Recent reviews by R13

I recommend this game... with an asterisk. As a person who enjoys hunting for lost media, I'm glad something like this exists. But as a gamer who played several visual novels before, I didn't feel much choices to be had. I played through it twice, and I got the same result twice. What were the choices? It was an interesting story, for sure. It was definitely more interesting than the "lost media" I found concerning this.

I was playing a lot of Stray recently. In Stray, I was doing cat things everywhere. You know, like wearing cat armour, collecting badges like in A Hat in Time or Psychonauts, harnessing the power of GUN, carrying out a massacre of an entire race... You know, cat things! I got many of the achievements as I wanted to explore everything the game has to offer. It's about 2 hours long (not counting the unskippable cutscenes), which is in and of itself a red flag, but it's loaded with tons of supplementary material like side quests, collectibles (some of which are plot-relevant) and a lot of optional stealth elements. I spent over 10 hours in ONE playthrough. The game is good enough for two playthroughs (a speedrun as the second playthrough), so you're looking at a total of about 17 hours (unskippable cutscenes). Decide for yourself if it has enough bang for your buck, but I recommend it! The gun is good!

So Violett is a 3D adventure with cutscenes told primarily in 2D (and rather sparingly). In general, the 3D art is visually pleasing with lots of effective usage of colour. The 2D art seems very rough in comparison. It's VERY puzzle-centric until they throw a curveball at the last minute (literally a minute) with the final boss battle that is very action-oriented in comparison (as well as being the ONLY battle in the game, so mechanics are brand new). The game requires very little knowledge of language (unless you're going for the collectible diary entries) as the whole game is told via visuals and art with the dialogue being limited to gibberish. It works rather well in this universe as a speech bubble with the art tells you what you need to know basically. This is one of the few games where playing with a walkthrough is almost necessary. Not to worry though, as there is a hint system in case. When it comes to glitches, I barely encountered any, and I mean BARELY. Only one or two times, I couldn't walk to a specific location I clicked on, but for this to happen only twice in a game I spent 20+ hours on is incredible. I know it says I spent 40+ hours on the game on Steam, but that's because I literally load up certain levels just to listen to the soundtrack. Yes, the soundtrack (though limited with only 11 different tracks) is pretty damn memorable. So is it for you? Watch the trailer to decide. As you can see, it's an indie game that is rather simplistic, but I find that all to be rather charming. Story isn't exactly the forte but universe-building and puzzle-solving are. I recommend it.

I wanted to write a review of this game. The more and more I ruminated on what I had just witnessed, it stuck out to me more as a movie than a game. So it's only fitting for part of this review that I review it as an interactive movie. Now first off... this is one of the more emotional games I've played/witnessed. It is a bit difficult to classify this as a game as there isn't much gameplay in it. The game presents scenes that play out and the only interactivity is choosing this option or that option. Sometimes there are time-based options that will disappear if you don't interact with said options in time which also affect the story. The core mechanic is fundamentally blinking. Yes. The game utilises eye-tracking technology and the player has to blink at an option in order to choose it. So the entire game is played on a webcam, right? False. Even if one owns a webcam or not, they HAVE to use a mouse at least. I didn't even use my keyboard except to pause the game or navigate through the menus and even then, I can use my mouse to navigate through them anyway. A controller's analog stick can also work from what I tried briefly. So yeah, I believe the game would really benefit if there was VR technology... is what I would've said earlier if I hadn't thought about it. Further experimentation gave me the idea that the eye-tracking technology is not perfect. It works fine... if you are in the SAME position at all times, meaning no head movements, no hand movements, not even hair movements. It's totally random which of these motions would be registered as "blinking" according to this game. So that's something to keep in mind. Now, about that movie part I mentioned: the game is fantastic. It's not a masterpiece in my eyes (no pun intended) but it's definitely a very emotional and gripping story. I absolutely loved the voice acting, the simplistic designs really aided the overall art style I felt, the music was phenomenal and rather auditorily pleasing at all times, I also really liked the pacing, etc. There are a few things I can criticise about the story but that would lead to spoiler territory. Without spoiling, I'll just say this: in the beginning of the third act, there's a sudden tone shift regarding elements that weren't properly established in my opinion. It took a second playthrough to fully understand why there was a tone shift in the first place. That's one. Two. I praised the voice acting just now but in the second act, there's a minor character introduced whose voice is just ear-shattering at times. I had to adjust my volume constantly whenever that character was on-screen. That was a bit annoying. It doesn't say much about the voice acting but it does say something about the delivery. Maybe it's the sound design or maybe it's the actor unable to deliver a convincing performance? I couldn't tell. Finally, this game doesn't offer many branching paths. You can literally explore all options with just two playthroughs. Given the game's price tag, I don't think that's quite an issue but it's something to keep in mind nonetheless. Also, this is a game that really benefits from having the subtitles on in the settings. Speaking of the settings, the player can opt to play with eye detection or without. Clicking the Left Mouse Button functions as blinking if the player opts for the latter, which brings me to my next point... Some of these scenes REALLY drag on. I have no complaint about this at all but as I said before, you blink in order to choose an option. However, I didn't mention that there are a LOT scenes that are skippable if you blink. The game basically teaches you the importance of not blinking as all the moments may slip away during crucial scenes if the player just blinks. I imagine that can be a frustrating mechanic at times. This mechanic reminds me of several movies I watched where time plays an important factor or role in the story. What is actually frustrating is the idea of engaging in a staring contest essentially so that a scene fully plays out. In that regard, I can honestly recommend playing without the use of the eye-tracking technology as it seems like a tacked-on gimmick at the end of the day. I appreciate the notion as well as the theme it sets out to illustrate but the use of a mouse doesn't take away from the experience. If anything, it adds to it as you're using a mouse anyway. Some people aren't adept at staring without blinking for long amounts of time, so a mouse wouldn't really hurt, right? Then I have to wonder about what makes this a unique experience? The blinking. Yes... I recommended the usage of the mouse just now, so what else separates the game? Makes it unique from all the other story-based games out there? It's an interesting piece of media but if you take the core mechanic that separates itself from other games of its genre, I can't name much. I COULD mention that it's grounded in reality, has a remarkable script, good voice acting, great soundtrack, etc. At the end of the day, it's the player's choice. I thoroughly enjoyed this game and I recommend it to others to try it out for themselves. I feel like this is one of those games where people can form their own distinct opinions easily despite the game offering the same core story. I felt it had good presentation, effective usage of visual storytelling and all the pros I mentioned before. To bring this long review to a close, I recommend it at the end of the day.

I played several puzzle games like this. Many of said games got me in situations where I got stuck. Not this game though. I was mildly surprised by how the puzzles actually were in this game. We got 25 puzzles, and they get trickier and trickier as you progress. But getting back to the control, I'm pretty stunned that I was able to move around freely despite the limited control scheme. I didn't even know there was a Restart button in the controls, and since I found out about it, I never had to use it. You're free to experiment with movement around the puzzle however you want, as in. And for the price tag, I'd say I got my money's worth. The aspect ratio leaves a little to be desired. To elaborate, I had NO idea whether I should play this on a 21:9 monitor or 16:9 monitor, and there are no graphics options in the game, so I was ironically stuck during some screens rather than the puzzles. Well, that was kinda annoying I guess, but it's such a minor issue that it feels like a nitpick. Overall, I recommend this game. You are treated to several bouncy animations too, so that's a visual treat I guess.

Gameplay is absolutely polished and brilliant, but there are a few technical annoyances: inconsistent framerate that is capped at 60 FPS. Online play is great and all, but it feels as though, as evidenced by the achievement list, this game is really pushing forward the story, and the story is... well, "the lowest!" Seriously, in my opinion, it is the WEAKEST part of the game, and it's puzzling how a LOT of things are locked behind the story wall. Not just achievements, in-game items as well. Those special Treasure Battle sequences? Yeah, you have to complete the story to unlock them. Some of the coolest customisation items? Yeah, complete the story first. And why are there no Tekken Tunes in this version? Anyway, bottom line, the main story sucks! Now how about the other characters? Yeah, they suck too. We don't have a dedicated gauntlet of arcade challenges that are specific to the selected character or any build-up at all. We just get one match, some text, and a short cutscene afterwards that is basically a post-battle victory cutscene. Yay for that... So aside from the story, how about the gameplay itself? Let me preface this by saying when playing the main story, the gameplay is horrendously imbalanced, but in the main game, it is AWESOME! Seriously, probably the best in the Tekken franchise thus far. Of course, there's a learning curve, but it's one of the easiest fighting games to pick up and play. Adrenaline-pumping and all, complemented by a soundtrack that isn't the series' best work, but still definitely gets you pumping. So in all, SLIGHT recommendation from me. It's a bit middling for me overall, but I won't lie by saying the DLC bumped it up a few points for me. As a base game, 5/10. But if you get the full package with DLC, 6/10. So all in all, I recommend this game, but with an asterisk.

I just completed Onee Chanbara ORIGIN... but not without many many MANY hardships. It is a difficult game, but there was more difficulty properly setting it up. The PC version is infamous with having audio issues. The audio is delayed to the point that it messed up with my timing constantly as it is important to listen to audio cues at all times, making it somewhat unplayable for me until I fixed the issue. What I got in the end is... animu bikini princess Devil May Cry I guess. It doesn't feel like a ripoff, which is great! Soundtrack is pretty good (I'm currently looking for a decent download), and the gameplay is pretty addictive. Story is not exactly the forte, and it does get pretty goofy at times, but what did you expect? A deep narrative in a game where the main character is an animu samurai in a bikini and a cowboy hat? Of course, story is secondary (or tertiary) as the main focus is obviously on the gameplay. Is the gameplay good though? YES! Hence why I compared it to Devil May Cry or even Metal Gear Rising: Revengence as there is an emphasis on katanas. A perfect dodge system à la Bayonetta, swordplay and even a finisher system à la Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, and sibling rivalry that drives the story interlinked with surreal things happening à la Devil May Cry (additionally, one sister is red and the other is blue)... and you're a scantily clad female protagonist in a zombie setting à la Lollipop Chainsaw. Can you blame me for seeing similarities here and there? I recommend this, but it's rather difficult. I did my first run with no items whatsoever, and it's definitely doable, but I came close to dying many times. As a result, the gameplay may seem repetitive, but that's because you definitely have to improve your craft as you progress. Ultimately, it felt a lot like Metal Gear Rising to me, and I liked that game A LOT. I liked this game too definitely!

There is A LOT to do here. I mean really, A LOT. I really admired the art direction. The visuals were absolutely breathtaking, and the ambient soundtrack mixed in with licensed music really adds to the tone and atmosphere the game is really going for. The game is mostly told through the perspective of a single main character who is actually an everyman, and this makes sense in the grand scheme of things as the main character barely talks, allowing the player to relate to this character and feel like the world they're building is actually their own. It is not a "walking simulator" as many are calling it. The main is meant to portray a postman travelling from Point A to Point B, showcasing all the difficulty and tedium going on that journey as well. It's not simply about picking up a package and delivering it. The main's primary focus is HOW the package is delivered. This isn't a game for everyone, it goes without saying. But it was definitely mine. I was very invested with the universe-building as well. The story is nothing to sneeze at, and it felt like I was watching an interactive movie unfold, but all the actions are due to my personal contributions mainly, and as I noted above, the main character is an everyman who doesn't speak often, so it was easy for me to relate and it truly felt it was MY contribution in the game, There is also an avid online community that can assist you to an extent. You don't see the other players, but you know that they're there. Yes, they aid in building your world, but if you want a longer and more challenging adventure where the world you build is truly your own, I recommend playing the game offline, but the game is meant to display an "interlinked phantom society" in my opinion as I felt that was it was going for, and as the universe takes place in a post-apocalyptic other-worldly setting with many many MANY unfamiliar elements, it was incredibly satisfying to me that "I made this happen." I'll admit (and reiterate what I said earlier), this isn't a game for everyone, and the execution is a bit too immediate for my liking, but I really enjoyed the journey, enough for me to warrant a recommendation.

Very intricate level designs along with tricky platforming with an enjoyable story tinged in mystery. Really liked the lush environments, music and animation as well. I'll admit: though I actually really liked the story, I can safely say it's not for everyone. Some people may like the game's structure more, and that's understandable. It warrants a try of course. I definitely recommend this game.