Gardex
9 reviews liked by Gardex
Undertale Yellow
2023
This review contains spoilers
I'll start this review by saying I don't really care for fangames normally. For the most part they're pretty mediocre to straight up terrible. But every few years there comes out one that transcends the term and sort of becomes an unofficial part of the franchise to the community, Pokemon Uranium, AM2R, and now Undertale Yellow. And I'm shocked that fucking UNDERTALE is one of the games that had one of these, the same fandom that has like 20 different Sans OCs and 3 different takes on edgy Papyrus. I wasn't going to check it out, but I had nothing better going on and heard the game was pretty short so I said fuck it. And I learned that Yellow really understands what makes Undertale special and really does it's best to emulate and enhance on the original experience.
Like everyone I did Pacifist first, The game starts as I saw the froggit and Toriel and rolled by eyes. But a minute in and I realize this is the exact reaction the game WANTS me to have as it snatches that blanket of nostalgia away. And for the most part this game is VERY restrained in terms of using characters from the OG game and I respect the hell out of it for that. Aside from Flowey who I think is utilized differently enough to be justified as a major character, especially when if you really think about it, he's barley in the original game. But the rest get a scene at best like Asgore while others like Papyrus and surprisingly Sans aren't even mentioned at all.
The new characters that do replace them like Ceroba, Martlet, and Starlo are fun in their own right, I don't think they're AS memorable as the OG cast but they're well developed and work well within the game's setting. I will say some of them felt like they really didn't get enough screentime, especially poor Dalv who after the ruins shows up in the epilogue and that's it.
The gameplay is a pretty contentious topic in the community from what I've seen but I'm ngl I think the difficulty is overblown. It's harder than OG Undertale overall for sure but, and I say this who hasn't played a single Undertale fangame before this, my only interactions with this gameplay systems were the games made by Toby, it's really not that bad. Pacifist Ceroba's not that bad if you're decently prepared which is easy to do since you can backtrack almost anywhere in pacifist. And the game gives you checkpoints after every phase. A majority of the genocide fights were about on par with undyne the undying which i think is fair. Martlet is the only one I'd consider bullshit hard, not refreshing your items between phases is brutal especially since you can't save after phase 1 so if you fuck up you have to start all over. However this was before the patch, post patch I honestly think she's fairly easy compared to Sans, being able to heal phase 2 makes a massive difference and I was able to beat her in 50 minutes.
The writing is on point, they feel very Undertale. Stuff like Flowey getting mad at you for not saving, or Toriel actually coming to save you if you wait long enough are such nice little touches. On top of stuff like the secret froggit fight, the pole man sidequest, etc, I think this game touches on the little things so well. The serious moments also hit, giving proper tone and set ups to a lot of the tragedy especially in pacifist and the extensions on the lore, and the way it connects with canon are fun. I get they don't make wholly sense but I think the changes that are made are for the better, like yeah Clover doesn't really meet Toriel despite her saying that she saw all the humans leave her safety, but we really didn't need a reenactment of the ruins from the base game.
Finally I really like the whole theming of JUSTICE in this game, from Pacifist ending either in Clover giving their soul in a bid of self sacrifice for the justice of monsterkind, to alt pacifist where Clover views their killing Ceroba as just due to it being a mercy kill and respecting her wishes. To Genocide where Clover goes on the killing spree for the justice of the 5 dead kids, it's a really nice way of differentiating it thematically from the base game despite it's similarities.
The soundtrack is also really solid, it's not as good as the base game, but it's toby fucking fox, they were never gonna top it. But what is here is pretty awesome, from the cool remixes like the enemy theme and snowdin, to the new areas like steamworks, to the bloodpumping battle themes like pacifist ceroba and genocide martlet. This game has a ton to offer in terms of music.
Overall I'd suggest any Undertale fan old or new play this game. It's an increadibly fun experience and more importantly, in a world where Undertale is the punchline to a lot of jokes because of it's reputation, Yellow made me look back on the game in it's hayday and reminded me why I loved it in the first place.
Like everyone I did Pacifist first, The game starts as I saw the froggit and Toriel and rolled by eyes. But a minute in and I realize this is the exact reaction the game WANTS me to have as it snatches that blanket of nostalgia away. And for the most part this game is VERY restrained in terms of using characters from the OG game and I respect the hell out of it for that. Aside from Flowey who I think is utilized differently enough to be justified as a major character, especially when if you really think about it, he's barley in the original game. But the rest get a scene at best like Asgore while others like Papyrus and surprisingly Sans aren't even mentioned at all.
The new characters that do replace them like Ceroba, Martlet, and Starlo are fun in their own right, I don't think they're AS memorable as the OG cast but they're well developed and work well within the game's setting. I will say some of them felt like they really didn't get enough screentime, especially poor Dalv who after the ruins shows up in the epilogue and that's it.
The gameplay is a pretty contentious topic in the community from what I've seen but I'm ngl I think the difficulty is overblown. It's harder than OG Undertale overall for sure but, and I say this who hasn't played a single Undertale fangame before this, my only interactions with this gameplay systems were the games made by Toby, it's really not that bad. Pacifist Ceroba's not that bad if you're decently prepared which is easy to do since you can backtrack almost anywhere in pacifist. And the game gives you checkpoints after every phase. A majority of the genocide fights were about on par with undyne the undying which i think is fair. Martlet is the only one I'd consider bullshit hard, not refreshing your items between phases is brutal especially since you can't save after phase 1 so if you fuck up you have to start all over. However this was before the patch, post patch I honestly think she's fairly easy compared to Sans, being able to heal phase 2 makes a massive difference and I was able to beat her in 50 minutes.
The writing is on point, they feel very Undertale. Stuff like Flowey getting mad at you for not saving, or Toriel actually coming to save you if you wait long enough are such nice little touches. On top of stuff like the secret froggit fight, the pole man sidequest, etc, I think this game touches on the little things so well. The serious moments also hit, giving proper tone and set ups to a lot of the tragedy especially in pacifist and the extensions on the lore, and the way it connects with canon are fun. I get they don't make wholly sense but I think the changes that are made are for the better, like yeah Clover doesn't really meet Toriel despite her saying that she saw all the humans leave her safety, but we really didn't need a reenactment of the ruins from the base game.
Finally I really like the whole theming of JUSTICE in this game, from Pacifist ending either in Clover giving their soul in a bid of self sacrifice for the justice of monsterkind, to alt pacifist where Clover views their killing Ceroba as just due to it being a mercy kill and respecting her wishes. To Genocide where Clover goes on the killing spree for the justice of the 5 dead kids, it's a really nice way of differentiating it thematically from the base game despite it's similarities.
The soundtrack is also really solid, it's not as good as the base game, but it's toby fucking fox, they were never gonna top it. But what is here is pretty awesome, from the cool remixes like the enemy theme and snowdin, to the new areas like steamworks, to the bloodpumping battle themes like pacifist ceroba and genocide martlet. This game has a ton to offer in terms of music.
Overall I'd suggest any Undertale fan old or new play this game. It's an increadibly fun experience and more importantly, in a world where Undertale is the punchline to a lot of jokes because of it's reputation, Yellow made me look back on the game in it's hayday and reminded me why I loved it in the first place.
Ittle Dew
2013
Ittle Dew originally got my attention not simply due to its cute visuals and tomboy protagonist, but because one look at it was enough to tell it was inspired by The Legend of Zelda. That's a high bar to set for oneself, and I've seen many games that claimed to be like Zelda, but fell short. Upon playing, though, I was delighted to see that Ittle Dew could, indeed, cash that check.
Zelda is a long-time favorite series of mine. Bar the first couple of games (and excluding BotW, which is a different beast), it's a series that's very light on combat mechanics, most of the challenge coming from using your equipment correctly to a) navigate environments and b) solve puzzles. The amount of (a) and (b) varies from game to game, from 2D to 3D, among other things, but in any case, it's that mix that had the series see success for decades. This deceptively simple formula, however, requires great level design to work, which is where a lot of copycats fall short.
As Ittle Dew starts, the eponymous adventurer Ittle Dew and her magic fox Tippsie shipwreck into a mysterious island wherein lies a castle. They start heading inland looking for a way off the island and soon meet Itan Carver, the item salesman. He promises to make them a raft in exchange for an artifact hidden within the castle, and so, our pair sets off to explore it.
The castle is the main dungeon for Ittle Dew, being both the first place you enter and the location of the final boss, however, it's impossible to explore it all in one go without extra equipment. There are three special items in the game: the Fire Sword, the Portal Wand and the Ice Wand, all of which are found in dungeons to which Itan will take you... for a fee. To cover his expenses, you'll need to gather gold from the castle and return to his shop.
And here is the game's most insane twist: Ittle Dew allows you to obtain the items in whatever order you want. Depending on that order, the route through the castle will be completely different, both due to items affecting different parts of the environment, and because of the interactions between their mechanics. More than that, while the game does give you enough gold to buy all three items, it's possible, by finding the correct route, to finish the game with any of the three possible pairs of equipment.
The fun in Ittle Dew is not simply finishing it once, but replaying it and going for a different item combination. It's a mind-bending exercise that forces you to rethink your strategy according to your new set of tools. And make no mistake: the puzzles in Ittle Dew can get outright devilish, requiring the player to think long and hard about what to do. This is especially true for puzzles outside the main dungeons, which are either small caves hiding collectibles, or the two optional endgame dungeons that require the use of all three items to get through. That "Retry Room" in the menu is not there just for show.
This challenging gameplay is accompanied by an extremely charming presentation. Wobbly, colorful graphics make the world look alive, tunes stick to your head for hours after you're done playing, and the cast, while small, is lovable and well realized. Ittle is a nonchalant girl eager for adventure, which plays off of Tippsie's down-to-earthness -- although, to be fair, it's clear that, whatever the fox is drinking, it's not exactly health potions. And Itan, well, let's just say his love for carving goes a bit too far.
Surpassing every expectation and being sold at rather modest price point, I can hardly shower Ittle Dew with enough praise. Far from being a generic, forgettable Zelda-clone, it's a game of its own, building on tried-and-true ideas with fantastic original design. It's not a game for the impatient, nor people looking for action, but if you're willing to sit down and work on some brainteasers, I wholeheartedly recommend it.
Zelda is a long-time favorite series of mine. Bar the first couple of games (and excluding BotW, which is a different beast), it's a series that's very light on combat mechanics, most of the challenge coming from using your equipment correctly to a) navigate environments and b) solve puzzles. The amount of (a) and (b) varies from game to game, from 2D to 3D, among other things, but in any case, it's that mix that had the series see success for decades. This deceptively simple formula, however, requires great level design to work, which is where a lot of copycats fall short.
As Ittle Dew starts, the eponymous adventurer Ittle Dew and her magic fox Tippsie shipwreck into a mysterious island wherein lies a castle. They start heading inland looking for a way off the island and soon meet Itan Carver, the item salesman. He promises to make them a raft in exchange for an artifact hidden within the castle, and so, our pair sets off to explore it.
The castle is the main dungeon for Ittle Dew, being both the first place you enter and the location of the final boss, however, it's impossible to explore it all in one go without extra equipment. There are three special items in the game: the Fire Sword, the Portal Wand and the Ice Wand, all of which are found in dungeons to which Itan will take you... for a fee. To cover his expenses, you'll need to gather gold from the castle and return to his shop.
And here is the game's most insane twist: Ittle Dew allows you to obtain the items in whatever order you want. Depending on that order, the route through the castle will be completely different, both due to items affecting different parts of the environment, and because of the interactions between their mechanics. More than that, while the game does give you enough gold to buy all three items, it's possible, by finding the correct route, to finish the game with any of the three possible pairs of equipment.
The fun in Ittle Dew is not simply finishing it once, but replaying it and going for a different item combination. It's a mind-bending exercise that forces you to rethink your strategy according to your new set of tools. And make no mistake: the puzzles in Ittle Dew can get outright devilish, requiring the player to think long and hard about what to do. This is especially true for puzzles outside the main dungeons, which are either small caves hiding collectibles, or the two optional endgame dungeons that require the use of all three items to get through. That "Retry Room" in the menu is not there just for show.
This challenging gameplay is accompanied by an extremely charming presentation. Wobbly, colorful graphics make the world look alive, tunes stick to your head for hours after you're done playing, and the cast, while small, is lovable and well realized. Ittle is a nonchalant girl eager for adventure, which plays off of Tippsie's down-to-earthness -- although, to be fair, it's clear that, whatever the fox is drinking, it's not exactly health potions. And Itan, well, let's just say his love for carving goes a bit too far.
Surpassing every expectation and being sold at rather modest price point, I can hardly shower Ittle Dew with enough praise. Far from being a generic, forgettable Zelda-clone, it's a game of its own, building on tried-and-true ideas with fantastic original design. It's not a game for the impatient, nor people looking for action, but if you're willing to sit down and work on some brainteasers, I wholeheartedly recommend it.
First and foreaymost, this game does a pretty poor job of representing who you play, because you play as Link not Zelda or Majora, so why are they in the title and not Link??? (Yeah im talking to you Nintendo!!) Theres a much better game that handles this way better called Link: The Faces of Evil, but that game is not made by Nintendo, so you can see why its more competently named... (Epic burn!! Owned Nintendo!!!)
Gameplay is ok, grafix is meh, music is gucci, I give this game a 10/10
Gameplay is ok, grafix is meh, music is gucci, I give this game a 10/10
1 trillion
Elden Ring
2022
gamin
Elden Ring
2022
dog ahead
try finger but hole
grass
try finger but hole
grass
Deer Hunter Classic
2013
Absolutely decimated "FirstKillah_47" in my first pvp match so it's safe to say I reached my hunting peak
Undertale
2015
i have daily traumatic flashbacks to high school where i was walking down the halls wearing an Undertale shirt and this one random guy was like "wh-what??? a gamer girl!" and then blocked my path and did the entire Sans speech. the whole thing. in public.
it's no zombieland saga but it's still neat
