Quelconque
2017
Even just moving Mario around is already fun !
2021
Chill exploration game with no combat and a beautiful art direction. I like the story being basically just "go meet people and find what you want to do with your life", tho the writing of the dialogues is a bit weird with the protagonist not directly speaking but like, saying that she is talking ?
Also I played the game at launch and it was full (like FULL) of bugs; I've seen that they did quite a few updates but I don't know exactly what was fixed.
Also I played the game at launch and it was full (like FULL) of bugs; I've seen that they did quite a few updates but I don't know exactly what was fixed.
2023
ok I love fishes and there are a tons in this game, weird monster fishes too, and I love it
The art is clearly the game's biggest quality ! Creature design is really on point, everything is really well painted; I get a big "Darkest Dungeon" vibe from basically every aspect of the game.
Gameplay-wise tho, it is a pretty simple fishing game that quickly gets repetitive (good thing the environments are a bit varied). Also you can get a lot of money very early and get all your boat upgrades very fast, so progression is a bit fucked and you don't really need to fish anymore.
Still, I love fishes and pokémon, and in the end the fun comes from discover and catching new fishes and abominations.
The art is clearly the game's biggest quality ! Creature design is really on point, everything is really well painted; I get a big "Darkest Dungeon" vibe from basically every aspect of the game.
Gameplay-wise tho, it is a pretty simple fishing game that quickly gets repetitive (good thing the environments are a bit varied). Also you can get a lot of money very early and get all your boat upgrades very fast, so progression is a bit fucked and you don't really need to fish anymore.
Still, I love fishes and pokémon, and in the end the fun comes from discover and catching new fishes and abominations.
2021
I'll be honest, I was expecting a more exploration-based game, like Super Metroid. This is obviously not what we got, the game ends up being very linear; but it's so satisfying to play, to master the full moveset, or even just to move Samus around really. Bosses are very fun, especially the final boss !
Game is short, like 6 hours or so, but it's 6 very polished hours. In the end I finished the game like 5 times in a short period of time; I had fun trying to speedrun it a little bit, and finding out that if you really want it the game can be not so linear ...
Game is short, like 6 hours or so, but it's 6 very polished hours. In the end I finished the game like 5 times in a short period of time; I had fun trying to speedrun it a little bit, and finding out that if you really want it the game can be not so linear ...
2022
I really really loved the exploration in there, although the world might actually be TOO big; there were multiple times were I got bored of the game and stopped playing for a few weeks. I especially loved the big dungeons like Stormveil Castle, Raya Lucaria, or Miquella's Haligtree.
I played the whole game with sword/shield and I had fun, even more at some endgame bosses like Mohg, Malenia, or Radagon; But I think I still prefer Sekiro's gameplay, which is the only other FromSoft game I've played. I get the appeal of letting the player choose their own build and style, but I often feel overwhelmed when there's many options like classes, weapons, skills ...
While the world is beautiful and feels carefully handcrafted, it still suffers from classic openworld problems : having the same points of interest copypasted multiple times with slight variations and scattered across the map, fighting the same ten minibosses in catacombs and caves ...
Speaking of openworld, I don't know if this is a hot take or not but I feel like it's really not perfect for these kinds of games with hard bosses with patterns to learn. I thought a lot about the balancing of the game during my playthrough : I never farmed EXP, but there was a whole part of the game where I was clearly overpowered. And when the game became hard again, I kept wondering whenever I struggled against a boss if I needed to just get good or if I was literally underpowered. These things don't really happen in a more linear game.
Overall I really really enjoyed this game, but reading about this actually being a revolution, I just don't see it. It's """"just"""" a very great game to me
I played the whole game with sword/shield and I had fun, even more at some endgame bosses like Mohg, Malenia, or Radagon; But I think I still prefer Sekiro's gameplay, which is the only other FromSoft game I've played. I get the appeal of letting the player choose their own build and style, but I often feel overwhelmed when there's many options like classes, weapons, skills ...
While the world is beautiful and feels carefully handcrafted, it still suffers from classic openworld problems : having the same points of interest copypasted multiple times with slight variations and scattered across the map, fighting the same ten minibosses in catacombs and caves ...
Speaking of openworld, I don't know if this is a hot take or not but I feel like it's really not perfect for these kinds of games with hard bosses with patterns to learn. I thought a lot about the balancing of the game during my playthrough : I never farmed EXP, but there was a whole part of the game where I was clearly overpowered. And when the game became hard again, I kept wondering whenever I struggled against a boss if I needed to just get good or if I was literally underpowered. These things don't really happen in a more linear game.
Overall I really really enjoyed this game, but reading about this actually being a revolution, I just don't see it. It's """"just"""" a very great game to me
I'm at peace with this game now. It definitely isn't World, it's more old-school I guess, but I had a really great time.
The big problem is to really get into it because you need hours to get to the new monsters, but the complete roster is really really good.
The new moveset thing is a nice addition, being able to play with NPCs is both fun in itself and useful if you have a shitty internet. And this seems to be an unpopular opinion but I really enjoy the new mechanics introduced with anomaly monsters.
The big problem is to really get into it because you need hours to get to the new monsters, but the complete roster is really really good.
The new moveset thing is a nice addition, being able to play with NPCs is both fun in itself and useful if you have a shitty internet. And this seems to be an unpopular opinion but I really enjoy the new mechanics introduced with anomaly monsters.
I honestly really like the first game, I think it's one of the few porn games that are actually interesting and I genuinely like most of the girls.
Unfortunately the charm is gone for me. The vast majority of the new girls are not really well-written, or not interesting, or their gimmick is just sad (Candace ...). The sex happens way faster than in the first game (I mean sure, it's a sex game) + you can only double date, so you feel less close to the girls. New artstyle is good imo, UI is nice although the shop is a little complicated to navigate through.
The big strength of the game is the gameplay, having way more depth in this sequel, specifically the "baggage" mechanic that actually ties together characters and gameplay !
Unfortunately the charm is gone for me. The vast majority of the new girls are not really well-written, or not interesting, or their gimmick is just sad (Candace ...). The sex happens way faster than in the first game (I mean sure, it's a sex game) + you can only double date, so you feel less close to the girls. New artstyle is good imo, UI is nice although the shop is a little complicated to navigate through.
The big strength of the game is the gameplay, having way more depth in this sequel, specifically the "baggage" mechanic that actually ties together characters and gameplay !
2016
I played this first when it came out and I enjoyed it for a bit then got tired of it so I looked at a walkthrough to still see the ending and it felt like some pretentious shit (some "branlette intellectuelle" as we say in french) so I just moved on.
Came back to it a few years later and I loved it. I'm amazed by the puzzles, illusions, and how everything is taught to you without any text. I love the beauty and calm of the island.
The endings are still a bit of a "branlette intellectuelle" to me haha. But that secret lecture about easter eggs was super interesting !
Came back to it a few years later and I loved it. I'm amazed by the puzzles, illusions, and how everything is taught to you without any text. I love the beauty and calm of the island.
The endings are still a bit of a "branlette intellectuelle" to me haha. But that secret lecture about easter eggs was super interesting !
Despite the Dragon Engine's first steps, I was really really into this game during the first half; the story was very engaging, especially knowing that it's supposed to be the end of Kiryu's saga, and I got very good Yakuza 3 vibes from Onomichi and it's very lovable set of characters.
Unfortunately the story lost me a bit in the middle. I think there are too many instances where you get hours of cutscenes interrupted by 10 minutes of gameplay, and dialogues never felt this long in the series. Everything being voiced is a problem to me, as I used to read non-voiced text way faster than they talk and I could have my own pacing. It feels weird doing that now that they actually talk and that it's all presented as proper cutscenes despite the janky animations, so I just listen to them and get bored fast.
I do really like the ending (and by that I mean it made me tear up) but I feel like I would have enjoyed the game more if it was solely focused on Kiryu and Haruka without necessarily another big conspiracy. All the characters are great tho.
Now about this Dragon Engine : The game looks very very pretty, that's a thing. Lights are particularly well rendered. Fighting looks very cool, very fluid and all, but it's very sloppy and gets worse when you're up against more than 10 guys, which happens a lot. Also kiryu's moveset seems to be lighter than ever, which makes combat feel very very repetitive.
Minigames and activities are still pretty fun (I was surprised by the fishing), but Clan Creator is way less interesting to play than the one in Kiwami 2, and Baseball team management has 0 tutorial somehow ?
It's a bit sad for a game that's supposed to be that important in the series to feel rushed and unpolished like that. But it still has it's great moments.
Not sure how I'll look back on this one.
I'm curious to see what's next, I hope it was worth it to do more Kiryu stuff and negate this very clear send-off haha
Unfortunately the story lost me a bit in the middle. I think there are too many instances where you get hours of cutscenes interrupted by 10 minutes of gameplay, and dialogues never felt this long in the series. Everything being voiced is a problem to me, as I used to read non-voiced text way faster than they talk and I could have my own pacing. It feels weird doing that now that they actually talk and that it's all presented as proper cutscenes despite the janky animations, so I just listen to them and get bored fast.
I do really like the ending (and by that I mean it made me tear up) but I feel like I would have enjoyed the game more if it was solely focused on Kiryu and Haruka without necessarily another big conspiracy. All the characters are great tho.
Now about this Dragon Engine : The game looks very very pretty, that's a thing. Lights are particularly well rendered. Fighting looks very cool, very fluid and all, but it's very sloppy and gets worse when you're up against more than 10 guys, which happens a lot. Also kiryu's moveset seems to be lighter than ever, which makes combat feel very very repetitive.
Minigames and activities are still pretty fun (I was surprised by the fishing), but Clan Creator is way less interesting to play than the one in Kiwami 2, and Baseball team management has 0 tutorial somehow ?
It's a bit sad for a game that's supposed to be that important in the series to feel rushed and unpolished like that. But it still has it's great moments.
Not sure how I'll look back on this one.
I'm curious to see what's next, I hope it was worth it to do more Kiryu stuff and negate this very clear send-off haha
This review contains spoilers
Crazy murder mystery that's very engaging and full of twists, charming characters, and a unique gameplay with a lot of new ideas every chapter. Didn't know anything about the game other than it was made by Shu Takumi, and oh boy I was in for a ride !
It very clearly has that Ace Attorney vibe to it, in the characters and designs, the writing and humor, and the amazing soundtrack too.
Like I said I really enjoyed the story. I think the pacing was particularly good (it's a short game and it's probably better that way), the characters are really well written imo; and there's this trope that I like of having a big event that happened in the past that had a big impact on the story and you keep getting back to it with each time a new perspective on it (and in the finale you're actually replaying this scene so it's really the best way to do this trope !)
Also the game ends up being a love letter to our pets and idk that's very sweet, and it's refreshing for a story like that.
It very clearly has that Ace Attorney vibe to it, in the characters and designs, the writing and humor, and the amazing soundtrack too.
Like I said I really enjoyed the story. I think the pacing was particularly good (it's a short game and it's probably better that way), the characters are really well written imo; and there's this trope that I like of having a big event that happened in the past that had a big impact on the story and you keep getting back to it with each time a new perspective on it (and in the finale you're actually replaying this scene so it's really the best way to do this trope !)
Also the game ends up being a love letter to our pets and idk that's very sweet, and it's refreshing for a story like that.
This review contains spoilers
Big fan of Subnautica here, I was a bit afraid when the release trailer came out, because of all the story cutscenes and dialogues and characters, as the story was not necessarily the strength or the appeal of the first game. And I was right to be afraid.
The main problem I have with the story is how it's segmented in 3 different quests and how it badly works with the open-world structure of the game. Finishing one quest just gave me some info about another quest I was already done with. Another time, the game straight up told me ( because our characters are constantly having little not very interesting discussions ) "Remember that place ? Go there now" talking about a place I never actually explored ?
Overall, the exploration is just really not as good as in the first game. In Subnautica, you're dropped at the very center of the map, so you can go in whichever direction you want ; and during the second part of the game you have to explore those massive interconnected caves. In Below Zero you're dropped at the very north of the map (not even in water), so you can only go south and if you set your base there like me you have to go through the same zones everytime you go explore ; and there are a few caves here and there.
Same with the story : In the first game you crash on the planet so your first goal is to survive until you get to leave, and while stuff happens and some story elements do enter the stage later, ultimately the goal still stays the same during the whole game. In Below Zero you go volontarily on the planet to find your sister, and once you do that well you kinda stays there to do what feels like some sidequests. ( I've read that the main writer left the team at some point during the production of the game, and that the scenario was changed a few times )
The game is not awfully bad; the environnements and fauna are still very beautiful and unique, and I can still feel that Subnautica vibe/mood while playing. I can also understand that they tried to do stuff differently with the story being more present, or with that whole on-land section. But I had very high hopes and it just didn't met the standards of the first game ...
The main problem I have with the story is how it's segmented in 3 different quests and how it badly works with the open-world structure of the game. Finishing one quest just gave me some info about another quest I was already done with. Another time, the game straight up told me ( because our characters are constantly having little not very interesting discussions ) "Remember that place ? Go there now" talking about a place I never actually explored ?
Overall, the exploration is just really not as good as in the first game. In Subnautica, you're dropped at the very center of the map, so you can go in whichever direction you want ; and during the second part of the game you have to explore those massive interconnected caves. In Below Zero you're dropped at the very north of the map (not even in water), so you can only go south and if you set your base there like me you have to go through the same zones everytime you go explore ; and there are a few caves here and there.
Same with the story : In the first game you crash on the planet so your first goal is to survive until you get to leave, and while stuff happens and some story elements do enter the stage later, ultimately the goal still stays the same during the whole game. In Below Zero you go volontarily on the planet to find your sister, and once you do that well you kinda stays there to do what feels like some sidequests. ( I've read that the main writer left the team at some point during the production of the game, and that the scenario was changed a few times )
The game is not awfully bad; the environnements and fauna are still very beautiful and unique, and I can still feel that Subnautica vibe/mood while playing. I can also understand that they tried to do stuff differently with the story being more present, or with that whole on-land section. But I had very high hopes and it just didn't met the standards of the first game ...
2024
Indie platformer of incredible quality !
Concept is super cool and well-executed, but what strucks me the most is the impeccable level-design.
It's written here on this site that it's inspired by games like Donkey Kong Country. Not only is this very clearly visible while playing, but it's also really the same level of quality. The kind of stuff I expect from Nintendo platformers.
Controls can be hard to master tho.
Visuals and soundtrack are really pleasant, time-attack is a fun bonus to have a bit more to play in this unfortunately pretty short game. They could have done a bit more with stickers and collectibles imo
What I am really disappointed by tho is the last world. Levels are focused on action sequences, and they are fun as they are but it's not what I'm expecting as a final challenge for such a good platformer ...
Concept is super cool and well-executed, but what strucks me the most is the impeccable level-design.
It's written here on this site that it's inspired by games like Donkey Kong Country. Not only is this very clearly visible while playing, but it's also really the same level of quality. The kind of stuff I expect from Nintendo platformers.
Controls can be hard to master tho.
Visuals and soundtrack are really pleasant, time-attack is a fun bonus to have a bit more to play in this unfortunately pretty short game. They could have done a bit more with stickers and collectibles imo
What I am really disappointed by tho is the last world. Levels are focused on action sequences, and they are fun as they are but it's not what I'm expecting as a final challenge for such a good platformer ...
2018
I am a backer from the original crowdfunding back in 2015 ! I loved the demo, but when the game finally came out I never played past the first area somehow ... Finally decided to fully try this a few years later and wow
So yeah, visually it's gorgeous, musically too. Gameplay is very interesting (I played with Mouse+keybord), reminds me a bit of NieR. There's a lot of plateforming/parkour despite the top-down angle, and the areas are very fun to explore (although they tend to be a bit TOO large actually). Big dungeons with great puzzles and mechanics that can get quite hard. Great stuff really !
The story ends up being really good too, despite the SAO vibe haha. I think the game has interesting stuff to say about AI and virtual worlds. And I just love the characters, I don't even really know why but they just feel very human, in their interactions with each others.
It's a very inspiring game for me. They were multipe times where I had to actually stop playing because I couldn't focus because I just kept thinking about how inspiring it was ...
So yeah, visually it's gorgeous, musically too. Gameplay is very interesting (I played with Mouse+keybord), reminds me a bit of NieR. There's a lot of plateforming/parkour despite the top-down angle, and the areas are very fun to explore (although they tend to be a bit TOO large actually). Big dungeons with great puzzles and mechanics that can get quite hard. Great stuff really !
The story ends up being really good too, despite the SAO vibe haha. I think the game has interesting stuff to say about AI and virtual worlds. And I just love the characters, I don't even really know why but they just feel very human, in their interactions with each others.
It's a very inspiring game for me. They were multipe times where I had to actually stop playing because I couldn't focus because I just kept thinking about how inspiring it was ...
2019
The more I think about this game, the more I love it and realize how unique it is.
Such an amazing feeling exploring this solar system, contemplating the infinite dark space with the beautiful score playing. So satisfying to unravel the mysteries and to understand what you need to do, especially when you need to be a little bold. There's a big sense of cohesion in this whole game.
The ending is really powerful and you can really feel that you're witnessing something big.
It's not my personnal favorite game of all time, yet I feel like it might the best game ever made, if that makes sense.
As for Echoes of the Eye, while it didn't feel that connected to the rest of the game, and I thought it was way harder both in its puzzles and just mechanically ; I still really enjoyed it, adds an interesting scenario, and the art direction is just fantastic.
Such an amazing feeling exploring this solar system, contemplating the infinite dark space with the beautiful score playing. So satisfying to unravel the mysteries and to understand what you need to do, especially when you need to be a little bold. There's a big sense of cohesion in this whole game.
The ending is really powerful and you can really feel that you're witnessing something big.
It's not my personnal favorite game of all time, yet I feel like it might the best game ever made, if that makes sense.
As for Echoes of the Eye, while it didn't feel that connected to the rest of the game, and I thought it was way harder both in its puzzles and just mechanically ; I still really enjoyed it, adds an interesting scenario, and the art direction is just fantastic.
Both a very fun village-boat management game with a really beautiful hand-drawn art direction,
And a very human and touching story, really well written. I teared up a little at each and every character's farewell.
And a very human and touching story, really well written. I teared up a little at each and every character's farewell.