Taking away some of the complexities seen in other JRPGS, Fae Tactics is a stripped-down and faster experience than classics like Final Fantasy Tactics. From the outset, the game lays out building blocks that most strategy players are familiar with: Elemental rock-paper-scissors, creature collecting, and combo attacks. Fae Tactics lets you get comfortable in a routine for a few battles, then upsets that routine with novel threats.
Some of these challenges were painful the first time I encountered them as heroine Peony, resulting in difficult battles if I didn’t adapt my party composition or tactics. Other times, I found ways to turn enemies’ traps against them. Once I encountered a gremlin operating a cannon covering the bridge over a pond, with another enemy blocking the far side. After my first two attempts got me blasted by cannon fire, I tried swapping out my summoned units for a pair of flying ones, who merrily flew across the water and then cleared out the roadblock.
TERMINATOR: RESISTANCE
Revisiting Teyon’s game after Robocop: Rogue City.
RICH'N BEEFY
LIKE A DRAGON: INFINITE WEALTH is a dizzyingly huge all-you-can-eat Yakuza buffet
ROUND 8 FIGHT!
TEKKEN 8 is a blend of nostalgia for fans and a pair of welcoming arms for newbies
HOLY HELL
THE INQUISITOR is a grim yet strangely gripping dark fantasy adventure
SHOT DEAD
There are flashes of greatness in SUICIDE SQUAD: KILL THE JUSTICE LEAGUE
THE BEST NON-TRADITIONAL WAR GAMES
Is it possible for wargamers to give peace a chance?
WHEELIE GOOD
Freewheeling with Northern Irish indie studio Billy Goat Entertainment and its next project, PARCEL CORPS
PALWORLD
Shockingly, animal cruelty doesn't make for a fulfilling experience
DIVINE FREQUENCY
This horror-RPG-FPS built in the Doom engine is terrifying
AVOWED
Obsidian's next RPG goes all in on first-person action