This game is buggy, occasionally appalling design and writing that is often contrived, but that doesn't stop it from also having an odd charm, solid aesthetic, an often great soundtrack and sequences that border on art house. It seems the studio is taking steps to correct almost every complaint about the game (shorter monologues, persona-esque combat, instant level ups, battle balancing, reworking of tone-deaf bosses), though too little too late for most, is always something I can respect. I can guarantee every .5 review is from someone who came to a conclusion through video essays. I 100%ed this shit, and let me tell you, it is far from irredeemable. I'm not here to recommend it, just to say there is clearly a lot of passion and good ideas here, even if their execution didn't pay off. Though most won't make it far enough, the ending is admittedly quite brilliant.

Takahashi strikes again. One of the most unabashedly leftist JRPGs ever made and perhaps the most well-written game in the entire Xeno series.
Setting the characters at a 10-year life span (starting at age 12, for those conflicted about their waifus and husbandos), showing how indifferent the world is to everyone and a goddamn tasteful hot spring scene made my asexual ass proud I could recommend a game in this damn series again.
The majority of the game is a group of 9th term vagabonds liberating colonies of various political allegories while seizing the means of production. One could argue the game is pro-anarchy because it believes in the inherent good of man and willingness to form community, but every damn side quest plays with some new philosophical or political idea that it makes a single label impossible. Although, it is irrefutable that the game is not conservative. Rebuilding the establishment by the freedom and will of the people by one by one taking out those in power, and even subtly proposing the oligarchical nature of the west's two-party system is certainly evidence of that. You've got a colony of foragers, an industry colony, a tradesman colony, an immigrant colony... I could go on. This game has possibly a thousand name characters and it's insane how many it's able to get you invested in after 100 hours. Unfortunately, burnout definitely started to kick in by the time I got to Chapter 6 with the amount of side content that gets piled on you if you want every colony affinity at 5 stars. The game makes several poor decisions with an optional mechanic to be 20-30 levels overleveled and an over reliance on foraging to progress side content. However, the excellent characters, gorgeous world, colony management and loaded story should set the bar high for Nintendo's other dev teams.

This game tapped into the Hypnagogia of a Hikikikomori way before it was cool. This game leans almost purely into arthouse over gameplay, a decision which I greatly respect, but the title of "experience" is almost better suited for what this is: an RPGMaker walking simulator. Everything in this game is purely aesthetic, burying it's imagery and locations in your head by having nothing else to think about. The time I spent in Yume Nikki was both aimless and intriguing, as if it itself were a dream I had. If you're willing to be patient with it, and give it your time, this is an experience worth having. It's also free on steam and is the pillar (along with Earthbound) for every RPGMaker game of the last 20 years, so why not give it a shot. By the end, you'll understand what I mean.

This series was my childhood. I made up a whole little booklet of like 40 OC sims and still kin DJ Candy. It's fun to build mondo-clusterfuck eyesores to maximize your Tasty value or whatever in 6 houses or less. I turned Travis' house into a ranch for milking geckos and Papa Gino's restaurant into a militarized impenetrable italiano fortress. The sky really is the limit if you have the patience and can immerse yourself in the childish braindeadisms of accepting your sims as believable characters. For my money, I take this over The Sims and Animal Crossing any day of the week.