2020
Excellent. A bit cluttered overall and the superweapon you get for beating the slayer gates is ultra disappointing. But overall the game is a masterpiece of a solo FPS campaign. And it does "Nightmare" difficulty super well compared to most other games. It's tuned super well so that your deaths never seem unfair. Except for marauders. Fuck marauders.
2016
Best single player mindless shooty shoot game I've ever played by far. Going to Eternal immediately.
NOTE: This rating heavily influenced by nostalgia. Would give 4.25 if I could
Pros:
Music
Aesthetic
Characters
10/10 localization
Voice Acting
Subtle queer vibes on so many of the characters without actually making it a plot point
Lots of postgame content
Cons:
Boss fights are kinda wonky and button mashy with little real strategy
Enemy variety is lacking
The "change your fate" mechanic feels like unnecessary padding
The plot isn't as brave as the first and feels a little weird, pacing-wise, but still fun
100%ing the game is a little TOO grindy
Pros:
Music
Aesthetic
Characters
10/10 localization
Voice Acting
Subtle queer vibes on so many of the characters without actually making it a plot point
Lots of postgame content
Cons:
Boss fights are kinda wonky and button mashy with little real strategy
Enemy variety is lacking
The "change your fate" mechanic feels like unnecessary padding
The plot isn't as brave as the first and feels a little weird, pacing-wise, but still fun
100%ing the game is a little TOO grindy
Pretty damn fun, but woefully short with a lot of the content padded out by in-game achievements.
2019
Need to play the other ending(s) and expanded content, but this game was a super fun game to play with my wife. Equal parts spooky and goofy, and a fairly interesting story and atmosphere. Very reminiscent of cult classics like Mad Father and Corpse Party.
2018
Oof. Not nearly as good as the first game. And the nature of the plot means you never really get to bond with the characters and get to know them well.
Even aligning politically with the plot, it's hamfisted in its delivery. I feel like each chapter was a new torture for the brothers to endure without fully exploring the themes throughout it. I loved that there were several very distinct endings depending on how good of a brother you were to Daniel, but that's probably the only thing it did better than the first game. Otherwise it had a less memorable cast and a much more predictable plot. I could see what would probably happen in the end at the beginning of episode one.
I'm glad I played it as a fan of the first one, and I'd rank it better than Before the Storm, but man, I really hope the third installment returns to form a little bit.
Even aligning politically with the plot, it's hamfisted in its delivery. I feel like each chapter was a new torture for the brothers to endure without fully exploring the themes throughout it. I loved that there were several very distinct endings depending on how good of a brother you were to Daniel, but that's probably the only thing it did better than the first game. Otherwise it had a less memorable cast and a much more predictable plot. I could see what would probably happen in the end at the beginning of episode one.
I'm glad I played it as a fan of the first one, and I'd rank it better than Before the Storm, but man, I really hope the third installment returns to form a little bit.
2019
Glitchy, unpolished, and much easier to fall behind with no recourse than its predecessor. The optimal strategy (filling up blank spaces with roads) feels tedious and unintuitive.
A game with equal parts charm and filler. Boatloads of both. If you love the investigations and trials, play it. The localization is pretty awful, though (lots of sentences that just don't make sense, and I noticed at least a half dozen typos), and there is so much forgettable filler text and unnecessary animations. Pair that with an inconsistent text skip mechanic and it's pretty frustrating to play for long periods. That being said, it's incredibly memorable and I'll probably play the third... eventually.
2015
Far from a perfect game, but so incredibly cohesive in every imaginable way. Ignore the fandom, don't read any spoilers, and go in blind like I did, and this game will likely become one of your favorites, if not one of your most memorable.
DS Version or GTFO. Writing is wack angsty Nomura nonsense and I love it.
2015
I absolutely love it despite its many game design flaws. It's definitely a labor of love. High hopes for the sequel.
FYI, people saying it's too luck based... get gud ;)
FYI, people saying it's too luck based... get gud ;)
Most replayable roguelike ever, and the achievements range from "start the game up" to "spend 5,000 hours practicing and MAYBE be one of the 20 people to ever achieve it"
2019
Best puzzle game ever. Ridiculously hard and constantly evolving. I'd take off a half point for some of the solutions being too oblique, but that's half the fun, and it does it better than many others.
2018
Platformer lover's dream. Absolute perfection. Top 5 games, for sure.
2018
Hard to say when I finished it, as I keep coming back to it. This game is a labor of love, and has a fully voice-acted script with a word count higher than The Iliad and The Odyssey put together. Roguelite with elements that make it easier the longer you play, with even more accessibility options to make it easier if it's still too brutal, plus a bunch of options to make it harder if you want to go for full completion. Could use more variety compared to other roguelikes/lites after playing a hundred or so runs, but I've gotten so much enjoyment out of it, it's definitely a 5/5.