Laurencher
25 Reviews liked by Laurencher
Wakfu
2012
It's a MMORPG really similar to Dofus. These are made by the same company, and both share the same Universe.
It has the same 18 classes, but their gameplay & abilities are quite different. The combat is still turn-based tho.
The artstyle is absolutely gorgeous, and I loved that it's a dynamic camera following your character, unlike Dofus where you have to move from one map to another on a grid.
The jobs are so much more fun in this game. Not only they can give you tons of kamas (the money in both games), but it's also genuinely fun to level up.
I leveled-up a lumberjack, and I really enjoyed planting the trees myself, taking care of my shrubs, and watching the trees grow. You're encouraged to help other players while leveling-up your job.
For example, I took the habit to let all my trees available for other players every time I had to log off, and I was making sure not to walk over other players shrubs, or cutting their trees.
It's a lot easier to have a team compared to Dofus because you can play multiple characters at the same time by using only one account. So you don't need to subscribe several accounts.
You can also play the full game without subscribing at all, but you can only play one character at the same time if you don't subscribe. It's still really cool tho.
I didn't do a lot of PvE because I was leveling up jobs most of the time in order to get kamas. But I'll probably focus on dungeons the next time I replay the game!
----------Playtime & Completion----------
[Played between August & October 2021]
Playtime: 250 hours
I stopped after reaching level 80. And I got Lumberjack level 130.
It has the same 18 classes, but their gameplay & abilities are quite different. The combat is still turn-based tho.
The artstyle is absolutely gorgeous, and I loved that it's a dynamic camera following your character, unlike Dofus where you have to move from one map to another on a grid.
The jobs are so much more fun in this game. Not only they can give you tons of kamas (the money in both games), but it's also genuinely fun to level up.
I leveled-up a lumberjack, and I really enjoyed planting the trees myself, taking care of my shrubs, and watching the trees grow. You're encouraged to help other players while leveling-up your job.
For example, I took the habit to let all my trees available for other players every time I had to log off, and I was making sure not to walk over other players shrubs, or cutting their trees.
It's a lot easier to have a team compared to Dofus because you can play multiple characters at the same time by using only one account. So you don't need to subscribe several accounts.
You can also play the full game without subscribing at all, but you can only play one character at the same time if you don't subscribe. It's still really cool tho.
I didn't do a lot of PvE because I was leveling up jobs most of the time in order to get kamas. But I'll probably focus on dungeons the next time I replay the game!
----------Playtime & Completion----------
[Played between August & October 2021]
Playtime: 250 hours
I stopped after reaching level 80. And I got Lumberjack level 130.
LEGO Universe
2010
I wrote an email to Lego support because I was so distraught over this game shutting down. I still have this email on file somewhere, I pleaded that they open it again because it was my favorite game, and I offered my username to show how much I loved it: YoungVandaDarkflameIsAwe (there was a character limit). I remember the insanity of the free jetpacks handed out the last day. Goddammit Lego, bring it back, I'll tell my psychiatrist this will cure my depression once and for all
Kingdom Rush Origins
2014
This review contains spoilers
yet another banger from Ironhide studio
It's surprising how the quality is still great after 3 games. New towers, new heroes, new mechanics, new enemies
In comparasing with frontiers:
1) Towers are more interesting overall. There are issues with resistance balance which makes some of the towers kinda useless, but overall the towers are pretty fun and the abilities are mostly okay(fuck druids tho).
Barrackas are insanely cool tho. Assassins were cool, but damn, these ones are flashy and fun
2) Heroes are also more balanced and better. With the introduction of the hero ultimate now you have even more options on how to handle the situation. Also, the heroes are more or less balanced, I felt like I could pick different heroes and still win without a problem
3) New enemies mechanics are pretty fun. It's awesome that they keep making new mechanics that fit the game
4) New stages and overall aesthics are pretty cool. Quite a shift but feels more "fantasy-ish"
Now the bads:
Magic resistance is insane here. It's just more beneficial to spam Aracne Archers on every stage, cuz you can penetrate physical armor quite well, but not the magic. That kinda makes magic towers obsolete, especially on some of the levels. Also, artillery sucks in this game so there are even more reasons to spam archers.
overall game is incredible. I love kingdom rush, every one of them deserves love
It's surprising how the quality is still great after 3 games. New towers, new heroes, new mechanics, new enemies
In comparasing with frontiers:
1) Towers are more interesting overall. There are issues with resistance balance which makes some of the towers kinda useless, but overall the towers are pretty fun and the abilities are mostly okay(fuck druids tho).
Barrackas are insanely cool tho. Assassins were cool, but damn, these ones are flashy and fun
2) Heroes are also more balanced and better. With the introduction of the hero ultimate now you have even more options on how to handle the situation. Also, the heroes are more or less balanced, I felt like I could pick different heroes and still win without a problem
3) New enemies mechanics are pretty fun. It's awesome that they keep making new mechanics that fit the game
4) New stages and overall aesthics are pretty cool. Quite a shift but feels more "fantasy-ish"
Now the bads:
Magic resistance is insane here. It's just more beneficial to spam Aracne Archers on every stage, cuz you can penetrate physical armor quite well, but not the magic. That kinda makes magic towers obsolete, especially on some of the levels. Also, artillery sucks in this game so there are even more reasons to spam archers.
overall game is incredible. I love kingdom rush, every one of them deserves love
Hollow Knight
2017
One of if not the best metroidvania of all time. This game has so much content for just 15 dollars its insane, and I've played it so many times I feel paying 200 dollars would be justified.
The combat is deceptively simple, staying fresh and giving you new ways to play throughout the entire length.
The art and music are just simply beautiful.
The combat is deceptively simple, staying fresh and giving you new ways to play throughout the entire length.
The art and music are just simply beautiful.
it's like Og KR but on drugs:
1) some towers are insane
Building 3-4 necrs and you deadass have got an army.
Archers just melting enemies
Assassins could insta kill crabs
2) heroes now are more interesting. Instead of leveling them up in every level, they now have a global lvl and more abilities.
3) More interesting and fucking annoying enemies. fuck you crabs and nagas
Overall great game, a great successor of KR. now it's time for origins
1) some towers are insane
Building 3-4 necrs and you deadass have got an army.
Archers just melting enemies
Assassins could insta kill crabs
2) heroes now are more interesting. Instead of leveling them up in every level, they now have a global lvl and more abilities.
3) More interesting and fucking annoying enemies. fuck you crabs and nagas
Overall great game, a great successor of KR. now it's time for origins
Omori
2020
I AM THE #1 KEL FAN
Aquaria
2007
This is definitely the worst game I'd consider a favorite, for reasons I'd fully cover in a review that would be too long to actually bother writing, but to summarize: Aquaria is a Zelda-like action-adventure game with metroidvania-style progression that takes place in an expansive aquatic world. The problem is the characters are boring, the story is boring, the voiceover is corny, the dungeons are mostly boring, the puzzles are trash, the bosses are trash, the Simon Says boss especially is trash, the late game areas are half-baked...
Here's the thing though: if you place emphasis on the "adventure" over the "action" aspect and pretend Aquaria is more of an exploration game (with occasional pressure from hostile wildlife) then it's actually pretty goddamn beautiful. First of all it's huge. Not Hollow Knight huge but it's way bigger than it initially seems. The camera dynamically zooms based on the size of the area you're in, which, especially near the beginning of the game when each new region you unlock is bigger than the last, goes a long way towards leaving an impression of sheer scale. The progression is pretty conventional metroidvania, but you're given a surprising amount of freedom to explore from a relatively early stage in the game. And Aquaria is a world that encourages that kind of engagement, rich as it is with so many unique locaitons and different forms of life. The beauty and variety of Aquaria is alone is enough to make me want to seek out its every nook and cranny and take immense pleasure in doing so. It's easily a 20+ hour playthrough if you find all the optional content (just don't actually complete it because again, the bosses etc. are trash), but I've done it twice—that's how fucking lush this world is to me. Sure, the game overall would be better if it had better gameplay, but there are any number of more polished and finely-tuned games, many of them featuring supposedly great characters and deep themes, with worlds that feel completely lifeless to me.
Aquaria's soundtrack is equally gorgeous, both in terms of its individual tracks in isolation, and the way motifs are reused across them, giving the game an almost symphonic quality.
Returning to Aquaria's gameplay, there is one aspect of it that I'll defend, namely that it can be controlled completely with the mouse. Technically this is the least efficient way of playing, since you can move and switch forms using the keyboard. Having to use the mouse to move, aim, AND switch forms with the color wheel would probably drive most players up a wall, but I personally find adapting to unusual control schemes to be an interesting challenge. It also makes the game a bit harder, which is probably a good thing since Aquaria is generally a pretty easy game.
Here's the thing though: if you place emphasis on the "adventure" over the "action" aspect and pretend Aquaria is more of an exploration game (with occasional pressure from hostile wildlife) then it's actually pretty goddamn beautiful. First of all it's huge. Not Hollow Knight huge but it's way bigger than it initially seems. The camera dynamically zooms based on the size of the area you're in, which, especially near the beginning of the game when each new region you unlock is bigger than the last, goes a long way towards leaving an impression of sheer scale. The progression is pretty conventional metroidvania, but you're given a surprising amount of freedom to explore from a relatively early stage in the game. And Aquaria is a world that encourages that kind of engagement, rich as it is with so many unique locaitons and different forms of life. The beauty and variety of Aquaria is alone is enough to make me want to seek out its every nook and cranny and take immense pleasure in doing so. It's easily a 20+ hour playthrough if you find all the optional content (just don't actually complete it because again, the bosses etc. are trash), but I've done it twice—that's how fucking lush this world is to me. Sure, the game overall would be better if it had better gameplay, but there are any number of more polished and finely-tuned games, many of them featuring supposedly great characters and deep themes, with worlds that feel completely lifeless to me.
Aquaria's soundtrack is equally gorgeous, both in terms of its individual tracks in isolation, and the way motifs are reused across them, giving the game an almost symphonic quality.
Returning to Aquaria's gameplay, there is one aspect of it that I'll defend, namely that it can be controlled completely with the mouse. Technically this is the least efficient way of playing, since you can move and switch forms using the keyboard. Having to use the mouse to move, aim, AND switch forms with the color wheel would probably drive most players up a wall, but I personally find adapting to unusual control schemes to be an interesting challenge. It also makes the game a bit harder, which is probably a good thing since Aquaria is generally a pretty easy game.
Borderlands 2
2012
the only thing this game has going for is its art design because even the gameplay fucking sucks
Omori
2020
There's a certain plastic feeling that this game has. Through it's youthful charm, and it's whimsical environments and character designs, there's a sheen covering the whole thing. That feeling where despite whatever it is, if you threw it at a wall hard enough, it would break. A game about fragility, how special life is because how much work is needed to take care of it, and how terrifying looking over that ledge can be. A standout in indie RPGs.
Tender Frog House
2020
Posting isn't praxis, and people who have just discovered leftism need to work the notion that it is out of their system in less embarrassing ways than this.
It's way, way, way, way too many words to make the incredibly brave claim that capitalism is bad and influences the art that we make. No fucking shit. Literally any understanding of material reality would dictate that. The only way that you could believe this to be in any way a shocking, revelatory statement is if you are so simultaneously self-important and clueless that you think nobody else has caught on yet. Unfortunately for us, the developer of Tender Frog House fits neatly into both categories.
I always feel a little bad shitting on the people behind the game rather than the final piece itself, but this has earned the ire. What a complete waste of time. Why say in this many bland, empty, boring words what so many other, better pieces of art already have? Do you really, truly believe "comfy" games to be such a damnable, corrupting plague that you need to crusade against them? Are they honestly the true progenitors and perpetrators of the worst aspects of late capitalism, or are you just making broad gestures towards an easy target? Considering how Molochian the gaming space already is at corporate levels, with the constant, unresolved, evidenced accusations of sexual, mental, physical, and fiscal abuse, why make frog games the subject that needs to be tackled? I think most of what you'll see at any of those Comfy Game Showcases seem creatively bankrupt and boring, but to say that they're the agents of Mammon on par with the rest of the industry is silly. Go outside.
Anyway, the only actual proof provided for any of the claims in this game is when Sister Cow says that the only interesting thing about her is the fact that she's mentally ill, and then she immediately pulls a quote from Capitalist Realism.
It's way, way, way, way too many words to make the incredibly brave claim that capitalism is bad and influences the art that we make. No fucking shit. Literally any understanding of material reality would dictate that. The only way that you could believe this to be in any way a shocking, revelatory statement is if you are so simultaneously self-important and clueless that you think nobody else has caught on yet. Unfortunately for us, the developer of Tender Frog House fits neatly into both categories.
I always feel a little bad shitting on the people behind the game rather than the final piece itself, but this has earned the ire. What a complete waste of time. Why say in this many bland, empty, boring words what so many other, better pieces of art already have? Do you really, truly believe "comfy" games to be such a damnable, corrupting plague that you need to crusade against them? Are they honestly the true progenitors and perpetrators of the worst aspects of late capitalism, or are you just making broad gestures towards an easy target? Considering how Molochian the gaming space already is at corporate levels, with the constant, unresolved, evidenced accusations of sexual, mental, physical, and fiscal abuse, why make frog games the subject that needs to be tackled? I think most of what you'll see at any of those Comfy Game Showcases seem creatively bankrupt and boring, but to say that they're the agents of Mammon on par with the rest of the industry is silly. Go outside.
Anyway, the only actual proof provided for any of the claims in this game is when Sister Cow says that the only interesting thing about her is the fact that she's mentally ill, and then she immediately pulls a quote from Capitalist Realism.
i did not learn how to parry until the monsoon fight
Heaven's Vault
2019
This review contains spoilers
This is an immensely cool concept that only barely manages to rise above the janky and frustrating gameplay it's behind. I'll save actually listing all of my complains for the end of the review so that you don't have to scroll past it, but for now suffice to say that the game is extremely slow and tedious, you're constantly being interrupted and having to wait. It was bad enough that I couldn't bear repeating it for a second playthrough, even though I was excited by the prospect of a New Game+ with deeper puzzles.
Visually, the game's artstyle looks unique and great in stills, but in motion, in gameplay, I found it very jarring, with the minimal animations, leaving behind inexplicable specters as you walk, and awkward camera issues as the game tries to dynamically make a cutscene out of wherever you're standing.
So then, the concept that redeems all this. Even with the shallow nature of the conlang, and the puzzles often being more about guessing what words make sense rather than interpreting the glyphs, it was still a fun, satisfying mechanic, and I was always motivated to push through the tedium of the rest of the game in the hopes of getting to more inscriptions. The setting and history are really engaging too, especially with the way you uncover it being a fundamental part of the game's flow.
I was also impressed with how dynamic and open the game seemed, with you able to learn new information in radically different orders, and in conversation Aliya's dialogue will reflect that.
As far as the actual plot goes though - Iiiii dunno. The secret hyperadvanced precursor society - if you can call it a society - is a pretty played-out trope, and the focus on the entropy of the universe kind of undermines the importance of looking at history and learning the language. Unless I missed it, you don't even get offered the chance to translate the huge amounts of ancient script in the Vault. Nothing you learned matters, because everything is doomed and you need to either leave it all behind or (I assume) die for your principles if you refuse to. In general, the last minute ending split tends to be a red flag.
I do love the "Vault" wordplay - secrets hiding in plain sight on the cover and all that - but the very fact it's wordplay relies on the shallowness of the conlang. Why would "safe-underground-place" and "travel-high-far-fast" be the same word in such an ideographic language?
Right: Time to whine. Each of these complaints is individually minor, but they add up to a tedious, frustrating experience. It's a mix of small one-time things and game-spanning quibbles that never go away.
As already mentioned, the game's visual style is pretty strange in motion.
The dialogue system is really slowly paced, unvoiced, and doesn't have the best contrast against the background. Lines appear one-by-one far slower than I'd like, with no option I could find to bring up the next line early. Voiced lines are extremely rare, and don't always seem important enough to get that distinction, compared to the conversations that go unvoiced.
Aliya is... kind of a dick, sometimes to an unwarranted degree, and sometimes you don't really have any good choices, or you don't realise a choice will go where it does. I like to try to be nice! This does have the upside of making Aliya a distinct character, but the amount of game you spend choosing responses feels at odds.
The game doesn't seem to like alt-tabbing very much.
I'm not sure if it was a related issue or just intentional design, but when I played the game, a lot of it was almost silent. Not just the lack of dialogue, but few-to-no music or sound effects. It was eerie, and not in situations where it would be intentionally so.
The game likes to take control away from you to walk down stairs or through doorways and such. This increases the feeling that you spend a lot of time waiting, without player agency. Additionally, if you're in the middle of a conversation, which can usually play out while you walk, you'll stop dead in your tracks until it plays out in full, including any responses.
Six bugs you to return to the ship almost every time you cross a threshold once you've cleared one plot flag on a moon, even if you're trying to walk directly another one.
I don't know that there's much benefit to doing so anyway, but does Huang have to walk away slowly with each individual artefact I give him when he knows I have five more?
Like I said, I have some mechanical gripes with the translation mechanic. When you're trying to define word boundaries, I couldn't figure out a way to make the game try it even if I knew everything left I could add was wrong. And every time you do get it wrong, often being just forced to, you have to sit through Aliya or Six chiming in with the slow dialogue system, then all of your progress is discarded and you have to place it all back again.
Also, I wanted to be able to search inscriptions by words. If a definition is rejected and I need to choose a new one, I want to be able to see the context I previously defined it in, and if the definition of a word updates, I want to review other inscriptions it was in, even if it's not all locked in yet.
When sailing, the slow dialogue system will sometimes make you miss turns. They could have taken more care to keep those lines shorter so that the important thing is always in the first message.
Visually, the game's artstyle looks unique and great in stills, but in motion, in gameplay, I found it very jarring, with the minimal animations, leaving behind inexplicable specters as you walk, and awkward camera issues as the game tries to dynamically make a cutscene out of wherever you're standing.
So then, the concept that redeems all this. Even with the shallow nature of the conlang, and the puzzles often being more about guessing what words make sense rather than interpreting the glyphs, it was still a fun, satisfying mechanic, and I was always motivated to push through the tedium of the rest of the game in the hopes of getting to more inscriptions. The setting and history are really engaging too, especially with the way you uncover it being a fundamental part of the game's flow.
I was also impressed with how dynamic and open the game seemed, with you able to learn new information in radically different orders, and in conversation Aliya's dialogue will reflect that.
As far as the actual plot goes though - Iiiii dunno. The secret hyperadvanced precursor society - if you can call it a society - is a pretty played-out trope, and the focus on the entropy of the universe kind of undermines the importance of looking at history and learning the language. Unless I missed it, you don't even get offered the chance to translate the huge amounts of ancient script in the Vault. Nothing you learned matters, because everything is doomed and you need to either leave it all behind or (I assume) die for your principles if you refuse to. In general, the last minute ending split tends to be a red flag.
I do love the "Vault" wordplay - secrets hiding in plain sight on the cover and all that - but the very fact it's wordplay relies on the shallowness of the conlang. Why would "safe-underground-place" and "travel-high-far-fast" be the same word in such an ideographic language?
Right: Time to whine. Each of these complaints is individually minor, but they add up to a tedious, frustrating experience. It's a mix of small one-time things and game-spanning quibbles that never go away.
As already mentioned, the game's visual style is pretty strange in motion.
The dialogue system is really slowly paced, unvoiced, and doesn't have the best contrast against the background. Lines appear one-by-one far slower than I'd like, with no option I could find to bring up the next line early. Voiced lines are extremely rare, and don't always seem important enough to get that distinction, compared to the conversations that go unvoiced.
Aliya is... kind of a dick, sometimes to an unwarranted degree, and sometimes you don't really have any good choices, or you don't realise a choice will go where it does. I like to try to be nice! This does have the upside of making Aliya a distinct character, but the amount of game you spend choosing responses feels at odds.
The game doesn't seem to like alt-tabbing very much.
I'm not sure if it was a related issue or just intentional design, but when I played the game, a lot of it was almost silent. Not just the lack of dialogue, but few-to-no music or sound effects. It was eerie, and not in situations where it would be intentionally so.
The game likes to take control away from you to walk down stairs or through doorways and such. This increases the feeling that you spend a lot of time waiting, without player agency. Additionally, if you're in the middle of a conversation, which can usually play out while you walk, you'll stop dead in your tracks until it plays out in full, including any responses.
Six bugs you to return to the ship almost every time you cross a threshold once you've cleared one plot flag on a moon, even if you're trying to walk directly another one.
I don't know that there's much benefit to doing so anyway, but does Huang have to walk away slowly with each individual artefact I give him when he knows I have five more?
Like I said, I have some mechanical gripes with the translation mechanic. When you're trying to define word boundaries, I couldn't figure out a way to make the game try it even if I knew everything left I could add was wrong. And every time you do get it wrong, often being just forced to, you have to sit through Aliya or Six chiming in with the slow dialogue system, then all of your progress is discarded and you have to place it all back again.
Also, I wanted to be able to search inscriptions by words. If a definition is rejected and I need to choose a new one, I want to be able to see the context I previously defined it in, and if the definition of a word updates, I want to review other inscriptions it was in, even if it's not all locked in yet.
When sailing, the slow dialogue system will sometimes make you miss turns. They could have taken more care to keep those lines shorter so that the important thing is always in the first message.
Minecraft
2011
It's difficult to pinpoint what Minecraft does so differently that other games, before or after its inception, can't seem to be able to remotely capture. Regardless of how many years have passed since its Alpha days, booting the game up and spending those first couple of hours building dirt houses and digging ridiculously autistic tunnel systems still represent some of the most magical and captivating moments I have experienced in a videogame. A maverick trail-blazer of game design, Minecraft disregards any previous notions of what makes or breaks a game, and instead plops you into an indifferent and artifical world without any seemingly narrative context and invites the player to fill it with life and personality by leaving his permanent mark on it, starting right off the bat by having you punch wood out of trees and that totally making sense.
Either a stroke of genius or just pure luck, the combination of cutesy and colorful lego like aesthetic with the occasional lonely and scary desolation nature gives Minecraft a surprisingly introspective atmosphere, making grand statements about human labor and wilderness conquest out of simple moments like finally finishing that perfect wooden balcony as you watch the square sun rising and "Wet Hands" starts to play. The tangible and real threat of Minecraft's permanent item loss and unwillingness to throw the player a bone or hold his hand, turns the mere idea of exploring the outskirts of your comfy man hole into a cautious adventure that has you feeling a sense of joy as you catch on your way back the familiarity of your ever evolving house on the horizon, and turns a simple detour that leaves you lost in the woods at night into a dreadful nightmare that has you frantically searching for a light source inbetween the trees as you dodge a horde of zombies and skellies.
While there is some truth to the criticism that "there's nothing to do" in Minecraft, which can be attributed to its low skill ceiling and diminishing returns as you run out of goals and ideas, the devs have been intelligent enough to not mess with the core appeal of the game with its inumerous updates over the years, and that's letting the player find his own fun, be that building a giant castle at the top of a mountain, building a minecart track that crosses a lava lake in the Nether, conquering The End and beating the Ender Dragon, or simply exploding enough TNT at once to crash the game.
I still can't decipher Minecraft after all these years. All I know is that I keep coming back, be it with a group of friends, or by myself. I still find its quiet and randomized world to be beautfiul and imaginative. I still love how the animals and enemies look and sound. I still can't get over how perfect and effective its oddly sad soundtrack is. I still get a stupid grin on my face when I manage to make the simplest of redstone mechanisms work. I still shit my pants every time I fall into a sense of safety around my home base and suddenly hear that dreaded hiss behind me as I watch my work explode. I dunno, it's a very good game.
Either a stroke of genius or just pure luck, the combination of cutesy and colorful lego like aesthetic with the occasional lonely and scary desolation nature gives Minecraft a surprisingly introspective atmosphere, making grand statements about human labor and wilderness conquest out of simple moments like finally finishing that perfect wooden balcony as you watch the square sun rising and "Wet Hands" starts to play. The tangible and real threat of Minecraft's permanent item loss and unwillingness to throw the player a bone or hold his hand, turns the mere idea of exploring the outskirts of your comfy man hole into a cautious adventure that has you feeling a sense of joy as you catch on your way back the familiarity of your ever evolving house on the horizon, and turns a simple detour that leaves you lost in the woods at night into a dreadful nightmare that has you frantically searching for a light source inbetween the trees as you dodge a horde of zombies and skellies.
While there is some truth to the criticism that "there's nothing to do" in Minecraft, which can be attributed to its low skill ceiling and diminishing returns as you run out of goals and ideas, the devs have been intelligent enough to not mess with the core appeal of the game with its inumerous updates over the years, and that's letting the player find his own fun, be that building a giant castle at the top of a mountain, building a minecart track that crosses a lava lake in the Nether, conquering The End and beating the Ender Dragon, or simply exploding enough TNT at once to crash the game.
I still can't decipher Minecraft after all these years. All I know is that I keep coming back, be it with a group of friends, or by myself. I still find its quiet and randomized world to be beautfiul and imaginative. I still love how the animals and enemies look and sound. I still can't get over how perfect and effective its oddly sad soundtrack is. I still get a stupid grin on my face when I manage to make the simplest of redstone mechanisms work. I still shit my pants every time I fall into a sense of safety around my home base and suddenly hear that dreaded hiss behind me as I watch my work explode. I dunno, it's a very good game.
i genuinely loved this game. i just think that specific skill checks shouldve been a 100% chance to occur after a certain amount of points. for example, getting into the building where you pick between a savoir faire skill check and a physical instrument skill check can straight up soft lock your game if you cant do either, so i had to savescum it to do it. it sucks because a big part of the game is dealing with the failed skillchecks that you get along the way.
aside from that, the pace of the story is a little wonky sometimes, but the first half of the game was genuinely one of the most engaging and wonderful stories ive gone through in any artistic medium. its amazing how much work was put into crafting this world.
lieutenant kitsuragi is a true homie.
aside from that, the pace of the story is a little wonky sometimes, but the first half of the game was genuinely one of the most engaging and wonderful stories ive gone through in any artistic medium. its amazing how much work was put into crafting this world.
lieutenant kitsuragi is a true homie.
I'm not crazy in love like most people: the writing can be dense to a fault (or I'm too stupid to absorb it all), it's prone to rambling, I zoned out during certain lore dumps, etc.
But this is definitely one of the better-written pieces of media I've ever seen. The narrator and skills talking to you works incredibly well, and is further boosted by the VA. I don't know how well it works without the voices tbh
Every character is fully realized, which is an incredible achievement, and plenty of side stories really stuck with me: the bookstore lady sidequest, and René storyline to name a couple
Plus, it gives you a lot of food for thought, and I find myself reflecting on its themes and meanings. Despite the chaotic world, and a protagonist who... doesn't even his shit together to say the least, I think Disco Elysium ends up with an ultimately hopeful and optimistic themes. Though this may be a case of different interpretations
Movements kinda sucks though, and I still don't understand why fast travel is so specific
But this is definitely one of the better-written pieces of media I've ever seen. The narrator and skills talking to you works incredibly well, and is further boosted by the VA. I don't know how well it works without the voices tbh
Every character is fully realized, which is an incredible achievement, and plenty of side stories really stuck with me: the bookstore lady sidequest, and René storyline to name a couple
Plus, it gives you a lot of food for thought, and I find myself reflecting on its themes and meanings. Despite the chaotic world, and a protagonist who... doesn't even his shit together to say the least, I think Disco Elysium ends up with an ultimately hopeful and optimistic themes. Though this may be a case of different interpretations
Movements kinda sucks though, and I still don't understand why fast travel is so specific