wolfnanaki
2020
A cozy game that's actually cozy for real.
The visuals are so unique, it's like walking through a hazy dream. It's complemented by simple but effective audio and good background music. You can get through all of the game's achievements in less than an hour if you really want to, but if you want to take your time to soak in the environment, explore for secrets, or fiddle with different interactions and items, you can do that too. It's a game that invites you to chill out and take things slow, and it's really good at it.
Also, you can pet a cat, and there's a Halloween mode, so that's two big bonuses for me.
My only complaint is that in some areas, the came seems to force you to look in certain directions for no reason and it disoriented me a few times, but other than that, there's nothing so bad as to dampen the overall experience.
The visuals are so unique, it's like walking through a hazy dream. It's complemented by simple but effective audio and good background music. You can get through all of the game's achievements in less than an hour if you really want to, but if you want to take your time to soak in the environment, explore for secrets, or fiddle with different interactions and items, you can do that too. It's a game that invites you to chill out and take things slow, and it's really good at it.
Also, you can pet a cat, and there's a Halloween mode, so that's two big bonuses for me.
My only complaint is that in some areas, the came seems to force you to look in certain directions for no reason and it disoriented me a few times, but other than that, there's nothing so bad as to dampen the overall experience.
2016
I'll start with the positives. The general idea is very good: a 3D puzzle game in which you need to look at a cube from multiple dimensions in order to figure out the solution. And in the early levels, it works great! It's complemented by relaxing music and a good, clear, consistent visual style.
But the innovation and charm wears down as you progress to the later levels. It gradually becomes less about figuring out a solution and more of "click everything until something works". Often, I've accidentally stumbled into a puzzle's solution instead of solving it, or progress pretty far into a puzzle only to realize that moves made earlier had rendered the puzzle unsolvable and that I'd need to start it over again. Neither of these are good feelings; one because I was robbed of the "eureka" moment that makes great puzzle games so satisfying, and the other because I realize I wasted my time. And while the game's music is generally fine, there's only ONE music track in the whole game. The longer you play, the more irritating it gets, especially when you're struggling to figure out a solution to a complex puzzle.
As nice as the idea is, the execution leaves a lot to be desired.
But the innovation and charm wears down as you progress to the later levels. It gradually becomes less about figuring out a solution and more of "click everything until something works". Often, I've accidentally stumbled into a puzzle's solution instead of solving it, or progress pretty far into a puzzle only to realize that moves made earlier had rendered the puzzle unsolvable and that I'd need to start it over again. Neither of these are good feelings; one because I was robbed of the "eureka" moment that makes great puzzle games so satisfying, and the other because I realize I wasted my time. And while the game's music is generally fine, there's only ONE music track in the whole game. The longer you play, the more irritating it gets, especially when you're struggling to figure out a solution to a complex puzzle.
As nice as the idea is, the execution leaves a lot to be desired.
2021
Fun, quick, imaginative little game. Some parts can seem overwhelming or impossible, but everything's doable, and completing a puzzle or level is really satisfying. Plus there's a neat option for speedrunning, if that's your thing. Through its visual cues and forgiving structure, it never got so difficult or frustrating that I gave up on it. That said, the game can be beaten in less than two hours, so if you only feel like going through it once, its regular price can seem a bit steep. But overall, I enjoyed my time with it!
2022
This is one of those games where, just from the look of it, you have a pretty good idea of what it is and who it's aimed at. Which is fine! I kinda just bought this game on a whim because I saw a streamer play it, but it surprised me by going beyond what I had been expecting.
To get the negatives out of the way: the optimization is pretty poor. I saw in both the trailers and in several streams/VODs that it's capable of 60 FPS, but I was never able to reach that, always 30 or less, so my play sessions have always been janky. Probably a hardware issue on my end, but there aren't many settings to reduce quality or texture detail, so it would've been nice to include those.
Now for the positives. I was expecting "Slenderman but Sexy" and that's pretty much what I got: you run through different rooms to collect notes and avoid the spooky lady chasing you. But what I didn't expect was the volume of content that comes after that. There are a total of five games modes, with the most engaging one post-story being the Point Collecting game. Here, you grab pearls and avoid the Siren, but as you progress, the pearls become more valuable and the Siren becomes more dangerous, making a simple but effective and engaging risk vs. reward gameplay. Points can be spent on special perks, but you'll most likely spend them on buying new outfits to customize the Siren. And there are a whole lot of outfits to choose from!
In the end, the gameplay does get repetitive if you pay for too long at once, but for its price, it's got a solid amount of content and is a simple and fun time-killer to pick up every now and then, with incentive to go for unlocks you didn't get before.
To get the negatives out of the way: the optimization is pretty poor. I saw in both the trailers and in several streams/VODs that it's capable of 60 FPS, but I was never able to reach that, always 30 or less, so my play sessions have always been janky. Probably a hardware issue on my end, but there aren't many settings to reduce quality or texture detail, so it would've been nice to include those.
Now for the positives. I was expecting "Slenderman but Sexy" and that's pretty much what I got: you run through different rooms to collect notes and avoid the spooky lady chasing you. But what I didn't expect was the volume of content that comes after that. There are a total of five games modes, with the most engaging one post-story being the Point Collecting game. Here, you grab pearls and avoid the Siren, but as you progress, the pearls become more valuable and the Siren becomes more dangerous, making a simple but effective and engaging risk vs. reward gameplay. Points can be spent on special perks, but you'll most likely spend them on buying new outfits to customize the Siren. And there are a whole lot of outfits to choose from!
In the end, the gameplay does get repetitive if you pay for too long at once, but for its price, it's got a solid amount of content and is a simple and fun time-killer to pick up every now and then, with incentive to go for unlocks you didn't get before.
2023
(Disclosure: I was given a "special thanks" credit.)
This is one of those games that, if you're receptive to the kinds of characters and stories it's striving to present, it's going to stick with you. I had been following this game since it had been revealed in the PS5 showcase stream back in June 2020. I thought it looked okay at the time, but I didn't think it'd so thoroughly root itself as one of my top five games of all time.
Visually, it looks like no other game out there. It looks like a 2D animated television series, with the kind of lighting and detail you'd expect from an anime. The character animation is 2D as well; the characters are both emotive and fun to look at, bolstered by some truly superb voice acting. Many of these characters are some flavor of LGBT+, and each of them feels like they were made with love from people who have lived their experiences. Complementing all this is wonderful, catchy music, whether it be instrumental tracks playing through a scene, or beautiful songs played during the rhythm sections. There are a handful of visual hiccups and sometimes stiff animation, but none of it so damning that they break the game or the immersion.
The choice-making mechanic takes the genre in a great direction by giving visual cues on the emotions behind every choice, so it's always clear where the character's headspace is. This is coupled with additional mechanics of "Resistance" (you need to hold extra buttons to confirm an emotionally difficult choice) and "Hesitation" (if you don't fully commit to a choice, you might lose the opportunity to make it). They work so great at integrating the narrative into the gameplay that I'm shocked that other narrative games haven't tried them before. There are also rhythm game performances sprinkled throughout the story, with a simple but engaging gameplay format that always makes me look forward to them. There are also photos and flashbacks you can unlock as you play, but not every photo can be earned in one session; you WILL need to play through a few times to see everything this game has to offer.
But narrative games live and die by their story, and that's where this game truly shines. There's a real emotional weight to the struggles the characters face: trying to plan for their futures when they might not have one, while also figure out who they are to each other as their lives slowly fall apart. In a genre that typically makes all your choices so powerful that they write out multiple endings based on what you do, this game paints the illusion of player control over the narrative, and then rips it away over the course of the story. This game could ONLY have one ending -- they're dinosaurs and there's an asteroid, after all -- but your choices influence everything leading up to the end. Certain scenes can play out differently based on your actions, or you might unlock special scenes based on who you befriend. Through all this, you get a compelling story that leaves an impact on you. It's quite hard to do a rhythm game at the end of the world with tears in your eyes.
Goodbye Volcano High is a beautiful, thoughtful, memorable game that strives to show what this genre of games can really accomplish. I wholeheartedly recommend it.
This is one of those games that, if you're receptive to the kinds of characters and stories it's striving to present, it's going to stick with you. I had been following this game since it had been revealed in the PS5 showcase stream back in June 2020. I thought it looked okay at the time, but I didn't think it'd so thoroughly root itself as one of my top five games of all time.
Visually, it looks like no other game out there. It looks like a 2D animated television series, with the kind of lighting and detail you'd expect from an anime. The character animation is 2D as well; the characters are both emotive and fun to look at, bolstered by some truly superb voice acting. Many of these characters are some flavor of LGBT+, and each of them feels like they were made with love from people who have lived their experiences. Complementing all this is wonderful, catchy music, whether it be instrumental tracks playing through a scene, or beautiful songs played during the rhythm sections. There are a handful of visual hiccups and sometimes stiff animation, but none of it so damning that they break the game or the immersion.
The choice-making mechanic takes the genre in a great direction by giving visual cues on the emotions behind every choice, so it's always clear where the character's headspace is. This is coupled with additional mechanics of "Resistance" (you need to hold extra buttons to confirm an emotionally difficult choice) and "Hesitation" (if you don't fully commit to a choice, you might lose the opportunity to make it). They work so great at integrating the narrative into the gameplay that I'm shocked that other narrative games haven't tried them before. There are also rhythm game performances sprinkled throughout the story, with a simple but engaging gameplay format that always makes me look forward to them. There are also photos and flashbacks you can unlock as you play, but not every photo can be earned in one session; you WILL need to play through a few times to see everything this game has to offer.
But narrative games live and die by their story, and that's where this game truly shines. There's a real emotional weight to the struggles the characters face: trying to plan for their futures when they might not have one, while also figure out who they are to each other as their lives slowly fall apart. In a genre that typically makes all your choices so powerful that they write out multiple endings based on what you do, this game paints the illusion of player control over the narrative, and then rips it away over the course of the story. This game could ONLY have one ending -- they're dinosaurs and there's an asteroid, after all -- but your choices influence everything leading up to the end. Certain scenes can play out differently based on your actions, or you might unlock special scenes based on who you befriend. Through all this, you get a compelling story that leaves an impact on you. It's quite hard to do a rhythm game at the end of the world with tears in your eyes.
Goodbye Volcano High is a beautiful, thoughtful, memorable game that strives to show what this genre of games can really accomplish. I wholeheartedly recommend it.