Forgive me backlog, for I have bought.
…I’ve bought a lot.
But I swear, my wishlist’s game count will go below 500 eventually… yeah.
FEBRUARY 2019 (FIRST HALF) LIST
I beat 5 games (+1 non-steam) in the first half of February
Man, that one took a solid chunk of my time. It’s a pretty simplistic JRPG with fanservice at its core. The fanservice is an integral part of the gameplay and it’s also kinda in-your-face at that. Nothing like borderline-h stuff, but it has a few nudge-nudge wink-wink moments. Although if you won’t download the community patch, all the hinting and ero stuff gets even tamer, as I’ve heard. Instead of “”””punishing”””” girls (it’s more like the most harmless and innocent SM you can imagine, and it’s mostly ideas without any actual imagery), you’re “motivating” them. It would’ve made more sense, if it wasn’t for the fact that the girls are delinquents-sinners in hell, and you’re supposed to reform them, so… yeah. Obviously, their “sins” are hilariously inoffensive up to the point where they straight-up don’t even make sense.
But that to be expected, since you’re supposed to symphatize with the girls’ cast. The cast is pretty solid and cute. Ran’s my favorite girl and, coincidentally, pretty much the most useful girl in the game you’ll find yourself using in most of the combinations. Almost all of her moves are ridiculously great.
The story is, as expected, nothing to write home about, but there’s quite an interesting combat system based on luck and the bare minimum of strategy. On every turn you can use one item, swap one girl with another if needed, and choose one of the four options suggested by the girls. The options presented are often pretty contextual and based on the fight’s situation, but it has its fair share of randomness once in a while.
I’ve beaten the post-end content (although it’s more like the second half of the game, to be fair), and now I just have to beat one of the old bosses six times to unlock some girls’ individual endings that happen before you plunge into the second half of the game. I think I’ll get to it later that month, but now I need a break, I’ve wasted pretty much all of my free time on that game already.
Slightly horror-ish roguelike action game in the greek mythology setting, loosely (very much so) based on the labyrinth of the minotaur myth. You guide Theseus through the dark-ass levels, avoiding the monsters roaming around, looking for keys and finding an exit to the next level.
It’s not as scary when you get used to it and realize that speed is often way more effective than stealth. Levels are always randomly generated. Although they turn out fine for the most part, sometimes you can get stuck in various places or just enter the level right in front of the monster. The game is kinda clunky and rough around the edges, but I had fun, running through those dark tunnels can get your blood pumping.
Just like with Criminal Girls, I’ll leave the last achievement for later. But much later though, getting through 15 levels in the infinite loop in a row seems like a pain the ass for now.
Well, that was… something. Essentially it’s one of those artsy games. Apparent depression, self-harm themes - you know, the usual stuff. The imagery is good and sets the right tone. Gameplay-wise it’s a sidescroller with occasional sort-of-bullethell and straight-up shoot’em up segments. Sounds weird, but that’s just because it is. The game is as far from being straightforward and clear about what you supposed to do as it gets, but that’s to be expected.
The only problem that spoiled the whole impression about the game (which was not that good already) is that weird decision about making your game crash if you die on the last boss (maybe other bosses do that too, I honestly don’t know). As in “start the game all over again”. Playing through this gruelling slog again just to see a picture of an ending for ten seconds? Which is not even that impressive compared to the previous imagery? Come on. Art and frustration rarely mesh together well, you know.
Just a little game that reminds me somewhat of Ecco the Dolphin, being stuck in the middle of adorable-animals-cutesy aesthetic and disturbing one, being neither former or latter in a proper way. The result is pretty good. This game is literally based on a school project and is way too short and competent enough for me to actually criticize it for anything, so I’ll say it was okay and just leave it at that.
These achievements seem like a pain the ass though, so I’m not going to try getting them anytime soon.
“For the best experience, please turn on the volume. Headphones recommended” was like a glaring jumpscare warning for me - and what do you know, I was right.
But I actually really liked that one a lot. Lately, some games started popping up featuring the concept of using someone else’s phone (akin to found footage movie genre, I guess?) to figure something out. I wouldn’t go as far as calling it some sort of blow-up since there’s not so many of them actually, but: A Normal Lost Phone and Another Lost Phone (haven’t played these yet), Replica (the direction it was going for was way too predictable and as unsubtle as it gets, had it’s moments, but meh overall), and now Simulacra and it’s free-to-play sequel (?) which I’m definitely gonna play.
This one is well-made, it can be suspenseful and also hilarious, and also (thankfully) doesn’t boil down to just another bland “HURR DURR TECHNOLOGY BAD”, adding an interesting twist to the mix. I somehow managed to get the best ending on the first try. There were parts that felt unnatural/not plausible, some of the acting was kinda bad, almost all jumpscares were as cheap as they get (as they all are, if you ask me), but overall it was a surprisingly fun experience. I’ll definitely get back to it to get the other endings and achievements and I’ll check the next game as well.
I’ve also finished non-Steam Hello Charlotte: Delirium - Second game in the Hello Charlotte (or not) universe. It’s short and mildly psychodelic. The first one was better, but it’s fine since the whole game is pretty much just a little B-Side, so that’s to be expected.
My plans for the second part of February:
1) Get the rest of achievements for Criminal Girls and Simulacra
2) Play Hello Charlotte EP2: Requiem Aeternam Deo
3) Play Bioshock Remastered (pls don’t crash pls pls pls)
4) Maybe try The Grandfather by the same guys who did The Lady, see if it’s any better?
5) Actually try to clean your backlog I mean you’re buying more than you beat every freaking time come on man I’m begging on my knees here
1314 games to go!