Kolog
This was... surprisingly good. Like, TOO good for a 2-hour April Fools game. It's charming, it's clearly made with lots of care and love put into it, and the runner minigame bangs. It's nothing special for the mystery genre, but it truly is for Sonic.
(Played as a child, just replayed) Decent game made pretty much for children and heavily inspired by famous 3D platformers of that era such as Spyro. Extremely easy and without much depth to it, though levels are fairly well made. Some are more linear, but all involve some exploration. Maybe except for the controls, it's a game that does nothing wrong, but nothing new either.
There's a bark button though.
There's a bark button though.
Today, 20 years ago, the most based videogame franchise ever created was born, so I had to go back to where it all began. From its very beginnings, WarioWare knew how to show its absurdness and uniquely replayable gameplay. Though this one falls on the shorter side and has a few minigames that are just too sudden to beat in the first try (later entries fix these issues), it's just as enjoyable as the others and you can easily beat it in an afternoon!
Incredible jump to 3D for the Kirby games while still managing to feel like a classic Kirby title. The game makes amazing use of 3D environments to add a new layer of exploration and creativity to every single level, and I had a lot of fun clearing the main and extra stories with all bonus challenges. While the main content is easy and very chill, bonus optional content can be very tricky. Only thing I disliked were a few difficulty spikes in some side objectives and the lack of a "restart from checkpoint" button but, overall, this is a masterful game that makes the most out of its simplicity as a Kirby game, but this time you can swallow a whole car and spit it unharmed.
1982
This game is... interesting. It's a good gimmick that would probably work as a minor minigame in a modern game. It's fun to see how 3D-like environments were handled in a console as primitive as the Atari 2600 but, ultimately, it's a game that doesn't have any surprises to offer due to its age and nature.
By far one of the most satisfying games I've ever played, and it's about committing mass genocide using a giant ball. I understood absolutely nothing about what was going on but had fun because big ball goes brrrrrr
2017
A claw machine made a mobile game with a wide variety of levels involving different objectives, but most of them have something in common: trying to keep your structures balanced. The game's easy to pick up. Items with a crane, not so much, but it's still fun even though it ends a bit too early. Shoutouts to the thief.
2019
Sometimes you just need someone to sympathize with. Not every day can be a good day, and we tend to feel better if we have someone to talk to, but don't always have the courage to have face-to-face conversations about what troubles us, our fears and anxieties. Kind Words introduces an idea that, on paper, doesn't sound like it'd work at all: speaking up to a stranger about what's clouding over your mind. But it works. And really nicely, mostly because of two factors: anonymity, and the game costing money, so its users are only people who need it.
As a person with a diagnosed anxiety disorder, this game is a big part of why I always see hope even when I'm at my worst. Because no matter how much effort you put, and how much time you spend doing what you enjoy, we have to accept that things won't always go the way we want. This game, of course, isn't meant to be a replacement to actual therapy, which is what TRULY helped me get out of the deep, dark hole depression is. But having strangers sympathize with you, doing their best to help you... you know, it's the small things that make me smile. If strangers that know nothing about me care... then, maybe, I deserve better, right?
It's hard to call this a game, considering there's no story, or gameplay, or clear objective. You just send your troubles, and help others overcome theirs. It's more something like a sweet, small app made with the best intentions there are. And something that's worth having in your desktop just in case you want to overcome a bad phase of life... or help others do so. You can be the reason why someone finds a reason to smile today. The same way you deserve to smile.
After all, we're in this together. And Lo-Fi is cool.
As a person with a diagnosed anxiety disorder, this game is a big part of why I always see hope even when I'm at my worst. Because no matter how much effort you put, and how much time you spend doing what you enjoy, we have to accept that things won't always go the way we want. This game, of course, isn't meant to be a replacement to actual therapy, which is what TRULY helped me get out of the deep, dark hole depression is. But having strangers sympathize with you, doing their best to help you... you know, it's the small things that make me smile. If strangers that know nothing about me care... then, maybe, I deserve better, right?
It's hard to call this a game, considering there's no story, or gameplay, or clear objective. You just send your troubles, and help others overcome theirs. It's more something like a sweet, small app made with the best intentions there are. And something that's worth having in your desktop just in case you want to overcome a bad phase of life... or help others do so. You can be the reason why someone finds a reason to smile today. The same way you deserve to smile.
After all, we're in this together. And Lo-Fi is cool.
2018
Short bullet-hell like browser game where you avoid shapes and bullets while you eat pellets and enemies as long as they're smaller than you. One of those games that's fun while it lasts.
2021
Graphics and OST are good. And that's pretty much all good stuff about this game. I cannot begin to describe how awful the rest of the game is. Every game design decision feels wrong. Most costumes are useless and the gimmick overall sucks. I love 3D platformers and I always attempt to 100% every game I play, but I couldn't bother even TRYING this one. Nope. How did I even manage to gather the patience to finish this?
Uchikoshi just casually releasing one of the best examples of mystery, multi-branch storytelling. A story that just keeps getting better as you learn more and more about its settings and diverse cast of characters, with the help of the constant unexpected plot twists only Uchikoshi knows how to deliver. It may take a bit to start getting interesting, and I kinda prefered Zero Escape-like puzzles compared to Somniums, but playing this was still an unforgettable experience, and I couldn't recommend it more to fans of visual novels or mysteries. Borderline masterpiece.
2017
Sweet puzzle game I downloaded on my phone out of boredom and, honestly, it's among the best mobile puzzle games I've played. There's 100 levels, but you know everything there's to learn after the first 3-4 levels. It's one of the best examples of the "easy to learn, hard to master" principle. And trust me, it can be hard. Amazing puzzle design.
2020
Takes some time but in the end it's worth the laughs. There's always that one artist friend in every group who puts everyone to shame, unless they get like 10 seconds to copy someone else's drawing. There are plenty of modes so that even your skilled mates make garbage ass drawings and, honestly, that only makes it more fun
Real good game for what I expected to be just a quick spin-off. The story is interesting and well-connected throughout the five cases. Maybe rebuttals (aka off-court cross-examinations) weren't as gripping as the one from the first trilogy, which was a tad more memorable overall, but I still truly enjoyed playing through this game.
2022
I'll say the obvious first: the technical issues of this game are really hard to ignore. Low framerate, crashes, and all of that nasty stuff. However, Pokémon Scarlet is the most fun I've had with a Pokémon game in a long, long time. Open world games are always a huge yes in my book, and Pokémon pulled it off perfectly. The game lets you explore, never feels slow, and the many QoL additions do help a lot. It was a bit on the easier side for me as I found myself being over-leveled for most of the game as I always made sure to explore every corner of the world. What I'd definitely change about the gameplay, though, is the fact that the levels of all gyms, titans and Team Star bases are fixed.
It's a shame that GameFreak devs keep getting deadlines this tight, and are ultimately forced to release a game that feels technically unfinished. The technical aspect is what prevents this game from going down in history as something close to a masterpiece. Still, props to them for still making the game as fun as they could, and with an amazing story and Pokémon/character designs as well. Putting the performance aside, this is one of the most fun games I've played this year. Now, I'm on my way to complete the Pokédex!
It's a shame that GameFreak devs keep getting deadlines this tight, and are ultimately forced to release a game that feels technically unfinished. The technical aspect is what prevents this game from going down in history as something close to a masterpiece. Still, props to them for still making the game as fun as they could, and with an amazing story and Pokémon/character designs as well. Putting the performance aside, this is one of the most fun games I've played this year. Now, I'm on my way to complete the Pokédex!