i actually think a lack of z-level and more interpersonal relationships (relative to Dwarf Fortress, where you have interpersonal relationships but hugely you're focused on hundreds of dwarves at maximum) is both what makes rimworld different, and what can make it weaker.

as far as colony management games go (that might not even be the right genre for these games), rimworld lets you tell stories between people by its nature, whereas dwarf fortress lets you tell stories of a fortress.

however, dwarf fortress doesn't have steam workshop mods that let you have milkable catgirl maids, so, you know.

been playing it since global released with a few breaks. pretty comfy. i don't think anything is going to top il siracusa for a while. decent new player experience, really fun characters, main story, and soundtrack - certain permanent game modes are good, and non Contingency Contract events can be fun. pretty neat for a gacha that's not backed by a pre-existing IP and probably my favorite of them right now.

but, you know. it's a gacha game. a gacha is a gacha. power creep exists in newer units, even though you can clear everything with the units you basically get for "free", that doesn't mean it'll be easier.

but it gave me projekt red, so it can't be that bad....

Perfect, beautiful nostalgia. Revisits the feelings and the memories of Jet Set Radio (particularly Future, although you could argue the graffiti uplifts JSR's original system for it in a positive way).

The story is interesting enough and has more of a character-driven narrative than JSRF. This works both for and against the game in some ways (mostly in that side characters don't really get any use in the story outside of one or two that join your crew).

The movesets being the same for all characters is disappointing, even though there are a total of three for each character and giving each unique moves would be difficult - but after a while you start to focus less on the moves you're doing and more on the level design shifting to accommodate the four modes of locomotion in the game. Whereas JSRF had some levels that asked the very-good question of "hey, wouldn't it be fucked up if you had to platform on rollerblades?", BRC creates levels like Tony Hawk wherein you're learning where the best places to do tricks are. The combo system only giving multipliers on ramps, hard angles on rails, and halfpipes encourages more effort made to learn the levels for the easiest time in "Tricking" each individual area (likened to getting the graffiti souls in JSRF).

A lot of the character designs of the primary cast are extremely fucking good. A few of the optional characters miss the mark for me with how extravagant and cosplay-like they are (Rave and Coil primarily), but I didnt actually ever feel an urge to pick any character other than the main three so this is probably fine.

Soundtrack is good. I think it does a really good job of not just trying to be "another" Jet Set Radio game and finds its own vibe for, in terms of musical choice. Seeing they're adding more songs post-launch is really neat too.

Perhaps most importantly, the movement feels exactly like it "should" - boosting and boost tricks are a fucking great addition (given that this game's boosting is different from JSRF's) that make skipping smaller parts of levels entirely possible if you're bold enough. That you can bend the game and not entirely break it is exactly the type of design I want in a game that carries inspiration from a 2000s-era SEGA game.

While I think it's missing minor things - the PC modding scene for the game has already added new characters and songs, and even functional multiplayer to some extent. So I'll probably be returning to the game to get all of the achievements eventually.

Overall, this game is comfort food to me. I think calling it a sequel to JSRF is a disservice to Team Reptile when it captured similar comforts in an entirely different era.

Thanks,
me