ItsTowersss
13 reviews liked by ItsTowersss
Until Dawn
2015
first game to ever serve cunt. 'its cringe' thats literally the point you troglodyte
Bringing Kirby to a 3D space was a great choice that made for a very entertaining game. The new copy abilities made it very fun to progress through the level. The new achievements to save Waddle Dees during the level allows more replayability and backtracking with multiple abilities, as well as having fun, yet challenging boss fights all throughout the game.
Boku no Natsuyasumi is a summer vacation; Shin-chan is a video game that is set during a summer vacation.
The gentle, understated daily morning exercises of Bokunatsu are pantomimed in Shin-chan with throaty yells and militaristic marching music. Nobody dares to speak a single authentic word with each other lest it gets in the way of whatever tired, juvenile joke Shin-chan is about to sucker them into. The player is constantly corralled down a main path so the game can continue expositing this narrative about a mad scientist and his dinosaurs, which regularly (and fatally) pierces through whatever atmosphere the game may have had with their garish clown music and exaggerated bombast.
Experiences are objectified as Things to Collect so that they may be included in the local newspaper and gain subscriptions. The wildlife is objectified as Things to Collect so that they may be traded in for money with the local shop owners. The money must be collected so food can be bought to satiate Shin-chan’s stamina meter; if it empties, Shin-chan faints due to hunger and is sent back to the house his family is staying at. This stamina meter turns even something as fundamental as walking into a number to manage. Everything is a datapoint. This is not a vacation. This is taking the beauty and joy and the little quirks of living and twisting it into a loveless economy.
Sometimes, in the quiet gasps for air between micromanaging a preschooler’s summer vacation and the squealing displays of Saturday-morning-cartoon-ish storytelling, whispers of Millennium Kitchen’s legacy can be felt in the breeze. Sometimes walking lazily through beautifully rendered backgrounds with considerately composed perspectives feels just as comfortable and familiar as it’s supposed to. This lasts until the mistake is made of interacting with the game at all by catching a bug or a fish or picking up an item, to which Shin-chan will once again holler out his raucous yawps, and being shown the name of that collectible inevitably calls to mind: “The girl who runs the grocery store will pay me 100 yen for six of these.”
Maybe someday Millennium Kitchen will have the opportunity to localize one of their games that doesn’t feel the need to obsessively gamify itself or “subvert” whatever honest sentiments they’ve drawn upon for the mainline Boku no Natsuyasumi titles. I also wonder how much of this obnoxiousness comes from the fact that they’re working with the Shin-chan intellectual property in particular. Attack of the Friday Monsters, their previous game, had similar problems in tone but at least wasn’t nearly so vapid. Maybe this is what they think Western audiences want. Looking at current review scores around the internet, maybe they’re right. Personally, I’d prefer a summer vacation over a video game set during one.
The gentle, understated daily morning exercises of Bokunatsu are pantomimed in Shin-chan with throaty yells and militaristic marching music. Nobody dares to speak a single authentic word with each other lest it gets in the way of whatever tired, juvenile joke Shin-chan is about to sucker them into. The player is constantly corralled down a main path so the game can continue expositing this narrative about a mad scientist and his dinosaurs, which regularly (and fatally) pierces through whatever atmosphere the game may have had with their garish clown music and exaggerated bombast.
Experiences are objectified as Things to Collect so that they may be included in the local newspaper and gain subscriptions. The wildlife is objectified as Things to Collect so that they may be traded in for money with the local shop owners. The money must be collected so food can be bought to satiate Shin-chan’s stamina meter; if it empties, Shin-chan faints due to hunger and is sent back to the house his family is staying at. This stamina meter turns even something as fundamental as walking into a number to manage. Everything is a datapoint. This is not a vacation. This is taking the beauty and joy and the little quirks of living and twisting it into a loveless economy.
Sometimes, in the quiet gasps for air between micromanaging a preschooler’s summer vacation and the squealing displays of Saturday-morning-cartoon-ish storytelling, whispers of Millennium Kitchen’s legacy can be felt in the breeze. Sometimes walking lazily through beautifully rendered backgrounds with considerately composed perspectives feels just as comfortable and familiar as it’s supposed to. This lasts until the mistake is made of interacting with the game at all by catching a bug or a fish or picking up an item, to which Shin-chan will once again holler out his raucous yawps, and being shown the name of that collectible inevitably calls to mind: “The girl who runs the grocery store will pay me 100 yen for six of these.”
Maybe someday Millennium Kitchen will have the opportunity to localize one of their games that doesn’t feel the need to obsessively gamify itself or “subvert” whatever honest sentiments they’ve drawn upon for the mainline Boku no Natsuyasumi titles. I also wonder how much of this obnoxiousness comes from the fact that they’re working with the Shin-chan intellectual property in particular. Attack of the Friday Monsters, their previous game, had similar problems in tone but at least wasn’t nearly so vapid. Maybe this is what they think Western audiences want. Looking at current review scores around the internet, maybe they’re right. Personally, I’d prefer a summer vacation over a video game set during one.
This review contains spoilers
This game's villian has the greatest origin story I have ever encountered in all of fiction. He told a bunch of his childhood peers when he was younger that he was going to go to a Theme Park and eat rice balls, but then got sick the day he was supposed to go, so he became a super villan. Incredible motivation, I would turn out the exact same if something that traumatic happened to me. As for the game itself, im really happy this was brought to the west. I recently completed Attack of The Friday Monsters, and thr similarities between the 2 are VERY striking (down to the same exact train bell sound effects). Of course, im sure this game is even more so similar to the My Summer Vacation games, beings as it is one. But I wouldnt know since I have never played a main line entry. This game does do a weird kinda Majora's Mask thing, where you relive the same week over and over. While at first I was like, oh that makes sense, its to give you unlimited time since each day runs on a timer and you can only acomplish so much in a given day. But I'm pretty sure no mater what, the game just equates out to 3 weeks worth of time, since major story events have to happen for days to progress. So why not just have the vacation last 3 weeks instead of wiping everybodies memories each week? Maybe its simply the devs trying to have more fun with the formula, because thats how thr main series works, which might be more grounded in logic? I couldnt say, beings as they are Japan only. Regardless, it works out, just a weird choice. The story is pretty stiffly brought over and localized for the west, with not every joke making sense. But I think that works for this type of game being as its so Japanese in its identity, I wouldnt want it to have to cater to an American's logic. But I do think the game could have done without the dinosaurs. This is something I felt about Attack of The Friday Monsters too, as with both of these games I feel like the game would be more intresting and imersive without these weird monster plot lines. I'm not ultra familer with Shin-Chan though, but I watched a few episodes while playing this, and it tonaly doesnt feel super acurate to the source matrial, but I cant really say for sure. I enjoyed this more than Attack of thr Friday Monster's, mainly due to this being a much more fleshed out and realized version of that game, with the included bug catching and fishing. The main gameplay loop of collecting different pictures and memories through experiencing in game events and questlines is something I enjoyed and was addictive to complete, as I liked the in game pictures you got for completing things. But sometimes it feels like your just talking tl everybody in town on a given day to see if its time for there quest line to progess. Definitely something I could see myself replaying in a couple of years though, the art style is very well done.
Shin-Chan is a little stinker ain’t he
FlatOut 2
2006
sofia martinez on her way to claim first place after you've failed to roll the ramp rng and tumbled into a stationary stone at the last lap
FlatOut 2
2006
Demolition Derby the game featuring Nickelback
A good game to grab and play immediately. However, don't take it too seriously. The moment you do, you realize how much faults this game has too, and it gets annoying and repetitive fast.
Nevertheless, this is a game that returns the franchise to its roots. I'd get it on sale, and if you have an itch to race million dollar hypercars at crazy fast speeds.
Nevertheless, this is a game that returns the franchise to its roots. I'd get it on sale, and if you have an itch to race million dollar hypercars at crazy fast speeds.
A Need for Speed game that is more frustrating than fun. Handling is my biggest gripe with Hot Pursuit Remastered. Cars feel heavy and control like rocks. This comes off even more annoying considering it can be easy to crash into oncoming traffic. Cop time trials (referred to as Rapid Response) really don't work well with the under-steer handling physics. Hitting walls penalizes your time and adds 2-3 seconds, making earning a gold merit very challenging.
Gameplay is fine. Two parts exist. Cop Career and a Racer Career. The cop side has you participate in time trials and events centered around busting racers, while the Racer side has its own set of events like time trials and races (most of which throw cops at you mid-race and turn into a race-getaway pursuit to the finish). Winning events rewards bounty points, with more events and cars being unlocked at higher bounty point levels. Car customization is as basic as changing a car color and selecting from a few preset vinyls and wraps. A free roam mode also exists.
The Burnout comparisons are definitely true and present, seeing that this game was developed by Burnout team Criterion. Takedowns are a key gameplay aspect, working the same was as Burnout even down to the takedown camera that shows after one is successful. Essentially, this game can even be described as Burnout with cops, free roam and very heavy driving physics.
Another issue I have (which I am not sure is a Remastered issue, if it was present in the original, or because I was playing on the Switch version) is that after unpausing the game, the action resumes like normal, but there is a 2-3 second delay before control input registers again. This, of course, has caused me to crash into walls, traffic and lose speed in pursuits.
I can see why a lot of people like Hot Pursuit because it is a well made game. However, the handling and physics weren't enjoyable enough to draw me in.
Gameplay is fine. Two parts exist. Cop Career and a Racer Career. The cop side has you participate in time trials and events centered around busting racers, while the Racer side has its own set of events like time trials and races (most of which throw cops at you mid-race and turn into a race-getaway pursuit to the finish). Winning events rewards bounty points, with more events and cars being unlocked at higher bounty point levels. Car customization is as basic as changing a car color and selecting from a few preset vinyls and wraps. A free roam mode also exists.
The Burnout comparisons are definitely true and present, seeing that this game was developed by Burnout team Criterion. Takedowns are a key gameplay aspect, working the same was as Burnout even down to the takedown camera that shows after one is successful. Essentially, this game can even be described as Burnout with cops, free roam and very heavy driving physics.
Another issue I have (which I am not sure is a Remastered issue, if it was present in the original, or because I was playing on the Switch version) is that after unpausing the game, the action resumes like normal, but there is a 2-3 second delay before control input registers again. This, of course, has caused me to crash into walls, traffic and lose speed in pursuits.
I can see why a lot of people like Hot Pursuit because it is a well made game. However, the handling and physics weren't enjoyable enough to draw me in.
No More Heroes
2007
Been excited for this one for a while now. Turned out pretty disappointing.
There's not much I like here. The meta commentary is flimsy and thin. And just not fun. It's decently smart that you are a lame guy who has to do chores in order to pay for the fun parts of the game. Those chores aren't lying either: they're just chores. So much of the game is a half executed wink and a nod at the player. Just awkward and not fun.
Take combat and as an example one of the last bosses: bad girl. When you block an attack with the right timing, you get a sortve parry. For bad girl I repeatedly did this and would get one of two hits in of my party combo, but bad girl in no way dodged that second attack, either with her own block or dodge. The whole combat is awkwardly waiting for unavoidable attacks and getting a set amount of mashes in of your own attack. But in situations like bad girl it's arbitrary decided to only let you get in a limited amount, not execute the fight to how you can play it.
And these assassins...are fine? I kept expecting for more here because that's what the game is known for. This ties in with the overall bland art direction. Why am I fighting these guys on a beach, why is this person in a stadium? Sometimes the boss attacks line up with the theme, but art, music, sound rarely lent anything heft or oomph. The music ugh, just fine. I wish I had liked one aspect!
There's no wild ideas or well executed ones.
There's not much I like here. The meta commentary is flimsy and thin. And just not fun. It's decently smart that you are a lame guy who has to do chores in order to pay for the fun parts of the game. Those chores aren't lying either: they're just chores. So much of the game is a half executed wink and a nod at the player. Just awkward and not fun.
Take combat and as an example one of the last bosses: bad girl. When you block an attack with the right timing, you get a sortve parry. For bad girl I repeatedly did this and would get one of two hits in of my party combo, but bad girl in no way dodged that second attack, either with her own block or dodge. The whole combat is awkwardly waiting for unavoidable attacks and getting a set amount of mashes in of your own attack. But in situations like bad girl it's arbitrary decided to only let you get in a limited amount, not execute the fight to how you can play it.
And these assassins...are fine? I kept expecting for more here because that's what the game is known for. This ties in with the overall bland art direction. Why am I fighting these guys on a beach, why is this person in a stadium? Sometimes the boss attacks line up with the theme, but art, music, sound rarely lent anything heft or oomph. The music ugh, just fine. I wish I had liked one aspect!
There's no wild ideas or well executed ones.
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