turned out even better than I imagined. Not only is this my favorite version of Dragon Quest VII, but it’s also one of the best in the series. 

So, let’s get one thing out of the way: the islands. For those unfamiliar, Dragon Quest VII has a unique structure. You spend most of your time traveling back in time to restore islands to the current world that you previously believed only had one, and help each island’s people fix their problems, which range from a town where a monster won’t leave a priest’s old home to another where all humans have become animals. Eventually, you return to the present, with the island restored in the current timeline that you can then explore again.

The overarching story takes time to come into focus, but even when it does, it doesn’t overshadow the small, intricate tales on the islands. This really is a game about helping people, about the importance and ramifications of the small things we can do for others.

So, cutting even a few of the islands in Dragon Quest VII Reimagined feels antithetical to the whole point. Granted, four once-required islands are now optional, and you bet your bottom dollar I did them as soon as they were available. Three others are cut entirely (along with some other content, like the casino). But, if I’m being honest, I didn’t miss anything.

There are still almost 20 islands, and the game’s spirit is still here. I’m still helping people, and it still takes up the bulk of the run time. Giving me the option to restore almost every island, but making the game take about 55 hours to clear instead of 80 on the 3DS and 100 or so on the PSX original is a fair trade in my view, but if they added those three islands as DLC, I’d be there faster than you can say Yuji Horii.

In terms of other storytelling changes, they’re mostly for the better. There’s less backtracking in general, and a couple of island vignettes got a few small adjustments to tighten up the story or give you more options. There aren’t many additions, though a favorite character does indeed rejoin you very late in an extended sequence that almost feels like another island. It feels tacked on and like fan service, but luckily I’m a fan so I don’t mind so much. Honestly, this version of Dragon Quest VII is much more true to the previous versions than the recently-released Dragon Quest I & II HD Remake; it still feels like you’re playing the same game.

Do I wish Square Enix had given us the whole package? Maybe a little. Still, everything else the developers have done here more than makes up for it. Especially the combat and the vocation system.

On the mechanics’ surface, things look pretty similar, and I won’t go too in-depth because Scott already did in his excellent preview. To be clear, this is still Dragon Quest through and through. It’s turn-based, and Dragon Quest VII’s vocation system still allows you to be a Pirate or a Dancer while you build up points to unlock more abilities. 

But the adjustments here are key. First, the Moonlighting system allows you to equip two vocations at a time. This is especially nice when you’re trying to level a new vocation and don’t want to feel underpowered. More important is the second adjustment: new “Let Loose” abilities that build up throughout the fight, similar to “Pep-Up” from Dragon Quest XI. Each vocation has a unique one, and I found myself combining a more powerful vocation with another simply for its particularly useful Let Loose attack. 

All this, combined with choosing moves as they come up instead of just at the beginning of each shared turn, makes this easily the best Dragon Quest combat system, requiring choice and strategy at every turn. The only major flaw is that even on the hardest difficulty on every setting, Reimagined is a total joke if you know what you’re doing, because yes, Hero and Champion still rule the day.

I don’t mind so much, though. Figuring out the right combinations and firing moves in the right order has never been more fun in this series, and that’s saying something almost 40 years in. Plus, there are some real challenges hanging out in the post-game, and that was enough to sate my need for punishment.

You know where I have absolutely no criticisms? The look. If nothing else, it’s a lesson in “art design is more important than big flashy graphics.” From start to finish, Dragon Quest VII Reimagined is a marvel to behold, combining dioramas in each town and vista, where you can adjust the camera as you search every nook and cranny for that next Mini Medal, with doll-inspired character models that look straight out of a pop-up story book. 

This isn’t the first time a game has used dioramas, since Fantasian did it a few years ago, but this looks so much better than that. Add in the always-fantastic monster designs of Akira Toriyama, plus the ability to see character animations in battle, and we’ve got something special here. Sure, the doll-like look mitigates some of the melancholy tone from the original, but it’s no contest for me—this is the way I want Dragon Quest to look.

That even extends to the sound design, which is saying something considering the usually mediocre Sugiyama compositions. But something about the darker mood of the game matches his tone, and it’s brought to life beautifully, similarly to the recent Remasters, with re-recordings of the Tokyo Symphonic Suite versions. The voice acting is also fantastic, combining the British flavors we’ve come to know and love in Dragon Quest with the varied accents and wonderful localization. Simply, Dragon Quest VII Reimagined is a treat to listen to.

Maybe the only major sore spots for me with Dragon Quest VII Reimagined are the quality-of-life features, which is strange to say because I love them. Not only do you get additional difficulty modifiers, but treasures are marked on maps, there are almost always markers to show you where to go, and Party Chat is always there to remind you what to do next if you’re particularly stuck. There’s even a list of locations for your missing Mini Medals and items (an absolutely godsend). Admittedly, it can be a little weird sometimes to have a marker when you have no idea why you might go there, and the Party Chat is mostly just annoying. 

But the problem is quite simple: you can’t turn any of them off. Personally, especially when I’m playing a game for review, I’ll take all the handholding you give me. This game, though, takes it a little far. It’s a little maddening because the HD-2D Remakes of the original trilogy got this part right by allowing you to turn the guideposts off. I’m hopeful they patch it in time, yet if there’s one thing that isn’t true to the spirit of the series, it’s this.

Even so, with Reimagined, it’s time for everyone to finally stand up and agree that Dragon Quest VII is one of the best games in the series. Dragon Quest VII Reimagined cements this by smoothing out some of the rough edges, keeping things moving, and giving us a look and a combat system that are the series’ absolute peak. 

Just please, give me all my islands!