Every bad thing you've heard about this VN is probably true. They play to tropes way too much with little payoff; what is an incredibly interesting character at times is too often used as the butt of a tsundere joke, another character makes perverted, unfunny comments, and the main character is too high on his own fumes for most of the game that he comes off as a pretentious jackass even when they're trying to not paint him as such. The dialogue is overly verbose, which could be a side effect of poor translation for all I know, but it makes for some exhausting conversations at times, and it takes an absurdly long time to get started, with the first two or three chapters being potentially grating to someone not willing to put up with the overly trope-y characters. And, while I wouldn't call it transphobic, the way it handles a certain character's gender identity is questionable at best. Now, all that aside, what's good about this game?

Literally everything else.

There's some of the most lovable and fun chemistry between all of the characters here, whether it be banter at thinking each other to be overdramatic or having to help someone understand quantum mechanics with strings of yarn. They all play an important role to the story, everyone is so essential in their own unique way, even ones you never expect. There's a certain pink-haired girl who I absolutely loathed in the beginning only to find myself having incredibly strong feelings towards her situation, and even relating myself to her story. No one feels like they're there just to move the plot along, they all feel like integral parts to the overarching narrative and it's just fantastic. However, the true gem of this game, without a doubt, is its examination of time travel. It does such an amazing job at introducing scientific theories and how things function in-universe at the perfect intervals in the story so that it makes sense when things start getting more and more complicated; by the end of the game, half of the dialogue is just science stuff, yet I was nodding along, not once thinking it didn't make sense. All the rules are crystal clear, there never feels like any huge contradictions or shoddy logic; even if something doesn't immediately make sense to you, the game will help you understand it and presents it to you in a way that will wrap your head around it. Beyond just the science, it's also an incredibly intriguing look at fatalism, changing the past, the butterfly effect, playing god, the dangers of losing our humanity, and so much else that makes the time traveling much, much more than just a plot device.

I was going to give this a 4/5 due to my aforementioned issues with pacing and tropes, but the final chapter really elevated my feelings for the game and left with a beautiful message that rendered some of my previous concerns completely obsolete. It's some of the most compelling sci-fi storytelling you'll get your hands on, and I really recommend it to anyone interested in a humanistic approach to the wonders of science.

El Psy Kongroo.

There is no concrete way I can write this review. There is the part of me that wants to incessantly go into detail about all of the high points about the narrative, what I think about the romantic writing for each of the three routes, the improvement of the artstyle by Takeuchi since Tsukihime and the absolutely spectacular soundtrack.

There is also another part of me that desperately wants to hold back to keep from spoiling the experience for others.

That is how important this game is to me.

Throughout my many years in playing video games, there has never been a story that made me break down into tears. I've played emotional games like Celeste, I've experienced heartbreaking moments like in Stranger of Paradise's final hours, hell I've gone through the Mojave Wasteland more times than I can count experiencing all of the emotions that journey brings... and yet I did not cry.

It's not that I think I'm a tough guy, I'm very much not, but no game had ever connected with me completely in such a way to get that emotional response out of me. To some extent it was upsetting because I felt like there was something wrong with my emotions, whether because I'm depressed or what I can't truly say.

So, in truth I had always been looking for the game that would eventually cause the tears to well up, and for the strings of my heart to be pulled. To know that the game had fully and completely resonated with me.

Then I got to the end of the Unlimited Blade Works route of Fate/Stay Night.

And I cried.

I don't know how to speak to the sheer volume of importance this game has to popular culture, Japanese Popular Culture in particular, but I can say that this is one of the most important games I've experienced in my life personally.

It has a lot to say about guilt, the self, the building of love between others, and so much more that I don't want to ruin for you all by spilling it here.

Maybe someday I'll be able to write something truly concrete about this game, but maybe I don't need to.

Maybe all you need to know is that this game got me to feel in a way no other game has before, and maybe it can do that for you too.

despite how fucked up we and the world can be, we move on, sometimes painfully, but such is inevitable.

putting out something pretty minimal without whole ton of thought, mainly piecing together shit i wrote on discord

i really enjoyed the subtext about capitalism and societal influence, also how theres no real resolution. it’s an outlet for its creators to express, it doesnt try and convince you there’s something wrong with this futuristic dystopia where basically everyone is fucked up and corporate corruption overwhelms, it simply just manifests. whether it’s “good” or “bad” is simply up to the player’s interpretation. i found myself in this morally gray area, seeing the overarching corrupt madness that influences everyone’s moods as a bit depressing yet motivational for some. this is how their world is and despite how it operates, people move forward. acceptance of the circumstances has sank in and acceptance of others also in the process, everyone is in the same boat. dogs, machines, talking brains; you name it. all in mutual understanding of one another.
i think some of the more sexual content can be pretty uncomfortable but it’s only very prevalent in one character and part of it does help build upon how shitty the world is, sexual desires overcome in the face of hopelessness.
characters are all super cool and i had been expecting the story to be more grandiose but i’m glad it wasnt in the end. a short but sweet small outlook into a much larger world we still don’t have a complete grasp on, but ultimately thats okay and not even its citizens fully have a grasp on it. lots of neat writing and exchanges that both satisfy with being fun and contributing to the overall ideas. it’s quirky in its own way. a fun and cozy time where you can forget and just be with these tragic yet lovable people. the infamy of the foot-tapping soundtrack also delivered. maintaining that level of intimacy with its audience that resonates. at the end i was kinda like “thats it?” but thinking about it more, va-11 hall-a doesn’t overstay its welcome at all and does exactly what it sets out to do. def one of my most memorable experiences with the genre. i’m a sucker for anything post-modern or cyberpunk related.

I was torn on whenever to give this game a 7 or 8, hell I even considered a 6 every once in a while. In the end though, AI Nirvana Initiative remains a very good game, but doesn’t quite live up to the expectations set by the first game, as well as the potential of its plot and many concepts.

The saving grace of this game’s rating is the gameplay. Yes…the fucking gameplay is the one that mad carries, since it is a significant improvement over the first game.
For starters, there is a new gameplay addition and a few quality of life improvements, regarding somniums. The gameplay addition is vr investigation sequences, where you analyze and track clues in the environment in order to figure out and reenact the trick used by the culprit in the murder scene. These sequences replace the interrogation from the first game and it is more fun trying to piece the clues together on your first try (even if you’re still given chances if you guess incorrectly) and the reenactment itself, once you piece the clues, is really funny.
The QTEs remain the same: funny, entertaining, albeit they are a bit longer (to the point they can drag sometimes).
The selling point of the gameplay remain the somniums though and they are great here. They are more logic-based now and feel like proper “puzzle rooms” and they become more fun to explore as a result. There are also different somnium difficulty settings to suit your playstyle of them and they are appreciated. The somniums also do a much better job at environmentally showing you the rules of each different somnium…if you do happen to still not get the rules, the game introduces “keys” which serve as little riddles that give you clues to how to solve these somniums. They are a much appreciated QoL improvement. The camera is also further behind to let you see the environment more clearly. The somniums still nail the story, atmosphere, visuals and music AND almost each of them have unique gameplay gimmicks to make them even more entertaining. Overall, big big improvements over the first and it made me actively be excited for the somniums in this game.
There are also two rather inoffensive additions: tomogatchi-lite with different characters as aiballs and a customization room for Tama (Ryuki’s aiball) and Aiba (Mizuki’s aiball)…not much worth mentioning there.

And now for the story of this game…boy oh boy. In a nutshell, I feel the plot is good, but there is also some stuff that really stick out that squanders the full potential that such a plot even has. The story is split into two different sides (or halves even): Mizuki and Ryuki.
Ryuki’s side of the story is fantastic and it’s the best writing of both games in my opinion. It perfectly establishes the new characters (as well as returning ones), their personalities and stories, their relationships, the mystery and conspiracy surrounding it, as well as the new themes and concepts. Ryuki himself is a great protagonist (dare I say better than Date) and his mental journey through this crackhead of a plot is compelling to witness. His new companion Tama is also great and their relationship and chemistry is really good as well, balancing humor and emotion. The new characters are also great and have different backstories and personalities that make you connect with them (my favourite ones being Gen, Masked Woman and the returning Amame)…though you might notice similarities with the old characters as well. The older ones (outside of Amame) are thrown somewhat to the side, considering their arcs were already done in the first game, but I don’t mind it. Ryuki’s route is also more linear, allowing the plot to be more focused as well. If it were just Ryuki, this game’s plot would have definitely surpassed that of the first game…but of course it’s not just his route.
The next route is Mizuki’s and this is where the writing weakens compared to Ryuki’s route and where the biggest issue of this game is presented. You see, Nirvana Initiative is pitching itself as both a “newcomer-friendly game with a self-contained story” (thanks in large part to an option that cuts the massive spoilers from the first game, which is a neat thing in general), as well as “a sequel”. By having one foot in both territories, it ultimately hurts the plot’s ambition and potential in the long run and it feels more prominent in Mizuki’s. Don’t get me wrong, the plot in Mizuki’s remains decent, but this approach ultimately leads to Mizuki being a static character, since…you know, her arc was already done in the first game! The story also has elements of the first game’s plot carry over, so not even the “self-contained” aspect works. The game decides to introduce a specific plotpoint (you’ll see what I mean when you play it), which is both a gift and a curse, as it does give Mizuki a possible motive and arc for this game, but it comes at the cost of downplaying her arc from the previous game. There are still positives to her half. Mizuki and Aiba’s chemistry and relationship is entertaining to watch, the new characters are still great, the plot remains more focused as a result to the linearity, as well as interesting…even if it comes at the cost of the murder mystery being toned down and the conspiracy aspect to be cranked up. I also still cried once and was close to tearing up another time during the story so that’s worth mentioning.
Now for “overall plot” aspects. The culprit in this game is weaker than the first one. While he is still threatening, it really comes down to the fact that he simply doesn’t feel as connected to the main cast as the culprit of the first game did. Aaaand then there are the plot twists. Most of them are well-delivered and have great clues and foreshadowing beforehand, but one of them sticks high and mighty for a different set of reasons…the actual main twist. I won’t spoil what the twist is, but it falls under the category of “genius, yet flawed at the same time”. The foreshadowing and weird narrative hooks make a whole lot more sense when the main twist is dropped…then you realize that it doesn’t exactly impact the characters or plot that much (on top of spotting oversights and possible plotholes). It is neat however to go back and replay some of the story with the twist in mind and realize just how much everything connects together. So yeah, kinda disappointed how this game’s twist goes purely for the shock factor without the nuance to it (though I suppose even making such a twist work to some degree in the first place is quite commendable)

The presentation still remains great though. The artstyle and graphics haven’t changed that much, but they already looked great to begin with and still look great now. The UI (in the menus and in-game) have received some touch-ups and they still remain great “attention to detail” to make you immersed in the vibe of the game. The voice acting remains amazing too (with Ryuki, Tama and Tokiko being my favourites regarding it)

The music is absolutely fantastic and an improvement over the first game’s already amazing soundtrack, thanks in large part to cranking up its creepier, darker and more atmospheric sounds with the new songs, while still having its fair share of bops. The main theme, as well as ending song, are better than the first game’s.

Overall, Nirvana Initiative is a very good game, but an above average SEQUEL to the first game. Had it not been for the gameplay being as much of an improvement as it is here, the game would have been a 6 or 7. I hope that a possible AI3 commits towards one of these aspects, rather than having their foot in both and not doing either justice as a result.

Hands down this has gotta be the WORST PC port for any video game. It's riddled with unstable performance hiccups, like draw distance not loading up textures right or unexpected crashes happening right before you complete a mission, forcing you to readjust your settings on an offbeat basis to make it playable. Suffering as this experience may be, Saints Row 2 proves itself to be such a grand old time that it becomes more than worth it. From completing the game I can definitely say I will never turn back to GTA. Everything people praised those games to be is funnily enough lived up to be better here, at least better than the ones I've played. It still pulls many of the trademark hallmarks of GTA but it never once feels like a shallow knockoff like its predecessor seemed to be and in fact carved out its own identity from the growing subgenre of open-world GTA clones.

Stillwater is an engaging open-world sandbox to just drive around in and witness its sheer personality while causing so much destructive havoc. What I really love about it is how the criminal parts feel much more involved, gameplay/story-wise, with factions that feel defined and truly an obstacle to knock down in your epic comeback to being top dog again. The map is split into various territories, each controlled by rival gangs, which is smart in helping you familiarize with the open-world and where to conquer the city through nonstop gang warfare. How this is done aside from main story missions are mini-game activities which left me skeptical in how plentiful yet mandatory they were to progress the game. Fortunately, mostly, this feels very earned as side content to churn through. There's a lot of variety so there's bound to be something to give you some enjoyment at least. No matter how busy work they can end up being, I still like doing these missions/activities because of how fun they ended up being and how it still feels like it matters to the story. You have the simple motive of climbing your way back to the top by doing odd jobs and fucking with rival factions to prove you're a boss, which gradually hypes you the fuck up when shit gets real. And believe me, shit indeed gets real.

I was not expecting the story to be this damn good. When you have a series that shares and owes so much of its DNA to GTA my expectations get hindered usually. Part of my problem with games like GTA IV and GTA V is how the stories never felt captivatingly told. They're certainly functional rinse and repeat stories of a criminal upstart rising through the ranks in the world but that's where it ends, really. No matter how much I can appreciate Rockstar's bluntness in delivering the stories that work for them I can hardly take anything away from that. Like, I can respect GTA V's story being about three guys representing different phases of getting suckered into crime while struggling to form a genuine camaraderie but there's no powerful moments that sticks in my head with this. I can also respect GTA IV for trying to tell an interesting story with Niko Bellavic but it was so unbelievably boring and colorless that by the time the game actually started being more enjoyable I just gave up on it completely. Saints Row 2 is weird because parts of it on paper aren't too different from GTA but everything else feels like an earnest attempt to tell a more well-realized story. When the game goes unbelievably hard, it just goes unbelievably hard. When it goes absurd, it's willing to embrace it, in the healthiest of doses. What helps it out are some well-written characters, heavy hitting memorable moments, and the most uneasy yet successful grip on tone. To sum that up; Saints Row 2 works because it's a realistic world where all the goofy and insane shit sprawls out naturally. None of it should really work when put together but these awkward pieces make up a fine looking larger puzzle to admire.

Player customization is practically near perfect as it can ever get. It's still impressive even by today and should be the base standard of the unrestrained freedom that comes with character creation. Love the attention to detail in making the player be able to stand out in any cutscene imaginable (kudos to using gender neutral pronouns to refer to both male/female protags) and feeling like this is indeed your story. The rest of the gameplay is better than what you'd expect going into this. The customization also extends to player homes and your own gangs which is a really cool feature to have. Driving has the right amount of weight to it while still easily being as ridiculous as it can be. The shooting is fine but the lack of a reloading feature or proper over the shoulder aiming can be annoying.

Sucks that this hasn't gotten a proper port, remaster, or really anything that directly builds on the foundation built here. There's a lot of overlooked good shit with open-world sandboxes that I'd argue this is a great example for. As of now, it's pretty inaccessible unless you're the one still standing Xbox Stan.

I woke up one morning after a dream. A dream of a perfect zombie game. A huge map with cities to explore, construction to build your own bases, surgery mechanics like metal gear solid 3, and total freedom to survive in the apocalypse in whatever way you want. But most importantly I wanted people and characters that you could invite to your group, having to make tough decisions and have arguments with them like who gets how much food or who needs medicine the most. That very day, I was looking for a game like this and zomboid fit the bill pretty much to the letter, excepting my last wish for the NPC friends. It's a zombie survival game that's been in early access for almost 10 years. These words should be like sandpaper to my brain. But I played 12 hours of this bad boy in 2 days and I am impressed. The sheer depth of every mechanic and how it doesn't feel like you can't do what you would do in a zombie apocalypse. You can pretty much do anything you can think of. Collect rainwater, but you have to heat it up to clean it. You could use the oven but one day the lines are gonna get shut off. Same with the sink. One day canned food will run out, so you better take the time you have to learn to fish or set up a farm. A huge chunk of my playthrough felt more like stardew valley, so when I went into town for more supplies and I saw a zombie I was like oh right. So it feels like you can safely get away from zombies with proper planning. But the zombies aren't a joke. If you make a SINGLE mistake then you're pretty much dead. Saw a fancy car I wanted. Didn't check my corners and boom, zombie. I panicked and broke the glass window of the car and got in. Deep wound, glass stuck in there. I had to hotwire it, and drive away from the horde of zombies while doing hand surgery on myself in real-time. This shit was so intense I think I lost a few years off my life from stress. I'll see you guys in heaven at 77. But anyway, you don't know shit about these zombies. You don't know how they work. Sure, you can customize them in sandbox mode but you don't know if they're drawn to corpses of other zombies or if they can smell the blood on your shirt. The game won't tell you, but if you're paranoid or cautious you can get rid of zombie corpses and wash your clothes and self to get rid of the blood. It reminds me of the early days of the walking dead when they didn't know how the bites worked or if the walkers were still conscious and could come back once the whole thing blew over in a week or two. I dunno about you guys but I like not knowing things. This game is just pure awesome.

But there is a flaw. Yeah, it's early access and it's still not done. There's just one aspect I really need from this game and that's the human NPC update. If you check the developer's Twitter updates you can see they are working on it and just like everything else in the game it's insanely detailed and ambitious. But unlike an ambitious promise from a game like no man's sky, I totally trust this team that each NPC will have deep memories of relatives going back to their grandparents and can tell you about the time their stepdad fell into the lake while fishing. These guys. That's the one thing that's missing and the part of a zombie apocalypse that I think is one of the most important. Because if you have nobody with you, then you are just struggling every day to keep living so you can survive tomorrow. I'd honestly get sorta bored just not even being able to chill at all. I like that this game has books and CDs and VHSes so our character can pass the time. But I'm adding that extra half-star when this game gets the NPC update.

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon is a really solid game! It's almost like a reboot/recreation of the old Castlevania games from the NES.

The gameplay is more accessible, the graphics better and the difficulty more balanced. Only the last boss was a bit too difficult for me. The music wasn't really my cup of tea, but it's not bad either. It's more or less the way you remember Castlevania from back then.

The stages invite you to try out all the characters, as there are different paths that only certain characters can take. The bat transformation also makes whole sections easy to fly over in places.