Jan 2022
I See Humans But No Humanity. Everybody Is Somebody But No One Wants To Be Themselves. - LiS: BtS
There’s so much in transition while I try to slither into a new job and new life. This was the last month where I was able to focus on my Steam library. I both have excess time and yet no time at all. In the mean time, here is the January report.
Top Games of the Month
Yakuza 3 Remastered
BlazBlue: Centralfiction
Life is Strange: Before the Storm
Human Resource Machine
Another great entry in the Blazblue series but has one glaring issue that could affect fans of the series.
Let’s get down to business. Blazblue is a great 2D fighting game. The fighting mechanics are solid and smooth, a large roster of characters, and a lot of different modes and supplements. There is a story mode that feels far more weighted on the VN side of things with very limited battle segments. There are, of course, still alternative gag routes (though far more limited than usual) and side stories including running gags from previous titles. The arcade mode got a little more interesting in that there are 3 separate arcade timelines. This means you can pick a character for each mode and get three separate endings for the same character along with different character events. They also reincluded a library of information to refresh your memory on various terms, characters, etc. though some entries were not as expansive as I would like.
There were 2 general issues I had with this game. The first being that the sprites looked slightly more pixelated and less smooth from previous entries. The second, and by far the biggest, is that it was never (and will never, in this release of the game) be dubbed. Now, I don’t have problems with subtitles and different languages, but I have grown to associate each character with the stellar dubbed voice work from the past few entries. Despite, in the grand scheme, being somewhat minor it was such a huge disappointment to me to the point that I had to put the game down for a while as I could not adjust to the change right away.
Lewd? Suggestive as always, but nothing explicit.
Recommend? Yes, despite the lack of dubbed voices and maybe rougher sprites, the game is still fun to play, and it was great to see the finale of the story arc.
Having an itch to check out COD Zombies again, I decided to give a newer title a try. Though there are no major grievances, there are also no major appraises either. This did really feel like “just another COD” game.
Going back to WWII we get a much more cinematic game that gives the feel of, well, a WWII movie. You start off with the traditional beach of Normandy mission and go across France taking on various battles and objectives. The game is fairly traditional FPS with some team cooldowns that let you grab ammo and health from key teammates. There are also some vehicle missions which are generally just okay as well as some stealth and spy sections that do give a nice change of pace throughout the game even though the stealth mechanics feel kind of shoddy.
The new(er) cinematic approach to this game does not feel right. It really feels like I’m watching a movie than playing a game. Although I do enjoy the crazy improved graphics, the heavy emphasis on cinematics takes too much from the game while the style of narrative was not to my appeal. The stealth sections feel like they have wonky cones of detection and either you are seen through an obstacle, or you could walk right past somebody, shoot someone, and the other person would not have noticed. Most missions were generally generic. I will give credit that the missions in the forest were actually kind of nice but wasted with limitations and unenjoyable bunker segments. The game also kind of comes to an abrupt end and is telling of the style of narrative they went for.
Lewd? Nope.
Recommend? It had moments, but generally was not a very memorable experience.
A side story that not only completely reboots the rest of the Castlevania series to fit the Lord of Shadows new direction, but at the same time takes a return to the classic Castlevania 2D gameplay. Unfortunately, the attempt to bridge the gap leaves all attempts lacking and unenjoyable.
The story is spread across several well-known characters reimagined for their scenario. Each scenario is short and gives limited abilities. The gameplay is clunky but not terrible. You do eventually get abilities to assist you along the way, but the difference between upgrades and required abilities is not stated clearly. This leads to the fact that most of the areas are poorly designed that are either too basic or needlessly long and tedious. Boss Battles are decent for the most part. The worst part is the story. It’s one thing to remake the story into something new. It’s another to totally bastardize it. It’s only worse when they introduce several plot points and background characters that don’t ever resolve or are ever explained throughout the game.
Lewd? Aside from a suggestive succubus and alluring temptations, nothing lewd.
Recommend? No, though this does expand on some ideas brought exclusively in LoS2 it really doesn’t add anything at all and should be skipped.
A strong beginning only for it to slowly wither into mediocrity. Taking place almost immediately after the time skip at the end of the first game, we find Gabriel now transformed into the creature of the night in the modern world. The game keeps a lot of the hack and slash combat and improves upon it. The game does also include sneaking sections at first which were kinda cool, but the necessity of it falls very quickly and becomes much more of an annoyance as your power grows the need to hide from the same enemies should decrease. Story is okay for the most part. It has some questionable moments, but nothing spectacular. What the game does best is combat. Combat with regular enemies, and especially boss battles are easily the peak of this game. The issues rise outside of combat. You are bestowed powers and mana bars per power type. These are used to traverse the lands; however, your mana does not regenerate outside of battle, and you can be locked out of areas without some sort of way to refill (either by battle or very scarce generators). Travelling between areas, especially with the weird concept of travelling form the modern era back to the cognitive past castle of Dracula to be awkward and loosely fitting.
All in all, the combat is enjoyable, but the general journey becomes so very weary and tiresome.
Lewd? Perhaps Carmilla, but not much past that.
Recommend? I’m a bit mixed as the game looks great and when it plays well it feels great, but there just ends up being so much wrong with everything around it. For those uninvested in the Lords of Shadows games, mild pass.
Programming, or more accurately, machine assembly language-based game that requires your ability to learn and apply basic concepts the game teaches you to take the inbox, manipulate, and outbox the desired results without error. I was impressed with the complexity the game had to offer in puzzles. Even more impressive is that the game knows when you use faulty logic despite being able to solve that particular instance. I.e., If you happen to solve the specific problem given, but only works for a limited number of samples, the game knows and will have you retry with samples that your solution cannot be applied to. This forces accurate solutions regardless of how simple or overly complex you make them.
There is the usual charm from this developer included a background story that doesn’t particularly matter but is nice to have.
Lewd? Nope, work hard for your hard-earned promotions to the upper floors.
Recommend? Yes, absolutely enjoyed wracking my brain trying to figure out a working solution and going crazy on why it doesn’t work. (It really is like programming).
A surprisingly short turn-based game focused on stealth instead of combat. Control and upgrade multiple agents against an ever-increasing alert timer and formidable enemies. Use gadgets, elements of surprise, and hacking to give you the advantage over difficult and limited odds. You are always on a timer both in location and the over map as you have limited days and each destination costs you x days but offers specific rewards depending on the location you choose. What the game makes up for shortness is replay ability with various difficulties, modes, and new game plus options. There is a story and unless there is some secret I missed, it kind of just happens with no satisfying resolution.
Lewd? Nope.
Recommend? Yes, for a cheap price preferably due to length.
It’s GTA if it was set in South America with 80’s action hero Antonio Bandera as lead character, undercover CIA agent set to overthrow a dictatorship. Though it does introduce new mechanics that separate it from you GTA styled open world gameplay (car surfing and grapple hooking to vehicles) they are laughably bad and rarely work the way you wish. Trying to reel into a car often leads you to land far too early and grappling to a plan either gets you shot or misses entirely. Jumping from car to car is entirely inaccurate.
The physics in general are wonky at best and multiple situations have occurred where vehicles got caught undermine rendering my mobility of a required vehicle impossible. Gunplay is fine nothing special and most missions are decent. However, the final charge for the last mission is an absolute slog. Even though the ending sequence was insane and over the top it was completely drowned by the frustration of what came before.
Lewd? Bikini venue, but nothing intense.
Recommend? It has some charm, but I’d bet that later games vastly improve both physics and gameplay. I’d say pass on this.
A sort of reboot of the “Boomer Shooter” games that takes place many years before the events of the original. Still serving as an FPS game it updates it with new weapons and a more fleshed out sword/skill system. This not only includes multiple sword skills but sort of ki skills to attack and defend. Gameplay is fine enough if not a little clunky at times. I found a lot of the skills can be kind of useless or mediocre and the explanation of each can also be unclear.
There is some this game does well (gameplay in general), but there is so much more that it does unwell. Biggest is performance issues, especially in menu. Major stuttering and lagging, going from menu to menu. On top of that there are just way too many tabs and different menus. Several for every skill, upgrade, etc. I also cannot care for the story. On one hand it can be a decent carefree wild ride, on the other hand it can take itself very seriously on a turn with flimsy plot devices and questionable motives. There is also some issue with direction on tasks, very few, but when they did happen, I found myself stuck for a while. Bosses also feel very repeated and unimaginative while weapons in these scenarios feel limited and weak.
Lewd? Innuendos, but nothing for Wang’s wang.
Recommend? Honestly, I would pass on this. It’s a bit of a poor reboot.
A VN that wants to pretend it is much more than that. You command a grand one-of-a-kind spaceship as you explore the galaxy and gather more crew. Your choices determine who joins your crew, what opportunities you have, and the end result of each expedition you take. There are also mechanics such as weapons and hull integrity. Despite the game putting a lot of emphasis about those to the player… they are rarely used with limited interactions and importance. There are some okay missions, mostly generic or based on other forms of sci-fi media. More than a few feel wasted, as if there were other options secretly available to complete, but never fully implemented. Essentially incomplete missions only able to fail or ignore. Over arching story, if I could call it that, is pretty non-existent with no satisfying resolution. You can of course romance your various crew with possibilities of absolutely failing all future chances. These will not only unlock lewd scenes, but potentially new quests.
Lewd? Crew dating, limited and relatively tame.
Recommend? No, fairly bland and puts on a fake coat of paint only to lie the bland content it has in store.
Puzzle platformer with dark humor. You are a resistant test subject whose sole purpose is to fail various puzzle experiments set by a man in the shadows. As you explore the building further and enter each puzzle area, you find the chance to free your fellow clones and master new gadgets. Decent overall, but nothing that makes it stand out.
Lewd? Nope
Recommend? Decent, but nothing extraordinary. Get for a discount.
Coming off Kiwami 2, this felt like whiplash. I was not prepared to go to an older format with limited controls, fluidity, and gameplay. There’s a lot to chew here so prepare for a big meal.
The story picks up after 2 where Kiryu retreats to Okinawa where he runs an orphanage with Haruka. Unfortunately, Kiryu cannot seem to keep his head low enough as he is brough back into the fray. The biggest issue with the game is pacing. The game starts slow, which is fine as it sets up his simple life has owner of an orphanage and love for the children there. The story heats up once he leaves the orphanage. The problem is every time he returns to the orphanage, all of the major and time sensitive issues seem to just go away and your back to slice of life Kiryu where everything just slows back down. That’s right before you leave again, and it picks back up at full throttle. Not to mention the game literally sits you down for almost an hour straight just to spit plot at you. (You literally sit in a room and just go through the text prompts to get more background on all of the important plot points). At the end it does even out and there are a few great characters and moments throughout the game despite this lack of smooth pacing.
The combat, well, it’s just not going to be any of the Kiwami combat that we may have grown used to. It’s much more simple and a little more rough. A lot of the basics are there, but you’ll always be missing the new flavors. Towards the end the gap between the Kiwami games does fill out a little bit and becomes less noticeable and/or just got used to it.
Sadly, the greatest tragedy of all… the minigames are just so much worse. This might actually have been the first Yakuza game where I skipped nearly all of the minigames because they were generally uninteresting. I may be grieving this more than I should, but that’s because the Cabaret Club Management minigame was the greatest disappointment of all. Instead of managing multiple girls and tables, you manage 1 girl across a few separate time segments. Basically dress her up to a specific stat, send her out, follow her out and see how she is doing and eavesdrop what the crowd wants. Next segment hits, adjust to crowd preferences, rinse and repeat. The worst part of this is that there are so many hidden adjustments inside each customization not only including type of looks, but also the colors you add to them. This unnecessarily makes this minigame more of a time sink just to learn what each color and customization changes for even semi-optimal gameplay.
Lewd? We do get Hawaiian Shirt Kiryu and buff shirtless men, but no lewd.
Recommend? Despite being slightly weaker entry due to being so dated, by the end of the game it really comes around. I’d still recommend it, but maybe a part of the remaster bundle.
Gifted to me by a wonderful person in the community, I got to pick back up my power gloves and become Hackerman again. I loved having to return to this game as it always makes me wish I made different choices in school and further pursued a career in Ethical Hacking. Obviously, the job wouldn’t be nearly as exciting as this game, but the actual methods of hacking are pretty dang accurate.
Immediately the DLC was a little hard to activate, I actually ended up lost in a separate add-on until I finally looked it up. Once I finally managed to start it up, it was more of the same which is not a bad thing. You do get a few more software tools to take on new types of obstacles, as well as improved versions of tools in the main game. There is a little subplot to the game and there is a decent amount of content in here. Best of all, no DLC achievements so you never feel forced to get this expansion (even though you really should).
Lewd? Nope. Plenty of bits, but no ti-.
Recommend? Yes! Absolutely great addition for the base game.
This game was praised for unique storytelling and narrative. Undoubtedly the game is unique in some of these aspects, but I’m not sure I can say it is overly enthralling. You are a user with access to a police database with a collection of clips of a woman being interviewed on her life and her missing husband. Use keywords to search for a set number of clips. Play and use these clips to piece together the story. Once you found all the right clips, you will be able to close out the tale.
Undoubtedly, there was not a game such as this. That told a narrative in this way. Unfortunately, I feel it could use some revision. The keyword search system is fine, but the sorting of clips and the clips themselves can be fairly useless. For example, there were several clips assigned with the word “Yes” and they were all a couple seconds long of her replying, “Yes.” Since there is no audio of the interviewer, these clips are pretty much useless fluff in the database.
Lewd? Some explicit talk, but nothing terrible.
Recommend? Though it’s not a typical game, it certainly is an experience most should try.
Why do feeling exist and why does this game try it’s very hardest to pull them (unwillingly) out of me. A prequel to the smash it Life is Strange, this tells the tale of Chloe’s transformation as we know her in 1 and the story behind her and Rachel Amber. Though you learn of Rachel through background knowledge and some experience from Chloe in 1, it is nice to finally get some more experience with her character and her story in this universe. If there’s anything this game does well, it’s the ability to recreate what it’s like to be a rebellious the teenager. The angst, pain, sorrow, and day to day moments of someone who feels to be an outcast and going through trauma of several varieties. So strong of capturing emotions I could feel all of mine bubbling to the surface and waiting to be released.
As those who have played the first LiS game, you know a core mechanic was time manipulation. However, that wouldn’t really work in Chloe’s case, instead her mechanic is in certain conversations to initiate a sort of speech battle where you have to perfectly insult and challenge the other person in order to win the argument. It’s not as exciting as time powers, but it does fit the character well. My only greater grief is that there is a romance option that is determined by far too early of a choice. SO much so that I think if you go for the romance option it both does not fit your character very well nor does it fit a good transition for a relationship. Other than that, the story is very solid.
Lewd? Nope?
Recommend? Yes, despite knowing how everything will end by the time LiS begins, it was an emotional journey (so much so that it’s almost a negative point for me).
A great remake of a classic trilogy that I had grown up playing. It was interesting to see how the mechanics and game have aged and how differently I view them now. The first of the trilogy being exceptionally solid with very few issues with some level designs but next to non-existent bosses. My biggest issue with the remake is the redesign of some (if not most) of the dragons. They just start to become too unique and even have a hipster barista dragon (it may just be my age, but it did bother me more than it probably should have). Spyro 2 has much more memorable bosses but starts to lack in more of the level design. Spyro 3 has even more memorable bosses, but levels become far too big and start to incorporate loading to other areas and other playable characters. This takes away from the enjoyable bite sized levels of the first game.
Lewd? Nope
Recommend? Despite some minor grievances it is an exceptional remaster and great for both new and old players of the series.
Point-and-Click adventure with cheap graphics and cheap jokes. Frankly, I couldn’t care less for the story or the adventure. There were some decent moments, but it could not keep my interest.
Lewd? Innuendo, but no.
Recommend? Not really. It felt dated visually and in writing.
I was surprised to see the port handled fairly well on PC despite my previous experience on the Xbox. If you aren’t aware this is one of the great games of the stealth variety. You are a super-agent with only one objective, do what it takes to ensure the safety of the USA. This primarily involves stealth, espionage, and the likes of covert operations. Though stealth games existed before this, this one revolutionized it. Variable movement speeds, light detection, advanced sound detection, etc. Though not perfect it certainly was leagues above what was available during it’s time. Missions are generally well designed and creates intrigue.
Lewd? The groans when he heals is questionable, but no lewds.
Recommend? Yes, a classic in terms of stealth based games and handles exceptionally with mouse and keyboard.
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Umbrella Chronicles
In some ways a remake of the classic Resident Evil 0, 1, and 3 video games turned rail shooter. The stories are slightly reimagined to fit those format but it should be viewed as an interesting way to, again, enjoy the series in a new light rather than any potential changes to continuity. The great thing about this is that aside from the chapters that focus on retelling what already existed in previous games, but bonus chapters that elaborate on behind the scenes happenings that fit the cannon and give us more to characters we may not have gotten enough time with.
Any issues this game has is due to the system and hardware of the time. The light gun does not like to keep consistent calibration nor accurate readings when it came to certain actions. The game itself also does force poor camera angles at times and really unforgiving quick time events.
Lewd? Nope
Recommend? Yes, though due to limitations of availability hope there is a well done port/remaster of the game.
Shining Pearl
In an era of remakes we eventually got to 4th gen Pokemon games. There were a lot of complaints, but honestly, the remake did what just a remake needs to do. Take a game with aged graphics and overhaul it completely. They did just that and even threw in some quality of life changes involving HMs. I also personally liked the sort of chibi graphics of characters in the overworld, though it does belittle the very terrorist-like antagonists. I only wish the included Platinum in this as it is the greater version of 4th gen.
Lewd? Nope
Recommend? Yes. It doesn’t reinvent the system nor make any huge changes or fixes, but it does bring some quality of life on a new set of graphics.
I only wish the included Platinum in this as it is the greater version of 4th gen.
If Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee is any indication, the Platinum remake will be after the Emerald remake, which will be after the Crystal remake (which is next if they keep their current trajectory).
Also if they keep their current trajectory: the remake of Sun/Moon would be almost immediately followed by the remake of Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon; that would be funny.
Yeah that’s true. They have yet to remake/remaster the third game of each gen even since FireRed and LeafGreen so maybe that is some indication.
Another impressive report! Thanks for all the detailed reviews.
I’ve only played Just Cause myself. I definitely think that the following games improve massively on the first title, although it’s not a bad game. And it’s fairly short! The last mission though…I hated it too. I wished the mission was different.
Good luck with your new job and new life :)
Thank you!
I definitely enjoyed my time with Just Cause, but it definitely has some flaws. Yeah, the last mission… but I do look forward to trying the others.
Thank you kindly! Hopefully it will be filled with even more backlog killing.