2015
Really interesting game. Art and vibe wise, it's a SteamWorld game, so, pretty goddamn good. The blend of junky steampunk with the new sci-fi setting works way better than I thought it would. Writing is also solid, especially the light interactions amongst the crew between missions. I'm admittedly not crazy about the gameplay, feels a bit sluggish for me personally, but I definitely think plenty of other people would enjoy it more than I did. But yeah, solid game.
The fact that this is one of the only Nekopara games without hardcore eroge scenes is honestly a tragedy. This may be a silly little free demo released as an April Fool's joke but I need to have sex with Dill so bad.
I played this game a ton as a kid, like seemingly every other person born between 1995-2005, and yet somehow this was my first time playing through any of the non-prequel levels. Even as someone who isn't really a Star Wars fan, it's still very fun, and holds up even now.
2010
Really neat little game. While it doesn't execute all its ideas flawlessly, it's hard to hold it against it when you consider this was literally a school project. It's honestly a shame more inspiration hasn't been taken from it, a 2D mining sim with a heavy automation focus is such a strong concept.
I swear, I feel like I've been saying I should check this game out for as long as I can remember. It's always been just enough on my radar that I'm like "Y'know, maybe I'll get around to that soon" and then forgot about. Glad I finally did, cuz this is one impressive game.
Obviously, a big selling point of this game is the art direction. And with good reason, because it feels like you're playing one of those old 90s animated kids movies. Finding out it was all basically done by one guy was completely mind-blowing. Gameplay is also pretty solid, a good beat-em-up Metroidvania that's as complex as it needs to be. Story might not be everyone's thing, but personally, I really enjoyed it.
If you're like me and have been putting this one off for ages, definitely give it a shot.
Obviously, a big selling point of this game is the art direction. And with good reason, because it feels like you're playing one of those old 90s animated kids movies. Finding out it was all basically done by one guy was completely mind-blowing. Gameplay is also pretty solid, a good beat-em-up Metroidvania that's as complex as it needs to be. Story might not be everyone's thing, but personally, I really enjoyed it.
If you're like me and have been putting this one off for ages, definitely give it a shot.
2017
Picked this up on a whim since I liked Supercharged Robot VULKAISER by the same devs and the premise seemed cool (I swear, I didn't know the main characters were crossdressing twinks until after I got it, honest!).
While I didn't take to it quite as much as I hoped, I'm willing to admit it's less the fault of the game and more me not being experienced with the genre. It's a solid game overall, just not one for a beginner like me. To my knowledge, the remake is better in that regard.
While I didn't take to it quite as much as I hoped, I'm willing to admit it's less the fault of the game and more me not being experienced with the genre. It's a solid game overall, just not one for a beginner like me. To my knowledge, the remake is better in that regard.
2014
When I played Vol. 0, I made the joke that I had many unanswered questions regarding the existence and status of catfolk in this world. I fully expected it to just be glossed over or handwaved, to be honest. Now I just feel like a fool.
Imagine my genuine surprise when the mental checklist of out-there, absurd worldbuilding requests I planned to joke about was slowly ticked off throughout the game. Things like the view of catfolk/human relationships, the rate of aging, catfolk's status in society, whether or not catfolk and people can reproduce, etc. Why would a cutesy eroge bother even mentioning any of this, I thought? Hence why my absurdist review would mark that as a faux complaint. But it's all there, and as subtly horrific as it should be. And I love that.
In all seriousness, it's very cute. The ero scenes are whatever, I'd honestly say not to bother spending the extra cash on em if you're on the fence about it. Ultimately, though, it's your call whether you want this as a hardcore eroge or a cutesy romance story. I can respect the fact that it caters to both crowds.
Imagine my genuine surprise when the mental checklist of out-there, absurd worldbuilding requests I planned to joke about was slowly ticked off throughout the game. Things like the view of catfolk/human relationships, the rate of aging, catfolk's status in society, whether or not catfolk and people can reproduce, etc. Why would a cutesy eroge bother even mentioning any of this, I thought? Hence why my absurdist review would mark that as a faux complaint. But it's all there, and as subtly horrific as it should be. And I love that.
In all seriousness, it's very cute. The ero scenes are whatever, I'd honestly say not to bother spending the extra cash on em if you're on the fence about it. Ultimately, though, it's your call whether you want this as a hardcore eroge or a cutesy romance story. I can respect the fact that it caters to both crowds.
2015
My first foray into the mainline Nekopara series and, I'll admit, it's left a lot to be desired. I understand this is supposed to be a light prequel to the first game, so I suppose the blame ultimately lies with me.
Wow. I can see why Activision Blizzard hired this guy.
I'm not usually too big on Roguelikes, but this game just scratches an itch. Everything from the ship layouts, mechanics, random factors, crew types, etc. make every run feel unique. The art and music is just, perfect, and has been a massive inspiration for my own creative endeavors. Love this game.
2015
When I was 16, I managed to teach myself Java with no programming experience by brute-forcing the Oracle documentation until I figured it out. This game is the closest I've ever come to reliving that defining life moment.
2015
This has been an incredibly hard review for me to write, because I genuinely believe this is an incredible fan work. Almost every single aspect of it is very well done, and it's clear that everyone behind it is both skilled in and passionate about game development, and I don't want to insinuate otherwise. Unfortunately, the game's weakest area is also, in my opinion, the most important part of the series its trying to emulate: the puzzles.
Let me start with the positives. The world and environment design is all great, genuinely hard to believe its all fanmade. The custom portal gun design is really cool, and I honestly might like it more than the classic. The writing isn't quite up to the standards of Portal 2, but even being close enough is an achievement all its own, I think the only major complaint I have with it is that they try to replicate Cave Johnson, and it just doesn't land right. I think the writer and voice actor definitely did their best, but with such a strong combo like the original script and J.K. Simmons to be compared to, it just wasn't gonna work. Otherwise, it's a decently fun Portal fanfiction.
Back to the puzzles, though. I don't know quite how to describe it, but they just feel... off, especially coming off of a recent replay of Portal 1 and 2. Emancipation Grills are far too common, and a lot of the time a puzzle will amount to "scanning a poorly lit, massive area to find the single portalable surface to proceed". Along with overusing the Excursion Funnel, what I consider to be the weakest of Portal 2's puzzle elements, more than any other, it leads to most of the tests being slow-paced and frustrating. I don't think they're fundamentally "bad" puzzles, though. But they are bad Portal puzzles, in my opinion.
Once again, I don't want to give the impression that this is poorly made or even a bad game, far from it. But Portal means a lot to me, and I can't in good faith just ignore that it fails to capture that magic where it really counts. I would, however, love to check out the development team's future endeavors, and see what they're capable of when not restricted to emulating something else's style.
Let me start with the positives. The world and environment design is all great, genuinely hard to believe its all fanmade. The custom portal gun design is really cool, and I honestly might like it more than the classic. The writing isn't quite up to the standards of Portal 2, but even being close enough is an achievement all its own, I think the only major complaint I have with it is that they try to replicate Cave Johnson, and it just doesn't land right. I think the writer and voice actor definitely did their best, but with such a strong combo like the original script and J.K. Simmons to be compared to, it just wasn't gonna work. Otherwise, it's a decently fun Portal fanfiction.
Back to the puzzles, though. I don't know quite how to describe it, but they just feel... off, especially coming off of a recent replay of Portal 1 and 2. Emancipation Grills are far too common, and a lot of the time a puzzle will amount to "scanning a poorly lit, massive area to find the single portalable surface to proceed". Along with overusing the Excursion Funnel, what I consider to be the weakest of Portal 2's puzzle elements, more than any other, it leads to most of the tests being slow-paced and frustrating. I don't think they're fundamentally "bad" puzzles, though. But they are bad Portal puzzles, in my opinion.
Once again, I don't want to give the impression that this is poorly made or even a bad game, far from it. But Portal means a lot to me, and I can't in good faith just ignore that it fails to capture that magic where it really counts. I would, however, love to check out the development team's future endeavors, and see what they're capable of when not restricted to emulating something else's style.
2011
Portal 2 is a game that means so much to me. It's a game I genuinely believe is as close to perfect as one can possibly be. From its writing, to its gameplay, to its visuals, everything about it is just fantastic.
I've never been able to recover from the time a friend played it for the first time and he said "Oh so you probably based your entire personality around this game in high school" because he was 100% spot on. I even had a Portal 2 backpack in high school. All four years.
Playing it again with the developer commentary is also a great time, highly recommend it.
I've never been able to recover from the time a friend played it for the first time and he said "Oh so you probably based your entire personality around this game in high school" because he was 100% spot on. I even had a Portal 2 backpack in high school. All four years.
Playing it again with the developer commentary is also a great time, highly recommend it.
2007
I don't think I know enough words to fully express how much Portal and its sequel mean to me. And buddy, I know a lot of words.
If you're like me and have played through this game over a dozen times throughout your life, and also have an interest in game design, definitely give it a go with the developer commentary enabled. It's so fascinating, hearing firsthand how they iterated throughout development to create, in my opinion, one of the most perfectly designed games ever made. You won't regret it.
If you're like me and have played through this game over a dozen times throughout your life, and also have an interest in game design, definitely give it a go with the developer commentary enabled. It's so fascinating, hearing firsthand how they iterated throughout development to create, in my opinion, one of the most perfectly designed games ever made. You won't regret it.
A really neat experience if you're interested in game design. Dunno why it needs to be listed as its own game in my Steam library though.