Amitte

Progress report: March ‘24 (a.k.a. My Head Is Spinning…)

The two things worth mentioning about this month: I subbed to Game Pass again and I rushed to complete all the games I picked out for the Eight to Infinity! Eight Years of BLAEO event… so I didn’t commit fully to either. I like themes/events, but I’m looking forward to not feeling the pressure anymore ^^;;

Cats and Seek: Osaka - What a great example of a copycat (pun not intended) that improves on the original concept! This game isn’t nearly as heavy as 100 hidden frogs 2 (though heavier than all its predecessors), but it ran without issues on my laptop. Movement isn’t restricted to just up and down and it’s possible to zoom in quite a lot (which really helps, cause those cats can get tiny!). There also seems to be an option to change the colors of each (?) aspect of the game, which may be helpful if you experience eye strain or are colorblind. The BGM seems to be longer than the ones in the 100 hidden… series, and if it isn’t, at least it’s more pleasant to the ear. I’ll be keeping my eye on this series.

Fresh Start Cleaning Simulator - I happily welcome this new subgenre of first-person… shooters…? where you care for and clean stuff (think Slime Rancher or PowerWash Simulator)… but this just wasn’t it. Right from the start, it felt like it was taking too long to complete a single level. The upgrades alleviated that feeling somewhat, but each and every level will still take you about an hour. This is purely a “me” complaint, but the game was rather sluggish in some of the levels; it would only run better after getting rid of all the dirt. Going back to the upgrades: I think there’s too many of them and they get too expensive as time goes on. Even though the later levels are filled to the brim with dirt piles and have a bunch of plants that need watering, you won’t be able to get the last few updates (some of which sound pretty cool, I can’t lie), even if you complete all the levels perfectly. Even if you were, though, there just wouldn’t be enough levels to use them on. A simple fix for this would be to restructure the whole upgrade tree, lowering the prices and removing the unnecessary upgrades (let’s be honest, locking the ability to use bots without having to pick them up and put them down over and over is like YouTube locking the ability to watch videos with the screen locked behind their premium membership - it should be a basic feature and I am not willing to debate anyone about this). Overall, I would say that this game is very repetitive - and before you stop me - it’s just that this particular kind of loop wasn’t very exciting to me in the long run. Destroying the piles of dirt and vacuuming up the trash was the best part every time, the miscellaneous tasks (aka “find x and use it to fix y”, etc.) were okay, though they could use higher rewards for upgrades’ sake, but as soon as I was done with all that and saw that there was still about 30% to be done in the whole map and it’s all plants that need to be watered, I died a little inside. Weirdly enough, destroying the dirt piles counts towards the overall progress, but sucking up trash doesn’t? And when it comes to watering plants, the bot that can help you is really hit-or-miss, even when upgraded to the max - sometimes you can set it down, and it’ll water everything perfectly, other times, it’ll try really hard to reach that one tree or bush that was lumped in right behind the other plants that are already watered, and by god will it try and fail. Combined with the fact that I also tried using it in spots it wouldn’t be done with in the next few seconds, it’s just a point of unnecessary frustration I have with this supposedly chill game. Somehow, everything about this game feels like it was a matter of learning the formula and reproducing it - something something, corporate version of a cozy game. I don’t like being this negative about a game that just needs some more love, but… Island Saver was actually made in collaboration with a big company, and yet its gameplay loop is far more engaging.

Not Tonight - If you already played Papers, Please and you’re aching for more document inspecting action, Not Tonight is the game for you. Heck, that’s the reason why I wanted to dislike it… but in the end, it really wasn’t that bad. Anyway, Not Tonight is set in a fictionalized version of a modern day United Kingdom, where a xenophobic prime minister is gradually coming into power… and in turn, the Brits are prejudiced against foreigners from any and all corners of Europe. You can choose one of the few prewritten backstories for your character, but from what I understand, no matter the identity of your relatives, you were born British - until everyone around started ignoring that fact for their own comfort, that is. That has to be the best and worst part of the writing - people so vehemently ignorant of all your character stands for, they made me genuinely frustrated. I’m pretty sure I would have hurt somebody eventually if I had to endure that kind of treatment in real life. Since you’re presumed to be a “dirty Euro”, you have to prove your worth to the country by working as a bouncer for a multitude of venues throughout 2018. Thankfully, the game only has three chapters, so you see the beginning, the middle and the end of that year. It was surprisingly confusing to have to account for the year discrepancy at all times! There are a handful of tasks to do on the side to ensure a comfortable completion. I actually missed a few of these, because I was trying to avoid using a guide, but I managed to get just enough done to not have to go back. (I shudder at the thought!) I liked that each venue had its own distinct feel, especially considering that the music used for each and every one was royalty-free. The guest lists featuring some celebrity and fictional character names was a nice touch, too. If I could change anything, I’d remove the ability for characters who aren’t eligible for entry to push back, as it can waste a lot of time (yeah, I’m aware there’s a costume that does that, but from what I’ve read, wearing it will negatively affect Jupp’s opinion of you) and I can’t say I’m a fan of being told to “just die” by some rando whose ID was expired. I’ll be on a lookout for the sequel whenever I get the inspection itch again.

Richard & Alice - In a world plagued by eternal snowfall, Richard and Alice are prisoners. But they’re not locked up in any old prison - if anything, it looks more like a facility designed to keep people trapped under the guise of providing a shelter from the snow. That being said, Richard and Alice are no ordinary survivors, and this is the story of why. At first, you’re introduced to and assume control of Richard, which would make you think that he’s the protagonist, but after Alice appears at the prison and starts telling Richard her story, you quickly realize that most of the game is going to play out from her POV. There’s a lot more talking than there is point-and-clicking, which wouldn’t be too bad if the writing wasn’t sub-par. Richard and Alice feel like they were written by the same person more than they feel like characters that could stand on their own, and Barney, Alice’s son… he’s just too childish for his age. He’d be going to grade school in less than a year in some countries and you’re telling me he doesn’t know that the past tense of “bring” is “brought”? While there isn’t much puzzling to be done here, the latter half of the game has Alice and Barney wandering around a rather big stretch of the outside world… which would also be okay, if the view wasn’t so zoomed in, with the camera lazily trailing after Alice as she traipses around at a comparable speed (can’t walk faster if you can’t see where you’re going!) I don’t know how creating these locations worked in AGS, but from the player’s standpoint, the size of the locations would be equally as, if not more intimidating, if contained within a single screen. I was also bothered by the random trees near the edges, which would suggest a way into the forest when clicked on, but then the one spot that lets you move to the next screen isn’t even marked in any way, so you have to click right near it and hope that’s it. More of a minor annoyance than anything else, but still. Then, there’s the endings. Depending on a few triggers, you can get one of five available endings… but they’re all too samey and going back to get them feels like a slog, especially considering that none of them even explain anything (who was the man from the confessional? you may never know!) All in all, this game isn’t nearly as good as I might have thought it was back when I watched a certain YouTuber play it back in the day… That being said, I already own the other game made by the same studio, so I’ll give it a try sometime next year.

Sakura Angels - Thank god for the modern day Japanese high school setting of this one. It reads more like a regular fanfiction than straight up weeaboo wish fulfillment, but it’s still nothing groundbreaking or looking to innovate. I think the voice acting made it just a tad better. Sayaka is voiced by Yamamoto Ayano and I adore her cute voice, so I had to get Sayaka’s ending first, not that it matters much in the end. The premise was interesting enough, but I was wondering how it’s going to unravel and wrap up in just 3-4 hours, and sure enough, it was rather anticlimactic. You don’t even get to see The Big Bad™️, it’s just said to be “a queen of darkness”, and I guess she was sealed away so the artist wouldn’t have to worry about drawing her. After she’s defeated, whichever girl you interacted with more comes to check up on you and basically admits to having fallen for you. Then you’re shown a bit of some weekday morning later in time and after that scene is done, you get a white screen… and then you’re back in the main menu. That’s it? Not even a “thank you for playing”? Disappointing. Well, it wasn’t as bad as Sakura Spirit, but I’d rate it something like “at least I didn’t roll my eyes every few lines/10”, so there’s still a long way to go for this series.

Strawberry Vinegar - This was definitely a wake-up call for me to read more of ebi-hime’s VNs. I first fell in love with her writing style when I stumbled upon Is This the Life? back in 2015 (I should probably read it again sometime) and I can safely say that Strawberry Vinegar was another hit. You play as Sakuraba Rie, a rather aloof and cynical nine-year-old girl, who, one day, stumbles upon a mysterious demon girl eating the cookies she baked just a while ago. She introduces herself as Licia and convinces Rie to host her stay in the human world and feed her all kinds of delicious food… if she doesn’t want to have her soul reaped, that is. That setup kickstarts almost a week (here, Hell has six day weeks) of near-relentless banter, mouth-watering food CGs (and descriptions!) and Rie learning what it’s like to have her first real friend. I noticed negative reviews mentioning that Rie is unlikable and/or unrealistic, because she uses big words and acts all grumpy/annoyed a bunch, but I think that’s her whole charm. Her parents are lovefools, Lucia is from another world and her classmates are just idiots, it’s hard for me to see why she shouldn’t be the straight man to any and all of them. That’s the fun of it! There’s a point in the story where she has to remind herself that not everyone reads The Capitalist Manifesto (1958)! What kind of a nine-year-old would read a capitalist manifesto?! That’s hilarious! I may be a little biased, because despite no other traits that could make her seem out of the ordinary, between naturally fitting into the straight man role, talking all “mature for her age” and even just being annoyed about Licia putting one of her books back in the wrong spot until the end of the scene, she seemed somewhat autistic-coded to me. The art is really pretty (I wish there could have been a way to incorporate all of Licia’s sisters into the game!), I’m already itching to listen to the OST again and the good endings feature a time skip, which I always adore! I’d recommend this VN to anyone who loves good fictional food, cute girls and slapstick humor and isn’t turned off by generic anime tropes (yes, they do go “kyaaa!” whenever something surprising happens).

The Low Road - This was one of those games that I inexplicably really wanted to play, despite never having had it advertised to me in any way (or maybe that’s exactly why, now that I think of it)… and it was just okay. You’re Noomi Kovacs, a twenty-something who just graduated from spy school and is eager to get some spying action at her new job. Unfortunately, the company now gives all its cool spy missions to one agent only and Noomi is decidedly the last in line to that privilege. Unless all the other agents happened to suddenly become indisposed… The art style of this game is fantastic, easily the main reason I was so interested in playing it. Though maybe not my style, the music is pretty good, especially considering the design decision of having the player get cued in to every next chapter with a new song. The voice acting is a mixed bag - I really liked Noomi’s voice (this might seem out of nowhere, but she reminded me of Emma Stone at times - just a cool girl with a bit of a boyish edge), but then Oona’s voice was mixed really poorly for some reason. I also liked the running gag where characters made puns on Noomi’s name (not only was this the first time I learned of this name’s existence, but I also get to discover that it’s also delightfully punny? heck yeah!) and the MO of the Docilio cult (postponing the release of various technological advancements until some higher power greenlights it sounds like a cool idea that I’d like to see tackled in some other story… maybe coupled with some delightful time travel shenanigans?) The puzzles are another thing I feel mixed about - some were easier, some harder, but no hints or explanation were ever provided beforehand. The one truly great accessibility function available, however, was the ability to fast-forward through all the dialogue (even during the first playthrough, which was a bit annoying with the prompt constantly on the screen). On the other hand, though, the game has a tendency to hardlock on loading screens, making them infinite and forcing you to quit and relaunch. Happened a bunch of times for me, but every relaunch made the next part load up properly; still, you may want to consider that people have left negative reviews based upon their inability to fix this issue and since it’s still happening, that means the devs have never provided a definitive fix.

Vampire Survivors - The best game I might have never played, had it not been for my ex showing it to me. Another great thing is, since by now everyone and their grandma’s played it, I don’t have to spend too much time explaining what it is. But in case you missed it, Vampire Survivors is a minimalistic bullet hell-like game all about building up a killer loadout and surviving the fight against hordes of monsters. Scratch your brain? This game will claw at it, ripping it to pieces, then smushing it back together, which you will love and beg for more. It’s the game that makes you want to shout “just one more round, mom!”… and then you remember you’re an adult and you’re free to ruin your life on your own terms. I may have only completed the base game (without the adventures), but rest assured, I bought the first DLC and I’m ready to play it… maybe even right after I post this. (And this is how I learn there’s also a show in the works?! That’s pretty damn awesome!)

Wordle 3 - Welp… this one took way too long for my liking. They could have just made an “Alcohol” category if most of the beverages given were going to be alcoholic. The “Flowers” category was overkill.

See you next month! :)

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