Starting to think I will never not enjoy a Disgaea game. Seemingly considered a step down character wise, I had just as much as fun with them as previous titles. Where I do take umbrage is with the confused mechanical progression the series has taken. Felonies are thankfully gone and statisticans are back. However, more convenient systems such as voting to improve a character's movement or learning weapon skills by simply using a weapon repeatedly have now been barred behind additional systems (class/chara world, class specific weapon proficiency, upgrading weapon skills with mana in addition to repeated use). Instead of adding new depth they've just created more steps to do something you could already do. One step forward, two steps back. Disgaea took the idea of absurd amounts of grinding and made it fun only to turn around and make it tiresome again. Issues I probably wouldn't have noticed were so big had I not decided to do everything in this entry.

Playing through "Lorelei and the Laser Eyes" is an experience I will long to relive. Very few video games have made me feel the way this game did, with Immortality, Echoes of the Eye & the original Ace Attorney trilogy being among them.

"Lorelei and the Laser Eyes" is developed by Simogo, hot off the heels of their previous game "Sayonara Wild Hearts", which could not be any more different in its tone & gameplay.

The story is difficult to discuss without spoilers, but I will say that the mystery had me completely sucked in during the 21 hours it took me to finish it. There are two layers to the story of "Lorelei". Despite the very artsy facade, there is a literal story being told here that does provide satisfying answers to the big questions you will likely have during the game, even going out of its way to spell things out for you during the finale. Beneath that layer, however, is an extremely complicated rumination on technology, art, capitalism, the audience's perspective vs. that of the artist and so forth. Symbols & how meaning is assigned to them is a heavy motif through the game, and are beautifully integrated into the actual puzzle solving.

The gameplay format of "Lorelei" is comparable to the early Resident Evil games, with the game's main location - the Hotel Lethz Jahr - being highly reminiscent of the Spencer Mansion from Resident Evil 1. The key distinction between the two implementations of the Survival Horror format, is that Lorelei strips out the genre's typical combat and resource management, and focuses wholly on puzzles. There are two main categories of puzzles in this game. "Lock-and-key" puzzles ala Resident Evil, where you read a piece of evidence and have to match it with a "lock" somewhere else in the game. The more interesting category is the collection of abstract, logic puzzles where the directive is intuiting the logic of the puzzle itself. These all manifests through all the fake movie posters, weird locks, keypads, printers etc. that all abide by some strange, but intuitive logic. Notably, these puzzles will most likely require you to keep a notepad to track all the information not stored in your "Photographic Memory".

Figuring out the answer to the final puzzle is one of the most satisfying things I have ever done in a video game. The 2nd & 3rd components of the solution in particular, and the path to figuring them out, seems outright bizarre to anyone who hasn't played it, but will make sense to you since the game does such a good job of training you to pick up on subtle patterns.

I really cannot criticise any aspect of the game, aside from some miscommunication on how the red maze works. Yes, the lack of a 'back button' in menus and during puzzles is annoying, but I can't help but respect the developers for fully committing to it, even if I don't fully understand why it was made.

Lorelei & the Laser Eyes is easily my GOTY for 2024, and I would be seriously impressed if anything, even my beloved Silksong, manages to eclipse it. It's already been to my list of favourites.

STRONG recommend to any puzzle game lovers.

Solid and challenging Megaman game that lacks an interesting feature or design choice that prevents it from standing out among the pantheon of Megaman titles, official or otherwise.

The level design here is great, with Wizard Man’s stage being a standout for me, backed up by great, well-designed bossfights and fantastic boss weapons. The difficulty is very well-tuned and never feels unfair, though will push you to the limit on occasion, particularly in the 4th Wily Stage.

On the more disappointing side, the music didn’t really stick out, and the story is super uninteresting. The aesthetics are also on the simpler than some other fan games, with a lack of interesting theming during the 8 main stages.

It won’t blow you away but it’s not hard to recommend this one to any Megaman fans looking for a new entry in the classic series.