LunarLux is a game that might as well have been designed specifically for me. it takes a whole lot of DNA from Mega Man Battle Network and Star Force, two of my favorite game series of all time, and it really shows in its overall quality. i don't think it hits nearly the same highs as Battle Network 6 or Star Force 3, but it's still pretty great!

its combat system is pretty interesting, on the player phase you select a skill to use plus an additional passive skill to add a random secondary effect, which can be anything from a +10 boost in damage to inflicting guaranteed stun on one enemy, preventing them from moving at all. some, but not all, attacks have "action commands" associated with them as well, usually manifesting as timed button presses.

on the enemy turn, they'll attack using one of a few different methods. the first three are directly inspired by battle network and star force, with the main differences between them being the field layout. these attack methods will place you on either a 3x3, a 3x1, or even a one-square grid, with attacks flying at you from various directions that you'll have to avoid. you also have a shield to use (generally for the 1x1 attacks, though it's generally usable in the 3x1 and 3x3 attacks as well). using this shield will consume one of your stored shields, which you start out with a few of in battle but can only be regenerated by using specific skills or items.

the other two methods of attack you'll run into are actually, surprisingly enough, inspired by Undertale. they're pretty directly just the red and green SOUL forms from that game, with some minor changes. for those who somehow haven't touched Undertale or even seen its gameplay in big 2024, the attack pattern inspired by the red SOUL basically forces you to move around inside a rectangular box while taking the form of a small heart. after moving a bit (the attacks don't start unless you move around a bit, to make sure you're ready), you'll be dodging enemy attacks that are flying at you or spawning in the box itself. you can also still use your shield in this form, and you take damage based on how many times you got hit after the attack ends. the final method of attack basically relies on you projecting a shield to block attacks coming at you from the left and right. unlike in Undertale, this pattern never forces you to block attacks from the top or bottom, so it's generally the simplest type of attack to handle (i didn't get hit by one of these during my entire playthrough)

the overworld is decently fun to explore as well. while not as in-depth as BN or SF's overworld and cyber/wave world areas, i still found myself having a lot of fun just exploring around and gathering items and powerups. the powerups you obtain throughout the game range from maximum HP and shield boosters (of which there are, i believe, a limited amount in the game) to skill boosters that can increase the level of a passive or active skill by one, to a maximum of three (later four, once obtaining a certain postgame item). you can also outright find new skills to use in the overworld as well, though many are also found in shops.

the writing is...kind of a mixed bag? the main story is somewhat simple, yet still enjoyable due to the way the main characters' personalities bounce off one another. i also found the postgame content (because it's inspired by BN/SF, of course there's a postgame) to be the best-written part of the game. the problem comes when you get to the game's attempts at humor, generally when it comes to flavor text you find by exploring around. in BN/SF, checking everything around was paramount not just for finding new items, but for finding new areas to jack or pulse in to. naturally, if you have experience with those series you'll be doing that here too...but the problem is while there are still lots of items hidden around, the writers attempted to add quite a bit of humor to the flavor text. this in itself isn't much of a problem at its core, but when they're putting Pickle Rick references in the game, it comes off as a little obnoxious. not enough to ruin the game by any means, but it did get grating seeing the number of blatant references in the game that just kinda knock you out of your immersion. i saw the Among Us guy, man.

overall though, if you found yourself liking mega man battle network or star force, or even RPGs with cool gameplay gimmicks in general, then i'd highly recommend this game. it's a pretty quick romp, my playthrough in total lasted me about 21 hours and that was with doing damn near everything in the game, so it's easy enough to get through.

oh, and the music is fantastic, as expected of a project inspired by anything Mega Man. even if you don't play the game, give it a listen!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxS-PXjY4ok

It's difficult to think about my high school years. For as important as they were to forming me into the man I am today I look back on the teen I was with a lot of regret and embarrassment. I was a close-minded, stubborn, and sheltered kid that preferred staying in my own bubble of toxic comfort rather than accept the fact that I needed to grow both for my sake and the sake of others. Subconsciously I knew that something I had to give, I could tell that I had the power to affect the people around me no matter my intentions. And from there, I slowly changed myself to be better, kinder, more understanding. I may have been young, but I was no longer a kid. Funnily enough, that journey started in 2015 when I decided to join my school's theatre program.

It was that decision that brought me out of my comfort zone and into a greater world of community and art. One that introduced me to most of my closest friends in adolescence, friends that I still think about and occasionally catch up with all these years later. That's not to say that I immediately became better, that I didn't ever embarrass myself or act regrettably. I had to work to be better, and even when things got so bad that I'd wish for a total do-over, or even to just cast that world away for good, I managed to keep going. And that couldn't have happened without the wonderful people I met nearly 10 years ago.

It's hard not to feel reflective when playing this game. In it's short runtime Toby Fox's writing makes such a strong impact that feels so much more alive and tender than practically anything else you could compare it to. And that was clearly felt all over the world when the game dropped, it was inescapable. Replaying this game, for maybe the first time in my adult life, brought me back to that time; warts and all. And for as much as it hurt to remember the person I was, it was also cathartic to think about who I am now and be proud.

A beautiful wrap-up to one of the greatest trilogies of games I've ever played. With every passing hour I found myself just enamored with how easily likeable and intriguing every character is here. Matthew is yet another fantastic protagonist from a dev team that has constantly written up some of the best RPG characters out there. And the actual story, while being a bit heavy-handed on the fanservice side, still hits some incredible highs that are revelatory for how I think back on the entire series before. It's also just unbelievable fun and addicting to play. I genuinely can't believe how MonolithSoft continues to improve on their abilities as designers and create constantly engaging gameplay loops in such massive RPGs. Genuinely phenomenal.

Dusk is one of the best indie boomer shooters on the market with so much creativity being put into each level. Dusk's theme is nothing too crazy when compared to the other boomer shooters, same guns, health pickups, and secrets. but what makes Dusk stand out is how each level plays. Every level ends up being a short story with new ideas and scenarios that you need to manage. The final episode ends up being the best combination of level design and new elements that make everything feel so satisfying. Only wish we could see more of this creativity with more levels.