qwhale
2019
what a beautiful game.
it starts out slow -- the action limit seems like a bigger deal than it is, and once you start leveling up it quickly becomes a non-issue. what follows is that you start to unfold this huge, colorful world filled with characters of all shapes and sizes, and a story that lets you take it at your own pace.
the time management aspect feels fairly natural and while there are times where you're stuck waiting (the end of the game i was skipping through weeks just to finish the last sidequest) it starts to feel less and less exhausting as you take in more of the world around you. part of me wishes some of the ui was better, particularly in shops: you can only buy one of an item at a time, meaning if you want a stack of them you have to mash the A button for a good while. but you start to realize it's not about hoarding, about grinding the fishing to get money (you can actually make it through the game without ever donating to hager, which i wish i had looked into sooner). i mean, sure, i could buy a hundred octolips and never have to walk anywhere again. but i'd miss the sounds of the birds, the ambient background tunes. the wind in the valley. flora's song in the town. the crickets.
is it hard? yes. will you need a guide? most likely. will it make you feel like a genius for completing a puzzle by yourself? absolutely.
so go and save those animals! talk to plants! build a rocket! survey robots! buy some records! (buy all the records. make a little playlist of your favorites and share it with me.) get wasted on an island full of musical monkeys! talk to little mushroom creatures in a foreign language! have a drink with wanda. catch some fish. smell the roses.
collect all the love you can. wring out every little drop, every ounce of it. and when you do, when you've loved as hard as you can, shut the game off. but never stop loving.
it starts out slow -- the action limit seems like a bigger deal than it is, and once you start leveling up it quickly becomes a non-issue. what follows is that you start to unfold this huge, colorful world filled with characters of all shapes and sizes, and a story that lets you take it at your own pace.
the time management aspect feels fairly natural and while there are times where you're stuck waiting (the end of the game i was skipping through weeks just to finish the last sidequest) it starts to feel less and less exhausting as you take in more of the world around you. part of me wishes some of the ui was better, particularly in shops: you can only buy one of an item at a time, meaning if you want a stack of them you have to mash the A button for a good while. but you start to realize it's not about hoarding, about grinding the fishing to get money (you can actually make it through the game without ever donating to hager, which i wish i had looked into sooner). i mean, sure, i could buy a hundred octolips and never have to walk anywhere again. but i'd miss the sounds of the birds, the ambient background tunes. the wind in the valley. flora's song in the town. the crickets.
is it hard? yes. will you need a guide? most likely. will it make you feel like a genius for completing a puzzle by yourself? absolutely.
so go and save those animals! talk to plants! build a rocket! survey robots! buy some records! (buy all the records. make a little playlist of your favorites and share it with me.) get wasted on an island full of musical monkeys! talk to little mushroom creatures in a foreign language! have a drink with wanda. catch some fish. smell the roses.
collect all the love you can. wring out every little drop, every ounce of it. and when you do, when you've loved as hard as you can, shut the game off. but never stop loving.
2023
neat game for what it is! items are interesting and good vibes. it feels like it's hiding something from me
better than it has any right to be
2024
servers are kinda fucky but still a fun experience. it's like if lethal company forced more monster interactions. good time
2010
objectively, a less than stellar game. but it feels like home to me. i would not have gotten this far in life if not for this game. something about the spacey, cobbled-together soundtrack and the eyestrain-inducing glow of the world works to pull me in like not many other games can. also the 'mystery' command in battle is a work of pure genius and more games need to take advantage of it
2019
would be in my top 5 if the story was actually finished. masterpiece in all respects
2022
it's like if heroin was F A S T. story is genuinely solid despite the somewhat cringy dialogue. gameplay is addictive.
2010
classic indie platformer. bangin' soundtrack and just some really interesting uses of the gravity mechanic. i want to study it
2017
really solid!! creepy vibes. no idea what the plot was but there were a lot of cool moments and puzzles that were never super challenging but always very satisfying
your honor they're in lesbians
2020
i could tear into this game in so many ways. the dream world segments don't do much, and generally bog down the plot. the combat is just okay for a turn-based game. etc. none of it matters. i think this game tells one of the best stories in gaming. the last couple hours were breathtaking
2018
it's rare to come across a piece of media nowadays that so openly screams of hope. everything about this game made me want to keep living. some of the platforming is janky but the story and characters are so rich that it was well worth it.
2015
:) i like undertale
2022
This review contains spoilers
it's a jam game for sure. was hoping for a little more horror but the few scares they threw in didn't amount to much. the charming art and okay audio can't save the "walk around and interact with things" nature of it. which isn't inherently a bad nature to have when something interesting happens when you do so! anyway don't listen to me it took me 5 minutes to realize the mirror maze was a mirror maze lol
2015
this game is very good at throwing philosophical conundrums at the player. there's definitely a lot of good discussion to be had about the morality of the player's choices. the aesthetics are insane -- it feels like all this tech shouldn't work so well underwater, but it creates a vibe that's totally unique. puzzles were never too difficult and i usually could figure out where to go by just bashing my head against every door. that ending... damn... what a ride!! this was a treat to get to play and i was enthralled by every second