Savior Gaming

Replikator is the newest title from R_Games that they were kind enough to toss me a review copy of. This game is a small indy top-down roguelike shooter that is quite simple to get into. Just pop it on, run around the station, and shoot the enemies with one of your two weapons. You can choose from multiple characters, my favorite was the one that fires rockets.

Each character has pros and cons, one might be faster than the others or be immune to acid while another simply takes no damage from certain traps. None of them offer a huge advantage over the others to the point I felt that one was better than the others, but they were different enough that I had a preferred character for how I liked to play.

While Replikator is a fun game to mess around with, and at the price they are asking none of my complaints are major I do have a few. For example, the character movements all felt painfully slow to me. It felt like a chore at times to go anywhere if there weren’t enemies to be shooting. The four playable characters also feel quite generic.

The pros however do outweigh these complaints. The amount of different weapons and powerups is insane for an $8 game. I didn’t bother counting them but they are all laid out in a room to see and I still haven’t unlocked them all but there is at least a couple dozen. The game offers a challenge that can be overcome if you learn how to use these, but we aren’t talking about some insane amount of dedicating your life to learning the game either.

All in all, the price point of this game means if you like roguelikes or top-down shooters, Replicator is a great buy. it is a nice 7/10. I enjoyed spending about 20 hours with it so far and I will probably spend a few more with it. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

As always with these things, I would love to thank NIS America For tossing me a copy of Monster Menu. It is always a pleasure to work with these guys.

Like many games, this one sets out to accomplish not only to be an RPG but also a roguelike. You will be fighting monsters, starvation, dehydration, and of course, the inevitable death that restarts you at level one. Each end however will leave you better equipped to get further faster next run.

Unlike most roguelikes however, Monster Menu doesn’t completely toss away your progress, for example, defeating bosses does give you a sort of checkpoint you can jump to, so there is no concern that you will constantly be restarting an entire RPG over again. This however doesn’t mean much since the story is basically non-existent.

There is a pretty good crafting system involved however, you can create different food for both your characters to use in battle and food, which can be fed to your characters for buffs or to enemies for debuffs. In a tactics RPG this can be invaluable, and it is no exception here. The only issue is you pretty much have to find recipes randomly to make anything.

Admittedly my biggest issue with this game is simply how repetitive it is. The battles, each layer all feel the same eventually and the gaming loop eventually feels like you aren’t improving so much as you just treading water at times. The game definitely has its place however and many of you will find hours of enjoyment. If you do not like RPGs and roguelikes this game won’t change your mind. It is a solid 7/10 tho, Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

First,I want to take a second to just say thank you to the people at Idea Factory for tossing me a copy of Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord to review. It’s always appreciated working with someone new.

Usually the Fairy Fencer games are turned based but this one the decision was made to take it into a slightly different direction. Refrain Chord is a turned based Tactical RPG, much like Final fantasy tactics or Tactics Ogre.

The battles take place in the usual grid based alternating people style. There is as usual a bar on top of the screen to show you the upcoming order of the troops.

The battles themselves are pretty standard, if you want a challenge tossing the game on hard will have its moments. Easy is the epitome of just wanting to be able to see the story with very little difficulty,which is truly how it should be.

Speaking of the story I have always felt any RPG that wasn’t based around a solid story was defeating the purpose of even existing. Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord revolves around Fang and his company from past games such as Fairy Fencer F :Advent Dark Force. You don’t need to play the other games to understand it,any back story is explained pretty well or isn’t even necessary to have.

The story for this game revolves around trying to collect Furys before an evil corporation. You want them so you can summon the Goddess for world peace. The corporation wants them to summon the Vile God for unlimited power. The details I will leave for you to discover because getting to know this almost goofy cast of characters through the various interactions at the Inn or during missions is probably the best part of the game itself.

From the very beginning with Fang being busted out of jail because of his dine and dash antics and being caught talking to cockroaches or him and Galdo being obsessed with nudie magazines while the female characters make fun of Fang for being childish there really isn’t a time the characters aren’t interesting to get to know.

The game of course isn’t perfect,for example you will spend a lot of time reading because the vocals are only in their native language. Most battles also come down to how much you leveled up,not if you are actually good with any sort of strategy. Most of the Furys you come across are also pointless to have outside of the side quest to stab the ground and discover treasure and hidden locations.

This is one of those games I enjoyed playing,and I actually think fans of strategy RPGs will also enjoy playing. It isn’t the best one on the market, but it is absolutely enjoyable. 7/10, loved my time with it. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.