SpicyTM
2022
This is probably one of the best games I have ever played. Cannot recommend this game more. Please play Signalis.
2002
This game was fucking fantastic. A perfect remake of a great game. I actually regret playing this on easy even if it did allow me to enjoy the game probably a lot more than if I had played hard mode. Still need to play the Chris campaign, only done Jill so far, but when I do I doubt my rating will change. Not my favorite RE but I will say it is probably one of the best installments of the series, and an absolute legendary game.
2016
Pretty fun! Had really cheesy writing but it wasn't to the detriment to my enjoyment. Rebecca is really cute, Billy was just a goofy character. Their dialogue had some really sweet moments and some really dumb moments and it was awesome. COULD NOT pay attention to the story of this game at all, not helped by the fact I accidentally skipped the cutscene preceding the second to last boss. Oops! Seeing Wesker mode unlocked at the end of the game made me laugh uninterrupted for a straight minute
2005
Writing a new review to give this a 5 star rating. Replayed it this month and I just gotta say. Peak game. Love it all so so so much. Get the HD mod for PC, play this shit through. Cannot recommend enough.
What can I say? They made Inscryption act 1 but better and endless. Fucking amazing. 10/10.
2022
I just beat ANNO: Mutationem and while I could say a lot, I want to start off by saying that I enjoyed this video game. For something that I got before reviews came out and knowing opinion of, I was worried by optimistic, and my optimism was repaid overall. This game was pretty fun! And, well... it was pretty! It looked beautiful! The graphical style of this game, with 2d sprite characters over a low poly, 3-dimensional environment, is an art style I always enjoyed to see in games, and combining that with a beautiful cyberpunk world made for great results! Plus, my computer isn't the best one, so I was delighted to see this game work perfectly on high settings. It was a treat to just walk around and observe the world.
Now, graphics aside, I want to get into gameplay, which I found pretty good too! The game has two different kinds of gameplay: 3d walkaround segments and 2d side-scrolling beat-em-up platformer, and both of these segments are quite fun to play around in! The overworld segments are fun to interact with, the game is brimming with interactable NPCs and bits of lore, as well as the ability to search through hidden chests and other storage places to get trash you can either sell or reuse to craft items! As well as this, these segments serve as a way to move between areas of combat in the game's different "dungeons" and the two game modes transition between each other extremely well. And how is the combat? I personally enjoy it! It is a very solid beatemup, encouraging using all of your different weapons and skills to rack huge combos on enemies. It definitely reminded me of the Devil May Cry games, as I'm swapping between my sword and heavy sword and my different guns. It felt very smooth and satisfying to just mow through enemies, especially near the end of the game as I racked up skills and OP weapons.
Now... having said that. I have a bit to criticize about the story of this game. I think the characters in this are great! Ann is a wonderful protagonist, and the supporting cast each have pretty good roles. Ayane, Ann's friend, is especially a lovely character. I love how they didn't shy away from her being flirty, it almost felt like the two characters were romantically involved in scenes, which made their bond more sweet to me. But... without spoiling, I can't say the ending was satisfying. It just felt too... open? And the devs even admitted to that, saying they were going to update the game with more content after the game. Which just feels bittersweet to me, because while I personally would love to have more game to play, it really feels like they had to rush the ending and didn't touch upon everything they wanted to. Mix that with most lore behind the characters being hid behind a bunch of logs and monitors that, while really neat to see how much story they've made for the game, are pretty hard to read through. Alongside this, I feel this is a good place to say that the voice acting, while serviceable to me at least, did not go alongside the subtitles. Which made me think there was some kind of script rewrite or something, because it isn't typos entire lines are different between both of these. These things didn't impact my enjoyment too heavily, but the story really felt like it needed a little more to it's ending than what it gave, at least to me.
Now do I say this game is worth it? Yeah, to me at least! This is incredibly specific, but a side-scrolling beat-em-up set in a cyberpunk world with a 2d-3d art style was what I saw as a "perfect" game for me, as it's a combination of a bunch of different things I love in games, and to see that come into fruition was delightful. I think the main characters are great, the world is great, and the game plays wonderfully. And, like i said before, it is absolutely gorgeous. But, I will say, not only is the story not super satisfying it also took me about 11 hours total to beat the game and it's sidequests, which isn't so bad for me because I like playing shorter games, but it may not be what people want for the game's 25 dollar price tag. Personally, though, I was more than happy with what I got for what I paid for. I'm interested to see how this game looks in the future after it's updates, though!
Now, graphics aside, I want to get into gameplay, which I found pretty good too! The game has two different kinds of gameplay: 3d walkaround segments and 2d side-scrolling beat-em-up platformer, and both of these segments are quite fun to play around in! The overworld segments are fun to interact with, the game is brimming with interactable NPCs and bits of lore, as well as the ability to search through hidden chests and other storage places to get trash you can either sell or reuse to craft items! As well as this, these segments serve as a way to move between areas of combat in the game's different "dungeons" and the two game modes transition between each other extremely well. And how is the combat? I personally enjoy it! It is a very solid beatemup, encouraging using all of your different weapons and skills to rack huge combos on enemies. It definitely reminded me of the Devil May Cry games, as I'm swapping between my sword and heavy sword and my different guns. It felt very smooth and satisfying to just mow through enemies, especially near the end of the game as I racked up skills and OP weapons.
Now... having said that. I have a bit to criticize about the story of this game. I think the characters in this are great! Ann is a wonderful protagonist, and the supporting cast each have pretty good roles. Ayane, Ann's friend, is especially a lovely character. I love how they didn't shy away from her being flirty, it almost felt like the two characters were romantically involved in scenes, which made their bond more sweet to me. But... without spoiling, I can't say the ending was satisfying. It just felt too... open? And the devs even admitted to that, saying they were going to update the game with more content after the game. Which just feels bittersweet to me, because while I personally would love to have more game to play, it really feels like they had to rush the ending and didn't touch upon everything they wanted to. Mix that with most lore behind the characters being hid behind a bunch of logs and monitors that, while really neat to see how much story they've made for the game, are pretty hard to read through. Alongside this, I feel this is a good place to say that the voice acting, while serviceable to me at least, did not go alongside the subtitles. Which made me think there was some kind of script rewrite or something, because it isn't typos entire lines are different between both of these. These things didn't impact my enjoyment too heavily, but the story really felt like it needed a little more to it's ending than what it gave, at least to me.
Now do I say this game is worth it? Yeah, to me at least! This is incredibly specific, but a side-scrolling beat-em-up set in a cyberpunk world with a 2d-3d art style was what I saw as a "perfect" game for me, as it's a combination of a bunch of different things I love in games, and to see that come into fruition was delightful. I think the main characters are great, the world is great, and the game plays wonderfully. And, like i said before, it is absolutely gorgeous. But, I will say, not only is the story not super satisfying it also took me about 11 hours total to beat the game and it's sidequests, which isn't so bad for me because I like playing shorter games, but it may not be what people want for the game's 25 dollar price tag. Personally, though, I was more than happy with what I got for what I paid for. I'm interested to see how this game looks in the future after it's updates, though!
This review contains spoilers
I have a couple things to say, but to start off: VA-11 HALL-A is a pretty neat game.
To elaborate, I love the visual style, the art direction of this game is on point. A lot of my friends like the soundtrack and while it didn't hit hard with me I quite enjoyed hearing it while playing. I think this game was well written for the most part (I will get to that) and I liked most of the characters and the world they lived in. The way information is presented to you is like you are Jill, someone who has lived in this wildly different environment all their life, and as a result the way you learn about this world through conversation is pretty good. The gameplay was delightfully simple, yet engaging, and it was a fun little something to mix up the standard visual novel format. And, as cheesy it may be to say, I loved seeing a game that had gay, lesbian, trans and bisexual characters just. existing. It was very nice to see them not shy away from writing gay characters, especially with having the main character's same sex relationship as a major part of the story.
Okay having said that I guess I had some issues with a couple things. My big thing is Dorothy, who I still regard as probably one of my favorite customers in the game. I think her character is one that is very interesting, but not well utilized. The fact that she is specifically a robot sex worker that looks like a child is something that is really fucked up to think about, and I seriously this could have been something that was brought up in more than a joking sense. Like it seriously felt like they had this character to exist as "silly sex worker!" "pedophilia joke!" and it really broke my heart because you could tell there is more than that to her character. Like how she talks about the familial relationship with her caregiver, her mental struggles with existing as an artificial person, and her aspirations to become a childcare worker like her friend at the orphanage. I like her genuine friendship with Jill, and through the weird flirting actually does care about how she feels, and is willing to open up to her about her actual issues. But then in all of these conversations she goes like "Hah I just got done jacking off a couple pedophiles! I can bend my leg behind my head!" and while I think some of her lines are initial funny, they really get kind of... a lot(?)... when you let them sit for a second or two longer. I just wish they expanded on her character more, maybe in her ending instead of adding in random Anna lore show her actually working at the orphanage and moving on from sex work? or deciding to go forth with the operation to make her physical age reflect her mental age? I don't know something that just at least acknowledges the... unfortunate circumstances of her life, despite her contagious enthusiasm. And it's not like this is an issue throughout the entire thing, because I think plenty of other characters had pretty thorough character arcs! I just think they kept Dorothy a little too one-note and it wasn't really the best choice to make when her "note" is really kind of disturbing under the comedic tone.
And I say this mainly because, well, while I can say this thing is "just Dorothy's thing!" this sex worker that looks like a child that is named after a character from a pedophile manga was, in fact, written by somebody. She isn't real, someone wrote her to be like this. Which makes it a little less funny.
Other than that I guess my other... issue? Not really? Is with how some things are written regarding Jill and her ex-girlfriend. For the most part I think it was actually really well done, and emotional! It was a great narrative. I do think, though, there was like this one bit of dialogue at the end where she's thinking about something I will just call "the cucumber story" which really showed like. "Oh yeah this was written by a man, and not a girl." But whatever. I guess this is where I will also address the THREE shoehorned YIIK references, which wasn't really an issue as much as it was funny that the publishers were really hyping this thing up so much back then when it wouldn't come out until 3 years later. It just felt like... a lot.
So yeah overall, pretty good game! I definitely have my qualms but it was really down to insensitivity at parts and bad writing decisions. I think at the end of the day the experience was really enjoyable for a couple days, so an 8/10 seems like a fair score.
Now I know there is a sequel that's... in development? I think? I dont know if its even gonna come out, but I kinda hope it does. The gameplay looks like a step up, though if I were the one making a sequel I'd personally just focus more on Jill! I love the setting of Glitch City, and the weird citizens that live in it, not to mention all the fun fictional drinks! I'd love to see Jill's life working at a new bar, her friendships with the people she met while bartending, her sister-like relationship with Gaby, her possible romance with her crush, Dina, and the political landscape of the city she lives in changing around her. Hell, maybe I could get that actual Dorothy character arc I was just bitching about.
But who knows, maybe we might get that game someday. For now all I can say is that this game is pretty neat for what it is. I can say I recommend for sure.
To elaborate, I love the visual style, the art direction of this game is on point. A lot of my friends like the soundtrack and while it didn't hit hard with me I quite enjoyed hearing it while playing. I think this game was well written for the most part (I will get to that) and I liked most of the characters and the world they lived in. The way information is presented to you is like you are Jill, someone who has lived in this wildly different environment all their life, and as a result the way you learn about this world through conversation is pretty good. The gameplay was delightfully simple, yet engaging, and it was a fun little something to mix up the standard visual novel format. And, as cheesy it may be to say, I loved seeing a game that had gay, lesbian, trans and bisexual characters just. existing. It was very nice to see them not shy away from writing gay characters, especially with having the main character's same sex relationship as a major part of the story.
Okay having said that I guess I had some issues with a couple things. My big thing is Dorothy, who I still regard as probably one of my favorite customers in the game. I think her character is one that is very interesting, but not well utilized. The fact that she is specifically a robot sex worker that looks like a child is something that is really fucked up to think about, and I seriously this could have been something that was brought up in more than a joking sense. Like it seriously felt like they had this character to exist as "silly sex worker!" "pedophilia joke!" and it really broke my heart because you could tell there is more than that to her character. Like how she talks about the familial relationship with her caregiver, her mental struggles with existing as an artificial person, and her aspirations to become a childcare worker like her friend at the orphanage. I like her genuine friendship with Jill, and through the weird flirting actually does care about how she feels, and is willing to open up to her about her actual issues. But then in all of these conversations she goes like "Hah I just got done jacking off a couple pedophiles! I can bend my leg behind my head!" and while I think some of her lines are initial funny, they really get kind of... a lot(?)... when you let them sit for a second or two longer. I just wish they expanded on her character more, maybe in her ending instead of adding in random Anna lore show her actually working at the orphanage and moving on from sex work? or deciding to go forth with the operation to make her physical age reflect her mental age? I don't know something that just at least acknowledges the... unfortunate circumstances of her life, despite her contagious enthusiasm. And it's not like this is an issue throughout the entire thing, because I think plenty of other characters had pretty thorough character arcs! I just think they kept Dorothy a little too one-note and it wasn't really the best choice to make when her "note" is really kind of disturbing under the comedic tone.
And I say this mainly because, well, while I can say this thing is "just Dorothy's thing!" this sex worker that looks like a child that is named after a character from a pedophile manga was, in fact, written by somebody. She isn't real, someone wrote her to be like this. Which makes it a little less funny.
Other than that I guess my other... issue? Not really? Is with how some things are written regarding Jill and her ex-girlfriend. For the most part I think it was actually really well done, and emotional! It was a great narrative. I do think, though, there was like this one bit of dialogue at the end where she's thinking about something I will just call "the cucumber story" which really showed like. "Oh yeah this was written by a man, and not a girl." But whatever. I guess this is where I will also address the THREE shoehorned YIIK references, which wasn't really an issue as much as it was funny that the publishers were really hyping this thing up so much back then when it wouldn't come out until 3 years later. It just felt like... a lot.
So yeah overall, pretty good game! I definitely have my qualms but it was really down to insensitivity at parts and bad writing decisions. I think at the end of the day the experience was really enjoyable for a couple days, so an 8/10 seems like a fair score.
Now I know there is a sequel that's... in development? I think? I dont know if its even gonna come out, but I kinda hope it does. The gameplay looks like a step up, though if I were the one making a sequel I'd personally just focus more on Jill! I love the setting of Glitch City, and the weird citizens that live in it, not to mention all the fun fictional drinks! I'd love to see Jill's life working at a new bar, her friendships with the people she met while bartending, her sister-like relationship with Gaby, her possible romance with her crush, Dina, and the political landscape of the city she lives in changing around her. Hell, maybe I could get that actual Dorothy character arc I was just bitching about.
But who knows, maybe we might get that game someday. For now all I can say is that this game is pretty neat for what it is. I can say I recommend for sure.
2016
This review contains spoilers
Really fun little game! I legit got fooled by the fake Steam message gag in the Asmodeus encounter LMAO. It was funny as fuck it chose a person I never talk to on steam it was so funny.
Feel my only criticism that it was pretty barebones, but that was rly the point I know. I just loved all the computer puzzles. Azazel's presentation was by far my favorite, with the locks blocking the executable. Pretty cool!
Feel my only criticism that it was pretty barebones, but that was rly the point I know. I just loved all the computer puzzles. Azazel's presentation was by far my favorite, with the locks blocking the executable. Pretty cool!
2021
This review contains spoilers
Man what a video game for real. It's hard for me to write everything out into one review but I will try!
The instant I launched the game I was instantly on board. The first "act" of the game is probably the best of the three and is out of this world in terms of gameplay and presentation. I'm not a huge deckbuilder video game fan, but the way it was streamlined to fit the roguelike aspect of it's gameplay was SO cool. It was really fun figuring out the meta plays of the game and doing some really sick card and ability synergies. And each boss fight and encounter was so so SO fucking cool fr. Loved it.
After defeating Leshi and going to act 2, I felt... torn? I really like the story of the game, the idea of Inscryption essentially being four different card games mashed together, with each Scrybe having their own unique playstyles and attitudes of the game, which is reflected in their areas and encounters. It was such a cool concept that I thought had a lot of opportunity. And therefore I can say while the gameplay was unfun, I can see that it's part of the point of the game and can't rly complain. Besides once you figure out deck synergies you can get through it pretty quickly.
The twist with PO-3 is fun. His segment of the game was actually really interesting to me, and pretty damn fun. I liked that his game was not interested in the presentation or storytelling at all and just wanted you to play through the game to get his plan over with. I loved his character a lot in the first act and to see him in his "true" form was a lot of fun!
The live action intermissions weren't that bad for me. I felt the main character of Luke was kind of charming. It reminded me of a lot of horror webseries I've seen, especially ones like Tribetwelve or EverymanHYBRID. The fact that the entire game is being played by both us and the in-universe MC was a fun touch, except when he'd say some stupid shit like "this card is so OP!" in Act 3. That kinda stunk. Apparently there actually was an ARG with this game, but I heard it sucked so I'm just gonna avoid it for now. I know the "Old Data" from the ending is directly related to it but I don't care.
So basically, the game had some excellent presentation for most of it, a pretty good story with an investing narrative and fun characters, though it fell flat at times. The game's peak was definitely that initial act, as much as I loved the mechanics in Act 3 over time. If they release Act 1 as an actual, expanded on, re-playable roguelike Id be so sold. Though I understand them not wanting to as to not fuck with the metanarrative, but rly do just make it noncanon it'd be fine dude it'd be so sick.
Edit: I figured out what the ARG lore was and I was right in ignoring it holy shit. It wont impact my game review but oh my god??
The instant I launched the game I was instantly on board. The first "act" of the game is probably the best of the three and is out of this world in terms of gameplay and presentation. I'm not a huge deckbuilder video game fan, but the way it was streamlined to fit the roguelike aspect of it's gameplay was SO cool. It was really fun figuring out the meta plays of the game and doing some really sick card and ability synergies. And each boss fight and encounter was so so SO fucking cool fr. Loved it.
After defeating Leshi and going to act 2, I felt... torn? I really like the story of the game, the idea of Inscryption essentially being four different card games mashed together, with each Scrybe having their own unique playstyles and attitudes of the game, which is reflected in their areas and encounters. It was such a cool concept that I thought had a lot of opportunity. And therefore I can say while the gameplay was unfun, I can see that it's part of the point of the game and can't rly complain. Besides once you figure out deck synergies you can get through it pretty quickly.
The twist with PO-3 is fun. His segment of the game was actually really interesting to me, and pretty damn fun. I liked that his game was not interested in the presentation or storytelling at all and just wanted you to play through the game to get his plan over with. I loved his character a lot in the first act and to see him in his "true" form was a lot of fun!
The live action intermissions weren't that bad for me. I felt the main character of Luke was kind of charming. It reminded me of a lot of horror webseries I've seen, especially ones like Tribetwelve or EverymanHYBRID. The fact that the entire game is being played by both us and the in-universe MC was a fun touch, except when he'd say some stupid shit like "this card is so OP!" in Act 3. That kinda stunk. Apparently there actually was an ARG with this game, but I heard it sucked so I'm just gonna avoid it for now. I know the "Old Data" from the ending is directly related to it but I don't care.
So basically, the game had some excellent presentation for most of it, a pretty good story with an investing narrative and fun characters, though it fell flat at times. The game's peak was definitely that initial act, as much as I loved the mechanics in Act 3 over time. If they release Act 1 as an actual, expanded on, re-playable roguelike Id be so sold. Though I understand them not wanting to as to not fuck with the metanarrative, but rly do just make it noncanon it'd be fine dude it'd be so sick.
Edit: I figured out what the ARG lore was and I was right in ignoring it holy shit. It wont impact my game review but oh my god??
2002
Neat game. I think this was an effective translation of Super Metroid to 3D. Main complaint was that things just didn't get too interesting until later into the game, which wasn't helped by this games MUCH longer playtime and larger map scale compared to it's 2D counterparts.
What interested me to start the Prime games were some of the new characters introduced. This didn't have new characters unless you counted Meta Ridley as "new." The world of this game was cool enough to drive me forward and the introduction of Phazon was super neat.
Oh yeah. Another complaint is that lategame they really loved beam swapping gimmicks, switching beams to fight certain enemies. It was interesting at first but it got grating after a bit, and I was playing on Primehack where I had single key shortcuts to switch beams. Playing this on console sounds like a nightmare!
Overall pretty good. Effective at introducing Metroid to 3D, but at the end of the day I was driven to play this primarily by my desire to play the rest of the Prime series.
What interested me to start the Prime games were some of the new characters introduced. This didn't have new characters unless you counted Meta Ridley as "new." The world of this game was cool enough to drive me forward and the introduction of Phazon was super neat.
Oh yeah. Another complaint is that lategame they really loved beam swapping gimmicks, switching beams to fight certain enemies. It was interesting at first but it got grating after a bit, and I was playing on Primehack where I had single key shortcuts to switch beams. Playing this on console sounds like a nightmare!
Overall pretty good. Effective at introducing Metroid to 3D, but at the end of the day I was driven to play this primarily by my desire to play the rest of the Prime series.
This game actually surprised me. The early game is kind of a slog, especially with the recon missions, but by late game the amount of abilities and keyblades you can use make the game really interesting.
The inventory system is really fun, almost reminding me of the Resident Evil 4 inventory style (one of my favorite game mechanics ever). Also, the limit system is really cool, encouraging players to get some hits in while on low health to deal an incredible amount of damage.
It's a shame really that nobody gives this game a chance, but I get it. It's a fucking DS game and it doesn't look all that great and Square Enix never decided to remake this game like they did with Birth by Sleep and Dream Drop, so it's kind of a hard thing to sell someone on. But as a long time Kingdom Hearts fan, I think this is my second favorite game in the series (with 2 being the best of course).
Heavily recommend playing this on MelonDS btw. You can upscale it and play it with a controller, making the experience quite a ways better.
The inventory system is really fun, almost reminding me of the Resident Evil 4 inventory style (one of my favorite game mechanics ever). Also, the limit system is really cool, encouraging players to get some hits in while on low health to deal an incredible amount of damage.
It's a shame really that nobody gives this game a chance, but I get it. It's a fucking DS game and it doesn't look all that great and Square Enix never decided to remake this game like they did with Birth by Sleep and Dream Drop, so it's kind of a hard thing to sell someone on. But as a long time Kingdom Hearts fan, I think this is my second favorite game in the series (with 2 being the best of course).
Heavily recommend playing this on MelonDS btw. You can upscale it and play it with a controller, making the experience quite a ways better.
2021
Absolutely amazing game. Gorgeous graphics, thrilling story, pristine gameplay. Probably the best game in the series and maybe one of my favorite games ever? Seriously fantastic.
This review contains spoilers
I'm writing this review after playing through the main story and all side content, but I have yet to find all the secrets. But as of right now I can say this is VERY good.
Doki Doki Literature Club meant a lot to me when it came out and the new content of this port just added so much to it. I love the new secrets that help add content to the original, all the while giving each character more development through the side stories. It's actually insane how much content we got to this game so long after the game came out. It makes me really happy we got this.
Doki Doki Literature Club meant a lot to me when it came out and the new content of this port just added so much to it. I love the new secrets that help add content to the original, all the while giving each character more development through the side stories. It's actually insane how much content we got to this game so long after the game came out. It makes me really happy we got this.
2002
(Played on VisualBoy Advance emulator) I feel this is slightly overrated but this game was fantastic. The story, the gameplay, the graphics, all of it was fantastic! I feel there are very minor issues I have with the game in terms of story and gameplay, but overall this was a genuinely fantastic game. I seriously loved this game and it makes me super excited to see it continued in Metroid Dread.
(Played on VisualBoy Advanced emulator) This game was great! I think it was a wonderful retelling of the first Metroid with wonderful graphics and a good story. The new content was something I honestly didn't know was coming and I was so happy it was, the Zero Suit segment was cool. I feel this game was faulted by it being short (which, like, fair it was a NES game) but overall? Pretty fun!