Ashley_Rose
Fun gameplay and at times, compelling story marred by a load of gimmicks that end up making you play in strange ways to cheese some of the absurd moves the game pulls on you, as well as a story full of anime bullshit (just a ton of play-ed out gender tropes and shitty behavior the game expects you to find endearing). Would be vastly improved by greater confidence in it's core mechanics and a couple more passes at what is otherwise a great story.
2018
Incredibly tight platformer with tons of depth to what seems like an incredibly simple set of controls. And a touching story about dealing with depression and anxiety. Very challenging but endlessly encouraging to it's players.
2017
A masterful combination of the Souls-like and Metroidvania styles, both in terms of game-play and mood. A joy to play, a joy to master.
2008
One of the most broken messes I have ever played, music that does not loop correctly, barely though-out mechanics, one of the worst cameras in recent memory, and a story full of some the most embarrassing chest-thumping nonsense I have witnessed
2019
Very charming exploration of characters both examined and un-examined by Homestuck proper. Had an absolute blast but your mileage may vary depending on your interpretation of the characters, which Pesterquest draws into sharper focus in a way that necessitates making some decisions about who these characters are. James brings some excellent tunes both from Friendsim and entirely new.
Desperately wanted to love this one but the many ways this game is monetized creep into all aspects of play, making the various hooks and designed FoMO impossible to ignore. It's fun to play dress-up in space with your buddies, but it's hard to recommend this one to anyone but a die-hard PSO fan.
2018
Full of the ache and fury and Ecstasy of the queer experience, no other piece of art has quite captured the feeling as well as this has for me.
2015
Easily one of my favorite visual novels, full of haunting words, delightfully moody atmosphere and incredible music. The metaphors can be dense but that is part of what I love about it.
2020
Unlike a lot of folks, I felt the difficulty is right where it needed to be for a Megaman Battle Network vet, though it could use some accessibility features for folks who are struggling. One of my main complaints is that you will end up not taking most of the cards offered if you know what you are doing, and that can feel deeply un-intuitive to folks who are not as familiar with a deck-builder, especially one like this where efficiency is key. Style is lovely and increasing the board space to 4x4 per side was a very smart move.
Gameplay
First time with an Atelier game, was pleasantly surprised. The core loop of gathering and crafting is very satisfying, as is making upgrades to your gear. Each new tool in your arsenal feels like you just broke the difficulty of the game in half, which can be very satisfying, but I wish they let you play the harder difficulties before clearing the game. Even on Hard the game never really challenged me except when I accidentally stumbled into a post-game boss.
Story
The story was very charming, and it struck me how grounded it stayed. Sure, you are eventually saving thousands of people with your actions, but the focus is squarely on the personal growth of your characters and a well crafted coming-of-age story.
Anime Bullshit:
The game is thankfully light on typical nonsense, baring some over-sized and gravity defying boobs, as well as the main character's absurd outfit. Outside of the visual presentation, the story does not overly sexualize it's women and lets them be full people, even sidestepping what I thought was surely going an out-of-nowhere romantic development.
In Conclusion
A nice, warm, and ultimately bitter-sweet coming-of-age story with a compelling crafting system, main thing holding it back is an ok combat system and an aversion to doing anything too terribly different or out there. It is an excellent "one of those" but there are a lot of them out there.
First time with an Atelier game, was pleasantly surprised. The core loop of gathering and crafting is very satisfying, as is making upgrades to your gear. Each new tool in your arsenal feels like you just broke the difficulty of the game in half, which can be very satisfying, but I wish they let you play the harder difficulties before clearing the game. Even on Hard the game never really challenged me except when I accidentally stumbled into a post-game boss.
Story
The story was very charming, and it struck me how grounded it stayed. Sure, you are eventually saving thousands of people with your actions, but the focus is squarely on the personal growth of your characters and a well crafted coming-of-age story.
Anime Bullshit:
The game is thankfully light on typical nonsense, baring some over-sized and gravity defying boobs, as well as the main character's absurd outfit. Outside of the visual presentation, the story does not overly sexualize it's women and lets them be full people, even sidestepping what I thought was surely going an out-of-nowhere romantic development.
In Conclusion
A nice, warm, and ultimately bitter-sweet coming-of-age story with a compelling crafting system, main thing holding it back is an ok combat system and an aversion to doing anything too terribly different or out there. It is an excellent "one of those" but there are a lot of them out there.