I gotta say, I don't really give Sunsoft the highest praise and I kind of feel bad. Outside of Rough World and Waku Waku 7, all their other games to me are like a 7/10 or lower. I don't hate them or anything but I guess maybe I'm strict on scores sometimes? I'm not sure. I finally got a pack of translations and Hebereke was one of them, I've always wanted to try it so I gave it a go and I'm gonna say it early, this is my favorite Sunsoft game.

This is an early take on a game style like Metroid where you recruit new characters and get items and upgrades to go through each part of the world. It's pretty fun though it can get a little tiring if you go the wrong way, I got lost at one point like an idiot. While Hebereke isn't perfect, what makes me love it is just how much fun and relaxing it can be. It helps it's one of their easier games they've made.

I really love the presentation, this was when Sunsoft was really at their A game with the hardware though it does come at a cost of the framerate being a little poor at times. All the characters are just really fun to look at, especially Hebe. Which they sadly replaced in the PAL released with a way less cute design. Same with O-Chan who went from a human in a cat onesie to a lizard. The music is also phenomenal, some of the best on the Famicom.

I could go on but I probably shouldn't drag out the review, give it a chance if you're curious, it's sadly expensive to get a Famicom copy of this nowadays so you might need to emulate it. Though this game is apparently getting ported to Switch and PS4 so maybe wait and see if the emulation on those are good. (update, it's coming out next week. Kind of crazy just how long they took compared to when the review came out when it was on a different page).

you'll never believe the secrets this school is hiding!!

i put so much of that shit in my head i started opening doors while standing on different y-axes and shit

aside from that and the 3-4 times where i started clipping out of the map (which softlocked me every time) this was pretty functional. i liked the part where i wandered aimlessly until i found a pair of pliers at the bottom of a swimming pool (which were apparently sharp enough to cut - and repair - metal grates with)

love how shamelessly x-treme this tries to be. the sprites are fun too. i'd be stoked if i got this bundled with my wendys as a kid

Perhaps I'm overrating this buggy and content-dry disaster a little, but I do not care. The time spent with friends scurrying to find the necessary parts to escape are fondly remembered. I overlooked the obvious glaring shortcomings of the game because the primary gameplay loop was simply too enjoyable. There's a decent variety of playstyles to go with when choosing which counselor to survive the night, and that also extends to the objectives
What makes this game far superior to a similar title like Dead By Daylight, from my perspective, are the various ways players can survive the night. You can be selfish by gathering all the parts to the two-seater or the boat, or make the server cooperate effectively to secure the 4-seater or even bring down the momma's boy himself
Not only that, the developers do genuinely care about the source material. As a massive F13 fan, it's a pleasure to take note of all the numerous references included and dedication to making every playable Jason unique based on their specific quirks, like having Part 2 Jason be more of a trapper to emphasize how much of a amateurish serial killer he was in the film. It always pains me to remember of the inane copyright fiasco that held back the game from becoming truly great

How much action can a horror game have before it is no longer able to be considered survival-horror? It's a topic gaming journalists and gamers in general have been discussing for a while now. F.E.A.R certainly has an interesting place in that debate. When you look back at the Resident Evil franchise you'll find that there was a relatively brief (and fairly recent as of this writing) period where its fans had basically turned their backs on it after the 5th and 6th main entries supposedly strayed too far away from their established roots by adopting big set pieces, a more energetic pace, cooperative gameplay, and third-person shooting mechanics that would rival even Gears of War's. They did retain some core design staples like item and inventory management though, which on paper still makes them a better representation of their original genre than this relatively standard FPS experience would be.

Rather than forcing you into slow, clunky combat encounters against grotesque monsters, or not giving you any means of self-defense at all as is the modern trend, this title is completely centered around fast and furious firefights against military-esque soldiers. Ammo is never a concern, medkits are plentiful, and you even have the ability to slow down time Max Payne style in short spurts to give you an edge. It's genuinely an absolute blast. The way your foes gush or explode into red mists of blood while debris from the semi-destructible scenery fills the air leads to visually exciting confrontations. The (to this day) highly touted enemy AI has begun to show signs of jank and age, but I remained impressed nonetheless by their capabilities on the battlefield. They'll vault over obstacles, communicate your position to one another, form strategies and try to flank you. Essentially coming up with tactics that extend beyond merely ducking behind a piece of cover with their heads poking out just far enough for you to score a headshot, which feels like all you see in our current post-CoD era. It's hard to complain about any of this from a pure fun standpoint, but it should come as no surprise that such an approach completely removes all the feelings of helplessness you would find in something like Outlast. So the only area where an accurate comparison to gems of that ilk could be made is the tone.

F.E.A.R. is structured very similarly to Half-Life in that rather than completing a string of segmented levels, you'll be making a mostly continuous progress through the world, save for the occasional interruption by a loading screen or segue-esque helicopter ride to an entirely new location. A style we haven't seen much since the BioShock series. Outside of a brief excursion into a rundown apartment complex though, the environments you'll at times get momentarily lost in lack the personality of standouts like Black Mesa, Rapture, or even the underground mining tunnels from the first Red Faction. What they do have however is atmosphere. The dynamic lighting and disquieting soundtrack craft a wonderfully tense, unsettling vibe. To the point where I felt a sense of legitimate apprehension every time I was faced with going down another pitch-black hallway. The source of my anxiety being a raven-haired little specter clearly inspired by J-horror phantoms. She's never actually a physical threat to the player, but her unexpected appearances are good for a chill up your spine or a quick jolt regardless. Allow me to inform you, this is coming from a guy who didn't find Dead Space scary in the slightest. It's terror is sporadically undermined by a few out of place segments of intentionally comedic intents involving chasing down a "Cheezee Pooz" eating fatso in a Hawaiian shirt as he tries to cram his overly wide backside into air vents in an effort to escape, or elevator rides accompanied by comedically cheery music that get stopped on every floor by hostile gunmen. Although the biggest thing that may keep you from appreciating the full scope of the nightmare offered here are the sound mixing issues which cause it to be hard to hear dialog without severely lowering everything else in the options menu, or how much of the supplementary information is hidden away in answering machine messages that are boring to listen to. Flaws that will limit your possible enjoyment of the dark, twisted story.

While developer Monolith mostly nailed the thematic and presentation aspects, it's the side of the package you control that makes it difficult to justify calling it true survival-horror, rather than just horror-flavored, given the lengths it willingly goes to ensure you think you're Arnold Schwarzenegger or somebody. A fact that's slightly worse on consoles due to the exclusive "Instant Action" mode that's entirely focused on the gunplay and nothing else. Yet, I guess I'm in agreement with what IGN said once, that "survival horror is one of the only genres defined not by gameplay mechanics, but by theme, atmosphere, subject matter, and design philosophy." Because of that I can't help but put F.E.A.R. in the same vein as the Silent Hill's and Amnesia's. Having the ability to more effectively stand your ground against threats shouldn't matter in my mind so long as the rest of the surrounding material fits the bill, and are we honestly going to pretend the more commonly accepted into fold Condemned duology didn't emphasize forcing you to fight rather than flee, or that The Suffering wasn't basically a near straight-up shooter? Nevertheless, regardless of whether you agree with me or are wrong not in terms of what this should rightfully be classified as, I believe you'll come to the same conclusion that it's a pretty great game. A product from a time when the single-player was the main focus so it doesn't even matter that the multiplayer is dead. Worth seeking out if you're a fan of those not quite Boomer, but no longer "Modern" shooters along the lines of the original Prey or Doom 3.

8/10

Platform: Xbox 360 (Via Xbox Series X)
Date Started: February 6th, 2023
Date Finished: February 8th, 2023
Time Played: Unknown

"Something about him just feels...off."

A competent enough shooter that attempts to disguise itself as horror-infused but never really offers any tense or creepy moments, F.E.A.R. definitely proves itself to be an okay time with some good weapons, the shotgun especially, and a fun slow-mo mechanic, but eventually, by the second half, loses steam.

The game suffers from weak storytelling despite the potentially pretty cool idea, with lacklustre, unmemorable characters, a plot that isn't presented well to the player and silly moments.

It's alright to play, though, and initially the environments are really great - having firefights in office buildings around desks and cubicles is super unique and cosy, but eventually I did get a little exhausted traipsing around trying to find the correct way, and I think the game could have done with offering one more unique area in the middle like it does at the start and end.

Overall, then, I had a playable time with F.E.A.R. and will hop into the sequel when I get the chance. It's not solid, but despite its shortcomings it is a playable, just not good, title as a whole.

I have decided to abandon Pizza Tower haha. I must clarify that it is a very good game, I'm just not good enough at it. I think if I had more patience and been younger, I would have pursued on with it, but when I keep failing a level multiple times I get frustrated and I don't want to spend my spare time feeling like I am banging my head against a brick wall until I get good enough to do it. If you like tough 2D platformers like Super Meat Boy and platformers like Wario Land back in the day, then I would highly recommend this. If nothing else just Google some screenshots to appreciate its 90s cartoon art style.