weh
2019
i'd really have to struggle to come up with something i liked about this game. i got right up to the final area before the idea of continuing felt so fatiguing that i dropped it. i connected with none of the characters, found none of the conflicts or plot hooks compelling, and the gameplay was unremarkable. they can't all be bangers, but just go play pentiment instead. it's proof that obsidian can still make a great game when they're not trying to rehash a former success that got memed to death
2023
i'll always respect a game that takes a big swing, even if it doesn't hit me the same way i see it hitting others. took about half an hour to finish, kept me engaged, and it's like $3, so if it looks at all interesting to you and you like artsy stuff i'd recommend checking it out for yourself
i love this game with all my heart
2023
it's a 7 minute long game where you click cats on a black and white drawing of a scene in paris, what's not to like (the music. the music is not to like). there are 101 steam achievements, and you earn one by clicking a cat, they all have unique names. there's really not much more to say, it's cute
2024
i could take or leave the little mascot (he's cute enough i guess), and sometimes the element-combining minigame is tedious, but the meat of this game is picross, which is always the same, and this game has a lot of puzzles to do, so it's great value for the money in an aesthetically pretty package
2024
as others have said, the combat isn't what you should play this game for. it does the job and i don't have any complaints about it, but the world, writing, and art direction are clearly the stars of the show. it's an amalgamation of incredible ideas. i'm still working through it and i have to assume still fairly early on, but i'm feeling very positively about it so far and excited to see how everything turns out!
2024
the art is cute, i like the two characters. there's not a lot here, but the combat's setup with the equipment swapping is novel enough. it's worth the hour it takes to complete, and you can make different choices to see different content but i don't feel the need to do a murder playthrough
2024
really fun game to play with your friends, fun to play with strangers too. the progression mechanics feel balanced reasonably well. i haven't played this game in a couple months, but i had a great time with it shortly after it launched, and if a friend asked me to play with them i'd absolutely be down. i'd just hope it's a bugs week, rather than a bots week
2024
as a big fan of lucah: born of a dream, i knew this was a day-one purchase for me. what i didn't expect is that i'd finish it in a single 10-hour sitting. i quickly became very invested in the story, which is much less opaque than the souls-like minimalist surrealism of lucah.
death of a wish's combat is essentially the same as lucah's, though it feels extremely smooth and responsive in this one. i think the attack telegraphs from enemies are a lot more readable (something that was sometimes an issue for me in lucah given the shaky art style). it's challenging, fair, and feels great when you find your groove. and if you're just playing for the story, no worries, there are lots of modifiers you can turn on to trivialize it (but do give it a try first, it's really good).
[edit: i just went back to replay lucah, and one noticeable difference is that death of a wish doesn't have a stamina meter! you can dodge, sprint, and attack to your heart's content! that's why it felt so much smoother to me. death of a wish also has a wider variety of playstyles available. so really, it's sort of the same, but it plays much quicker. and in my opinion, death of a wish's combat is way more fun in the moment-to-moment.]
i don't want to spoil anything about the story because it takes some fantastic and unexpected turns, so i'll just say that a lot of the writing really got to me. the themes explored resonate with me a lot on a personal level, and there's an emotional depth of examination here that i don't usually find in games.
the developers have said that you can play these two games in any order, and that's true, but my personal opinion is that you'll get more out of this game if you've played lucah already. that said, i'd be really curious to hear from someone who played death of a wish first and then went back and played lucah, i bet that's an interesting way to experience it too.
anyway, i strongly recommend death of a wish, i really really loved it. i'm going to sit with it for a little while before hopping into ng+ and hunting around for secrets i missed.
death of a wish's combat is essentially the same as lucah's, though it feels extremely smooth and responsive in this one. i think the attack telegraphs from enemies are a lot more readable (something that was sometimes an issue for me in lucah given the shaky art style). it's challenging, fair, and feels great when you find your groove. and if you're just playing for the story, no worries, there are lots of modifiers you can turn on to trivialize it (but do give it a try first, it's really good).
[edit: i just went back to replay lucah, and one noticeable difference is that death of a wish doesn't have a stamina meter! you can dodge, sprint, and attack to your heart's content! that's why it felt so much smoother to me. death of a wish also has a wider variety of playstyles available. so really, it's sort of the same, but it plays much quicker. and in my opinion, death of a wish's combat is way more fun in the moment-to-moment.]
i don't want to spoil anything about the story because it takes some fantastic and unexpected turns, so i'll just say that a lot of the writing really got to me. the themes explored resonate with me a lot on a personal level, and there's an emotional depth of examination here that i don't usually find in games.
the developers have said that you can play these two games in any order, and that's true, but my personal opinion is that you'll get more out of this game if you've played lucah already. that said, i'd be really curious to hear from someone who played death of a wish first and then went back and played lucah, i bet that's an interesting way to experience it too.
anyway, i strongly recommend death of a wish, i really really loved it. i'm going to sit with it for a little while before hopping into ng+ and hunting around for secrets i missed.
2017
i'll update this review if my opinion changes by the time i finish it, but so far this feels like a downgrade from kiwami 1. the combat feels more expressive and more limited at the same time, and while they've taken ragdolling to a comedic extreme, it winds up being frustrating because you have to run over to the enemy that you punched across the arena to finish him off.
the story is merely "fine" so far. this game has the yakuza charm, but it feels kind of phoned-in and samey at this point. i haven't played the original ps2 versions of the first two games, but i understand this is a vastly different game to the original yakuza 2, and the way i hear people talk about that original makes me think i should emulate it instead of playing kiwami 2. it's still an alright game on its own, but the first kiwami was a really focused and smartly-designed reboot for the series post-y0, and this one feels like a bit of a mess.
the story is merely "fine" so far. this game has the yakuza charm, but it feels kind of phoned-in and samey at this point. i haven't played the original ps2 versions of the first two games, but i understand this is a vastly different game to the original yakuza 2, and the way i hear people talk about that original makes me think i should emulate it instead of playing kiwami 2. it's still an alright game on its own, but the first kiwami was a really focused and smartly-designed reboot for the series post-y0, and this one feels like a bit of a mess.
2016
this is a really full-featured and modern remake of the first yakuza game, making it the perfect entry point into the series for present-day audiences!
well... it is directly in conversation with yakuza 0, both being built in the same engine and including references to it, so really you should start with yakuza 0, because it's a prequel to the whole series!
but... for a lot of yakuza 0's emotional impact to hit you full force, you'd want to have the context of yakuzas 1 through 5 to really get the most out of it... so you should start with yakuza kiwami, which is a full-featured remake of the fir-
well... it is directly in conversation with yakuza 0, both being built in the same engine and including references to it, so really you should start with yakuza 0, because it's a prequel to the whole series!
but... for a lot of yakuza 0's emotional impact to hit you full force, you'd want to have the context of yakuzas 1 through 5 to really get the most out of it... so you should start with yakuza kiwami, which is a full-featured remake of the fir-
i recently beat this game, and when i got to this backloggd page i saw that i'd rated it 3.5 from when i played most of it on release. oh how wrong i was. this game is a total knockout start to finish, and i love it with all my heart. also if you play on pc you can mod cloud to wear a slutty crop-top with a leather jacket and a womb tattoo. it made me insane. i also highly recommend shirtless biggs, shirtless sephiroth, the mod that puts aerith in a cute little dress with strawberries on it, the mod that makes barret's outfit a lot more stylish, and the mod that puts tifa in a suit. just saying.
this is just a review of the yuffie chapter - it's fun! she's really fun to play as, and she's adorable, and the story squeezed a couple tears out of me and introduced some genuinely scary villains and the little fort condor minigame thing was super easy but pretty fun and cute. it isn't earth-shattering as a story, but for a little standalone connective-tissue between remake and rebirth it does the job and is as much of a blast to play as the full game proper
rough pc release, but now that they've fixed pretty much every barrier to actually playing the game, it's..... under night!!! but new, and more characters!!! fpan baybee!!!!!!
2023
i was blown away by alan wake 2. everything remedy has done so far has been a trial-and-error learning process over decades to make this incredible game that appeals to me in countless ways. on top of being scary and thoughtful and funny, it's sincerely a joy to play through. i love this game. and i started the 2nd playthrough, but decided to take a break before continuing, and i cannot wait to see what it reveals to me in my upcoming victory lap. just a really stellar experience all around.