Recent reviews by Tekuki

This going to be unorganized post beating the game rambling so sorry in advance. (also due to alt tabbing i beat the game at 19hours with most sidequest done but stop doing them post chapter 9)

This out of the few spin off games i play gotta be the worse one for me, not only the gameplay in bland which i did expected from IF but also the story writing is super bland and boring throughout most of the game and feel like they had all the cute but no funny to it.

-Gameplay-

From my experience the gameplay was extremely easy but will get to that later. The combat itself is OK but it do feel annoying how much you are animation lock unless you obtain the "Cancel" for the 3 attack type to make your character combo feel more snappy and not take forever between actions. Interacting with the disc system truly feel like it break the balance of the game, having EX+ made me forever overlevel from everything and having "critical correction" which "increase crit rate" basically be 100% basically give you double damage for the whole game, most encounter can be done spamming box 4 times because of it, blocking and dodging take forever after a combo to even think of as a option but that doesn't even matter as you stun lock most enemy to death anyways even if u don't do insane amount of damage. The only threat was dolls but that cause they would super armor through your attacks but at some point u also just get too tanky to really feel threaten anymore.
Leaving gameplay to be stall with no real skill or thinking needed, just walk to a enemy, press box 4 times and more to the next, do a boss fight, do the same strat but chain and stand still and attack, no blocking no dodging no being worry about the enemy attack, just attack 4head and the fight will be over which made me feel extremely bore of the game very early on.

-Story Part 1-

Part 1 will be what i like neptunia alot for, the skits and the comedy it brings......this done does none of it, there wasn't a time i even find a scene funny as most of the skits is just.........relatable and "a matter of fact". If you remember covid period event for gaming or just social media in general, congrat you can relate to 80% of the skits in the game, most skits just feel like it just stating fact that had happen during covid and does nothing to try to spin a twist to it to make it more engaging, all the skits was "yep i remember gacha being a thing" " oh yeah mobile gaming is taking off alot" "oh yeah nintendo is cracking down on fan made games" and how most of the goddess just goes about it like "oh, ok that happen, good to know i guess". If u like a history lesson then yeah the skit aren't bad but it just feel a bit lazy and dull for someone who live it, and a game to basically release at the tail end of that period to just, recap it to you.

-Story Part 2-

Super short main story talk.......... it just ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ blows, i thought it was funny how everything is basically like covid, with the lockdown and everyone staying at home and the whole mobile game rising up but they decide to do it in the most boring way possible, idk how to explain it but the story does nothing to keep me interested in anything, the dialogue is as dry as bread left out in the sun for a day, there a bare minimum amount of joke and the game take itself a bit too serious. I will say i did enjoy it but that was near the end of the game (last 3-4 chapter) because i was actually really interested about the whole new plot line they introduce but thinking back on it, it make the first half of the game feel relevance and filler.

-Overall-

I try so hard to at least beat the game and get the true ending (the requirement suck btw) before i had to put down the game out of pure boredom, and that the worse part about it, i just felt extremely bored throughout the whole experience which i never done for a neptunia game, maybe sega girl but that was more so it being padded out to do the final boss while i enjoy most of that game, this game was 19 hours for me and it felt like i spend 40hour playing it in.....

Its addictive

I have alot of negative thing to say about the game but honestly it just a unorganized mess in my head to write it down so ill try to write a "short" summary.
Just finish the Goddess route (Plan to do the other 2 but doubt opinion will change from what I'm about to say) and all ill say is the story is kinda all over the place and confusing to follow for the most part. gameplay get repetitive super early on and alot and i mean alot of questionable feature like unlocking system stuff, combos being pretty bad early on the game, high miss rate even tho it feel like you not that underlevel and just over all XP amount per dungeon feel so stagnated (yes i did end up using multiple XP+ swords on the same dungeon later on in the game to farm XP) .ALOT of the game system feel like they were half ass or just ideas that never got fully realize like the break system, on Normal difficulty most bosses due to the lack of combo u can do early and how little damage normal attack do vs Skill, breaking a boss/enemy to do the chain combos feel pretty impossible and non optimal, most non boss cases the enemy would be dead by the time their guard is broken as well.

Wanna say most of my experience do just feel like a bad first impression of the game that soured the rest of the game for me but I'm over just leaning on just not overall enjoying the game like i have with IF others games (Neptunia mainline, Mary skelter and death end)

Edited: as of 1/6/2025 i finish both Vile god and Evil goddess routes, Vile god imo have the best story out of the 3 but it still don't change my current feeling of the game of just not believing it a good IF game, feel so much dread trying to play through it and it been one of the few games I almost just quit midway, steam say i have 60 Hours but i really did just have like 32, i just had the game alt tab most of the day. The goddess route being the true ending leave the game with alot more question then answer even ignoring all of the randomly plot that felt like was pull out of thin air.
My overall expression of the game is just wasted potential with isekai slop level story and setting...i get the game is suppose to be haha funny but neptunia execute that much better story wise and gameplay feel half baked.

I reviewed the game thumb down midway through playing but as I now finally beat the game today in under 35 hours or so (steam hours isn't correct due to alt-tabbing) I still can't recommend this game or at least mostly mixed about it as it, not a bad game, it great I just personally didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted. This is mostly going to sound negative sadly but ill list off the sections of the game that I have the most problems with.

This going to sound like a "boomer" take of “hating changes” but the combat system change from 7seven engine/party system to duo system is a weird one, but it is mainly with what they did with dodging and parrying. Dodging overall is the main issue as it feels like they made it the worse version overall as there is no longer invil frame while dodging, no flash dodge to give u invil for a period of time (same with parrying), and only able to do it for a very select few move in the game that is dodge only, even with that dodging just become "just hold sprint for auto dodge" moving the skill required for timing your dodge and feel like more of a gimmick move, its not THAT bad but it feels like a straight downgrade from 8-9.
Parrying also is downgraded but is still good and feels pretty nice to hit however u now lose flashguard so no invil and 100% crit rate, so now u gotta make sure u parry everything but it also acts as a block button so just holding it will protect u from 100% damage. My problem outside of missing flash guard is the only reward u get is a counter hit and that it. I stop using it because it doesn't always happen, and the revenge gauge where your duo attack gets stronger the more you parry, it fine early but late game where u get more and more revenge it feels like it take a long time before u can fill it to use it to the max.
Last is just the issue the new system added to make the game feel annoying to play at times, mainly for when the game has enemy with duo block require + dodge only require fighting at the same time with the added wind blowback it become a ♥♥♥♥ fest of getting cheat shooted and hit. Since u can't fully invil frame a lot of stuff, if some actions happen at the same time it becomes harder to not get hit or killed (since i played on nightmare) as u can't dodge a dodge only and be safe from other attack happening at the same time and same with parrying an attack and be safe from a dodge only move hitting you at the same time, what worse is some encounter have blowback into a unblockable (duo black required) making you getting CC into a hit which never feel good to play

I just dreed the ship system so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ much, it's basic and bland AF for the majority of the game and it is SOOO SLOW early on that it kills the pace that ys game is normally known for being fast or at least decently paced, but ship just slow early on, all the enemy ship all feel the same and traveling speed is painful slow. The only time I actually had fun with the ship was doing the Final chapter ship quest side where u go fight 3 boss ship that actually have cool move and feel like the dev was creative about it vs how every other ship fight feels the same and extremely bland. It sucks that the ship is also around 1/3 to half of the game time spent making it one of the main reasons I can't recommend the game. It is not a Ys game because of the ship system existing

I honestly can't go in deep with this because I believe the story of this game overall sucks but going into deep with it for a story I stop caring for won't do any good.
The characters however can give a deeper reason of just not caring about them and that is because the game did speedrun a lot of side character background story for the player to care and have a deep connect with them however the characters they pull that on have like 3 scenes of dialouge before they just dump a sad backstory. I didn't like any of the support side characters except maybe 1 or 2 of the other crewmates in the game.
Katja is kinda a hit-or-miss character as they do build her as unlikeable early but turn over a new leaf, I'm indifferent about her.
Grenn is a HATE or love character and i really really hate him, i hate that he has almost the most screen time vs other side characters as he is just a really annoying character.
Bonus tinfoil theory
I do believe that this game at least with the "Teen" cast was supposed to be a party system, there was enough character for it to be a party of 6 + adol but they went to duo instead but wanted to keep the Teen cast super important to the main story. However me personally, I feels like Grenn and Cruz were the only ones that I can see being needed for the main story,

Misc
The music was great and honestly, the more I played the game the more I got used to the combat system and realized the game isn't half bad I just feel like I'm a bit disappointed with the result, combat change is questionable, the story just didn't click with me (and I do think it just bad) and ship system was the weirdest addition for a fast pace action base game (at least fast pace for the past 3 titles). I almost dare say it is not even a Ys game but that is being too mean about it, I just feel like the stuff they added + change feels like the direction wasn't made with Ys fans in mind ....Sorry if this review sounds super ranty and rambly but it just that, Me ranting about this game, a franchise that I played all their other games (except 5) so pretty dumm out I didn’t enjoy this game as much as I wanted

This game honestly surprise me on how great it is, i came into this game with the mindset of it just being just another random "Hey it look cute but plays like ass" but was completely hit out of no where with how amazing and well done the game overall. The combat, story and movie is great followby basically full voice acting for the main story and some random Dialouge bring so much live into this game even tho it JP VA and not english.

Gameplay
Might be one of my favorite turnbase game i played this year, beat the game on Very Hard and enjoy the challenge that the game offer, it wasn't impossible but it did made me use every tool the game offer without feeling like im breaking the game for using my brain or exploring extra content. Tho i will say the game so much easier at the midway point when u receive the 3rd blessing as the tool u have is so many and the damage u output is pretty good. The 2 complaint i would have about the combat is Pets...being both reason, one that pets do make turn feel like a brag as there isn't much player choice for their action outside of the target and the fact that u got to resummon pet #2-4 every time u enter combat, with there was a loadout for them to just auto summon at the start of combat, it kinda annoying too when u enter a story combat from a cutscene and they unsummon the pet u had before. Outside of that the combat is top tier, i love how every boss was different in their own ways and how some bosses have some cool gimmick like the Red Bull. Spell itself is pretty well done to, tho i think most of the Ice spell is kinda ass outside the last one , i didn't get the last tier or ultimate magic spell tho but Fire and lighting was fun to use, i mostly stick to Fire once i obtain a fire staff = accessory to increase fire damage.

Music
It great i love the music the only issue with it is that it all don't loop well, you can basically heard when it end and start again which i feel like they could had atleast try to edit it to loop more smoothly.

Story
Like i say before, i wasn't expecting much but the story is really good imo, idk how to really go about reviewing it as i just overall just enjoy everything about it, the twist and turn it take, the emotional beat, every villain feel like they have a goal in mind that isn't just random BS and how Pieberry interact with the human world was fun to see. Minor complaint was maybe the village arc felt a bit repetitive near the end of it which suck but afterwards the story pick up again

Extra
While on the final chapter i realize that this game is actually a remaster/remake of the first Witch Spring game, didn't knew that but i found out there 4 witch spring game out right now, tho it all on mobile which explain why i never heard of this game, Steam do have the 3rd game remaster so most likely play that later in the future, i really hope this studio remaster the other game to PC/Console cause i believe it a game i think would get more attention on a platform that isn't mobile but that just me.

Conclusion
9.5/10, now part of my top JRPG turn base game list

I siuck but want to give thumb up
DO NOTE Steam Deck users
-As of 1.0 and from the look of it for a few patches before release, Cloud save with the deck to PC is kinda wacky and don't really work without a work around for some reason.
-Default controls is really bad so use community shares config but still playing on a gamepad feel pretty worse comepare to using mouse and keyboard purely for how it interact with the UI

Need to play the game more but currently won't really say it a good game to play on the Deck

The most fateful squeal i ever seen for a online game, they really turn Hell Divers from a top down into a 3rd person FPS and it transition so well. The game did had a hiccup on launch tho but i think the gameplay itself make up for it

I believe this game is one of the better Trails game
This game is meant to be somewhat of a filler arc between Cold Steel 4 to the next Trails series, don’t connect/set up much for the next series but close some plot points while introducing a new character. Believe this has the best gameplay but the story at least for me feels a bit off in many places, it didn’t ruin the experience but it did make me question it a lot in a bad way.

The system is a copy of the whole game of Trail of the Sky 3rd, another pocket dimension where it is a dungeon crawler but WITH THE WHOLE CAST (that u have at the time of the story). It's pretty good, the dungeon is randomized, the loot is randomized and there is a good pool of enemies to fight.

Another part of it is all the side content it has, basically where all the side content in the game is in general as the game has only 1 side quest. It has all the mini-games + more with its own twist and small story and daydream, the same system from Sky where you can watch cutscenes of random events that happen with the cast, they are enjoyable. The Corridor also has all the shop needed to keep all the characters geared for the act as well as random misc accessories to customize your characters looks

Overall it is a good addition to the however the only downside I have with it is the plot of it. It was introduced that all the protags have a weird mirror that brings them there to train for the up coming danger, but that is all of the story it gets (unless there more posts beating the game but if that is the case that would be bad IMO, I haven’t done the post-game content as of writing this review). Unlike Sky 3rd it at least has a story driving the whole pocket dimension plot where at the end of each dungeon it gives more info of why it exists or just more story for Kevin but the Corridor is so disconnected from the story that even when it mentions the main plot it just gets pushed aside and forgotten.

I try to keep the routes short so I won’t say too many spoilers but just give my feelings for each part.

Wish the prologue didn’t exist, SSS is my favorite cast but I feel like the writer put themself in a position to not like this route as much as I want to, it starts with liberating Crossbell again from this small rebel post-CS4, just for Crossbell to be taken over by a new threat ALL IN THE FIRST HOUR of the game marking it the 3rd time the plot of “we must liberate Crossbell” happens. The topic is so overused that it makes the overall route feel like you reliving the last arc of Azure as it feels like it follows the same beat but with CS plots and characters spread around. If u never play Azure then you won’t notice it or feel burnout by this topic but from someone who has played it, I hate they went this route for telling Lloyd's path

Rean’s route feels like a whole bunch of random goose chasing for the first 2 acts and a whole ??? for act 3. I don’t think it is a bad route, there is not much to hate about it but there also isn’t much to love about it, one thing I would mention now is the game gives Rean another major story about his power which is a bummer for me as I felt like the whole Rean curse/power arc was nicely closed in the CS4 but was reopen for this game

I 100% would say C’s route is the best in the game as it feels like there were all the new ideas lie, a new and enjoyable cast, their involvement in the main story is huge and they the only route that feels like the character are more connected to each other then the rest as cast as the main 4 characters stay in the party throughout the game instead of swap around like the other two routes did. They also have the best-written story in the game imo.

Won’t say anything that happens but I will give how I feel about it.
After beating the game I was disappointed about who the main villains were and their involvement in the story and kinda of made me feel like it was missing something, doesn’t help that the reasoning too was a bit cliche seeing they wrote better reasoning for the villains in their past games

-Music: Might be my Favorite OST in the Cold Steel Series
-New combat system: The United system is a great addition to the game, not too OP but not too weak to not used, feels pretty balanced in its uses and the added XP bottles help bring character you don’t use for the Corridor up to spec without having to do the extra farming in battles


Would recommend this game

This game probably have the worse story i ever seen this year, it constantly feeling like it trying to tell a different story every chapter while having the most inconsistent evil arc to plot line that just get throw out of no where for the player to just be like "ah yes i get it" but instead just make me just question more and more wtf is this game trying to even tell

Yes im giving a negatives review just for the story alone
Why?
When a game go around having voice acting, great visual, actually well done cut scene, and a cyperpunk theme, yes i would had expect the story to be at worse mid to being great but instead it was just a mess of 8 hours of sitting through where i question what im i suppose to be doing again

Gameplay side of things is alright, biggest complain is how your devil trigger (i forgot the move name in this game im sorry) is really bad to control and feel really bad to use Vs boss encounter but never felt like u needed it in vs normal enemy either

Game look great, music song track is pretty alright but this game at least for me wanted to tell a story, if it didn't they wouldn't had put so much effort into it with lore entry, cutscene or even voice acting, but they did and they did the worse job possible, honesty feel like a fanfic that have no real grounds on where it going

At first I would had say the story just needed more setup with building more of a relationship with the MC's brother so the player can care more about finding him but after beating the game, the story itself just need a whole new makeup

Sorry if this is super rant i just really expect the game story to turn around at 1 point but it prove me wrong time after time again

The best way i can put this is, this game isn't for me, got as far as beating the bandit

I play many JRPG and when i saw this at a game con (i forgot which one) my interest was perk, after buying and playing the game there was a few things i like:
The story seem interesting
The world was interesting
Character writing was good
Music was good

But that was it, the actually gameplay side of thing was the bigger turnoff for me, i don't mind turn base heck ill say it my favorite type of game but this game combat system seem lack luster in stragety, it just go in use all your skill on CD and repeat which made me use "real-time" more often as most encounter took waaay to long for to me a landside victory and realtime gameplay is just a auto battler for me expect u only control the MC which made the game even more boring for me.
Last thing is how this game feel like a Korean MMO, it not their fault really ,but down to the sidequest, menu, the skill menus, and how items already have white-Gold rarity in the first few hours just make the experience not really liking that format after playing a few back in days and this game being in that format felt really off for me.
Bonus: The controller layout is uber scuff, Im used to games where B/O (xbox/ps4/5 layout) is accept but this game for some reason make A the accept/interaction but dialogue requires B to continue but B is also back, make navigating through menus and character dialogue pretty confusing, controller for combat is pretty fun but also hard to tell what u are selecting in some cases, it definite need some work as playing on the steam deck is a challenge

But like i say before, maybe this game just isn't for me, the Korean MMO aspect of the game followup with combat system that got boring real quick just couldn't make me bear to see what continue in the story which i really like so far