robod8
20 reviews liked by robod8
I DID IT I FINALLY BEAT MY FIRST JRPG
This has been a genre that has eluded me for far too long. A lot of things factored in to that, most of it being the ungodly long runtimes and my former distaste for turn-based combat, but something about Mario RPG made it all click for me in a way I never thought possible.
Most of the time, when I went to try a JRPG, it would be Pokemon. I don't know why, but for some reason I thought that would be the best path in. It's an IP I'm already incredibly familiar with, so that would help. What those games (falsely) taught me was that JRPG combat is bad, but you get through it for the other stuff. I don't even know if I could consider Pokemon combat "bad," but it's not for me.
Mario RPG showed me what a good turn-based combat system can do. 1v1 battles are boring as hell turn based, but with a full party you have so much more room to actually do some minor strategizing, even if it's not all that deep. Combine that with the slightly more active and "skill based" timed attacks and you have a recipe for something that will actually keep me engaged across a long runtime.
But that was the other huge thing: by presenting a great JRPG in a short (sub-20h) context it manages to make me feel so much less stressed about how many other things I could be doing instead. This thing is also paced immaculately, where no matter what was happening in the game I couldn't wait to pick it back up every day.
There's also just... So much charm here. They do SOOOO much with so little in terms of animation and sprite counts, and at least once every dialogue I said to myself "wow, I never would have thought of that." The visuals are charming, the music fantastically catchy, and the dialogue is witty in all the best ways. I wanted to spend even more time with all of these characters. Geno and Mallow are so much more fleshed out than they have any right to be, and I love how all the legacy characters get characterized here with funny, very stylized dialogue.
I feel like this game has opened Pandora's box for me. I'm going to spend a little more time with Mario first, diving into Paper Mario, but I'm finally starting to feel ready to dive into a "true" JRPG. I can't believe it.
This has been a genre that has eluded me for far too long. A lot of things factored in to that, most of it being the ungodly long runtimes and my former distaste for turn-based combat, but something about Mario RPG made it all click for me in a way I never thought possible.
Most of the time, when I went to try a JRPG, it would be Pokemon. I don't know why, but for some reason I thought that would be the best path in. It's an IP I'm already incredibly familiar with, so that would help. What those games (falsely) taught me was that JRPG combat is bad, but you get through it for the other stuff. I don't even know if I could consider Pokemon combat "bad," but it's not for me.
Mario RPG showed me what a good turn-based combat system can do. 1v1 battles are boring as hell turn based, but with a full party you have so much more room to actually do some minor strategizing, even if it's not all that deep. Combine that with the slightly more active and "skill based" timed attacks and you have a recipe for something that will actually keep me engaged across a long runtime.
But that was the other huge thing: by presenting a great JRPG in a short (sub-20h) context it manages to make me feel so much less stressed about how many other things I could be doing instead. This thing is also paced immaculately, where no matter what was happening in the game I couldn't wait to pick it back up every day.
There's also just... So much charm here. They do SOOOO much with so little in terms of animation and sprite counts, and at least once every dialogue I said to myself "wow, I never would have thought of that." The visuals are charming, the music fantastically catchy, and the dialogue is witty in all the best ways. I wanted to spend even more time with all of these characters. Geno and Mallow are so much more fleshed out than they have any right to be, and I love how all the legacy characters get characterized here with funny, very stylized dialogue.
I feel like this game has opened Pandora's box for me. I'm going to spend a little more time with Mario first, diving into Paper Mario, but I'm finally starting to feel ready to dive into a "true" JRPG. I can't believe it.
The Shart Message
Buckshot Roulette
2023
I love short atmospheric concept games that only cost $1 and don't necessarily have an ending but have a satisfying endpoint, the best of the best in the art form.
It's dodgeball with John Goodman.
Yeah, I'm playing these ones too. They're not going on the ranking list though. The mystery is solid, but it's missing that key feature that makes Nancy so special: her sociopathic conversational quirks.
Upside is I never had to solve any downright immoral Fox & Geese puzzles, but the connected downside is I didn't get to do anything like a puzzle. It's essentially the flash game version of that old Roblox zombie survival game where you combine 2 bricks, 1 metal, and 2 wood to make a forge. How's that for a deep cut, deeper than they burried the original Pharaoh set.
Upside is I never had to solve any downright immoral Fox & Geese puzzles, but the connected downside is I didn't get to do anything like a puzzle. It's essentially the flash game version of that old Roblox zombie survival game where you combine 2 bricks, 1 metal, and 2 wood to make a forge. How's that for a deep cut, deeper than they burried the original Pharaoh set.
This would've been the best one yet, but then scopa followed by the gem theft followed by more scopa...
Thank the gods I could do it all in the cuntiest outfit possible though: https://videocircus.net/nancycunty
Thank the gods I could do it all in the cuntiest outfit possible though: https://videocircus.net/nancycunty
Lucius
2012
I've been thinking about "horror games so dedicated to recreating one specific movie" recently with the cancellation of Friday the 13th The Video Game and the soon-to-be-released Texas Chain Saw Massacre Video Game. I remembered this YouTube phenomenon that I played long before I'd ever seen The Omen. It's dedication to recreation is admirable, however the gameplay takes heavy sacrifices to accomodate the style and bizzarely the story also takes hits to make way for a filthy injection of 2012 internet humour. Truly a game of it's time trying to be a timeless game.
Twelve Minutes
2021
This review contains spoilers
So for my first life I came home and instantly hid in the closet, no one knew I was there, I watched the whole event play out. This ruined the entire game for me.
Overall an interesting concept for a point-and-click adventure, but the player suffers from any slight deviation from the surprisingly linear narrative. Even following a perfect guide for how to beat the game in the least loops possible, you have to do the same exact day 4 times in a row, the only difference being you hear a little bit more dialogue each time; it's a frustrating way of pacing a story game. The eventual twist lacks the resolution that this game needs, I very much left the game feeling unfulfilled.
Also James McAvoy should've gone full Scottish for his performance, would've improved the game tenfold.
Overall an interesting concept for a point-and-click adventure, but the player suffers from any slight deviation from the surprisingly linear narrative. Even following a perfect guide for how to beat the game in the least loops possible, you have to do the same exact day 4 times in a row, the only difference being you hear a little bit more dialogue each time; it's a frustrating way of pacing a story game. The eventual twist lacks the resolution that this game needs, I very much left the game feeling unfulfilled.
Also James McAvoy should've gone full Scottish for his performance, would've improved the game tenfold.
Half-Life 2: VR Mod
2022
Real fun to play Half Life 2 once again but finally have a vaguely different experience, even if reloading mid-combat is nightmarish.
Atomic Heart
2023
I managed to listen to the entirety of Combat Rock in the time it took to limp through the somnolent introduction. I've always loved the major punk bands from The Addicts to Zound, but when it comes to The Clash I've never really enjoyed Joe Strummer's raspy vocal style (no offence intended, God rest his soul, but I've been (poorly) emulating Danzig's style of intimate baritone for years and I'm not about to take on another influence this late in the game).
Rock the Casbah crashed into my cortex unexpectedly one night during playlist shuffle time, and after a lifetime of associating the track with sports venues I think it finally clicked in my mind that it is a real song rather than just a cultural chant between minor penalty and faceoff (see also I Fought The Law).
I'd been forced to reevaluate my opinion upon finishing the album. Perhaps my views on "The Clash" the album had slowly become my views on "The Clash" the band. Pleanty of the tracks featured on Combat Rock shake up the common structure of the brit-punk tunes I would usually expect; "Should I Stay or Should I Go"'s restrained instrumental followed directly by "Rock the Casbah"'s busy piano-heavy melody bring a lot of fun from both sides of the spectrum. Perhaps I was wrong to pidgeonhole The Clash for so many years.
Speaking of pidgeonholing, Atomic Heart is yet another shitty Bioshock wannabe. That's all I have to say about this game.
Rock the Casbah crashed into my cortex unexpectedly one night during playlist shuffle time, and after a lifetime of associating the track with sports venues I think it finally clicked in my mind that it is a real song rather than just a cultural chant between minor penalty and faceoff (see also I Fought The Law).
I'd been forced to reevaluate my opinion upon finishing the album. Perhaps my views on "The Clash" the album had slowly become my views on "The Clash" the band. Pleanty of the tracks featured on Combat Rock shake up the common structure of the brit-punk tunes I would usually expect; "Should I Stay or Should I Go"'s restrained instrumental followed directly by "Rock the Casbah"'s busy piano-heavy melody bring a lot of fun from both sides of the spectrum. Perhaps I was wrong to pidgeonhole The Clash for so many years.
Speaking of pidgeonholing, Atomic Heart is yet another shitty Bioshock wannabe. That's all I have to say about this game.
