Recent reviews by bluleaves

Big Patapon gamer here, so take my thoughts with a patapon-sized grain as I look out from behind my patapon-shaped rose-tinted glasses... I'm feeling conflicted.

Rataton is a blessing to exist. I'm so glad for it, and I think its gorgeous. The style, visual and sound, are so much fun. Take a screenshot - color tickles the brain. Listen to the soundtrack - the ears remember childhood joy. It's presentational perfection.. right up until you play it.

Heres where the patapon nostalgia kicks it into overdrive. Much of Ratatan thus far doesn't seem to meld...
- The rogue-like format means the rpg elements are simplified in favor of a separate progression system. Battles are (involuntarily) repetitive because you start the first stage over every time.
- Upgrade choices (the elements during a run) don't seem to meaningfully change how you play and sometimes include options that aren't helpful until other options are chosen.
- Dated mechanical choices that feel awkward, like sharing half your hp to revive in co-op, waiting for your kobuns to respawn and having nothing to do, quest board missions you don't have to think about, passive upgrades that either feel unhelpful or totally necessary.
.... the peripheral systems aren't clicking together.

And it wouldn't be as big a deal if the core gameplay was solid but there are too many awkward bits.
- I don't feel I need to be able to move my own character. It feels like a totally open space for cool ideas that has only had its surface scratched. And if I can move, I don't think playing notes should stop my character. Because of this and other reasons like how important player HP, its generally best just to stay still in the backline even if it means seeing less of the battle youre fighting.
- The timing of enemy attacks rarely coincides with my timing. I've only had a few instances where I felt I could react before being hit. And this shouldn't be a problem since you are stuck on a rigid loop of when the game will take your notes.
- And because you can only play notes on a certain cycle, if you mess up or need to adjust your positioning slightly, you are sometimes put in a position where you are choosing to either play notes and act, or take a devastating AOE, and that's really not a choice. The game forces you to not play notes. It tells you not to play its game.
- And in moments of downtime, there's no enjoyable action to take. When I'm waiting for a boss to stop moving so I can strike, I have no action but rally, which effectively does nothing since the cobun are already with me. The game needs a charge song, both to regain more MP and also give you something to do while you wait.

I'm not so concerned with the bugs, but there are a lot and some do break the game. I've had a run where I wasn't able to move forward because the battle wouldn't complete.

I'm a backer of the game so I'm going to play it on release, and then I can really make conclusions rather than pin my list of grievances on the church door. But until then, I hope that Ratata Arts listens to all of the other great feedback too. I still believe Ratatan can be amazing! And through the irony, I hope that the competition from the Patapon re-release on the Switch will push them to overtake the past and come out with something that really stands on its own!

If you're scrolling through games looking for your next quick fixation - something interesting, something surprising, something to chew on - stop here. 10 Dead Doves is *kind* of funny. It's *kind* of scary. You will laugh and you will scare, but its not definitively tied to these qualities. What it's really bound to is its intrigue. It's *very* intriguing. It is wrapped up in multiple mysteries and people's personal stories that intersect at a single point - something that may or may not even exist.

These mundane personal stories drive the comedy and the sadness of our man duo, Mark and Sean. Their back-and-forths are the car AC set to max cool in an otherwise suffocating, tense, atmosphere. Awkward and stilted at times, but it works on that personal and atmospheric level because the game earns your attention and interest to where you're theorizing on what is said as much as what isn't. Admittedly, by the end, Marcus' reactions to objects and other interactables does not suggest the danger and dread warranted by the locale. Its a small gripe, and one that admittedly adds the unsettling, confusing mood of the game. It can be spun that way purely because so many other choices in the game are clearly intentional and well done.

The game is always throwing something new at you: a new piece of the puzzle to either Mark's personal story or the conspiracy he's chasing, a new place to explore and survive(?), or a new piece of litter to pick up (I enjoyed this on a personal level). But seriously, you can't really predict where you're going to go and when. You can't know what someone is going to look like before they're introduced. It is incredible that its foreshadowing can leave you so in the dark despite itself, while still making sense. One of the saddest and most evocative things about this game, to me, came from nothing spoken or played, but portrayed - how a single character was abstracted in the eyes of Mark.

We cycle through a web of interconnected themes: family, death, falling out of love, friendship, fatherhood, dreams, conspiracy, isolation... they come at you with a seemingly unsorted cadence that translates into something that makes sense. Maybe it'd be better to call it a roller coaster with a lot of flashing lights? Yet its a pro rather than a con that I find it so difficult to pin down exactly why the story hits so hard. If I had to give an answer, it would be that every scene is strong and every area is interesting. Camera direction plays a huge part in this, and its present in the incredible fixed angles during gameplay and the chosen ones in cutscenes.

Divisive is the gameplay, which I found to range from fun to frustrating, trending toward fun. You do a lot of walking, and you can get lost albeit in a limited space. You won't be backtracking like crazy, but if you get really stuck, you can end up spending a lot of time walking the same routes. The tank controls of the game are important, even if a mild nuisance sometimes. During the tense parts of the games, they enhance the anxiety knowing you can't maneuver yourself well, and during the *really* tense parts of the game, that anxiety fits like a glove.

The game does have dull spots, though rare. It does an incredibly good job with its pacing minus the amusement park where nothing much happens. Truly this is the only deadspot of the game, and even then it is not without its secrets. If you can engage with all the aspects of the game prior to this, then you can take the unwarranted breather that it gives you and hop right back on the roller coaster right straight through to the end.

10 Dead Doves is one of the most interesting games I've ever played that executes on much of what it sets out to do. It is perhaps too ambitious, but it aimed at the peak and tumbled a bit lower into "amazing". Please give it a big try even if this normally isn't your thing.

Hideko is a gorgeous little minimalist sandbox that has a clear end, but can bring joy endlessly.
It's textless UI is something you will come to understand as a throughline of the game more than just an aesthetic choice: Hideko doesn't want to strain you, whether that's eye strain or mind strain.

All of its game takes place in a small window that allows everything to be in view without your eyes pushing into your periphery. Just as well, the game supplies perfectly spaced bread crumbs to keep you progressing without getting totally stuck - everything you need is in this little box of a viewport after all. Every answer is right under your nose, and though there exists some challenge, the difficulty curve matches the art direction in that they are both an amazing fit.

The only thing I could ask for is more. More interactions, more objects, more ways to clean up your areas, more uses for late game objects like the car, conveyor belts, spinners, more distinguishing qualities between areas etc.. I finished the game feeling satisfied even if I was left wanting more, and that's because Hideko is short and pure gameplay experience. It puts you into the flow state fast and doesn't let go in a runtime that will take you one to two nights.

If you have trouble with focus and attention in your personal life and need an easy win, Hideko will keep you playing straight to the end. If you get stumped, throw a rock around and remember its all in good fun.