Most important:
Story: Subarashiki Hibi is a story told in six chapters. The chapters are of varying lengths and structure, but for the most part, they cover the month of July 2012 from a number of different perspectives. The story involves world-ending prophecies, mysterious deaths, the web bot project and masturbation. When it comes down to it the actual story wasn’t too complex but it was multi-layered. The interesting aspect about Subahibi’s story is that it is told in different perspectives in addition to different main characters. This narrative style is similar to The House in Fata Morgana but Subahibi goes another step further by changing the main character for each chapter which was ambitious to say the least. But coming down to it, repeating the same story after two or three times does make everything stale even though there was little to some extra information that wasn’t known. By the third chapter, I was able to piece the mystery together so the mystery aspect wasn’t as strong in the second half. Speaking of the third chapter, It’s My Own Invention, was the peak of the visual novel for me. I was engrossed in the main character’s delusions and I was glued to the screen while witnessing his transformation from what he was at the beginning of the chapter to what he became at the end. I really enjoyed the denpa, occult and cosmic horror aspects of that chapter as well. The other chapters weren’t as memorable or well done and was a step down compared to the aforementioned chapter but honorable mention to the second chapter that had a decent mystery and atmosphere. The quality of the narrative really fell of in the later half of the visual novel, from an interesting mystery and denpa style story to shonen incest with awful villains in the backstory. The author makes a lot of references to literary and philosophical works but most of it feels out of place within the story so all it showed was that he is well read and it is just pointless pretentiousness. The characters goes through a lot of different traumatic and psychological torture which at some a certain point felt like needless edge and misery porn. I also did not like how the conflict was resolved at the end, it did feel like the resolution came out of nowhere just because. The slice of life scenes were bog standard and pretty boring which was most of the first chapter.

Character: The only standout and exceptional character is Mamiya Takuji. I found his character to be very compelling during his chapter. From the trauma and self-loathing leading him to his delusions, from his messed up world view and his relationship and interaction with the other characters I greatly enjoyed experiencing. Otonashi Ayana was also an interesting character but she lossed relevance right until the final ending where the explanation of her character was rushed. The overall cast is below average, development and personality wise. I thought Zakuro’s character would go somewhere after the game and put a lot of emphasis on her but she just loses relevance after her chapter.

Theme: “Just be happy bro.” As I had mentioned before, there are a lot of literary and philosophical works referenced in the visual novel and the main problem was that it probably went over my head. I’m honestly not even sure what the themes of the visual novel are. Bullying, communication, consciousness? I wouldn’t say that it is weak but there wasn't an actual stance that was clearly stated. The writer roams around these topics and throws them at you to make you think about it.

Atmosphere/Setting: The story is set in a highschool which is a minus but deals with mature topics such as bullying, prostituion and drugs so it is somewhat acceptable. The atmosphere was excellent in the first half and in the second and third chapters, it was mysterious and tense and I was hoping it was able to keep it all the way until the end but unfortunately that was not the case.

Somewhat important:
Pacing: Piss poor at certain points during the third chapter otherwise like stated above there’s a lot of repeated scenes but overall was okay.

Art: It’s okay, no strong feelings one way or another.

Music: Mostly piano based, simple but effective. I liked the original ending themes for the different endings, a pretty nice touch.

Least important:
VN aspects: Standard choice system.

Overall, I had a mixed experience with this visual novel. It had great potential at the beginning with the mystery and occult atmosphere but fell flat on its face in the later half by abandoning those aspects. If you can handle the psychological torture scenes and the premise seems interesting to you, it may be worth a read but I would only recommend this to a specific type of people that enjoy works with denpa elements. Although I can safely say it would be a memorable experience nevertheless.

A Short Hike is a fun little open-world-ish adventure full of S O U L. The game really nailed the aspects that it was going for which was really impressive. Specifically exploration, gameplay, atmosphere and NPC interactions were the main aspects that the game excelled at. The controls while walking and gliding felt just right and fun. The exploration and soundtrack enhanced the atmosphere throughout the game.

The NPC dialogue and interactions was what sold me. When I talk to a person, they have a couple of different lines depending on if they just met you or gave you a task. Even after finishing their task, they still had new lines and it felt like a genuine conversation. The mini-games were enjoyable as well, my favorite was beachstickball. I didn’t expect there to be any substance to the story but the ending conversation was able to give an ingame reason to why we went on a hike, which is good. Gliding through the ending segment with the soundtrack was immersive. Overall, an awesome indie game.

Superb gameplay, ripping and tearing through demons is fun and addicting. The amount of weapons is just right to give enough variety for different situations and enemies. Using a chainsaw on a demon is extremely satisfying and will never get old. The powerups in each stage also feel amazing to use, especially the berserk powerup where you just beat demons with your bare hands. The stages did get kind of repetitive by the end. Great sound design, amazing soundtrack. Mick Gordon is a legend. Atmosphere is generally excellent as well with good use of silence and quiet moments although the setting could be more varied since the missions are set in either an invaded science lab or hell.

All of the bosses were forgettable and fairly straightforward even at the highest difficulty which was unfortunate. The enemies themselves only have one or two mechanics to them but the difficulty in each stage is the quantity of enemies and how you manage them. The approach to the story I found to be pretty nice, it's there if you care about it but if not then not a big deal. All in all, the gameplay carries DOOM 2016 so much that the small downsides can easily be overlooked.

Fairly solid overall. Big shift to a more personal story with a smaller cast of characters fits the style of the stories of Witcher in general. Gaunter was a great antagonist and Olgierd was a decent tragic character. Loved Gaunter as a character as well, found out that he was always in the background in the main game which I thought was really cool but really wished we got to learn more about him. Olgierd wasn't as likeable but his personal conflict was good.

Favorite part of the DLC was Iris’s mansion and the painting world, loved the atmosphere and sound design. One problem I had with the DLC was that I didn’t care much for Geralt and Shani's relationship. I didn’t even know who Shani was and the game expected me to know her and her relationship to Geralt. The wedding event also took up some chunk of the main story which was relatively uninteresting for me so that time could be used for something better. Solid DLC bogged down by some unnecessary parts.

I finally finished Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition and my thoughts are as such. Narrative wise the story was passable, too much chosen one trope going on and I would've liked it more if the story's scale was smaller and stuck to a more comedic tone. The story takes itself less seriously than DOS2 with some of the quests which is fine but does lead to some tonal whiplash. The game doesn't have acts but takes place in the same continent which makes the story felt more personal. The companion quests were quite lacking across the board. Gameplay wise I enjoyed the character building in the game and mixing and matching different spells so most of your characters can be jack of all trade while still maintaining their specific roles.

It is also more balanced than the second game but there is way more RNG because every CC and attack has a hit percentage so I still prefer the second game's physical and magic armor system. A lot of puzzles to solve which got tedious, had to look them up on the wiki on multiple occasions. Dialogue choices between the main characters or NPCs giving different traits is also really cool. Overall, it was a janky game that I had an alright time with. I felt that DOS2 was a natural evolution to this game so that is definitely a good thing looking forward to Larian Studios future games.

The madlads at Novectacle somehow DID IT AGAIN. Absolutely brilliant piece of art, I came in expecting a fun little prequel (although I did read some comments hyping it up on reddit, kept my expectations low) and it somehow kept the same level of quality narrative and soundtrack experience in a shorter and sweeter package.

Absolutely adored the lovable cast of characters and the story. The newly introduced characters for the prequel were fine for what they were, one of them had a nice twist and the other was whatever. I'm not afraid to admit that I cried again at the end even though I knew what was coming. The other side stories had small segments that gave us insights to the main characters or shed some light on what happened on events that were not mentioned in the main game. A small sequel that wrapped up everything with a nice bow tie was included in the side stories as well, and I had a big grin while reading through that. WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

Where do I even start? Firstly, the gameplay loop was quite engaging. From meticulously planning out dodging to reading and understanding the mob/boss's attack patterns, Dark Souls 1 has a very satisfying gameplay loop. The combat itself felt fluid and every attack had weight behind it. Every fight was harsh but fair, most of my deaths came from me learning the fight or just messing up. Most of the bosses were fine except for a few standouts (namely Bell Gargoyles, O&S, Gwyn and all the bosses in the DLC). My favorite boss was easily Knight Artorias.

Next, the atmosphere and environment is where this game really excels. Through the various zones' environments, the game manages to convey the dark and dreary world of Lodran excellently, from the color palette to the amount of friendly NPCs left in the world creating an isolated and lonely experience. If you see a big tower over yonder, chances are it's not just a cool background and you will be able to visit it.

Which leads me to my next point, the level design. The level design in this game just blows my mind (in the first half of the game anyway), the interconnection between inside and between different zones is phenomenal. The way the world is portrayed to you during exploration makes you feel like you are playing a 3D metroidvania. The feeling of being lost will be common in this game, which could be a good or a bad thing depending on what kind of a player you are. The music was fine with Gwyn's theme being a stand out and the sound design did its job to help with immersion.

Some of the negatives that I found were that sometimes the game needlessly wastes your time with long run-backs when you die to a boss and having some specific things that are too difficult to find by yourself unless you consult the wiki. The lackluster storytelling was also a disappointment as well since I found the lore and setting very intriguing. Reading item descriptions and talking to NPCs multiple times is not good storytelling in a video game. There were no characters to get attached to so any deaths felt meaningless, which was a narrative flaw in the kind of storytelling the game went with.

Overall, the best term that fits this game is that it is hauntingly beautiful. I haven't had this much fun playing a game since forever and I would recommend experiencing through this hauntingly beautiful world.

Enjoyable game, love the time stop and grazing mechanic. Definitely see that Team Ladybug took a lot from this to make a better game in Lodoss War. Not the biggest fan of platforming in this one though so could've done without that. Also I didn't find much in terms of items and upgrades so I just played with whatever I got, not sure if I missed anything important/game-changing. In terms of difficulty I think this game was more difficult compared to Lodoss War, which is interesting. Overall was a fun game, Remilia was tough as heck.

The main combat loop was fun, the spirit mechanic was pretty cool although the wind spirit was just way better because you can glide in the air with it so there's not much of a reason to choose fire unless the enemy is immune to wind or you want more damage. Weapon choices were decent and having a ranged weapon with the bow was cool.

The power progression felt good but the difficulty of the game didn't nearly match up with how strong you got especially with the bosses which was where I would expect a challenge. Most bosses took one to two attempts once you got the combat down so would've liked more difficulty there. The map exploration and design wasn't the strongest but does scratch the metroidvania itch so it gets a pass. Not a lot was there in terms of narrative or characters although I feel like that's not the main focus due to minimal cutscenes and dialogues. Art wise the pixel art is great and the soundtrack is solid. Overall, since the game doesn't take too long, it was a neat little detour.