br3nna
perfect angel boy, perfect game
2012
chie best girl idc idc
basically the kennedy curse but a fantastical walking simulator. very heavy and beautiful tho.
absolutely ridiculous that Bowser’s Big Blast still gives me the same amount of anxiety it did 20 years ago
2017
i was the same age as mae when NITW was first released and i really wish i had played it then. her experiences resonate so deeply with what i was going through with my mental illness at that time in my life. i’ve done a lot of healing since but damn having that representation would have really made me feel less alone. still, finishing it at age 26 felt like a proper send off to the younger me, who knows now that mae and i both made it.
2021
will get to this but need a break after p4g made me insane
“i can fix her” - atma
2017
i really wanted to love this game. it should be a game right up my alley- hand-drawn art, fun music, a psychology focus. unfortunately it is so damn boring. i felt absolutely no reward from completing the puzzles and no joy navigating the game's world despite the gorgeous aesthetic. the jokes fell flat and the sidekick's voice was grating. there seems to be a lack of understanding of mental health, what is supposed to be the theme of the game, beyond rudimentary connections that cause the entire game to falter. idk someone tell me if 2 is any better
2023
was not expecting to get emotional over a cooking game god damn!! all i’ve ever played in this genre is cooking mama and like rando browser games as a kid so i was caught off guard. part of me wishes it was a little longer bc i enjoyed cooking but also i think the short length allows the story to make a greater impact, it kind of demands your investment. idk i was a little sad but also had fun :,)
2014
its too scary. far far to scary by far, I was scared.
thinking about how i want games to come in cereal boxes again
man. i think this was my first PC game ever, or at least it’s the first one i can remember playing. it perfectly captures late 90’s/early 2000’s edutainment era. being able to combine reading (which i loved) with a cool ass underwater mini game blew my mind at age 5. about to sound like an oldhead but i hope ipad kids are getting quality learning somewhere even with this era long gone and not just AI youtube kids or whatever the media shows bc the gamification of learning is so important!!
tried so hard to finish this but between the boring characters and finicky controls i just couldn’t, even with it being so short. you get to pet the dog though so that’s cool
“stop calling me a baby Surge!” i, a grown woman, yell at my tv as i play a quarter century-old game intended for second graders
2021
this would probably function better as an educational tool than a standard game tbh, esp since it’s a visual novel that requires very little player input. the art is absolutely adorable and so are the characters themselves, but the writing is very heavy handed and thus predictable. i’m really happy to see the representation and a frank discussion on LGBT rights in japan, but if you’re a part of the community or are already educated on trans issues the plot might just be a bit too obvious to fully immerse yourself in. they’re just so dang cute and sweet though! would still recommend picking up for the charm