Dies Irae: Amantes Amentes is a quite polarizing visual novel for me. On one hand I don't have too fond feelings towards any of the first three routes, only really enjoying their endings and what they do for the final route. Yet on the other hand I believe that Rea route, the fourth and final one within this game, is truly mind blowing.
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Each route stems from the same first 6/12 chapters called the Common Route, the choices within these are what locks you into one of the rest of the 4 actual routes. Kasumi, Kei, Marie, and Rea are the routes within this visual novel in that exact order.
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The first three routes will be talked about within this one paragraph as, besides Rea route, I genuinely feel the same way about the routes. I honestly do not care about these routes. Although I can recognize their importance towards Rea route and understand how others can say they're mandatory to do I see no positives towards them within themselves besides their conclusions. The endings of each of these routes were all positives, however for the time investment that goes into each route it just isn't worth it to me. I initially dropped this series a while ago due to this issue within the first route yet due to some hidden masochism or a feeling of needing to finish it I decided to stick my way through it and wade through the garbage.
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I truly cannot state truly how fantastic Rea route was. After some time I may need to come back and only replay Rea route in order to view it more positively as my thoughts upon it, although fantastic, are still muddied by the previous routes experiences. Everything within this story has been building up towards this and it was executed in such an amazing way. Ending 1 personally is my less favored of the two endings, however the conclusion to Mercurius was genuinely fantastic as well as the final conversation between Merc, Rein, and the girls. Ending 2 to me is easily the better ending, especially after truly sitting on it and thinking back upon it. The final three way fight, 'Amantes, Amentes', final talk with Lotus, and the conclusion itself are all genuinely so mind-blowingly fantastic.
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Mercurius himself is a fascinating character and one in which I'll have to go back to and think about. Alongside himself, his dynamic with the rest of the main cast is very interesting too. Ren, Reinhard, and Marie are all fairly good too and characters I'll have to think about more to gather thoughts upon.
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Overall this was a positive experience, but not one in which I could force myself to reread in its entirety anytime. It has it's positives but these positives are heavily shadowed by its own former inconsistencies and flaws.
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TLDR; Rea route saved Dies Irae.

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Picayune Dreams is a bullet hell rougelike created late last year by Andyland, Milkypossum, and Stepford. Initially going into this game I didn't expect too much from it story wise, believing it may simply be another flashy graphical game that leaves much to be desired, and although I don't believe the narrative of this game to be anywhere near to a masterpiece I do believe that it is fairly well done for what it is.
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The gameplay is fairly simple and fun while also introducing a nice scaling system that keeps you engaged in its mechanics and need to continue on. This scaling system is introduced in two major ways outside of the runs themselves; A flowchart of skills that are unlockable through leveling up within the runs, and a page to upgrade the items themselves through getting kills within the runs. These previously mentioned implementations are very fun and entertaining adding to the rougelite/like feel of always needing just one more run, just like a crackhead on a street corner. Adding upon the gameplay elements itself I very much enjoyed the boss fights in this game, they're nothing insane or standout but very enjoyable and didn't get stale after fighting them over and over!
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Graphically this game is fantastic, the art style is unique and captivating alongside it's very fitting atmosphere which when put together only enhance each other very well.
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I'm not the greatest at descriptions and reviews upon sound design so to keep it short and not sound like an absolute idiot I'll simply say this: The sound design never got stale or felt as if it was getting annoying and I found myself enjoying it quite a bit, writing this with its menu music open is very nice. Not only is the sound itself well done but as previously mentioned alongside its graphics and atmosphere it all adds into a very well done experience.
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Spoilers for the story in paragraph below
As mentioned near the start of this review I do not believe this story to be anything insane or mind blowing to experience, It is a simple yet effective story that fits within the overall feel of the game. A narrative of responsibility and the weight of expectations that throughout the gameplay and actualization of the responsibilities showcases the trauma and mental weight that is derived from it. Unlocking the recollections in order to piece together the story was very interesting and every time I got one I was excited to see the next chunk of the story be revealed to me, I proactively wanted to get more of it. Within these story elements I also very much enjoyed the psychological horror elements done through visual effects, especially used later within its story. Although the story is short only lasting around 3-4 hours, the reason I'm reviewing a rougelike game this early on as I've finished its story, it is simple yet effective and to this I give props.
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Spoilers over
Overall a well done experience that I may come back to for its gameplay and future updates although there is a little left to be desired especially when it comes to its story. The possibilities are endless though, and if the dev team chooses to keep expanding upon its narrative and story then I will be there to witness it.

I believe it's harder for me to review something in which I enjoy than things in which I have obvious and major critiques upon, which is why this game and specifically how to formulate my raw emotions towards it into a review has been all I am able to think about since finishing.
I hope this review will do it a shred of justice.

In the easiest and shortest way to define it, it is 'art', not in the sense of "yes this is a piece of art" but simply that it is art in and of itself, wholly and fully it is an artistic masterpiece.

Coming from Metal Gear Solid 1 in which I didn't have the best experience with I honestly wasn't expecting too much to begin with, another action espionage game by Kojima with an ending that tries to make up for the rest of the games short comings. However, what I was given instead turned out to be not only one of the most consistently fun games ever (utilizing its map design and gameplay mechanics better than its predecessor) with one of my favorite characters I've seen in anything ever made, but then when that final stretch did hit it did not stop getting better and better, with the final hour-ish of the game being beyond perfection. I beat this game in basically one day (about midnight the 16th to 1AM the 18th), I couldn't stop playing it whenever I had the chance, the chokehold it had upon me was immense.

The bosses are not anything crazy or standout but they're unique and play heavily important roles into the narrative that drive you to remember them more, which I believe to be better than just having scattered bosses that are more fun to play against but not important towards the games lore or narrative; None of the bosses left me underwhelmed or dreaded playing against.

The level design in which I've heard many complaints about was actually super cool, even in the times in which I'd have to wrap around multiple sections to get to where I had to go it never felt boring in the slightest, and this feeling of appreciation towards the level design was only amplified a significant amount the more I spent with it realizing its connections towards Shadow Moses and what it really is. I really appreciate level design that plays the heavy tie into the story and narrative of the world as well as the characters themselves more than simply 'cool looking areas', which isn't to say that Big Shell and the scenery within this game is not beautiful either, the cutscenes do so much justice towards the feel of this facility but simply looking around is amazing, the E.E guiding mission on the bridges specifically was so beautiful seeing the sun off in the distance.

Alongside being the absolute masterclass that it is in itself, it also has made my thoughts upon Metal Gear Solid 1 so much better too, with context to MGS2 I can't help but to think more positively of its predecessor and how they connect and make each other better; Changing my previous 2.5 star review of MGS1 to a more deserving 3.5 stars.

I wish not to spoil the magic of the final stretch, but it is without a doubt one of/if not the best conclusion to anything I've seen before, In this day and age, especially in recent times with the rise of Artificial Intelligence and the susceptibility towards it, I believe this game and its commentary to be more important than ever before.

There is so much more to this game, whether major events or minute details that play into its importance, that all I can truly say is to play it yourself if you haven't.