Wingblade
54 reviews liked by Wingblade
Kero Blaster
2014
Incredibly charming in just about every possible regard; the music, the visual aesthetic, the various different character and enemy designs, the adorable little jacket you get to wear. The game is also just impeccably paced, throwing new levels, mechanics, weapons and boss designs at you at a good rate over its modest run-time, presenting a regular feed of new, fun content without overstaying its welcome. The weapon upgrades are particularly great for this changing your relationship with how you're playing very meaningfully generally at least once per level.
I was expecting to be done with Kero Blaster after my first playthrough, but the hard mode you unlock upon completing the game is basically a whole new game in itself; all the levels have the same base theme but are otherwise completely redesigned, bosses introduce whole new mechanics compared to their normal mode versions, there's a whole new story that builds upon the normal mode story, and to top it all off there's even a whole new, just outright excellent multi-phase final boss fight.
I've seen some complaints about the lives system in this game where if you die too many times in a level you're sent back to the start of the level, but I think it mostly works as being forced to play the level again will often gather you enough coins for that next weapon or health upgrade you need which can make all the difference in whichever fight you struggled on earlier, and the second run through a level is typically much easier than the first. It's only towards the end of hard mode, especially on the final level, that this lives system starts to get frustrating especially as hard mode largely lives up to its name and the final level of this mode is quite long.
I do wish the story was slightly more comprehensible, it definitely feels like something was lost in translation here, but regardless I appreciate the anti-capitalist sentiments the game presents. I also think the movement is just the tiniest bit too slippery for a few of the more precise platforming challenges towards the end of hard mode. For the most part the game was a true joy, though, and one I may even return to for New Game+ at some point.
I was expecting to be done with Kero Blaster after my first playthrough, but the hard mode you unlock upon completing the game is basically a whole new game in itself; all the levels have the same base theme but are otherwise completely redesigned, bosses introduce whole new mechanics compared to their normal mode versions, there's a whole new story that builds upon the normal mode story, and to top it all off there's even a whole new, just outright excellent multi-phase final boss fight.
I've seen some complaints about the lives system in this game where if you die too many times in a level you're sent back to the start of the level, but I think it mostly works as being forced to play the level again will often gather you enough coins for that next weapon or health upgrade you need which can make all the difference in whichever fight you struggled on earlier, and the second run through a level is typically much easier than the first. It's only towards the end of hard mode, especially on the final level, that this lives system starts to get frustrating especially as hard mode largely lives up to its name and the final level of this mode is quite long.
I do wish the story was slightly more comprehensible, it definitely feels like something was lost in translation here, but regardless I appreciate the anti-capitalist sentiments the game presents. I also think the movement is just the tiniest bit too slippery for a few of the more precise platforming challenges towards the end of hard mode. For the most part the game was a true joy, though, and one I may even return to for New Game+ at some point.
Party Hard
2015
A very addictive game that bases its main charm on the simplicity of its starting point: the neighbors throw a party that won't let you sleep and you decide to blow it up by putting all the guests to the knife.
There are 19 parties available from which to hone your stealth skills to sneak in without permission, pick off guests, hide bodies and avoid the police.
There are 19 parties available from which to hone your stealth skills to sneak in without permission, pick off guests, hide bodies and avoid the police.
Phantom Dust
2017
fucking dissapointment, just a card game disguised
Or, how u/green discovered he does not have the patience for classic point and click games
Omori
2020
This review contains spoilers
Omori left me annoyed and disappointed. The ending is so laughably amateurish, it feels like it was written by an edgy teenager. It's really a shame because the rest of the game is fairly well written. Before I get into spoilers, I also want to talk about the gameplay. The game has your typical JRPG combat which is incredibly boring imo. Buyers beware. The only reason I bought this despite the turn based combat was because of the art and story. The latter didn't live up to my expectations.
Let's just get straight into it:
As it turns out, the protagonist accidentally kills his sister and then with the help of his friend Basil, makes the death look like a suicide. This guilt makes him create a colorful, imaginary world in his head where everything is fine and dandy.
Now I would have no problem with this plot if it wasn't revolving around literal children. A 12 year old child, apparently staged the death of his own sister. This just goes beyond my suspension of disbelief. It would've been fine if the kid lied about his involvement in her death. That would've worked as his little secret. Instead, he literally drags his sister's corpse to his backyard tree and hangs her.
I was expecting a twist ending cause both the protagonist and Basil seemed distant from the very beginning. But what I got was completely out of this realm of possibility. Instead of being a delicate and personal story about dealing with mental illness, the ending turns it into this bizarre, shocking tale which reads like a fanfiction of itself. It feels shocking just for the sake of it. Silent Hill 2 is a great example of a twist done right. The plot is shocking but it doesn't feel hamfisted. The developers want you to "learn" something. There are messages they want to convey to the player. This entire game feels pointless.
The game also suffers from the character trope problems that plague most anime. I believe this is intentional but it's annoying nonetheless.
I may come off as overly critical in this review and that's only because of the potential I saw in it. The art is phenomenal, the soundtrack is super memorable and the characters are genuinely endearing at times. The scares also do a really good job of building tension. Alas, the ending spoiled the experience overall.
Let's just get straight into it:
As it turns out, the protagonist accidentally kills his sister and then with the help of his friend Basil, makes the death look like a suicide. This guilt makes him create a colorful, imaginary world in his head where everything is fine and dandy.
Now I would have no problem with this plot if it wasn't revolving around literal children. A 12 year old child, apparently staged the death of his own sister. This just goes beyond my suspension of disbelief. It would've been fine if the kid lied about his involvement in her death. That would've worked as his little secret. Instead, he literally drags his sister's corpse to his backyard tree and hangs her.
I was expecting a twist ending cause both the protagonist and Basil seemed distant from the very beginning. But what I got was completely out of this realm of possibility. Instead of being a delicate and personal story about dealing with mental illness, the ending turns it into this bizarre, shocking tale which reads like a fanfiction of itself. It feels shocking just for the sake of it. Silent Hill 2 is a great example of a twist done right. The plot is shocking but it doesn't feel hamfisted. The developers want you to "learn" something. There are messages they want to convey to the player. This entire game feels pointless.
The game also suffers from the character trope problems that plague most anime. I believe this is intentional but it's annoying nonetheless.
I may come off as overly critical in this review and that's only because of the potential I saw in it. The art is phenomenal, the soundtrack is super memorable and the characters are genuinely endearing at times. The scares also do a really good job of building tension. Alas, the ending spoiled the experience overall.
Omori
2020
absconding with kickstarter money for 6 and a half years and you deliver a game that makes you slog through so much filler for an unearned plot twist and has the nerve to think it can end on a sentimental note should be an actual crime
half a star for an interesting combat gimmick that desperately needed to be fleshed out more
half a star for an interesting combat gimmick that desperately needed to be fleshed out more
Hotline Miami was one of my favorite games in 2013. It was violent, fast-paced, had tight controls, and rocked a retro 8-bit art style like no other game has. The music was fantastic as well, but the best part was the “just one more level” appeal. Hotline Miami 2 brings back the epic music, great art, violence, and well…some other things we didn’t really want.
Wrong Number starts out by giving us some backstory…well it tries and miserably fails at it. The story does not make one lick of sense because you are being flip-flopped between time periods and so many different characters. Each level just starts and the story is just there. There’s some dialog with no connection to the previous scene. It’s frustrating and makes you want the storyless original back. However, and it pains me to say this, but the story isn’t the worst thing in Miami 2. The game is excruciatingly difficult. Now Miami 1 was hard but satisfying so. It had great replay value because it was the perfect challenge. Miami 2 is a near frustrating mess of endless restarts and trial and error.
You could say it’s worse level design but that’s not the case, I feel it’s more like the poor enemy placement. There are so many enemies in each level and I mean tons. They all have a variety of guns, melee weapons, and a few can only be taken down with certain weapons. I feel the placement is haphazard where using strategies in the last game over way overused here and end up being used to exploit the game to advance which is not fun at all. Enemies will see you if you can see them, this is how Hotline Miami works. If you can pan the camera further away you can get a quick sniper shot at them and a free hit, but for fewer points. One good strategy is moving in and out of a doorway really quick and lets some enemies see you, duck back into a corner and slice everyone up as they enter the doorway or around a corner. That was an infrequent strategy in Miami 1 but in 2 this has to be done to just get part way through one area. Miami 2 is also full of long-winded levels that seem to never end.
Abusing Miami 1’s strategies is a crying shame here since this game could have had so much potential for more enemies and new strategies. After halfway through the game the levels become large and hard to navigate with traditional Hotline Miami controls and gameplay. It’s almost like the game tried to go into a new direction but didn’t evolve its gameplay for it. Miami 2 is also twice as long as the first game, but it overstays its welcome after the second act. I literally felt like the game became a chore and just wanted it to end.
However, that’s not to say the whole “one more level” thing is gone. I was hooked and the constant trial and error had me restarting levels dozens and dozens of times to try a new strategy, but it wasn’t really an enjoyable “one more level” feeling. A lot of times I had to exploit the enemy AI, only certain levels can really be completed one way and if you start a level with the wrong weapon, kill the wrong guy first, or even so much as to kill all the enemies in the wrong order you’re pretty much screwed. More often than not I was restarting a level not because my strategy wasn’t sound, but because the enemy AI screwed everything up because he wasn’t patrolling the correct corridor or left a room he’s normally in and blindsides me when I least expect it. Usually, this is a good thing, but not when you’re forced to kill enemies in a certain way due to poor enemy placement being overwhelming.
With that said, I hate to say that there’s really no reason to come back to this game after you finish. Do I want to spend an entire week restarting level after level again and again? Of course not. I’d rather re-download the first game and enjoy the excellent Miami-ness without all the hair pulling. All in all, Miami 2 is not really a must play even for fans, if you end up never playing this you’re probably better off sticking with the first game.
Wrong Number starts out by giving us some backstory…well it tries and miserably fails at it. The story does not make one lick of sense because you are being flip-flopped between time periods and so many different characters. Each level just starts and the story is just there. There’s some dialog with no connection to the previous scene. It’s frustrating and makes you want the storyless original back. However, and it pains me to say this, but the story isn’t the worst thing in Miami 2. The game is excruciatingly difficult. Now Miami 1 was hard but satisfying so. It had great replay value because it was the perfect challenge. Miami 2 is a near frustrating mess of endless restarts and trial and error.
You could say it’s worse level design but that’s not the case, I feel it’s more like the poor enemy placement. There are so many enemies in each level and I mean tons. They all have a variety of guns, melee weapons, and a few can only be taken down with certain weapons. I feel the placement is haphazard where using strategies in the last game over way overused here and end up being used to exploit the game to advance which is not fun at all. Enemies will see you if you can see them, this is how Hotline Miami works. If you can pan the camera further away you can get a quick sniper shot at them and a free hit, but for fewer points. One good strategy is moving in and out of a doorway really quick and lets some enemies see you, duck back into a corner and slice everyone up as they enter the doorway or around a corner. That was an infrequent strategy in Miami 1 but in 2 this has to be done to just get part way through one area. Miami 2 is also full of long-winded levels that seem to never end.
Abusing Miami 1’s strategies is a crying shame here since this game could have had so much potential for more enemies and new strategies. After halfway through the game the levels become large and hard to navigate with traditional Hotline Miami controls and gameplay. It’s almost like the game tried to go into a new direction but didn’t evolve its gameplay for it. Miami 2 is also twice as long as the first game, but it overstays its welcome after the second act. I literally felt like the game became a chore and just wanted it to end.
However, that’s not to say the whole “one more level” thing is gone. I was hooked and the constant trial and error had me restarting levels dozens and dozens of times to try a new strategy, but it wasn’t really an enjoyable “one more level” feeling. A lot of times I had to exploit the enemy AI, only certain levels can really be completed one way and if you start a level with the wrong weapon, kill the wrong guy first, or even so much as to kill all the enemies in the wrong order you’re pretty much screwed. More often than not I was restarting a level not because my strategy wasn’t sound, but because the enemy AI screwed everything up because he wasn’t patrolling the correct corridor or left a room he’s normally in and blindsides me when I least expect it. Usually, this is a good thing, but not when you’re forced to kill enemies in a certain way due to poor enemy placement being overwhelming.
With that said, I hate to say that there’s really no reason to come back to this game after you finish. Do I want to spend an entire week restarting level after level again and again? Of course not. I’d rather re-download the first game and enjoy the excellent Miami-ness without all the hair pulling. All in all, Miami 2 is not really a must play even for fans, if you end up never playing this you’re probably better off sticking with the first game.
Katana Zero
2019
I liked the game, but it's obviously unfinished and very short.
Half-Life
1998
I have some amount of respect for Half-Life. The game's eye for set-pieces, and constant insistence on re-inventing itself, makes for a varied experience that seems ahead of its time in some ways. The game also did a lot for immersive storytelling in games, though this aspect of Half-Life comes across as very clunky nowadays when contrasted against what followed in its footsteps. I will also say that, despite the harsh words that are about to follow, I enjoyed playing through Half-Life quite a bit more than my rating indicates; I played through the game in the company of friends, and everyone gently mocking the game's failings throughout helped make for an enjoyable time.
The problem is, for all it managed to do for the medium Half-Life has sadly aged almost impressively horrendously. The opening couple hours, which play out almost as survival horror, manage to still capture some amount of the tension they likely had a couple decades ago, but almost everything after the point where soldiers start showing ends up being some brand of frustrating with awkward enemy placement, cheap deaths, and myriad moments where I had to look up what I was even meant to do. Following this downward trend in quality to its natural conclusion fighting the final boss was an intensely unpleasant experience, all to get an ending that for me fell flat on its face.
I also deeply disliked the quick-save/quick-load feature and how the game seems very much designed with it in mind. Maybe I just suck at FPSes but there are countless moments in this game that only really make sense in a world where you assume most players are actively using quick-saving. Actually using this feature though leads to what feels like a very disjointed experience, robbing you of any feeling of genuine accomplishment and making every moment of disaster only a button press away from having never happened. Talking to friends I get the impression that a lot of PC games of this era were designed with this style of play in mind, and wow do I not get on with it at all.
The problem is, for all it managed to do for the medium Half-Life has sadly aged almost impressively horrendously. The opening couple hours, which play out almost as survival horror, manage to still capture some amount of the tension they likely had a couple decades ago, but almost everything after the point where soldiers start showing ends up being some brand of frustrating with awkward enemy placement, cheap deaths, and myriad moments where I had to look up what I was even meant to do. Following this downward trend in quality to its natural conclusion fighting the final boss was an intensely unpleasant experience, all to get an ending that for me fell flat on its face.
I also deeply disliked the quick-save/quick-load feature and how the game seems very much designed with it in mind. Maybe I just suck at FPSes but there are countless moments in this game that only really make sense in a world where you assume most players are actively using quick-saving. Actually using this feature though leads to what feels like a very disjointed experience, robbing you of any feeling of genuine accomplishment and making every moment of disaster only a button press away from having never happened. Talking to friends I get the impression that a lot of PC games of this era were designed with this style of play in mind, and wow do I not get on with it at all.
Bright Memory
2020
Play ULTRAKILL instead.