<--- schmovement liker

pseudoregalia is pure platformer comfort food, a distillation of everything that makes this genre as enjoyable as it is. if this game cropped up on your radar, you're probably at least familiar with how people regard this game — let me add to that by saying the game feel here is genuinely sublime. everything you've heard about the movement is accurate and then some; as soon as you grab solar wind everything clicks into place. there's so much you can pull off with sybil's moveset, aspects you can utilize and even abuse to your heart's content. it can get legitimately overpowered depending on what you find — i managed to sequence break in an area without even really trying all that hard. though of course, that's a part of the game's charm and appeal, part of why everything comes together so well, even.

this isn't to say i have no issues with the pseudoregalia: many aspects of the game aren't nearly as fleshed out as they could be, and there could be more polish in areas (i ran into a bug mid playthrough that rendered all in world triggers reset, though i still got to keep my upgrades and keys, thank god), but some of that's to be expected considering the budget and scope of the release as an expanded gamejam title. fact of the matter is: if you like games focused on exploring environments through expansive movement, if you hold fondness for that hazy 5th generation console esque aesthetic, if you like sequence breaking in any form, please play this game. it's only $6, i promise it's worth it.

easily some of shu takumi's best writing to date. ghost trick is absolutely phenomenal — the game is stylized beautifully with a premise that's immediately striking right off the bat, the puzzle gameplay itself consistently makes inventive use of it's deceptively simple mechanics, and the narrative work capitalizes on all of this by periodically rewarding you with bits and bits of roundabout information (since you're a ghost who eavesdrops!), just enough to get you guessing as to how all the disparate elements fit into the wider picture.

characters and characterization are very on point here: reminiscent of ace attorney's typical goofiness but with the strong underlying character motivations comparable to that series at it's very best. as such, it's an easy recommend to any ace attorney fan who somehow hasn't already played, but i'd also go so far to recommend it to mystery fans in general. it's a fairly compact experience, all things considered, only running about 12 hours, but it makes use of it's runtime well with enough twists and turns along the way to keep the rollercoaster plot chugging along right up to its end.

this game is so interesting.

by all metrics, it should be a fairly banal ride throughout: moment to moment gameplay is almost impressively shallow and overexplained at every given opportunity. even narratively speaking, while it does cool things in it's latter half, it still doesn't do anything you haven't ever seen before.

and yet, despite everything, it still manages to be more than the sum of it's parts. there's a very particular charm to solatorobo that's difficult to pin down. something about the characterization, the expressive art, the attention to detail in it's worldbuilding (especially considering it's continuity with tail concerto)... i really couldn't help but enjoy my time with it. it does it's job and then some at being a cozy little ds game to whittle away at when out and about, and while i wish it was more than what it was, i still came away from the experience happy i played. if you're similarly inclined towards games like these, it's an easy recommend.