FancyYoshi
72 Reviews liked by FancyYoshi
I feel like this one sentence took more effort to write than how this game was developed.
Hypnospace Outlaw
2019
The typa shit I'm playing indies for! Experimental, weird, fun, immersive and overall just a good f*cking game. If I got to compare it to other titles, first that comes to mind would be Papers please and Return of the Obra Dinn by Lucas Pope.
Inside
2016
The things I'd do to that fat juicy blob of limbs
Sayonara Wild Hearts
2019
So passionate, confident, and uncompromising in its pop-album vision that it's hard not to immediately fall in love (THAT MAIN MENU THEME ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?).
Just like Game Score Fanfare explains in his wonderful video, the entire game is designed around the conventions of pop music, not just copying but integrating what makes pop so darn infectious into the very fabric of the game.
A short but infinitely re-playable joyride that I don't think I will ever get enough of.
Just like Game Score Fanfare explains in his wonderful video, the entire game is designed around the conventions of pop music, not just copying but integrating what makes pop so darn infectious into the very fabric of the game.
A short but infinitely re-playable joyride that I don't think I will ever get enough of.
Haven
2020
In ways Haven is the yang to Furi's yin. While Furi focused on visceral combat with light character development, Haven is all about the romance between its two lead characters with combat as a supplementary element.
The chemistry between the two leads is definitely the strong point for me. Yu and Kay are such fleshed-out and lovable characters that it's easy to understand and care about these people as they struggle to maintain their relationship against all odds. Also, the combat being easier when properly using both characters in sync only further reinforce their connection and need for each other.
With most of the gameplay being light exploration, I feel that there was room to tighten up the game and make it feel less like filler. Additionally, I wish they challenged Yu and Kay's relationship more, as the best moments of the game involved their relationships struggles. It feels like wasted potential.
In the end, a solid if unbalanced entry that I see myself replaying.
The chemistry between the two leads is definitely the strong point for me. Yu and Kay are such fleshed-out and lovable characters that it's easy to understand and care about these people as they struggle to maintain their relationship against all odds. Also, the combat being easier when properly using both characters in sync only further reinforce their connection and need for each other.
With most of the gameplay being light exploration, I feel that there was room to tighten up the game and make it feel less like filler. Additionally, I wish they challenged Yu and Kay's relationship more, as the best moments of the game involved their relationships struggles. It feels like wasted potential.
In the end, a solid if unbalanced entry that I see myself replaying.
Gris
2018
One of the best visually appealing games I've ever played, an 1 of 1 unique experience of going through a persons grief, regret and comeback.
The color palette used for this game was relaxing and calm to look at.
Music was very fitting with the peaceful atmosphere and I will definitely use the BGM from this game to listen to as background music.
The gameplay was okay. I loved the way the game taught all the mechanics right in the world, no tutorials needed. Puzzles and exploration were not hard to navigate through, mostly one way traffic. Movement was smooth, except the clunky jumpsout of water
I highly recommend this game for whoever wants to go on a emotional journey with a lot of abstract pieces of story to put together.
The color palette used for this game was relaxing and calm to look at.
Music was very fitting with the peaceful atmosphere and I will definitely use the BGM from this game to listen to as background music.
The gameplay was okay. I loved the way the game taught all the mechanics right in the world, no tutorials needed. Puzzles and exploration were not hard to navigate through, mostly one way traffic. Movement was smooth, except the clunky jumpsout of water
I highly recommend this game for whoever wants to go on a emotional journey with a lot of abstract pieces of story to put together.
Celeste
2018
This review contains spoilers
Real talk this game helped me through a genuine panic attack a few years ago.
But uhhhhhhhhhhhhhm I didn't rlly cry that much womp womp but trans ppl are really cool so extra points for that.
But uhhhhhhhhhhhhhm I didn't rlly cry that much womp womp but trans ppl are really cool so extra points for that.
This has to be a fake video game. I don't think anyone actually made this I think it just appeared on someone's desk one day.
i'm not sure how your average fast-paced fps player or even the most methodical turn-based rpg player would be into this game. disco elysium is one of the most non-game games that i've played in a while and i say this with absolute respect and love for this game. it still boggles my mind how this got so much attention and buzz from the media considering how dense in political, social e economical frameworks this game is. i assume the only people buying this game KNOWS to some extent what it is about. or watches too much breadtube.
anyway with this out of my way, disco elysium is and will forever be one of my favorite games of all time. it is a masterclass in narrative, a masterpiece in terms of art and design and hm, a reliable car when it comes to its gameplay, which is where most people buying this game blind will definitely have issues. i don't necessarily hate it nor love it, it does what it's supposed to do like an old car you bought just to drive you to work on a daily basis. if the narrative is not engaging you, it's not the gameplay that will and you should drop it. it's basically a book, either you like what you're reading or you don't and you just go read something else.
i got fully engaged in disco's world. i tried my best to get every single piece of trivia i could find and learn as much as i could about the pale, mundi, graad, insulinde, revachol, samara, etc. the intention is obvious, the world is a reflection of ours, a reflection of a post-cold war world where any semblance of revolution is gone and the people in it are too busy daydreaming about their own worlds. as for the protagonist, lost in a drunken stupor where the previous life he led is no more than just a myth where uncontrollable synaptic reflexes are somehow still intact and all you can do is follow along, trying to ignore what once was to the best of your ability. a tabula rasa that is constantly trying to write itself and take over control. a true state of terror.
and somehow you manage to solve a mystery, or many mysteries, and perhaps a case or two. or you die the first minute trying not to stare at the light of your room for too long. that's disco, dude.
anyway with this out of my way, disco elysium is and will forever be one of my favorite games of all time. it is a masterclass in narrative, a masterpiece in terms of art and design and hm, a reliable car when it comes to its gameplay, which is where most people buying this game blind will definitely have issues. i don't necessarily hate it nor love it, it does what it's supposed to do like an old car you bought just to drive you to work on a daily basis. if the narrative is not engaging you, it's not the gameplay that will and you should drop it. it's basically a book, either you like what you're reading or you don't and you just go read something else.
i got fully engaged in disco's world. i tried my best to get every single piece of trivia i could find and learn as much as i could about the pale, mundi, graad, insulinde, revachol, samara, etc. the intention is obvious, the world is a reflection of ours, a reflection of a post-cold war world where any semblance of revolution is gone and the people in it are too busy daydreaming about their own worlds. as for the protagonist, lost in a drunken stupor where the previous life he led is no more than just a myth where uncontrollable synaptic reflexes are somehow still intact and all you can do is follow along, trying to ignore what once was to the best of your ability. a tabula rasa that is constantly trying to write itself and take over control. a true state of terror.
and somehow you manage to solve a mystery, or many mysteries, and perhaps a case or two. or you die the first minute trying not to stare at the light of your room for too long. that's disco, dude.
finally we can all agree that giraffes were always real and the true holographic creatures are the scheming politicians hidden behind their illegally-logged wooden tables full of memorabilia of times long past where authorities and monarchies "made the world better" according to their crooked ideals and words.
'the sea will claim everything' is not even trying to hide the politics in its narrative, it is overtly leftist and revolutionaire. it is not trying to say that the only way forward is a specific leftist revolution, but it is saying that for us to get through the constant degradation of society and the world, we all need to unite and trust each other through kindness and collaboration. the final message is not one of certainty of victory against the system, but one of revolution against it, and hope that if we get through it, we can make a better world.
as for the game, it has very cute aesthetics and quirky and clever writing, the characters are more than just quest-givers and have fun personas, the gameplay is typical of a point & click so there's not much to add, i just wish it had more puzzles related to the UI and more interesting ways to complete quests instead of just finding ingredients, brewing potions and handing it over.
if you played disco elysium, this game will certainly be right up your alley. and remember, we are the sea. ✊
'the sea will claim everything' is not even trying to hide the politics in its narrative, it is overtly leftist and revolutionaire. it is not trying to say that the only way forward is a specific leftist revolution, but it is saying that for us to get through the constant degradation of society and the world, we all need to unite and trust each other through kindness and collaboration. the final message is not one of certainty of victory against the system, but one of revolution against it, and hope that if we get through it, we can make a better world.
as for the game, it has very cute aesthetics and quirky and clever writing, the characters are more than just quest-givers and have fun personas, the gameplay is typical of a point & click so there's not much to add, i just wish it had more puzzles related to the UI and more interesting ways to complete quests instead of just finding ingredients, brewing potions and handing it over.
if you played disco elysium, this game will certainly be right up your alley. and remember, we are the sea. ✊
Inscryption
2021
inscryption thrives at conveying a sense of foreboding tranquillity despite its dark ambience and sound design. everything production-wise for this game is aligned perfectly with its fun gameplay and puzzling narrative, there's not a single choice i could point out that would've been better if they made any changes.
but! there's always a but. i can't shake the feeling that the overall mystery of the game (including the ARG) did not conclude satisfyingly. feels like it should have had an extra hour or two exploring the themes of the cursed game/overpowered script/malevolent company, and of course some more exploration of the character we are playing as throughout the game.
despite my gripe, i absolutely recommend this game.
but! there's always a but. i can't shake the feeling that the overall mystery of the game (including the ARG) did not conclude satisfyingly. feels like it should have had an extra hour or two exploring the themes of the cursed game/overpowered script/malevolent company, and of course some more exploration of the character we are playing as throughout the game.
despite my gripe, i absolutely recommend this game.
honestly, not a terrible game. but if i were to look back at the +7 hours i spent on this game, i wouldn't recommend anyone to play it. watch the matrix trilogy instead, about the same amount of time and it's way more rewarding. also, david cage has to chill, dude thinks he is the one and only Game Director in existence. he even compared himself to citizen kane in this game ffs.
fahrenheit indigo prophecy has a decent first half, things are well-paced enough to keep you hooked. but the second half is just rushed to the point of making all the stakes in the narrative laughable. you simply don't care about what's happening anymore since the narrative keeps throwing exposition after exposition and so many different threads to the narrative that it feels like cage couldn't make a decision so he put everything in. plus the carla and lucas romance/sex scene was literally just thrown there for that HOT GAMER MOMENT (probably what cage had in mind).
oh yes, the quick-time events are bad, but that's just david cage games.
fahrenheit indigo prophecy has a decent first half, things are well-paced enough to keep you hooked. but the second half is just rushed to the point of making all the stakes in the narrative laughable. you simply don't care about what's happening anymore since the narrative keeps throwing exposition after exposition and so many different threads to the narrative that it feels like cage couldn't make a decision so he put everything in. plus the carla and lucas romance/sex scene was literally just thrown there for that HOT GAMER MOMENT (probably what cage had in mind).
oh yes, the quick-time events are bad, but that's just david cage games.
This review contains spoilers
they really should just commit to making a musical at this point
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Following up on remake's worst tendencies, the rest of disc 1 of final fantasy 7 is turned into a low stakes road trip game. Seeing the 7 party banter and have fun is enjoyable, it was my favorite part of this game, but it comes at the cost of making this game's pacing bizarre. Every town the party exclaims "let's hang out for a bit and have some fun!" even though all they've been doing is hanging out and having fun the entire game. Another downside to the hanging out is the character writing is way less consistent in this game than in Remake. Remake’s characterization of everyone was rock solid and well done, whereas stuff like Tifa and Aerith forming the weird Anime Girl Hivemind in most scenes they share here was really awkward. The additions of Elena, Yuffie, and Cait Sith were all really well done though, those three really shine in this game.
Every open world section between towns is completely cut off and unrelated to the rest of the game, and unlike FF’s last open world game, party interaction or dialogue is completely absent unless you’re on a sidequest. The maps are filled with Tasks to do, and none of it matters or even gives you much besides some light combat challenges or minigames (though the game is not in short supply of these, wow). Chadley and Mai are the only two characters in 90% of the open world, and while they’re fun, the world feels so strange and empty the entire game.
Despite my slight disappointment with the open world though, nearly all of my negative feelings on this game are centered on its story. Despite all of the fuss of the last game, this game rarely deviates from final fantasy 7’s plot, and even when it does it quickly snaps back into line, seemingly afraid you’ll actually have anything interesting to ponder during the 100+ hours it’ll ask of you.
Every emotional scene of the original is recreated here, but always with a terrible twist. Barret and Dyne are having a deeply emotional confrontation, the fight is compelling, the voice acting is well done, the scene is working BUT WAIT the camera pans from Barret clutching Dyne’s body to Palmer the goofy Shinra man in a dumb mech for a comedy boss fight in the middle of the cutscene for absolutely no reason. The return to Dyne after the fight as if the moment could still possibly work was so insane I set the controller down to just sit, stunned, for a minute. After a massively protracted dungeon, Red XIII is finally learning the truth about his father, the statue sheds a tear, the music is swelling, and the camera swings to the side to reveal an unhinged tribal caricature ghost man who opens the wall to lead you to a new dungeon about how the Cetra are now racist and so we can give the black materia Lore instead of it being part of the very obvious metaphor of the original.
These twists are all leading to The Moment though, the one everyone’s been debating about since Remake came out, Are They Going To Kill Aerith Again? And to answer that question, awful MCU brainrot has been introduced, with a new AU timeline where Zack is around (though it amounts to basically nothing) and Sephiroth 2 from the last game trying to combine the multiverses to ensure the plot of final fantasy 7 happens as it did originally (for some reason???) and fighting Cloud at a different edge of creation from the last game, and blowing a Sephiroth boss form from the end of 7 for good measure. All of this culminates in Cloud saving Aerith, but the game saying “just kidding” and killing her anyway. Even the scenes after her death are ruined by cutting the burial altogether, a completely baffling move.
In the end, I’m walking away from Rebirth with a bad taste in my mouth, but I still had fun throughout. Despite the open world feeling strange and the game feeling much too long, the gameplay part was pretty fun! Several of the minigames were engaging, the open world was good looking, andTriple Triad 2 Queen’s Blood was genuinely really fun. I really enjoyed the battle system this time too, it clicked way better for me this time than it did in Remake. It’s no FF13 ATB but it’s pretty good. It’s just a shame about the rest of it.
(Also, this is mostly a consequence of the game not being static detailed backgrounds anymore but FF7 has some truly incredible backgrounds, and shinra manor and the forgotten capital were some of the strongest in the original game. Rebirth shinra manor being one floor and a characterless basement and the forgotten capital being two screens long and filled with dementors from the last game was deeply disappointing compared to the remarkable atmosphere the original backgrounds had.)
((also holy shit 3D brawler is the hardest thing in the game by a huge margin, i think that minigame is evil))
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Following up on remake's worst tendencies, the rest of disc 1 of final fantasy 7 is turned into a low stakes road trip game. Seeing the 7 party banter and have fun is enjoyable, it was my favorite part of this game, but it comes at the cost of making this game's pacing bizarre. Every town the party exclaims "let's hang out for a bit and have some fun!" even though all they've been doing is hanging out and having fun the entire game. Another downside to the hanging out is the character writing is way less consistent in this game than in Remake. Remake’s characterization of everyone was rock solid and well done, whereas stuff like Tifa and Aerith forming the weird Anime Girl Hivemind in most scenes they share here was really awkward. The additions of Elena, Yuffie, and Cait Sith were all really well done though, those three really shine in this game.
Every open world section between towns is completely cut off and unrelated to the rest of the game, and unlike FF’s last open world game, party interaction or dialogue is completely absent unless you’re on a sidequest. The maps are filled with Tasks to do, and none of it matters or even gives you much besides some light combat challenges or minigames (though the game is not in short supply of these, wow). Chadley and Mai are the only two characters in 90% of the open world, and while they’re fun, the world feels so strange and empty the entire game.
Despite my slight disappointment with the open world though, nearly all of my negative feelings on this game are centered on its story. Despite all of the fuss of the last game, this game rarely deviates from final fantasy 7’s plot, and even when it does it quickly snaps back into line, seemingly afraid you’ll actually have anything interesting to ponder during the 100+ hours it’ll ask of you.
Every emotional scene of the original is recreated here, but always with a terrible twist. Barret and Dyne are having a deeply emotional confrontation, the fight is compelling, the voice acting is well done, the scene is working BUT WAIT the camera pans from Barret clutching Dyne’s body to Palmer the goofy Shinra man in a dumb mech for a comedy boss fight in the middle of the cutscene for absolutely no reason. The return to Dyne after the fight as if the moment could still possibly work was so insane I set the controller down to just sit, stunned, for a minute. After a massively protracted dungeon, Red XIII is finally learning the truth about his father, the statue sheds a tear, the music is swelling, and the camera swings to the side to reveal an unhinged tribal caricature ghost man who opens the wall to lead you to a new dungeon about how the Cetra are now racist and so we can give the black materia Lore instead of it being part of the very obvious metaphor of the original.
These twists are all leading to The Moment though, the one everyone’s been debating about since Remake came out, Are They Going To Kill Aerith Again? And to answer that question, awful MCU brainrot has been introduced, with a new AU timeline where Zack is around (though it amounts to basically nothing) and Sephiroth 2 from the last game trying to combine the multiverses to ensure the plot of final fantasy 7 happens as it did originally (for some reason???) and fighting Cloud at a different edge of creation from the last game, and blowing a Sephiroth boss form from the end of 7 for good measure. All of this culminates in Cloud saving Aerith, but the game saying “just kidding” and killing her anyway. Even the scenes after her death are ruined by cutting the burial altogether, a completely baffling move.
In the end, I’m walking away from Rebirth with a bad taste in my mouth, but I still had fun throughout. Despite the open world feeling strange and the game feeling much too long, the gameplay part was pretty fun! Several of the minigames were engaging, the open world was good looking, and
(Also, this is mostly a consequence of the game not being static detailed backgrounds anymore but FF7 has some truly incredible backgrounds, and shinra manor and the forgotten capital were some of the strongest in the original game. Rebirth shinra manor being one floor and a characterless basement and the forgotten capital being two screens long and filled with dementors from the last game was deeply disappointing compared to the remarkable atmosphere the original backgrounds had.)
((also holy shit 3D brawler is the hardest thing in the game by a huge margin, i think that minigame is evil))
Outer Wilds
2019
In what I know is an unpopular opinion, I didn't enjoy Outer Wilds. I technically discovered almost everything I had to discover and was ready to try and trigger the ending when I DNF'd it.
I DID experience a couple of 'Eureka' moments, flying around was fun, the universe was pretty beautiful, but I just didn't have fun. Like, at all, really. I watched the ending on youtube and was glad I didn't finish it, because its terrible.
Slant magazine said the journey here is more reward than the destination, and I couldn't agree more, but the journey for me wasn't fun either.
A Masterfully made go-at-your-own-pace story-discovery game that isn't for everyone, including me.
I DID experience a couple of 'Eureka' moments, flying around was fun, the universe was pretty beautiful, but I just didn't have fun. Like, at all, really. I watched the ending on youtube and was glad I didn't finish it, because its terrible.
Slant magazine said the journey here is more reward than the destination, and I couldn't agree more, but the journey for me wasn't fun either.
A Masterfully made go-at-your-own-pace story-discovery game that isn't for everyone, including me.
The Messenger
2018
I loved this game BECAUSE I played Sea of stars first, and that is one of my favourite games of all time. It is worse than that game though, in my opinion, but still a very good game in its own right.
Loved the twist, the free DLC was good. Definitely worth a play.
Loved the twist, the free DLC was good. Definitely worth a play.