December '20 Play Log I

Experienced on Oculus Rift

This comes very close to being a worthy successor to the original Budget Cuts, which is one of my favourite VR games. However a number of unfortunate decisions on the part of the developer have turned have been an amazing game into a frustrating experience. Also worth noting, this isn’t a good game to play for anyone afraid of heights.

Pros:

• The bow is a great addition to the game
• I love that you can shoot any weapon with the bow, not just arrows
• Mutators allow a much wider variety of difficulties, and some entertainment as well
• The end credits were quite entertaining
• Weapons are relatively plentiful for the most part, though that doesn’t mean you won’t have to backtrack a bit if you run out
• The end credits are pretty great

Cons:

• It’s not made clear that you can shoot things besides arrows from the bow until the boss fight
• Where the original game had a relatively easy normal mode and a hardcore mode for people who wanted more of a challenge, the default for this game is the same as hardcore was on the previous game
• The increase in difficulty wouldn’t be a problem given that you can turn it down, except that if you modify the difficulty in any way achievements are disabled, effectively punishing players who prefer a more casual experience
• If you hit a bot anywhere but the head, chances are they’ll get back up. If you hit them in a limb (which happened to me very often) you can either waste another knife/arrow, or hide and wait 2-3 minutes for them to finally bleed/oil out. Again, this wouldn’t be a problem if you could turn the difficulty down without disabling achievements
• The last two levels are incredibly difficult. I ended up having to look for advice on the discussion forums and still had a hard time with them
• Why do collectibles even exist in games?

Verdict: 5/10

An interesting story, if not necessarily a happy one. I’d recommend this to people who enjoy story based games. It does have puzzles, but they’re quite simple.

Pros:

• Unusual graphics that work surprisingly well
• Rowing the boat works quite well, and is really fun
• Well voice acted
• Interesting story

Cons:

• The first part of the final boss battle was extremely frustrating
• The presentation of the story could have evoked more emotion. I think it would have been improved if I was more emotionally invested in the character I was playing.

Verdict: 8/10

Definitely one of the more bizarre games I’ve played. It definitely has some funny moments. If you like unusual games I’d say this one’s worth getting on sale.

Pros:

• Good music
• Some funny moments
• Bizarre
• None of the puzzles are too difficult

Cons:

• Short

Verdict: 7/10

One of the better Sakura games IMO. As usual the story is mediocre but the graphics are great ;)

Pros:

• Good graphics
• There’s a patch
• Choices that have some effect in how the story ends. It mostly affects how the story ends, but there’s some additional story that changes based on your choices as well

Cons:

• I thought the… ‘action’ started unreasonably quickly
• I had to get used to the way the characters spoke. I suspect this is due to the fact that it’s translated - phrases presumably that sound normal in Japanese seem overly formal or a little strange in English
• As with other Sakura titles the characters randomly move side to side when talking, which was distracting at first and generally pointless.

Verdict: 7/10