Zerodderty
349 reviews liked by Zerodderty
When Sephiroth said "Do you know the way" and I burst out laughing, I realized I have the internet equivalent of Mako poisoning.
Control
2019
Damn, this was some trippy shit. People have made comparisons to Twin Peaks or The X-Files (I can only vouch for the latter currently). Despite this, I was still very engrossed in the story. Jesse is one of my favorite female protagonists in recent years. All the abilities you learn really add to the exploration and combat. I've always been a sucker for psychokinesis, and getting to pick up and destroy everything around you is so satisfying. I couldn't help thinking of Luigi's Mansion 3 in a way (though, it's arguably more impressive there since the Switch is less powerful). It's also extremely gorgeous to look at. It makes me hate that Sony removed Facebook functionality. I have a lot of pictures saved.
As you can tell by the rating, it's not perfect. The difficulty can be very cheap at times. Certain enemies can take out huge chunks of your health and you'll have little time to recover. You could just want to explore, then a barrage of them will spawn in a room. One boss fight was so annoying, I ended up turning on immortality. The final moments feel pretty anti-climactic compared to what came before, but it leave things open-ended for a possible sequel (plus, I still got the DLC to play). There are notable framerate issues either from all the action onscreen or simply un-pausing the game. I figured it was just on consoles, but even the PC version does it. I didn't think that was possible.
And my biggest gripe, the map sucks ASS!!! Sure, it will highlight your next location, but it doesn't take into account whether there's a locked door or some kind of debris in the way. I had to look up walkthroughs on occasion because of it. Metroid got it right in 1994, so what's the excuse here? Regardless, I really enjoyed this one. I look forward to more from Remedy. Praying that the next game is Alan Wake 2.
As you can tell by the rating, it's not perfect. The difficulty can be very cheap at times. Certain enemies can take out huge chunks of your health and you'll have little time to recover. You could just want to explore, then a barrage of them will spawn in a room. One boss fight was so annoying, I ended up turning on immortality. The final moments feel pretty anti-climactic compared to what came before, but it leave things open-ended for a possible sequel (plus, I still got the DLC to play). There are notable framerate issues either from all the action onscreen or simply un-pausing the game. I figured it was just on consoles, but even the PC version does it. I didn't think that was possible.
And my biggest gripe, the map sucks ASS!!! Sure, it will highlight your next location, but it doesn't take into account whether there's a locked door or some kind of debris in the way. I had to look up walkthroughs on occasion because of it. Metroid got it right in 1994, so what's the excuse here? Regardless, I really enjoyed this one. I look forward to more from Remedy. Praying that the next game is Alan Wake 2.
Control
2019
Played through it again because I never got round to the DLC and had sold my PS4 copy. Grabbed the Ultimate Edition off PS+.
I enjoyed it before, and it's still decent, but this time I was hit much harder with how the game's biggest letdown is it being a shooter.
You read notes about stuff like employees boringly cataloguing 100 boxes of individual human teeth, or consulting incantations to calm a stapler that's tearing up the staff room, but all you get to do is shoot red dudes and float around. Pressing square to cleanse things, without even an appropriate mini game or something to jazz it up. The game borrows heavily from SCP shit, but fails to get that a lot of the draw with that stuff is the weird containment procedures and rituals in dealing with them. Control is every SCP story ending with "Agents drew their guns and put the subject down".
I genuinely wish the gameplay was about dealing with anomalies by using a big tome you had to lug about to consult what procedures to use. Discovering new ones from hands on experience and adding to the data. Unique interactions instead of just walking into rooms and enemies spawn in so you start firing. It's a shame because the environmental design is immaculate in places, and as such feels wasted on mindless floating and dashing.
Also every object that isn't concrete sounds like milk bottles clinking together when you bump into them. It's daft. Maybe that's an AWE or something too.
I enjoyed it before, and it's still decent, but this time I was hit much harder with how the game's biggest letdown is it being a shooter.
You read notes about stuff like employees boringly cataloguing 100 boxes of individual human teeth, or consulting incantations to calm a stapler that's tearing up the staff room, but all you get to do is shoot red dudes and float around. Pressing square to cleanse things, without even an appropriate mini game or something to jazz it up. The game borrows heavily from SCP shit, but fails to get that a lot of the draw with that stuff is the weird containment procedures and rituals in dealing with them. Control is every SCP story ending with "Agents drew their guns and put the subject down".
I genuinely wish the gameplay was about dealing with anomalies by using a big tome you had to lug about to consult what procedures to use. Discovering new ones from hands on experience and adding to the data. Unique interactions instead of just walking into rooms and enemies spawn in so you start firing. It's a shame because the environmental design is immaculate in places, and as such feels wasted on mindless floating and dashing.
Also every object that isn't concrete sounds like milk bottles clinking together when you bump into them. It's daft. Maybe that's an AWE or something too.
Control
2019
I was hoping for "Antichamber but with cool combat" and I got more "Bioshock Infinite but with good writing"
Valorant
2020
i wish i was riotgames. get millions of dollars to ripoff other games while looking and playing worse with a fraction of the content. all for the sake of esports. I can't wait for them to fill the staples center with their ripoff of chess that only uses pawns and only takes up 16 squares
Omori
2020
Kel my goat. Oh and final duet was pretty sick ig
Undertale Yellow
2023
competently made, but never manages more than to replicate some of the surface level charm of undertale. narratively it's a fairly ill-considered sequel, sort of at odds with the original's specific flavor of metafictional logic and fails to contribute anything beyond extraneous detail. the concept of flowey controlling your saves is initially intriguing, but the execution is confused and half-baked. more than anything it really put into perspective for me what a creative and interesting sequel deltarune is.
the game is still worth checking out if you liked undertale's bullet hell combat, though. the genocide run has some fun and very tough bosses - i made it to the last one but got my ass kicked and didn't really care enough to see it through to the end.
the game is still worth checking out if you liked undertale's bullet hell combat, though. the genocide run has some fun and very tough bosses - i made it to the last one but got my ass kicked and didn't really care enough to see it through to the end.
Undertale Yellow
2023
This review contains spoilers
i have a few complaints about this game, but let me be clear: it is a VERY good fan-game. this game is incredibly high-fidelity: it's a full-length experience, completely for free, which introduces new regions of the Underground, new characters, battles with unique bullet-patterns and enjoyable mechanics, underscored by beautiful art assets and a fantastic soundtrack. there are unique endings and boss battles in not only the pacifist and genocide route, but also the neutral route, which i think really shows the amount of love and effort (i should emphasize, the SEVEN YEARS of love and effort- which is crazy for a fan-game!!!) that went into producing the final product. alongside the game's little secrets and fun value surprises, Undertale Yellow has a lot of unique detail and charm. if you haven't played it already, i absolutely recommend it.
(spoilers ahead)
i'm speaking from my perspective only having finished True Pacifist, but i really struggled to connect to the characters in the first half of the game- specifically, Dalv and Martlet. i know Martlet has a whole other layer of complexity in the Genocide route, but the humor in her dialogue just didn't land for me and i never felt closer to her after interactions, which there were relatively few of. Dalv, the player barely talks to at all before he lets you into his house, lets you out of his house, and never interacts with you again until he's attending your funeral (which no disrespect to him, you just met somebody who you want to build a relationship with and a couple days later they've exploded. very sad!). i really enjoyed Starlo and Ceroba (especially Ceroba, i absolutely cried in the final fight with her. a really complex and interesting character with probably the best fight in the game) in the latter half of the game, but that's also because you're given more time with them to explore them as characters. when you end up friends with them, it feels more natural than it does with Martlet and Dalv.
altogether though, it's a great fan game! i think what let me down was the expectations i had for this game based on what people told me about it- saying it was better than Undertale, how it should be canon, etc... and while it's a very good game, it's ultimately its own thing. the mindset i went into the game with caused occasional disappointment with the game's writing and humor, because i wanted it to be on-par with Toby Fox and it wasn't. which is not bad! i think this game is fantastic and creates its own identity while expanding on Undertale's existing property, and that's very impressive for a fan-game to do.
(minor pet peeve though- why are the main monsters you befriend so tall!!! no love for the shortstacks?)
(spoilers ahead)
i'm speaking from my perspective only having finished True Pacifist, but i really struggled to connect to the characters in the first half of the game- specifically, Dalv and Martlet. i know Martlet has a whole other layer of complexity in the Genocide route, but the humor in her dialogue just didn't land for me and i never felt closer to her after interactions, which there were relatively few of. Dalv, the player barely talks to at all before he lets you into his house, lets you out of his house, and never interacts with you again until he's attending your funeral (which no disrespect to him, you just met somebody who you want to build a relationship with and a couple days later they've exploded. very sad!). i really enjoyed Starlo and Ceroba (especially Ceroba, i absolutely cried in the final fight with her. a really complex and interesting character with probably the best fight in the game) in the latter half of the game, but that's also because you're given more time with them to explore them as characters. when you end up friends with them, it feels more natural than it does with Martlet and Dalv.
altogether though, it's a great fan game! i think what let me down was the expectations i had for this game based on what people told me about it- saying it was better than Undertale, how it should be canon, etc... and while it's a very good game, it's ultimately its own thing. the mindset i went into the game with caused occasional disappointment with the game's writing and humor, because i wanted it to be on-par with Toby Fox and it wasn't. which is not bad! i think this game is fantastic and creates its own identity while expanding on Undertale's existing property, and that's very impressive for a fan-game to do.
(minor pet peeve though- why are the main monsters you befriend so tall!!! no love for the shortstacks?)
Undertale Yellow
2023
Definitely the best Undertale fangame by a large margin. The music and writing is generally incredibly faithful to the original game. However, not all the characters are created equal (sorry Dalv), and the story takes a weird turn to almost entirely focusing on Ceroba after she is introduced in the pacifist route. The bosses are also somewhat unbalanced, though Yellow is not nearly as bad in this regard as many overly difficult Undertale fan projects. Very much worth playing if you enjoyed Undertale.
Undertale Yellow
2023
This review contains spoilers
You're a good person if you commit suicide and a bad person if you don't