ConnieC420
Substantially rewired my brain and made me a better person. Created with love in every regard, and a much deeper story politically than most "political" games have, all emphasized with the pornographic poverty of the locale the game takes place in - rendered, of course, in a downright lovely style.
This review contains spoilers
I really don't mind many aspects of it - I find the co-dependence aspect interesting, main characters somewhat compelling, and art-style good (if looking a bit too much like someone consumed too much Hex Maniac hentai).
I wouldn't even mind the incest if it was written better! Don't get me wrong - obviously any decent person should be against this, but it's quite literally a game about a horrific relationship.
My main issue is the writing. It's just... edgy and pointless, and at times reads pretty much like a 2011-era tumblr, heterosexual BDSM post. I don't mind the subject matter at all - after all, it's intended as a horror game! - but the writing has times where it's phenomenally bad.
And it's a shame because, again, I don't mind the interpersonal drama aspects, I don't mind all the edgy, over-the-top murder and cannibalism, and the beginning's feeling of overwhelming impotence in the face of social murder is a very compelling setup.
Either way it was a couple hours i won't get back.
I wouldn't even mind the incest if it was written better! Don't get me wrong - obviously any decent person should be against this, but it's quite literally a game about a horrific relationship.
My main issue is the writing. It's just... edgy and pointless, and at times reads pretty much like a 2011-era tumblr, heterosexual BDSM post. I don't mind the subject matter at all - after all, it's intended as a horror game! - but the writing has times where it's phenomenally bad.
And it's a shame because, again, I don't mind the interpersonal drama aspects, I don't mind all the edgy, over-the-top murder and cannibalism, and the beginning's feeling of overwhelming impotence in the face of social murder is a very compelling setup.
Either way it was a couple hours i won't get back.
2016
A game for Half-Life 2 fans that loved the decaying Eastern European backlots more than the combat. Probably some of the best-looking Source can get, Infra takes you through a concrete-clad adventure, snapping photos of exposed rebar as you descend into the Totally-Not-Finnish city of Stalburg and the conspiracies underpinning it.
2021
FF12 meets Dune by way of the Pacific Front, with a healthy dose of late-Tsarist aesthetic.
In a game mixing strategy and side-scrolling shoot-em-up, you lead the last remnants of the once-grand Romani Empire's airship fleet on a desperate battle to regain control of the troubled Republic of Gerat - meeting with local allies, dodging Gathering strike fleets, taking Cities, and eventually making your way to Khiva.
To make your way there successfully, you have to take charge of a motley group of ships, beginning with the remnants of the Romani fleet and expanding with every local leader you meet or mercenary you hire. You may be The Empire, but you're on the back-foot here - if you stay in one place too long, you'll be reported and destroyed, and the threat of strike fleets hovers over you like a ghost.
You have countermeasures, though - through a sort-of minigame, you can decode communications. If you choose to use aircraft, and you're good at it, you can carpet-bomb strike fleets before they know who they're facing - cruise missiles are an option, too. You can go into the open desert, and see if you find anything there. Mostly, though, you'll be behind enemy territory, outgunned, outnumbered, and with little support.
Giving away most details of the plot would be spoilery, but i did quite enjoy the experience of winning over a motley crew to your side - done through a slightly-opaque card minigame, but everyone you can recruit tends to be a bit more interesting. I would have liked more "Fluff" events to flesh them out a bit more - give you more of a reason to care about them rather than the game telling you that you gotta. The one thing that knocks half a star off is that, pending future updates, the ending feels a bit unsatisfying.
The UI is immersive to a fault, and is wonderfully appointed in the bakelite dials and CRT screens of a Soviet cruiser. The ship design interface is fun, but I'd like if, for example, your designed ships showed up naturally. Updates have made most of the more visually confusing features toggles, so that aspect of many early reviews has been looked into.
For all those reasons above, the unique aesthetic, and the general feeling of being up at 2am, down 3 cruisers, and high-tailing it to Khiva as 3 strike groups tail you, I think Highfleet is one of my favorite games.
In a game mixing strategy and side-scrolling shoot-em-up, you lead the last remnants of the once-grand Romani Empire's airship fleet on a desperate battle to regain control of the troubled Republic of Gerat - meeting with local allies, dodging Gathering strike fleets, taking Cities, and eventually making your way to Khiva.
To make your way there successfully, you have to take charge of a motley group of ships, beginning with the remnants of the Romani fleet and expanding with every local leader you meet or mercenary you hire. You may be The Empire, but you're on the back-foot here - if you stay in one place too long, you'll be reported and destroyed, and the threat of strike fleets hovers over you like a ghost.
You have countermeasures, though - through a sort-of minigame, you can decode communications. If you choose to use aircraft, and you're good at it, you can carpet-bomb strike fleets before they know who they're facing - cruise missiles are an option, too. You can go into the open desert, and see if you find anything there. Mostly, though, you'll be behind enemy territory, outgunned, outnumbered, and with little support.
Giving away most details of the plot would be spoilery, but i did quite enjoy the experience of winning over a motley crew to your side - done through a slightly-opaque card minigame, but everyone you can recruit tends to be a bit more interesting. I would have liked more "Fluff" events to flesh them out a bit more - give you more of a reason to care about them rather than the game telling you that you gotta. The one thing that knocks half a star off is that, pending future updates, the ending feels a bit unsatisfying.
The UI is immersive to a fault, and is wonderfully appointed in the bakelite dials and CRT screens of a Soviet cruiser. The ship design interface is fun, but I'd like if, for example, your designed ships showed up naturally. Updates have made most of the more visually confusing features toggles, so that aspect of many early reviews has been looked into.
For all those reasons above, the unique aesthetic, and the general feeling of being up at 2am, down 3 cruisers, and high-tailing it to Khiva as 3 strike groups tail you, I think Highfleet is one of my favorite games.
2016
I found this on our switch Thanksgiving of 2019 and played it out of boredom. It mostly felt like what would be a good gmod map with a story designed to hit all the beats of Game That Makes A Statement NGO praise.
2019
Extremely fun in multiplayer. Basically you make sure your submarine doesn't blow up while stalked by horrors beyond your comprehension.
2020
Political drama? Visual novel? I'm not sure. Either way an engaging and interesting game about the path you chose for Not-Turkey.
The one thing i don't like is the implication in this timeline automatic assault rifles date back to the 1800s.
The one thing i don't like is the implication in this timeline automatic assault rifles date back to the 1800s.
2020
I'm sure there's some German that's really, really, really into this
2018
Malformed attempt at a teaching tool. Ended with a gigantic tailings valley, having abandoned desks filled with laws nobody could act on dumped in the depths, and eventually just giving up on the main goal and trying to make a Burgundian System-esque bunker to survive the meteor. I don't know what gripped me for those 2 weeks but it was not something of god.
2018
It's important to remember this isn't a train simulator; it's a model train simulator - some finesse of other simulators is traded away, but what you get for it is a feeling of nostalgia and scale as you set up gigantic model train layouts.
Half a star because the building controls are clunky, but that's definitely going to be improved.
Half a star because the building controls are clunky, but that's definitely going to be improved.
2016
Not sure what to say about this. Part of the same group of 4th-wall-breaking meta-narratives that OFF, Undertale, and Deltarune could be considered part of, Oneshot lacks much in the way of a central conflict or antagonism. I'd say that works in it's favor - the sound design, OST, art, and borderline-absurdist world come together to make a beautiful picture book of a game.
2008
Undertale for hipsters, but also the Ur-Undertale. Phenomenal artstyle with a convoluted but interesting narrative and a soundtrack that is probably the one time Electro Swing has ever been able to be called cool. Also once you play it you can say you "Beat Off".
Often summed up as "Anime Star Wars", FF12 is a bit of a controversial entry - the Gambit system, effectively giving you 100% control over your party, was maligned as complex, and the story is a lot more political and slightly more abstract than other games in the series.
I played FF12 because i really enjoyed Matsuno's work on the Bozja storyline of FF14, and although i took a break between beginning it and actually finishing it, it didn't disappoint. FF12's main story is effectively a subversion of Chosen One plotlines, although anything more would definitely need a spoiler warning. To a degree, the story somewhat subverts the idea of a Evil Empire and Good Kingdom - but again, you'd have to play for it not to be more of a spoiler.
FF12 suffers slightly from the lack of real character development - only Balthier, Ashe and Basch get any real development, and Vaan gets less - with the other 2 basically along for the ride. I don't particularly think this is too much of a sore spot, but also it'd have ended up more interesting to me if, say, there was more chances for the party to feel like a party.
The soundtrack is phenomenal and atmospheric, and most of the graphics still hold up despite the age of many of them - oh, and you're definitely going to want to toggle on English VA - it's completely exceptional and very widely liked.
I played FF12 because i really enjoyed Matsuno's work on the Bozja storyline of FF14, and although i took a break between beginning it and actually finishing it, it didn't disappoint. FF12's main story is effectively a subversion of Chosen One plotlines, although anything more would definitely need a spoiler warning. To a degree, the story somewhat subverts the idea of a Evil Empire and Good Kingdom - but again, you'd have to play for it not to be more of a spoiler.
FF12 suffers slightly from the lack of real character development - only Balthier, Ashe and Basch get any real development, and Vaan gets less - with the other 2 basically along for the ride. I don't particularly think this is too much of a sore spot, but also it'd have ended up more interesting to me if, say, there was more chances for the party to feel like a party.
The soundtrack is phenomenal and atmospheric, and most of the graphics still hold up despite the age of many of them - oh, and you're definitely going to want to toggle on English VA - it's completely exceptional and very widely liked.
2006
i cannot think about this game in earnest without needing to cry
1987
one mitchillion copies sold