Ricecreammm
148 Reviews liked by Ricecreammm
WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!! THEY ADDED Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Challenger Pack 8, aka Sephiroth, the One Winged Angel TO Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, for the Nintendo Switch. Get the gaming system that lets you play the games you want, wherever you are, however you like. Bring the full home gaming system experience with you to the park, on an airplane, in a car, or to a friend’s apartment. Gaming icons clash in the ultimate brawl you can play anytime, anywhere! Smash rivals off the stage as new characters Simon Belmont and King K. Rool join Inkling, Ridley, and every fighter in Super Smash Bros. history. Enjoy enhanced speed and combat at new stages based on the Castlevania series, Super Mario Odyssey, and more!
Having trouble choosing a stage? Then select the Stage Morph option to transform one stage into another while battling—a series first! Plus, new echo fighters Dark Samus, Richter Belmont, and Chrom join the battle. Whether you play locally or online, savor the faster combat, new attacks, and new defensive options, like a perfect shield. Jam out to 900 different music compositions and go 1-on-1 with a friend, hold a 4-player free-for-all, kick it up to 8-player battles and more! Feel free to bust out your GameCube controllers—legendary couch competitions await—or play together anytime, anywhere!
Having trouble choosing a stage? Then select the Stage Morph option to transform one stage into another while battling—a series first! Plus, new echo fighters Dark Samus, Richter Belmont, and Chrom join the battle. Whether you play locally or online, savor the faster combat, new attacks, and new defensive options, like a perfect shield. Jam out to 900 different music compositions and go 1-on-1 with a friend, hold a 4-player free-for-all, kick it up to 8-player battles and more! Feel free to bust out your GameCube controllers—legendary couch competitions await—or play together anytime, anywhere!
Mice Tea
2023
Pretty cute all the way through!
I'd backed this game near the start of it's development in like 2021, I followed updates for a bit, but eventually figured for a visual novel it was better to wait for the full package, and was pleasantly surprised when I got a steam key for it when it came out there! I didn't have the time to actually play through the game fully until now, and it was lots of fun to see the added/finished content!
There's not a crazy amount to critique in terms of game play, it's a visual novel with branching paths, you read and make a couple choices lol. I guess my only "game play" complaint is that the Felicia route is clearly the "intended route" as it has the most content and branches to check out, which can in turn make some of the other routes feel a liiiiitle underbaked. But it's not a deal breaker as each route offers something fun and unique!
The art is good all throughout! It's a little funny when you can tell what was made early in development vs late. But it's also kind of cool to see the different artists skill and style develop between certain gallery scenes.
The writing is really sweet too! I think sometimes it was a little too on the nose or cheesy for me, but I think it all has it's charms. The game never gets too heavy or anything, but all the characters feel thought out, and the little moments of drama are fun! The big twist in the Gavin route is really clever and fun to play out, it's probably the most dramatic the game gets (I guess the Julie route has some of that but it's all played off in a fun way that it doesn't feel quite as dark, just exciting and fun!).
Overall I'm glad I played this game finally! If you're into this kind of stuff, it's got a lot of charm and is worth checking out! I'm also excited to check out what's been done on the sequel!
Oh and to all my friends seeing this! Hi! I try to keep a habi of not just talking about porn or fetishes unless I'm super chill with those people so sorry if this is how you had to find out I'm into this kind of stuff LOL.
I'd backed this game near the start of it's development in like 2021, I followed updates for a bit, but eventually figured for a visual novel it was better to wait for the full package, and was pleasantly surprised when I got a steam key for it when it came out there! I didn't have the time to actually play through the game fully until now, and it was lots of fun to see the added/finished content!
There's not a crazy amount to critique in terms of game play, it's a visual novel with branching paths, you read and make a couple choices lol. I guess my only "game play" complaint is that the Felicia route is clearly the "intended route" as it has the most content and branches to check out, which can in turn make some of the other routes feel a liiiiitle underbaked. But it's not a deal breaker as each route offers something fun and unique!
The art is good all throughout! It's a little funny when you can tell what was made early in development vs late. But it's also kind of cool to see the different artists skill and style develop between certain gallery scenes.
The writing is really sweet too! I think sometimes it was a little too on the nose or cheesy for me, but I think it all has it's charms. The game never gets too heavy or anything, but all the characters feel thought out, and the little moments of drama are fun! The big twist in the Gavin route is really clever and fun to play out, it's probably the most dramatic the game gets (I guess the Julie route has some of that but it's all played off in a fun way that it doesn't feel quite as dark, just exciting and fun!).
Overall I'm glad I played this game finally! If you're into this kind of stuff, it's got a lot of charm and is worth checking out! I'm also excited to check out what's been done on the sequel!
Oh and to all my friends seeing this! Hi! I try to keep a habi of not just talking about porn or fetishes unless I'm super chill with those people so sorry if this is how you had to find out I'm into this kind of stuff LOL.
Content Warning
2024
It's pretty cute i guess.
As much as I'd love to not mention it, it's impossible not to compare this game to Lethal Company. I feel like any game going forward that wants to try and recapture that Lethal Company appeal is going to have a hard time beating what Lethal Company already offers.
I think this game is way more chill than lethal company. Not that I'm ever a "try hard" when I play lethal with my friends, but this game incentivizes the silliness that tends to come with your average game of lethal. Both the games are dumb fun, but this game encourages you to be dumb. You are playing as a group of "Spooktubers" after all.
The camera mechanic is pretty cool, and is where most of the "chill factor" comes from in the game. Rather than hunting for junk like in lethal company, you're on the hunt for views on a clip show you make with an in game camera. This is where the magic of this game comes in, as one player can record up to ~2 minutes of footage with the in game camera. This leads to everyone being dumb on purpose, after all your best friend dying means more views right? It's a ton of fun finishing a dive into the "old world" and coming back up and watching the stupidity unfold in a sporadic retelling of your adventure.
The other chill factor in this game is the monsters. Compared to lethal company, the monsters in content warning are much less, well, "lethal". This is done purposefully since as I mentioned earlier the game wants you to be stupid. Where a lot of the comedy of lethal company comes from the instant-ness of death the monsters in that game cause, the comedy in content warning is seeing the monsters brutalize your friends, only for them to stand back up and walk it off.
There's a lot less pressure in this game than in Lethal Company, and in a lot of ways it works well. There's one treasure (the camera) and you're a lot more likely to all survive due to the inherently less hostile game design.
However, the game just doesn't have the depth Lethal company does. All the rewards in this game are mostly cosmetic, Expensive emotes, Party poppers, Silly microphones, etc. It plays into the gameplay loop well enough, your videos get "higher production" the longer you go. But they don't really effect how you interact with the world, unlike Lethal Company. In lethal you can get new tools that let you explore outside of facilities, or teleporters that can create clutch saves, or instant chaos. In Content Warning each loop is the same, even the location you dive to is picked for you and stays the same for the 3 day loop for each view quota. As it is now, I feel like I've seen most of what Content Warning has to offer. And it was a good time! But I don't think I could play this more than maybe one or two more times.
I got the game on launch when it was free for the day, and as a free game it's a 100% recommend. At $8 It's still pretty cheap, but I would only get it if your friends already have it or want to play it. However, if the game gets some updates, then I might change my tune! I do think it has room to grow and be a more "chill" alternative to the game play loop Lethal Company currently dominates.
As much as I'd love to not mention it, it's impossible not to compare this game to Lethal Company. I feel like any game going forward that wants to try and recapture that Lethal Company appeal is going to have a hard time beating what Lethal Company already offers.
I think this game is way more chill than lethal company. Not that I'm ever a "try hard" when I play lethal with my friends, but this game incentivizes the silliness that tends to come with your average game of lethal. Both the games are dumb fun, but this game encourages you to be dumb. You are playing as a group of "Spooktubers" after all.
The camera mechanic is pretty cool, and is where most of the "chill factor" comes from in the game. Rather than hunting for junk like in lethal company, you're on the hunt for views on a clip show you make with an in game camera. This is where the magic of this game comes in, as one player can record up to ~2 minutes of footage with the in game camera. This leads to everyone being dumb on purpose, after all your best friend dying means more views right? It's a ton of fun finishing a dive into the "old world" and coming back up and watching the stupidity unfold in a sporadic retelling of your adventure.
The other chill factor in this game is the monsters. Compared to lethal company, the monsters in content warning are much less, well, "lethal". This is done purposefully since as I mentioned earlier the game wants you to be stupid. Where a lot of the comedy of lethal company comes from the instant-ness of death the monsters in that game cause, the comedy in content warning is seeing the monsters brutalize your friends, only for them to stand back up and walk it off.
There's a lot less pressure in this game than in Lethal Company, and in a lot of ways it works well. There's one treasure (the camera) and you're a lot more likely to all survive due to the inherently less hostile game design.
However, the game just doesn't have the depth Lethal company does. All the rewards in this game are mostly cosmetic, Expensive emotes, Party poppers, Silly microphones, etc. It plays into the gameplay loop well enough, your videos get "higher production" the longer you go. But they don't really effect how you interact with the world, unlike Lethal Company. In lethal you can get new tools that let you explore outside of facilities, or teleporters that can create clutch saves, or instant chaos. In Content Warning each loop is the same, even the location you dive to is picked for you and stays the same for the 3 day loop for each view quota. As it is now, I feel like I've seen most of what Content Warning has to offer. And it was a good time! But I don't think I could play this more than maybe one or two more times.
I got the game on launch when it was free for the day, and as a free game it's a 100% recommend. At $8 It's still pretty cheap, but I would only get it if your friends already have it or want to play it. However, if the game gets some updates, then I might change my tune! I do think it has room to grow and be a more "chill" alternative to the game play loop Lethal Company currently dominates.
I think this is a pretty fun little expansion, and a fun little foray into roguelikes for Nintendo. Notice how I said little twice?
I don't want to sound like an entitled gamer with this review, but my biggest complaint with Side Order is that it felt like it was JUST short of being something really special. The first chunk of this DLC is really cool, the tutorial climb up the tower is full of dialogue and character interactions, there's cutscenes and intrigue. You get to the top and win the fight! But uh oh, the real big bad appears! Back to the bottom of the spire with you! Now for the roguelite to begin!
Now the first couple runs of Side Order proper are really fun! Seeing all the new bosses, the new enemies and floor layouts, the new chips to modify your weapon! It's all super cool to see, what's next! With little to no upgrades its super challenging and has a good amount of butt clench! I really was proud of myself for beating it on my third attempt (#humblebrag) because it felt like the odds were against me! I cleared the final boss with my final life and got hyped up for the final sequence of the game! It was a really good time, and now they're challenging me to beat it with every weapon? Sick!
However that's where the cracks start to show.
The first thing that kind of grated on me was that excluding the final boss, there are only 3 possible bosses, and you see 2 of them on each run. This leads to the randomness of bosses during runs being, pretty limited. I wish they had either had all 3 bosses during the run and eliminated the random chance, or perhaps added just one more boss so that there weren't so few boss combos possible. Second, the chips simply aren't as run changing as they should be. The ultimate change in each run is what weapon you're using, it doesn't feel fun to build around certain chips when all that REALLY matters is the gun. Finally, the "hacks" from Marina make subsequent runs trivial once you have enough. After clearing the tower 2-3 times, I don't think I lost a run until the final challenge.
As for the story, well. It's really bare bones. You get scraps each time you beat the final boss with a new weapon, and the dev logs explain how the expansion came to be, but it's not really anything crazy, unlike the octo expansion in the (much better) game before this. There's some cute dialogue in the elevator going up the tower, but in a game that encourages you to beat it at least 12 times, it repeats too soon, and I started skipping it.
Ultimately I think it's the best part of Splatoon 3, which is not a high bar as I think splat 3 is a step down from it's predecessor. So if you already own the game and have 20 bucks to spare, check it out, its fun enough to dive back into Splatoon for a bit.
Finally I want to talk about the final challange Spoilers ahead for that I guess (it's just gameplay mechanics.)
The idea of climbing the tower with no upgrades again was cool, something deserving of a giant reward. It was cool to some extent! I liked only having one life, it made every mistake feel grave and I went into a panic! Beating the final boss as "wimpy" as possible felt cool too...
and then nothing. no cutscene. barebones rewards. nothing. Hell, the story implication is that you just saved your own soul and they don't. really mention that. I was really pissed at this. I get a reskin of a weapon I don't use in the multiplayer, and a sticker for my battle tag? and story wise all i get is a pat on the back from Pearl? come on dude.
I don't want to sound like an entitled gamer with this review, but my biggest complaint with Side Order is that it felt like it was JUST short of being something really special. The first chunk of this DLC is really cool, the tutorial climb up the tower is full of dialogue and character interactions, there's cutscenes and intrigue. You get to the top and win the fight! But uh oh, the real big bad appears! Back to the bottom of the spire with you! Now for the roguelite to begin!
Now the first couple runs of Side Order proper are really fun! Seeing all the new bosses, the new enemies and floor layouts, the new chips to modify your weapon! It's all super cool to see, what's next! With little to no upgrades its super challenging and has a good amount of butt clench! I really was proud of myself for beating it on my third attempt (#humblebrag) because it felt like the odds were against me! I cleared the final boss with my final life and got hyped up for the final sequence of the game! It was a really good time, and now they're challenging me to beat it with every weapon? Sick!
However that's where the cracks start to show.
The first thing that kind of grated on me was that excluding the final boss, there are only 3 possible bosses, and you see 2 of them on each run. This leads to the randomness of bosses during runs being, pretty limited. I wish they had either had all 3 bosses during the run and eliminated the random chance, or perhaps added just one more boss so that there weren't so few boss combos possible. Second, the chips simply aren't as run changing as they should be. The ultimate change in each run is what weapon you're using, it doesn't feel fun to build around certain chips when all that REALLY matters is the gun. Finally, the "hacks" from Marina make subsequent runs trivial once you have enough. After clearing the tower 2-3 times, I don't think I lost a run until the final challenge.
As for the story, well. It's really bare bones. You get scraps each time you beat the final boss with a new weapon, and the dev logs explain how the expansion came to be, but it's not really anything crazy, unlike the octo expansion in the (much better) game before this. There's some cute dialogue in the elevator going up the tower, but in a game that encourages you to beat it at least 12 times, it repeats too soon, and I started skipping it.
Ultimately I think it's the best part of Splatoon 3, which is not a high bar as I think splat 3 is a step down from it's predecessor. So if you already own the game and have 20 bucks to spare, check it out, its fun enough to dive back into Splatoon for a bit.
Finally I want to talk about the final challange Spoilers ahead for that I guess (it's just gameplay mechanics.)
The idea of climbing the tower with no upgrades again was cool, something deserving of a giant reward. It was cool to some extent! I liked only having one life, it made every mistake feel grave and I went into a panic! Beating the final boss as "wimpy" as possible felt cool too...
and then nothing. no cutscene. barebones rewards. nothing. Hell, the story implication is that you just saved your own soul and they don't. really mention that. I was really pissed at this. I get a reskin of a weapon I don't use in the multiplayer, and a sticker for my battle tag? and story wise all i get is a pat on the back from Pearl? come on dude.
This review contains spoilers
Back on Splatoon 2's FinalFest, I was in Team Order. Not only did it strike me as the preferable moral choice, it also seemed like the less hacky threat to theme the next game around. I don't think there's a Nintendo baddie who wouldn't align themselves with Team Chaos, and it seemed easy to picture how that would pair with Splatoon's colourful, forever teenage aesthetic. I wanted to know what an orderly Splatoon would be. It seems the developers were fairly inspired by the curious prompt, too, as they pretty much ignored the divine authority of SplatFest results to deliver this vision as a bit of DLC.
Side Order has a pretty conservative approach to random elements, and that's both a good and bad thing. While I was pretty cold to the idea of Nintendo's new generation of developers handing over the game design tools to an algorithm, the levels here are all tailored with the same care they've traditionally put into the series' single-player content. There just isn't all that much of it. This is billed as a mode that you can play endlessly. One run through Side Order takes roughly half an hour, and the bulk of any two runs will be spent on the same stages. The variables are meaningful, and help to build skills you can carry over to the main multiplayer content, but I don't know if it'll have much meaningful impact outside of Splatoon's active playerbase.
Each run through Side Order asks you to select a pre-made weapon loadout and presents you with 30 floors of a tower to beat. Each one presents you with a random selection of three levels to pick from, each marked with their own difficulty rating and completion rewards. Levels each come with one of five objectives, and all involve either chasing or defending a target while fighting off oncoming enemies. It's fun, but it doesn't really offer the variety or complexity of a typical single-player campaign. I don't think anybody outside of the most hardcore fans will play through it with every loadout.
The thing is, Splatoon gets to use its characters, aesthetic and themes as a crutch. For the most engaged fans who lap up this stuff, this side of the DLC makes up for the relatively shallow pool of content. There's a lot of direct callbacks and narrative ties to previous games and a good amount of Splatoon deeplore stuff. It just seems to repeat a lot of the same beats we've already seen, and the only people who will care about this aspect of the content are the same people who will be bothered by those things.
It's a big showcase for Splatoon 2's pop duo, Off the Hook, with Pearl acting as a Bowser's Fury-style drone partner, taking out swarming enemies and shouting out words of encouragement as you play. She's a pretty good fit for it, really. It was kind of funny to see Marie take a similar role in Splatoon 2, trying to inspire action without losing her cool, but if Splatoon wasn't so committed to its characterisation, she'd have been hooting and hollering like Pearl throughout it. Dialogue and unlockable written content relentlessly reinstate how much Marina and Pearl love each other, though despite the burgeoning enthusiasm from a significant segment of the fanbase, it appears we're not going to see explicit confirmation of a gay relationship in a game from the publishers of Tomodachi Life anytime soon.
Playing through Side Order with different weapon loadouts (each one themed around a familiar Splatoon character, of course) will unlock further weapons, in-game cash to spend on upgrades, and entries from Marina's diary. These act like the Squid Sister Stories did in the runup to Splatoon 2, offering us a little insight on Marina's perspective following Team Chaos's victory, but it's relatively perfunctory. Marina's a fairly pristine character, uniquely talented in a range of interests, and full of love for everyone. It's hard to imagine her doing something maliciously. The developers have far less conviction in pinning her as a villain as they did for Callie in Splatoon 2, putting a lid on the possibility before you even see Side Order's opening titles. It's a little underwhelming, but I respect the team's commitment to established characterisation before everything else. We might get less exciting stories for it, but when the fans watch the concerts, they fully believe in those dancing fish people. You don't want to mess with that.
I'm a little anxious that the politics have taken a bit of a backseat in Splatoon now. Pikmin 4 was guilty of the same, and I really don't want it to be something Nintendo shies away from. Octo Expansion took a really big swing on this stuff. Not only did it deliver a fairly earnest anti-racist message in a way that really complemented the established characters and setting, I was fucking thrilled with how it put the game's ecological message into stark view. Implying that there's something to be learned from the energy and passion of the youth movement of the late sixties, by homaging Planet of the Apes' post-apocalyptic revelation with its sunken Statue of Liberty, but also presenting it in the most Splatoon way possible, with you grinding around it on midair ink rails to a thumping soundtrack and rapidfiring at Lady Liberty's pulsing weak spots. It's difficult for me to think of any part of a videogame that I love more than Octo Expansion's final hours. I was with Splatoon since Day One, and this was the perfect way to tell me that my good will had paid off. Presenting the oncoming climate emergency and subsequent extinction of the human race, not only as a solid fact, but a rollercoaster with popstars and dualwielded uzis. There's nothing like that in Side Order. Just a loose implication that dogmatic authoritarianism is a flawed attitude. It feels pretty lame by contrast. I don't know if anybody else gets as much out of this side of Splatoon, and I don't think they can repeat that high. I just feel obliged to keep prodding the developers to get radical again.
That's not to say that Side Order makes no meaningful progress on the story. Following up on the liberation of the Octoling army, we're given some insight into who those people were and how their lives have changed since. It's significant to our understanding of Marina, and shows commitment to the continuity. It didn't stir me too much, personally, but if there had been so much as a comment from a Squid Sister, I know I'd have been far more invested.
Completing Side Order gives players the ability to set Splatoon 2's Inkopolis Square as their main hub. It's kind of weird to be seeing nostalgia for a game on the same console, but with all the signs that the Switch may be wrapping things up, there is a bit of ennui in going back to the 2017 stuff right now. As a big fan of Zelda, Mario and Splatoon, that year was a complete thrill ride for me. Not only was there excitement for this new console, we were giddy for a version of Nintendo that put all its focus on a single platform. There seemed to be a massive new title every month, for a while. As remarkable a system as it became, I think it's fair to say it didn't really carry on that same trajectory for long. With Tears of the Kingdom, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and the Mario Kart 8 DLC, it feels like Nintendo have just been trying to repeat those 2017 successes, rather than continue on that journey of invention. Splatoon 2 is good, Splatoon 3 is good, and Side Order is good, but Octo Expansion had me thinking the series would change and get far more ambitious. I don't think that's happened. It's like we've seen everything it can be, and all we can expect now are minor tweaks. I still want Portal 2/Resident Evil 4 structure in single-player Splatoon. I just have far less faith it's going to happen, now.
I'm the kind of fan who paid for this as soon as possible to get access to the Splatoon 1 hub. Of course this is what my criticism is going to look like.
Side Order has a pretty conservative approach to random elements, and that's both a good and bad thing. While I was pretty cold to the idea of Nintendo's new generation of developers handing over the game design tools to an algorithm, the levels here are all tailored with the same care they've traditionally put into the series' single-player content. There just isn't all that much of it. This is billed as a mode that you can play endlessly. One run through Side Order takes roughly half an hour, and the bulk of any two runs will be spent on the same stages. The variables are meaningful, and help to build skills you can carry over to the main multiplayer content, but I don't know if it'll have much meaningful impact outside of Splatoon's active playerbase.
Each run through Side Order asks you to select a pre-made weapon loadout and presents you with 30 floors of a tower to beat. Each one presents you with a random selection of three levels to pick from, each marked with their own difficulty rating and completion rewards. Levels each come with one of five objectives, and all involve either chasing or defending a target while fighting off oncoming enemies. It's fun, but it doesn't really offer the variety or complexity of a typical single-player campaign. I don't think anybody outside of the most hardcore fans will play through it with every loadout.
The thing is, Splatoon gets to use its characters, aesthetic and themes as a crutch. For the most engaged fans who lap up this stuff, this side of the DLC makes up for the relatively shallow pool of content. There's a lot of direct callbacks and narrative ties to previous games and a good amount of Splatoon deeplore stuff. It just seems to repeat a lot of the same beats we've already seen, and the only people who will care about this aspect of the content are the same people who will be bothered by those things.
It's a big showcase for Splatoon 2's pop duo, Off the Hook, with Pearl acting as a Bowser's Fury-style drone partner, taking out swarming enemies and shouting out words of encouragement as you play. She's a pretty good fit for it, really. It was kind of funny to see Marie take a similar role in Splatoon 2, trying to inspire action without losing her cool, but if Splatoon wasn't so committed to its characterisation, she'd have been hooting and hollering like Pearl throughout it. Dialogue and unlockable written content relentlessly reinstate how much Marina and Pearl love each other, though despite the burgeoning enthusiasm from a significant segment of the fanbase, it appears we're not going to see explicit confirmation of a gay relationship in a game from the publishers of Tomodachi Life anytime soon.
Playing through Side Order with different weapon loadouts (each one themed around a familiar Splatoon character, of course) will unlock further weapons, in-game cash to spend on upgrades, and entries from Marina's diary. These act like the Squid Sister Stories did in the runup to Splatoon 2, offering us a little insight on Marina's perspective following Team Chaos's victory, but it's relatively perfunctory. Marina's a fairly pristine character, uniquely talented in a range of interests, and full of love for everyone. It's hard to imagine her doing something maliciously. The developers have far less conviction in pinning her as a villain as they did for Callie in Splatoon 2, putting a lid on the possibility before you even see Side Order's opening titles. It's a little underwhelming, but I respect the team's commitment to established characterisation before everything else. We might get less exciting stories for it, but when the fans watch the concerts, they fully believe in those dancing fish people. You don't want to mess with that.
I'm a little anxious that the politics have taken a bit of a backseat in Splatoon now. Pikmin 4 was guilty of the same, and I really don't want it to be something Nintendo shies away from. Octo Expansion took a really big swing on this stuff. Not only did it deliver a fairly earnest anti-racist message in a way that really complemented the established characters and setting, I was fucking thrilled with how it put the game's ecological message into stark view. Implying that there's something to be learned from the energy and passion of the youth movement of the late sixties, by homaging Planet of the Apes' post-apocalyptic revelation with its sunken Statue of Liberty, but also presenting it in the most Splatoon way possible, with you grinding around it on midair ink rails to a thumping soundtrack and rapidfiring at Lady Liberty's pulsing weak spots. It's difficult for me to think of any part of a videogame that I love more than Octo Expansion's final hours. I was with Splatoon since Day One, and this was the perfect way to tell me that my good will had paid off. Presenting the oncoming climate emergency and subsequent extinction of the human race, not only as a solid fact, but a rollercoaster with popstars and dualwielded uzis. There's nothing like that in Side Order. Just a loose implication that dogmatic authoritarianism is a flawed attitude. It feels pretty lame by contrast. I don't know if anybody else gets as much out of this side of Splatoon, and I don't think they can repeat that high. I just feel obliged to keep prodding the developers to get radical again.
That's not to say that Side Order makes no meaningful progress on the story. Following up on the liberation of the Octoling army, we're given some insight into who those people were and how their lives have changed since. It's significant to our understanding of Marina, and shows commitment to the continuity. It didn't stir me too much, personally, but if there had been so much as a comment from a Squid Sister, I know I'd have been far more invested.
Completing Side Order gives players the ability to set Splatoon 2's Inkopolis Square as their main hub. It's kind of weird to be seeing nostalgia for a game on the same console, but with all the signs that the Switch may be wrapping things up, there is a bit of ennui in going back to the 2017 stuff right now. As a big fan of Zelda, Mario and Splatoon, that year was a complete thrill ride for me. Not only was there excitement for this new console, we were giddy for a version of Nintendo that put all its focus on a single platform. There seemed to be a massive new title every month, for a while. As remarkable a system as it became, I think it's fair to say it didn't really carry on that same trajectory for long. With Tears of the Kingdom, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and the Mario Kart 8 DLC, it feels like Nintendo have just been trying to repeat those 2017 successes, rather than continue on that journey of invention. Splatoon 2 is good, Splatoon 3 is good, and Side Order is good, but Octo Expansion had me thinking the series would change and get far more ambitious. I don't think that's happened. It's like we've seen everything it can be, and all we can expect now are minor tweaks. I still want Portal 2/Resident Evil 4 structure in single-player Splatoon. I just have far less faith it's going to happen, now.
I'm the kind of fan who paid for this as soon as possible to get access to the Splatoon 1 hub. Of course this is what my criticism is going to look like.
Commonplace
2022
This review contains spoilers
The first hour isn't boring you are. Was kinda disappointed when this just became superliminal. idk kinda reductive but i thought the like office comedy thing it had going on was a lot more unique then the more clichely indie stuff after that. It has a similar thing to flower sun and rain where the rigid daily structure is a great setup for comedy. and just like that game every review seems to think it's some kind of drag when i just found it really chill. BUT then that ending bit goes on for so long that it begins to become compelling again and getting out into that outside area is incredibly cathartic. I uhhhh said no to rachel cus i wanted to explore the rest of the island and didn't know it would send me back to the nightmare hell office and i thinkkkk you just get sent into a loop you can't escape from? idk there's like 4 playthroughs of this on youtube and none of them say no to rachel (understandably) so idk if there is an actual bad ending but after samey looking room like 50 i just closed the game lol.
I think it's cool when semi long games don't have saves. It ironically made me more likely to actually finish it. Knowing i can't just save and say i will pick it back up later.
am really excited to see what this dev team can do with a bit more experience on their next game
Can you tell im really tired writing this lmao
I think it's cool when semi long games don't have saves. It ironically made me more likely to actually finish it. Knowing i can't just save and say i will pick it back up later.
am really excited to see what this dev team can do with a bit more experience on their next game
Can you tell im really tired writing this lmao
Tekken 8
2024
it's a sad day for fighting game fans as katsuhiro harada announced the long-running tekken series would be laid to rest earlier this morning. this comes mere hours after news that competitor under night in-birth II sys:celes sold over one birthillion copies, leaving many to question why bandai namco chose to go head-to-head with the anime juggernaut
chaos later erupted at the funeral when kamone serizawa unexpectedly leapt from the casket mid-eulogy. armed with steel chair he wasted no time incapacitating michael murray before removing his shirt, shotgunning several cans of beer, and climbing back into the mahogany box. witnesses say he refuses to leave, stating it "belongs to [him] now"
virtua fighter creator yu suzuki was seen fleeing the scene and while he declined to comment on recent events, he revealed he's been hard at work trimming down shenmue's story and now expects it to conclude within the next six or seven games
when we return we'll have more breaking news on the dark side of accessorizing, the closure of ed hardy, and why some are calling this an unprecedented golden age for planet earth
stay tuned
chaos later erupted at the funeral when kamone serizawa unexpectedly leapt from the casket mid-eulogy. armed with steel chair he wasted no time incapacitating michael murray before removing his shirt, shotgunning several cans of beer, and climbing back into the mahogany box. witnesses say he refuses to leave, stating it "belongs to [him] now"
virtua fighter creator yu suzuki was seen fleeing the scene and while he declined to comment on recent events, he revealed he's been hard at work trimming down shenmue's story and now expects it to conclude within the next six or seven games
when we return we'll have more breaking news on the dark side of accessorizing, the closure of ed hardy, and why some are calling this an unprecedented golden age for planet earth
stay tuned
Street Fighter 6
2023
I hate Ken players <3
Undertale Yellow
2023
While I do love UNDERTALE, I haven't stepped foot in a high school for at least the entirety of this game's development, so unfortunately there's nothing for me here
Fashion Dreamer
2023
Stopped playing not long after finding out characters can only wear what is gender-assigned to them, and as a woman whose fashion revolves around dressing more masculine, that for me was a bit of a big strike. A big part of fashion in real life is going against social norms, so it’s disappointing to offer a fashion game that forces you into so many boxes. The game is a bit boring from how simple it is, too, and having two characters feels impossible, as my wife and I share the game and found that when someone online makes you an outfit, you have no idea which character it’s supposed to be for! Adding an additional character seems to be just for having an extra face to dress up as the story progression is shared between the two characters, too. So weird.
2/5
2/5
Dragon Warrior
1986
Guys, this game is fucking insane. Like absolutely insane. I can not stress enough how fucking cool this game is. This dude from Japan, Yuji Horii, took this mostly Western PC genre and completely changed the world of gaming for-fucking-ever. I mean, I'm sure you already know that, and I'm sure you think, oh yeah, it's impressive how much this game did being a prime builder for the genre, but like guys... holy SHIT. This game is one of the first of its kind, and it still gets SO much right. It gets things right that games coming out way later might forget about (YES, I'm still bitter that Lufia doesn't have ANY indicator of how low your HP is in battle in fucking 2002 shut up), it gets things right that I full on went in expecting a game on the Famicom to understandably not get right it's first-time around, it got things right that I didn't even know I wanted to be done right. I've see people online argue about earlier Japanese RPGs, and they're what we should put more focus on, like Dragon Slayer or Black Onyx, but like come on - this was put on a way less powerful system compared to the PC-88 and it had a soundtrack of music, charmingly detailed enemies and backgrounds, it had fucking characters you could talk and learn from... Dragon Quest so perfectly surrounds you into feeling like you've been dropped into a fairy tale and finally get to be the hero for (which I lovingly named Fugger btw).
Now, lemme tell you the ways in which Dragon Quest blows my goddamn fucking mind:
- Dragon Quest takes a genre used to the complexity that a PC keyboard can allow a player, and was able to easily convert it over to a controller that has 2 buttons.
- It opened an uncountable amount of players to a concept they've never heard of, and had them fall IN LOVE with it. Like for real, how many kids in 1980's Japan do you think were playing Dungeons and Dragons with their friends?
- This Horii dude was so worried about making sure the game was player-friendly enough that he straight up invented some amazing QOL elements that became naturally part of the genre, to the point we just assume it's going to be in any RPG we pick up. Examples include: Leveling-up quick in the beginning to keep motivations high, NPCs offering beginner advice, visual representations in knowing the changes in difficulty (bridges and tunnels), text boxes with all current information easy for access, etc. etc.
- Additionally, how involved the player's actions feel in connection to the game's story is so charming. Events such as being able to see the hero physically bridal-style carry the princess back to the castle, and seeing the poisonous swamps now brimming with flowers really helps emotionally connect the player to what they do to progress the story.
- And yes the story! Let's not forget about that! Yes, it features a damsel-in-distress storyline that we've seen a million times in plays, books, and movies, but the way Dragon Quest's story of self-growth and determination so perfectly mixes with the RPG gameplay brought forward. The villain is also really cool - especially his sort of plot-twist second form.
On top of all that, the absolute most important of all, Dragon Quest is FUN. It's fun! It's really fucking fun! Almost 30 years later, and you still find people online, old or young, Eastern or Western, no matter the gender, all talking about their fondness for the game. It's groundbreaking, beautiful (especially on NES), influential, it looks and works better than even goddamn Linda Evangelista. I played through it with the American Dragon Warrior guide book that came out the same time the game did in the West, and found that perfect for helping me know what to do next after I got bored wandering in circles trying to level up.
This is the first game I've played in the Dragon Quest series, even though really, I played Dragon Warrior for the NES in technicality, heh heh. This whole experience is definitely the start to a new series I think I will be very annoying about, so I hope anyone who, for some reason happens to like following my reviews, is ready for many, many more to come.
XOXO
4/5
Now, lemme tell you the ways in which Dragon Quest blows my goddamn fucking mind:
- Dragon Quest takes a genre used to the complexity that a PC keyboard can allow a player, and was able to easily convert it over to a controller that has 2 buttons.
- It opened an uncountable amount of players to a concept they've never heard of, and had them fall IN LOVE with it. Like for real, how many kids in 1980's Japan do you think were playing Dungeons and Dragons with their friends?
- This Horii dude was so worried about making sure the game was player-friendly enough that he straight up invented some amazing QOL elements that became naturally part of the genre, to the point we just assume it's going to be in any RPG we pick up. Examples include: Leveling-up quick in the beginning to keep motivations high, NPCs offering beginner advice, visual representations in knowing the changes in difficulty (bridges and tunnels), text boxes with all current information easy for access, etc. etc.
- Additionally, how involved the player's actions feel in connection to the game's story is so charming. Events such as being able to see the hero physically bridal-style carry the princess back to the castle, and seeing the poisonous swamps now brimming with flowers really helps emotionally connect the player to what they do to progress the story.
- And yes the story! Let's not forget about that! Yes, it features a damsel-in-distress storyline that we've seen a million times in plays, books, and movies, but the way Dragon Quest's story of self-growth and determination so perfectly mixes with the RPG gameplay brought forward. The villain is also really cool - especially his sort of plot-twist second form.
On top of all that, the absolute most important of all, Dragon Quest is FUN. It's fun! It's really fucking fun! Almost 30 years later, and you still find people online, old or young, Eastern or Western, no matter the gender, all talking about their fondness for the game. It's groundbreaking, beautiful (especially on NES), influential, it looks and works better than even goddamn Linda Evangelista. I played through it with the American Dragon Warrior guide book that came out the same time the game did in the West, and found that perfect for helping me know what to do next after I got bored wandering in circles trying to level up.
This is the first game I've played in the Dragon Quest series, even though really, I played Dragon Warrior for the NES in technicality, heh heh. This whole experience is definitely the start to a new series I think I will be very annoying about, so I hope anyone who, for some reason happens to like following my reviews, is ready for many, many more to come.
XOXO
4/5
Super Mario Bros Wonder is a much-needed step up from the New Super Mario Bros titles. Overall, it makes some great changes and introduces many cool and lovable aspects that I hope become series staples in the future. However, as I read these reviews, I get the feeling I didn’t enjoy it as much as most people do. I can’t help but feel this game plays it a bit too safe in some areas. Wonder would’ve been mind-blowing if we got it in place of New Super Mario Bros 2. or New Super Mario Bros. U, so I’m sort of left with a feeling of “yeah this is where we should’ve been like 10 years ago.” Either way, I’m glad we made it here eventually, at the very least.
Starting with the positives, the most noticeable changes are the visual style and details. Mario’s world remains as bright and colorful as ever, but Wonder finally manages to have a style completely separate from NSMB. Even though many of the traditional environmental themes are used, they mixed up a lot of the color schemes to really freshen things up and create new visual aesthetics that will hopefully bleed into spinoffs and future entries. And of course, there are the characters, each one being super cartoony, expressive, and having a wide variety of poses, even for the smallest actions. Speaking of, I really liked the array of characters they had this time around. I sort of wish you could be Yoshi or Nabbit without it being easy mode, but it’s not the end of the world. Plus, I think it’s nice they managed to have more than one playable girl character for once. I also like all of the new enemies, lots of goofy new faces are always welcomed in my book. Some enemies are as expressive as the main characters, if not more. I remember in a snow level, a Goomba fell into a small space between 2 blocks. Rather than mindlessly walk back and forth in a 1x1 space, he just gave up, sat down, and looked straight at the camera with a miserable expression. I loved it. Wonder is just full to the brim of little details like that.
As for Mario and Luigi’s new voice actor, Kevin Afghani, I think he sounded pretty good! I’ll be happy to hear more from him in the future. As for the talking flowers, I didn’t find them as annoying as other people did, but I can see how they can get grating pretty quickly.
One of my most favorite bits was the online interaction system. I assumed I wouldn't care for it all that much, but it brings so much to the table. It’s fun to be thrown in with a group of random players as you tread new ground together and help each other out. Helping someone through a tough section and spamming the little smile icon at each other is such a nice feeling. Silently agreeing to cooperate and take turns at trying a difficult section is hilarious. Putting down a standee in one level and seeing tons of notifications that people are using it like 10 minutes later is satisfying. Plus it’s all optional too, so if you feel it makes everything too easy or if it’s too invasive, you can turn it off with no issues. Overall, it’s just a delightful little system that I had a great time with.
With Wonder Flowers, I’m a bit mixed. They’re definitely fun the first time around, but I can’t see myself replaying most of those segments if I already got the seed from them. It’s really cool that they came up with so many ideas, and even cooler that you only see a small portion of them reused only once. Though there’s just something about them that feels like a novelty that will wear off soon. Additionally, I’m also a bit mixed on the Badges. They have some fun ideas going on, but I’m literally never going to switch off of the Parachute Cap badge. The only time I will is when the game clearly expects me to use another badge to get a big purple coin.
In terms of the difficulty, it’s extremely easy the whole way through minus some of the special levels. I’m not too harsh on that though, because I assume this game is for kids first and adults second. I imagine designing modern, linear difficulty for both demographics is a nightmare. Generally, the levels are a lot shorter as well, which I assume also plays a role in the low difficulty ceiling.
In the music department, I have to say I’m a little disappointed. Mario games are usually chock full of awesome, memorable tunes. While this one had a handful of stellar tracks, the vast majority of them were fairly forgettable.
My biggest complaint with this game are the bosses. Bowser Jr. being the boss of every castle is really lame and I’d argue it’s even more boring than bringing back the Koopalings again. The airship bosses being replaced with 10 second factory sections was also a bit of a letdown. And ultimately, the final boss had a generally cool presentation, but it didn’t really feel as “grand” as previous entries. It almost feels silly to complain about this, as I feel nobody really plays Mario Bros for the bosses, but for a game that seems like it’s trying to think outside the box, they really, really missed the mark with bosses.
At the end of the day, it’s exactly what you’d expect from the next evolution of Super Mario Bros. It’s colorful, creative, and well-polished all throughout. I was hoping for it to push the boundaries a bit more, but it’s still a wonderful little game.
Starting with the positives, the most noticeable changes are the visual style and details. Mario’s world remains as bright and colorful as ever, but Wonder finally manages to have a style completely separate from NSMB. Even though many of the traditional environmental themes are used, they mixed up a lot of the color schemes to really freshen things up and create new visual aesthetics that will hopefully bleed into spinoffs and future entries. And of course, there are the characters, each one being super cartoony, expressive, and having a wide variety of poses, even for the smallest actions. Speaking of, I really liked the array of characters they had this time around. I sort of wish you could be Yoshi or Nabbit without it being easy mode, but it’s not the end of the world. Plus, I think it’s nice they managed to have more than one playable girl character for once. I also like all of the new enemies, lots of goofy new faces are always welcomed in my book. Some enemies are as expressive as the main characters, if not more. I remember in a snow level, a Goomba fell into a small space between 2 blocks. Rather than mindlessly walk back and forth in a 1x1 space, he just gave up, sat down, and looked straight at the camera with a miserable expression. I loved it. Wonder is just full to the brim of little details like that.
As for Mario and Luigi’s new voice actor, Kevin Afghani, I think he sounded pretty good! I’ll be happy to hear more from him in the future. As for the talking flowers, I didn’t find them as annoying as other people did, but I can see how they can get grating pretty quickly.
One of my most favorite bits was the online interaction system. I assumed I wouldn't care for it all that much, but it brings so much to the table. It’s fun to be thrown in with a group of random players as you tread new ground together and help each other out. Helping someone through a tough section and spamming the little smile icon at each other is such a nice feeling. Silently agreeing to cooperate and take turns at trying a difficult section is hilarious. Putting down a standee in one level and seeing tons of notifications that people are using it like 10 minutes later is satisfying. Plus it’s all optional too, so if you feel it makes everything too easy or if it’s too invasive, you can turn it off with no issues. Overall, it’s just a delightful little system that I had a great time with.
With Wonder Flowers, I’m a bit mixed. They’re definitely fun the first time around, but I can’t see myself replaying most of those segments if I already got the seed from them. It’s really cool that they came up with so many ideas, and even cooler that you only see a small portion of them reused only once. Though there’s just something about them that feels like a novelty that will wear off soon. Additionally, I’m also a bit mixed on the Badges. They have some fun ideas going on, but I’m literally never going to switch off of the Parachute Cap badge. The only time I will is when the game clearly expects me to use another badge to get a big purple coin.
In terms of the difficulty, it’s extremely easy the whole way through minus some of the special levels. I’m not too harsh on that though, because I assume this game is for kids first and adults second. I imagine designing modern, linear difficulty for both demographics is a nightmare. Generally, the levels are a lot shorter as well, which I assume also plays a role in the low difficulty ceiling.
In the music department, I have to say I’m a little disappointed. Mario games are usually chock full of awesome, memorable tunes. While this one had a handful of stellar tracks, the vast majority of them were fairly forgettable.
My biggest complaint with this game are the bosses. Bowser Jr. being the boss of every castle is really lame and I’d argue it’s even more boring than bringing back the Koopalings again. The airship bosses being replaced with 10 second factory sections was also a bit of a letdown. And ultimately, the final boss had a generally cool presentation, but it didn’t really feel as “grand” as previous entries. It almost feels silly to complain about this, as I feel nobody really plays Mario Bros for the bosses, but for a game that seems like it’s trying to think outside the box, they really, really missed the mark with bosses.
At the end of the day, it’s exactly what you’d expect from the next evolution of Super Mario Bros. It’s colorful, creative, and well-polished all throughout. I was hoping for it to push the boundaries a bit more, but it’s still a wonderful little game.
Everyone knows Mario is cool as fuck. But who knows what he's thinking? Who knows why he touches flowers? And why do we think about him as fondly as we think of the mystical (nonexistent?) Dr Pepper? Perchance.
I believe it was Kant who said "Experience without theory is blind, but theory without experience is mere intellectual play." Mario exhibits experience by tushing flowes all day, but he exhibits theory by stating "Lets-a go!" Keep it up, baby!
When Mario leaves his place of safety to grab a flowey, he knows that he may Die. And yet, for a man who can purchase lives with money, a life becomes a mere store of value. A tax that can be paid for, much as a rich man feels any law with a fine is a price. We think of Mario as a hero, but he is simply a one percenter of a more privileged variety. The lifekind. Perchance.
I believe it was Kant who said "Experience without theory is blind, but theory without experience is mere intellectual play." Mario exhibits experience by tushing flowes all day, but he exhibits theory by stating "Lets-a go!" Keep it up, baby!
When Mario leaves his place of safety to grab a flowey, he knows that he may Die. And yet, for a man who can purchase lives with money, a life becomes a mere store of value. A tax that can be paid for, much as a rich man feels any law with a fine is a price. We think of Mario as a hero, but he is simply a one percenter of a more privileged variety. The lifekind. Perchance.
Once the credits rolled and I saw the sheer mountain of Nintendo employees credited as "level designers" everything made sense. Creative, but without a voice – or indeed, too many (and I don't mean those god-awful flowers!)
What does a man do, when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds?
I bought this game under the assumption that it would be a simple puzzle salad with an otokonoko dressing. As you may be aware, otokonoko are largely underrepresented in gaming, so much so that I've spent the last few months developing my own visual novel with an otokonoko lead. So when I saw this, I knew I had to buy it, anything to support the portrayal of crossdressing boytoys in this medium.
What I wasn't expecting, however, was the hardest puzzle game I've ever played in my life.
You see, while this game may lure you in with the promise of undressing breedable little twinks, it makes you WORK for it. The first boy was easy enough, and I was able to clear his levels without much issue. Once you get to boy two, however, the difficulty truly begins setting in.
The time limit you have is tighter than the boyholes you're trying to uncover. I legitimately had to start using my drawing tablet just to have the speed and coordination to keep up. Even then, dozens and dozens of time-outs and self-inflicted lockouts on boys two and three.
I don't know when it was when it stopped being about cock for me. Had it ever been? Only a God that has long-since abandoned me knows for sure. If I really wanted to see cute boys in skirts I coulda just asked my femboy boyfriend for nudes, or gone on Pixiv, the options are endless. Hell, I probably coulda datamined the assets outta the game myself. But it wasn't about that anymore. I couldn't let the game win. This was a fight to prove my worth, my right to exist in this world.
Boy four is where I was nearly broken. I spent, no exaggeration, over two hours on his first of 12 boards. I was driven nearly mad, it took the director himself directly telling me to switch to easy mode before I finally cracked. But I will return to finish the job on normal, I can't let that bratty doctor win.
Even on easy, the game isn't a cakewalk. In fact, calling it "Easy" is a bit of a disservice, as it gives you a whole new style of gameplay, and needs to be approached with a completely different strategy.
When I finally managed to overcome Boy Five, when that foldable otokonoko was stripped down to nothing but pasties and a thong, the rush was second only to losing my virginity. I had won the fight. That was all I needed. Getting to see their cocks at last was merely boy icing on the boy cake.
And, you know, I think it may have been trying to say something. About the world, about the fight otokonoko have to take part in their entire lives. The fight against the insurmountable weight of social pressures. An atypical beauty so pure, yet shunned by the masses. The fight to just exist. It's profound, in its own way.
Soundtrack was a little repetitive, but hey, anything would be after hours. If they make a sequel, my biggest hope is that they have more of a visual novel/story aspect, flesh out the boys a little more. Otherwise, a fine game that does exactly what it sets out to do, and then some.
I bought this game under the assumption that it would be a simple puzzle salad with an otokonoko dressing. As you may be aware, otokonoko are largely underrepresented in gaming, so much so that I've spent the last few months developing my own visual novel with an otokonoko lead. So when I saw this, I knew I had to buy it, anything to support the portrayal of crossdressing boytoys in this medium.
What I wasn't expecting, however, was the hardest puzzle game I've ever played in my life.
You see, while this game may lure you in with the promise of undressing breedable little twinks, it makes you WORK for it. The first boy was easy enough, and I was able to clear his levels without much issue. Once you get to boy two, however, the difficulty truly begins setting in.
The time limit you have is tighter than the boyholes you're trying to uncover. I legitimately had to start using my drawing tablet just to have the speed and coordination to keep up. Even then, dozens and dozens of time-outs and self-inflicted lockouts on boys two and three.
I don't know when it was when it stopped being about cock for me. Had it ever been? Only a God that has long-since abandoned me knows for sure. If I really wanted to see cute boys in skirts I coulda just asked my femboy boyfriend for nudes, or gone on Pixiv, the options are endless. Hell, I probably coulda datamined the assets outta the game myself. But it wasn't about that anymore. I couldn't let the game win. This was a fight to prove my worth, my right to exist in this world.
Boy four is where I was nearly broken. I spent, no exaggeration, over two hours on his first of 12 boards. I was driven nearly mad, it took the director himself directly telling me to switch to easy mode before I finally cracked. But I will return to finish the job on normal, I can't let that bratty doctor win.
Even on easy, the game isn't a cakewalk. In fact, calling it "Easy" is a bit of a disservice, as it gives you a whole new style of gameplay, and needs to be approached with a completely different strategy.
When I finally managed to overcome Boy Five, when that foldable otokonoko was stripped down to nothing but pasties and a thong, the rush was second only to losing my virginity. I had won the fight. That was all I needed. Getting to see their cocks at last was merely boy icing on the boy cake.
And, you know, I think it may have been trying to say something. About the world, about the fight otokonoko have to take part in their entire lives. The fight against the insurmountable weight of social pressures. An atypical beauty so pure, yet shunned by the masses. The fight to just exist. It's profound, in its own way.
Soundtrack was a little repetitive, but hey, anything would be after hours. If they make a sequel, my biggest hope is that they have more of a visual novel/story aspect, flesh out the boys a little more. Otherwise, a fine game that does exactly what it sets out to do, and then some.