cellard_20
2019
It's free, it's short, it has nice art, and it seems like a passion project for the creator. I appreciate what it is, but it didn't leave an impact on me, and in fact, the ideal ending feels naive. But, if you have 30 minutes to spare, there are way worse things you could do than read and look at good art.
2023
Short and sweet. Don't play on an empty stomach because the food all looks and sounds good as hell. Tell your parents you love them.
2023
Such a fun journey. The art and music were very charming. I found myself so often having tunes stuck in my head. One specifically nautical song was an absolute bop. The world of Sea of Stars had plenty of lore, history, and characters to make it engaging and kept me wanting to explore. It does follow quite a lot of the standard JRPG tropes and even pokes fun at itself for that.
I loved the party members for the most part and Garl is just a gem of a character. I loved that lil guy so much. In addition, the side characters were also really cool and I enjoyed interacting with them. I feel there were a couple characters that would have done with having their roles be increased.
For gameplay, the combat system is pretty simple. It can be frustrating at first dealing with locks, as some attack types you don't have access to may pop-up. Once you learn skills and obtain more characters, it becomes easier to work around those locks. There are times where you just have to take the hit and I appreciate you have the option to strategically figure that out.
Puzzles were never really a problem. The puzzles build off of each other essentially, so you are not running into too many new things. There are one or two that are a bit tedious sadly and sometimes the pixels can deceive you on the depth of something.
The only time I ever truly felt like the game was a "slog" involved backtracking for items. Even then, it was not very difficult or bad. Overall, I loved the game and found myself wanting more.
I loved the party members for the most part and Garl is just a gem of a character. I loved that lil guy so much. In addition, the side characters were also really cool and I enjoyed interacting with them. I feel there were a couple characters that would have done with having their roles be increased.
For gameplay, the combat system is pretty simple. It can be frustrating at first dealing with locks, as some attack types you don't have access to may pop-up. Once you learn skills and obtain more characters, it becomes easier to work around those locks. There are times where you just have to take the hit and I appreciate you have the option to strategically figure that out.
Puzzles were never really a problem. The puzzles build off of each other essentially, so you are not running into too many new things. There are one or two that are a bit tedious sadly and sometimes the pixels can deceive you on the depth of something.
The only time I ever truly felt like the game was a "slog" involved backtracking for items. Even then, it was not very difficult or bad. Overall, I loved the game and found myself wanting more.
Truthfully the concept sounded better than the execution. It isn't necessarily awe-inspiring to look at by any means. My cat did really like the first chapter, I don't know if he could see all the white or what. Music is pretty. The platforming can be very spotty. There's also a couple spots you can accidentally put yourself where you'll just straight up be stuck, even though you can see the fox model has plenty of room to move. Gameplay just felt boring. Pickup staff, drop staff. Get flower power, lose flower power. Go to get flower power and it inexplicably doesn't work. End of the day it couldn't hold my interest enough to justify continuing.
Easiest 98 achievements I've ever gotten. Randy and Simon can go fuck themselves for being so sneaky.
2015
Straight up something M. Night Shyamalan would write.
2021
I didn't expect this to take the turn it did nor to make me feel feelings like it did. Also, Cat and Ricebot are the best characters and I want more of them.
2018
Sometimes the scariest ghost is the one you want to boink.
2016
This review contains spoilers
As someone playing this 7 years after its release with expectations that were so far in the ground you could shove a spicket up my butt and find oil, I actually thoroughly enjoyed playing this game. However, I can see where my love for the ridiculous and for hack n' slash games are making me like this more than the average player probably would.
So let's start with the obvious, Frank West is NOT the Frank West we knew in the first Dead Rising. His character was never as heartless and crude as the Frank of this game. If this had been a different character, I think it would have helped the game's reception. This literally could be Hank East and it would work, with the only things that would be ruined are the history of Frank in Willamette and of course his death at the end of the story.
The timer being removed is actually something I look at favorably, BUT I believe that the timer is a big aspect of what makes Dead Rising. Having to make choices and having tight time crunches were part of that experience.
The maniacs sadly lost out by not having the cutscenes that psychopaths had. There was some characterization for them, but nothing that really clues you in on say Sadistic Claus's reason for becoming a maniac. Additionally, you miss out on Frank's reaction to the psychopath. I think some of them were fun like the previously mentioned Sadistic Claus, Scare King, Captain Black Fridaybeard, Grim Gobbler. Others were kind of lacking like the return of the True Eye Cult Leader and the most forgettable of them all, Sibyle.
Storywise I didn't think much of the game, especially considering we were juggling basically two different storylines between Tom's group and Obscuris. I think it could have been more cohesive for sure, but having separate stories intertwining does create the idea of this being a bigger world and having more than just the government conspiracy conflict. But ultimately, the story in Dead Rising never seems all that great to be honest, but I appreciated it continued building from the previous games.
Gameplay was where I really enjoyed the game. The combo weapons actually felt nice compared to some from DR2, vehicles were fun and plentiful, and I just enjoy hacking throughs crowds. I could have done with maybe a few less zombies always being crowded into areas, but whatever. Oh and of course the exo-suit. I wasn't particularly a fan of the exo-suit, especially having to put it on for the final boss. I came in prepared with my favorite weapons and then proceeded to have to punch my way through the boss or hit him with Christmas tree lights. It was great getting to finish the giant horde at the end with them, but it really killed my vibe a bit.
Overall, I really enjoyed the game and I know that is controversial. While I think this is lacking in being a part of the Dead Rising game, I still enjoyed it. I view it in much of the same way I see a game like Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. It isn't a good entry in its series, but it is a good game. If Dead Rising and at the very least Frank's character wasn't bolted onto this game, I think it would be perfectly fine.
So let's start with the obvious, Frank West is NOT the Frank West we knew in the first Dead Rising. His character was never as heartless and crude as the Frank of this game. If this had been a different character, I think it would have helped the game's reception. This literally could be Hank East and it would work, with the only things that would be ruined are the history of Frank in Willamette and of course his death at the end of the story.
The timer being removed is actually something I look at favorably, BUT I believe that the timer is a big aspect of what makes Dead Rising. Having to make choices and having tight time crunches were part of that experience.
The maniacs sadly lost out by not having the cutscenes that psychopaths had. There was some characterization for them, but nothing that really clues you in on say Sadistic Claus's reason for becoming a maniac. Additionally, you miss out on Frank's reaction to the psychopath. I think some of them were fun like the previously mentioned Sadistic Claus, Scare King, Captain Black Fridaybeard, Grim Gobbler. Others were kind of lacking like the return of the True Eye Cult Leader and the most forgettable of them all, Sibyle.
Storywise I didn't think much of the game, especially considering we were juggling basically two different storylines between Tom's group and Obscuris. I think it could have been more cohesive for sure, but having separate stories intertwining does create the idea of this being a bigger world and having more than just the government conspiracy conflict. But ultimately, the story in Dead Rising never seems all that great to be honest, but I appreciated it continued building from the previous games.
Gameplay was where I really enjoyed the game. The combo weapons actually felt nice compared to some from DR2, vehicles were fun and plentiful, and I just enjoy hacking throughs crowds. I could have done with maybe a few less zombies always being crowded into areas, but whatever. Oh and of course the exo-suit. I wasn't particularly a fan of the exo-suit, especially having to put it on for the final boss. I came in prepared with my favorite weapons and then proceeded to have to punch my way through the boss or hit him with Christmas tree lights. It was great getting to finish the giant horde at the end with them, but it really killed my vibe a bit.
Overall, I really enjoyed the game and I know that is controversial. While I think this is lacking in being a part of the Dead Rising game, I still enjoyed it. I view it in much of the same way I see a game like Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. It isn't a good entry in its series, but it is a good game. If Dead Rising and at the very least Frank's character wasn't bolted onto this game, I think it would be perfectly fine.
2016
Clunky menus, tedious battles, lots of grinding for affection, kind of lame interactions, and the payoff at the end felt unsatisfactory.
I don't know what it is about this one, but I just wasn't as drawn into it as with My Big Sister.
2012
I fought the final boss for over an hour (first try) and had to watch Super Nova 9 times.
2022
A fun little time killer. It has nice art and the puzzles aren't particularly challenging. A good distraction for when you just want something to do.
2023
An interesting play on slasher flicks in the form of VN, with obvious inspiration from Scream. I could feel some of the story beats just from being familiar enough with the genre to anticipate the moves I should make, which I actually liked. Also enjoyed that there is a true ending to the story if you go through every path. I in all honesty didn't hate the story.
I'd also say the characters weren't terrible and looked nice, the background art was good if not a bit generic, and the music was fine. Apparently the art was hand-drawn which is cool and it would explain why characters have some odd proportions in cgs. Like everyone's head looks weird for the most part outside of the standard portraits. However, I also saw the previous VN by this dev used AI for their backgrounds, so I don't know that I trust them saying it was hand-drawn.
And I do want to give compliments on the battery that appears to show a choice's impact. While it didn't matter often, it was still a nice thing to have to make a choice feel less daunting.
There was a lot more bad with this than the good. The most glaring issue with Sunlight Scream is the translation. It is painfully bad in many places, confusing pronouns, verbs, tenses, and outright making up at least one word. Hell, the words "literally raping" were used to describe losing in a video game. Now, I have absolutely used that term in the past to describe losing, but not paired with "literally." I also don't think using dated gamer slang from the mid-2000s is appropriate prose, especially in a 2020s setting and when the topic actually does come into play, literally.
Most of that would be forgivable(ish) if some parts of the story didn't go completely of the rails and made any sense. There is a point where a teacher dies and for some reason it has now fallen on the friendly police officer's shoulders to take the students on a camping trip that was conveniently to be held the next day. Another part has a character reference having blood on their hands (literally) from said officer, many days after the fact.
Additionally, I am really not sure if this is set in a university or high school. Throughout the setting is referred to as university, but the actions of characters, the (albeit relaxed) uniforms, RECESS, and classes make it seem more like high school. I presume the disconnect has to come from the developer being Russian but setting of the story being in the United States. While not a huge deal, it was a distraction.
Finally, the UI had several mishaps where either the wrong character was being shown as talking or was completely missing an indicator. The math test was not hard, but with the options covering the question, it became more difficult. I was expecting actual radio buttons to select on the choices, not a pop-up. And of course there were quite a few instances of text either being repeated in the same text box, or appearing in one and showing again in the next.
I'd also say the characters weren't terrible and looked nice, the background art was good if not a bit generic, and the music was fine. Apparently the art was hand-drawn which is cool and it would explain why characters have some odd proportions in cgs. Like everyone's head looks weird for the most part outside of the standard portraits. However, I also saw the previous VN by this dev used AI for their backgrounds, so I don't know that I trust them saying it was hand-drawn.
And I do want to give compliments on the battery that appears to show a choice's impact. While it didn't matter often, it was still a nice thing to have to make a choice feel less daunting.
There was a lot more bad with this than the good. The most glaring issue with Sunlight Scream is the translation. It is painfully bad in many places, confusing pronouns, verbs, tenses, and outright making up at least one word. Hell, the words "literally raping" were used to describe losing in a video game. Now, I have absolutely used that term in the past to describe losing, but not paired with "literally." I also don't think using dated gamer slang from the mid-2000s is appropriate prose, especially in a 2020s setting and when the topic actually does come into play, literally.
Most of that would be forgivable(ish) if some parts of the story didn't go completely of the rails and made any sense. There is a point where a teacher dies and for some reason it has now fallen on the friendly police officer's shoulders to take the students on a camping trip that was conveniently to be held the next day. Another part has a character reference having blood on their hands (literally) from said officer, many days after the fact.
Additionally, I am really not sure if this is set in a university or high school. Throughout the setting is referred to as university, but the actions of characters, the (albeit relaxed) uniforms, RECESS, and classes make it seem more like high school. I presume the disconnect has to come from the developer being Russian but setting of the story being in the United States. While not a huge deal, it was a distraction.
Finally, the UI had several mishaps where either the wrong character was being shown as talking or was completely missing an indicator. The math test was not hard, but with the options covering the question, it became more difficult. I was expecting actual radio buttons to select on the choices, not a pop-up. And of course there were quite a few instances of text either being repeated in the same text box, or appearing in one and showing again in the next.
The Good:
- The plot was complex, but it actually feels like it worked. Sometimes when you try to reach a certain level of complexity, any sense goes out the window. But the puzzle pieces coming together made sense here.
- The characters had their unique traits that explained how they viewed the world.
- No unexpected lewd images! I like VNs, it's combining a hobby I love (reading) with gaming. I love that and enjoy this format, but I'm not into eroge. This VN not having a "suddenly eroge" moment was nice.
The Bad:
- There needed to be more time spent with the characters, there really wasn't enough to get an attachment to anyone and really only one or two opportunities to make a choice between characters.
- The translation wasn't great. There were times that a character would say something and it would be abrupt or not really make sense. Also plenty of formatting, spelling, and grammatical errors.
In the end, my final assessment of Campus Notes is simply mediocre. Nothing about it stands out as being great, but nothing is so bad to tilt it in the other direction. I think this would have been a good building block for the developer, but 4th Cluster went under years ago so this remains as their only mark on the world.
- The plot was complex, but it actually feels like it worked. Sometimes when you try to reach a certain level of complexity, any sense goes out the window. But the puzzle pieces coming together made sense here.
- The characters had their unique traits that explained how they viewed the world.
- No unexpected lewd images! I like VNs, it's combining a hobby I love (reading) with gaming. I love that and enjoy this format, but I'm not into eroge. This VN not having a "suddenly eroge" moment was nice.
The Bad:
- There needed to be more time spent with the characters, there really wasn't enough to get an attachment to anyone and really only one or two opportunities to make a choice between characters.
- The translation wasn't great. There were times that a character would say something and it would be abrupt or not really make sense. Also plenty of formatting, spelling, and grammatical errors.
In the end, my final assessment of Campus Notes is simply mediocre. Nothing about it stands out as being great, but nothing is so bad to tilt it in the other direction. I think this would have been a good building block for the developer, but 4th Cluster went under years ago so this remains as their only mark on the world.