Francium
31 reviews liked by Francium
This review contains spoilers
I remember being a bit disappointed as I initially mulled over the details and implications of Meakashi in my head after I finished it. It was a good part, don't get me wrong; the transition from paranormal horror to devastation and melodrama was very well done - but I didn't like how it reflected upon Watanagashi. Previously my favourite arc due to how it portrays the weight on the shoulders of Mion Sonozaki (my favourite character in the series), Meakashi replaced this motivation with the all well and good - but less compelling and thematically consistent with the rest of the series - struggle with Shion's relationship with Satoshi after his death. I was scared that this could be a running theme along the answer arcs - the denigration of previous plot threads in the name of some different service - but luckily I was proven wrong.
Other parts of Higurashi have had cold opens before, but they all usually entail some out-of-context horrific act occuring before us. Tsumihoroboshi is a wild detour from this - the cold open takes us to the dumpster which Rena loves so much. The sky is an unnatural pink - and the mood in the air is uncertain. There is a feeling of bittersweet camaraderie in the air in this short prologue, like the feeling you'd get seeing a friend as a kid for the last time before they move away. You know it, they know it - but there is nothing to do at that point but look behind you at all the good times.
From what little I've engaged with the wider Higurashi community, the slice-of-life segments seem to be a malign figure when talking about the series - and are often presented as necessary evils for the "slow burn" horror that a lot of the episodes go for in the more charitable analyses. Though their mileage can definitely vary by episode (the slice-of-life segments in Onikakushi feel particularly weak and miscellaneous compared to any other part) I feel like they are always vital; they are often enjoyable and knowing how these characters tick does a lot more for the series' gravitas than just making it scarier when their eyes go weird. I bring this up primarily because the slice-of-life segments in Tsumihoroboshi are just amazing. Especially riding off the back of Meakashi - which on account of how the timeline is split up doesn't really have a lot of time to let us steep in character interactions - the game beginning with this strangely lovely interaction in the dumpster followed by a water gun fight almost transcendentally fun for its participants was very refreshing and set up how the plot's unravelling would contrast with Meakashi (and Onikakushi to a lesser extent).
Another thing you immediately notice right away are the improvements in the engine (or perhaps, just an increased attention to detail within it) - there are zooms, flashes, quicker transitions and different shots using the character sprites - it's a visual novel so there isn't a lot they can do with this but it helps pull you into the feelings of the characters with a bit more ease. Rena's perspective text in particular was effective; the gradient from a pale pink to a sheer crimson throughout the story marks her descent very effectively and is subtle enough that as it began to happen I wasn't even sure if it was really there or just me - surely an intentionally feature.
Story-wise it feels, at least to me, a lot more like a question arc than an answer arc in execution. Probably just because the very open-and-shut Meakashi is the only other one I've read, but the way it sprinkles resolutions with further seeds of questions felt like the perfect balance to me - very reminiscent of how I felt first discovering about Oyashiro-sama's curse in the very first arc as Keiichi descended into paranoia.
On the topic of Keiichi's paranoia in Onikakushi I felt like they treated it with a lot more respect than Meakashi did Watanagashi. The resolution provided in Tsumihoroboshi is relevant to both Onikakushi and Tsumihoroboshi's overall themes - the characters who descend into madness are usually the ones unwilling to hear anyone out, and people are at their best when they work together and understand one another. The ending almost felt corny and absurd in its delivery of this but I think it ended up feeling really sweet by the end of the mainline story.
And yet, despite this, so much is brought up in Tsumihoroboshi that I'm so excited to see wrap up in the last two arcs. In particular, Miyo and Rika seem to have a lot more to do in the last two arcs - Miyo seems to be a harbinger of doom in all the arcs but her present is especially strongly felt in these last 2 answer arcs as her notes on Hinamizawa always seem to work as some sort of catalyst. Rika and Keiichi noticing other timelines seems to be a strange concept with a lot of potential too; I always just kinda accepted it as a "petri dish" kind of situation where each arc was just the same background scenario with ever-so-slightly different starting conditions but even that seems like it could collapse as we approach the end.
As I see it, Tsumihoroboshi combines everything there is to love about the previous 5 arcs into an equally heartwarming, heartbreaking and horrifying look into some very hurt people in a very hurt town. Pretty much tied with Watanagashi for my favourite arc to go through at the moment.
Other parts of Higurashi have had cold opens before, but they all usually entail some out-of-context horrific act occuring before us. Tsumihoroboshi is a wild detour from this - the cold open takes us to the dumpster which Rena loves so much. The sky is an unnatural pink - and the mood in the air is uncertain. There is a feeling of bittersweet camaraderie in the air in this short prologue, like the feeling you'd get seeing a friend as a kid for the last time before they move away. You know it, they know it - but there is nothing to do at that point but look behind you at all the good times.
From what little I've engaged with the wider Higurashi community, the slice-of-life segments seem to be a malign figure when talking about the series - and are often presented as necessary evils for the "slow burn" horror that a lot of the episodes go for in the more charitable analyses. Though their mileage can definitely vary by episode (the slice-of-life segments in Onikakushi feel particularly weak and miscellaneous compared to any other part) I feel like they are always vital; they are often enjoyable and knowing how these characters tick does a lot more for the series' gravitas than just making it scarier when their eyes go weird. I bring this up primarily because the slice-of-life segments in Tsumihoroboshi are just amazing. Especially riding off the back of Meakashi - which on account of how the timeline is split up doesn't really have a lot of time to let us steep in character interactions - the game beginning with this strangely lovely interaction in the dumpster followed by a water gun fight almost transcendentally fun for its participants was very refreshing and set up how the plot's unravelling would contrast with Meakashi (and Onikakushi to a lesser extent).
Another thing you immediately notice right away are the improvements in the engine (or perhaps, just an increased attention to detail within it) - there are zooms, flashes, quicker transitions and different shots using the character sprites - it's a visual novel so there isn't a lot they can do with this but it helps pull you into the feelings of the characters with a bit more ease. Rena's perspective text in particular was effective; the gradient from a pale pink to a sheer crimson throughout the story marks her descent very effectively and is subtle enough that as it began to happen I wasn't even sure if it was really there or just me - surely an intentionally feature.
Story-wise it feels, at least to me, a lot more like a question arc than an answer arc in execution. Probably just because the very open-and-shut Meakashi is the only other one I've read, but the way it sprinkles resolutions with further seeds of questions felt like the perfect balance to me - very reminiscent of how I felt first discovering about Oyashiro-sama's curse in the very first arc as Keiichi descended into paranoia.
On the topic of Keiichi's paranoia in Onikakushi I felt like they treated it with a lot more respect than Meakashi did Watanagashi. The resolution provided in Tsumihoroboshi is relevant to both Onikakushi and Tsumihoroboshi's overall themes - the characters who descend into madness are usually the ones unwilling to hear anyone out, and people are at their best when they work together and understand one another. The ending almost felt corny and absurd in its delivery of this but I think it ended up feeling really sweet by the end of the mainline story.
And yet, despite this, so much is brought up in Tsumihoroboshi that I'm so excited to see wrap up in the last two arcs. In particular, Miyo and Rika seem to have a lot more to do in the last two arcs - Miyo seems to be a harbinger of doom in all the arcs but her present is especially strongly felt in these last 2 answer arcs as her notes on Hinamizawa always seem to work as some sort of catalyst. Rika and Keiichi noticing other timelines seems to be a strange concept with a lot of potential too; I always just kinda accepted it as a "petri dish" kind of situation where each arc was just the same background scenario with ever-so-slightly different starting conditions but even that seems like it could collapse as we approach the end.
As I see it, Tsumihoroboshi combines everything there is to love about the previous 5 arcs into an equally heartwarming, heartbreaking and horrifying look into some very hurt people in a very hurt town. Pretty much tied with Watanagashi for my favourite arc to go through at the moment.
" Mion can I go to your school? "
" For wholesome doppelganger moment? "
" Yeeeeess wholesome doppelganger moment. "
Actually becomes the writer excuse to justify child abuse like a boss.
" For wholesome doppelganger moment? "
" Yeeeeess wholesome doppelganger moment. "
Actually becomes the writer excuse to justify child abuse like a boss.
willard
I have my fair share of problems with Ciconia so far but thankfully my expectations were tempered from the start due to the setting and scale. The abnormally large and varied cast is handled fairly well and they have good interactions. The non-wartime parts are entertaining and do a good job of endearing you to the characters while building up the world. The wartime parts end up feeling very repetitive with a lot of redundant dialogue regarding the WALLS OF PEACE and DONT KILL DONT DIE and generally uninteresting action scenes. It feels like every other scene features ryukishi using the game as a mouthpiece to tell the reader how bad humanity is and how much war sucks and it ends up detracting from the story. The themes are meaningful and interesting but the lack of subtlety makes it feel very tiring after a while. Often I was subjected to scenes where everyone would be all buddy buddy and spend 5 minutes talking about how much they'll support peace which is annoying when anyone with more than a couple brain cells knows from the start that they will end up killing each other. Presentation is upgraded from the other WTC games but it doesn't really get a lot of chances to shine given how few legitimate fights there are. Music is good as usual but not really as memorable as umineko's or as impactful as higurashi's. Despite my problems, the ending was great and I'm interested to see where the story is going to go from here now that they've built everything up.
umineko pacing
"im not owned! im not owned!!", i continue to insist as i slowly shrink and transform into a logic error
"Visuals Novels is shit. I'll be here fighting angels in the name of chaos while you cling to Chee. Can you even take on the armies of YHVH and fight in the name of Chaos? I bet you dream of holding Chee's hand instead of claiming the world in Lucifer's own glory. Do you even dungeon crawling? Try not to feel too bad, but the objective best waifu in the entire series is actually Louissa Ferre, from Strange Journey, and Chee is but a bakuh and unpure girl compared to her."
-Rog, 2014 (RIP)
Playing SMTV has kinda made me think back to what it is about this game that'll make it always hold that special place for me that is "my favorite RPG." It's pretty far from my favorite one from a gameplay standpoint, or a story standpoint, really my favorite in terms of much except for one thing: A phenomenal sense of atmosphere. Strange Journey is a game that does almost everything in service to making an atmosphere of absolute hostility. The dungeons are sprawling labrynths of hidden doors, poison traps, and random teleporters. Just about every boss is infamous for some kind of bullshit status ailment abuse or overpowered attacks (Asura Roga funny moments). The music, while hardly my favorite in the series, looms over like a constant blanket of dread. The game really goes to efforts to make you feel like the small, powerless grunt in a foreign hellhole that you are. Every challenge, while maybe not the fairest thing in the world, makes you feel like an absolute god once you overcome it.
The other stuff is good too! While SMT as a series isn't really known for its stories, this one's about as rock solid as the franchise gets. Plot's cool and got some neat twists and turns, Zelenin and Jimenez are objectively the best alignment reps in the franchise, and the BBEG being someone other than YHVH or Lucifer is certainly a nice change of pace. Also, it's cool how this is like the only game that doesn't fully incentivise going down the neutral path to get all the content in the game, since each ending has it's own unique shit to do. Rare neutral L is appreciated. Combat's good. It's an SMT game, the combat's generally gonna be good. The lack of press turn is maybe a little unfortunate, but giving alignment an actual gameplay purpose was a cool addition to it.
Shin Megami Tensei peaked as a franchise when the stupid bucket head man went into the earth bussy and we need to free ourselves from the shackles that Cuckturne and Peesona 5 set upon us. Reject press tvrn, retvrn to massive fvcking teleporter mazes. It's fun, i swear
-Rog, 2014 (RIP)
Playing SMTV has kinda made me think back to what it is about this game that'll make it always hold that special place for me that is "my favorite RPG." It's pretty far from my favorite one from a gameplay standpoint, or a story standpoint, really my favorite in terms of much except for one thing: A phenomenal sense of atmosphere. Strange Journey is a game that does almost everything in service to making an atmosphere of absolute hostility. The dungeons are sprawling labrynths of hidden doors, poison traps, and random teleporters. Just about every boss is infamous for some kind of bullshit status ailment abuse or overpowered attacks (Asura Roga funny moments). The music, while hardly my favorite in the series, looms over like a constant blanket of dread. The game really goes to efforts to make you feel like the small, powerless grunt in a foreign hellhole that you are. Every challenge, while maybe not the fairest thing in the world, makes you feel like an absolute god once you overcome it.
The other stuff is good too! While SMT as a series isn't really known for its stories, this one's about as rock solid as the franchise gets. Plot's cool and got some neat twists and turns, Zelenin and Jimenez are objectively the best alignment reps in the franchise, and the BBEG being someone other than YHVH or Lucifer is certainly a nice change of pace. Also, it's cool how this is like the only game that doesn't fully incentivise going down the neutral path to get all the content in the game, since each ending has it's own unique shit to do. Rare neutral L is appreciated. Combat's good. It's an SMT game, the combat's generally gonna be good. The lack of press turn is maybe a little unfortunate, but giving alignment an actual gameplay purpose was a cool addition to it.
Shin Megami Tensei peaked as a franchise when the stupid bucket head man went into the earth bussy and we need to free ourselves from the shackles that Cuckturne and Peesona 5 set upon us. Reject press tvrn, retvrn to massive fvcking teleporter mazes. It's fun, i swear
squitter the spider is actually the greatest character design in history. look at that sick cunt. look at how fucking happy he is with his sick ass shoes. hell yeah B)
Brawl Stars
2018
Brawl Stars is quite notorious for being a rage-inducing game. There are many factors that make the game frustrating to play, but perhaps the most pressing one for many people are other players. Both opponents and teammates often act as if they're oblivious to the mechanics of the game, and it doesn't change no matter how high in trophies you've gotten. It could be a teammate rushing to fight the opposing team alone in gem grab, while holding 10 gems, or an opponent completely ignoring everyone else trying to attack them in showdown, and instead deciding to target you at the cost of their own life.
The game is obviously targeted more towards a younger audience, so it's true that you're going to be matched often with children. While that does affect how the match plays out, it's not only the young players that don't play quite as well as others (being a child doesn't also mean that you're automatically bad at the game, of course). Brawl Stars provides very little rewards for completing matches, and the matches are often very quick. This gives all players the impression that playing with focus and care is a waste of time, which in turn makes them more prone to not playing as well. The problem comes up when players decide to follow that mindset every match.
While the brawlers aren't terribly imbalanced, all maps favor certain types or brawlers over others. But even then matches are like a game of rock-paper-scissors, because you could always end up spawning next to a brawler that counters your brawler perfectly on that map. If you try picking that brawler next game, you could spawn next to another counter again. Brawlers die out very quickly if there's a direct head-to-head battle going on (assuming there aren't massive amounts of power cubes in play), which means there's very little room to strategize in combat. Almost all of the strategization simply happens in the lobby, where you pick your brawler, possible teammates, gadget, star power and gear. The only problem is that the last three are dependant on money spending and/or previous grinding.
Skins are overpriced for free-to-play players, most shop offers are horrendously bad, brawlers with high rarities are a pain to unlock, and brawl pass tokens to earn from matches run out very quickly. While the adrenaline received from the game can get very addicting, and the rare win streaks can feel satisfying, I would overall describe my experience with Brawl Stars very mixed. I'm currently at ~20500 trophies, but I think it's time for me to retire for good, as many of my friends have also done with this game.
The game is obviously targeted more towards a younger audience, so it's true that you're going to be matched often with children. While that does affect how the match plays out, it's not only the young players that don't play quite as well as others (being a child doesn't also mean that you're automatically bad at the game, of course). Brawl Stars provides very little rewards for completing matches, and the matches are often very quick. This gives all players the impression that playing with focus and care is a waste of time, which in turn makes them more prone to not playing as well. The problem comes up when players decide to follow that mindset every match.
While the brawlers aren't terribly imbalanced, all maps favor certain types or brawlers over others. But even then matches are like a game of rock-paper-scissors, because you could always end up spawning next to a brawler that counters your brawler perfectly on that map. If you try picking that brawler next game, you could spawn next to another counter again. Brawlers die out very quickly if there's a direct head-to-head battle going on (assuming there aren't massive amounts of power cubes in play), which means there's very little room to strategize in combat. Almost all of the strategization simply happens in the lobby, where you pick your brawler, possible teammates, gadget, star power and gear. The only problem is that the last three are dependant on money spending and/or previous grinding.
Skins are overpriced for free-to-play players, most shop offers are horrendously bad, brawlers with high rarities are a pain to unlock, and brawl pass tokens to earn from matches run out very quickly. While the adrenaline received from the game can get very addicting, and the rare win streaks can feel satisfying, I would overall describe my experience with Brawl Stars very mixed. I'm currently at ~20500 trophies, but I think it's time for me to retire for good, as many of my friends have also done with this game.
Splatoon
2015
i fucking hate this game