Unheard is a short puzzle game based on audio, a pretty unique concept rarely seen in the video game industry. Immerged in different cases as a ghostly detective, the player is tasked of solving several questions regarding one or more unsolved mysteries. In each case, the player can move around in a map without limitations, various events and dialogues can be witnessed at different locations throughout the audio timeline, which, the player can manipulate at will.

The very nature of this game and the absence of any sort of RNG, allow players to brute force any case if they so desire. If this problem is rather common among puzzle games, what could be pointed out, is the lack of innovation throughout the cases, as all clever mechanics and setups are revealed in the second case right after the tutorial.

But beside that, the game proposes a nice experience, the writing of each case is pretty solid, the english voice acting is also decent, dictions or accents might be not realistic to some extent, but it gives a certain flair to the game and definitely help people who are not native english speaker.

Ultimately, the length of the game fits its proposition, the concept which could be polished, still manages to keep the player engaged from the very beginning until the end of the game. Without spoiling anything, the game tackles compelling themes and even offers multiple endings, and all of them are interesting in their own way.

It may not be a game for everyone, but if you're accustomed to this type of game or just curious, I would recommend this game without a doubt.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is filled with good intentions, it's a tribute to the well beloved franchise Jet Set Radio, the level design is decent for most maps, there are many elements to unlock and places to tag graffitis on, multiple playable characters, on top of that, in addition to the rollerblade, player can also use skate, bmx or even parkour. Despite this blatant generosity, in the end, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is a mile wide and an inch deep.

At its core, it's a game of scoring, with a clever combo system encouraging the player to exploit the whole map, unfortunately, with only 5 or 6 tricks available, it gets redundant really fast. That statement applies to every gameplay, it doesn't matter if the player uses skate, bmx or rollerblade, there is a lack of diversity. Also, each trick is pretty much a one button command, which entails, there is no such thing as satisfaction when a trick is pulled off. There is also no switch mechanics mid combo, players are forced to use specific points of interest, in order to change from bmx to skate for instance. Each character plays the same, there is no difference, the grand total of 20 playable characters is rendered useless.

Another dreadful mechanic in this game is that, whenever the player touches the ground, the combo is lost, to maintain it while on the ground, only one solution exists : manual. So not only the move list is pathetic, but the player must use the manual every single time to travel across the map. Like the rest, the manual is brain dead, easy to perform and last forever if you know how to reset it.

The gameplay loop really emanates no single atom of challenge or fun, and somehow the thing they call story, which is mandatory to unlock maps, achieves being even more third rate. The presence of some good OST doesn't help the whole experience either, considering to play a specific song in game, you have to find and unlock it first.

In conclusion, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk proposes a simplistic and boring experience, some mechanics present so little interest that even banks interest looks more inviting. From the story, to the unnecessary cast of playable characters, to the graffitis that I didn't even feel the need to talk about, the developers wasted too much time and effort on those elements. Meanwhile, the gameplay, the most crucial part remains laughable.

Omori is a game which stands out a lot on many aspects, with a combat system turned around the emotions theme, and a story portraying anxiety, depression and so much more. It's a game which sadly, tries so hard to be psychological, deep, and horrific, it does lesser the impact of the narrative when it comes to plot twists or the ending. Similarly, Omori focuses so much on what makes it different, that it sometime forgets the essential and what makes it similar to great games.

A turn based RPG with an emotion system, sounds like a great premise, however it turns out to be more of a skin than anything else. The combat system features 3 main emotions namely : sad, happy and angry. Together, they form a classic weapon triangle, where each of them are effective against one and weak against the other one, those 3 emotions also boost or reduce statistics such as : luck, speed, defense and so on. I ought to mention, there is a 4th emotion outside this triangle called neutral which is self-explanatory.

Despite being able to further the intensity of one emotion by triggering it once more up to 3 levels (for instance the sad emotion becomes depressed and finally miserable), this system feels like an aggregate of systems most people have seen, and it's quite easy to notice, as the game's structure feels imbalanced at times, sometime throwing long sections of gameplay seemingly for nothing, just to extend the length of the game, giving players plenty time to do such analysis. In spite of the combat system being effective to some extent, I guess I expected more from it, passed the quick discovery of those familiar elements with different names that is, the gameplay loop became more of a repetitive chore, and the pacing problems amplified this sentiment.

Gameplay aside, the story left me with a bitter taste too. The narrative is constantly ominous, with a coexistence between wholesome and sinister elements, fueling a heavy and tensed atmosphere, by the time the story actually hits the player with a horrific plot twist, the player is overprepared and the impact the said plot twist has is limited. In other words, by using the same thing over and over again, it becomes less effective, and what should be something special in the narrative, ends up being less unique and more dull.

The game tackles head on dark emotions, and warn the player by all means possible beforehand, from its simplistic yet worrisome cover picture, to its warning when you actually launch the game. For the same purpose, and it is a shame, the story's threads are clearly visible and conventional for the most part, so much so any sort of dramatic event is predictable and no elements of surprise hit the mark.

Of course, the player should be informed of themes depicted in a game, however, Omori's warning message when the game is launched looks more like a spoiler than anything else. Without being perfect, the PEGI system or any similar rating systems, offer the possibility to warn players without giving too much information. Perhaps using a similar concept would have allowed Omori to find a better middle ground between warning and secrecy.

On top of a predictable story, there are multiple side quests, but I don't have any nice superlative that comes to my mind to describe them. Some side quests are repeatable and propose dreadful minigames, I let you imagine where and how a developer could decide to implement one or more achievements.

In conclusion, despite its great concepts and interesting themes, Omori's execution is mediocre for the most part, questionable for the rest. The gameplay is forgettable, it's just a combination of well known systems in disguise, changing names so they fit the theme of the game, is not enough to create something unique. The story is predictable, not necessarily bad, but definitly not great either. I think Omori is one these games that could have benefited being a visual novel instead of a traditional game, but that's just my opinion.