#Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition

[nintendowife]

Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition (2020)

[jessjustplay]

6 video games I rate a Perfect 10/10

October 10, 2024

Today is October 10th aka 10/10, a perfect day to share the video games I think are a perfect 10/10. ⭐🎗️🏆

I'm playing Lunar Silver Star Harmony right now on my PS Vita and I already want to add it to the list, but I didn't because I haven't finished it. (But so far it's perfect!)

Games listed:

• Chrono Trigger • Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition • Final Fantasy XIII • Hogwarts Legacy • Final Fantasy IX • Tales of Berseria

[matrix-baticorn]

More Mooncat Supervillain! I've missed doing my nails, didn't do much while children were small, and I love these shimmery glittery shades! And playing one of my favorite games, Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition-- gotta go for that last achievement 👑.

[nintendocafe]

Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition arrives on Nintendo Switch on March 26th

[satoshi-mochida]

Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition releases today digitally for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, Steam, Humble Store, Itch.io, and GOG.

[endworldgaming]

Heyo folks, here’s Aurum’s video from yesterday! In this one, he’s playing an indie RPG called Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition by Stegosoft Games and Dangen Entertainment. Enjoy!

[operationrainfall]

REVIEW: Rise of the Third Power

REVIEW: Rise of the Third Power

[diversegaminglists]

All the Games I finished in 2021

It’s a long one, cos gaming is my coping mechanism.

Agent A: A Puzzle in Disguise

Death Game Pro

Greg the Clumsy Ghost

The Deer God

Immure Part 1

Yi and the Thousand Moons

Lethe: Episode One

Farcry 5: Dead Living Zombies

Bleed 2

 Come Back: Chapter One

Conarium

Hollow Head

 Hotel Paradise

Jam and the Mystery of the Mysterious Spooky Mansion

 Alpha Polaris: A Horror Adventure

 Adventure Escape Mysteries: Pirate Treasure

Black Sails: Ghost Ship

 Adventure Escape Mysteries: Trapmaker

Shiver

Descend

 Location Withheld

Milkmaid of the Milkyway

The House on Holland Hill

Wooden Hearts

 Silent Hill Homecoming

Please Follow

 The Fall of Lazarus: First Passenger

The Shell of Permafrost

Millennium: A New Hope

Stardew Valley

Trapmaker 2: Tracing the Past

 Reefshot

Disney’s The Princess and the Frog

And All Would Cry Beware

Gemini Rue

Void Bastards

Secret Files: Tunguska

This Book is a Dungeon

A Bird Story

eXceed - Gun Bullet Children

Hero of the Kingdom: The Lost Tales 1

Never Again

We Went Back

Lust for Darkness

Devotion

Rhome

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky

Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition

Lust from Beyond: Scarlet

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

Song of Horror: Episode 1

Arida: Backland’s Awakening

Song of Horror: Episode 2

 Curse of the Old Gods

Feather

The Adventure Pals

Secret of Magia

Misao: Definitive Edition

Mad Father (2020)

Resident Evil: Village

Greyfox

Metaphobia

Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland DX

10mg Sealed Estate

Alone in the Grey

Among the Innocent: A Stricken Tale

6Before I forget

Super Hot

Trapmaker 3: The Final Trap

 Escape the Lost Kingdom: The Forgotten Pharaoh

Death Coming

10mg: Cover Me in Leaves

1365

 96

Backspace Bouken

Bad Government

2064: Read Only Memories

Back to Bed

 Pathfinder: Kingmaker

 Blackhaven

 Now You See

Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Despair

The Pay is Nice

Don’t Go Out

Hand of Doom

  Summer Night

The Outsiders

Mr. Bucket Made Me Do It

Rotgut

The Pony Factory

Shatter

Carthanc

Sucker for Love

To the End of Days

Emily’s Exile

Undiscovered

Touched by an Elder God

Solipsis

Arcadletra

CSI: Unsolved

Divebell

Another Late Night

Squirrel Stapler

The Toy Shop

Submission

Matter Over Mind

Reactor

Gardens Inc: From Rakes to Riches

Nice Screams at the Funfare

911 Operator

Finding Teddy

Final Fantasy X HD Remaster

Into the Mountains

Riba

Alien Death Mob

The Silence

Nancy Drew and the Treasure of the Royal Tower

Samantha Swift and The Hidden Roses of Athena

Pixross

The White Chamber

Picross Touch

House Flipper

Depanneur Nocturne

La Maleta

The Corridor

The Room 3 (All Endings)

Landlord of the Woods

Loco Motive

112 Operator

Bete Grise

Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning

Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning: The Legend of Dead Kel

Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning: The Teeth of Naros

[gamesdb]

Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition combines the best parts of Japanese-style 16-bit role playing games with the best parts of western RPGs, as well as including elements of visual novels and adventure games to create a truly unique experience.

[bahamutgames]

Games Played in 2022

New year, new list of games I played LAST year! Once again I’m honestly pretty embarrassed by how much I bought this year. This was another year where I was very stressed out, particularly by work. And so I took a lot of commission and work breaks, then got more stressed, then stress bought more games. And what I’m getting at is that I started 2023 pretty fucking broke. But A) I’m about to be more broke cause I haven’t bought anything from the Steam Winter Sale and B) That just means I need to reopen commissions and work SUPER hard to get enough money to spend crazy amounts again.

For context, when I buy like a bajillion games at once it is me taking advantage of sales. So I’m not like, spending $60 on each of these games individually. Regardless, you can see the list under the readmore!

Key

Present - Game was given to me by someone else

Gift - I gave the game to someone else, but I can still play that copy

Free - I got the game for free

Preorder - I preordered it, obviously

And as always I only put games on here that I played for the first time or had the intention of beating for the first time or reached a big milestone in for the first time. I won’t include Mario Kart 8 for example, I played it a lot this year. But I played it a lot last year too.

Games purchased in 2022

Spookware (PC)

Kor (PC)

Don't Give Up: A Cynical Tale (PC)

Chicory: A Colorful Tale (PC)

Kaze and the Wild Masks (PC)

Carrie's Order Up (PC)

Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition (PC)

Jak 3 (PS2)

Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal (PS2)

Kingdom Hearts 2 (PS2)

Lost Odyssey (Xbox 360)

What the Golf? (Switch)

Bonito Days (Switch) Gift

Nintendo Switch Online - Family

Itch.io - Bundle for Ukraine

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass (Switch)

8-bit Adventures: The Forgotten Journey (PC)

Titankin: Prologue (PC)

Viola The Heroine's Melody (PC)

Virgo Versus the Zodiac (PC)

Sludge Life (PC)

The Henry Stickman Collection (PC)

Moving Out (PC)

Squidlit (PC)

Kero Blaster (PC)

RPG TIME: The Legend of Wright (Xbox One)

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate - 1 Month

Super Meat Boy (Xbox One) - Free

Dadish 3 (PC)

Miles & Kilo (PC)

The Longest Five Minutes (PC)

Mandinga - A Tale of Banzo (PC)

Super Squidlit (PC)

Get In The Car, Loser! (PC)

Go! Go! PogoGirl (PC)

Shadows of Adam (PC)

Haven Park (PC)

Dino Galaxy Tennis (PC)

Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy (PC)

Osteoblasts (PC)

Buck Up And Drive! (PC)

Artifact Adventure (PC)

Cat Powered UFO (PC)

qomp (PC)

UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH ExeLate[cl-r] (PC)

Indie Bundle for Abortion Funds (PC)

Florence (Android)

Spark the Electric Jester 3 (PC)

Anton Ball Deluxe (Switch)

Sushi Striker: The Way of The Sushido (3DS)

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (3DS) - I wanted a physical copy :')

Enchanted Arms (360)

Batsu Maru (PC) Present

Stranger of Paradise : Final Fantasy Origin (Xbox One) Present

Stardew Valley (PC) Present

Demon Turf (PC) Present

Here Comes Niko! (PC) Present

Tekken 7 Definitive Edition (PC)

Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite Deluxe Edition + Premium Costume Pass (PC)

Chocobo GP (Switch)

Floogen (Switch) Free

The Big Catch - Kickstarter

Beeny (PC)

An NPC's Odyssey (Switch)

Glyph (PC)

Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope (Switch)  Preordered

Sonic Frontiers (Xbox One)  Preordered

Hotwheels Unleashed + GOTY Upgrade Pack (Switch) Gift

Xbox Gamepass PC - 1 month

Journey of the Broken Circle (Switch) - Free

Stitchy in Tooki Trouble (Switch)

Duck Quacky (Switch)

Mahou Senshi Cosplay Club - Kickstarter

This Way Madness Lies (PC)

Mario Party Superstars (Switch) Gift

Alba: A Wildlife Adventure (PC)

Bot Vice (PC)

Earthlock (PC)

Evoland: Legendary Edition (PC)

Garden Gaurdian (PC)

GRIS (PC)

LiEat (PC)

METAGAL (PC)

Paradise Marsh (PC)

Romeow: In the Cracked World (PC)

Rotund Zero (PC)

Kitsune Zero (PC)

Toem (PC)

Toodee & Topdee (PC)

WarioWare: Get It Together! (Switch) Present

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cowabunga Collection (Xbox One) Present

Tales of Symphonia (PC) Present

Tales of Berseria (PC) Present

Tales of Zestiria (PC) Present

Tales of Arise (PC) Present

Tales of Vesperia (PC) Present

Megaman Legacy Collection (Switch)

Megaman Legacy Collection 2 (Switch)

Games beaten in 2022

Kaze and the Wild Masks (PC) - True Ending

A Hat in Time (PC)

Hylics (PC)

Pupperazzi (PC) - 100% Complete

Spookware (PC) - Episode 1

Guilty Gear: The Missing Link (PS1) - Sol's Arcade Mode (replayed) - Baiken Boss fight

Astrodogs (PC)

Carrie's Order Up (PC)

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (GBA) Emulated - Sora Story + Reverse/Rebirth

Petal Crash (PC) - Ore Kid (Easy+Normal) (Final Boss + Hidden Boss), Lilibri, Yosoti Story (Easy)

What the Golf? (Switch) - 100%

Sonic and Sega Allstars Racing (PC) - All Cups (Beginner)

Sonic & Allstars Racing Transformed (PC) - World Tour

Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves (PS2)

Jak 3 (PS2)

Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal (PS2)

Kingdom Hearts 2 (PS2)

Mail Mole (PC)

Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors (Arcade) Emulated - Lord Raptor Arcade

Vampire Savior (Arcade) Emulated - Hsien-Ko Arcade

Vampire Savior 2 (Arcade) Emulated - Q-Bee Arcade

Waku Waku 7 (Arcade) Emulated - Arina Arcade

King of Fighters 2003 (Arcade) Emulated - Blue Mary+Tizoc+Malin Arcade

Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis) Emulated - All Emeralds - Replayed

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis) Emulated - All Emeralds - Replayed

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (Genesis) Emulated - All Emeralds + Super Emeralds

Sonic CD (PC) - All Time Stones - Replayed

Sonic Mania (PC) - All Emeralds - Replayed

Sludge Life (PC) - All Endings - 100% Complete

Lost Odyssey (Xbox 360)

Henry Stickmin Collection (PC) - All Endings + Fails

Squidlit (PC)

Congo's Caper (Switch)

To the Moon (PC)

Bugsnax (Xbox One)

Breath of Death VII (PC)

NiGHTS into Dreams (PC) Claris + Elliot endings

Super Meat Boy (Xbox One)

Dadish 3 (PC)

TMNT Shredder's Revenge (Xbox One)

Viola: The Heroine's Melody (PC) - True Ending

Toree Genesis (PC) - All Gems

qomp (PC)

Final Fantasy 1 (PS1)

UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH ExeLate[cl-r] (PC) - Hyde's Arcade Mode - Normal (Mika + Nanase Arcade - Easy)

Pokemon Red (Gameboy) - Emulated

Super Squidlit (PC)

Florence (Android)

Super Mario Sunshine - Replayed

Dragon Quest 1 (SNES) - Emulated

Miles & Kilo (PC)

Go! Go! Pogogirl! (PC)

Spark the Electric Jester 3 (PC)

Buck Up And Drive! (PC) - Unlocked Everything

SPEEDCAT (PC)

Splatoon 3 (Switch)

Tales of Phantasia (PS1) Emulated

Pac-Man World (PS1) Emulated

Batsumaru (PC)

Stranger of Paradise : Final Fantasy Origin (Xbox One)

Chocobo GP (Switch) - Story Mode

Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox) - 2 Player Campaign

Everhood (PC)

Super Bomberman R (Switch)

Beeny (PC) - All Speed Medals

Cthulhu Saves the World (PC)

Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope (Switch)

Journey of the Broken Circle (Switch)

Bloody Roar (PS1) - Yugo Arcade

Sonic Frontiers (Xbox One)

Bloody Roar: Primal Fury (Gamecube) - Yugo Arcade (I had to beat Cronos on the easiest difficulty BUT I DID DO THE REST OF THE ARCADE ON NORMAL, I HATE CRONOS!!)

Stitchy in Tooki Trouble (Switch)

This Way Madness Lies (PC) - 100% (I think?)

Romeow: In the Cracked World (PC) - 100%

Garden Gaurdian (PC) - All Trials

WarioWare: Get It Together! (Switch)

Eastward (PC)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cowabunga Collection (Xbox One) - All games

Games played in 2022

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles (Switch)

Spelunky 2 (PC)

Wind Jammers 2 (PC)

Room to Grow (PC)

Lethal League (PC)

One Finger Death Punch 2 (PC)

Pumped BMX Pro (PC)

Bonito Days (Switch)

Elden Ring (Xbox One)

King of Fighters 2000/2001/2002 (Arcade) Emulated

Rage of the Dragons (Arcade) Emulated

Moving Out (PC)

Floppy Knights (Xbox One)

The Pedestrian (Xbox One)

Ninja Gaiden Sigma (Xbox One)

Psychonauts 2 (Xbox One)

Fallguys (Switch)

Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy (PC)

Rampaging (PC)

Super Monkey Ball Sakura Edition (Mobile)

Cooking Mama Let's Cook (Mobile)

M.Duck (Mobile)

Classic Runescape (PC)

Floogen (Switch)

You Suck At Parking (PC)

Rotund Zero (PC)

Games Demoed in 2023

A Little To The Left (PC) - Demo

Kao The Kangaroo (PC) - Demo

Gigabash (PC) - Demo

Neon White (PC) - Demo

Hellpie (PC) - Demo (was too gross to even finish the demo lmao)

Tower Princess (PC) - Demo

Tinykins (PC) - Demo

Battlecakes (PC) - Demo

8-BIT Adventures 2 (PC) - Demo

Daydream: Legend of the Eschelons (PC) - Demo

PARTY RUSH!! (PC) - Demo

Multiversus (PC) - Demo

Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Switch) - Demo

The Good Life (Xbox One)

Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Xbox One)Anton Blast (PC) - DemoAnton Ball Lite (PC) - Demo

Indie Rumble (PC) Demo

Soda Powered Penguin (PC) Demo

Garbage Girl Louise (PC) Demo

Scratchin' Melodii (PC) Demo

Rad Venture (PC) Demo

Berserk Boy (PC) Demo

Broc Crocodile (PC) Demo

Brok the Investigator (PC) Demo

And there you have it! Everything I played throughout the year. I’m sure it’s missing some stuff but it’s good enough for me. Now you all can see the weird shit I spent actual money on like Duck Quacky. I know I’m like the only person who shares the lists of games they play but I write these every year because I will genuinely forget everything I played if I don’t, and I figure it’s just a fun extra thing to share at the end of the year. Please don’t judge my monetary decisions too much. I swear I’m feeding my family too! You gotta believe me!

As for this year? I’m hoping to spend less on games in 2023, which seems to be an impossible goal for me. It would be easier if games stopped going on sale for so cheap all the time. Maybe I need to get an even more expensive hobby so I can’t afford to buy anything for it (ha). But also there are a lot of games I own that I’m planning on playing this year. Obviously I want to continue chipping through my steam and itchio games. I want to continue my playthroughs of all mainline Final Fantasy, Pokemon, Dragon Quest, and Tales of games. But there’s some new stuff I also have my mind on this year. Classic Megaman, God of War, I’d like to make some time to play Enchanted Arms and Legend of Kay. And in general I’d like to play a lot more BIG games if possible. Games with bigger stories that are larger RPGs. I played a lot of RPGs this year but a lot of them were smaller or older. I’d like to play some meater RPGs this year.

That’s that for this year, here’s to another wonderful year full of video games and good times and money for everyone! Happy New Years and stay safe, y’all!

[kilopbp]

Demo chrono plus

Demo chrono plus how to#

Thus, you don’t have to worry about combat and solely view the narrative play out when choosing this mode. Selecting it will kill all enemies in the battle, automatically allowing you to win (except possibly “scripted to lose” fights). This difficulty will add a “Story Mode” option on your menu during battle. The classic Normal, Hard, and Expert difficulties can be chosen when you begin the game, but I want to highlight the “Story” titled difficulty. But if the combat is not your cup of tea and you want to enjoy the story, the game provides accessibility options for those kinds of players. I personally went with Natasha, Rowan, and Corrina, and I often found myself switching to Reyna for some healing. Each character is unique, and team combinations are various. While it is rather brief, having only a few fights plus a boss battle at the end, I enjoyed the small taste provided by the team. In combat, the demo provides you with five party members to choose from. The rather cunning Natasha and the mage Aden are in your party, who both concoct a plan to steal one of Selena’s ships and run away to safety after it explodes.

Demo chrono plus how to#

First, you start playing as Rowan, a former naval officer who was “dismissed for his heavy drinking habits.” Still, knowing how to steer a ship, he became a pirate…only to betray his girlfriend Selena, who is also a pirate. Only a few characters are introduced in this short demo version. Now, they have continued their efforts with Rise of the Third Power, which they quote to be their “best game yet, with Chrono Trigger-esque abilities.” The developers then released Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition, which went away from the RPG Maker skin and used an original engine developed by them. Rise of the Third Power‘s story takes place 15 years after Stegosoft Games’ predecessor title Ara Fell, an RPG Maker game that told the story of World War I but with a twist.

[nintendowife]

Best games I played in 2024

This year I finished 36 games on various platforms, both new and old games (I even played on PS2), some were great, some less great. But which games earned my personal Game of the Year awards in 2024? Let's find out!

1st place: Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition (PC)

A true hidden gem that exceeds a lot of big budget productions in quality and enjoyment. Combines the best parts of JRPGs.

+ Great presentation: cute and sympathetic graphics, surprisingly amazing music, visually pleasing environments, nice overall atmosphere. + Fun combat and gameplay with convenient systems. Skims all unnecessary, cumbersome stuff and keeps things simple and lean, yet gives options for character customization. Possibility for rewarding exploration. + Good sense of progression with stat increases and gear upgrades. + Interesting story with good pacing, likeable characters, well-written dialogue and good humor. + The length of the game is just right. There was never a dull moment and no needless padding. I like a game that respects my time. - Minor nitpick but controls took a moment to get used to: there's no easing, nudging the stick moves the character up/down/left/right at full speed. - I would have hoped teleporting was possible straight via map instead of walking to a teleport crystal.

See my posts about Ara Fell

2nd place: Chants of Sennaar (PC)

Unique puzzle-adventure game that tickled my intellect in just the right ways. Exceeded all my expectations despite knowing it's a well-received game.

+ Visually memorable, stylish, pleasing colors. Good music + audio. + Exceptionally interesting and rewarding game mechanics. Such gratifying feeling to uncover the meaning of the glyphs, getting the logic/grammar of the languages and understanding cultural differences. Logical deduction at its best! + Nice story that had me wanting to find out how it ends. + Well-designed puzzles. - Level design could have used improvement in a couple of places as rooms looked too identical and made navigation frustrating.

See my posts about Chants of Sennaar

3rd place: Pokémon Ultra Moon (3DS)

I really got into Pokémon Ultra Moon and I have 100% Pokédex completion and 259 hours of play time to vouch for it. One of the best games in the series.

+ Rather charming visuals, good music. Overall I just got a really cozy and positive feeling of the game. + Great gameplay with superb team building options. More challenging battles than usual in Pokémon games. Convenient quality of life features. + Quite decent story. Nice character cast, a massive selection of Pokémon. + Nice side / post-game content with great attention to detail, enjoyable and funny side quests with great world-building. - Super double battles, etc. available a bit too late in the game. - The surroundings of the Pokémon Nursery weren't the best for hatching eggs (yet I bred more Pokémon than ever).

See my posts about Pokémon Ultra Moon

Honorable mention: Piofiore: Episodio 1926 (Switch)

Fantastic sequel. Crown jewel of my otome game collection. I think my husband is a Piofiore fan now also. I'm sad there's no third game in the series.

+ Incredible art style, beautiful UI, superb voice acting, great music. + Nice overall story with some very good routes. Memorable and fun characters with good dynamics - I now obsess over them after having played both Piofiore games. + Good localization. + Yang. - Some eye-roll-worthy dialogue and some routes I felt were a bit whatever. - Poor contrast in some memoir parts made it nigh impossible to read parts of the text.

See my posts about Piofiore: Episodio 1926

Honorable mention: Shin Megami Tensei IV (3DS)

This critically acclaimed JRPG with intense atmosphere and rich party customization had me glued to my Nintendo 3DS for a good moment.

+ Great art and music that emphasizes the dark, oppressive and hopeless tone of the game. + Addictive gameplay, especially demon fusing. Good battle system. + A gripping story with multiple endings, cool characters. Surprisingly disturbing content. + Some hilarious dialogue to lighten up the mood. - Weird difficulty curve: very tough start, then last boss fights were no challenge. - Combo of bad overworld map, frequent demon encounters and dead ends was frustrating. - Poorly explained quests at times - how can anyone beat this without a guide?

See my posts about Shin Megami Tensei IV

Honorable mention: Xenotilt: Hostile Pinball Action (PC)

Addictive pinball with a twist - the table attacks back! Sometimes I kept playing this for hours and I occasionally jump back in for a run or two.

+ What vibes! Super cool presentation. The music goes hard (got the soundtrack for Christmas) and the sound effects complement the awesome aesthetic perfectly. Not sure what the lady says at times ("dry your food"?), but she sounds great anyways. + Top notch high-speed pinball gameplay with bullet-hell influences. You can even defeat bosses here. Highly addictive and fun. + No story content found here but there's multiple different game modes to challenge yourself with. - A couple of glitches caused me grief in the early access version, these have apparently been fixed now. - Even though there are smaller bonus tables you can enter from the main table, another main table would have been a great addition.

See my posts about Xenotilt

Honorable mention: 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (PC)

A thrilling mystery-adventure game kept me guessing whodunit. I did not expect all the things that ensued and that made it all the better experience.

+ Nice art style, great Japanese voice acting, super good music as well. + A well-written, compelling mystery story that leaves just the right amount of questions and room for own interpretations. Interesting way to weave real-life events into the story. + Good puzzles: some easy, some pushed me to my limits. - Grating dialogue and relationship between certain characters. - True ending was stretched too long and repeated the same things unnecessarily.

See my posts about 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors

Honorable mention: Pandora's Tower (Wii U)

An underappreciated action-adventure classic long overdue for a Switch port. Wholly exceeded my expectations.

+ Pretty good art direction, great music, good English voice acting. Atmosphere and game design choices gave me Dark Souls and Shadow of the Colossus vibes. + Fun gameplay with enjoyable combat, time limit aspect was implemented well. Nice level design. + Unique and compelling setting, story that made me want to keep playing. - Poor camera angles made boss battles frustrating at times. - Aiming the Oraclos chain was clumsy in hectic situations (I used the Wii U GamePad right stick). - Inventory space limit, my worst enemy made an appearance.

See my posts about Pandora's Tower

What comes to the honorable mentions, I wanted to pick a variety of genres. That is why I decided to leave Octopath Traveler II out and replace it with Xenotilt, as I already had multiple JRPGs in my top picks for this year.

Nominees for my personal Game of the Year 2024

Only games I have finished in 2024 have been included.

999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (PC) A Castle Full of Cats (PC) A Little to the Left (PC) Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition (PC) Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Xbox Series X) Chants of Sennaar (PC) Cupid Parasite (Switch) Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake (Switch) Eastern Exorcist (PC) Easy Come Easy Golf (Switch) Etrian Odyssey Nexus (3DS) Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise (Switch) Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure (PC) Lies of P (Xbox Series X) Little Kitty, Big City (PC) Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2) Mizi NO! (PC) Mouthwashing (PC) Nightshade (PS2) Octopath Traveler II (Switch) Pandora's Tower (Wii U) Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons (PC) Piofiore: Episodio 1926 (Switch) Please, Touch The Artwork 2 (PC) Pokémon Ultra Moon (3DS) Project Zero (PS2) Return to Grace (PC) Shin Megami Tensei IV (3DS) SPY×ANYA: Operation Memories (Switch) Super Video Golf (PC) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge (PC) Vanquish (PC) Weapon Shop de Omasse (3DS) Wii Fit U (Wii U) Xenotilt: Hostile Pinball Action (PC) Yakuza 5 Remastered (PC)

Wishing you all a successful New Year 2025 with lots of fun gaming experiences to your liking!

[jessjustplay]

Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition - the BEST story I have experienced this year!

September 20, 2023

Game: Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition First Time/Replaying: First Time Game Time: 24 hours Console: Nintendo Switch Started: September 1, 2023 Finished: September 19, 2023

I finished Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition yesterday. When I tell you it is the best story I have experienced this year in a video game, I'm not even exaggerating. And that's coming from someone who has finished a lot of good games this year!

Ara Fell is 2016 indie RPG, later released as the Enhanced Edition in 2020. I got lucky and came across it while browsing the Steam store. I remember looking it up on the Nintendo eShop too and being excited to find it there! (I played it on Switch.)

From the Steam sale page.

Story:

In the game, you play as and control a spunky 16-year-old human named Lita. She's skilled with a bow and arrow and has a close friend named Adrian. Together they come across an artifact that changes their lives forever.

3 party members join you in the epic quest to save the world, a floating continent called Ara Fell, from vampires. You are guided by elves and complete quests that boost your party's strength.

Along the way you learn SO MUCH about the history of Ara Fell and ALL THE CHARACTERS, including the rivalry between the elves and vampires.

The story is a SOLID epic fantasy, with intriguing backstories, so much interaction between the characters, funny dialogue, and of course the cozy pixel art, relaxing nature sounds, and beautiful music come together to make Ara Fell a very special JRPG game.

Gameplay:

I played on "Story Mode", which made for a very fun and enjoyable gaming experience.

• Battles are turn-based. You can avoid battles by avoiding the enemies on screen. (Which is easy to do.)

• Story Mode has a "Story Mode" option in-battle which is handy for leveling up because it saves you a lot of time when grinding for levels. Using this will KO your enemies in one shot. I don't recommend using this for bosses because the whole point of fighting a boss (in my opinion) is the struggle of finding the strategies to defeat them yourself, but it's a handy for grinding levels with enemies you're already beating over & over.

• I think this is just in Story Mode: your HP and MP automatically replenish after each battle. During the battles, your HP and MP will gradually restore too after each attack you make. It's very useful.

• There are "limit breaks" in this game - there is one long gauge at the bottom of the screen and when it fills to a certain point, only one of your characters (depending on the point that the gauge is filled) at can use their limit break, so will need to strategize which character's skill is most useful at the time.

• There is a Crafting feature in the game. You can craft items (healing potions, revival potions, etc.) as well as weapons and armor. You also upgrade your weapons/armor through crafting. All of the crafting supplies that you need can be found for FREE around the world, they are glimmering/shimmering. You can also buy crafting supplies from various shops.

• You can also upgrade your abilities using... well, they're like crystal balls. I can't remember their name lol. But you will find a bunch and you use them to upgrade your abilities.

One thing I didn't like...

I have ONE negative, and that is the walking controls. I am very used to using the joysticks to walk and control my character, but for some reason this game essentially requires you to use the 4-directional buttons. You can definitely tell that Lita is walking on a grid in up/down/left/right movements and is unable to walk diagonally. It's a bit weird, a little wonky and awkward, but I think it's a bump worth getting over because everything else is wonderful!

Finishing Stats:

Without a doubt the hardest boss for me was Maranda. I think I tried fighting her like 20x until I finally beat her. Final boss was a lot easier compared to her!

Overall, I loved this game! I was always excited to start up the Switch to play more. I enjoyed getting to know all of the characters and learn more about Ara Fell's past. I think the ending is perfect. Everything really comes full circle. I already said it, but it's solid storytelling. Highly recommend!

[xboxhubs]

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[linuxgamenews]

Rise of the Third Power reveals launch details

Rise of the Third Power RPG announces release date for the game on Linux, Mac, and Windows PC. Thanks to the efforts of developer Stegosoft Games. Due to release on both Steam and GOG. Stegosoft Games has formally announced the release date of Rise of the Third Power. The a 16-bit style love letter to the glory days of RPGs, which will release on February 10th, 2022. Due to the two person indie developer studio behind Ara Fell and Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition. First revealed in 2017, Rise of the Third Power is a throwback to the SNES era of RPGs. While offering modern features and combines aspects of both Japanese and Western design. Players will gain a party of up to eight unique characters throughout the game. Each with their own background story, ambitions, and personalities. All while they embark upon a suicide mission to prevent a war and topple the Arkadyan emperor. A blend of humor, drama, and tragedy awaits players. Doing so in a 35+ hour story focused quest as they navigate the fickle world of Rin.

Rise of the Third Power - Release Date Trailer (Linux, Mac, Windows PC)

Similar to Ara Fell, Rise of the Third Power’s battle system features an emphasis on ability use. While removing the need for a basic attack. Every skill is meant to be employed often and as a tactic. Players can swap out party members, see the order of actions at the top of the screen. They can also make use of team abilities, encouraging them to use clever character combo's. All due to exploit enemies' weaknesses and find efficient ways to tear through battles. Each piece of equipment found, purchased, or stolen is a permanent, unique upgrade for each character. So instead of purchasing replacements, the player purchases or makes upgrades. The avoids the tedium of inventory management. While giving the completionist something useful to hunt for. Rise of the Third Power features an exciting linear story. However there is a vast world that players can explore and discover. With a great deal of optional story related content and quests. Also, like Ara Fell, players can freely save any time throughout the game. However, there are autosave points and prompts before important events. Returning as well are various difficulty options. Including the “Story” setting, which allows players the use of an auto-kill function on all enemies. Doing so in order to progress quickly through battles if they choose. Rise of the Third Power RPG is due to release on February 10th, 2022. Coming to both Steam and GOG. All priced at $19.99 USD / £15.49 / 16,79€. Including support for Linux, Mac, and Windows PC.

[operationrainfall]

Title Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition Developer Stegosoft Games Publisher DANGEN Entertainment Release Date March 26th, 2020 Genre RPG Platform PC, Mobile, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One Age Rating E for Everyone 10+ – Alcohol Reference, Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Mild Language Official Website

It’s kind of remarkable I didn’t play Ara Fell a lot sooner. After all, a friend gifted me the original game at least a couple years ago, where it quickly got lost in my massive Steam backlog. But then something wonderful happened – Stegosoft Games went and remastered the original game as Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition. That same friend suggested I review it for the oprainfall site, and I’m incredibly happy I finally listened. And while you could make the argument I would have enjoyed this whimsical adventure sooner, I’m glad I waited. Because Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition is just a much smoother, easier to access game with the same meaningful story intact.

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For all intents and purposes, Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition is the same game that was reviewed on the oprainfall site 4 years ago. However, there are some key differences. The battle system has been revamped, the user interface for menus is really easy to parse, and they even added new character classes and skills, apparently. They also upgraded the systems present in the game, such as crafting and enchanting, added difficulty modes, a handy autosave and more. While I wasn’t able to compare and contrast these changes much, not having played the original, I did find a few videos online, and I can say the UI has been wonderfully streamlined. Battle menus aren’t clunky, and it’s clear and obvious what your options are, and even in what order attacks will happen. And while I’m not usually a fan of crafting, here it’s very well implemented. All you need is to buy the recipe for an item, have enough of the requisite ingredients, then hold A to craft. You can craft single use items, as well as upgrade your equipment to provide better stats for your team. Enchanting is also very easy to do, and works pretty much identically. The key difference is you can attach up to 4 passive enchantments of your choice to character equipment, such as increased health, critical hit rate, the capacity to poison with regular attacks and much more. By contrast, crafted items have set properties.

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Steve was dead on when he said the game is one of the best RPG Maker games ever. I honestly didn’t even realize this was a RPG Maker title at first, since it has such polish and poise. Sure it looks like an old game, the same way Chrono Trigger looks like an old game. Meaning this looks totally authentic to a certain time period, and that’s not a complaint. Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition could easily have been a touchstone RPG from the 90s, chock full of heart, great gameplay and a really interesting story. Take it from a wannabe fantasy author, that last part is hard to do, especially in a genre full of cliches and overused tropes. And while the story isn’t the most complex, it also does a great job of introducing key elements organically and tying them together in a satisfying arc. The tale revolves around a floating continent, a mysterious relic, elves, vampires and one fierce young woman. I don’t want to ruin it by saying too much, but trust me that it’s a joy to experience, and the lore of the world of Ara Fell is really intriguing.

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A large reason I enjoyed the story of Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition so much is because of the characters that populate it. Lita LeCotta is the spunkiest, most deadpan little tomboy you could ever want. She’s delightfully snarky and full of personality, with hilarious one liners aplenty. What I especially love about Lita is that she fights against the mantle of hero, and just sees herself as someone that stumbled upon her destiny. But her strength of character, determination and desire to protect her loved ones makes her truly heroic. Or take Adrian, Lita’s childhood friend who has grown up in harsh circumstances, yet found the drive to become a knight. Sure he gets taken by the occasional schemer, but he’s always there to protect his friends, and he may even have some feelings for Lita. Then there’s Seri Kesu, a strong and beautiful sorceress with some serious hard edges. She’s a master of her craft, and her only weakness is one bad relationship that’s soured her to this day. Finally there’s Doren, a mysterious turban wearing bard that’s immensely passive aggressive, and who seems to have a surprising reservoir of knowledge of ancient times. It’s a great cast, and their interactions make the whole story a delight to experience. Even the villains set against them are complex and unexpected. All in all, the entire cast of Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition makes for a very compelling tale.

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None of that would matter if the game wasn’t fun to play, but I can say that Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition is a glorious retro RPG. I played on the normal difficulty, and found the combat easy to understand, yet challenging. It’s turn based, with an ATB showing the turn order. One unique aspect is the Injury system, where your character is weakened if they perish and are revived, and only fully recovers by healing at an Inn or other safe location. As the game progresses and your team fills out, the challenge scales accordingly, but I never found anything unbalanced. It’s really fun and hard to put down. You select attacks and engage the foe, and as you battle your Ultimate bar fills up. This allows characters to use super powerful attacks against the foe, but you can’t rely on these. Each character’s Ultimate takes a different amount of time to charge, and your entire team uses the same Ultimate bar. So once I use any Ultimate attack, the bar resets. Thankfully, you have a lot of control over how your team grows, and even can tweak how they fight. Every time you level up, you are allocated points to distribute to various stats, and the game clearly tells you what each corresponds to. I decided to focus on making Lita a speedy assassin, while I supercharged Seri’s spellcasting at the cost of her speed and defense. As you wander the world, you’ll find magical stones that an be used to augment your character’s abilities. At first all you can do is make them more powerful, but once you have fulfilled their class quests, your options blossom. You can pick from one of two advanced classes for each character, with pros and cons. Once that’s done, you can choose branching options for your abilities, such as Adrian’s Whirlwind attack healing your team, or Doren’s Holy Light affecting all foes. You can even tweak their Ultimate attacks, allowing for a lot of customization options. By the end of the game, I had a really powerful team that was capable of taking on any foe without worry.

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The combat is a lot of fun, but so is just exploring the world of Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition. Normally I don’t like getting lost in games, but this one was built to accommodate exploration and reward you for it. You’ll constantly come across natural resources you can harvest for use with crafting and enchanting. Lita will grab fish from the water, pluck leaves from various plants and mine ore from cavern walls. I just wandered and wandered, and probably spent a good extra 4-5 hours enjoying myself. It’s fun to jump across ravines, crawl through narrow tunnels and swim all around. The world of Ara Fell is a big one, and it’s truly beautiful. Since the entirety of the game takes place on a floating continent, you’ll see eerie sights like waterfalls descending hundreds of miles, or haunting ruins suspended in mid air. Yet, as much as I explored, I only got lost a handful of times in my 20+ hour playthrough. Once was late in the game when a group of damn faeries got me mixed up, and later I couldn’t find the class quest for Doren. Thankfully most activities are well signposted, and you can always check the pause screen for a reminder where you’re supposed to go for continuing the main quest. The only optional quests that were really flummoxing to locate were the various Bounties, of which I only managed to find half.

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Visually, this is a really attractive game. The portrait art for the characters does a great job of expressing their personality. Meanwhile, the overworld and sprite work is both faithful to the retro focus and eye catching. Pretty much all the enemies are distinct, with no color swapped nonsense. The game runs at a smooth clip most of time, and I only had very few moments of slowdown, and only while exploring. The music does its job. I wouldn’t say it was the best soundtrack ever, since it’s mostly low key, melodic and occasionally haunting. If you’re coming here for snazzy rock and roll tracks, don’t bother. But all the music and sound effects do their jobs well, if perhaps without much distinction.

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Honestly the biggest negative for me is that Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition ends at all. I really got lost in this wonderful RPG world, and was sad to see it end. I know I love a game when I even enjoy the puzzles in it. Thankfully there’s an epilogue after the credits roll, which does a decent job of tying up plot threads while still leaving room for a potential sequel. Suffice to say, I really hope Stegosoft Games has a sequel in the works, cause I desperately want to return to this fascinating world. If you love classic RPGs and want something you can get lost in for only $14.99, look no further. It’s easily one of my favorite RPGs of 2020 thus far.

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[easyreview cat1title=”Overall” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4.5″]

Review Copy Provided by Publisher

REVIEW: Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition Title Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition