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cryophagecritiques · 2 months

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Paper Lily: Chapter 1 Review (PC)

Considerable amounts of well-known horror games surprisingly originate from the RPG Maker software. Developers can take this program and craft terror from an entirely different genre. However, these games often end up restricted by their gameplay and fail to deliver a terrifying experience. Lackluster precedents do not mean certain styles cannot produce a satisfying product, though. For example, Paper Lily: Chapter 1 crafts a frightening experience with satisfying exploration-based gameplay while sticking to its self-described “horror RPG” style.

Whereas most RPG Maker horror games infamously suffer from tedious & infuriating trial-and-error mechanics, Paper Lily enhances this gameplay style by making it about exploration rather than horror and harsh punishments for failure. Progression rarely restricts itself to one set path; puzzles usually feature multiple solutions, routes can suddenly open and close, and consequences mostly involve losing access to a new path instead of a game over. It forces the player to think carefully and logically- since every choice could carry consequences- without drawing their ire.

This lack of severe consequences is just one way the game encourages the player to explore everything. For example, one will almost always obtain seemingly unnecessary items during a playthrough, leaving the player with several questions about things they missed out on when they reach the end of the game. These two elements draw out one’s curiosity and inspire them to replay the game and find new paths and events. These repeat playthroughs usually net some reward, whether it comes from entirely new sections or other secrets.

When the game does punish the player for their choices with a game over, it never feels cheap. The bad endings one encounters during a typical playthrough always feature some elements explaining why things went awry. For example, an early-game section features an easily discoverable bad ending that initially seems like the game tried to fool the player. However, the ending only occurs if one neglects important details mentioned in the dialogue, and the game does not try to hide any information from the player. One only needs to give situations like this some thought to progress forward unscathed.

Paper Lily’s horror elements are not always on par with the exploration, however. Every terrifying moment runs counter to a handful of goofy scares, some moments veer away from scariness and towards edginess, and the game frequently dampens the shock of a sudden game over with a screen best described with the term ‘bloodsplatter.jpeg.’ It’s an experience of extreme highs and lows, but thankfully the better moments far outweigh the worse parts in quality and quantity. Additionally, these scary moments are some of the most bone-chilling in the entire genre due to their ability to shock without tropes like loud noises.

Paper Lily also breaks away from the typical RPG Maker format by excellently developing its presentation and mechanics. While the menus and textboxes feel typical of RPG Maker projects, little details like the smoothness in character movement, the brief but uniquely presented tutorials and surprising shifts in gameplay that will not be spoiled in this review constantly showcase the level of time, care, and quality that the developers exhibited towards this game while creating it. Not every mechanic feels satisfying to use- using items feels frighteningly uncomfortable, for example- but none of these severely detract from the presentation or experience.

All in all, I give Paper Lily: Chapter 1 an 8/10 and highly recommend it- if you can handle the serious topics the game touches on- especially since it’s currently free! Just remember to consider supporting the developers if you can.

#indie game #indie games #video games #video game #video game review #steam game review #game review #video game reviews #review #cryophagecritiques #pc #steam #paper lily #paper lily game #Paper Lily Chapter 1

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krissiefox · 5 months

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ANIMAL CROSSING (NINTENDO GAMECUBE) REVIEW "Life simulation with a side of emotional abuse"

Animal Crossing is a life simulator sort of game released by nintendo for the Gamecube back in the year 2001. You start the game off in a train, moving to a new town that just happens to be full of animal people. Once you arrive, you meet the landlord of the town, Tom Nook, who gives you a home and then you are tasked with paying him back. After running a few errands for him, you're set free to do pretty much whatever you like around town. You can do a variety of activities such as talking to folks, fishing, looking for treasure and fossils, and completing quests for other townsfolk.

This title is more of a sandbox as the closest thing I've been able to find a means of an ending is just fully upgrading your house and paying off all debts to Tom Nook. The game operates on real world time, which is an interesting idea, but it is also flawed as it makes the game considerably less accessible for anyone who works overnight, or shares the household TV with others. Not able to get onto the game until the wee hours of the morning? Well, too bad, half the villagers are now asleep and grumpy and you can't even enter Tom Nooks shop. Have a real-world social life that results in you not being home on New Years Eve? Well, then you don't get to see the games New Years Eve event, either. The game kinda functions like an early version of modern phone games, as it feels more like something you "check in on" once a day to see what's happening, rather than playing it all day long.

So, what all is there to do? Well, I've only been playing for a couple of months*, so I'm sure there's more to discover, but so far I've found that some of the funnest things to do is hunt for items to donate to the museum and to decorate my home. You can get items from quests and conversations with villagers, as well as finding them hidden around the world, lost in the dump, or being sold at Tom Nooks shop. You can go along the shoreline and collect shells, dig for buried treasure, shake trees, and fish -all of these activities can get you things to sell or donate to the museum. There's a cute little clothing shop where you can draw your own patterns, which my family I had fun with (we made some Pride flags, Halloween patterns, and a Queen Chrysalis pattern!). You can also write letters to people, which has been a great source of entertainment for my family as well (You can say horrible, profane things to the other villagers and they'll love you for it!).

The game is overall pretty cute and relaxing, but it does have two big glaring flaws - the aforementioned "real world time" system, and the nastiness of the characters. I already addressed several of the real-world time flaws, but a few others are that the game pulls the modern phone game shit of trying to guilt-trip you for not being addicted to it. The longer breaks you take from the game, the more your world fills with weeds and roaches! As James Rolfe would say - "What a selfish game!"

The other issue is just that so many of the characters are mean and nasty, and there's some of that old classic nintendo sexism (and even some transphobia). Right from the intro of the game, the game asks your gender by insinuating that every male player would want their name to be seen as "cool" and every female player would want their name to be seen as "cute". On my save, if I told the town mayor I most respected either my mother or grandmother, he would say he "weeps for the future" as if he some issue with people respecting the women in their families. There's a giraffe character that appears sometimes, and if you approach her as a female character. She makes some transphobic remarks about how "you almost look like a real woman wearing those girl's clothes" and then "WHAT? You are a girl? But you have such a mannish frame!" . A lot of characters in the game will just causally talk down to and insult you. One character, Nibbles, said she'd like to kick me after I ran all the way across the map to get a soccer ball for her to play with. Some of the characters are also just really smug and unlikable, even when they aren't insulting you.

Thankfully, not ALL the characters are trash. I've got at-least a few sweeties living in my town, too. Ava and Nosegay are both really pleasant characters, and Joey, teddy and Hambo are also pretty friendly (though Joey is a weirdo who doesn't wear pants) It's a shame more of the characters can't be like them. I've heard the townsfolk in the newer games are a lot nicer, which is good news to me. Another minor complaint with the villagers is that they have a lot dialogue options for "let's chat!", but the quest options in this game are very limited, and a lot of villagers in the same town will offer the exact same greeting dialogs and such, making them feel robotic. I know a great deal of the game is randomly generated, but I think there should either be enough unique dialogue for all characters or the game should try to at-least only have one of each dialogue set per town.

Overall, it is a cute game to dabble in, but it is also a little too entitled to your time, and you may need to adopt my own families coping mechanism of just writing nasty letters to all the jerk characters, and smacking them with bug nets at every opportunity. I'd still give this one a try because there is joy to be found in exploring the world and dressing up your home, and some of the characters are quite adorable,even if others are total jerkwads.

(this is supposed to be an asterix but tumblr is being annoying) I originally wrote us this review early this year (2023) , but I recently hit the landmark of having made it through a whole year cycle of the game, so I decided to finally go back and finish this review!

#Animal Crossing #Animal Crossing Camecube #KrissieFox Game Reviews #video game reviews #gamecube #nintendo gamecube #Ava #Nosegay #Joey #nintendo #long post

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warsofasoiaf · 7 months

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I know you're a big Baldur's Gate fan. Did you play Baldur's Gate 3?

I did, yes.

For a long time, I didn't want to play Baldur's Gate 3. For me, Baldur's Gate was the tale of Gorion's Ward, the Bhaalspawn, and it was decisively concluded in Throne of Bhaal. You either ascended to the Throne of Bhaal as a god, or forsook the power, and that's it - the story was over. Initially, hearing about a Baldur's Gate 3 felt like desperation: we don't have a good enough idea to stand on its own so we're going to cleave back to the old success story's brand and hope that you buy it. I also don't go for Early Access games as a general rule even among highly-regarded publishers like Larian. They're janky. But I finished it up, and I can tell you what I think. Spoilers below the cut.

For the most part, I enjoyed myself in Baldur's Gate 3. I found it a great way to introduce people to 5e D&D and found the amount of content and rewards for creativity to be quite gratifying. You were genuinely rewarded for thinking outside the box, exploring the map, and using untraditional uses of spells. Protecting characters in fights so they could provide bonuses or become party members was likewise gratifying, it added a risk/reward ratio that made it *harder* to play a hero. That's rewarding in video games because the game is tying the psychological thrill of beating an encounter to a material reward over and above continued play. Sometimes that could be aggravating - the AI could sometimes do really stupid crap, and sometimes you got screwed on initiative and it seemed like your NPC allies died before you could do anything.

The opening felt a little too gonzo at first. Big illithid invasion where you plane-hop to the Nine Hells is a bit much especially for someone not really well-versed in D&D lore, but I understand what it was going for. It tried to create a main story arc that every character regardless of alignment or personal backstory wants to fulfill - staying alive lest you turn into a nasty squid-creature. By saddling you with a cast of characters with the same ticking clock over their heads (and the mystery of why you haven't converted already), it gets you stoked into going out and digging into the main quest. The hand-waive of the delayed conversion is clearly meant to also provide a Watsonian reason why your character can long rest and spend time dicking around on sidequests like any good RPG, but the actual lore reasons service the story far more than Bethseda's "Find Your Missing Family Member But Also Do Literally Everything in the Wasteland" main plot of their Fallout entries.

Act I serves to both flesh out the world and later conflicts and recreate the exploration-based feeling of early Baldur's Gate. Faerun is a place with its own specific lore, and while Bioware might have expected many people that played Baldur's Gate to know about the Forgotten Realms (although given its hit status, they were probably delighted to be wrong about that), Larian knows that gaming is far more mainstream over two decades later and so needs to spend some time immersing the players in the unique cosmology of Faerun itself. Little things like "hyenas can worship the demon lord Yeeonghu and give birth to gnolls" is a nice fascinating piece of horrible lore that is visually presented well on the screen. Auntie Ethel was a delightful little sidequest that was acted well. The Underdark is a bit too overexposed, but the questing and map design were fine, including a fun little puzzle boss in the Adamantine Forge. There's a good blend of quests from puzzles like the Arcane Tower. The main quest is fairly binary good-and-evil, but that's standard fare for D&D. The tiefling refugees are clearly the morally right thing to do, and it's only really secret Shadow Druid Kagha that makes things only slightly grey. Pretty much everyone in the goblin camp is a piece of garbage, only the Priest of Loviatar redeems himself primarily by being hilarious.

Where the moral ambiguity comes to is in the companion characters. In Baldur's Gate I, the many party members were almost completely interchangeable save for some light flavor dialogue. Khalid and Jaheira mattered to the main story, as did Imoen, but you didn't need to take them if you didn't want to. Baldur's Gate II learned from this, every character has their own companion quest that usually ties in with one of the major stronghold-type quests. This isn't the case in Baldur's Gate 3, Larian has clearly invested effort to building these characters, from the morally-upstanding to the callous and practical. Each of the characters have their own opinion, but spend time doing their quests and they generally seem to warm up to you. All of the origin characters have their own long-form quests, while the other characters that join later have quests they're involved with and quests you need to do in order to recruit them (cleaning the Shade-Touched lands, not getting Jaheira killed by the Cult of the Absolute). For the most part, the characters are a little cliché but well done and well-voice acted. Shadowheart acts as a nice little introduction to Selune and Shar, another fun piece of Forgotten Realms cosmology that essentially asks if you're playing good or evil. Astarion's quest is "do the obviously extremely evil ritual or not." Wyll angsts a little too much about the cost of dealing with devils when everyone knows that when you do deal with them, they fuck you over. His lack of regret is honestly more refreshing than when he does feel the sting, I would have liked for Wyll to play that part up a bit more before starting the painful consequences later on; having someone know the other shoe is coming but not have it show up for a third of the game would have been pretty refreshing. Karliah is just a big old sweetheart, a normal trope but an enthusiastic one, solid barbarian trope all around. Lae'zel takes a bit of working to get to know her, but since any good illithid story would deal with the githyanki, having her along is a welcome change of pace, especially when you dissect her story and realize that she's putting on a front - she's a kid trying to act tough because she's a kid that knows she's facing doom, which then segues nicely into shattering the illusion of just how awful Vlaakith is - when Lae'zel finds out she is crushed but shows spirit enough to save the githyanki instead of wallow. Gale at first seems annoying and flippant along with eating my magic items, but eventually you learn about Karsus's folly, the nature of arcane magic, and the fickleness of Mystra.

The other characters aren't as well-developed, which is a pity. Halsin seems like a decent enough chap, just a guy trying to do the best he can. The two characters I found the weakest were ironically enough, supposed to be the strongest because they already were established: Minsc and Jaheira. Jaheira just doesn't seem like herself, there are no good roasts like the classic: "You are amusing, in a 'what the hell is wrong with you' kind of way," like there was in Baldur's Gate. Jaheira in Baldur's Gate faced down dragons and gods, yet she's comparatively fragile (and her own epilogue was ignored). Minsc is shallow, the humor in Minsc is that he's a bit of a punchline, whereas here it's just referential humor regarding Boo. Other returning characters get it even worse: Sarevok and Viconia are specifically brought back to show how much they've regressed, undoing some of Baldur's Gate's best writing. Sarevok was a tormented soul, unsure of what to do after coming back, but he goes back to his old tricks regardless of what I did, which just feels...careless. Sarevok was more than just a glowing-eyed spiky boss monster that he was in BG1, to have him returned to that was dull and uninspired. Viconia had some hints of her self in her regrets for destroying the previous Sharran enclave, but is still happy to be a boss battle for no other reason than to conclude Shadowheart's questline.

Whereas Act I was a bit scattershot, Act II benefitted from incredibly tight focus. JK Simmons did a phenomenal job as Ketheric, and the pacing and threat within the Shade-Cursed Lands is well-earned. You have clear objectives, the antagonists are always properly menacing, and there's still enough time to explore the Monastery and the githyanki creche. You have to do so anyway to start learning more about the Astral Prism, but the githyanki questline comes into its own with Lae'zel's betrayal at the hands of Vlaakith, they actually feel like part of the story and they begin to set up Prince Orpheus's later introduction into the story. It can be a bit jarring going from handling the Nightsong to immediately storming the Moonrise Towers, but it allows Shadowheart's midpoint arc to handle itself. The fight against Z'rell on the bottom layer isn't bad, although the Harper AI keeps doing its best to have Jaheira kill herself. The fight with Ketheric is great from a mechanical standpoint, the avatar of Myrkul fight is a bit easy given it's supposedly an avatar of a god, but Simmons sells Ketheric.

The surprise twist that the Dead Three have enslaved an Elder Brain has me thinking: "Alright, this is a decent enough plan." The Absolute's war creates plenty of death that empowers Myrkul, cults of murder spring up to empower Bhaal, and Gortash takes control of the city and subjects those within it to Bane's tyranny, exporting Bane's power after his success and creating an empire to super-charge Bane. By implanting worshippers of other gods, they deny souls and petitioners due to D&D cosmology which weakens them. That's fine, except all three of their Chosen are looking to betray each other, which would destabilize the Crown's control over the Netherbrain. Gortash at least tries to adjust to his plan falling apart by allying with the player character, grabbing Orin's Netherstone and reuniting the Three to reassert control over the Elder Brain. Orin, however, seems largely to fall into Stupid Evil territory, just happy to murder people for no reason. The revelation that the Dark Urge was the original Chosen of Bhaal actually makes this work since according to the lore, even with the Dark Urge's murderous impulses, they kept them in check. It further cements that the Dark Urge is the canon main character, and it ties neatly back to Baldur's Gate, when you find out in Throne of Bhaal that the Bhaalspawn do have an instinct to kill - one that wasn't expressed mechanically in the game save for the fact that you will easily have a four-figure body count when all's said and done. But that introduces a further wrinkle, Orin was unstable, and if they needed this plan to succeed, they should have opted for Sarevok, not Orin who can't think ahead.

Act III suffers from rushed execution. Several of the climatic moments in the final act are undercut either by bad programming or poor encounter design. Gortash's confrontation is shockingly easy, if you grab the grenades you get free attacks - it's so easy it's almost confusing. Orin's confrontation as the Dark Urge is narratively satisfying but a single Luck of the Far Realms attack can positively melt her health. This isn't the case for all of the fights - when the encounters are good they are really good. The House of Hope was an incredible level from start to finish, capping off in a great fight against Raphael that combines handling the cambions, burning down the pillars, and trying to survive against Raphael (at least until you find out that he has a crappy Wisdom and the game become keep him under Otto's Irresistible Dance or Hold Person), but even that works out well narratively after confronting his incubus lover and realizing that Raphael is a hedonist and thus would have a lower will save.

The final climax of the Emperor vs. Orpheus suffers from incredibly bad writing. The Emperor already has massive lore problems, such as *somehow* miraculously getting off the Island of Balduran so he can become a mindflayer in the Moonrise Towers, without even the barest acknowledgement why, or how. He says: "I never lied to you," except that he *always* lies to you, and when you call him out on it, he basically says: "no, that's just illusion. Not the same thing." At the finale, he's just stupid though. The Emperor has been positioned this entire time as wanting to avoid the slavery of the illithid hive mind, and yet in the final confrontation, if you opt to free Orpheus, he immediately decides to side with the Netherbrain and willingly consign himself to slavery. No chance to see if Orpheus will side with you, not even the ability to say "look, if he doesn't play ball, you can snack on his brain at your heart's content." Nope, he sides with the guy he's been specifically dreading this entire time, something he was so terrified of that he stopped at nothing to stop it. It only makes sense as a binary choice for a video game, to pick which faction rather than actually rewarding the creativity you were previously celebrated for all game.

The mandatory ceremorphosis was likewise stupid. "Somebody's gotta squid up, don't ask questions, it just has to be done. Netherbrain is too smart." For a game that has been giving you creativity this whole time, the entire point is "welp, someone has to make a sacrifice," is just an arbitrary shoe-horned thing to make, to up the stakes for dramatic tension. Why we simply can't use Omelum if we rescue him from the Iron Throne, despite the fact that he has acknowledged teleportation powers? No that's simply foolish, it undercuts the dramatic flair of the ending, I guess. We have to have our tragic ending, but a mandatory tragedy *isn't* tragic, especially when it's railroaded like this. It feels like the Mass Effect 3 ending, a rushed mess out of nowhere. At least Cyberpunk 2077's ending has you trying to fix the problem, only to find that you probably can't, and at best the Nomads might be able to help you or you sell your soul to Arasaka. That actually has some tragedy - do the safe thing and survive, or try to find a solution even if it might not work, and it ends with you wistfully looking out into the horizon. To add to the shoddy nature of it, when you reach your allies, they treat you as if it was you that did it, regardless if Karliah took the bullet to save herself from the Infernal Engine. So much promise and potential, ruined by the rush to get it out the door.

So overall it was a solid game, hampered by a lackluster ending.

Thanks for the question, Anon.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

#baldur's gate 3 #baldur's gate iii #video game reviews

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supernaturalperson67 · 7 months

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Not sure if any of y’all would be interested but I’ve decided to start a Tiktok account and YouTube channel where I review books, movies (including documentaries), tv shows, and some video games. The Tiktok account is already made I haven’t posted anything yet, but I have a lot of ideas for the future the username is Cap’n Kross Reviews if y’all want to check it out. The YouTube channel hasn’t been made yet because I want to figure out a couple more things. Please consider checking it out if you’re interested :)

#review account #book reviews #movie reviews #tv show reviews #video game reviews #Cap’n Kross Reviews

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bestreviewguy · 2 months

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It took me 10 years to finally get a copy of Sunset Overdrive. (PlayStation fan) Upon finally playing it, I can positively say this game was worth the wait. From start to finish this game is the closest thing you’ll get to a roller coaster. It’s hilarious, fun to play, and the graphics are downright beautiful. In the modern day, theirs a stigma that “the harder the game, the better it is” this game does not follow those rules. It is very simple and will have you laughing in a “this is so stupid” manner. This game is made by “Insomniac” studios. The same company that has made Spiderman 1 and 2 on the PlayStation. It’s nice to see where they got their footing for those games. As if you read between the lines, you can clearly see where they drew inspiration from on their swinging mechanics. The traversing in this game plays similar to a Tony Hawk game and the entire world is like one big trampoline. The plot is not extremely important but in the story, a energy drink has turned the world into mutated monsters as you use a variety weapons at your disposal to complete side quests and look for a way to survive. Don’t be confused however, this isn’t a typical “zombie apocalypse” “Walking Dead” style game. Instead it has numerous 4th wall breaks and a ridiculous amount of meta styled comedy. It works beyond belief. The gameplay is alas extremely welcomed. Not a single mission is boring or repetitive. The side quest are a tad over used as it falls into the “big open world” trope many games do. This however does not deter from the experience. In the end, Sunset Overdrive will be remembered as a classic that’s fun, beautiful, and unique in every sense of the word. I’m gonna give Sunset Overdrive for Xbox One, a 9 out of 10. Check it out on Gamepass, you won’t regret it. A blast all the way to the end.

9/10

+A entertaining story that doesn’t take itself too serious.

+Extremely large amount of customization options.

+Excellent use of free roam and traversing.

+Combat is easy to comprehend and enjoy.

-Some mediocre side quest.

#video games #game review #sunset overdrive #insomniac #video game reviews #cheat codes #awesome #controller #Xbox #game pass

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sweetrollbakery292 · 9 days

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Bioshock Review: This game broke my heart.

Alright, here's my take on Bioshock. It sucks.

After finally wrapping up Bioshock, I can't help but feel it doesn't quite live up to its reputation for brilliance. I went in expecting a narrative masterpiece, but what I got felt more like a recycled version of Half-Life.

For a title hailed as an immersive sim, it fails to deliver. Instead of offering rich, expansive environments, it confines players to linear pathways that feel like they're holding your hand a bit too tightly. It's almost insulting, really.

Sure, Talos I in Prey may have lacked a bit of life, but it felt more organic and open compared to the claustrophobic shooting galleries of Bioshock.

Bioshock garnered heaps of praise, but in reality, it's just a run-of-the-mill FPS with a sprinkle of elemental powers. The storyline is average at best, and the ending? Predictable from a mile away.

But the real deal-breaker for me is the gameplay. It's just so… dull. I've had more fun with shooters from the '90s than this. Enemy variety is lacking, and the constant feeling of confinement in the environment is suffocating (at least, from what I gathered in the few hours I played).

The level design, while aesthetically pleasing, boils down to lengthy corridors leading to open spaces filled with either big daddies or regular enemies, only to repeat the cycle again and again.

In contrast, Prey (2017) really challenges you to think outside the box, to strategize and adapt. Bioshock, on the other hand, seems content to spoon-feed you every step of the way, which, frankly, feels like an insult to the player's intelligence.

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theconstitutionisgayculture · 11 months

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Okay, I usually like open critic, but I have a serious problem with what they did with BG3 reviews. First off I don't understand why Early Access reviews are aggregated, or even needed. They all just say variations of "the game is unfinished, but it might be good when it gets a full release". Which is useless. Everyone already knows how early access works. Anyone with a brain knows that the EA version will be vastly different from the real release.

Second, the fact that this is the only Baldur's Gate 3 section on the site heavily implies that they're not going to differentiate between the EA version and the full version for reviews. Adding EA reviews that were written 3 years ago to the new, full release reviews that are going to be written this summer will seriously throw the final metascore off. I know metascores are worthless, but a lot of people use them to judge the quality of a game. Letting reviews of an old version of a game stand equal to newer reviews is a problem across all aggregate review media. Steam is the only place that sort of gets it right by separating overall score from the recent score, so you can see if the game improved from launch (or got worse). But early access reviews just make the overall problem worse.

#baldur's gate 3 #open critic #metacritic #metascore #review aggregate #video game reviews

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hopeymchope · 1 year

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Danganlike, Ahoy: Yurukill is like Danganronpa x Zero Escape x occasionally a Top-Down Shoot-em-up

Yurukill: The Calumniation Games is a visual novel focused on a set of murder mysteries mixed in with an overall death game, and if that doesn’t already give you an inkling of what might’ve inspired it, I think some screenshots will HEAVILY CONFIRM your suspicions.

Howa bout the animated cut-ins whenever you make an counter-argument during a debate?

Or how about the animal-themed mascot character who always sounds happy to be tormenting you and who speaks in frequent puns?

Oh, what about some mini-games that have you choosing a specific lane/direction as you attempt to answer questions correctly?

So yeah, it seems clear that Danganronpa is among Yurukill’s most obvious inspirations. That influence is out on front street, but don’t worry: It’s not like it’s aping DR all the way through. FAR from it, in fact!

First, the setup: A group of five convicted prisoners have are taken to “Yurukill Land,” a supposed “amusement park” on an island owned by Yurukill, Inc. Yurukill is a massive but secretive corporation that most people have never heard of. They create “opportunities” for convicts as well as “entertainment” for unknown parties in the form of the games at Yurukill Land.

What do these games entail?

Firstly: To be brought into the games, a prisoner must consistently claim they are innocent of their charges despite their conviction.

Second: Each prisoner is paired with an “executioner” who is somehow connected to that prisoner’s criminal case. The executioner has control of a button that will instantly inject poison into the prisoner’s neck — and the executioner can push this button at any time they so desire.

Third: Together, the each pair of prisoner and executioner must make their way through an “attraction” that operates like a series of escape rooms full of puzzles and possible dangers. (So there’s the “Zero Escape” element, because the puzzles herein ESPECIALLY invoke the feel of that series. But they’re usually shorter than most of that series’ escape rooms.)

And finally: At the end of each attraction along the journey awaits the “Brain Reality” (a.k.a. “BR”. This is a virtual reality experience wherein the prisoner will be made to pilot a virtual ship into “combat” against the willpower and mental blocks of his/her executioner. But the executioner is FAR from defenseless — they get a much bigger ship of their own to fight back with! For the executioner, this confrontation is harmless. For the prisoner? Not so much — death in the simulation can literally kill them in reality. But this confrontation is the only way a prisoner can force their ideas and opinions into their executioner’s mind, thereby saving themselves from the insta-kill button.

Why would the prisoner/executioner put themselves through all this crap? Well, because the pair that makes it to the end of the Yurukill games with both parties still alive gets A) the prisoner’s conviction overturned and B) one wish of the executioner granted (...so long as it’s something that’s actually possible for a corporation to achieve). But be advised: Only ONE pair can win.

That last bullet point I mentioned above is the one that REALLY takes this from a oddball “Dangan-like” to something VERY distinctive. Because instead of having a “Class Trial” at the end of each chapter, we wrap them each with *DRUMROLL* a lengthy shoot-’em-up stage!

Each shoot-’em-up section takes about 15-20 minutes to complete, and although you can save at any time during the Visual Novel portions of the game, you can’t save at all during the shmup, so be prepared! These can be tough for anyone unexperienced in the genre, but there is thankfully an “Easy” setting that should allow even the biggest novice to pass. And if you’re an old hand at shooters? Even “Normal” will probably seem too simple for you. So it’s probably a good thing that there’s a “Hell” difficulty setting for you experts. :P

I’m someone who has plenty of retro game experience, but I’ve only rarely/sporadically played any “shmups.” I found I was able to beat the game without too much struggle on Normal difficulty, but it definitely took a lot of lives and a lot of tight maneuvering. It was stressful for me, but I’m only a little above “noob.” I’m just extremely grateful that the controls are so damn tight and precise. You can really move your ship between the tiniest gaps between enemy bullets without having to worry.

During the shmup segments, you have the opportunity to argue your case. This is where you get the “Logic Dive”-style minigame shown in the third screenshot of this post in addition to some other pauses that let you select evidence to make an argument. I’m always grateful for the chance to take a momentary break in the shooting action, so these were not just a fun away to use what we learned — they were also a welcome respite.

Now, this is all pretty cool, but I don’t want to oversell Yurukill. It has its faults. But some of them might even be considered positives... ? For example:

You spend half the game hopping into different prisoners’ scenarios, finding yourself controlling the actions of/experiencing the mindset of a new protagonist every chapter. The tail end of the game finally settles on one primary hero, but this decision prevents you from getting too invested in any one person or knowing any of them too well. Although I guess it DOES give you a chance to get to know some of them more than you would if you were just on the outside looking in. It’s impressive how, by the end of the game, you’ll probably feel sympathy for MOST parties who’ve endured this ridiculous torment.

Perhaps as a side effect of the above, the characters here are perhaps a little thinner than those in other visual nvoels. There’s nothing in Yurukill that’s going to compare to the memorable complexities of a Danganronpa cast member. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have plenty of reason to still like them, either. They’re just not given any standout quirks or ironic traits that really make them feel oddly human, imo. But I also find them far more symapthetic than what you see in many similar games. (ETA: Even over a YEAR after I finished playing this, I find that I still think about these characters pretty regularly. That definitely says a lot for this game that I can’t say for most other VNs/Danganlikes.)

Of course, this feeling could also be just a natural side effect of a game that only runs about 12 hours of total game time. For some people, that length will detract from the experience. For others, however, that could be seen as an upside. I was definitely in the mood for something shorter after playing really long friggin’ games in recent months... and since I finished playing this one, I’ve continued to think about it. It’s stuck with me in a way that really speaks to its impact.

My biggest issue is that a few of the puzzles just don’t work. Not MOST of them, thankfully! But the game gives you no penalty for requesting up to three hints per puzzle, and I think that’s an admission on the part of the devs that there are a spare few of these that are virtually impossible to figure out with just the information given to you in-game. You have to make some crazy logical leaps or do some things that just... no sane person is going to guess. There are even a couple times where using all three hints isn’t enough to make you clearly understand what you’re expected to do! (This is especially true of the dialogue choices in the rapid-fire Maji-Kill segments where you have to choose the right words to prevent your executioner from murderizing you right then and there. There are NO hints here, and there’s often very little difference between choices that get you killed and the choices that let you live...)

PLEASE don’t let any of the above deter you too much, however. This is a narrative with some fun cast members as well as twists and turns that can be sometimes predictable, often surprising, and sometimes just frustrating because of how much you’re going to be rooting for a character who winds up getting screwed.

I guess this speaks well of Homura Kawamoto, who did most of the writing on Yurukill. He’s best known as the author of Kakegurui, which is a damn great manga/anime series that’s loaded with suspense in its own right. Which also speaks to just how suspenseful this game can get at times. ......... Please perceive that sentence as a serious thumbs-up.

#yurukill #yurukill: the calumniation game #visual novels #danganronpa #zero escape #zero escape series #izanagi games #if you like danganronpa you might like #video games #Homura Kawamoto #kakegurui #kakegurui: compulsive gambler #video game reviews #danganlikes #danganlike ahoy #visual novel reviews

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chipp-zanuff-fanboy · 5 months

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If I ever get the chance to smoke weed I’m gonna put on a Tim Rogers video I feel like the experience would permamently change me

#tim rogers #tw weed #video game reviews

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alfredandfriendsorg · 8 months

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Ty The Tasmanian Tiger 4 : Video Game Trailer (Alfred's VG Creativity Rating: 8.5/10)

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#Video Game Previews #Video Game Reviews #Youtube

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cryophagecritiques · 3 months

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Portal: Revolution Review (PC)

NOTE: As of writing this review, I have only played up to halfway through Chapter 5.

With Valve refusing to craft a title involving the number three over the last decade, people inevitably created new experiences for the long-starved fandoms of their franchises. Whereas these creations typically featured unique levels and mods utilizing already-released games, not many fans take on the onus of creating an entire game with these tools. However, Face Software recently released their take on the Portal franchise with the mod Portal: Revolution. This mod stands out among other fan-created projects by creating an entire experience packed with new mechanics and a semi-successful attempt at recapturing the spirit of the original games, built on the iconic second game.

Portal: Revolution does a decent job of encapsulating the feeling of the original Portal titles. The graphics look as fantastic as Portal 2’s- since Revolution is a mod of Portal 2- and the original assets mesh perfectly with their surroundings. Everything feels crisp and as lively as an abandoned testing facility can feel. The mod even features slight improvements on the gameplay, as lasers can no longer kill the player (Granted, I cannot say if this is a bug or a feature, but it’s a welcome addition nonetheless) and the game derives as much content out of a half-functional portal device as possible, using this to create three chapters full of challenging puzzles!

The only problem with recreating the atmosphere of Portal arises due to the difficulty of replicating the wit and charm of the original titles. While the characters in Portal: Revolution provide interesting perspectives on the events of Portal 1, they lack traits- such as GLaDOS’ sarcasm, Cave Johnson’s madness, and Wheatly’s foolishness- that make them intriguing and humorous outside of what they contribute to the plot. Additionally, while the voice actors do a fantastic job, the delivery of certain lines and the attempts at witty dialogue again pale in comparison to the original games.

What Portal: Revolution did recapture from the original titles was unfortunately the overall structure of their plot. The story beats of Portal 2 and Portal: Revolution feel too similar to each other, as they both start with the player character waking up in a bedroom, attempting to accomplish some goal before they can escape, ending up in the underground sections of the compound and exploring several old test chambers while accompanied by a disembodied, prerecorded voice, and so on. While the events offered by Portal: Revolution are dissimilar enough from Portal 2 to provide a unique adventure, those familiar with Portal 2 may find themselves with a sense of Déjà vu.

However, the game utilizes its perspective of the events of Portal 1 to craft superb levels for the player to explore. A handful of levels involves the player breaking free from the typical level design of most Portal puzzles, whether this comes in the form of breaking into multiple rooms to progress forward, exploration revolving around intricately designed and ominous halls, or the utilization of objects like breakers. Granted, Portal 2 also features segments like this, but Portal: Revolution utilizes them more often and with better design to boot.

All in all, I give this game an 8/10!

#video games #game review #cryophagecritiques #video game review #pc #review #video game reviews #Portal #Portal Revolution

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vibiogays · 10 months

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Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box Review

Ahh, my favorite of the DS games, and my first PL game I first played in 2011. Even after the nth time replaying, this story is SO bittersweet. Anton and Sophia's love story always got me in my feels.

I remember liking the Molentary Express and Dropstone sections more than Folsense as a kid, especially with the festive music. But replaying as an adult, I think I appreciate the solemness of Folsense much more now. The town theme is perfect to chill out at night.

Also, I LOVE Sammy Thunder. He's the best one-game NPC, argue with the wall. I'm gonna make a separate post about him, but man are his voiced lines SOO fun to repeat. We were robbed of a Sammy Thunder rock single, I wanna hear him sing!

I think I'm gonna take a tiny break in the Layton series and play another short game before diving into Unwound Future! I avoided crying (again) at the end of Diabolical Box, but I'll need all my strength when I replay THIS game. Please give me your strength...

Also, I'll try liveblogging my playthroughs starting with the next game! Hope you look forward to it~

#luana reviews #professor layton #professor layton and the diabolical box #video game reviews

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greetings-inferiors · 10 months

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Just played the street fighter 6 demo for a good hour or two, and honestly loved it wayyy more than I thought I would, coming from platform fighters.

Modern controls are a GAMECHANGER. I LOVE skullgirls, but the thing holding back my enjoyment is the controls. If I play on keyboard I can’t properly do the inputs, and if I play on controller my controller is too imprecise, either way I’m not inputting what I want to, and that’s if I can remember what the inputs do at all.

But with sf6’s modern controls? It basically just ‘smashifies’ it, now every set of actions has a single button and it uses directional inputs, but if you want to you can still do the complex inputs. So it means that it’s a lot easier to remember, and to input, because I don’t need to do quarter circles while hitting specific buttons at just the right time, I just press right and x, so the controller isn’t hindering me anymore.

The only downside is now my thumbnail REALLY HURTS, but I think I just need to cut my nails.

Anyway, to the actual game, it’s really fun, the drive gauge is one of the most interesting mechanics I’ve seen in a fighting game, drive dashes are really fun to use to extend combos and follow ups, parrying is its own separate button now, but if you parry at just the right time then time slows and you get to do a follow up, so everyone has a mini witch time, and I LOVE THE COOL FOCUS THING, IT’S SO COOL, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU BOTH PRESS IT AT THE DAME TIME AND IT’S LIKE ‘ooh I wonder who’s going to win’, IT’S NEVER NOT FUN

My biggest problem with the game, especially at higher CPU levels, are the grabs.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT I HATE THE GRABS

I don’t know what it is, but they just feel broken and unfair. First of all, in the corner once you’ve dropped your combo, there’s no downside to grabbing. And if it lands, not only do grabs do insane chunks of damage, but theirs also no downside to not following up with a grab. This means that either you get chaingrabs (which aren’t fun no matter what game you’re in) or a grab break, and now you’re back to neutral. And they also just feel off to use, you can’t landing aerial then grab, because if they’re in hitstun it won’t grab for some reason, but when you do the CPU’s will instantly grab you WHILE YOUR GRAB ANIMATION IS PLAYING, which leads to me just thinking ‘why didn’t that grab break?’ And feels unfair. You’ve basically always got to expect a grab, because whiffing a grab is honestly less punishing than not grabbing at all and getting grabbed yourself, and now a chunk of your healthbar is gone and you’re in disadvantage (where, once again, there is no downside for the cpu to go for a regrab). And the range is so damn short that sometimes them getting hit will hit them out of your grab range, you grab, and then they instantly grab you. ONCE AGAIN WHILE YOUR GRAB ANIMATION IS PLAYING

Against higher cpu levels games just felt like it came down to how often the cpu attempted to grab me. If they didn’t, great! I won! If they did, well, I lost. Whenever the cpu got into melee range I just assumed it would grab, so I’d grab break in retaliation, meaning I used more grabs than my actual normals. And grab follow ups just boil down to did they tech in place? Then regrab. Did they roll? Then dash forwards and regrab. And either you got the regrab, and kept the chain going, or you got grab broken, and now it’s back to neutral.

Did you dash forward to go on the offensive? Get grabbed. Did you use the focus to tank a hit and counterattack? Get grabbed. Did you read their projectile, jump over it, hit them with a landing aerial and attempt to grab? Get grabbed. Did you do LITERALLY ANYTHING OTHER THAN GRAB? Get grabbed, idiot.

Lower cpu levels aren’t fun because they’re easy, higher cpu levels aren’t fun because it’s just ‘who can grab more’.

When I was getting comfortable with the game it was really fun because the lower cpu levels were a challenge. It’s still exhilarating when I win, but now when I lose instead of thinking I lost because I got outplayed, I think I lost because I just forgot to grab break.

I don’t know if I’m just bad, but I cannot tell you just how much the games I played revolves around grabbing. Luke and ryu aren’t even grapplers!

Before the grabs got on my nerves, 9/10 I want to pick this game up tomorrow. With the grabs, 7/10 I’d be happy to get it for my birthday, but I’m not going to buy it myself. Maybe if I git gud and get over the grabs I’ll enjoy it more, but I’ll go back to my funny platform fighter where I get to play the only character that can grab

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thegamecollection · 8 months

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ATLAS FALLEN - REVIEW ROUNDUP!

This action-RPG developed by Deck13 Interactive and published by Focus Entertainment has had a few days out on the dunes and is now ready for its review roundup! The result? Rising from the dust is not an absolute MUST, but it is a somewhat fun kind of sand-glide ride!

IGN - 7/10

"Atlas Fallen is a solid open-world action RPG with plenty of platforming and large monsters to fight. Putting aside its weak story and the console versions’ gritty graphics there’s a hidden gem of excellent combat, robust exploration, and surprisingly deep customization to uncover in the sinking sands of its arid wilderness."

Read the full review here.

Eurogamer - 3/5

"Mindless, pointless, and mind-numbing are all probably descriptors that sound too harsh for Atlas Fallen because, again, it's mainly good old simple fun. Sure, it takes itself way too seriously and the loot chase can get monotonous, but everything outside of the monster-slaying is just an excuse to get right back to the monster-slaying. Or make the monster-slaying cooler with upgrades."

Read the full review here.

HardcoreGamer - 3.5/5

"Atlas Fallen is far from a perfect game, but the important thing is that it’s still a fun game. Even when it can feel like it’s throwing a kitchen sink at you, there’s always something enjoyable to find in Atlas Fallen, mainly its impressive combat that leads to a lot of challenging, enjoyable battles (albeit with a few that could use tweaking), and its visually striking landscapes that allow for a ton of fun sand sliding."

Read the full review here.

Destructoid - 7/10

"I do think there is reason enough to experience Atlas Fallen. Especially if you are a fan of the action RPG genre. It may not leave a lasting impression once you’ve completed the adventure. But it will be enjoyable enough along the way to hold your interest."

Read the full review here.

GamesRadar - 2.5/5

"This is Atlas Fallen in a nutshell, though. It isn't a disaster. It's proficient in some respects, adequate in others, and manageable at worst. But that leaves a creative void in its world and the way you interact with it that calls into question the value of the whole endeavour."

Read the full review here.

PushSquare - 7/10

"Atlas Fallen is a valiant effort from Deck13 Interactive that will go down as its best game so far. With fantastic traversal and a fun, engaging combat system, the developer has nailed the gameplay in every sense. What holds the experience back, though, is a lack of polish to iron out the technical issues and potentially long load times."

Read the full review here.

PlayStationUniverse - 7.5/10

"Atlas Fallen suffers a few mishaps along the way, with enemies able to do cheap shots, modernized fast travel limitations, and a rather empty map. At the same time, there's a fun story here that keeps you moving forward, and combat itself feels visceral without being over-demanding. This is a great entry point for newcomers to the genre."

Read the full review here.

When all's said and done, if you're looking for a solid game to fill your time between now and the next big release then these review scores mostly suggest Atlas Fallen is your bet!

Grab your copy on PS5 & Xbox Series X right here at The Game Collection!

-Jack

#atlas fallen #deck13 #focus entertainment #ps5 #tgc #thegamecollection #gaming news #video game reviews #ign #eurogamer #gamesradar #xbox series x

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