Recent reviews by Blearm

Urban Myth Dissolution Center is an incredibly enjoyable occult-themed narrative-driven mystery that's a wild ride full of fun and intrigue.

When compared to recent mystery titles, it may be more guided with prompted multiple choice quiz-style deductions but it's in service to a smoother pacing to allow more of a spotlight on the stories and characters, and OH BOY are the characters great! The main cast of Azumi, Jasmine, and the elusive Meguriya are all brimming with personality (metaphorically, for the latter) and the interactions between themselves and the side characters are all great with moments of fun, drama, suspense while being beautifully rendered in pixel art.

As for the narrative itself, there are 6 chapters in all (each taking ~2 hours to play) and each one centers around a single mysterious urban myth for you to unravel. The mysteries and myths aren't particularly mind-bending but each one involves an on-going case that progresses throughout the chapter with new mysteries and subplots that kept me intrigued. What I found most unique though was its on-going theme of social media involvement in each case. While there's the tired trope of "who are the real monsters?", this game shows a modern twist. It can be as basic as how the myths are born and twisted from the incessant rumour-mongering of social media, but it explores how even in the face of tragic supernatural occurrences, just how horrible the anonymous public that hides behind a profile pic can still be.

A chaotically fun tower defence mashed with a whimsical communist aesthetic! It does away with the slower aspects of typical tower defence games (e.g. no mazing and enemies won't attack towers) which made the demo much more action-orientated. Splash in some energetic polka with some colourful personalities and it overall made for a fun actiony experience. Looking forward to the full game!

Recolit is a bite-sized puzzle-adventure game that adorably renders an astronaut's journey on a planet that looks very much like a cozy seaside Japanese town. The overall tone itself is quite gentle yet mildly unusual, giving both endearing and melancholic vibes but never feeling like it'll press too deeply into one side. It does serve the narrative well though, never quite shoving the player forward with promise of cosmic mysterious nor endlessly plodding them around in repeating cloying situations. It allows the player's curiosity to be piqued at their own pace, whether it's the narrative, environment, or design that calls to them and that gentle subtlety is what I find most profound and special about Recolit

A short, thoughtful melancholy narrative that follows Chihiro as he enters Eden, an afterlife without pain or suffering. It explores emotions and human relationships in the face of extraordinary events (especially without the overbearing weariness of classic literature!) all while inviting you to ponder. Not to mention the English localisation is pretty amazing, keeping the dialogue simple and brisk to match a conversational pace yet knowing when wax poetic to give it a literary flair. So if you're in the mood for a game to make you think, consider Haru to Shura.

An endearingly odd point-n-click whose puzzles harks back to the classic era of the genre whilst its setting and style excites the modern imagination of a hand-drawn automaton society.

A short wholesome Game Boy adventure game about an enthusiastic bunny with an infectiously sweet personality helping the local townspeople! It's got fishing, a garden mini-game, and even a tiny bit of RNG.

A mystery puzzle mansion that boldly intertwines its crafty riddles with its headstrong yet unorthodox dressing, so if you like a wild puzzle-solving ride that echoes the captivating odd tension of Twin Peaks (or so I assume) you should give Lorelei and the Laser Eyes a play!

Incredibly innovative yet so simple! RP7 takes the now well trodden complexities and difficulties of a roguelike and spins it into an original take that is both casual and hectic fun for everyone. I highly recommend playing with friends too, splitting up the 7-tiles so each person is responsible for their set.

A visually avant-garde yet short visual novel with an unusual challenge for those that take pride in being a multi-tasker. It certainly was a curious experience with an otherwise sweet story (with multiple endings too!)

Quirky little adventure game with two unusually disagreeable characters that really made their dialogue unpredictably entertaining. The puzzles also felt just right, each one taking a bit of exploring and thinking but also not too difficult (other than the one that stumped me for a good while but I forgive it for having a unique solution!) Not to mention it's free too so if you're in a mood for an odd tale, why not give it a try?

PS You can save via the setting icon in the top left, I had wished I hadn't missed it on my first play through so I wouldn't have needed to play through the beginning again.