July 2025 Progress Report
Edit: I REACHED 200 CURATOR FOLLOWS I’M SO HAPPY - I made some fun giveaways to celebrate!!
Whoops, failed my resolution of four games a month, I’ll try to fix it with five games next month!
Cyberdimension 4 Goddess online was easily the best game in the series for me, the voice actors changed but the gameplay was really fun - the parry system in particular was satisfying to use and there is a pretty significant skill variety and plenty of bosses to fight. Biggest con was the need to grind for boss drops, I frequently purchased a 50% item drop buff and I would get them like, 1/5th of the time - so I ended up fighting an extreme version of the final boss solo since your NPC party members suck at blocking. On the wings was a snowball, and admittedly, my expectations were so low they could have been a tripping hazard. It was better than expected, a lot of effort went into it, clearly, but it’s not an incredible indie gem, but worth checking out if you just wanna fly on a bunch of dragons - or play Falconeer. The Silver Case was a recommendation from a friend, and it probably could have been solved 10 hours earlier if I utilized the auto-solve function for puzzles, but I opted to try and learn Caesar ciphers and the other puzzle mechanisms. It plays more like a VN than anything, and it was a bit disappointing there was no real investigations on your part - it’s linear with one ending - but still a nice if surreal game.
For August, I’m planning on Dead Forest, but the schedule isn’t firm yet. I’ll probably get into Tales of Arise or something.
Total games added to backlog: 3 (The Silver Case, Song of Farca, Jurrastic Park 2)
Total completed: 3
The four CPU’s – Neptune, Noire, Blanc, and Vert – who rule over their nations have been chosen as Beta Testers for 4 Goddess Online, a game inspired by their own legends. The online world, Alsgard, is in danger; thousands of years ago four divine goddesses united to create their own peaceful, flourishing realm and planted Leanverde, the World Tree, to grow and become Alsgard’s source of magical power. Dark forces invaded seeking to harness Leanverde’s power for their own use and were subsequently sealed away at a great cost – the weakened goddesses vanished from their shared realm to return to their homelands. Now, thousands of years later, the seal holding back the demons is breaking and four heroes must venture forth to resummon the goddesses and fight alongside them to restore peace to Alsgard!
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20-40 hours to complete, Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online is a pretty solid single-player open world MMORPG with a completely optional online multiplayer available. Unlike previous turn-based Neptune titles, Cyberdimension features real-time strategy with a pretty extensive combat, magic, and parrying system that allows a more flexible variation of combat than I was anticipating. Each party member is a different class with their own skillsets, so you’re free to switch the party leader to your class preference and change party members to suit your ideal types of support. The way you defeat enemies is the same as in previous titles, where you “break” their guard to stagger them and do significant damage. Still, I’m very pleased to mention that there is significantly more enemy variety that’s not just a recolored mob, and more unique bosses with skillsets that reflect their themes. I’m really happy to say you can 100% this game in one playthrough with no missable achievements unless you completely disregard leveling your party members. You don’t need any knowledge of any previous games or characters to play this one.
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Now for a few cons! Keyboard and mouse controls are rough, there are just too many commands, skills, and movement keys to manage smoothly. Despite my intense dislike of using a controller on a PC game, I strongly suggest using one as remapping keys is a headache and will get pretty complicated really fast. Second, boss drops are essential for upgrading late game equipment but even if you spend your gold on a 50% item drop buff, you were lucky to get one in 1/4 attempts – either my luck was garbage or the drop rates are abysmal making the final guild quests pretty complicated as I and my adventuring party were depressingly underequipped. They usually died as they don’t really block or dodge the obviously telegraphed instant-kill boss attacks. That said, Cyberdimension Neptunia is easily my favorite game in the series so far, and I highly recommend it whether you’re a hardcore Neptunia fan or a casual player looking for an JRPG adventure.
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On the Wings - Birth of a Hero
3 – 7 hours to complete, On the Wings – Birth of a Hero is an open-world RPG where you choose to play as either Bruce or Ursula, a pair of siblings who soar into an adventure after rescuing their first winged companion from hunters. There is a variety of quests, enemies, general wildlife, and dungeons to explore. While you play, you will gradually unlock eight unique dragons, each with distinct designs, flavor texts, and elemental attacks. While your dragon can handle most threats the game has to offer, you are free to dismount and take up your axe and shield to level independently from them. There is also a day and night cycle, adding a little atmospheric variety to your travels.
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I’ll admit, my expectations going into this game were pretty low. Made by a single developer, I expected bugs, at least one softlock, and a clunky design – and while the game is not exactly smooth in some situations, I was genuinely surprised to find a fully fledged game complete with real gameplay and combat mechanics, a storyline with a beginning and end, side quests, and a final boss! The quests in particular were engaging and not repetitive, and of course, the dragons were a huge highlight. Each one not only looks distinct, but they all play slightly differently as some are tankier, some hit harder, and others boast flashy elemental attacks that change depending on if they are in the air or on the ground. Each dragons have their own level, so you can pick your favorite and level them to increase their health and mana.
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While there are some obvious cons, like the graphics are not exactly top notch, night time in the game is WAY too dark (Seriously, the grass turns pitch-black), and the grammar is off – it’s clear that a ton of effort and care went into it. There are seven languages (English, Spanish, Japanese, Russian, Turkish, German, and “Chineese”) to pick from, and lots of little details. Despite never needing to swim at any point in the game, your dragon can swim, you can swim, and the village is oddly detailed despite you rarely needing to be in it. It’s a cheap, fun, low-risk experience that’s easy to recommend, and ultimately, getting the game or not boils down to one question – wanna fly around on a dragon?
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The Silver Case
17-25 hours to complete, The Silver Case is a surreal, dystopian visual novel with supernatural elements mixed with a bit of science fiction. You play as a mute former Special Ops Agent scouted by the Metropolitan Police Department after the destruction of your entire squad, with you, an unknown with no government records, as the sole survivor. Now rehired as a detective, investigate the city’s most heinous and disturbing cases.
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After each case, you unlock its “Placebo” counterpart, an accompanying chapter told by Tokio Morishima, an unlucky journalist. I suggest you play these chapters as soon as you unlock them, as they don’t just expand on what just happened; they clarify it. Due to the games fever dream vibes where everything is cryptic, confusing, disorienting - and due to the dystopian tag, the logical action to a situation was often the wrong thing, so what’s normal tends to slip a bit. There is weird, and then there is Silver Case Weird. It’s definitely not a traditional story as it is a bunch of layered experiences you won’t fully comprehend until you look at a guide, which is why even though I recommend it, I would not suggest a casual gamer to play this at all. Only to those who seek the surreal.
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Congratz,
Having way too much RPG game from Idea Factory pretty close to this Nev one (Hyperdimension Neptunia I & II / Fairy Fancer F / Trillion: God of Destruction / Death End Re:Quest / Moero Chronicle), and don’t even completed one …
I’ll have to start my Nep quest soon enough as I’ve managed to by all the games without actually playing a single one over the years.
Glad you seemed to enjoy the Silver Case, though I would have liked to have read more of your experiences in the game, limiting spoilers of course, as you mostly state what it is rather than your challenges, emotions, connections, etc.
Congrats on your backlog progress.
Valid, that second paragraph is definitely lacking. I rushed to post it before the BLAEO report, so I’ll probably end up editing it.
Thank you~
Three. Four. It’s all good either way.
You had a very solid month. And looks like a very solid August is on the way as well.
Eh, bought three finished three. I didn’t make any progress this month, I suppose. Song of Farca should be shorter.
Workin on planning for August, I want them to fit the PAGYWOSG category