Gana
2022
hehe i can knock things off of tables
2022
they're bold as hell putting the best content in the last world like that but i aint complaining
Nice epilogue and bridge between Higurashi and Umineko, though being honest, I didn't really think it was all that necessary. (i did not touch the other two)
It's definitely outshined by other games, but it has its charm. I really enjoy how, unlike other games, if you play late at night your villagers are just out there, and you can talk with them as normal.
Every case was solid, and they did a pretty good job having a thread between cases. Edgeworth is great in the protagonists seat and many of the side characters, especially Courtney, bounced really well off him.
1998
this was miserable
Pretty boring. The level design isn't that inspired, and it seems like the remake adds noticeable lag to a lot of the abilities in the form of animations.
This review contains spoilers
I thought I'd been spoiled going in by knowing it was a trans-focused game, but the end revealing that she was still male-presenting in real life was an incredibly good writing choice. I'm just an ally, but I thought it did a pretty good job with the trans themes, aside from a small hangup with the self harm aspect. A part of me is in genuine disbelief that Swery made this.
Gameplay wise, it could be better. It falls for a lot of the pitfalls in this type of puzzle platformer game, where it takes longer than usual to actually solve the puzzle once you've seen the solution because of all the movement you have to do. It's not helped by this game's unique self harm mechanic, which I am again rather conflicted on. I think the puzzles involving it are usually creative, but 1. it slows down gameplay, 2. kinda feels like misery porn sometimes? and 3. feels.... weird in conjunction with the rest of the game's themes. These are all ultimately minor hangups, which combined only manage to drop the game from a 5 to a 4.5. As for other parts of the gameplay, I like the extra donut puzzles and the text messages that come with them. I think the texts are a really good way of 1. breaking up pacing and 2. just characterizing JJ and her situation in general. They were a key part of my enjoyment of the game all throughout.
Great game overall. I could easily see this resonating strongly with people both in and out of the trans community.
Gameplay wise, it could be better. It falls for a lot of the pitfalls in this type of puzzle platformer game, where it takes longer than usual to actually solve the puzzle once you've seen the solution because of all the movement you have to do. It's not helped by this game's unique self harm mechanic, which I am again rather conflicted on. I think the puzzles involving it are usually creative, but 1. it slows down gameplay, 2. kinda feels like misery porn sometimes? and 3. feels.... weird in conjunction with the rest of the game's themes. These are all ultimately minor hangups, which combined only manage to drop the game from a 5 to a 4.5. As for other parts of the gameplay, I like the extra donut puzzles and the text messages that come with them. I think the texts are a really good way of 1. breaking up pacing and 2. just characterizing JJ and her situation in general. They were a key part of my enjoyment of the game all throughout.
Great game overall. I could easily see this resonating strongly with people both in and out of the trans community.
1999
trying to learn the controls gave me a fresh perspective of what it must be like for a non-gamer to play a platformer for the first time
I can see the appeal but I really have a hard time dealing with the only being able to equip two items at once, especially with one of those items being your sword. It feels like this game isn't designed at all with this restriction in mind, which leads to a lot of annoying menuing. I do like the season manipulation concept though, lots of fun potential there. I'd probably play a remake of this.
1996
Decent fun. Pretty impressive given that it was one of the first rhythm games. I like the concept behind the freestyling mechanic but I think it could've used more guidance to see how to actually do it properly beyond just experimentation
turns out that 9 year old me was actually correct about sonic with a sword being sick as fuck
Very ambitious game, I'll give it that much. I like the rotating armies idea both narratively (mostly) and in game play, and I think the amount of challenge this game offers is also mostly enjoyable, but it is pretty aggravating for some missions, especially the long ones if you lose a main character.
Writing-wise, I feel like we're always just a little bit short of being good. There are some fun ideas in just about every arc, but I never really feel like enough is done with them. It doesn't help that the rotating PoVs does make it difficult to really develop characters or plot points.
The most glaring issue with this game is the complete removal of the support system, and it's the primary reason why I'm dropping it. Supports are the main way to have any character writing whatsoever, and removing them entirely makes many units (especially new ones) feel like piles of stats more than people. I think it also throws off the pacing, not having any non-plot scenes between chapters.
Overall I think the game is fine but it's not good enough for me to really want to play it more than something else.
Writing-wise, I feel like we're always just a little bit short of being good. There are some fun ideas in just about every arc, but I never really feel like enough is done with them. It doesn't help that the rotating PoVs does make it difficult to really develop characters or plot points.
The most glaring issue with this game is the complete removal of the support system, and it's the primary reason why I'm dropping it. Supports are the main way to have any character writing whatsoever, and removing them entirely makes many units (especially new ones) feel like piles of stats more than people. I think it also throws off the pacing, not having any non-plot scenes between chapters.
Overall I think the game is fine but it's not good enough for me to really want to play it more than something else.
Very unique. Came from that era of RPGs where people were really trying to Innovate the systems, so it doesn't have levels, instead giving you small (eventually capped) stat boosts from enemies and giving you somewhat bigger ones from bosses. The "magic" not relying on an MP stat and instead having you outfit yourselves with spells that you can use once per battle is an interesting idea as well, one that I mostly like.
Still, the combat isn't perfect. The element types and field system can often cause battles to snowball, more often than not in a bad way when it comes to bosses. This is not helped by Revives being rare, as there's a good chance the character holding the revive can just be killed, forcing you to either give up the fight or sacrifice their level, which they can only get from the boss.
The plot feels... weird. There are themes of fighting fate and also a vague plot about environmentalism somewhere in there. Characters will spout off really philosophical dialogue at almost random moments, but there's not enough backing behind it for it to feel like anything more like a college student trying, and failing, to sound like they have deep thoughts. There is precisely 1 really cool scene, but it's not enough.
There's an insane amount of party members in this game, and from what I can tell, most of them have almost nothing to contribute to the plot. They barely even talk, let alone talk to each other. I'm assuming this feature was also experimental, and maybe you could get really into the whole comparing and contrasting them strategically thing for combat, but overall I would've preferred if this game just had a normal party made up of the party members that do feel important.
Also, the port sucks ass.
Still, the combat isn't perfect. The element types and field system can often cause battles to snowball, more often than not in a bad way when it comes to bosses. This is not helped by Revives being rare, as there's a good chance the character holding the revive can just be killed, forcing you to either give up the fight or sacrifice their level, which they can only get from the boss.
The plot feels... weird. There are themes of fighting fate and also a vague plot about environmentalism somewhere in there. Characters will spout off really philosophical dialogue at almost random moments, but there's not enough backing behind it for it to feel like anything more like a college student trying, and failing, to sound like they have deep thoughts. There is precisely 1 really cool scene, but it's not enough.
There's an insane amount of party members in this game, and from what I can tell, most of them have almost nothing to contribute to the plot. They barely even talk, let alone talk to each other. I'm assuming this feature was also experimental, and maybe you could get really into the whole comparing and contrasting them strategically thing for combat, but overall I would've preferred if this game just had a normal party made up of the party members that do feel important.
Also, the port sucks ass.
2016
Some cool stuff, but is missing... something. Nothing in this game quite grabs me the way an Obsidian game should. Nothing quite feels deep enough, faction conflict feels forced from the get go. I'd say a significant issue I have with it is that it forces you to "pick a side" in a conflict almost immediately after creating your character without you having time to really observe either of them in practice. Real-time-combat-with-pausing is also just a very unappealing genre to me.