yay 2023
Not including gachas I've started in previous years or rereads/replays
(it'd be boring to have Project Sekai at the top every year)
(it'd be boring to have Project Sekai at the top every year)
33 Games
not caught up yet but eden treaty really did a number on me...
getting way too attached to this game, will only try to figure out where it really stands after vol f :sob:
edit : caught up and vol f is the greatest thing ever (no exaggeration fr) but it's hard to write for me about it since it means a lot to me, been a long time since I had an emotional breakdown like that on a game lol :(
getting way too attached to this game, will only try to figure out where it really stands after vol f :sob:
edit : caught up and vol f is the greatest thing ever (no exaggeration fr) but it's hard to write for me about it since it means a lot to me, been a long time since I had an emotional breakdown like that on a game lol :(
1
Even when taking into account the copious amounts of melodrama the story unleashes on the reader, I still can't help but consider Inochi no Spare the best moege I ever read because it made me understand moebutas more than anything else could hope to.
The main heroine charmed me right away, she's undeniably the main pillar here since her sprite constantly monopolizes the screen but it works because she genuinely brings life to the story with her playfulness, awkwardness, whimsicality, empathy, and overall just.. her humanity being perfectly conveyed through her numerous facial expressions and voice lines.
I wouldn't put them in the same basket at all but this VN reminded me of Project Sekai's ability to consistently make the ordinary moments feel valuable to the point I was never tempted to skip any of the voice lines and that's a quality I appreciate, being able to make the most mundane moments engaging and feel meaningful and in this case, it's partly because you can never take them for granted.
I love the excessive mundanity that spills throughout all the different parts of the VN and even the melodrama, with the exaggeration that comes with it, didn't feel that melodramatic but more genuine and realistic than just that, a natural consequence of everything that happened prior.
In that sense, it's a bit predictable of a story overall but that just adds more emotional weight to the events than it subtracts.
The simplicity of the VN's story and the small limited cast of characters genuinely made everything a lot more emotionally potent to me since every character could feel properly relevant with their best moments having the impact they needed to have AND that includes the protagonist which pleasantly surprised me by not just being a boring self-insert VN main character but a major actor of the story that has his own personality!
I could go on and on praising this even though it's such a basic story but when you get so attached to the mundanity on display here, that hardly matters considering it's such a beautiful ode to the value of human connection... my only real complaint is that many CGs were wasted in the worst possible type of scenes but that's only a personal grievance of mine and something that comes with the territory of eroge so I can't pretend to be surprised unfortunately... idk I just feel really nostalgic towards this already :skull:
The main heroine charmed me right away, she's undeniably the main pillar here since her sprite constantly monopolizes the screen but it works because she genuinely brings life to the story with her playfulness, awkwardness, whimsicality, empathy, and overall just.. her humanity being perfectly conveyed through her numerous facial expressions and voice lines.
I wouldn't put them in the same basket at all but this VN reminded me of Project Sekai's ability to consistently make the ordinary moments feel valuable to the point I was never tempted to skip any of the voice lines and that's a quality I appreciate, being able to make the most mundane moments engaging and feel meaningful and in this case, it's partly because you can never take them for granted.
I love the excessive mundanity that spills throughout all the different parts of the VN and even the melodrama, with the exaggeration that comes with it, didn't feel that melodramatic but more genuine and realistic than just that, a natural consequence of everything that happened prior.
In that sense, it's a bit predictable of a story overall but that just adds more emotional weight to the events than it subtracts.
The simplicity of the VN's story and the small limited cast of characters genuinely made everything a lot more emotionally potent to me since every character could feel properly relevant with their best moments having the impact they needed to have AND that includes the protagonist which pleasantly surprised me by not just being a boring self-insert VN main character but a major actor of the story that has his own personality!
I could go on and on praising this even though it's such a basic story but when you get so attached to the mundanity on display here, that hardly matters considering it's such a beautiful ode to the value of human connection... my only real complaint is that many CGs were wasted in the worst possible type of scenes but that's only a personal grievance of mine and something that comes with the territory of eroge so I can't pretend to be surprised unfortunately... idk I just feel really nostalgic towards this already :skull:
2
most likely heavily biased by the fact that one of the main characters is voiced by honami's seiyuu, need more vns with project sekai seiyuus pls, their performances are the BEST
will write more later, i need to reread a few passages first (and time to see if it's just recency bias or not)
but i'm very glad this basically confirms i still love vns more than anything else
will write more later, i need to reread a few passages first (and time to see if it's just recency bias or not)
but i'm very glad this basically confirms i still love vns more than anything else
3
Deathpolca is the answer to basically everything you need to know about this game. Like many other stories I love, the protagonist is the heart of Demons Roots for a reason.
Polca is a charismatic demon trusted by her peers, she's able to lead world domination because it's easier for her to blend into human territories than other demons. She looks uncannily similar to humans and is familiar with their culture. While the original plan of the demons would have to dominate the world through sheer strength by conquering the territories without caring about eventual casualties, Polca is uncharacteristically full of mercy (for a big-shot demon, at least) and prefers limiting casualties for the sake of establishing peace between humanity and demonkind. She doesn't want to fuel even more hatred because violently overthrowing society would make the relationship between these two species even worse than it already is.
You can see her charisma oozing from her every time she says anything since so many of her lines are straight-up pure condensed hype on her own, she's constantly such a good orator that I'd lowkey want to follow her myself and help her in her world domination. But she wasn't always like that. She's someone who's been strengthened by their life experiences but ultimately, you can see how human she is many many times.
Despite how unwavering and resolute she often feels, Deathpolca is another person like anyone else. She can be prey to her hatred, anger, sadness, self-doubt, and even self-loathing. At her core, she's someone who's deeply afraid of loneliness and who cares way too much about her peers, enough to take the mantle of a leader because she doesn't know who else could if she didn't try to secure a peaceful future for the world.
Even if she can sometimes pretend she's uncaring, Deathpolca is not someone who will let injustice stand if it happens in front of her. She'll still try to pretend she didn't do it because she cared. And honestly, that's extremely cute.
It's easy to see why she gathers so many people under her leadership, who end up being genuine comrades believing in her goal and are ready to follow her and fight at her side no matter what happens.
The main cast becomes kind of a warm and lively found family with Deathpolca at its center. You can't help but get attached to them, seeing everyone's own character arc unfold and reading all their stupid banter.
Coupled with the breakneck pacing of the game, which constantly throws new plot points or twists at the player (and the characters), and the tracks being full of hype or straight-up just hurting you and leaving you as a broken mess when it matters, it's an amazing ride from beginning to end.
Polca is a charismatic demon trusted by her peers, she's able to lead world domination because it's easier for her to blend into human territories than other demons. She looks uncannily similar to humans and is familiar with their culture. While the original plan of the demons would have to dominate the world through sheer strength by conquering the territories without caring about eventual casualties, Polca is uncharacteristically full of mercy (for a big-shot demon, at least) and prefers limiting casualties for the sake of establishing peace between humanity and demonkind. She doesn't want to fuel even more hatred because violently overthrowing society would make the relationship between these two species even worse than it already is.
You can see her charisma oozing from her every time she says anything since so many of her lines are straight-up pure condensed hype on her own, she's constantly such a good orator that I'd lowkey want to follow her myself and help her in her world domination. But she wasn't always like that. She's someone who's been strengthened by their life experiences but ultimately, you can see how human she is many many times.
Despite how unwavering and resolute she often feels, Deathpolca is another person like anyone else. She can be prey to her hatred, anger, sadness, self-doubt, and even self-loathing. At her core, she's someone who's deeply afraid of loneliness and who cares way too much about her peers, enough to take the mantle of a leader because she doesn't know who else could if she didn't try to secure a peaceful future for the world.
Even if she can sometimes pretend she's uncaring, Deathpolca is not someone who will let injustice stand if it happens in front of her. She'll still try to pretend she didn't do it because she cared. And honestly, that's extremely cute.
It's easy to see why she gathers so many people under her leadership, who end up being genuine comrades believing in her goal and are ready to follow her and fight at her side no matter what happens.
The main cast becomes kind of a warm and lively found family with Deathpolca at its center. You can't help but get attached to them, seeing everyone's own character arc unfold and reading all their stupid banter.
Coupled with the breakneck pacing of the game, which constantly throws new plot points or twists at the player (and the characters), and the tracks being full of hype or straight-up just hurting you and leaving you as a broken mess when it matters, it's an amazing ride from beginning to end.
4
woah that was kinda epic
give meaning to your tears !!!
(will write more later, just need to listen to the ending song 30 times before, i love yanagi nagi songs!)
give meaning to your tears !!!
(will write more later, just need to listen to the ending song 30 times before, i love yanagi nagi songs!)
5
As much as the heroine routes diluted my enjoyment of the story by being mostly bad to the point I hardly believed they were included in the same package, I can't help but still have a high opinion of the VN simply thanks to Takumi being himself in all his glory, the pathetic, delusional, full of self-loathing protagonist that he incarnates perfectly.
The selfishness and cowardice he constantly displays in his MANY ramblings (endlessly entertaining ones) only make his character arc even more touching by the conclusion of the common route, ending up as a great journey on its own.
More than anything else though, I'm thankful this gave me the perfect excuse to reread Chaos;Child right after since that one REALLY rocked my world, having my appreciation of both stories rise after seeing the parallels between the two protagonists, mirroring each other in some ways despite being drastically different in others.
The selfishness and cowardice he constantly displays in his MANY ramblings (endlessly entertaining ones) only make his character arc even more touching by the conclusion of the common route, ending up as a great journey on its own.
More than anything else though, I'm thankful this gave me the perfect excuse to reread Chaos;Child right after since that one REALLY rocked my world, having my appreciation of both stories rise after seeing the parallels between the two protagonists, mirroring each other in some ways despite being drastically different in others.
7
While this is an improvement over BotW in pretty much all aspects, exploring the world again didn't feel as magical and enticing this time, I wasn't that eager to explore everything I possibly could.
Instead, I just continued the story in a pretty straightforward manner after I got my fill of the exploration but that's where I was the most surprised and invested. It's a lot easier to care for the story when you're presented with Ganondorf's charisma from the start.
Obviously, he isn't carrying the game on its own but his strong presence could always be felt some way or another. The mystery around Zelda was another plot point that loomed around for a big chunk of the game and while it's easy to figure it out, I still loved it.
The reveal is emotional, Zelda's actions were very admirable and I didn't really expect Nintendo to go in that direction when I saw the first hints but they blew my expectations away in this regard.
The appeal of the story in TotK is a lot more explicit and easy to see compared to BotW but the best thing is how it all culminates into possibly one of the best gaming moments I've experienced...
The finale of the game is spectacular from beginning to end, imposing extreme tension on the player with how threatening the environment and enemies are, how high the stakes are, and with how it takes advantage of the game's UI and presentation to mess with the player's emotions.
It leads to an incredible catharsis once you go through the worst of it, Nintendo took advantage of the medium to meticulously craft a dazzling display of perfect harmonization between the story and the gameplay and the musical composition is amazing enough to follow this up.
Somehow, that still wasn't enough for the devs, they wanted to put me under their spell completely in the last few minutes and yeah, I was awed when I saw how the last few minutes parallel with my favourite moment in cinema but actually interactive this time!!!
All in all, even if TotK as a whole didn't hook me into its world as much as BotW did, the story carried it to be just as special as my experience with Hyrule's world back in 2017. I'm wholeheartedly glad the devs took notes after watching Shinkai movies...
Instead, I just continued the story in a pretty straightforward manner after I got my fill of the exploration but that's where I was the most surprised and invested. It's a lot easier to care for the story when you're presented with Ganondorf's charisma from the start.
Obviously, he isn't carrying the game on its own but his strong presence could always be felt some way or another. The mystery around Zelda was another plot point that loomed around for a big chunk of the game and while it's easy to figure it out, I still loved it.
The reveal is emotional, Zelda's actions were very admirable and I didn't really expect Nintendo to go in that direction when I saw the first hints but they blew my expectations away in this regard.
The appeal of the story in TotK is a lot more explicit and easy to see compared to BotW but the best thing is how it all culminates into possibly one of the best gaming moments I've experienced...
The finale of the game is spectacular from beginning to end, imposing extreme tension on the player with how threatening the environment and enemies are, how high the stakes are, and with how it takes advantage of the game's UI and presentation to mess with the player's emotions.
It leads to an incredible catharsis once you go through the worst of it, Nintendo took advantage of the medium to meticulously craft a dazzling display of perfect harmonization between the story and the gameplay and the musical composition is amazing enough to follow this up.
Somehow, that still wasn't enough for the devs, they wanted to put me under their spell completely in the last few minutes and yeah, I was awed when I saw how the last few minutes parallel with my favourite moment in cinema but actually interactive this time!!!
All in all, even if TotK as a whole didn't hook me into its world as much as BotW did, the story carried it to be just as special as my experience with Hyrule's world back in 2017. I'm wholeheartedly glad the devs took notes after watching Shinkai movies...
9
I wasn’t hopeful at the beginning, thinking I’d get filtered by the difficulty pretty quickly but eventually, the gameplay just started making perfect sense.
Not that I suddenly got amazing at the game but I stopped feeling like I was throwing myself at a wall with every single attempt.
Instead, I could enjoy the fights for how exciting they really were and yeah, this is the only From Software game where I actually regretted killing bosses since I was so having so much fun fighting them over and over and clearly seeing my progress after each death.
The final boss of Sekiro deserves all the praise in the world, easily one of the most exhilarating moments I ever had in gaming, outside of visual novels.
My honeymoon with the first Dark Souls is hard to contend with but Sekiro did a great job reigniting my hype for From Software games after how mixed my feelings were for Elden Ring.
Not that I suddenly got amazing at the game but I stopped feeling like I was throwing myself at a wall with every single attempt.
Instead, I could enjoy the fights for how exciting they really were and yeah, this is the only From Software game where I actually regretted killing bosses since I was so having so much fun fighting them over and over and clearly seeing my progress after each death.
The final boss of Sekiro deserves all the praise in the world, easily one of the most exhilarating moments I ever had in gaming, outside of visual novels.
My honeymoon with the first Dark Souls is hard to contend with but Sekiro did a great job reigniting my hype for From Software games after how mixed my feelings were for Elden Ring.
10
(old write-up from back when I finished the game since I'm lazy)
can't help but love how unabashedly hopeful of a story this game has and genuinely surprised by how touching some scenes were.
in general, i'm really impressed by everything unreal life has to offer, only needing a few hours to show so much to the player.
well, to be completely honest, it has a bit of an unfair advantage because some themes it tackles are really easy to resonate with, in my case. it's clearly made by a developer with an intimate understanding of a story's perceived value and potential influence on people.
in the beginning, i was slightly scared this would go an overly edgy route or not do much of value with its story but even if these fears proved to be well-founded (which they obviously weren't), the rest of the game could have easily made up to still make it a worthwhile time.
a good chunk of the soundtrack is beautifully evocative, the characters and the world itself are endearing even when removing the most poignant scenes of the game, and the pixel art is often sumptuous. it all created an intoxicatingly charming atmosphere I couldn't get enough of.
i might love tomorrow's story even more but today's story was already beautiful enough for me to want to appreciate it properly. it's more of a derivative story than an original one and you can see its influences but it doesn't stop unreal life from shining any less brightly.
can't help but love how unabashedly hopeful of a story this game has and genuinely surprised by how touching some scenes were.
in general, i'm really impressed by everything unreal life has to offer, only needing a few hours to show so much to the player.
well, to be completely honest, it has a bit of an unfair advantage because some themes it tackles are really easy to resonate with, in my case. it's clearly made by a developer with an intimate understanding of a story's perceived value and potential influence on people.
in the beginning, i was slightly scared this would go an overly edgy route or not do much of value with its story but even if these fears proved to be well-founded (which they obviously weren't), the rest of the game could have easily made up to still make it a worthwhile time.
a good chunk of the soundtrack is beautifully evocative, the characters and the world itself are endearing even when removing the most poignant scenes of the game, and the pixel art is often sumptuous. it all created an intoxicatingly charming atmosphere I couldn't get enough of.
i might love tomorrow's story even more but today's story was already beautiful enough for me to want to appreciate it properly. it's more of a derivative story than an original one and you can see its influences but it doesn't stop unreal life from shining any less brightly.
13
Repetitive gameplay and excessive shock value in most of its endings aside, there's plenty of value in its fairly accurate depiction of terminally online behavior and its critique of internet culture since the devs seem intimately familiar with it and somehow, I got charmed by how the themes were constantly conveyed in a very straightforward manner.
14
the final boss glitched because i attacked him at the wrong moment... and he died from fall damage after suddenly disappearing from the area for 10 seconds.
annoyed because he seemed like a boss i'd have a lot of fun mastering but instead, i got one hell of an anticlimatic finale :skull:
annoyed because he seemed like a boss i'd have a lot of fun mastering but instead, i got one hell of an anticlimatic finale :skull:
15
Despite my grievances with Cyberpunk as a whole, this expansion somewhat pushed me to finally respect the story partly because of how bitter I felt after finishing it.
I was already getting swayed by surprisingly good character moments during the endings of the base game and this did the trick for me, finally managing to genuinely affect my emotions.
This expansion clearly feels more polished with the diversity it offers through its mission, characters with actual presence and even a bit of charisma, more prominent use of its setting, and side missions that offer a few decent moral dilemmas but in the end, it gained my approval by being less about V's story and more about showing a glimpse into other people's own lives in this shithole of a city.
I'm happy that the new content that got added stays very consistent in tone with the base game. This way, the ending I got feels bitter but not hollow and devoid of meaning. I consider it pretty powerful in a way that makes me really reluctant to explore any other outcome.
When the story wants to be grounded, more intimate and melancholic, it works really neatly and I love the fact that the game pushes the idea that in a world like this, relationships end up being the only thing with real value.
If I could vibe with the overall craziness of the setting and be less weirded out by how juvenile it can be at times, I would like it better but I'm already satisfied with what I got from the game. For once, I can thank the Edgerunners anime because that was the reason my expectations were somewhat low.
I was already getting swayed by surprisingly good character moments during the endings of the base game and this did the trick for me, finally managing to genuinely affect my emotions.
This expansion clearly feels more polished with the diversity it offers through its mission, characters with actual presence and even a bit of charisma, more prominent use of its setting, and side missions that offer a few decent moral dilemmas but in the end, it gained my approval by being less about V's story and more about showing a glimpse into other people's own lives in this shithole of a city.
I'm happy that the new content that got added stays very consistent in tone with the base game. This way, the ending I got feels bitter but not hollow and devoid of meaning. I consider it pretty powerful in a way that makes me really reluctant to explore any other outcome.
When the story wants to be grounded, more intimate and melancholic, it works really neatly and I love the fact that the game pushes the idea that in a world like this, relationships end up being the only thing with real value.
If I could vibe with the overall craziness of the setting and be less weirded out by how juvenile it can be at times, I would like it better but I'm already satisfied with what I got from the game. For once, I can thank the Edgerunners anime because that was the reason my expectations were somewhat low.
16
Coming from Crystar, there's a lot I can praise in this follow-up: the gameplay is less clunky and repetitive, pushing me to be significantly more involved in the fights since it's easy to die in two hits, the music is sublime with most of the tracks being more memorable than the ones in Crystar, the hard sci-fi setting is a lot more complex and compelling than the Purgatory with more effort put into the world-building, the twists and turns did make me go "holy cow I'm hyped" several times and the pacing is fast enough that it's hard to get bored at any moment.
But even then, I prefer Crystar. I was charmed by its cast and their lively interactions in such a dead environment, resonated with its sincerely touching message, and felt many emotions despite how much more unpolished and predictable it felt overall.
Crymachina is still beautiful. There's so much love overflowing from the characters to the point you can't deny how enamored they are towards each other and it's refreshing to see the game celebrate their feelings so overtly.
I'm just sad that I couldn't love these characters even half as much as their creators do, I was entertained by their witty dialogue and sometimes touched by several emotional lines that were delivered really neatly but by the end, I can't say I held that much affection for them and wasn't invested in their fates enough to appreciate the ending and the allegory it went for.
Part of it can be attributed to Crymachina's pacing ironically not giving me enough time to get super attached to the characters but also because I loved the way Crystar took advantage of interpersonal conflicts multiple times so the moments of peace and shared understanding could feel that much more cathartic.
There was more variety in the emotions that the characters in Crystar were struggling with and I loved it! Even if the twists were predictable there, it was always interesting (and painful in a good way) to see the characters' reactions to said twists whereas it's nowhere as much of a highlight in Crymachina since these girls felt a lot less wavering about what they're doing, which made sense but it made it harder for me to connect to them.
In the end, as much as I'd normally be disappointed in the game after expecting too much, I'm not actually disappointed but thankful since I respect what they did here and I see the appeal even if it didn't work that much on me + ironically, I've only played Crystar because of my interest in Crymachina so I'm glad it made me play Crystar in the first place...
(thank you Enoa for singing such a pretty ending theme, can't wait to listen to it as much as the one from Crystar)
But even then, I prefer Crystar. I was charmed by its cast and their lively interactions in such a dead environment, resonated with its sincerely touching message, and felt many emotions despite how much more unpolished and predictable it felt overall.
Crymachina is still beautiful. There's so much love overflowing from the characters to the point you can't deny how enamored they are towards each other and it's refreshing to see the game celebrate their feelings so overtly.
I'm just sad that I couldn't love these characters even half as much as their creators do, I was entertained by their witty dialogue and sometimes touched by several emotional lines that were delivered really neatly but by the end, I can't say I held that much affection for them and wasn't invested in their fates enough to appreciate the ending and the allegory it went for.
Part of it can be attributed to Crymachina's pacing ironically not giving me enough time to get super attached to the characters but also because I loved the way Crystar took advantage of interpersonal conflicts multiple times so the moments of peace and shared understanding could feel that much more cathartic.
There was more variety in the emotions that the characters in Crystar were struggling with and I loved it! Even if the twists were predictable there, it was always interesting (and painful in a good way) to see the characters' reactions to said twists whereas it's nowhere as much of a highlight in Crymachina since these girls felt a lot less wavering about what they're doing, which made sense but it made it harder for me to connect to them.
In the end, as much as I'd normally be disappointed in the game after expecting too much, I'm not actually disappointed but thankful since I respect what they did here and I see the appeal even if it didn't work that much on me + ironically, I've only played Crystar because of my interest in Crymachina so I'm glad it made me play Crystar in the first place...
(thank you Enoa for singing such a pretty ending theme, can't wait to listen to it as much as the one from Crystar)
17
stupidly edgy in a very entertaining way but a bit too ingrained into American culture for me to really resonate with it in a less superficial way
18
Returnal made me realize how incredibly easy it was to hook me into gameplay-centric games considering I mostly just need smooth and fluid movement to think that the game is constantly fun...
While I initially thought the game to be a bonafide rogue-lite, I could only see Returnal as a movement shooter after playing it since the game barely feels like it belongs to the former most of the time. And I'm all for it, I'm glad there isn't really any grind necessary to be able to get to the end.
I sadly didn't care much for the story or the lore but I couldn't get enough of how addictive the gameplay was, almost making me regret finishing the game because I kinda wanted more...
While I initially thought the game to be a bonafide rogue-lite, I could only see Returnal as a movement shooter after playing it since the game barely feels like it belongs to the former most of the time. And I'm all for it, I'm glad there isn't really any grind necessary to be able to get to the end.
I sadly didn't care much for the story or the lore but I couldn't get enough of how addictive the gameplay was, almost making me regret finishing the game because I kinda wanted more...
19
Impressive in the way that it's not especially great at anything specific but it's competent enough in all areas to be a great time regardless.
I consider short games like these similar to how I see snacks, they're tasty at the moment but the taste doesn't linger and you just forget ever eating them quickly enough to make you crave more right away.
That's probably what will happen with this game since 3 hours were not enough content for me but I hope the taste will somehow linger because it's rare to see a "snack" like this engross me in its story despite me only booting up the game to appreciate the catharsis of cutting down a bunch of enemies.
What makes the story special is the way it's portrayed and how it slowly reveals its cards at a pace that makes you keep curious to learn more although there's not that much substance to the story itself. The contents themselves are relatively simple but the way you discover it changes a lot.
Somehow, the story and its themes ended up being the highlight of the game but unfortunately, it still feels like it cuts short before even more interesting stuff happened, which is ultimately pretty unsatisfying. Maybe that was the point to make me resonate with what the protagonist is going through but I can't help but feel disappointed regardless.
The gameplay is serviceable, it's fun at the moment but not enough to make me come back to the game for the secret boss while the story is only interesting because it's portrayed in ways that feel non-conventional while still being easy to follow.
I'll happily hop on any upcoming DLC or sequel in the hopes that they bring a proper conclusion to the story but while I enjoyed my time with it, it's pretty likely that I'll just lose all my investment in the game before more content comes around. I don't want this to be a mere snack so I'll try to remember Katana Zero to the best of my abilities.
I consider short games like these similar to how I see snacks, they're tasty at the moment but the taste doesn't linger and you just forget ever eating them quickly enough to make you crave more right away.
That's probably what will happen with this game since 3 hours were not enough content for me but I hope the taste will somehow linger because it's rare to see a "snack" like this engross me in its story despite me only booting up the game to appreciate the catharsis of cutting down a bunch of enemies.
What makes the story special is the way it's portrayed and how it slowly reveals its cards at a pace that makes you keep curious to learn more although there's not that much substance to the story itself. The contents themselves are relatively simple but the way you discover it changes a lot.
Somehow, the story and its themes ended up being the highlight of the game but unfortunately, it still feels like it cuts short before even more interesting stuff happened, which is ultimately pretty unsatisfying. Maybe that was the point to make me resonate with what the protagonist is going through but I can't help but feel disappointed regardless.
The gameplay is serviceable, it's fun at the moment but not enough to make me come back to the game for the secret boss while the story is only interesting because it's portrayed in ways that feel non-conventional while still being easy to follow.
I'll happily hop on any upcoming DLC or sequel in the hopes that they bring a proper conclusion to the story but while I enjoyed my time with it, it's pretty likely that I'll just lose all my investment in the game before more content comes around. I don't want this to be a mere snack so I'll try to remember Katana Zero to the best of my abilities.
20
21
I read the Dragon&Tortoise - Working Together for a Better Future event from Blue Archive the same day as I finished this and it's very likely I'll end up remembering the former a lot better despite it only lasting 1-2 hours :skull:
22
Introducing yet another attempt at reconnecting with the tastes I had in games when I was a teenager that ended in (mostly) another letdown...
I could have seen it coming since I already thought the Edgerunners anime was very hollow at best but considering Deus Ex: Human Revolution was one of my favorite games growing up, I just ended up getting baited by the sweet allure of a "next-gen" cyberpunk experience.
I don't wanna be overly unfair to the game so I'll admit that yes, I'm already exaggerating a bit since this is indeed a next-gen experience with visual fidelity being the last thing I'd ever think to complain about and I have no complaints about the gameplay mechanics, I'm mostly surprised they're all somewhat competently made when the game is pretty versatile.
I would have dropped the game early on if not for the gameplay, it's hard not to get some fun out of the simple act of wreaking so much mayhem with a katana to the point the game crashed because it couldn't handle so many vehicles destroyed in the same area...
The unfortunate part is that while doing dumb pointless stuff like this was enough to entertain me in the moment, I just can't take this world as anything more than a mere playground to mess around with.
Night City never felt immersive to me, I was constantly put off by how shallow the setting was, not bringing anything meaningful to ponder about, to the point I couldn't help but feel like the cyberpunk aspect was only an aesthetic to wave around and nothing more.
The juvenile aspects of the world that more or less feel like they're solely there to make the game seem more mature don't exactly help, they actively make the world seem less credible, and while they could lead to a thoughtful critique of how much people could be so overreliant on instant gratification that companies are appealing to these deviances by being as thoroughly unwholesome and uninhibited as possible but from what I've seen, it's never expanded on so it's hard to give them the benefit of the doubt.
I'm utterly detached from the setting so what am I left with? An uninteresting self-insert protagonist, a few likable or slightly entertaining characters, and a pretty basic story where I couldn't care less about the outcome.
It's not bad by any means (and I don't think any game in this list is bad) but a lot of the game just feels outright dull to me and it's honestly just depressing in a way because I was very easily impressed by the aspects I'm complaining about here in Human Revolution and I hoped for a miracle to happen here considering that the game genuinely is ambitious (even if it's not necessarily in the best ways) but in the end, it just didn't work out that neatly.
I could have seen it coming since I already thought the Edgerunners anime was very hollow at best but considering Deus Ex: Human Revolution was one of my favorite games growing up, I just ended up getting baited by the sweet allure of a "next-gen" cyberpunk experience.
I don't wanna be overly unfair to the game so I'll admit that yes, I'm already exaggerating a bit since this is indeed a next-gen experience with visual fidelity being the last thing I'd ever think to complain about and I have no complaints about the gameplay mechanics, I'm mostly surprised they're all somewhat competently made when the game is pretty versatile.
I would have dropped the game early on if not for the gameplay, it's hard not to get some fun out of the simple act of wreaking so much mayhem with a katana to the point the game crashed because it couldn't handle so many vehicles destroyed in the same area...
The unfortunate part is that while doing dumb pointless stuff like this was enough to entertain me in the moment, I just can't take this world as anything more than a mere playground to mess around with.
Night City never felt immersive to me, I was constantly put off by how shallow the setting was, not bringing anything meaningful to ponder about, to the point I couldn't help but feel like the cyberpunk aspect was only an aesthetic to wave around and nothing more.
The juvenile aspects of the world that more or less feel like they're solely there to make the game seem more mature don't exactly help, they actively make the world seem less credible, and while they could lead to a thoughtful critique of how much people could be so overreliant on instant gratification that companies are appealing to these deviances by being as thoroughly unwholesome and uninhibited as possible but from what I've seen, it's never expanded on so it's hard to give them the benefit of the doubt.
I'm utterly detached from the setting so what am I left with? An uninteresting self-insert protagonist, a few likable or slightly entertaining characters, and a pretty basic story where I couldn't care less about the outcome.
It's not bad by any means (and I don't think any game in this list is bad) but a lot of the game just feels outright dull to me and it's honestly just depressing in a way because I was very easily impressed by the aspects I'm complaining about here in Human Revolution and I hoped for a miracle to happen here considering that the game genuinely is ambitious (even if it's not necessarily in the best ways) but in the end, it just didn't work out that neatly.
23
Hakuchuumu no Aojashin might be my favorite VN but sadly, I can't be Ono's strongest fanboy because this was a pretty big disappointment to me.
Despite a promising start, Mirai Radio consistently fails at delivering the necessary build-up to make any of its emotionally charged character moments feel somewhat purposeful, never giving itself the time to explore the wide array of concepts and emotions it presents to the reader in any substantial way.
If I didn't take the plot too seriously, this would be less underwhelming because the SoL is often entertaining and 2 routes out of 4 are fairly decent but the final route supposed to wrap everything up falls completely flat in terms of characterization, making the conclusion feel like a bad joke at best.
I don't regret reading it though since it was interesting to see Ono's evolution through his titles, as much as the jump in quality from Mirai Radio to Hakuchuumu is scary and while it didn't live up to its ambition in my eyes, I'm always glad to see VNs that actually try something...
Despite a promising start, Mirai Radio consistently fails at delivering the necessary build-up to make any of its emotionally charged character moments feel somewhat purposeful, never giving itself the time to explore the wide array of concepts and emotions it presents to the reader in any substantial way.
If I didn't take the plot too seriously, this would be less underwhelming because the SoL is often entertaining and 2 routes out of 4 are fairly decent but the final route supposed to wrap everything up falls completely flat in terms of characterization, making the conclusion feel like a bad joke at best.
I don't regret reading it though since it was interesting to see Ono's evolution through his titles, as much as the jump in quality from Mirai Radio to Hakuchuumu is scary and while it didn't live up to its ambition in my eyes, I'm always glad to see VNs that actually try something...
24
Welp, this was a well-crafted story with some pretty great twists toward the end but I don't really care for it lol
I don't like the puzzles too much, I think their novelty wears off too quickly so they just became a chore but my main problem is just that I was never emotionally invested in the characters...
Aside from one of the final twists that suddenly made me care a lot more about a major character specifically because they appealed directly to a bias of mine, I couldn't get attached to anyone even if I found some of their stories interesting/a bit tragic on the moment.
When everything wrapped up in the neatest way possible, I was slightly satisfied because yes, that was well put together but I, unfortunately, needed more than that to bring myself to care about the game after finishing it.
I don't like the puzzles too much, I think their novelty wears off too quickly so they just became a chore but my main problem is just that I was never emotionally invested in the characters...
Aside from one of the final twists that suddenly made me care a lot more about a major character specifically because they appealed directly to a bias of mine, I couldn't get attached to anyone even if I found some of their stories interesting/a bit tragic on the moment.
When everything wrapped up in the neatest way possible, I was slightly satisfied because yes, that was well put together but I, unfortunately, needed more than that to bring myself to care about the game after finishing it.
26
27
I don’t hate this game, far from it, it’s enjoyable for what it is, a puzzle game with a few neat gimmicks here and there and it didn’t overstay its welcome at all but it’s not a very remarkable game by any means.
28
I expected a horror game and I just got an incredibly short 3D platformer with a few weird elements... which is basically what the description of the Steam page initially said... can't exactly complain there especially since it's fun for what it is and the controls are surprisingly good for what feels like such a random game.
29
Maybe stealth games aren't for me anymore.
Ironically enough, I think I was much more patient as a teenager considering I didn't have all that many games to play and never really felt overwhelmed by everything I had to get to.
This gave me the curiosity and the drive to experiment with the game, wanting to explore all the different possibilities and the entirety of the level without feeling any need to rush and that made me love the first Dishonored a lot since I could appreciate everything the game had to offer.
A miracle didn't happen here though, just like Hitman that I rushed instead of wanting to enjoy everything the game had to offer. Instead of aiming to get the most enjoyment out of the game, I only aimed for the ending so I could move on to something else.
It's honestly depressing, I just don't have the right mindset to enjoy these games so I'll probably take a break from them for a while until my mindset changes.
The game itself was far from mediocre but considering I didn't try to properly enjoy the game for what it was worth and only interacted with its world in a very shallow way, I just can't bring myself to pretend that I enjoyed it much.
I'm sure it's fun playing around with powers but I couldn't be bothered to get them all when only one was enough to carry me through the game.
The lore might be interesting but I couldn't be bothered to read all the texts lying everywhere, chase and listen to every dialogue and the story is pretty much close to being straight-up empty.
It was interesting to see Emily realize the consequences of her inaction throughout the whole game but otherwise... the ending made me feel like a clown for being a pacifist considering how unsatisfying it was.
The game barely acknowledged the fact that I didn't kill anyone, it just ended with a 1-minute long generic speech about how everything ended well.
It's an ending that makes you feel like 'That's it??'... I probably should have spoiled myself on the ending instead of trying to spare everyone, I feel like I would have much more fun on a high chaos run than on the mascarade that this ended up being.
I'd love to give it another try by doing a run like that when my mindset does change but for now, I don't have any real hope. What a freaking shame...
Ironically enough, I think I was much more patient as a teenager considering I didn't have all that many games to play and never really felt overwhelmed by everything I had to get to.
This gave me the curiosity and the drive to experiment with the game, wanting to explore all the different possibilities and the entirety of the level without feeling any need to rush and that made me love the first Dishonored a lot since I could appreciate everything the game had to offer.
A miracle didn't happen here though, just like Hitman that I rushed instead of wanting to enjoy everything the game had to offer. Instead of aiming to get the most enjoyment out of the game, I only aimed for the ending so I could move on to something else.
It's honestly depressing, I just don't have the right mindset to enjoy these games so I'll probably take a break from them for a while until my mindset changes.
The game itself was far from mediocre but considering I didn't try to properly enjoy the game for what it was worth and only interacted with its world in a very shallow way, I just can't bring myself to pretend that I enjoyed it much.
I'm sure it's fun playing around with powers but I couldn't be bothered to get them all when only one was enough to carry me through the game.
The lore might be interesting but I couldn't be bothered to read all the texts lying everywhere, chase and listen to every dialogue and the story is pretty much close to being straight-up empty.
It was interesting to see Emily realize the consequences of her inaction throughout the whole game but otherwise... the ending made me feel like a clown for being a pacifist considering how unsatisfying it was.
The game barely acknowledged the fact that I didn't kill anyone, it just ended with a 1-minute long generic speech about how everything ended well.
It's an ending that makes you feel like 'That's it??'... I probably should have spoiled myself on the ending instead of trying to spare everyone, I feel like I would have much more fun on a high chaos run than on the mascarade that this ended up being.
I'd love to give it another try by doing a run like that when my mindset does change but for now, I don't have any real hope. What a freaking shame...
30
Too aimless and simplistic for its own good, it does nothing special in the one hour needed to finish the game despite having a neat concept of being able to write your own stories on paper.
In reality, it all amounted to simply solving easy puzzles that left no place for creativity, it's an inoffensive game by all means at the cost of being very forgettable.
In reality, it all amounted to simply solving easy puzzles that left no place for creativity, it's an inoffensive game by all means at the cost of being very forgettable.
31
actively hated playing this thanks to how tedious the gameplay loop feels like and how grueling the dungeons were to get through.
32
One of the few visual novels I have sincerely no respect for, simply because it felt soulless and offensively mediocre to the bitter end.
Never bringing anything unique or new to the table, it's derivative to such an absurd degree that it's hard to not feel put off by how shamelessly it retreads ideas and concepts already explored more interestingly by other stories from the same medium.
As polished and pretty as the music and art can be, they can't save such a worthless patchwork of vapid characters and poorly set-up plot points that lead to empty payoffs.
Never bringing anything unique or new to the table, it's derivative to such an absurd degree that it's hard to not feel put off by how shamelessly it retreads ideas and concepts already explored more interestingly by other stories from the same medium.
As polished and pretty as the music and art can be, they can't save such a worthless patchwork of vapid characters and poorly set-up plot points that lead to empty payoffs.
33