dudette64
2015
i picked up secrets of grindea in the fall of 2015 a few months after it came out, played it with friends, stopped when we reached the end of the game's current content, and then waited with bated breath until the official release. and boy, i am still waiting!
i say it jokingly- i've been playing every time there's been an update to the game, i keep up the dev blog, and i am glad that the game has taken so much time to finish rather than the devs rushing to the end-zone with quality compromised for speed. it is a fun, challenging ARPG with a good sense of humor, fun online co-op, and incredibly smooth pixel-art animation (and also funny looking character portraits but they're charming).
from what i can assume following the dev blog, Secrets of Grindea is slowly reaching completion and im honestly still excited to see it. it just took a little time!
i say it jokingly- i've been playing every time there's been an update to the game, i keep up the dev blog, and i am glad that the game has taken so much time to finish rather than the devs rushing to the end-zone with quality compromised for speed. it is a fun, challenging ARPG with a good sense of humor, fun online co-op, and incredibly smooth pixel-art animation (and also funny looking character portraits but they're charming).
from what i can assume following the dev blog, Secrets of Grindea is slowly reaching completion and im honestly still excited to see it. it just took a little time!
2018
(imagine me making a fart noise with my hands here) Boooo
i realize that im not a fair critic of this game because my problem with it is the main gimmick- contrarian player makes the controlling, annoying narrator So Pissed!!!!! by messing up his puzzles... and by jove, the game definitely meets this brief! but i don't think its executed in a way that is charming or appealing. the puzzles in the game are good and i do like that aspect of gameplay, but the narrator does ruin it for me. which again, i do understand is the point, but i think after playing similar games like There Is No Game i just feel like the point-and-click pixel-art puzzle game player vs narrator genre has better options
i realize that im not a fair critic of this game because my problem with it is the main gimmick- contrarian player makes the controlling, annoying narrator So Pissed!!!!! by messing up his puzzles... and by jove, the game definitely meets this brief! but i don't think its executed in a way that is charming or appealing. the puzzles in the game are good and i do like that aspect of gameplay, but the narrator does ruin it for me. which again, i do understand is the point, but i think after playing similar games like There Is No Game i just feel like the point-and-click pixel-art puzzle game player vs narrator genre has better options
2012
i recently picked this game back up. i had played it when i was younger, but couldn't fully remember what it's about- but i'm really glad i replayed this
i sat down and finished this game in about an hour and a half. when the credit screen rolled and showed you who you had played with, there was only one name, and god i wish i remember what it read because that experience with that random person meant so much to me. i had completely lost my grasp on how to play that game and was constantly making mistakes, but that person had so much patience and it made me so happy that we played the game together. it is so cliche, but this is a game that is really about the journey (ha ha) and being connected with a random person made the game feel all the more personal.
one of my favorite games of all time, super replayable, highly recommend. some parts are a bit janky, but it's also 12 years old... so i forgive it a bit
i sat down and finished this game in about an hour and a half. when the credit screen rolled and showed you who you had played with, there was only one name, and god i wish i remember what it read because that experience with that random person meant so much to me. i had completely lost my grasp on how to play that game and was constantly making mistakes, but that person had so much patience and it made me so happy that we played the game together. it is so cliche, but this is a game that is really about the journey (ha ha) and being connected with a random person made the game feel all the more personal.
one of my favorite games of all time, super replayable, highly recommend. some parts are a bit janky, but it's also 12 years old... so i forgive it a bit
i am TIRED OF THIS GAME!!!!!!!! i have been playing it on-and-off for almost 8 years because it's a really easy way to sit down, fiddle with a controller, and do something for 40 minutes. i cannot deny that i'm excited for online co-op and will probably pick this game back up once that's out, but the gameplay loop isn't fun for me anymore. i think that's a personal grievance with the game more than anything being wrong with it, but i guess something lost its spark after the 762nd hour. i love the modding community though because it helped me reawaken my interest in the game, but wish mods were allowed in co-op
2016
need to pick up again. when i tried to play it 7 years ago i was so frightened by the triangle that i closed the game and never reopened it
2023
This review contains spoilers
i have a few complaints about this game, but let me be clear: it is a VERY good fan-game. this game is incredibly high-fidelity: it's a full-length experience, completely for free, which introduces new regions of the Underground, new characters, battles with unique bullet-patterns and enjoyable mechanics, underscored by beautiful art assets and a fantastic soundtrack. there are unique endings and boss battles in not only the pacifist and genocide route, but also the neutral route, which i think really shows the amount of love and effort (i should emphasize, the SEVEN YEARS of love and effort- which is crazy for a fan-game!!!) that went into producing the final product. alongside the game's little secrets and fun value surprises, Undertale Yellow has a lot of unique detail and charm. if you haven't played it already, i absolutely recommend it.
(spoilers ahead)
i'm speaking from my perspective only having finished True Pacifist, but i really struggled to connect to the characters in the first half of the game- specifically, Dalv and Martlet. i know Martlet has a whole other layer of complexity in the Genocide route, but the humor in her dialogue just didn't land for me and i never felt closer to her after interactions, which there were relatively few of. Dalv, the player barely talks to at all before he lets you into his house, lets you out of his house, and never interacts with you again until he's attending your funeral (which no disrespect to him, you just met somebody who you want to build a relationship with and a couple days later they've exploded. very sad!). i really enjoyed Starlo and Ceroba (especially Ceroba, i absolutely cried in the final fight with her. a really complex and interesting character with probably the best fight in the game) in the latter half of the game, but that's also because you're given more time with them to explore them as characters. when you end up friends with them, it feels more natural than it does with Martlet and Dalv.
altogether though, it's a great fan game! i think what let me down was the expectations i had for this game based on what people told me about it- saying it was better than Undertale, how it should be canon, etc... and while it's a very good game, it's ultimately its own thing. the mindset i went into the game with caused occasional disappointment with the game's writing and humor, because i wanted it to be on-par with Toby Fox and it wasn't. which is not bad! i think this game is fantastic and creates its own identity while expanding on Undertale's existing property, and that's very impressive for a fan-game to do.
(minor pet peeve though- why are the main monsters you befriend so tall!!! no love for the shortstacks?)
(spoilers ahead)
i'm speaking from my perspective only having finished True Pacifist, but i really struggled to connect to the characters in the first half of the game- specifically, Dalv and Martlet. i know Martlet has a whole other layer of complexity in the Genocide route, but the humor in her dialogue just didn't land for me and i never felt closer to her after interactions, which there were relatively few of. Dalv, the player barely talks to at all before he lets you into his house, lets you out of his house, and never interacts with you again until he's attending your funeral (which no disrespect to him, you just met somebody who you want to build a relationship with and a couple days later they've exploded. very sad!). i really enjoyed Starlo and Ceroba (especially Ceroba, i absolutely cried in the final fight with her. a really complex and interesting character with probably the best fight in the game) in the latter half of the game, but that's also because you're given more time with them to explore them as characters. when you end up friends with them, it feels more natural than it does with Martlet and Dalv.
altogether though, it's a great fan game! i think what let me down was the expectations i had for this game based on what people told me about it- saying it was better than Undertale, how it should be canon, etc... and while it's a very good game, it's ultimately its own thing. the mindset i went into the game with caused occasional disappointment with the game's writing and humor, because i wanted it to be on-par with Toby Fox and it wasn't. which is not bad! i think this game is fantastic and creates its own identity while expanding on Undertale's existing property, and that's very impressive for a fan-game to do.
(minor pet peeve though- why are the main monsters you befriend so tall!!! no love for the shortstacks?)
2019
this game is GENUINELY beautiful. the music, the art style, it all contributes to a really great experience. it's not a very long game, i think it's around 2 hours...? but it's worth every cent. i've replayed this game a couple times and it always makes me spontaneously burst into tears. but half a star knocked-off because some of the levels are a little annoying and the forest-level is a bit nauseating