moogy
Lacking in depth and replay value but I don't know if it actually needs (or wants to have) either of those things. Satisfying core gameplay loop and a quirky, charming atmosphere that many modern indie games would kill for.
2020
What if we made Towelket but with even worse gameplay
1996
How did they go from Doom to this lol
2021
Boring and het, a losing combination.
Somewhat lacking in content, but the robust combat system and enjoyable plot make up for it.
I really like the way this game utilizes Touhou characters; it was much more enjoyable as a fanwork for me than higher profile games like Touhou Luna Nights.
I really like the way this game utilizes Touhou characters; it was much more enjoyable as a fanwork for me than higher profile games like Touhou Luna Nights.
2020
Mario Maker for people without friends.
Combat is still just as bad as the first game, but this one actually has an engaging story courtesy of the folks at Witchcraft. Worth playing if you're a fan of Nanoha and Symphogear; it's sort of the "missing link" connecting the two franchises. Was adapted into the two most recent Nanoha movies.
Terrible button mashing combat and little else. Hard to say it even really functions as fanservice. Probably Kaneko's worst game lol.
2005
While WA4 is clearly an unfinished game, in terms of the actual experience of playing it it's a huge step up from any of the previous ones. The combat and dungeons are actually fun and so are the character interactions. If you can accept the fact that it's only about half of the planned content and the plot ends up feeling pretty haphazard as a result, I think it's actually way better than people give it credit for and even manages to feel surprisingly modern.
2002
The gameplay and cutscene presentation are both pretty atrocious. Anyone who says that the earlier Wild ARMs games have good dungeon design probably hasn't actually played them since they came out; while they certainly try to do interesting things, most of the "puzzles" are either braindead easy or just kind of annoying. The Millennium Puzzles in WA3 are a decent idea conceptually (sokoban using the Z axis), but really really suck to actually play due to a complete lack of QOL features. Combat is more interesting than WA2 but really wears out its welcome by the end and rarely demands the player actually use its systems in interesting ways.
All that said, WA3 has one of the best plots of any video game and an incredible soundtrack to accompany it, so even replaying the game in 2021 I came away with positive thoughts about it. I would rate it higher if the characters themselves were more... vibrant. Only Maya really left an impression.
All that said, WA3 has one of the best plots of any video game and an incredible soundtrack to accompany it, so even replaying the game in 2021 I came away with positive thoughts about it. I would rate it higher if the characters themselves were more... vibrant. Only Maya really left an impression.
1999
It's pretty funny how much of this game was reused in Symphogear. While I have a lot of nostalgia for WA2 and it does some cool things for a PS1 JRPG, you're better off just watching Symphogear instead, since you don't have to sit through tons of bad PS1 JRPG gameplay to enjoy it. And it has yuri.
Best level design and controls of any Crash game, but the completionist elements really drag the game down and just make it terribly unfun, even stressful, to actually play.
Spyro 2 is a cool game with dense, purposeful level design. 1 and 3, not so much.
This review contains spoilers
Gust's most polished game of all time. Quite possibly the best soundtrack of the HD era of gaming. Genuine humor and pathos with an endearing cast. An explicit lesbian couple whose love is celebrated by the narrative.
I don't think BR Tie is perfect but or even necessarily that novel (outside of Yuuki and Rena's relationship, which is wonderful to see in a JRPG), but I'm giving it a score this high anyway because of what it represents to me. It makes me feel rewarded for supporting Gust for the past 16 years (a little more than half my life), ever since Atelier Iris was localized. I'm really glad they put so much love and care into this. Highly recommended for fans of Tsuchiya's games as well; he was the development producer and came up with the story, so it shares many thematic elements and storytelling devices with the EXA_PICO series.
Strong recommendation to watch the Blue Reflection Ray before playing. Weaker recommendation to play Ar Nosurge beforehand (it's probably the most similar game Gust has made, though maybe not in ways you're expecting). The first BR game is pretty skippable honestly.
I don't think BR Tie is perfect but or even necessarily that novel (outside of Yuuki and Rena's relationship, which is wonderful to see in a JRPG), but I'm giving it a score this high anyway because of what it represents to me. It makes me feel rewarded for supporting Gust for the past 16 years (a little more than half my life), ever since Atelier Iris was localized. I'm really glad they put so much love and care into this. Highly recommended for fans of Tsuchiya's games as well; he was the development producer and came up with the story, so it shares many thematic elements and storytelling devices with the EXA_PICO series.
Strong recommendation to watch the Blue Reflection Ray before playing. Weaker recommendation to play Ar Nosurge beforehand (it's probably the most similar game Gust has made, though maybe not in ways you're expecting). The first BR game is pretty skippable honestly.
