March 2022
Got my Steam Deck that month. It’s pretty exciting at least for the novelty of it and have been testing all sorts of games on it when I have the time. Don’t feel safe enough to bring it out anywhere, but gaming from bed will do just fine.
I didn’t really think I would like this game but was pleasantly surprised with the tone and storytelling. At first glance, it may seem a little too E for Everyone but has quite a bit of darker tones/deeper meanings than the colorful art style may give off. Unlike most Point-and-Click adventures, you are playing two stories in tandem almost seeming entirely separate from each other. A cool and brave young maiden who wishes to defy her fate and a young boy wishing to break free from his confined safe life to something more dangerous and free.
The game features some amazing voice talent, including Jack Black among others, that really brings the characters and story to life. Unfortunately, there are a few stop points that remove that liveliness either by weird bridging encounters or puzzles that can be a bit convoluted or obscure.
Lewd? Not really.
Recommend? Genuinely yes. Many of the issues with this game are pretty standard for the genre, yet it still stands out in both art style, storytelling, and voice acting.
1:1 to original SS, but now with slightly upgraded graphics from what appears to be on the same engine as Viscera Cleanup. Much easier ride through considering the first SS was my first of the series. I’m still not a huge fan, it has some decent moments that it then beats the dead horse that is beyond excessive.
Lewd? Nope(?)
Recommend? I guess? This didn’t feel like much of a leap from the original and maybe prefer the older graphics.
If you didn’t like the pacing of 3, you’ll hate the pacing of this game. Sure enough the game starts slow enough, but does begin to pick up by the end of the first character chapter. Then the second character comes in and puts on the hard brakes. The game feels nearly at a stand still to what seems like filler upon filler to the point that even by the end of the game I could only wonder if this chapter needed to exist at all. Thankfully, the third chapter picks the pace up and the fourth character really starts to redeem some of the hardship trying to play the game. Combat is pretty nice in the game, story could use some work, minigames are fine and side stories are alright as well though tainted by the time it takes to get to some of them.
Lewd? Maybe (usually some sort of hostess club or dating)
Recommend? Bitterly, yes. Easily my least favorite Yakuza, but it is a Yakuza so there are still enough moments to play through the game.
Well, I finally got my Steam Deck and it only made sense to play the free hardware test game that is Aperture Desk Job. It was fairly enjoyable, and even though it was free I wish there was more of it. Even just a minigame to play for testing ridiculous contraptions, putting them together, etc.
Lewd? Nope
Recommend? Yes, free, humorous, and leaves you wanting more.
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Persona 5 Strikers
PS5
Sequel to P5 and not P5R, it has the Phantom Thieves return to face a new type of enemy with the same style but new gameplay. Instead of the turn based JRPG the game has been known for, instead it is now a Dynasty Warrior style hack and slash. It kind of works. There is a surprising number of actions one can take including basic slashes, gunplay, special attacks, persona abilities, and even character abilities/swapping. The best part of this is being able to switch to other characters mid battle and use their unique abilities/damage type. This also means the main protag can go down without failing the mission (It’s hard to believe I know).
With the change in gameplay came a change in level design and the enemies. Much more open space for various scenes, palaces are now called Jails and their wardens follow a much different theme. The music is still just as good, characters feel very much in line with P5 and their interactions are nothing short of great on their journey. Some of the enemy health and defense can get to be pretty excessive. Also, there were moments where the difficulty scaling felt pretty harsh despite being well equipped, but those moments are typically few and far in between.
Lewd? Nope
Recommend? Yes! Genuinely fun to play and as always great story with awesome voice acting.
Nioh
PS4
After trying the Strangers of Paradise demo I very quickly realized it was basically a slightly different Nioh and that I never actually finished Nioh… and so I did. As far as souls-like games came to be, Nioh easily sets itself apart from the rest. It’s complex and in-depth battle system gives those who commit to mastering incredibly rewarding. Though it can be daunting, many players can still get by learning some of the bare minimum stances and mechanics and not have too many issues. Just know that it very much embraces the difficulty and challenging aspects of boss battles and enemies. There is also a huge customization and equipment system that adds a little bit extra overwhelming on top of the already huge pile of overwhelmingness that you have to face. Honestly, it’s what I would change the most is the sheer amount of loot you have to sift through in order to figure out what works, what’s trash, and what may be saved for later.
Instead of an open world, you play missions which have well designed areas and generally a boss at the end. Boss battles are great challenging and require you to consider everything in your arsenal when facing. There is a bit of a grind for specific loot as well as getting various items such as healing in case you ever run into trouble.
Lewd? Suggestive.
Recommend? Yes, the game has challenging and engaging combat, an immersive story, and a great cast. The downsides being that the game can be a little complex and overwhelming with items and customization. I have yet to play the DLC, but plan to buy it at a later date.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderland
PS5
Spin off that expands on the Dragonkeep idea of a DnD (BnB in this case) side campaign that you partake. This is a little different though as not only are you playing with a group of all new characters, but you also actually create your own character. This includes some basic body variations, heads, hairs, colors, voice, etc. Where it really starts to matter is picking your class and background which will dictate your skills and stat bonuses. A wide variety of classes gives you a lot to choose from and a later ability to dual class makes each experience all the more unique. That being said the skill trees are a little lack luster as most skills you gain will mostly just be stat increases rather than modifying your abilities. Grenades also do not exist any longer but instead are replaced with spell slots which act a little differently in that they don’t take ammunition (cooldown) and cast more like a spell might.
The game is a little slow to pick up and it gave me the wrong impression on how the game was going to work. For example the overworld isn’t a big place to drive around. It’s a literal board where you will walk as a chibi form to your next location. In the overworld you can experience random encounters (small arena battles), explore dungeons (several sets of small arena battles), or continue on to the official mission areas which are surprisingly expansive. Starting, it takes a little bit to really get to go from mission to mission which makes the random battles seem like the meat of the game when it turns out it really isn’t.
At about the 2nd or 3rd mission area the game really starts to pick up both with story, level progression, dual classing, etc. and the fun really starts to begin. Everything after that is pretty standard Borderlands 3 gameplay. Unfortunately, it’s in the post-game where this game really starts to fall apart. Much like the previous title, there is a chaos system. For every level of chaos you add, the enemies hit harder, become more dense, and can drop more xp/loot among other modifiers. HOWEVER, unlike the last title you only have access to one chaos level off the bat and must complete chaos runs (several sets of small arena battle) for each incremental value. Meaning you can’t unlock them all, but would have to do a run on each chaos level to unlock them all. That is absolutely absurd and an actual slog to get through. This only gets worse when the DLC continues to add further chaos levels that you must rinse and repeat the same process. The DLC itself (so far) is also terrible as they are no better than the headhunter add-ons from BL2 while offering no new enemies, story, or real meat for far more money than it is worth.
Lewd? Innuendous
Recommend? Though the post-game/DLC is horrid. The game itself is actually a pretty fun ride with a competent story behind it.