Recent reviews by CoiledLamb

a challenging roguelike with nods to other games in the genre, that successfully stands on it's own two feet. Worth trying if you don't like the deck optimization bit of roguelike deckbuilders, as you mostly work with what you get. Also check out the spoiler free wiki if you're struggling for some useful tips!

it's cheap enough, but i really just wanted it to be over by the time i got to the end. fairly grindy, upgrades feel pretty unimpactful for the most part

good game - needs screen resolution options (i have a 1440p monitor, and it doesn't fullscreen, so it's permanently got stuff in the background)
also would really love to be able to spend a resource on permanent upgrades. probably out of scope, but if anything, i would love to see what answers have shown up with traits before, if they're good and evil, etc, bcos it just leaves my mind eventually and i feel like i can't gain tempo. otherwise, recommend, it's fun

these kinds of games have been cropping up more lately - kind of recession indicator flash games, where the core loop is simple, there's a huge metaprogression tree, and you fully complete the game in an afternoon. now, as dismissive as that sounds, let it be known that i've been following this genre closely and xenosensory is one of the finest examples in the genre to date. for the price point and amount of content (and potential future additions), i would absolutely recommend this game. my only slight qualm was that the apple list felt a bit opaque towards the end, to the point i just sent a steam discussion comment about my last one and went to bed. that said, once secondary resources like wikis and answers online come in, all of them will become easily searchable.

an easy way to improve this game would be to have it so if you have duplicate lucky numbers, they award twice as much or three times as much. as is it feels like some kind of oversight/punishment mechanic when it's just a missed opportunity. i feel like that's pretty emblematic of this game, a lot of decent ideas and assets but fumbles the execution.
edit: this might be the most blatantly untested and unbalanced idler i've played. here's an example:
the singularity pack costs 1mil, and gives you 500k, 1mil, or 2mil. the next scratchoff you unlock, lucky fries, costs 20 mil and pays out 7mil, 10mil, or 12mil. so to get your return, aka another ticket, you have to win the highest return twice on a single ticket. for 4mil profit. to get 50mil, to unlock the janitor ticket - where each pull costs 100mil. if you can fathom how teeth pullingly annoying that would be, when that 4mil payout is very much not guaranteed, then you can understand the problem with the midgame. hell, late game tickets don't even pay themselves off unless you win the highest jackpot THREE times. the final ticket, the big payoff, can't even pay for itself if you get every single square as the highest reward. so why is it in the game? the system was made obsolete by a system i'm about to mention, and giving actual scratchoffs with mechanics. it's just frustrating to see a game that seems half finished asking for any amount of money
but don't worry, the dev put in a way to skip this by paying a value that barely scales to just double the amount of cards your idle scratchers scratch for you. forget playing the game at all, click "buy a new guy 300 times", and then the doubler, and you're done. that's game. inevitably all games are "solved" to a certain extent, but most don't break themselves open with a hammer at a completely arbitrary point.

a relaxing 3-4 hour experience, with a bunch of extra treats and rewards if you decide to go the extra mile and complete it. the story is heartwarming and gives a nice extra character beat for yumia, the base items are useful for boosting moral while costing less than basegame parts, and you can get slicing + blast ammo before 100%ing the first two regions from this, so nice for those going out of their way to complete each region as they come up.
i have some slight gripes with it, which i'll list here
- there's no final sendoff for reaching 999 motivation with the alber, enrika just keeps saying it should be made more livable. changing that bit of dialogue to reflect the player going out of their way to reach that goal would be nice.
- due to the nature of this being a post-launch DLC, it has a lot of items unique to it's zone. because of this, once you finish it, you'll rarely if ever need to come back. other regions have hubs that you sometimes visit, but since this is deliberately secluded and entirely alber, with it's own resources, you don't have to bother with it much.
- lastly, i had hoped you would be able to fix up the big central cabin and set up your base in there - instead i had to make a workshop on the outskirts, which is a bit sad. it's only used for one story beat and then completely ignored after that, and i feel it could be better utilized.
overall, it's definitely a positive experience for a free DLC, but it leaves a little to be desired overall. if you think the alber are cute you'll have a great time here! if base-building is not your thing, this is probably a section you'd want to skip.

very fun game where the difficulty naturally unfolds over the course of your time playing it till interacting with every system is the best way to win. barricades, mixing food, and resource management all come together to ensure your survival on the highest difficulties. even a character most people think is bad is capable of getting through every difficulty too. killing mobs with words has a nice cadence to it, but as other reviews point out, it's not the only thing you'll be doing in game. the basic structure is: find computer, turn off safe mode, find keys, open doors, find tapes, turn them into the TV, grab the elevator panel and leave. you might think, "well that's just what you do in the first level", but no, that's the objective for every level except the finale. certain stages will have different mechanics to interface with, but they never change that core loop. the newest map actually has an additional secret unlock, but it's basically just finding two keys. so it's nice, but nothing spectacular or innovative.
overall i really do enjoy this game, but i'd say it starts strong and peters off - some maps are wonderfully designed and fun to do again and again (ashbrook manor, lotus city), some i really dread because they just aren't fun (cryonic zone, scarlet carpet). and all of the levels are at least interestingly themed, bar the finale. the lore is also very "analogue horror-y" where you fill in the blanks from notes strewn about the level - it'd be nice if you could collect them so there was a sense of progression, but instead you can only view them on the computer of the map they're on. i enjoyed my time with it and hope some more updates come, so i would recommend it ultimately.

very pretty game but be warned, extremely slow and grindy - was hoping that changed from the demo, but it takes over an hour to get any automation tools. so a lot of your time will just be sitting there barely paying attention to the game, shoving food in your creatures face, maybe clicking a few skills. it's not completely idle for a while, but also doesn't really have the sauce to keep you engaged. so while i will recommend this - idle games are currently a cesspool, and this one has actual promise - i want to caveat it that it might not hold you unless you're actively doing something else while you play it.

i've played a lot of idlers - like, thousands of hours in melvor - but i also watch the tag for new releases weekly. and this game has been on my radar for a while. wizardry style games, in my experience, have a bit of a learning curve to them. not this game. it takes elements from them and party based RPGs, streamlines them, and puts them in a satisfying package that plays itself. on default settings, the grind is noticeable, but can be bypassed just by leaving your characters running in the background. the game is a true idle game, not a clicker, so don't expect control in dungeons. ui can be clunky, but bear with it and it will grow on you.

fun yakuza game. a lot of iterative improvements on things that showed up in infinite wealth (playlists, street surfer customization). very similar to man who erased his name gaiden in terms of combat, make a team of up to 30 guys and girls, groups of 4 explore islands, 20 board the boat with you during ship combat and all 30 fight during some story beats. lots of side content but the main game is quite short. almost all minigames will have both progression and customization items behind them, so if you don't know how to play mahjong there's an item you won't get. puzzle modes make most things possible to obtain though. honolulu gets expanded with more returning activities like dragon kart and new crazy delivery tracks. story is all canon but very focused on things that are pretty much unrelated to yakuza franchise with one real loose end wrapped up in the closing cinematics.
some cons:
- combat tutorials like "buy skills" or "swap styles" with a video will obscure a good chunk of your screen during the frequent random goon fights. you can skip them but not turn them off fully, and they will persist on and off till the end of the game
- pop-in is really bad and obvious, which makes it pretty jarring
- riding on the open ocean gets old really quick. maybe it just wasn't for me but it felt super tedious
- overall, boat combat in general felt lackluster. definitely not terrible, but not something i'd want to do a lot more of
overall i would say, check it out if you have affinity with goro majima as a character or want to see more of hawaii in the yakuza setting. it's a fun romp and fairly easy to 100% as far as this series goes.