SketchyDarya
2014
It's interesting to see a rom-hack that's humbly striving to be a good Pokemon game, with no gimmicks or twists. It's like deconstructing a nice sandwich and using the ingredients to make another, equally nice sandwich.
What if Solid Snake played the harmonica?
2022
Poorly applied parallaxing. See me after class.
2024
Every creative decision made from the original Persona 3 to Reload has made the game more accessible, fun, and stylish, but also less thematically interesting. It’s a testament to the strength of the underlying game that Reload shines in spite of some eroded themes.
2022
At first I found the regular walls of text off-putting, but by the end I really felt invested in those walls of text.
2023
It's beautiful and interesting and I absolutely don't have the patience for its esoteric malarkey.
It's fun. Witty. Generally well-designed.
There's a twist after one week of play. Depending on how terminally online you are, you will either find it to be benignly cute, or the greatest twist ever written.
There's a twist after one week of play. Depending on how terminally online you are, you will either find it to be benignly cute, or the greatest twist ever written.
This is at least the 7th time that Kotaro Uchikoshi has written a game that piles on convoluted, timey-wimey nonsense, before pulling back the curtain to reveal an intricate story about the triumph of the human spirit.
It still rocks.
It still rocks.
Possibly the first game that's asked me to type in a slur to continue.
I wanted to appreciate the game's merits (and it does have merits!), but the ugliness of the game's writing was too difficult to ignore. It's a story that treats othering, trauma, and death with immature flippancy. "It's bad when kids die," says Danganronpa, "but it's also badass."
I wanted to appreciate the game's merits (and it does have merits!), but the ugliness of the game's writing was too difficult to ignore. It's a story that treats othering, trauma, and death with immature flippancy. "It's bad when kids die," says Danganronpa, "but it's also badass."
2022
The art style uses fluid watercolours to paint a soft and tangible world, reminiscent of classical fantasy illustration. Conflict is depicted with rich, symbolic imagery; a warrior swings her sword, and a single petal falls from a flower. Each and every character gets a beautiful, full-length, sung theme tune, with both English and Japanese versions.
The gameplay is idle game gacha big titty waifu collecting.
The gameplay is idle game gacha big titty waifu collecting.
This game evokes feelings that I have never seen any game come close to evoking, and for that alone it is worth playing.
2021
Neat little game. It's a short, unconventional action-adventure.
The soundtrack, aesthetic, and gameplay twists are all cool, but what's interesting about this game is its abstruseness. Gloom Reducer occasionally asks you to do downright unintuitive things to progress, things that might make a player give up unless they really want to see both endings.
This is by design. Owch appears to be testing where the line is between "tricky puzzle", and "esoteric bullshit", and she uses this line to tell a story about choices, self-destruction, and transformative growth.
There's something uncomfortably personal about the experience. It's great.
The soundtrack, aesthetic, and gameplay twists are all cool, but what's interesting about this game is its abstruseness. Gloom Reducer occasionally asks you to do downright unintuitive things to progress, things that might make a player give up unless they really want to see both endings.
This is by design. Owch appears to be testing where the line is between "tricky puzzle", and "esoteric bullshit", and she uses this line to tell a story about choices, self-destruction, and transformative growth.
There's something uncomfortably personal about the experience. It's great.
2023
I played an early version of this. Solid game, and the developer was VERY cool 😎.
2020
This is an idle-puzzle game where you play as the failing kidneys of a dying dog, pet to a lonely, elderly farmer. As the dog's life dwindles, the dog's system needs ever more frequent check-ins, until eventually you must accept the inevitable. Or must you?
It's a uniquely depressing game to play, but the developer does an excellent job of treating the subject matter with the right level of heartfelt sincerity. I don't think there's anything else like it.
It's a uniquely depressing game to play, but the developer does an excellent job of treating the subject matter with the right level of heartfelt sincerity. I don't think there's anything else like it.