Recent reviews by I am an alligator

I wasn't expecting *too* much from Metal Slug Tactics but I was very surprised by how much effort and love was put into it (I can't put the game down), and how they adapted the run-n-gun gameplay of Metal Slug into a tactics game. It had some bugs on release but they are actively fixing them (a patch just came out around a day ago from writing this). I think most important of all the bug where people lost their saves is fixed now (I never had that issue fortunately).

I feel some people might misunderstand the mechanics; I find they have incredible strategic depth and are very fun. The game highly encourages aggressive gameplay, not turtling behind cover (you'll need to give up the habits you developed from playing games like XCom, lol). Move characters far and over as many gaps in the terrain as possible to acquire Dodge and Adrenaline to utilize more powerful moves to kill as many enemies as you can before they have their turn. You can also figure out the perfect setup to ensure none of your characters take damage even if they are attacked by every enemy on the planet. Every turn feels like a puzzle you're trying to solve to figure out how to maximize your team's potential; the satisfaction upon realizing the perfect synergy of your characters and moves doesn't get old.

I also think the roguelite power progression and build-making is done very well and unlocks so many unique strategic options for your team composition. I can't tell you how many times I've found a new character ability or a weapon upgrade and went "OH that could be used for so many cool things". Also, there are 3 starting characters and 6 more unlockable ones with very different playstyles, each with 4 unique loadouts to choose from when beginning a run that change their weapons and starting abilities (loadouts are unlocked after you end your first run). Characters keep their weapons the whole run, but can upgrade/modify them as you progress.

The upgrades are also very versatile. For example, Tarma starts with a knife in his default build that can only target 1 space adjacent to him but does high damage. I once acquired a mod that changes the targeting of his knife to attack 3 spaces in a straight line like a spear, rather than just 1. There are a lot of different attack pattern mods you can get like this. Another example is "Side Mirror" for handguns, which makes your character additionally shoot to their left and right after they shoot once with their handgun.

There's so much more I could talk about, but that would require a more extensive review.

Please give this game a try!

+ satisfying gunplay
+ engaging mechanics and varied enemies
+ difficulty scaling is not arbitrary numbers and modifiers. Higher difficulties feature additional enemy types, as well as increased enemy counts and increased count of optional objectives and rewards.
+ lots of different armor, weapons, and stratagems to cater your loadout to the mission you choose
+ entire playerbase works towards over-arching narrative objectives, such as defending/liberating planets
+ you can earn premium currency by playing the game (Though it can take a while to get enough to afford a premium warbond, which is basically like a battle pass)
+ devs take community feedback and are improving the game
+ fun with friends
+ propaganda

- not as buggy at launch, but still buggy.
- stealth is possible which is nice, but it needs some improvements.

Great survival horror game inspired by the classics (Even borrows distinct mechanics from RE1). But what some classics (mainly resident evil, in my opinion) didn't have was a very impressionable story, and Signalis certainly didn't borrow that characteristic. It left me constantly wanting more the whole playthrough.
This is one of those games where after you finish a session you can't stop thinking about it for the next day or so, and numerous plot points will make the dots connect in your brain and you'll find it difficult to not say "oh sh*t!". Then once you finish the game, you're sad as hell because it's *over* and you're not getting any more content.

Unless rose engine makes more media that take place in the world of Signalis. Which I would *really* like.

Either way, they did an amazing job and I'm on board for whatever they make next. Definitely try the game out, there's a demo if you aren't sure it's your thing.

(quick note, I think some of the complaints for the game come from people who played it Dubbed. Namely the complaints about the protag being "too perverted", I didn't find this to be a problem for me. Yeah he's a pervert, but I never found it to be distasteful and off-putting. Except for maybe the end... there's a weird amount of just, random stuff? But for the most part It's just funny gags. Plus those gags never happen out of place, like during a sad scene or something. I played the game Subbed, and while yes I don't completely understand Japanese I felt that the way Date's VA delivered his lines was excellent and the gags were always funny. After listening to the English VA I can understand why people would find him creepy. I highly recommend changing the voice language to Japanese instead of English.)

This game has become a truly important piece of media to me. I've played all the zero escape games, and Uchikoshi's writing is still as impressive to me if not even more impressive with Ai. I love his writing so much because his characters and their interactions feel very realistic. It subverts a lot of common tropes in media, and that's a praise you'll often see given to the Zero Escape games (maybe less so for the third game, ZTD, but I digress). Granted, this game definitely has more cheesy parts (particulary action sequences, and some parts of the epilogue. Looking at you, Iris dance. It's a little over the top- but those moments are scarce in comparison to the rest of the game's content). Regardless, I found the story to be incredibly impactful and it guided me through so many emotions which certainly left a mark on me.

Uchikoshi's story twists in zero escape were crazy, and Ai won't disappoint. Obviously this is a subjective observation, but I was genuinely shocked from the insane twist that Ai threw at me, and couldn't believe Uchikoshi absolutely destroyed my mind once again. Please don't get anything spoiled lol.

Ai is very different from Zero Escape, but it still has everything good about Uchikoshi's writing. Really, I'm having a hard time trying not to gush about this game and make this review unbearably long, but, I can't recommend the game enough. Whether or not you've played zero escape (of course, I recommend those as well, if you haven't played them), please give Ai a try!

Feels very hard to get used to and combat can feel awful at first, but it doesn't take too long to get the hang of things and you'll enjoy it soon enough! Play the Trials to learn the ropes and everything will make a lot more sense. The game doesn't hold your hand, so if you like a game where you have to learn in order to improve and use your own head to succeed, you should end up enjoying it.

Also, *good* coop rogue-likes don't come too often, so if you're looking for one to play with friends, you're missing out.

It may sound cringey when someone says a game is "deeply philosophical" or some bs, but in SOMA's case it really is a narrative that makes you think hard about stuff that wouldn't normally matter in a game, just cause the story is so gripping and makes you care about everything. In general, the game is incredibly immersive and you'll just want to keep playing as it progresses.

I accidentally told a girl over the phone I like her blue feathers, and the whole conversation went to hell

Help, I am going to get carpal tunnel

Niko is cute as ♥♥♥♥ and his stories about his mother's pancakes make my heart melt.

Also the game's length is longer than the usual 4-6 hours you see in people's reviews. Theres an extended part of the game called the Solstice route that you do after beating the normal game once. Based.

I wasn't even in the mood for Mario 3D platforming when I bought this, but the game changed that pretty soon.

Edit: Finished the game, and played all the dlc. Very much worth 10$, 15$ on sale especially, and full price if you're looking for a colorful, atmospheric, pretty and fluid game.

I've played the many Mario 3D platformers out there (64, Sunshine, Galaxy (not 2, but 1) and some of Odyssey) and for an indie-developed platformer, its really quite amazing. It has some small little hiccups in the physics occasionally (like ledge get-ups causing you to fall through an object if it is too small or has weird collisions), but I rarely encounter them and only one or two times they screwed up my platforming (though, some of the mario 3d games also had their own occasional hiccups). Physics feels great nonetheless.

Since I don't know much of what to talk about here are some specific things about the game I love:

• Workshop functionality and editor included.
  
• Local Co-op (splitscreen and fullscreen, interchangeable via options menu);
  
• All the worlds and environments are pretty as hell, and the music is fantastic, creating an immersive atmosphere;
  
• Characters/Dialog are funny and creative, and voice acting is very well done;
  
• The ability to switch between hats you make with Yarn found throughout the game to use specific abilities;
  
• Cosmetic stuff (you can earn color swaps for your clothing and alternative hat models, all of which look adorable by the way);
  
• Some frame-skip mechanics and timed button presses to increase your speed or help yourself in certain situations (getting knocked back and pressing jump right when you land causes a quicker get up animation, and pressing jump/leap right when hitting the ground after a leap causes a speedy thrust forwards);
  
• The game feels like Sunshine/Galaxy with it's camera panning before every level/and other small details;
  
• Speedrunning record keeping and other stuff;
  
• Nyakuza dlc adds online functionality.
  
• Seal the Deal adds Death Wish contracts, which are uniquely difficulty-increased variants of already existing levels in the game (EX: finish a level with only jumping 11 times. Makes you try to strategize precisely what ways you could prevent jumping in the mission.) Not for everybody, but if you want a challenge, very worth DLC just for that.
  
• Other other many small details in the game, not just easter eggs, but random stuff you can do like hitting npcs off cliffs, kicking cans and junk that are lying around, character taunting/emoting, etc. Feels very alive.

Anyways, yea, I love this game, and if any of this peaks your interest, you might too.