My games of the year 2021 (GOTY 2021)

Best Shooter

Battlefield 2042 (PS5)

Battlefield might have thrown away nearly everything including the entire solo mode, the multiplayer experience stays unrivaled. Even more so in this PS5 version where 128 players can fight at the same time. With perfect sniping, non-stop action and armored warfare, Battlefield 2042 finally brings to console the promise of the perfect, PC-level Battlefield.

Runner-up : none

Best Action/Adventure game

Resident evil Village (PS5)

While Resident Evil Village was first in the series, I think I picked the right one. I tried Resident Evil VII soon after I liked it much less, so I do think Village is especially well directed. More focused on atmosphere, less linear and more spectacular, it’s undoubtedly a major installment of the series.

Runner-up : none

Best RPG

Tales of Arise (PS5)

It was a risky return but BandaiNamco made a flawless comeback with Tales of Arise. Advanced graphics, fantastic characters, epic fights, divine music… Every ingredient of the golden age of JRPG is there in a modern title that never forgets its roots.

Runner-up : The Legend of Heroes Kuro no Kiseki (PS4) & Scarlet Nexus (PS5)

Best design

The Legend of Heroes Kuro no Kiseki (PS4)

Falcom pulled its best for this new chapter of The Legend of Heroes. The world of the Calvard republic is incredibly rich and detailed, thanks to picturesque towns and remarkable secondary characters. The main characters are especially great, making a even finer casting than Sen no Kiseki in its time.

Runner-up : Scarlet Nexus (PS5)

Best graphics

Battlefield 2042 (PS5)

No real surprise here, DICE offers to PS5 players the best of technology in the FPS genre. Maps are splendid, and varied. The fight est more intense than evez thanks to more troops, more vehicles on the field. Weather effects bring an nice apocalyptic touch to the genre.

Runner-up : Resident Evil Village (PS5)

Best soundtrack

The Legend of Heroes Kuro no Kiseki (PS4)

New prize for Falcom Sound Team. From the splendid opening to great boss battle themes, not forgetting the town music, Kuro no Kiseki is a marvel for your ears. Dynamic, grandiose, Falcom’s new hit is the msucial journey of the year.

Runner-up : Tales of Arise (PS5)

Best atmosphere

Resident Evil Village (PS5)

Even though it’s more strictly the case in the first two chapters, Resident Evil Village serves delicious Japanese horror. The castle and especially the doll house are paragons of sinister. The fear is acute and the exploration thrilling.

Runner-up : Doki Doki Literature Club + (PS4)

Special Prize

Scarlet Nexus (PS5)

There aren’t studios capable of creating full new IPs as ambitious as Scarlet Nexus. I created this special prize in order to reward a high level of originality and quality. The gameplay in Scarlet Nexus is totally revolutionary, the challenge is intense and the character design vastly outstanding. This is the greatest new title in years. I hope the sequel comes quick…

Biggest letdown

Caligula 2 (PS4)

There’s always a risk when you release a stellar new IP : it’s hard to keep up in a sequel. Furyu fell right into this issue with Caligula 2, not even remotely as great as Caligula or Caligula Overdose. The publisher get into the market a underwhelming RPG plagued with short and lackluster writing, terrible gameplay balance and outdated graphics. Let’s point it out once more : using a big name is not enough.

Runner-up : Neptunia X Senran Kagura Ninja Wars (PS4)

Game of the Year

Tales of Arise (PS5)

As I said last year, we have to celebrate true JRPG when we see it. Like SquareEnix last year, BandaiNamco invested massively to deliver an purely traditional JRPG, but in modern standards. When many aren’t making their best because they target casuals, wokes or Nintendo subsidies, BandaiNamco’s effort in going forward with both Tales of Arise and Scarlet Nexus deserves our warmest praise. Long live the best publisher of 2021!

Scarlet Nexus (PS5)

The Legend of Heroes Kuro no Kiseki (PS4)

Resident Evil Village (PS5)

2020 – A Year In Review

So eh… yeah, I skipped every possible article this year. COVID terror, lockdown, lot of work, (non-COVID) hospital stay and ultimately moving house made me eat lot of time this year. After all, it’s not so bad to review all of it at once, right?

Ys IX Monstrum Nox (PS4)

As it was my second favorite game of 2019, you’d suspect there’s a very high mark here. From storytelling to quest system, Ys IX is a truly enjoyable Action-RPG that also puts an admirable effort in its (very large) character cast. From Adol to the smallest NPC, everyone you meet in Ys IX has an incredible personality and all this together forms a colorful and memorable new Ys Universe.

Persona 5 Royal (PS4)

This needs no introduction. The very best JRPG of the PS4 generation comes back with added content, but late added content. Sadly enough, I need to wait until you’ve finished the Persona 5 part order to add Su… eh, Kasumi as permanent member. This is a hundred hours of doing it all over, but the other surprise guest in the Royal part might make it worth the trouble.

Sakura Wars (PS4)

Sega more or less ruined the comeback of Sakura Taisen here. It’s more difficult to make a great action game than a decent Strategy-RPG. Sakura Wars PS4 could easily have been a decent SRPG, but in the end became a terrible action game. Combat is horrendous and boring. The dating part was cool though, as well as music, graphics and Tokyo’s historic look. A partially fun game that can be interesting at a reduced price.

Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS4)

A ray of light in the heart of the COVID scare. SquareEnix did a near perfect job in reviving the most iconic Playstation JRPG. They kept everything that made the legend of FFVII over the years, and didn’t try to tone it down, westernize it or worse, make it look even a tiny bit like FFXV. There’s guenuine RPG gameplay, ridiculous mini-games, fuzzy sidequests, eccentric characters… In other words, Final Fantasy creators have not forgotten what a JRPG is. That alone, is the greatest thing in 2020 gaming.

Death end re;Quest 2 (PS4)

After clearing this game, I do believe it is the beginning of the end and Death of Compile Heart. Death end re;Quest 2 has been utterly tame in its horror aspect, that is to say its main aspect. Illustrations have been toned down and don’t look especially frightening anymore. Gameplay is a sub-version of the previous system, character development is pitifully wrong and story doesn’t even feel like it happens in the same universe as Death end re;Quest 1. I don’t think we can expect anything anymore from a company that wastes half of its time porting old games instead of putting real effort in the new ones.

Sword Art Online Alicization Lycoris (PS4)

What went wrong there, seriously? It was the chosen one in the long saga of SAO games and just miserably failed to offer a entertaining experience. SAOAL has a really big and fascinating Xenoblade-like world, but full of tedious mandatory quests, boring combat full of duplicate characters when they absolutely HAD to translate the uniqueness of SAO Underworld. I hear there’s still tons of DLC planned but, seriously, who will even care now? Fairy Tail was so massively superior that they could as well rethink their way of doing stuff and get to something else.

13 Sentinels Aegis Rim (PS4)

I’m very glad the consensus went so positive about it. 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim is the best and most clever storytelling I’ve seen in quite some time. True, it’s not very difficult and the battle graphics are unimpressive, but the gameplay had something deeply fun into it. The aesthetitics of 80’s Tokyo are as as charming as the characters. A great exclusive I recommend to anyone who’s into Japanese gaming.

Persona 5 Strikers (PS4)

A year with double ration of Persona 5 can’t be that bad. Atlus knew that people wanted more Persona 5 and they gave it : the true and marvelous Persona 5 sequel which brillantly extends the pleasure. OK, you won’t have the stellar turn-based system, but instead you have a stellar Action-RPG system. So there zero reason to complain about the “Warriorization” of P5S. It’s an absolutely fantastic continuation of Persona 5, true the Persona spirit.

Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War (PS5)

I had been very curious about Black Ops Cold War from the very first teaser. It turned out that Activision delivered exactly what was promised : a fascinating historic experience and a deep dive into the Cold War era. It definitely has one of the greatest (best or second-best I’d say) COD campaign. It’s very innovative including puzzles, infiltration, choices and… sidequests! The multiplayer is enjoyable as well, even though far still from the Battlefield level of awesomeness.

Press round-up – Winter 2018

As I said last time, most of my English reviews will now be published on VGChartz. Once again, it is a significant opportunity for me so I definitely want to play that card to the maximum. In order to organize things on this end, I’ll write a report like this every new season to recap every article. That said, I will have a few blog-exclusive PSVita reviews coming, so stay tuned for that also.

Review – The Legend of Heroes Trails of Cold Steel III (PS4)

Massive JRPG, Trails of Cold Steel III kept me busy for something like 130h, making it one of the longest games that I’ve ever played (excluding the 400h on Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer, but that’s another story). Characters, storytelling, combat, strategy… Falcom’s talent fully gathered in one memorable adventure, its only problem being the subpar graphics considering it’s a PS4 exclusive now.

Review – Great Ace Attorney 2 (3DS)

The second part of the non-localized historical spin-off of the Ace Attorney series. This entry send us back to Sherlock Holmes’s London, where defense lawyer Ryônosuke will have again to find his way to the truth in tricky cases. A lot more exciting than the first one, Great Ace Attorney 2 sheds light on many unanswered questions and features crime cases full of humor and also incomparable atmosphere.

Review – Death Mark (PSVita/PS4)

Well, you probably know this one. This is the updated review of one of my top games of last year, a horror story that I think is not going to be matched any soon. This article draws a brief recap of the sixth chapter, appeared in the PS4 version and given as free DLC on PSVita.

Review – Atelier Lydie & Suelle The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings (PS4)

Hugely anticipated as far as I’m concerned (since Atelier took back the GOTY spot last year), this newest Atelier game kinda fell short of the great expectations I had for it, because of its appalling level-design, the irritating DLC policy and the flat story. A serviceable Atelier game, but far from the best entries.

Review – Sword Art Online Fatal Bullet (PS4)

Another new installment I was eager to experience, I even bought the digital premium edition with the season pass. No regrets, but the feeling that BandaiNamco is unable to make a SAO game without silly mistakes in it. The renewed gameplay is cool, gun-friendly world of Gun Gale Online is fun to roam into, but little presence of SAO characters makes it feel like a different IP.

Most anticipated games of 2018

Fate Extella Link (PS4/PSVita)

How great to see Marvelous keeping Vita version for Fate Extella Link ! PS4 version obviously getting a huge graphical overhaul, it was far from guaranteed. But yes, we’ll be able to fight for the holy Grail in cross-play, with new fun or classy characters like cute Astolfo or sexy Sacthach. There’s even a full Mah-Jong game in the limited edition !!

Girls und Panzers Dream Tank Match (PS4)

Girls und Panzers on PSVita already being a good adaptation, I’m looking forward to experiencing the same sensations in a prettier, smoother and richer PS4 entry. Girls und Panzers Dream Tank Match features all the characters, all the tanks and all the battles from the movie, all this also in multiplayer.

Sword Art Online Fatal Bullet (PS4)

At long last ! Three years… I’ve been waiting 3 years for an SAO game taking place in the fantastic universe of Gun Gale Online, featured in the Phantom Bullet arc. I’m gonna be able to SNIPE at will as Shinon or the original avatar. Because Bamco finally understood that the player wants maximum choice : you’ll have Kirito and his friends plus an original character to create yourself, who’s gonna have its own story. Artworks looks extremely promising and multiplayer should be implemented again. It’s time for SAO to be back on top.

Senran Kagura Burst Renewal (PS4)

Thanks to Senran Kagura Burst Renewal, we’ll almost be able to wipe the series history clean of Nintendo systems. The founding game telling the story of the first two ninja schools is being remade for PS4 in splendid 3D and 60 fps, with redesigned menus.

Shining Resonance Refrain (PS4)

Clearly no one expected Shining Resonance to show up again. And when you think it’s coming back with a whole new scenario in which you have Jenuis and Excella from the start, the hype goes high ! The story would need to be re-written entirely, and I’m curious to see how.

Death End Request (PS4)

Compile Heart is in dire straits. Sales keep dwindling, new ideas and skillfullness lack clearly. Their last hope is Nanameda Kei, Compile’s new star illustrator, and the Galapagos RPG team. Taking place in an MMORPG from where the heroine Shiina cannot escape, Death End Request seems to be the innovative and deep title the company needs, not to mention it respects Compile’s spirit.

Caligula Overdose (PS4)

Yet another remaster with additional content, but this one is interesting : adding to new friends and foes, Caligula Overdose includes an “if story” in which you’re gonna side with the opposing gakushi, and explore their personalities as you did for your allies.

Valkyria Chronicles 4 (PS4)

Was it all a bad dream ? I kind remember playing a failed Action-RPG called Valkyria one year ago… Yeah, that was surely a dream. Valkyria Chronicles, the real one, is coming back like it has ever been, in an episode featuring the missions of the Atlantic Federation (you know, the diplomats trying to lure you in the first game) against the Empire in snowy lands. Game system, battle system… everything is inherited from the original Valkyria Chronicles (they understood that it was better not to change anything) and characters seem charismatic. This means a big 14’000¥ collector’s edition for me.

Soul Calibur VI (PS4)

SoulCalibur’s return was sure desired, but less expected. But still we’re gonna be able to cross swords a 6^th time. Namco has mention some ideas about reboot and “simplicity”. Quite not what I want to hear but they did a good job with Tekken, so that should go well…

Catherine Full Body (PS4/PSVita)

This wasn’t expected either, even less on PSVita. Thanks to that handheld version, I’ll be able to experience that strange dating/puzzle game. Vincent, a unresolved young man, spends his days in a bar where a girl called Catherine tries to seduce him. During the night, Vincent is trapped in his dreams, in which he must escape by climbing a sort of Jenga tower ! A clear UFO that will be perfect for commuting.

13 Sentinels Aegis Rim (PS4/PSVita)

Let’s say it again, 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim has the potential to become the next 2D adventure masterpiece thanks to its incomparable atmosphere. A handful of high-schoolers must act before and after the end of the world, helped by strange mechas. With time and choice parameters, it looks absolutely outstanding.

Final Fantasy XV (PS4)

Final Fantasy XV development is going smoothly according to SquareEnix, who publishes Active Time Reports on a regular basis.There will be an early access version on PC in a few weeks, with only 4 playable characters (not the best ones). Probably SquareEnix will polish the game at this occasion, before hopefully giving all the information on the final version.

Zanki Zero (PS4/PSVita)

Quite austere Survival-RPG, Zanki Zero was back at TGS with new interesting hints. As developers had already shown, the characters should age, and there seem to be some strange resurrection mechanic… Well, the fate of those 8 survivalists is still shrouded in mystery.

The Legend of Heroes Trails of Cold Steel IV (PS4)

Trails of Cold Steel IV is a nightmare for Western fans of The Legend of Heroes (you, actually). The first pictures are potential huge spoilers about Trails of Cold Steel III and they’re being shared everywhere in the world as we speak. But of course, for me and Japanese fans, those informations are highly valuable for knowing what to expect.

Granblue Fantasy Re-link (PS4)

The gameplay video of Granblue Fantasy Relink surprised pretty much everyone. No one expected such high end graphics and exciting action. We should have though, because the people behind this are the geniuses of Platinum Games. Although the talented developer seem to stay on Nintendo’s side, we’ll gladly take such epic heroic-fantasy, especially since it will be in VR too.

I’m also waiting for Persona 5 Dancing Star Night (PS4/PSVita), Persona 3 Dancing Moon Night (PS4/PSVita), Project Lux (PSVR), Ace Combat 7 (PS4), Dissidia Final Fantasy NT (PS4), Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS4), Ni no Kuni II Revenant Kingdom (PS4), Code Vein (PS4), Senran Kagura 7EVEN (PS4), World End Syndrome (PSVita) and Bullet Girls Phantasia (PS4/PSVita).

Review – Accel World vs Sword Art Online Millenium Twilight

After the considerable disappointment experienced with Sword Art Online Hollow Realization, I had stopped believing in BandaiNamco’s capacity to make something good with Dengeki’s famous IP. The choice of Sword Art Online Lost Song as base was more reason to skip Accel World vs Sword Art Online. However, Japanese articles ended up showing some attractiveness in it, which proved to be true.

Forget your desire for an epic story : this one is again quite badly structured or written. It starts as a masked witch calling herself Persona Vabel gatecrashes Alfheim Online. Nothing big, you might think, but the damsel actually comes from 1000 years in the future and makes eras collide in the process. Vabel doesn’t stop here and kidnaps Yui, whose removal, she thinks, will lead to a brighter future.

As you’d expect, Kirito and Asuna fly to rescue their daughter. Problem is that the game is a complete mess as it merged with the Accel World universe, whose characters starts coming one after another. Kuroyukihime and her pals will soon cooperate with Kirito’s group : like in Professor Layton vs Ace Attorney, the “VS” is just for show. The real snag is that the distortion also invited Accel World’s villains, who will block your path in every possible way.

But that leads to a very long secquence in which nothing really happens : 30 hours of eventless exploring and fighting on 40 in total. Besides, numerous events feel unclear without a certain knowledge of Accel World’s scenario, and it’s not re-explained as you progress. You do have to wait the very end and the ultimate truth about Vabel’s identity to experience a SAO-like narrative. The ending is pretty much inventive and somewhat moving, but that’s little in the whole adventure.

While the main story is uneven, the side events in Accel World vs Sword Art Online are a lot better than before. First and adding to Persona Vabel’s identity, it leaves quite interesting hints for future developments, particularly in Yûki’s case because her destiny might change considerably in this gaming non-canon part. The second point is that character events are a lot funnier and feel newer because Accel World brings characters with personalities as eccentric as their outfits : Kuroyukihime has a bust size complex, “superior being” Metatron keeps looking down and shouting at you, and Ashe Roller’s true self is a memorable laugh. SAO characters participate to the fun no less, with more wacky humor and less of the childishness Hollow Realization kept imposing us.

Jokes also becomes quite lewder again, fan service aspect which had progressively disappeared and that we have been missing since Hollow Fragment. Renewed fan service and better sides events lead to more enjoyable artworks : nearly all of them are great (kinky or not). The side content of Accel World vs Sword Art Online hence was made a lot spicier for the core fans to throughfully enjoy the game between gameplay phases. This episode contains a few real time cutscenes, but no more anime-style ones. The 3D looking cheap on PS4, this is actually a lesser experience. As we’re talking about side content, let’s stress that there are only 2 sidequests, which weren’t very great because they rehash the same bosses/fields on uninspired writing. You do have the usual hunt/fetch quests : nothing fantastic but it’s always nice to complete them while leveling up, and there’s a nice trophy as reward.

The publisher doesn’t hesitate to brag about the record number of playable characters in this episode. DLC taken into account, that makes 44 characters available in the game in a whole, that is to say… 44 times more than last year’s game ! Undoubtly an excellent decision… And that’s not meaningless PR talk because each Accel World character has a unique fighting style, while SAO characters still see their actions determined by the weapon they use (plenty of them by the way, including the bow this time). Blood Leopard for example transforms into a crimson beast to tear up enemies, Aqua Current has a variety of water abilities, etc. Those moves are thus extremely varied. Customisation is different too : you have to collect BP & materials to improve their attack stat, and acquire external modules to add various status effects. Accel World characters cannot fly unlike the others but are a lot quicker and agressive on the ground. The complementarity of gameplay of this cross-over is an outstanding success.

As for your usual SAO characters, you’ll find the same aerial gameplay you had in Lost Song. It’s still far from perfect especially in getting the right height and managing distances, but it does benefit from magic spells to make it more RPG-like. Accel World vs Sword Art Online also adds a certain number of ultimate moves, like, much to her fans’ delight, Shinon’s sniper rifle. Last innovation but not the least, Skill Connect allows the player to chain several abilities, which deals 10% more damage each time you do it (a bit like in Star Ocean series). Slowly but surely, BandaiNamco is delivering deeper combat in SAO games.

Alas, Accel World vs Sword Art Online inherits the terrible animations that were in Lost Song. Characters are stiff and battles end up a bit dull despite the effort put on more dynamic super moves, some of them meant to be impressive. Small consolation within a dated technical showing. On PSVita the frame-rate is so bad that I ended up dropping that version entirely. That’s too bad because character modeling was good on the handheld.

On PS4, it can be considered okay at best : some characters are prettier than others, one field is significantly more detailed and good-looking, but we’re still talking about a slightly enhanced 2-year old PS3 engine. The most annoying aspect was difficulty balance. The main story is quite easy but postgame gets really hard all of a sudden, not to say unfair since the game forces you to use one or more characters. Let’s say it again : it is unacceptable to impose characters if you the game doesn’t have them level up at the same time as the others. Even though you can tweak that with BP (at considerable expense) or by changing the difficulty settings in last resort (often disheartening).

DLCs are symptomatic of this. The road leading to Alice is tough and getting her to join you is even harder. You can always see the good side of things and reckon you’ve finally got challenging trials ahead, but I’m not so sure about struggling to desperation to obtain a charcater you’ve bought with real money.

Nevertheless, this season pass has its merits, especially for Persona Vabel playable at once, Heathcliff included and an array of very nice outfits.

Last improvement of Accel World vs Sword Art Online, the progression system is better. The fields might feel identical to the ones in Lost Song, they are far larger in height ! Maximum altitude has been doubled, there are new underground locations/floating islands, the landscape has been made chaotic, etc, so that it feels actually new. You can go higher and farer, and the game has been made far less linear, giving a few hints instead of marking everything on the minimap. You’ll come across a few clever puzzles, true searching phases, which gives the satisfaction of overcoming the trials by your own wits and skill.

While short from being the necessary evolution to make Sword Art Online games as great as the movie for example, Accel World vs Sword Art Online does fix a number of mistakes made those past 2 years. The cross-over aspect has definitely be well conducted, ensuring a variety of gameplay and an enjoyable universe. Still not immersive enough in graphics, animation or direction, it’s however this time a nice buy for SAO fans.

A look back at some E3 2017 videos

Transference (PSVR)

Only game to have drawn my attention during conferences, Transference is a intriguing UGO from Ubisoft. The publisher takes neurological experiences conducted in the late 90’s as base. It was about transferring human emotions into a digital space. By reflecting that in virtual reality, the French company lets us expect a mystical and deeply frightening experience.

Gran Turismo Sport (PS4)

With its Jurassic Park-like music, Gran Turismo Sport comes to reminds us that racing simulation is not just about teraflops. It’s also about impressive racing tracks, joyful atmosphere, great music and lavish show. As many aspects that Sony’s exclusive won’t lack when facing Forza 7.

Code Vein (PS4/XB1/PC)

Not very different from the trailer of last month, Code Vein’s trailer (strangely shown during Microsoft conference, BandaiNamco will have a lot of explaining to do at home) still’s worth a glimpse. It’s kind of a God Eater of darker design and world, with slower but more powerful gameplay. But more than that, the giant leap in graphics and animation is especially exciting.

13 Sentinels Aegis Rim (PS4/PSVita)

Announced two years ago, we still don’t know what 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim is for sure. Atlus brings it to E3 without even giving detail on its platforms or its genre… We therefore have to kill time watching this beautiful trailer until the publisher finally reveals everything. The music has a striking sense of grandeur, and the devastated and soulless Earth is intriguing.