Though it’s not necessarily my favorite otome to date, The Crimson Flower that Divides: Lunar Coupling is an excellent piece of work in terms of appreciation and dedication to the story and the player. The sheer amount of choices and nuanced results can lead to hours upon hours of replay, and the locked endings force a player who wants to find out more to actually walk the path before arriving at the destination.
So everything is being given to fans here. As many songs, as many characters, as many different ways to play and enjoy and remember as possible. This may very well be the swan song for THEATRHYTHM, but it is an impossibly wonderful last act. My only hope is that we might, someday, see a PC port so that fans can continue to keep it alive and, perhaps, give justice to the songs that were forgotten (Gau and Shadow, I’m sorry). But, as it lies right now, there is nothing left to give but a standing ovation.
So treat it as such. I don’t think there’s anything horrifically bad about the game, but there’s nothing here that’ll make me fire it back up in a year or so. If you want an entertaining action metroidvania, and you have already ticked some other boxes, come and pick up this interesting yet forgettable journey. Otherwise, you may need to hire a totally different mercenary to do the job.
It’s a captivating tale, and it’s told in such a remarkable way that it does credit to its inspirations and to those it may inspire. It’s a perverse take on empowerment and justice in a world devoid of either, and it won’t sit well regardless of how you swallow it down. I don’t know what I felt in the end, about Loretta herself, but I do know that Loretta is affirmed in what she did, even if it tears her apart on multiple levels.
I think it’s worth the trip. Labyrinth of Galleria doesn’t just have excellent game mechanics and some cute artwork, though it certainly has those in spades. More importantly, it has a fantastically paced story that slowly pulls you in, giving you more and more to think about and keep in mind, before using your own investment against you. It’s superb tale spinning, and I haven’t seen this level of involvement in a dungeon crawler in a long time. Don’t let the mystery of this cursed dungeon slip away: there’s so much to discover in the Galleria.
I can’t powerwash my home. My apartment is tiny, has grass floors, and is on the 6th floor: nothing about it says “high powered water will make this better.” But with Powerwash Simulator, I can pretend. I can clean up things that have been neglected and ignored, and I can make them pretty again. I can relax and know that I’m doing a good job of bringing zest back, and I don’t even care for whom I’m doing it. It’s the ultimate simulation, one where I’m happy with what I’ve done and have zero cares as to why I did it. Because I could.
It’s a shame that, for whatever reason, screenshots have been disabled on the Nintendo Switch, because I would love to show firsthand that there is little difference between the Xbox and handheld versions. Still, it overall didn’t affect my play, and the end result is still the same: a battlefield soaked in blood, a boy fulfills his debt, and the player is left torn between relief and unease. Was this truly the only path to redemption? Or was the loss worth the price of revenge?
As a huge fan of Shin Megami Tensei in general, Persona 3 Portable cannot be ignored, and should not be. It spawned the series as we know it, and the updated version, though not as magnificent as it could be, is still leagues better than the original Playstation 2 version, and it has the additional character and bonus content that helps this title dominate a large block of your time.
I hope that we see further building on this idea from Lizardry in the future: a version with voices might actually be better, since I’m more of an audio learner than a visual. But, as it stands, this experiment in connection and communication is neither satisfying nor dissatisfying: it simply is, and I can appreciate it as such.
This game was just the greatest cup of coffee for me to help start the new year. Last year started with a bang when I had the pleasure of playing Infernax, and 2023 got off to a great start as well with Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider. It’s not terribly involved, the storyline is a bit heavy handed, and you need to figure out how it handles, but it’s exactly what it needs to be.
Burrow of the Fallen Bear: A Gay Furry Visual Novel really stressed the point that people who enjoy this game also enjoy multiple sexual encounters with multiple partners with zero connection other than physical. That all beliefs, ideas and personal codes can be thrown out the window if arousal is observed. If this is just meant to be erotica, put that in the title.
It’s a bizarre moment to look at a game that I should, fundamentally, love from top to bottom, and just walk away feeling a bit disappointed and bored. Romancing SaGa: Minstrel’s Song has so much about it that is engaging and exciting, and then so much that is schlocky, aimless and visually unappealing.
There’s a real good reason that Nintendo’s House of Indies featured Melatonin, and that it reeks of everything that makes a Nintendo game a Nintendo game. It’s taken a simple idea and sharpened it till it can split atoms, and then put it in a visually noticeable package. You could take Melatonin and port it to every platform imaginable, but I’m thrilled that it exists on PC and Switch alone, the sweetest pairing of choice and accessibility.
Players ready for the second or third choices need little else to bring them into the experience. However, if you want to piecemeal Samurai Maiden, you’ll lose steam quickly and get distracted by long dialogues between fights and stages. Personally, I went right down the middle, and I think that’s the best course for everyone. It’s fun, it’s funny, and it keeps me coming back for more, and that’s all I want in a game.
This feels like a game that really speaks to people who were in the sweet spot for certain points of the release window. If you played this on the DS as a younger person, it’s great to revisit it. If you really enjoy Front Mission titles and want to appreciate the first game, it’s perfect. If you’re an absolute turn-based, grid based, isometric combat beast and can’t wait for the Final Fantasy Tactics remake, this scratches some itches, though in a lesser way. It’s fun, it’s comprehensive, but it’s just not…great.
But that’s all: it’s a good little game. I enjoyed it, but I highly doubt I’ll go back to it. My time with Stray didn’t change my life or make me rethink gaming or give me bold new insight into what it means to be alive. It was a game, and I appreciate that it exists, and that’s sort of it. If you can wait till you can play it on Gamepass or the like, I think it’s perfectly acceptable to wait. If you are unfathomably into cats and cyberpunk, then sure, pick this up. But as for me? I’ve had my Fancy Feast fill, and now I’m going to wander off into the tall grass. Just like I was taught.
It’s not a particularly long play, and it does have a fair amount of replay value, so there is some inherent worth for Buddy Simulator 1984. What it seeks to do and what it actually does, while I suppose that could be subjective, are two very different things. I didn’t hate the game by any stretch of the imagination, but it became a bit of a chore to get through in the end.
This isn’t just a new version of a game, this is the updated version that actually caters to what gaming personalities expect and look for in new titles. Sure, there’s no touchscreen controls, which is a bizarre choice for something that was just on a goddamn touchscreen device, but whatever! It’s The Oregon Trail, you can play and unlock the filter to make it monochrome green if you’d like. Or you can appreciate the color, the pizazz, and the actual gameplay and realize that it’s a frigging masterpiece.
To say this title surprised me is an understatement. I was so torn in continuing to watch and wanting to look away that this was my entire evening, and then a rather restless night of sleep. It’s something to behold, but I would only want to behold it for a short period of time and then not behold it again for a long, long while. If you’re into a narrative that tracks in no direction and a visual novel that’s breaking the fourth wall constantly, then you’ll find something here.
This game has no future for my own interests. I can nod and say “I played it,” followed by shrugging if asked if I liked it. If my friend wanted to try it, I’d give it another spin with them, but it’s far, far down the list for a game I’d recommend to pick up and play.