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.

Dear Future, developed by the straightforwardly named Dear Future Production committee, is in short an interactable internet archive in which you take photos of ones own surroundings and leave notes for the future players to come and see, and if you choose to perceive this game as simply that there would be no way in which to deny this shorthanded take upon it. However, to look further into the games meaning and its portrayal is to recognize it as more than that, and instead, as I perceive it to be, as a time capsule and a microcosm of the internet and life itself.

The game itself takes less than half an hour to complete, tutorial lasting about 5-7 minutes to get you into the swing of things and then your limited time upon its barren lands begins its 12 minute cycle, giving you just enough time to walk around and explore but always less time than you wish you had. The world itself is a dark and abandoned land overshadowed by a pillar off in the distance, overlooking the long forgotten hot pot of the city and its cultures, surrounded with messages from its own residents from a time long past.

In modern day internet archives are no unknown resource, many sites and online places have set themselves to these roles in order to preserve what is and was in order to to develop the future and continue to reserve the knowledge of life. To give a bigger scale in terms of the universe itself in 1977 Voyager 1 was launched into space, along with it a disk named the Golden Record, a message to the universe and to any life that may be out there that we were here; messages written to these otherworldly beings giving a friendly greeting, from one life in this world to another. Dear Future I believe is to be not only a microcosm of life in itself, but especially an archive and preservation of life to say that we were here, to give thanks and a pat on the back to simply 'being'. This preservation of life isn't just a focus point within its gameplay but its main message, I believe, to anyone and everyone that happens to stumble upon it. Just as videos, reviews, and websites like Backloggd are logs and messages of your life and your activities, constantly stating your place upon this world and your likings within it, this game in itself is a message of life and our place within it.

Whenever conversations of games pop up, mainly in a mainstream sense, the value of replayability is always brought up as if to assume anything you can infinitely replay instantly means it's better than another. I myself can agree with this sentiment to a certain degree, however some games I believe that this focus upon needing to go back again can simply ruin the experience. I highly doubt I'll ever replay Dear Future (or Before Your Eyes, another game I have this same feel towards), and that's perfectly okay, it's better than okay, it's better that way.

I would highly recommend this game towards anyone with time to spare.
There is no set goal for you, only a promise of an end to come and what you wish to do with your time.

Finally on my 3rd time attempting to play this game have I finally stuck with it to the end without any random errors or dropping it over simply not enjoying it, having heard that it is carried heavily by its latter half I chose to stick with it in order to see if the payoff was worth it, to which I would have to agree, however, the ending segments cannot fix an abysmal start.

The boss cast was a devastating let down, with only about 2 maybe 3 bosses being even something I'd consider decent, the plot and story is pretty interesting which is the major reason I'd agree with the second half carrying this game upon it's back, but it is not anything absurdly profound or anything even then, leaving a sort of underwhelming feeling after having finished.

The level design within this game is fairly intricate and cool to see, besides that damn staircase... so annoying going up and down it each time. The first couple areas within the game also aren't the greatest, though that may be a critique due to my own personal annoyance at having to do it for a third time with my save files randomly messing up the previous two times I've tried to play this game.

As stated previously, the ending hard carries this game on it's back and takes it from a negative 2 star to a just mid 2.5 star for me, the final fight along with the final bits of dialogue are truly the only real memorable moments within this game.

Post-credit scene was interesting too, will continue MGS sometime to see what that's all about.

I may get back to this at a later date when my yearning for a lovecraftian-esque atmosphere in a art style reminiscent of older playstation consoles comes back to me as it does while I continue to write this review, however, the pure amount of backtracking within this game mixed with its very simple and sometimes annoying combat (due to a focus upon enemies health and time-to-kill than making fluid or enticing combat) simply push me away at the moment.

As I've stated above, the atmosphere of this game is simply breathtaking and possibly among the best I've seen before, I was constantly stopping in place to turn off my HUD just to take screenshots of the beautiful areas. While the combat and gameplay itself may not be the cleanest or grasp you into it's world as other games may, it's atmosphere is beyond breathtaking and, to be honest, the main reason I'd want to get back to this game.

The lore within this world is also fascinating too, given to you mostly through your own acts of stitching the narrative together through dialogue and books found upon the ground scattered throughout the world, it's very interesting and reminds me a fair bit of Dark Souls reading item descriptions and diving into tiny bits and pieces to truly build the full picture.

Overall a definite positive experience, but one I'm conflicted on getting back to in the near future.

Most likely never finishing this...

Besides the cool atmosphere and the alright turn-based combat I do not have any positive things to say about this game at all. The gameplay is nothing outstanding or special, the dialogue can be super corny and unnatural, and the praised cast chemistry of the Phantom Thieves just seems like really weird trauma bonding instead of a natural feeling way to expand and execute upon the cast.

It's definitely a game 👍

Doesn't help I've had the displeasure of being spoiled on basically everything within the final arc, at least those spoilers looked alr I guess, but I will never get there myself.

Shadows of the Colossus, released in 2005 by Team Ico to the ever popular PS2, is a game that I cherished as I child, playing it on my sibling and I's own console. After procrastinating to find time for a good moment in which to do it, I finally decided that it was time to relive an old game, and it did not disappoint at all. I certainly have some issues with this game such as the controls for Agro being infuriating to the point I would sometimes just walk to places in annoyance, or my complaints on 2 of the Colossi this game makes you fight (12th & 15th) in which they would seemingly elongate the fight beyond what it should've taken by simply not doing the attack they were meant to do for extended periods of time, though this may just be a me issue and something in which my patience or lack there of takes the reigns and makes me dislike the bosses more than they may be experienced by others, however even with these complaints or critiques I still don't believe them to be something worthy of reducing my score on this game or ruining my thoughts, simply because of how easily those 'flaws' can be counteracted by the absolute positives of this game, which include basically everything else: from the amazingly beautiful 'show don't tell' type story surrounding Wanderer and others, an absolutely enthralling atmosphere, and clunky controls that at least to me with SoTC, are quite charming.

Speaking of positives in this game to counteract the negatives, beyond the 2 negative Colossi this game provides, the rest of the boss cast are either of average ranking or something I'd consider good (5th, 14th, and 16th) and even beyond those, one fight in particular stands out to me as being probably one of the best fights I've done in a game before. That boss referenced previous is Colossi 13, Phalanx, a seemingly simple fight of shooting them down to board their wings and stab them down turns into an absolutely mesmerizing fight when taken into account with its beautifully composed melody tunes in as you soar through the sky.

Overall this experience has been an absolutely fantastic one and one I'm happy I got back to replaying.

Only spoilers in this review is the out of context line below this text

For God to be good, evil is an absolute necessity in this world.

My experience with Castlevania: Aria of Sorrows was an overall positive one, one in which I was surprised to have found enjoyment out of due to my usual negative feelings towards platformer-esque games. As my first ever installment into the Castlevania franchise, besides playing Richter in SSBU once, I went into this absolutely blind to any of what previous story has happened with only basic knowledge of Dracula being a main focus point within this franchise. The story itself within this game isn't the most out-of-this-world and in fact I'd say it's fairly lacking earlier on within its run, however, the last couple hours are well worth that intended build-up finally giving time for Soma to shine.

My critiques upon this title are simply that enemies can get repetitive and more 'quantity > difficulty or scaling of the enemies' and that the story, although shining at the end, isn't anything profound or something I believe will stick with me.

Overall this was definitely a positive experience, but not one I believe will truly stick with me or anything.

Gosh darn that cover art is so cool though.

Before Your Eyes, a game by GoodbyeWorld Games in early 2021, is an absolutely brilliant game portraying the human condition as a microcosm within your webcam. Utilizing the mechanic of your own self blinking the game mechanics are fairly simple, just don't blink, or do, you'll need to progress someday. For only being around 2 hours in length this game manages to pull you in and truly care about the small cast of characters surrounding our main character named Benjamin. Although this is a 'choose your own adventure' type game there are some choices that just make sense to do over others, at least for me it was obvious sometimes in which way you were being swayed to decide, this however does not ruin the game or dampen the experience in the slightest, in fact going back and choosing some of those other choices may be an interesting experience... however, the replayability of this game is one I would not personally recommend, it is one in which I believe that going in to achievement hunt or even finishing and then going back strictly for achievements, not saying not to replay ever since you should someday when you want to reexperience the game itself instead of just collecting online tokens, definitely seem like it could dampen an experience and make you percieve at as strictly 'gotta blink to get here' instead of following its narrative and getting that attatchment, my beliefs on achievements within this game even stretch to thinking that although achievements are kinda cool, I would say this game could even be better off without that incentive or 'need to get this/that'.

Overall this was an absolutely fantastic experience and one that I wish I'd gotten around to sooner

I haven't really written reviews for games before so hope this is alright.