Recent reviews by Aphy

Cassette beasts is an okay play. It isn't revolutionary, but it is charming and the basic mechanics are simple enough that if you've played any amount of Pokemon you already know what you're doing. While most of the designs aren't ultimately striking or memorable, they're pleasing, cohesive, and none of them seem out of place when put next to another. The amount of quests you're given makes it feel like you usually have something to do, and even though I never found myself remembering the lay of the land the terrain was still somewhat intuitive and never overly irritating or annoying to explore. The character arcs, while somewhat rushed, are fine: every character has something that someone else might like.

However, while not unsatisfying, Cassette Beasts isn't innovative. It isn't new, it doesn't introduce any new concepts besides the initially interesting archangels, which are shunted off as "human ideas" and not explained in any truly meaningful way besides offhand exposition. I won't find myself playing Cassette Beasts again after I 100% it. The 19K fusions are impressive, sure, but none of them are particularly fun or different once you've gotten around twelve. The deck movement is also annoying to go through, because you can't storage lead 'mons and if you want to shift to a different partner you have to shuffle your party around to make sure you don't leave behind one of your 'mons with them. Some fusions are also incredibly busted compared to others, so you might run into a fusion that flattens you if it has multi-hit moves (which are utterly cracked in conjunction with fusion power) or is simply faster than you and can hit you with several rounds of "desperation" before you can land anything. Similarly, the effects that come from type interactions are interesting, but they're difficult to remember in any capacity and it's basically just better to ignore them in favor of double-smacking, multi-shotting and multi-hitting everything in your way.
The story, while not the focus, was also boring. I got hit with the classic "you thought it was something we could interestingly explain in universe? SIKE! it's an allegory for the human mind, GET PRANK'D IDIOT!!!" which is like, fine. Whatever. But the game also makes no real effort to explain itself beyond "by believing it becomes real", but that isn't explored interestingly or explored really at all. The game would benefit in an unbelievable way from story-centric lore beyond "we're trapped, waaaahh", because its concept actually IS interesting if engaged correctly!

The game is also imperfect, if in an irritating way and not a reprehensible one. This game has no dialogue options- it was buttons to progress the current tree you are on and I would have found speaking to the characters much less annoying if any choice you were given actually mattered, which they did not. It has less interactivity than a Pokemon game itself. In the same conversation I got FIVE different dialogue choices that all lead to the same thing: the choices were basically "yes" "definitely" or "absolutely", except they weren't because I only got two choices and they were basically worded exactly the same. It was genuinely insulting, and I ended up hating the characters because of it.

TL;DR: Overall, Cassette Beasts is fine, and I'm just nitpicking. It's an acceptable time sink even if I wouldn't play it over fangames like Pokemon Reborn, it is worth the $20 price tag. The gameplay is engaging for someone who likes the typical Pokemon RPG-make, even if it can be grindy and annoying to other people. The designs are eye-catching even if not iconic, and I'd suggest it if you find yourself in want of a monster RPG and around 30 hours to kill. It's not a bad game at all, and the only reason I find myself so unhappy with it is because I feel that it could've been so much more.

Not a bad game. The basic gameplay loop is entertaining if repetitive at times, and the bar section is possibly my favorite part of the game. Weapons and the like are introduced intuitively and characters are fun, if not wholly meaningful connections. I would recommend it based purely on gameplay.

The main issue I have is the derogatory language toward the main character: while otherwise it wouldn't be an issue, every few times you talk to someone they mention the MC's weight in an insulting way. Within the first six hours I could name equal as many times that someone had spoken about the MC's weight disparagingly. During those hours I actually kept from speaking to the hired NPCs at the bar because I thought they would say something equally. It sours most if not all the other character's interactions with you. Whether it gets better or not is trivial compared to how much they hammer the sentiment in.

Unsettling game that loses its horror element the more you play, in a good way. Really gets across the feeling and mindset of being an underpaid fisherman: you don't have time to pay attention to the horrors, you just need to fish. At some point, the enemies become less scary and more annoying, and rightfully so: someone who spends all their time out on the ocean can't be worried about sharks all day.

The gameplay loop is repetitive, but enjoyable. Personally, I think that Dredge could benefit from more NPC interaction, however the atmosphere is somewhat enhanced by the lack of ties the fisherman has. Quests could also be a bit more involved, however it does make sense that they aren't. The story is easy to follow and very much unnerving, and it follows what you might expect out of a fishing horror. The one ending I've achieved is climactic, though I do wish the secret ending was more forthcoming in how you could achieve it.

If you're going for one hundred percent completion, you can get around fifteen or so hours out of Dredge. Not quite short, but it leaves you wishing there was more to experience. I'll one hundred percent recommend getting the roadmap's mentioned DLC when it comes out, and I am very much looking forward to its release. However, even without it, Dredge is very much a complete experience with a lot of technical replayability, something I would love to replay blind again.

A decent game. I may be biased due to my like of more active games, but opinion is that it wasn't bad, but wasn't outstanding either. I didn't particularly care for any of the characters despite that seeming to be the point, and I didn't find them very interesting either. Ultimately, despite the art being exceedingly well-made, the only thing I can definitively say is that it was a pretty short play. Nothing to write home about, but decently priced for what it is or isn't. I would recommend it to someone who enjoys well-done visual novels, but it wasn't what I originally expected, and I wouldn't wishlist it a second time.

Game is alright, lacking in substance. Character interactions are somewhat tedious and forgettable. You can't have your own cat. The dog does close to nothing and is more of a nuisance than anything, so I tend to ignore him more often than not. However the game is enjoyable and the mechanics are easy to understand. Runs smoothly, needs an option to increase character speed. Should also be more transparent on how to get the upgraded fishing rods.

great game needs more sex though

Beautiful, introspective game that made me cry for twenty minutes straight. Perfect graphics, beautiful gameplay, characters that you can get attached to and love. However, despite how expansive Stray seems at first, there is a lot that seems to be missing; it feels as if, between Midtown and the Almost-Surface, there was some part of the game that was just somehow "cut". Clementine leaving you so that you can open the subway feels almost contrived; there is little to no reason that she should not have been able to come with you. In fact, Sentinels are even shown to be unable to open doors, if only the flying ones. Beside that, the ending feels almost unfinished. You do not see Stray meet with their family, you do not see them re-meet the robots they helped on their journey. There is something more, something left behind that you don't get to see, that you should get to see. While I didn't expect a post-game, the way that the game refuses to let you see Stray reunite with their family leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth that I can't really describe. There is also little between The Slums and Midtown. Once you are done with them... well, they just seem to "disappear".

However, beyond that, Stray is a wonderful, beautiful game. It's almost a masterpiece of storytelling, perfectly outlining the circumstances the robots live in in ways that make sense, in ways you can go back and pick apart later. When I first played I was honestly blown away by the detail put into both the characters and the environment. The only thing that is missing, to me, is the feeling of continuity between plot-points, and the ability to bring B1/2's body up into the light like they deserve.

A good game overall. Enjoyable, with nice if winding level design, an amazing art style. The music, or lack thereof, leaves something to be desired, but my perceived failing of Haiku is how hard it tries to be something it's not. A lot of it seems very firmly sourced from Hollow Knight; while yes, it's good, it mimics almost excessively. I actually felt mostly ambivalent toward this game until the near end with the deaths of two of the characters, Limerick and Verse, specifically Limerick, which was the game's "Quirrel" character, if you count the marker robot as the "Cornifer" character. I wasn't even specifically attached to Limerick, but the fact that they were removed from the game in such a boring, unfulfilling way, maybe in some effort to even still parallel Hollow Knight, very much soured my feelings toward the game. Despite that, I'd recommend it solely for the rest of the gameplay, though not for someone that is more focused on story, since the story itself was unremarkable and paled in comparison to actually exploring.

There's something to really be said about the perspective of Everhood. While compared to other games, I feel that it is much more "real". There are several themes explored here; the culpability of murder from the perspective and situation of Red and the subsequent exploration of the guilt and grief felt; the control given by looking in on Red as yourself in comparison to games like Undertale; the power you as either yourself or as Red over the other characters in Everhood.

The one grievance I have is the fact that the ending is.. odd. Many of the themes I previously mentioned are left open in exchange for a happy ending. Red is exchanged for Pink in a trade that is both unsatisfying and confusing. The devs don't seem to be certain whether they want Pink to love murder or to hate it. Your power is there, but the reason given for your power existing is contrived and so unbelievably confusing that it might as well not even be there. I would desperately recommend this game to anyone, and yet at the same time I feel like it could have resolved itself so much better than it actually did!

Gaming classic. Devs are great. You really can't find these things in Minecraft, and hell, half this game is amazing horror fuel if you let it be.