Nepiki
2016
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/lumo/
''I won’t deny that I was disappointed by the game not even looking close to the cute cover art it has, but I was able to look past that in favour of finding a capable modern isometric adventure. The isometric perspective was handled fairly well for the most part, only working against me in a minimal amount of situations. While the main character wasn’t really capable of much himself, the different amount of puzzle rooms and references to other forms of media kept the game mostly fresh. The quality of the puzzles themselves were alright, but I really disliked how the game forced arbitrary waiting on you very often. While far from required, this game is definitely anti-completionist with no backtracking and a lot of one-chance moments. Combine that with a map that is just not good and my experience overall ended up being frustrating not necessarily because of the gameplay itself, but because of how punishing it is towards people who want to do everything the game has to offer.''
''I won’t deny that I was disappointed by the game not even looking close to the cute cover art it has, but I was able to look past that in favour of finding a capable modern isometric adventure. The isometric perspective was handled fairly well for the most part, only working against me in a minimal amount of situations. While the main character wasn’t really capable of much himself, the different amount of puzzle rooms and references to other forms of media kept the game mostly fresh. The quality of the puzzles themselves were alright, but I really disliked how the game forced arbitrary waiting on you very often. While far from required, this game is definitely anti-completionist with no backtracking and a lot of one-chance moments. Combine that with a map that is just not good and my experience overall ended up being frustrating not necessarily because of the gameplay itself, but because of how punishing it is towards people who want to do everything the game has to offer.''
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/redout/
''Redout was definitely an exciting high-speed racing game for me. The tracks were gorgeous to race on with a lot of futuristic settings, and the controls felt just right to blaze through the corners with a multitude of different teams and power-ups to fit your racing style. The emphasis on actual racing instead of combating is there, which is a nice change of pace for futuristic racing games and also feels more rewarding. But the rewards solely felt that way for the actual races, because the campaign barely motivated me to do as many missions as possible due to a lacking sense of progression. This feeling is amplified by a user interface that just felt horrendous to work with, not highlighting anything important and also not making it feel like every different career mission is important. Even though there is a good variety of racing modes- and tracks, I eventually stopped finishing the campaign because of the UI and lack of progression, which is unfortunate because the racing overall is very solid.''
''Redout was definitely an exciting high-speed racing game for me. The tracks were gorgeous to race on with a lot of futuristic settings, and the controls felt just right to blaze through the corners with a multitude of different teams and power-ups to fit your racing style. The emphasis on actual racing instead of combating is there, which is a nice change of pace for futuristic racing games and also feels more rewarding. But the rewards solely felt that way for the actual races, because the campaign barely motivated me to do as many missions as possible due to a lacking sense of progression. This feeling is amplified by a user interface that just felt horrendous to work with, not highlighting anything important and also not making it feel like every different career mission is important. Even though there is a good variety of racing modes- and tracks, I eventually stopped finishing the campaign because of the UI and lack of progression, which is unfortunate because the racing overall is very solid.''
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/cybarian-the-time-travelling-warrior/
''The goal of Cybarian: The Time Travelling Warrior was to be an arcade-like game inspired by old-school platformers and beat-m-ups, and I’d say they’ve done a fairly good job at it. The difficulty is deliberately set to be an arcade-like experience, but I personally found it to be perfectly manageable overall due to later abilities slightly ruining the otherwise fine timing-based combat. I had fun going through the stages because they offered something new with every new area, but my main issue with them is a problem I have with the game in general: it’s far too short, and also a bit too simplistic. The game can easily be beaten in less than an hour, and while I certainly had fun and craved for more, I’m of the opinion that this game is too short. There’s a lot of potential for a good, or even great game here, but most of it doesn’t reach the potential it could have become.''
''The goal of Cybarian: The Time Travelling Warrior was to be an arcade-like game inspired by old-school platformers and beat-m-ups, and I’d say they’ve done a fairly good job at it. The difficulty is deliberately set to be an arcade-like experience, but I personally found it to be perfectly manageable overall due to later abilities slightly ruining the otherwise fine timing-based combat. I had fun going through the stages because they offered something new with every new area, but my main issue with them is a problem I have with the game in general: it’s far too short, and also a bit too simplistic. The game can easily be beaten in less than an hour, and while I certainly had fun and craved for more, I’m of the opinion that this game is too short. There’s a lot of potential for a good, or even great game here, but most of it doesn’t reach the potential it could have become.''
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/professor-layton-and-the-curious-village/
''With a beautiful hand-drawn art style and a unique setting, Professor Layton and the Curious Village has definitely intrigued me to try out more of this franchise in due time. The characters are vibrant and designed around their personalities, and their obsessive nature with handing out puzzles at the most awkward of times made me laugh more than it probably was intended to. I also felt the puzzles were good for the most part, but there were some real stinkers in there that I disliked due to them intentionally trying to trick you… which ruined every trick question that came afterwards due to me already expecting them. I will admit that I had less fun than I wanted to due to my completionist mindset, but I have learned my lesson and will apply this knowledge to future games for sure.''
''With a beautiful hand-drawn art style and a unique setting, Professor Layton and the Curious Village has definitely intrigued me to try out more of this franchise in due time. The characters are vibrant and designed around their personalities, and their obsessive nature with handing out puzzles at the most awkward of times made me laugh more than it probably was intended to. I also felt the puzzles were good for the most part, but there were some real stinkers in there that I disliked due to them intentionally trying to trick you… which ruined every trick question that came afterwards due to me already expecting them. I will admit that I had less fun than I wanted to due to my completionist mindset, but I have learned my lesson and will apply this knowledge to future games for sure.''
2018
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/suzy-cube/
''Suzy Cube has a direct inspiration in a 3D Platformer made by a very well-known company, and has been able to translate that specific game’s design well into its own. At the same time, it doesn’t attempt to go beyond the limitations of what the inspiration was forced to work with, and as a result feels very basic in comparison. Suzy controls fairly smoothly overall, but there’s little going for her besides a regular jump and a very small pool of power-ups. The stages do all feel different and while they work well with the fixed camera, the collectables are often cheaply-placed off-camera. I liked the boss the first time, but he returns 5 times with very slight alterations that only end up in the fights dragging out. Suzy Cube is overall a fine game, but I would have liked to see it break free from its inspiration just a bit more.''
''Suzy Cube has a direct inspiration in a 3D Platformer made by a very well-known company, and has been able to translate that specific game’s design well into its own. At the same time, it doesn’t attempt to go beyond the limitations of what the inspiration was forced to work with, and as a result feels very basic in comparison. Suzy controls fairly smoothly overall, but there’s little going for her besides a regular jump and a very small pool of power-ups. The stages do all feel different and while they work well with the fixed camera, the collectables are often cheaply-placed off-camera. I liked the boss the first time, but he returns 5 times with very slight alterations that only end up in the fights dragging out. Suzy Cube is overall a fine game, but I would have liked to see it break free from its inspiration just a bit more.''
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/the-textorcist-the-story-of-ray-bibbia/
''The Textorcist is a charming little indie game with a good sense of dark adult humour. That said, it is also a game made for veterans of both the typing- and bullet-hell variety. While I personally don’t mind it, The Textorcist is anything but an entry-level game, with no easy mode available for playing with the keyboard. Console players don’t have this problem, but they aren’t really playing a typing game which removes half the fun of this game. I personally didn’t struggle too much with the game though, as it’s surprisingly manageable for a combination of genres that shouldn’t work on paper. You don’t take immediate damage upon being hit and spelling errors just set you back a character. I had a ton of fun fighting these bosses that all had their own mechanics, though I will curse the Latin language forevermore. The accelerating gameplay is definitely the best part of the game for me, and I can’t wait to see more games like this!''
''The Textorcist is a charming little indie game with a good sense of dark adult humour. That said, it is also a game made for veterans of both the typing- and bullet-hell variety. While I personally don’t mind it, The Textorcist is anything but an entry-level game, with no easy mode available for playing with the keyboard. Console players don’t have this problem, but they aren’t really playing a typing game which removes half the fun of this game. I personally didn’t struggle too much with the game though, as it’s surprisingly manageable for a combination of genres that shouldn’t work on paper. You don’t take immediate damage upon being hit and spelling errors just set you back a character. I had a ton of fun fighting these bosses that all had their own mechanics, though I will curse the Latin language forevermore. The accelerating gameplay is definitely the best part of the game for me, and I can’t wait to see more games like this!''
2018
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/underhero/
''Underhero came to an interesting conclusion to the question “what happens if the hero dies?”. The plot was booming with personality, having a ton of humorous characters and a whole lot of charm to it. But it doesn’t just nail the personality department, but also the overall battle system–which is very important in an RPG to me. Taking a note from the Mario RPGs but making it action-based instead was definitely something I could get behind and just like those battle systems, skilful play is rewarded in spades. There’s a good amount of different weapons- and defensive options to take against the rather small-sized pool of enemies, which I would say is one of the low points of the game but not one that really hurt the overall fun I had. Add to that fun boss battles, good enough platforming and a bunch of fun minigames and you got a game that you definitely shouldn’t miss out on.''
''Underhero came to an interesting conclusion to the question “what happens if the hero dies?”. The plot was booming with personality, having a ton of humorous characters and a whole lot of charm to it. But it doesn’t just nail the personality department, but also the overall battle system–which is very important in an RPG to me. Taking a note from the Mario RPGs but making it action-based instead was definitely something I could get behind and just like those battle systems, skilful play is rewarded in spades. There’s a good amount of different weapons- and defensive options to take against the rather small-sized pool of enemies, which I would say is one of the low points of the game but not one that really hurt the overall fun I had. Add to that fun boss battles, good enough platforming and a bunch of fun minigames and you got a game that you definitely shouldn’t miss out on.''
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/wendy-every-witch-way/
''Wendy: Every Witch Way is a game that can be enjoyed easily for people unfamiliar with the source material, since it’s a simple story everyone can understand with no other characters than Wendy herself. The game is also very accessible with easy-to-understand gravity switching gameplay that overall works very well. That said, it’s also a bit too accessible for its own good, being far too easy even on “hard” mode and far, far too short. This is the definitely the worst part about the game because despite the stages themselves not being too special, it’s still a solid framework that also has a lot of potential that remains unused due to the ridiculously short length. I did enjoy my time with the game and I wanted more, but unfortunately I didn’t get more–aside from the extra levels on the Gameboy Advance of course.''
''Wendy: Every Witch Way is a game that can be enjoyed easily for people unfamiliar with the source material, since it’s a simple story everyone can understand with no other characters than Wendy herself. The game is also very accessible with easy-to-understand gravity switching gameplay that overall works very well. That said, it’s also a bit too accessible for its own good, being far too easy even on “hard” mode and far, far too short. This is the definitely the worst part about the game because despite the stages themselves not being too special, it’s still a solid framework that also has a lot of potential that remains unused due to the ridiculously short length. I did enjoy my time with the game and I wanted more, but unfortunately I didn’t get more–aside from the extra levels on the Gameboy Advance of course.''
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/final-fantasy-the-4-heroes-of-light/
''The biggest problems with Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light are the many questionable- and restrictive decisions made. The game is built around these exclusions, but that still doesn’t excuse the inability to target enemies- or allies. Allies being split-up to focus on character development is a good idea on paper, but the execution was done rather poorly. Most of the issues that I did have however, were almost all negated in the second half of the game where the heroes united. While the first half was still good but occasionally frustrating for me personally, the second half had me far more excited due to giving me a lot of strategic freedom and the story also having an interesting twist. The Crown system in and of itself saved most of the battle system’s shortcomings due to how flexible it is, and the story started focussing on a singular goal for all the heroes after each of them were given their own spotlight. This storybook approach of telling the story was one I appreciated very much, and will definitely be one of the defining factors that I will remember from my journey through this game.''
''The biggest problems with Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light are the many questionable- and restrictive decisions made. The game is built around these exclusions, but that still doesn’t excuse the inability to target enemies- or allies. Allies being split-up to focus on character development is a good idea on paper, but the execution was done rather poorly. Most of the issues that I did have however, were almost all negated in the second half of the game where the heroes united. While the first half was still good but occasionally frustrating for me personally, the second half had me far more excited due to giving me a lot of strategic freedom and the story also having an interesting twist. The Crown system in and of itself saved most of the battle system’s shortcomings due to how flexible it is, and the story started focussing on a singular goal for all the heroes after each of them were given their own spotlight. This storybook approach of telling the story was one I appreciated very much, and will definitely be one of the defining factors that I will remember from my journey through this game.''
2015
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/poi/
''Poi was a pleasant experience for me. I highly enjoyed exploring everything the overworld- and stages themselves had to offer, and the good variety in objectives to execute kept me coming back for more. This is further complimented by overall good level design with a good size, and how very smoothly the main character controls aside from weaker combat and boss battles. The inspiration of older 3D collect-a-thon platformers is clear which is definitely not unwanted, but it also keeps some of the bad design choices from that era; Being booted out of a level after collecting the main collectable, and also collectables having no purpose after a specific threshold other than unlocking the final reward. The latter wasn’t too much of an issue for me as I am a completionist and highly enjoyed doing everything the game had to offer, but the game itself didn’t do a lot to encourage me. If you’re looking for a collect-a-thon that makes you feel nostalgic for the past without minding the lower difficulty, then Poi is definitely a game I recommend!''
''Poi was a pleasant experience for me. I highly enjoyed exploring everything the overworld- and stages themselves had to offer, and the good variety in objectives to execute kept me coming back for more. This is further complimented by overall good level design with a good size, and how very smoothly the main character controls aside from weaker combat and boss battles. The inspiration of older 3D collect-a-thon platformers is clear which is definitely not unwanted, but it also keeps some of the bad design choices from that era; Being booted out of a level after collecting the main collectable, and also collectables having no purpose after a specific threshold other than unlocking the final reward. The latter wasn’t too much of an issue for me as I am a completionist and highly enjoyed doing everything the game had to offer, but the game itself didn’t do a lot to encourage me. If you’re looking for a collect-a-thon that makes you feel nostalgic for the past without minding the lower difficulty, then Poi is definitely a game I recommend!''
2014
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/toybox-turbos/
''Toybox Turbos is not a bad game regardless of how critical I was throughout this review, but your expectations should not be higher than a budget Micro Machines. The game controls good and the maps are lively and fun to go through albeit short, but it’s also extremely limited in what you can do. There is literally only the campaign for single player; no single races or time trials. And while online plays seamlessly from what I’ve tried, the only mode you can play is elimination races in a very barebones setup. You can have a fun time with Toybox Turbos as the core game works well, but you should match your expectations to what the game is priced at. I’ll only recommend this game if you’re looking for an easy game to complete or to have fun with friends for a short amount of time.''
''Toybox Turbos is not a bad game regardless of how critical I was throughout this review, but your expectations should not be higher than a budget Micro Machines. The game controls good and the maps are lively and fun to go through albeit short, but it’s also extremely limited in what you can do. There is literally only the campaign for single player; no single races or time trials. And while online plays seamlessly from what I’ve tried, the only mode you can play is elimination races in a very barebones setup. You can have a fun time with Toybox Turbos as the core game works well, but you should match your expectations to what the game is priced at. I’ll only recommend this game if you’re looking for an easy game to complete or to have fun with friends for a short amount of time.''
2018
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/celeste/
''I think it speaks volume that someone who doesn’t really enjoy pixel-perfect platformers that much still had a great time with Celeste as a whole. This is not only because the game is very forgiving and overall not that extremely difficult when just focussing on the main game and ignoring collectables, but also because of how well it compliments the theme of the game which, without spoilers, is definitely one of the high points of the game. The level design is set up very well in that regard too, as the early parts teach you everything you need to know about a stage and its stage-specific obstacles, while later on you’re tested with variants on them and longer segments. Madeline also controls very well, with the best thing being that there are a lot of hidden speedrunner moves available from the start that the game only teaches you in the post-game levels. I do wish there was a way to cancel dashes however, and the levels allowing for little backtracking is also something I’m not fond of. Regardless, Celeste is an excellent game and I’m not surprised by the amount of love it has gotten from gamers all around the world.''
''I think it speaks volume that someone who doesn’t really enjoy pixel-perfect platformers that much still had a great time with Celeste as a whole. This is not only because the game is very forgiving and overall not that extremely difficult when just focussing on the main game and ignoring collectables, but also because of how well it compliments the theme of the game which, without spoilers, is definitely one of the high points of the game. The level design is set up very well in that regard too, as the early parts teach you everything you need to know about a stage and its stage-specific obstacles, while later on you’re tested with variants on them and longer segments. Madeline also controls very well, with the best thing being that there are a lot of hidden speedrunner moves available from the start that the game only teaches you in the post-game levels. I do wish there was a way to cancel dashes however, and the levels allowing for little backtracking is also something I’m not fond of. Regardless, Celeste is an excellent game and I’m not surprised by the amount of love it has gotten from gamers all around the world.''
1992
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/space-megaforce-super-aleste/
''I really enjoyed my playthrough of Super Aleste, and to have finally finished it despite being one of my first games ever. I must admit that I’m in no way an expert on the Schumps genre despite liking them, but Super Aleste is definitely amongst my favourites out there. It is helped by the great amount of variety in weapons, with each having a secondary effect as well allowing for a lot of experimentation. Giving you a lot of freedom in a game such as this is welcome as it’s pretty difficult as well, but not unfair. And despite being difficult, the checkpoints are very forgiving with infinite retries, allowing you to gradually get better at the game. Furthermore, it’s impressive when it comes to performance with the SNES, having a consistent framerate and graphics that still look beautiful today. I would say it’s a good introduction to the Shmup genre as well despite there being many more that are easier, and definitely one you shouldn’t miss out on if you’re a fan of the genre in general.''
''I really enjoyed my playthrough of Super Aleste, and to have finally finished it despite being one of my first games ever. I must admit that I’m in no way an expert on the Schumps genre despite liking them, but Super Aleste is definitely amongst my favourites out there. It is helped by the great amount of variety in weapons, with each having a secondary effect as well allowing for a lot of experimentation. Giving you a lot of freedom in a game such as this is welcome as it’s pretty difficult as well, but not unfair. And despite being difficult, the checkpoints are very forgiving with infinite retries, allowing you to gradually get better at the game. Furthermore, it’s impressive when it comes to performance with the SNES, having a consistent framerate and graphics that still look beautiful today. I would say it’s a good introduction to the Shmup genre as well despite there being many more that are easier, and definitely one you shouldn’t miss out on if you’re a fan of the genre in general.''
2012
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/dishonored/
''If there’s one thing I can give Dishonored the highest praise for, it’s that the game allows you to play the game however you want by giving you tons of freedom. It doesn’t matter if you’re a pacifist or hate all living beings; Dishonored gives you all the resources you need to execute either playstyle. Your actions also directly affect how the remainder of the game will play out for you, as the amount of chaos you create will be reflected in a respective amount of alertness by the opposite side. The main protagonist Corvo is really fun to play as because he has so many tools and abilities on his side that compliment your alignment. I find the world of Dishonored interesting too, but I couldn’t really care about any of the characters in the game and what their fate would be so the impact of my actions didn’t affect me as much as I wanted it to do. Putting that aside however, Dishonored is a really fun game to play and it’s a definite recommendation to finish as least once, with a second recommendation being that you should try out both playstyles. Third recommendation, be sure to check out the options before- or during playing as there is a high possibility the game might make you sick (which also slightly affects my Fun rating).''
''If there’s one thing I can give Dishonored the highest praise for, it’s that the game allows you to play the game however you want by giving you tons of freedom. It doesn’t matter if you’re a pacifist or hate all living beings; Dishonored gives you all the resources you need to execute either playstyle. Your actions also directly affect how the remainder of the game will play out for you, as the amount of chaos you create will be reflected in a respective amount of alertness by the opposite side. The main protagonist Corvo is really fun to play as because he has so many tools and abilities on his side that compliment your alignment. I find the world of Dishonored interesting too, but I couldn’t really care about any of the characters in the game and what their fate would be so the impact of my actions didn’t affect me as much as I wanted it to do. Putting that aside however, Dishonored is a really fun game to play and it’s a definite recommendation to finish as least once, with a second recommendation being that you should try out both playstyles. Third recommendation, be sure to check out the options before- or during playing as there is a high possibility the game might make you sick (which also slightly affects my Fun rating).''
1990
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/super-mario-world/
''I might have sounded a bit critical throughout the review and believe me, that is only because I’ve played Super Mario Bros. 3 in advance. This game is still one of, if not my favourite Super Mario game ever due to how much it means to me. The controls especially are spot-on, and that’s one of the most important parts of a game for me. Mario controls very smoothly, and added mechanics such as the spin jump have only improved how fun it is to control him. The controls are further complimented by the excellent level design whenever you’re not using the broken Cape Feather to fly over the entire stage. I might have liked the variety in level design and the overworld events from its prequel more, but I still enjoy going through this overworld because of how many alternate exits there are in the interconnected world. Oh, and this game has Yoshi. Everyone loves Yoshi. Super Mario World is, and will always be one of the first recommendations I give whenever people ask me for a good retro 2D platformer, and that opinion has not changed at all 10 years after I’ve last played it.''
''I might have sounded a bit critical throughout the review and believe me, that is only because I’ve played Super Mario Bros. 3 in advance. This game is still one of, if not my favourite Super Mario game ever due to how much it means to me. The controls especially are spot-on, and that’s one of the most important parts of a game for me. Mario controls very smoothly, and added mechanics such as the spin jump have only improved how fun it is to control him. The controls are further complimented by the excellent level design whenever you’re not using the broken Cape Feather to fly over the entire stage. I might have liked the variety in level design and the overworld events from its prequel more, but I still enjoy going through this overworld because of how many alternate exits there are in the interconnected world. Oh, and this game has Yoshi. Everyone loves Yoshi. Super Mario World is, and will always be one of the first recommendations I give whenever people ask me for a good retro 2D platformer, and that opinion has not changed at all 10 years after I’ve last played it.''