jou
7 reviews liked by jou
Saya no Uta
2003
This review contains spoilers
Has a strong hook and an interesting concept that is ultimately bogged down by a lack of any substance whatsoever. While the score is fantastic, I'm afraid I can't give the story the same praise - it's edgy torture porn that leaves much to be desired.
I think it does a great job at setting a tone, and it's packed with some genuinely chilling scenes - the mystery, disgust, and morbid curiosity I felt going through them had me on the edge of my seat, and that's one of the few things I'll give this game credit for. The h-scenes, however, were completely unnecessary; there's one in particular that serves no purpose to the plot other than appealing to the author's barely disguised rape fetish. And in the off-chance it's not that, it's just a cheap way of making the story "dark" with minimal effort.
The plot itself was barebones. The build-up was there, but the climax was unsatisfying no matter what ending I got. And while I can normally appreciate a game that leaves me unsettled and uncomfortable, by the time I reached the final ending I just had a sour taste in my mouth from how cheap and pointless it all felt.
The characters were just... boring, too. I found myself mixing up the main character's friends names so many times it's not even funny. Saya herself was interesting for about a minute, but it felt like the author got too tired to finish developing her and decided to whip his dick out instead. She spends about half of her screen time having sex and sucking the cock of the most irredeemable protagonist ever conceived in fiction.
There genuinely could've been something here - the twisted relationship between the protagonist and Saya could've been so much more, and it frustrates me that the author chose to make it so shallow and honestly gross. There's a few attempts to dive into psychology - particularly the fragility of the human psyche - but they ultimately don't lead anywhere other than highlighting the apathy and despair these characters feel.
Honestly, I'm disappointed that such an incredible OST was wasted on something like this, because it was the track "Song of Saya" that got me curious about the game in the first place.
It has some cool ideas and I ended up reading it all the way through, but ultimately, I don't think I'd ever read this again. I don't recommend it unless you've got thick skin, a strong stomach for gore, and enough self-loathing to justify making a purchase like this.
I think it does a great job at setting a tone, and it's packed with some genuinely chilling scenes - the mystery, disgust, and morbid curiosity I felt going through them had me on the edge of my seat, and that's one of the few things I'll give this game credit for. The h-scenes, however, were completely unnecessary; there's one in particular that serves no purpose to the plot other than appealing to the author's barely disguised rape fetish. And in the off-chance it's not that, it's just a cheap way of making the story "dark" with minimal effort.
The plot itself was barebones. The build-up was there, but the climax was unsatisfying no matter what ending I got. And while I can normally appreciate a game that leaves me unsettled and uncomfortable, by the time I reached the final ending I just had a sour taste in my mouth from how cheap and pointless it all felt.
The characters were just... boring, too. I found myself mixing up the main character's friends names so many times it's not even funny. Saya herself was interesting for about a minute, but it felt like the author got too tired to finish developing her and decided to whip his dick out instead. She spends about half of her screen time having sex and sucking the cock of the most irredeemable protagonist ever conceived in fiction.
There genuinely could've been something here - the twisted relationship between the protagonist and Saya could've been so much more, and it frustrates me that the author chose to make it so shallow and honestly gross. There's a few attempts to dive into psychology - particularly the fragility of the human psyche - but they ultimately don't lead anywhere other than highlighting the apathy and despair these characters feel.
Honestly, I'm disappointed that such an incredible OST was wasted on something like this, because it was the track "Song of Saya" that got me curious about the game in the first place.
It has some cool ideas and I ended up reading it all the way through, but ultimately, I don't think I'd ever read this again. I don't recommend it unless you've got thick skin, a strong stomach for gore, and enough self-loathing to justify making a purchase like this.
High on Life
2022
I-if there's a game that's ashamed of its identity, it's this one. W-w-what's the point of being in an alien world when all the jokes revolve around Earth stuff, right? REMEMBER, uh, APPLEBEES? I LAUGHED B-B-BECAUSE FUCKING I KNOW WHAT THAT IS!!! S-S-S-SPACE APPLEBEES IS JUST SO F-FLIPPIN' CRAZY!!!
E-every joke in this is just so fucking unfunny, which is subjective I'll admit but as someone w-who enjoyed Rick and Morty S1&2 I'm just, uh, begging for them to try harder. Yes, some v-videogame shit is tedious, uh, you weren't funny the first time you told the joke about it, y'know? and it's not f-f-funny the fifth. Babbling on and on while overexplaining the joke isn't a punchline, r-right?. Y-y-y-you can't even run thru the horrible dialogue because the game sticks you in place so you just look at the, uhm, Simpsons a-aliens like a dumbass while they g-go on and on about how videogames are just so q-q-quacking crazy.
A-a-and if you thought the jokes were reiterative, the levels are worse! Barely t-t-two levels in and they start recycling the planets!!! And, uh, you know what they came up with for alien planet designs, huh? A-a desert and a jungle (but the folliage is purple!), and it doesn't stop there, the, uh, character designs are awful too. All of them are just, uh, "a-ant" or, uhm, "humanoid body with freaky head" and it's just so d-dull, y'know?. I'd say the game runs out of ideas quick but, uhm, that's implying it had any ideas in the first place. Only t-thing... only thing it has g-going for it is the premise of the living guns which is cool in theory but nothing in practice, specially with the main gun talking in the Justin, uh, Justin Roiland stammering dialect.
I can only give credit for, uhm, the gunplay which was f-f-fine but a lot of the ideas it are, y'know, half baked are best. Most of the special abilities don't even gel with the gun themselves! Shit!
The jokes; the ending; the repetition, it's all a mess. The game isn't even embarassingly bad, it's just bad. And if you thought this was annoying to read, just imagine having to hear it for ~10 hours.
E-every joke in this is just so fucking unfunny, which is subjective I'll admit but as someone w-who enjoyed Rick and Morty S1&2 I'm just, uh, begging for them to try harder. Yes, some v-videogame shit is tedious, uh, you weren't funny the first time you told the joke about it, y'know? and it's not f-f-funny the fifth. Babbling on and on while overexplaining the joke isn't a punchline, r-right?. Y-y-y-you can't even run thru the horrible dialogue because the game sticks you in place so you just look at the, uhm, Simpsons a-aliens like a dumbass while they g-go on and on about how videogames are just so q-q-quacking crazy.
A-a-and if you thought the jokes were reiterative, the levels are worse! Barely t-t-two levels in and they start recycling the planets!!! And, uh, you know what they came up with for alien planet designs, huh? A-a desert and a jungle (but the folliage is purple!), and it doesn't stop there, the, uh, character designs are awful too. All of them are just, uh, "a-ant" or, uhm, "humanoid body with freaky head" and it's just so d-dull, y'know?. I'd say the game runs out of ideas quick but, uhm, that's implying it had any ideas in the first place. Only t-thing... only thing it has g-going for it is the premise of the living guns which is cool in theory but nothing in practice, specially with the main gun talking in the Justin, uh, Justin Roiland stammering dialect.
I can only give credit for, uhm, the gunplay which was f-f-fine but a lot of the ideas it are, y'know, half baked are best. Most of the special abilities don't even gel with the gun themselves! Shit!
The jokes; the ending; the repetition, it's all a mess. The game isn't even embarassingly bad, it's just bad. And if you thought this was annoying to read, just imagine having to hear it for ~10 hours.
High on Life
2022
Reddit ass humour
High on Life
2022
The game starts very well, with new scenarios all the time, each boss gives a new weapon that makes the gameplay more interesting. But after a while it becomes obvious that they ran out of ideas, the scenarios start to be reused frequently (the maximum was 4 times the SAME SCENERY) in addition to the bosses of the second half of the game being very weak, along with the jokes that lose their fun very fast, in the end the game is short with only 6-7 hours, but it seems like it lasts about 20, But the last thing i need to say is LEZDUIT
High on Life
2022
this game is not funny i abandoned after hearing the unfunniest joke in the world
Good game
Bad RE game
Bad RE game
Dogz
2006
This game was basically a life sim where you HAPPENED to have a dog