A really phenomenal development upon Onikakushi-hen, Watanagashi-hen roots the exceptional horror story at its core with something even more fearsome than ghosts and curses: the unreconciled feudal remnants left behind in a rapidly imperializing nation. Ryu07's knows horror doesn't come from pulp or genre, but from the unmistakable shocks of reality, when what happening in front of you cannot possibly be understood alone. Watanagashi is a heart-rending and essential entry in Ryu07's repertoire and in the crawling mystery of Hinamizawa.

Death of a Wish is a luscious and vibrant follow-up (not a sequel) to melessthanthree's debut Luach: Born of a Dream. Where Lucah was a fearful and taciturn character-action romp through dark corridors, Death of a Wish is boisterous and vengeful, busting open its predecessor's hallways for a complete RPG experience: exploration, party members, item hunting, secret bosses, the works. Death of a Wish's combat is cutthroat, demanding you juice every possible option available to you as the lead Christian recklessly stomps down his bloody warpath without ever making you feel too weak. I completed my first play of the game at level 1 and the hardest difficulty available, while for others there are really generous difficulty modifiers beyond plain difficulty selection. As you advance, the genre-familiar action systems and narrative pieces (for those who've played Luach) unravel to take on new forms and demands. The player and Christian must learn to let go of what they think is right, even if it is painful or uncomfortable, to truly achieve their goals. Death of a Wish is a sublime action game that really cannot be passed up by fans of the genre or those looking for expansive queer stories in fiction that go beyond romance and slice of life.

(this one is a little steam review-y because I wrote over there first hehe)

Jimmy and the Puslating Mass is a stone cold classic. Games and RPGs in particular are frequently about the potential of imagination, the possibilities of human will, and the reckless clinging on to something lost: states, morals, love, life. What the eponymous character is clinging to is unclear for most of the game, but what is clear is the faithful representation of how fucking confusing shit is when anything can be anything and you don't know shit. Jimmy is afraid. His family and the nice people act in ways that don't make sense. Most things outside of him are out to hurt him (like a cute turtle wearing a box), yet we push on without the faintest idea of what is happening or what is at stake. The horror continues but becomes to be mixed with the beautiful and exciting. The game looks very kitschy and precocious from afar, but it demonstrates a really earnest and expert command of how ideas and identities don't come from nowhere. It drills through this naive idea about fixing the family unit and twists into a really earnest family drama, still told through the eyes of our ever imaginitive boy hero. Jimmy becomes an intensely fleshed out individual, first by the world of his dreams and then by his ability to understand the very real things it reflects.

Aside from a few silly choke points made confusing by the encounter skip system, this is a masterful, vivid, and expansive RPG that should be an easy fit for literally any fans of the genre who fuck with/don't mind the horror psychodrama elements. Thanks to Scitydreamer (of Indiehellzone, I Hate You, Please Suffer ) who has been banging the drum about how criminally neglected this game is in the modern canon of western RPG Maker entries for a while. I will poking at the post-game stuff for some time because nothing has hooked me like this since FFX.

A very tight pulp paranormal-crime procedural adventure game that is about as enriching pulp novels and only about twice as long to finish. The big adventure game swings feel really exciting without ever getting too complicated with its flowchart and all of the character work between each protagonist is laser focused. The ending is pretty fumbled but the game doesn't spend much time developing themes beyond the literal narrative events that happen to the characters so it doesn't feel like a huge loss. There are a lot of ways that this game could be rearranged and become exceptional, but it's truly pretty good just taking it as a little flippy novel.