Tihan
42 reviews liked by Tihan
Broken Roads
2024
Judging a book by its cover works well here: a post-apocalyptic RPG where the characters stand with a nuke going off in the background. Novel idea, guys, it has truly never been thought of before. The characters thoroughly lack distinguishing features that would communicate anything meaningful about the game, donning generic outfits and generic facial features (contrast this with Disco Elysium and its protagonist's design: we know we're getting into something whacky and off-kilter). It also looks like something drawn up in mere half an hour -- blurry and lacking detail. AI could spit out better art, ffs (why not go for art that would communicate something distinct about the setting -- something uniquely Australian? Just a thought).
With things looking quite dire before even launching the game, the game itself sprinkles promise: character creation prides the philosophical alignment system above all, wearing its Disco Elysium influence on its sleeves. Unfortunately, the game creators don't understand what nihilism means, mistaking it for simple egoism, lol.
The first hours of the game are just a series of inconsequential dialogues. We are introduced to multiple areas, meet multiple vendors (without having had a single combat encounter and thus not really knowing whether what -- or anything -- is needed at all). The game fails to establish a plot hook; it's all just the most generic post-apocalyptic stuff, sprinkled with philosophy quotes during loading screens, which comes off as nothing more than a projection of an intellectual veneer, at odds with the content of the game itself.
The characters blur into a mess. The settlements lack character. I fix myself my second cup of coffee to fight off the nausea but call it quits soon after; these hours were some of the most boring hours I've spent playing a CRPG.
With things looking quite dire before even launching the game, the game itself sprinkles promise: character creation prides the philosophical alignment system above all, wearing its Disco Elysium influence on its sleeves. Unfortunately, the game creators don't understand what nihilism means, mistaking it for simple egoism, lol.
The first hours of the game are just a series of inconsequential dialogues. We are introduced to multiple areas, meet multiple vendors (without having had a single combat encounter and thus not really knowing whether what -- or anything -- is needed at all). The game fails to establish a plot hook; it's all just the most generic post-apocalyptic stuff, sprinkled with philosophy quotes during loading screens, which comes off as nothing more than a projection of an intellectual veneer, at odds with the content of the game itself.
The characters blur into a mess. The settlements lack character. I fix myself my second cup of coffee to fight off the nausea but call it quits soon after; these hours were some of the most boring hours I've spent playing a CRPG.
Can name like 50 minor things I didn't like but this is still the game I enjoyed the most in the last 3-4 years.
Loved every second of it and so far my game of this console generation
Loved every second of it and so far my game of this console generation
Marking as 'finished' since I beat Top Jockeys for the first time after about 30 hours. Pocket Card Jockey is just flat-out great game looping. There's a good amount of variance & randomness to prevent it from getting too monotonous, although I think the difficulty curve is tuned just sliiightly too high for the amount of randomness – no clue how much, if any, balancing they adjusted from the original 3DS version but it doesn't feel like they changed much there. Foals also feel a little irrelevant compared to several premades that Just Work at an equal level to some of my best foals, though I'm not sure how much my foals will start to get juiced up after breeding some from my Top Jockeys winner, could be significant. All in all, very unchanged from the 3DS version (except for the fantastic new 3d graphics) and that's a great thing. Razor-sharp localization, too – just one of the most raw fun games I've ever played.
Air Twister
2022
Yu Suzuki made us a new Space Harrier with Panzer Dragoon combat and a psychedelic hodgepodge of asset library 3D model overkill, all scored by a bargain basement Queen tribute act, and you sit there and say there’s no good video games anymore.
This review contains spoilers
Some of the slickest art and graphical design and one of the best soundtracks of all time with writing that I sadly think doesn't completely match up to the reputation of what came before it. All 3 stories start off about as strong as The Silver Case does but the only one which really keeps it up all the way through is Placebo, which is some of the best stuff in Kill The Past and justifies the entire work.
I think Correctness's individual parts are very good, chapters 2 and 3 in particular, but I don't know how much I like it as a unifying story. The Kurumizawa stuff is amazing but feels almost underwritten compared to the far less interesting Kosaka scenes which felt like they were there to over-explain what was happening in chapter 5 especially.
It's the Matchmaker story that bumps this down to something lower than it probably deserves though. First two chapters are amazing until it slides down the yakuza plot line for two chapters which is the first time in any of these games I felt like I could predict every single thing that was going to happen next. It ends well enough but what started as a funny dark parallel story to Correctness which enhanced both stories ends up fairly tedious and damaging to the other stories it's supposed to help prop up.
Placebo really is excellent though, Tokio's chapters in The Silver Case are some of my favorite writing in any game and I'm glad to say they don't drop the ball here. In particular chapters 3 and 5 are so pitch perfect and quietly devastating that it's almost enough for me to look past my issues with the other stories.
I think in the end what has me prefer TSC far above this is mainly personal taste. I loved TSC because it was simultaneously a horrifying nightmare paranoia world that was incredibly human. The cast was all memorable and the way their stories came to truly violent ends by the end sat with me strongly. There's really no such interesting character dynamics here. There's no Kusabi type to center everything. Kuro is a hell of a lot of fun but she doesn't have much to do post chapter 2, and Tsuki and Osato's dynamic also pretty handily peaks at chapter 2 for me. I do think this distance is a deliberate choice but it's one which I feel doesn't fully resonate with me, especially at the ends of these stories where they try to have moments where it feels we really should care about the relationship between the cast.
Still, it's Kill the Past, it's still unlike anything else that I can think and even if I don't think it fully lives up to its predecessor, very few things can.
If I'm given 50,000 yen I''ll bump the score up
I think Correctness's individual parts are very good, chapters 2 and 3 in particular, but I don't know how much I like it as a unifying story. The Kurumizawa stuff is amazing but feels almost underwritten compared to the far less interesting Kosaka scenes which felt like they were there to over-explain what was happening in chapter 5 especially.
It's the Matchmaker story that bumps this down to something lower than it probably deserves though. First two chapters are amazing until it slides down the yakuza plot line for two chapters which is the first time in any of these games I felt like I could predict every single thing that was going to happen next. It ends well enough but what started as a funny dark parallel story to Correctness which enhanced both stories ends up fairly tedious and damaging to the other stories it's supposed to help prop up.
Placebo really is excellent though, Tokio's chapters in The Silver Case are some of my favorite writing in any game and I'm glad to say they don't drop the ball here. In particular chapters 3 and 5 are so pitch perfect and quietly devastating that it's almost enough for me to look past my issues with the other stories.
I think in the end what has me prefer TSC far above this is mainly personal taste. I loved TSC because it was simultaneously a horrifying nightmare paranoia world that was incredibly human. The cast was all memorable and the way their stories came to truly violent ends by the end sat with me strongly. There's really no such interesting character dynamics here. There's no Kusabi type to center everything. Kuro is a hell of a lot of fun but she doesn't have much to do post chapter 2, and Tsuki and Osato's dynamic also pretty handily peaks at chapter 2 for me. I do think this distance is a deliberate choice but it's one which I feel doesn't fully resonate with me, especially at the ends of these stories where they try to have moments where it feels we really should care about the relationship between the cast.
Still, it's Kill the Past, it's still unlike anything else that I can think and even if I don't think it fully lives up to its predecessor, very few things can.
If I'm given 50,000 yen I''ll bump the score up
Entropy: Zero 2
2022
Nice show-off on how to make sequel for your indie game. Much bigger in all perspectives - more story, more gameplay mechanics, more humor. I'd like to believe that some day I will play in third part of that game, that would be even more greater in comparison with this sequel.
Final Fantasy III
1990
The best out of all three NES Final Fantasies, but with the biggest problem balancing difficulty, making it even to previous entries.
The Job system is a good innovation: it's fun to juggle different abilities and gameplay features, like Dragoon jumps, Knights ability to protect, Conjurer (Invoker) gamble with summoner magic. I don't even mind SOME of the instances of forced jobs, with a system that allows you change to any job in relatively small time, it's not that big of problem, but... more on this problems later. Mini and Toad transformations are cute, but Mini has restrictions and unnecessary cruel segments. Fuck that big stupid rat bastard boss. Game has similar looks to previous ones, but a lot of animations looks good, even impressive for NES hardware. Endscreen is the best NES endscreens I've seen. Story follows similar principal of the first game and makes some flavor with characters and cutscenes like the second one. FF II is more interesting overall in that regard, but FF III has more engaging moments. Antagonists are kind of boring though. Cutscenes before final zone are pleasant showcase, how you impacted this world and it's people. Music is also good, hearing so many familiar tracks after FFXIV was a treat.
So overall game is better than two previous ones, right? Well...
In some particular moments game is really cruel with balancing. Some jobs you can't even try because you don't have armor and weapons for them (they are in different town out of your reach for next two dungeons). I wouldn't even care about Mini restrictions of no physical damage and armor if not for that big stupid fucking rat bastard boss. I hate Cave of Shadows and it's dividing enemies with passion, since it's the only instance of forced job executed really poorly. The only non-vague explanations of how to beat it are in said cave with rabbit-like enemies spawn rate and in hidden village. And unlike Garuda and dragoons situation (which foreshadows Garuda pretty clearly and gives free armor for multiple characters), Mystic Knights (Dark Knights) are very stingy with their armor and weapons, combine it with necessity of using them... it's not good.
Surprisingly for me, Eureka and Syrcus Tower went smoothly. For the first time in FF games i have top armor and weapons for my characters, i have all summons and decent resources... and then Xande's Meteor hit me. And then the second one hit me. And then I'm dead. And if I play by the rules, i have ether spend good 30-40 minutes to try again, or mindlessly grind for several hours. And then Dark World bosses, especially Ahriman. And then Cloud of Darkness, who spams Particle Beam nonstop. It's unusually cruel even by FF ending standards, i didn't have to grind my way in previous ones, they were hard, but completable. This one isn't. FF III at it's last hours feels like gambling game: ether heals come first or you die a violent death. Game punishes you for not having ~50 level and cuts 1.5 hour of progression right at the end, a stupid problem in a game with save system.
I want to like this game, I want to like it better than other two NES entries, but I can't. In the end of the day, all of them are at the same level. First one because of some BS parts at the middle and it's overall simplicity, second one because of inconvenient way to level up your survivability and way too long ending dungeon, and third one because of some bad designs, meteors and big fucking stupid dumb piece of shit rat.
I hope SNES games are going to be improvement without fucking up endgame.
The Job system is a good innovation: it's fun to juggle different abilities and gameplay features, like Dragoon jumps, Knights ability to protect, Conjurer (Invoker) gamble with summoner magic. I don't even mind SOME of the instances of forced jobs, with a system that allows you change to any job in relatively small time, it's not that big of problem, but... more on this problems later. Mini and Toad transformations are cute, but Mini has restrictions and unnecessary cruel segments. Fuck that big stupid rat bastard boss. Game has similar looks to previous ones, but a lot of animations looks good, even impressive for NES hardware. Endscreen is the best NES endscreens I've seen. Story follows similar principal of the first game and makes some flavor with characters and cutscenes like the second one. FF II is more interesting overall in that regard, but FF III has more engaging moments. Antagonists are kind of boring though. Cutscenes before final zone are pleasant showcase, how you impacted this world and it's people. Music is also good, hearing so many familiar tracks after FFXIV was a treat.
So overall game is better than two previous ones, right? Well...
In some particular moments game is really cruel with balancing. Some jobs you can't even try because you don't have armor and weapons for them (they are in different town out of your reach for next two dungeons). I wouldn't even care about Mini restrictions of no physical damage and armor if not for that big stupid fucking rat bastard boss. I hate Cave of Shadows and it's dividing enemies with passion, since it's the only instance of forced job executed really poorly. The only non-vague explanations of how to beat it are in said cave with rabbit-like enemies spawn rate and in hidden village. And unlike Garuda and dragoons situation (which foreshadows Garuda pretty clearly and gives free armor for multiple characters), Mystic Knights (Dark Knights) are very stingy with their armor and weapons, combine it with necessity of using them... it's not good.
Surprisingly for me, Eureka and Syrcus Tower went smoothly. For the first time in FF games i have top armor and weapons for my characters, i have all summons and decent resources... and then Xande's Meteor hit me. And then the second one hit me. And then I'm dead. And if I play by the rules, i have ether spend good 30-40 minutes to try again, or mindlessly grind for several hours. And then Dark World bosses, especially Ahriman. And then Cloud of Darkness, who spams Particle Beam nonstop. It's unusually cruel even by FF ending standards, i didn't have to grind my way in previous ones, they were hard, but completable. This one isn't. FF III at it's last hours feels like gambling game: ether heals come first or you die a violent death. Game punishes you for not having ~50 level and cuts 1.5 hour of progression right at the end, a stupid problem in a game with save system.
I want to like this game, I want to like it better than other two NES entries, but I can't. In the end of the day, all of them are at the same level. First one because of some BS parts at the middle and it's overall simplicity, second one because of inconvenient way to level up your survivability and way too long ending dungeon, and third one because of some bad designs, meteors and big fucking stupid dumb piece of shit rat.
I hope SNES games are going to be improvement without fucking up endgame.
Great CRPG, certainly one of the best even among the "golden classics" on the Infinity Engine. It is also an improvement over Original Sin 1, which I enjoyed in terms of battle system (those elements combination and interaction with the scenery never get old), but it didn't click with me in other aspects. There are more interesting lore elements, plot with more fun twists, way less bland dialogues (some of them genuinely made me laugh, which is an achievement for a video game writing), more appealing area design. As an overall package it is pretty hard to think of better game in the genre (except, potentially, BG3, but I will check it later). If you compare it story wise with other games, there are better alternatives for sure. The story is relatively straightforward, but still was pretty entertaining to follow.
As cons I will mention several things. DOS2 can be dragging sometimes in terms of pacing, especially in the last act. I expected a bit more with "pre-made" characters story quests, they do make experience more engaging, they are still a bit lacking (I still recommend everyone to start the game with them, you can customize their builds however you want anyway). The game sometimes seems a bit restrictive due to necessity to find areas more appropriate for your current level. Also some fights can be too frustrating without cheese tactics.
Nevertheless, still amazing CRPG, which helped to revitalize the genre (I remember everyone being doomsayers during Mass Effect days, these are in the past).
As cons I will mention several things. DOS2 can be dragging sometimes in terms of pacing, especially in the last act. I expected a bit more with "pre-made" characters story quests, they do make experience more engaging, they are still a bit lacking (I still recommend everyone to start the game with them, you can customize their builds however you want anyway). The game sometimes seems a bit restrictive due to necessity to find areas more appropriate for your current level. Also some fights can be too frustrating without cheese tactics.
Nevertheless, still amazing CRPG, which helped to revitalize the genre (I remember everyone being doomsayers during Mass Effect days, these are in the past).
Slay the Princess
2023
Well-put-together with enjoyable voice acting, but the core of the writing didn't really come together in a compelling way to make the horror or the meta elements work for me. I feel like meta elements tend to work best when there's already some investment or reason to be interested in the world we're getting meta about - Higurashi, Yu-no, etc etc.
A game which I decided to play just to "celebrate" Halloween turned out to be really great, and it is probably one of my favorite sidescroller games now! I am definitely impressed by that.
Stellar visual style and top notch soundtrack (one of my personal favorites now as well), which makes whole experience as close to arcades as possible in terms of presentation (which is impressive for fairly weak PC Engine). Really fun platforming, interesting enemy patterns. I am surprised how nearly everything can be telegraphed pretty well. I especially enjoy bosses. They can feel simplistic sometimes, but they are still challenging enough and they somewhat makes think of them as a puzzle, like any good boss fights should. The levels are also enjoyable, which can also reward your thrill for exploration (the shift from classic Castlevania to Igavania in SotN makes more sense now).
There are certainly moments which are making me extra salty. For example, I would like less short platforms with jumping enemies, which can knock you back. But this moment and the others are mostly my skill issue, not the game's issue. Also I do think Maria's a bit too busted, she is borderline auto win character, honeslty. These are the only cons I can think of, except some other nitpicks, which can not ruin the whole experience.
While writing this review I have an urge to explore other routes for levels, which tells something about Rondo of Blood. It cerainly aged pretty well, and it is actually one of the retro games which I can recommend without any doubt alongside Doom, Super Metroid and Megaman X.
Stellar visual style and top notch soundtrack (one of my personal favorites now as well), which makes whole experience as close to arcades as possible in terms of presentation (which is impressive for fairly weak PC Engine). Really fun platforming, interesting enemy patterns. I am surprised how nearly everything can be telegraphed pretty well. I especially enjoy bosses. They can feel simplistic sometimes, but they are still challenging enough and they somewhat makes think of them as a puzzle, like any good boss fights should. The levels are also enjoyable, which can also reward your thrill for exploration (the shift from classic Castlevania to Igavania in SotN makes more sense now).
There are certainly moments which are making me extra salty. For example, I would like less short platforms with jumping enemies, which can knock you back. But this moment and the others are mostly my skill issue, not the game's issue. Also I do think Maria's a bit too busted, she is borderline auto win character, honeslty. These are the only cons I can think of, except some other nitpicks, which can not ruin the whole experience.
While writing this review I have an urge to explore other routes for levels, which tells something about Rondo of Blood. It cerainly aged pretty well, and it is actually one of the retro games which I can recommend without any doubt alongside Doom, Super Metroid and Megaman X.
