Kokichiko
2014
Lasagna
2017
This game is REALLY fun. It can be summed up in one word, really: Speed. The game is EXTREMELY fast and that makes it INSANELY enjoyable. I don't know what to say other than that, honestly. It's just like Smash on a sugar rush and it's hilariously great. If you're ever bored, grab a friend or two and go at it with this.
2016
Initially, after playing this game, I immediately wrote a review on Steam that consisted of me (who was, at the time, soaking my own shirt in tears) talking about how much of a tearjerker the true ending was. By that alone, you should certainly be able to tell where this much more proper review is heading.
Oneshot is an absolutely fantastic game that is so much more than what it appears to be on the surface. The protag of the game, Niko, is a great bundle of fun with a very endearing design and a hilariously innocent and emotionally honest personality that any person can easily grow attached to within mere minutes. While the cast of the game is small, as is the run time (something that will be spoken about later), each character is very likable and definitely memorable, even the minor ones, such as one of the female characters you meet in the Cafe of the game that offers Niko food.
The game is aesthetically beautiful, the most notable example being The Refuge (the last section of the game) where different shades of red all shine to make a filled up bowl of eye-candy. All the colors blend in really nicely together; I could really look at some of the parts of this game forever if I wished to. You'll also get semi-frequent cutscenes throughout the game which let you take a closer, more detailed look at what's going on.
Whilst the game is a very simple pixely mesh of graphics, I don't think it at all takes away from the overall experience. Sometimes simplicity is better, yeah?
The overall idea of the game is that Niko, who wakes up in an old, abandoned looking house, is destined to be the Messiah who restores the decaying world's light with a lightbulb he finds in the aforementioned house which just-so happens to be the sun of the world. Whilst, at the climax of the game, you do have the option to restore the sun to the Tower of the game, it will also trap Niko in the world, allowing him no escape. You also have the option to smash the sun which will instead leave the world to die, letting all the other characters perish, then allowing Niko to go home. It's the definition of selfishness vs selflessness and a pretty decent way of tugging at the heartstrings.
Once you meet Prophetbot, a minor character who was built specifically to talk to Niko upon his entrance to the world, he also tells Niko that you, the player, are their God, meant to safely guide Niko as he travels along. This is where the fourth-wall breaking comes into play, something the game uses as a main feature. To elaborate, many times, what appears to be the closest thing to an antagonist of the game, the World Machine, will mess around in your documents folder alongside your general computer. You'll usually need to search around and find secrets hidden in your folders and what not to progress through the game. This makes for a very unique and interesting experience, one which I haven't really felt with another game before.
There's a very nice selection selection of music in here as well! They really work with the atmosphere of the game and are very nice to listen to. Each track really fits with where it's placed in the game and each one is extremely memorable.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Just the initial playthrough is solid, but, where things really shine (no pun intended) is the Solstice ending. This ending is achieved after you delete your save data after the first run and restart the game, causing a new option to appear upon the title screen. After inserting the password, you get to start the Solstice route, where things become different as soon as you hit the mines.
In this run, the world slowly starts to be corrupted by squares; the main objective going on to turn from restoring the world with light to restoring the world from total corruption as Niko learns from special characters restricted to this run that he exists within a game and the program (the World Machine) is trying to kill itself due to the first law of robotics which states that a robot may not put a real, living person within harm's way. Alongside that, you learn most of the actual lore in this playthrough of the game, which is essentially, the "author" created the World Machine (aka the game) to replicate the dying world he had suffered within. As said, because of the violation of the laws of robotics, the World Machine turns chaotic and attempts to kill itself and tries to force Niko to smash the sun, which would cause him to return home, to the real world, and leave all the other characters (who are supposedly just code) behind.
In the final part of Solstice, Niko confronts the World Machine, who uses Niko's reflection to communicate with him. I really don't want to talk about this part in great detail, just because I feel I couldn't explain with words how truly good it is. It really is a tearjerker and one that is much better having seen or played than reading.
But, to try and summarize, Niko eventually convinces the World Machine to recover the true ending of the game that had been long gone after accidental corruption of the code- said ending being Niko getting to go home after making the final decision with the sun. Eventually, the World Machine succeeds in recalling the ending, letting Niko finally be able to go home and leave the world you and him had experienced. He says his final goodbye and leaves for good, the journey finally ending.
The one minor kink people seem to have with this game is that it's a tad short - Taking a few hours if you know what you're doing. This is certainly a fair criticism and I think I can agree to it - While I have heavy praise for the game, I feel if it was given just a bit more time, a few more hours of areas and characters to expand upon and grow with, it could have been even more fantastic.
Overall, I think Oneshot is a beautiful, heartbreaking and adorable game. If you want a really damn solid RPG Maker game and have a few bucks to spend, Oneshot will be waiting for you. It's such an engaging, appealing game, and, despite its length, it'll be one you wont forget. Guaranteed.
Oneshot is an absolutely fantastic game that is so much more than what it appears to be on the surface. The protag of the game, Niko, is a great bundle of fun with a very endearing design and a hilariously innocent and emotionally honest personality that any person can easily grow attached to within mere minutes. While the cast of the game is small, as is the run time (something that will be spoken about later), each character is very likable and definitely memorable, even the minor ones, such as one of the female characters you meet in the Cafe of the game that offers Niko food.
The game is aesthetically beautiful, the most notable example being The Refuge (the last section of the game) where different shades of red all shine to make a filled up bowl of eye-candy. All the colors blend in really nicely together; I could really look at some of the parts of this game forever if I wished to. You'll also get semi-frequent cutscenes throughout the game which let you take a closer, more detailed look at what's going on.
Whilst the game is a very simple pixely mesh of graphics, I don't think it at all takes away from the overall experience. Sometimes simplicity is better, yeah?
The overall idea of the game is that Niko, who wakes up in an old, abandoned looking house, is destined to be the Messiah who restores the decaying world's light with a lightbulb he finds in the aforementioned house which just-so happens to be the sun of the world. Whilst, at the climax of the game, you do have the option to restore the sun to the Tower of the game, it will also trap Niko in the world, allowing him no escape. You also have the option to smash the sun which will instead leave the world to die, letting all the other characters perish, then allowing Niko to go home. It's the definition of selfishness vs selflessness and a pretty decent way of tugging at the heartstrings.
Once you meet Prophetbot, a minor character who was built specifically to talk to Niko upon his entrance to the world, he also tells Niko that you, the player, are their God, meant to safely guide Niko as he travels along. This is where the fourth-wall breaking comes into play, something the game uses as a main feature. To elaborate, many times, what appears to be the closest thing to an antagonist of the game, the World Machine, will mess around in your documents folder alongside your general computer. You'll usually need to search around and find secrets hidden in your folders and what not to progress through the game. This makes for a very unique and interesting experience, one which I haven't really felt with another game before.
There's a very nice selection selection of music in here as well! They really work with the atmosphere of the game and are very nice to listen to. Each track really fits with where it's placed in the game and each one is extremely memorable.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Just the initial playthrough is solid, but, where things really shine (no pun intended) is the Solstice ending. This ending is achieved after you delete your save data after the first run and restart the game, causing a new option to appear upon the title screen. After inserting the password, you get to start the Solstice route, where things become different as soon as you hit the mines.
In this run, the world slowly starts to be corrupted by squares; the main objective going on to turn from restoring the world with light to restoring the world from total corruption as Niko learns from special characters restricted to this run that he exists within a game and the program (the World Machine) is trying to kill itself due to the first law of robotics which states that a robot may not put a real, living person within harm's way. Alongside that, you learn most of the actual lore in this playthrough of the game, which is essentially, the "author" created the World Machine (aka the game) to replicate the dying world he had suffered within. As said, because of the violation of the laws of robotics, the World Machine turns chaotic and attempts to kill itself and tries to force Niko to smash the sun, which would cause him to return home, to the real world, and leave all the other characters (who are supposedly just code) behind.
In the final part of Solstice, Niko confronts the World Machine, who uses Niko's reflection to communicate with him. I really don't want to talk about this part in great detail, just because I feel I couldn't explain with words how truly good it is. It really is a tearjerker and one that is much better having seen or played than reading.
But, to try and summarize, Niko eventually convinces the World Machine to recover the true ending of the game that had been long gone after accidental corruption of the code- said ending being Niko getting to go home after making the final decision with the sun. Eventually, the World Machine succeeds in recalling the ending, letting Niko finally be able to go home and leave the world you and him had experienced. He says his final goodbye and leaves for good, the journey finally ending.
The one minor kink people seem to have with this game is that it's a tad short - Taking a few hours if you know what you're doing. This is certainly a fair criticism and I think I can agree to it - While I have heavy praise for the game, I feel if it was given just a bit more time, a few more hours of areas and characters to expand upon and grow with, it could have been even more fantastic.
Overall, I think Oneshot is a beautiful, heartbreaking and adorable game. If you want a really damn solid RPG Maker game and have a few bucks to spend, Oneshot will be waiting for you. It's such an engaging, appealing game, and, despite its length, it'll be one you wont forget. Guaranteed.
2009
This is another Valve game that is VERY fun with friends and one I can't get enough of. I think the reason I'm giving this a better rating over TF2 is because, if you're doing bad in TF2, not getting the result you desire for, a lot of the time, it kills that motivation to keep going, keep trying. However, In L4D2, I feel that, no matter how many times you fail a level, or fail a campaign, you find that urge to keep trying, because it's such a good time to play. The game consists of many different campaigns in which you amongst 3 other people have to traverse through different areas of said campaign before you're able to complete it and move onto the next one; the game takes place in a zombie apocalypse type world, and, really, what more could you ask for? Shooting zombies in their faces with a group of friends just makes for a great experience, really. The game is very challenging in some parts which makes it even more fun to go through, and, a lot of the levels are really fun to travel, such as one relatively long one in which you cross a broken bridge full of obstacles like cars and trucks. I also really like the special zombies in this, rightfully titled the special infected, which are unique types of zombies that have respective mechanics to attempt to take you and your team down. Another thing that makes this game very good to me is that, whenever you fail, it does not feel like your fault. Most of the time, when you flunk a level, the blame is entirely on you for it over the game causing you to fail. And, lastly, there's a variety of different game modes in this game that can keep you entertained for hours upon hours, such as a versus mode where a team of humans has to go through some of the campaigns whilst being pitted against a team of special infected who are on a separate team controlled by humans attempting to stop the former team. There's also many special mods and addons created, ranging from the weapons to the stages to the characters, all of which can make the times all the more enjoyable. Fantastic game, honestly. I urge you to buy this if you haven't got it already.
2007
The game is an absolute blast with friends. I seriously adore TF2; it has a very unique, fun cartoon-like art style that makes it really enjoyable to look at and I love the fact that you're able to play this both casually and competitively and receive and equal amount of fun whilst doing so. Dicking around in a casual style is great and makes for hilarious moments and doing very good competitively is a feeling that's really unlike any other. All the cosmetics in this game are really cool and I love the fun little references and details hidden inside each one of them. Each class is seriously lovable and Valve has put an insane amount of work into their characters; each one plays very different and, honestly, I love playing all of them. They've been given fleshed out hilarious personalities that really make the one-of-a-kind in the gaming scene; you could easily spot any of them from a mile away. It really saddens me that this game has been recently neglected by Valve because it's such a special gem that deserves much more. Completely recommend this. I've met some great people and made amazing experiences with this game and it will never get old for me. A timeless classic.