January 2022 Report
AHHHH! It’s the new year! I don’t really have a schedule set up like I did last year so I’m mostly picking games at random that would also fit themes for events, while trying to strategically assassinate my leftover backlog! Unfortunately it didn’t start super well, The Unfinished Swan was something I was super looking forward to playing and I wanted it to be my first game of the new year, and it turned out to be a huge headache and a major disappointment.
I’m trying to work on my gifted games but I don’t really recall which games of my library were given to me and what I bought, but I know six “for sure” I want to work on this year! Dishonored, Dishonored 2, The Outer Worlds, Crosscode, Planet Coaster, and Edge of Eternity! Seems like at this rate I’m never going to finish my Trails in the Sky series though… Who knows. I don’t.
Games added to backlog: 5
Games 100%: 7
Waking up in the space between worlds with no memories, you meet Orion, a spirit who has suddenly and unexpectedly fused with you temporarily - causing said amnesia - but no worries! Returning to your original world and obtaining your lost memories will make everything go back to normal, except… there seems to be four parallel worlds you may or may not belong to. Experience the Heart, Spade, Clover, and Diamond worlds, learn who you used to be, who your friends and enemies are, and experience an incredible romance; but be cautious, danger lurks in every world. Keep your missing memories a secret lest you meet a bad end.
34+ hours to complete with full voice acting, Amnesia:Memories is a pretty large VN. 4 love interests with one “true” hidden route upon reaching the good endings in the previous four worlds, minigames, galleries, extra art and extra stories, there is a lot to love. The story is very well written and I’ve only noticed two spelling errors. However, there are a few cons one should be aware of before buying. All the love interests have some pretty bad personality flaws, two or three being the worst. You die in a lot of bad ends, by the way.
I also experienced a few gameplay flaws, as none of the videos or movies worked for me, attempting to fix this by updating my drivers actually made it worse, as changing the screen size just lead to crashes.
The Unfinished Swan
Play as Monroe, a young boy recently orphaned and left with a paintbrush and single painting of a swan his mother never finished. In his first night in the orphanage, before going to bed, the swan leaves the frame and goes through a magical door that mysteriously appeared. Enter a white kingdom, splatter paint to find your way and follow the swan.
Not only is this game massively disappointing, it inspires headaches and motion sickness. The puzzles are barely that, the story is 1-3+hours long, unremarkable, the ending was inadequate, and the only reason I can think of why this game has so many positive reviews is because it’s a side story of a character in What remains of Edith Finch, Milton Finch. There is an open ending and aside from showing you what happened to Milton you learn absolutely nothing about the character you play as or interesting story elements that were shown in gameplay.
If the puzzles were better, I could give this a positive review, but they are so mind-numbingly easy you can complete them without realizing they were supposed to be an obstacle. In one notable example, you are shown this huge and elaborate maze, and I was actually excited to see and explore it to find more story text, but once you enter it, you teleport to the finish line, and you move on to the next chapter. I wish I refunded this game then.
Dogs Organized Neatly
Dogs Organized Neatly is a very relaxing and enjoyable 2D puzzle game that takes 3+ hours to complete. There are 8 chapters, 80 puzzles, and 30 dogs. None of the levels are impossible or excessively difficult, all can be completed within a few minutes. Controls are simple, right click to rotate and left click to drag. There is an optional dark mode. Overall, it was a very cute and fun experience and it’s an easy recommendation from me!
HuniePop
Alone in a bar you get picked up by a magical fairy named Kyu to be her next project; turning a loner into a playboy and helping you get a date or several. With your phone now upgraded to increase your stats and a fairy whispering tips in your ear, go after 12 targets and find your happy endings.
6-25+ hours to beat, Huniepop is a dating sim, puzzle game and RPG rolled into one. Surprisingly enjoyable, there are multiple CG’s, full voice acting, plenty of activities and match-3 games to complete. You have 12 girls to woo, 4 of them hidden until specific actions are done, each with their own fully fleshed backgrounds, personalities, likes and dislikes. Warning: This game can be a huge time sink and is not appropriate for minors.
Dream Ending
Warnings: Drug dependence, mentioned domestic violence, and casual mentions of suicide(s).
5 years ago, scientists said the sun was about to explode. Governments quickly announced the “Ark Project” where less than ten thousand people boarded a ship into space and quickly left the solar system with no direction in mind and billions of people left behind. Genesis was one such person, left behind with nothing to do for 5 years but to fill out mock exams, every day is pretty much the same… Until classmate Eva gets fed up with your listless attitude and makes you ask her out.
Face your doom together in humanity's last love story.
3-4+ hours to complete. While Dream Ending is a dark/sentimental story, it honestly wasn’t that bad. The CG’s were nice, the sprites were cute, the art is good, my only complaint is that the kiss CG was overused and had no variations. There were some basic spelling errors but they were infrequent and only one sentence was unreadable. Other than that, the voice acting was pretty good, and there is an extra story at the end you can read. Dream Ending is very cute and worth the price tag.
The Shadows of Pygmalion
Play as Mina, a young girl who discovers a doll gallery called Pygmalion and learns of the secrets hidden inside, where you gain awareness of a hidden and ongoing war to decide the direction of the world. As one of four emissaries to the Doll Ruka, destroy your opponent’s Marionettes while keeping your identity a secret to your four opponents and their Doll. Forge friendships with your three allies and make unlikely friends with your enemies, shine light on and scatter The Shadows of Pygmalion.
“Where do we come from? Where do we go?”
15+ hours to complete, The Shadows of Pygmalion is a LGBTQ+ Yuri/Girls love fully voice acted Kinetic Novel. There are 4 endings, three “bad” you need to choose before unlocking the “true” fourth ending. I loved playing, but there are a few negative aspects you should know about before committing to purchasing. The first 3+ hours are slow paced as it’s setting up the story, you get words and knowledge dumped on you that you don’t understand or know the meaning of until later on, and it can be confusing. And while I guarantee after you pass that 3+ hour mark the story gets significantly better, that’s still a big chunk of time. Regardless, I still enjoyed the rest of the KN and I absolutely recommend it!
Note: The main character and person of affection are both in high school, there is no 18+ action so if that’s what you are wanting look elsewhere, it’s all soft touches and hesitant kisses. There are no “you pick the love interest” routes.
Blush Blush
Blush Blush is an idler dating sim that is mostly a clicker game. LGBTQ+ friendly and a lot of content, raise your hobby levels to get more hearts per click and increase your jobs and get promotions for more money for gifts. Raising lover levels is rewarded with a better relationship status and eventually outfit unlocks! Go on scenic dates and collect various CG’s! Also featuring Phone Flings, where you can message guys not yet in the game.
While pretty fun, there is not really anything to do or keep you occupied after you max everything out. Despite coming out in 2019, there is a noticeable lack of new characters, and many of the outfits are locked behind a monthly sign-in reward or you buy them with Gems, which you can earn in game or buy with irl money; so while it is an idler game, you need to sign in at least twice a day to start a count down for your reward, (1hr) and then play again to collect it. Alternatively, ignore it and check in once a week.
Regardless, It’s still an enjoyable game.
The Organized Neatly games look so cute! Definitely on my list once my backlog goes down a little.. haha
The gifted games you plan to play all sound pretty good! A friend recommended CrossCode to me just the other day as well.
Congratulations on being ahead 2 games this month!
Considering it came out in 2018 I’m surprised how popular it is right now, I only heard of it a couple months ago and now a lot of people are playing and talking about it. I suppose I know what I’ll be playing then?
removes The Unfinished Swan from wishlist
Congrats on your assassinations!
Thank you~ I would recommend watching a gameplay video instead from someone who has played before if you liked Edith Finch and want to find out more about a side character in it, otherwise it’s not a super enjoyable game.
Congrats on all your assassinations! It does seem that The Unfinished Swan is rather disappointing especially when you compare it to Edith Finch side-by-side. CrossCode is a pretty massive game that I plan to tackle this year too. Good luck!
Thank you~ I actually bought Edith Finch but seeing how absolutely disappointing The Unfinished Swan was I just refunded it and watched some gameplay instead. Tbh, I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed that game either, I like my happy endings.
There are so many side quests in Crosscode, I’ve barely gotten into the second map I keep getting distracted. last time I played I had to chase a goat. That was a thing.