Recent reviews by hani

I just heard a Happy Cat, who happens to be a teacher, sing quadratic functions to the tune of Pop Goes the Weasel.
My eyes filled with tears.
This game somehow makes those little moments of connection feel real.

It makes me feel closer to people than many real conversations ever have. You get to share, and read, the depths of one’s thoughts, fears, and hopes, and it’s quietly beautiful.

It’s helped me write again, to open up. Yet every time I try to explain how much it means to me, I freeze... There’s just too much to say.

Fireside Feelings is simply special.

It reminds me of a game of telephone, except the topic is given to you, and the person before you is a stranger you’ll never meet. There is something about the game's design where it invites introspection and deep honesty... it's strangely safe. You answer from the heart, not worrying how your words will be received, and somehow it still feels like a conversation. You feel connection, warmth. Your words feel welcome.

Thank you to the devs for making something so heartfelt and sincere. It's for a specific kind of crowd, but it's wonderful in what it does. The connection it brings.

My third chat was with Dinky Penguin. They dream of becoming a writer. They struggle with disabilities and a tough family situation.
I caught myself tearing up, wishing I could give that stranger I'll never meet a virtual hug.

You’ll write that story one day, Dinky Penguin. I believe in you.

"We are real. 'Nothing' is the idea that dwells in the absence of 'something'. But 'nothing' cannot exist on its own. And because of that, 'nothing' can't exist."
-- the Princess

There's so much to say about Slay the Princess. For me, this is a masterpiece.

This is probably one of the deepest depictions of love that I have ever experienced. Love in all its facets. Love and its unbreakable binds to tenderness, pain and fear.

But it's also something more than that. It's about seeking. Seeking answers to something which, by nature, cannot ever be known.

I went in blind to this, and I would highly recommend you do, too.

Make sure you check for trigger warnings if horror is not your genre. But if you can tolerate it, by all means, you should try it. It's so beautiful.

I have a feeling this one will stay with me for a long time.

As others have said, it's best played if you go in blind and don't know much about the premise.

If you do want to know something about it: it's good to know it's an emotional journey, and not (always) the easiest kinds of emotions. You'll likely feel confusion, disgust, hope, sadness... and understand by the end that this is ultimately a game about love.

Quite atypical but masterful narrative. It draws some inspiration from Florence and very slightly from Undertale. It plays a bit awkwardly -- specifically if you're playing on the Steam Deck, you should play with the trackpad, as the touch screen doesn't work properly and makes it an even more confusing experience than it needs to be.

I thoroughly recommend this to anyone who likes narrative and emotional games. Short but impactful, utterly beautiful and sorrowful. It's an incredible hidden gem.

I now have a lot to think about.

Reventure has a very original and creative premise. It's a puzzle platformer where the world itself is the puzzle, and the rewards come in form of different endings and little gags on the "hero saves princess" trope.

And the game is designed in such a smart way, it never really gets dull. The world is your playground and you can discover, at your own pace, that everything that can go wrong will go wrong. And same goes for what goes right.

This game is full of original content. It was one of the very few games I've played that were a blast to 100% - well, 150% - through and through (still, I'd recommend a guide if you're planning on seeing all the content).

Kudos to the developers. Amazing game design, original premise, lots of wit and a little bit of platforming challenge on the side. Great experience.

Do you hold yourself to high standards? Maybe too high? Are you perfectionistic? Hard on yourself and prone to burn out?

It's a strange thing, to feel so seen by a video game. If you allow it, it'll heal you and soothe you, one cup of tea at a time...

Wanderstop is a game about dreaming, achieving and failing. More than that, it's about living in the moment and learning to let go. And it is, most of all, a game about being human, and the pain and hope that comes with it, hand in hand.

There is so much I wish to say about this game. It's one of my favorite games of the year, maybe even of all time.

The way it tells it all, through gameplay and story, is exquisite. The story, the humor. The beautiful art and colors. The very thought through game design. The amazing soundtrack and the simply incredible sound design (play it with headphones!). The complex characters, their struggles and stories. And the complex emotions they make us feel, good and bad.

I think it's important to note that it's often described as a "cozy game", but it might not entirely be the experience cozy gamers are looking for. Without spoiling it, it can sometimes be uncomfortable and downright (intentionally) frustrating. It can also stir complex feelings and invite to introspection, and that might be uncomfortable as well.

It's also important to note it's story-heavy. It's a real treat for those who love to read (though it is in no way a requirement, should it not be your cup of tea).

It's clearly made with so much care, with heart and with sincerity. With vulnerability. It has a message to tell and it's very sincere. For that reason, it can be resounding.

It has the potential to be a life-changing experience to some. Truly.

And to the rest of us, it'll still be a delightful experience that'll invite to reflection, inward and outward, at every step.

I had a really hard time deciding whether I'd recommend this one or not. This game is clearly a labor of love and it looks absolutely gorgeous. But at the same time, what you see is what you get. It's clearly missing something.

Sea of stars draws inspiration from J-RPGs from the 80s and 90s. It improves many of the dated mechanics that make the genre a drag to play: the characters can jump through ledges, swim, and parry or time the attacks. The game removes the stiffness characteristic of the genre, making it actually enjoyable to play.

But it forgets what is it that made these games once great: the story.

Instead, you'll find a flat narrative, with a plot plot that sometimes is so eye-rollingly obvious. Seriously. I think it's the first time a game made me physically roll my eyes.

And the storytelling just never got better. There's no existentialism. Or barely any pathos. The universe is quite interesting, but what's done with it ends up, in many ways, being forgettable. No portals through time, no going to sleep to suddenly wake up and find out your family and village are gone.

Instead, we find heroes who know nothing else but simply be heroes. Lots of (toxicly?) positive dialogues, platitudes that try to remind you, all the time, that they are having a great time, that the food is delicious, that the music is awesome.

Also, the soundtrack is annoyingly forgettable.

Maybe I expected too much. Maybe it tries too hard fit into a genre that no longer is, and it fails to find an interesting identity.

Well. At least, playing this game made me want to play Chrono Trigger again. Maybe the game will do that to you too and make you want to revisit some of your old favorites. Otherwise, even for fans of the genre, it might not be worth the play.

It's not easy finding good, narrative-based platformers... And this is not one of them.

My impression is, the developers wanted to make a story-rich platformer, and somehow it ended up lackluster on both ends.
So why do I not recommend this game?

First, the story,

The story is quite generic and, maybe because of the excessively melodramatic and ever-present background music, it failed to elicit any sort of emotion for me. It's a tale of love and loss, but somehow it is done so superficially, I hardly felt like continuing it. And, if the story fails to grab you, the very long levels do not reward you with much.

For example, at some point, I played through a level and found all the secrets, just to realize they were all artworks of the main character climbing in different positions... If I wanted a sketchbook, I'd probably go draw myself, not play a game. Where is the story, the depth, the emotion?

But well, a passable story can still be bearable if the game is enjoyable... Right?

Well, if only. The gameplay is downright terrible. It's a case study on game design, if you want to focus on what not to do. The levels are excessively long. The platforms are very inconsistent -- you will more than once fall to your death without fully understanding why your character did not grab the ledge this time around, only to try the same thing again and succeed. The fixed camera angle does not help.

The inputs are a mess: you need to press all sorts of buttons to do similar actions (why do I need to hold a button to climb, only to press another button to climb higher?), and you need to long-press buttons through the character's very slow animations to, say, grapple a branch... I found myself canceling inputs more often than not. Just why?

On top of everything, the movements are a slog, and the game progresses slowly, risking boring you out in the process. And the time-changing gimmick, while interesting and original at first, quickly grows old, as it becomes the inevitable solution to almost everything (when platforms randomly failing you aren't the reason you're stuck).

Well, at least they got something right: the story IS simple...

Overall, not an enjoyable experience. I would not recommend it.

Very cute little game. It's important to note, as others have, that it's not actually an idler game, even if it looks like one. There's just a lot to do all the tim,e and very little can be automatized. So far, the goals and quests all involve breeding, so it's more a breeding creature collector than a catching game.

It's quite relaxing to play though, very low-key and calm. Great for chilling out while still having something to do.

I have lost hope by now that this game will ever launch or provide any meaningful experience. Having followed the project for a long time, I feel very frustrated at the lack of substantial updates in this game.

The game, at its current state, is absolutely not worth the purchase. The plot is shallow, the characters feel like hollow caricatures, and the music lacks originality, it sometimes reminds me too much of other well-known and memorable soundtracks. Still, I kept this game in my library in the hopes that the dev would have some vision to bring the project to life.

I now know better. To this date, this game is not worth the buy, I would never recommend it to anyone. When the one saving grace is hope that the game will one day be better, and this hope is several years long, you have to know when to let go.

At first, it feels charming and introspective, but the spell ends up soon being broken. The game is repetitive and it presents a plot that is tragic but is presented in a somewhat superficial way. It fails to bring depth to the characters to give the players any emotional response to the story.

Then there are the bugs. I played this for just 50 minutes, yet I ran into quite a few issues, including one that forced a full restart. And apparently, quitting the game between chapters (even after the saving icon appears) sends you back to the beginning of the chapter.

For such a short experience, it is surprisingly underwhelming and even frustrating if you like playing in small bursts. I ended up refunding it. Hard pass.