LukeFowler
2021
I regret to say it took until the final scene for the game to emotionally hook me, but the payoff was worth the journey. (Worth noting: I have an inhuman ability to stare without blinking for long periods, so the scenes predicated on the player having to “let go” of a moment did not have the intended effect.)
This review contains spoilers
No better encapsulation of SWERY’s deal than the fact that, after completing this game about a trans woman, you unlock a “male” costume for her. Maybe he’ll learn one day.
2009
when I was 14 I composed a cover of Lose Yourself in the WarioWare D.I.Y. music maker that instantly kills anyone who hears it
2015
Would’ve ruled if this genius gameplay concept had us revealing a narrative that wasn’t catastrophically dumb, but it’s a fun ride while you’re on it.
1996
Doesn’t know how to be a rhythm game, but it’s fine; nothing had ever been a rhythm game before. It makes up for it by packing in more personality than 80% of the modern industry combined. CHECK, AND TURN, THE SIGNALS TO THE LEFT…
2008
A solid 4.0 with the Touchless mod. Most of the games that made it to Megamix are better there, and most of the ones that didn't were left out for a reason. The others, though…those are rare delights. Crop Stomp is so damn good.
2015
Has some balance issues—namely, that one specific style is unequivocally the optimal way to play—but I’ve played hours upon hours of this game, learned every one of its mechanics by heart, and gotten good enough that I can reliably clear a fresh file on first try…yet I’m still happy to pick it up time and again, and I’m nowhere close to any kind of skill ceiling. It is just that fun, and just that well-designed. This is the kind of game that people would have happily paid obscene amounts for a few decades ago (and would continue to, in today’s hyperinflated collector’s market); at its current price point, it’s highway robbery. Fucking love Downwell.
1994
Perhaps the only game to touch me as deeply as any of my favorite works in other media. It was all downhill from here.