cw: allusions to [c]sa, some analytical spoilers

i'm pretty embarrassed to admit i've never finished Yume Nikki let alone really played it that much nor any of its inspired works (Yume 2kki, .flow), which is strange as someone who credits RPGMaker horror as formative to my earlier gaming experiences and identifying what i love and enjoy in the genre. i came across Junko via some stray youtube recommendation of a channel curated by what seems to be a superfan who distributes the game via an archive link, and i feel it was very much a special chance encounter seeing how i have never heard a hair of the Junko series of titles (Junkoid, Super Junkoid) nor of their developer, P. Yoshi.

Junko follows the YN formula of the titular girl in a room she refuses to leave who can explore only her dreams, where she discovers "effects" which transform her body or provide tools with which to create new paths forward. it's how the game wields this progression in a more metroidvania-esque way, corroborated by P. Yoshi themselves in this discord interview from earlier in the year, in which the framework of YN transforms into a more traditional adventure game. additionally there's an undeniable Mother influence, seen particularly within the colourful NPC dialogue as well as an endgame segment which heavily reminds of Magicant as it appears in the original japanese release of Mother 2; this was far from derivative or unoriginal, i bring attention to it because it created a similar yet more intensely morbid experience to its inspiration.

on the game's tone being the standout feature, Junko's nightmares are fairly more overt than Madotsuki's in their metaphor though vague or obscured elements still remain to encourage interpretation and exploration of her psyche. there's an enduring theme of voyeurism, unwelcome advances, and inappropriate language towards someone of Junko's conceived age seen mostly through the use of an effect which allows the player to read others' minds, revealing a sordid inner truth to many exchanges. there are characters dotting the interconnected streets who genuinely wish to protect or advise her, but there's just as many who are concerned with how she perceives them and nowhere feels safe from a leering gaze; the feeling is heightened by the use of a looping breathing BGM present within most indoor locations, implying the existence of a watcher. though we have few other human characters for reference, Junko appears to be of very small stature and carries herself in a childlike manner, which makes her innocent interaction with items associated with adulthood by way of using them completely incorrectly bespeak of her youth. it's this seedy influence over her nightmare with Junko's relationship to anything associated with a certain motif painting her as an unfortunate victim of some unclear and terrible form of abuse, its presentation creeping and subdued.

Junko is overall an exploration and psychological horror cult hit, which chooses a slow footfall of dread over the quickened pace of its RPGMaker contemporaries. a newfound re-examination of YN itself and succeeding fangames has been kindled in me despite Junko's technical differences. sweet dreams.

Wearing its very clear inspiration on its sleeve, Rabbit & Steel takes many recognizable mechanics of FFXIV raiding and applies it to a side-scrolling rogue-like. Fight round after round of unique bosses as you float around to dodge attacks and keep up your own skill rotation.

There are a number of classes, and after each round you are scored based on your DPS. Even on normal (and in co-op up to 4 players) it is quite challenging and there are a lot of different attacks and mechanics to keep track of at all times. The music is tremendous and gives me vibes reminiscent of FFXIII, and it is very satisfying if you can make it through a fight without taking damage.

As it is highly replayable with a high skill ceiling, I certainly expect I'll be playing this for some time in the future. I only have a couple criticisms, one being that some key effects or buffs don't feel as visible as they could be, and in a game where movement is everything, items that reduce mobility feel like an immediate throwaway. But I want to keep at it and get better, if only to hear more of that soundtrack.

one of the low key best games of all-time. just an unparalleled sense of atmosphere, and the levels strike a great balance between being immersive and realistic-feeling but relatively simple and approachable in a way that i don't even think has been exactly replicated. and then even with a tight and unique mechanics the missions go places you just don't anticipate at all. it really feels like an adventure where you don't know where you're going to go next. the sequel might have (arguably) improved some of the mechanics but doesn't have as much of that mystery. the only real flaw is it peters out a bit at the end - some of those ending missions feel rushed and don't quite work. but that is not unusual for PC games of that era.

(i'm reviewing this version because i think Song of the Caverns was the only essential added mission for Thief Gold, but consider it the same rating for both)

Ok 20 hours deep and no signs of stopping, really just some of the best gameplay of all time ever I'm thinking. Definitely at least one of the best album listening games ever.

Beaten it several times on several difficulties and several decks, it's just not getting old at all. I am just now starting to try out stuff like pair decks and it's really fun to figure out how exactly I need to build my run to be able to clear blinds. Very difficult to express just how good this feels to play through only words, but for what it's worth it's easily my favorite rougelike/lite in a very very long time, possibly ever. One of the best examples I have ever seen of "easy to learn, hard to master."

it started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this...

its so weird and hard to try and explain whats good about echo because its surface level is equally ridden with humble shortcomings and overwhelming power...the prose is not anything special, the presentation is often in the novice land of weird sprites and endless kevin macleod music (though the cgs tend to be wonderful at least) theres a couple route-specific flaws, and maybe a couple ideas or plot beats have been Done Before if u care about that stuff. but its just so clearly one of the greatest things ive ever experienced in any medium, and could only exist in this specific form as a visibly amateurish gay furry itch.io cult classic...a sprawling, ambitious, colorful, comforting, gutting, endlessly fascinating generator of Thoughts and Feelings stepped in the kind of emotional truth you can only get from a niche product whos very conception will grant it the safety of probably not penetrating beyond its niche. but maybe thats a shame...echo is difficult to recommend, but i Do want more people to know about it, if for no other reason then its going to inspire at least one of them to take its lessons and go back something possibly even better...tho nothing could ever replace this

i am under no illusions that i will write a definitive review of echo, especially in the spoiler-free fashion i keep my stuff in, but after having spent literal years now reading this (i read my first route in late 2021, and took massive gap breaks between all the times i slowly returned to chip away at it), starting in one of the most tumultuous times of my life and ending it what has been one of the most peaceful times of my life, there are some things is especially have to commend...i owe it that much for its companionship

for me, echo's greatest strength, and its greatest thematic idea, is its commitment to the long-term effect...a relative de-emphasis on the individual moment-to-moment reading experience as anything amazing in isolation, and ability to weave these seemingly non-amazing scenes into something unspeakably identifiable and powerful. identity , for the game, for its routes, for its characters, is rich and multifaceted because it exists less in any big gestures and more in an increasingly dense personal history spent interacting with them. part of why the game took so damn long for me to playthru is that it has a kind of naturally rising emotional difficulty...the more routes u do, the more emotional baggage u have with the characters, the more u have to reckon with when they are onscreen , consciously and subconsciously. its not the the innocuous becomes massive in hindsight, it mostly stays innocuous...but it takes on a different color and flavor, becomes more specific and distinct

none of this is unique to echo, hopefully it could be applied to most good longform storytelling. but i do think echo has a uniquely powerful and steady hand in this department that resonates in myriad ways...its characters overwhelmingly traumatized queers with varying backgrounds of abuse, attempting to not be defined by the dry and brittle embrace of the town they spent their whole lives in...a struggle that often fails because the past cannot be truly left behind, and when actively denied manifests in secret subtle horrible ways that are now beyond your understanding because you have refused to reckon with it. the characters are their experiences, every moment of their lives enabled by every previous moment of their lives...there is no way to un-form themselves, who were formed in great pain and a deeply unjust world.

it is in this way that this being not just a gay game but a Gay Furry game is so fucking important. being queer is inherently traumatic in the cishetero patriarchal world, inherently abusive...even if not overtly, then internally, raised in an abnormality in a world that doesnt even teach u to recognize urself as one, leading to potentially years and years of ur identity and attractions being isolated from urself as u subconsciously recognize they are not yours. furries are overwhelmingly queer, and why not? u spend so long separated from urself, that u have to look in unexpected places to find it in a comforting and authentic way...why not cute animal people?

echo's niche is not tangential to its power (tho it is refreshingly un-exhausting about the logistics of its animal people world, leading by almost entirely intuition with a couple moments of playfully leaning on the unmovable concession that is the central aesthetic identity), it is Exactly Why i dont care if another vn ten years ago did similar things with anime girls or whatever. this is a frank and harrowing and emotionally complex discussion of internal and external queer trauma for an audience that will inherently understand it, without having to do any pandering or explanations to those who dont. this is why the game constantly blurs the line between romanticism/eroticism and horror, rather then being a DDLC style bait and switch where one becomes the other. this is why every single one of the deeply lovable incredible main characters could be convincingly argued to be a terrible person, and why theres no contradiction in that when the game asks u to love and accept them anyway. this is why every route has revelations that re-contextualize the entire game, with a full workable picture denied until the very end (and even then, in a world so vast, whos to say what we're still missing?). this is why the shit with sydney's dad is the way it is.

because if queerness is beautiful, yet also inherently traumatic, then that trauma can be, from some specific angle and trick of the light, beautiful as well...or at least, it can still produce a beautiful being, of which i have known countless...we are our experiences, especially our ugliest and most unjust ones. we cannot undo it, and yet we are worth something anyway. this is the revelation, and reorientation of how i see myself, that has allowed me to like myself for the first time in my life

i hadnt had this realization when i started echo, finishing it now id say its been the dominant pattern in my thought for the past year or so. echo is a space where i have returned like an intellectual checkpoint. am i being as kind and understanding to my younger self and their mistakes as i am to sydney? am i keeping a good holistic view of all of this enlightened traumaqueery to make sure im not making any excuses for genuine abuse, from or against or outside myself? has my acceptance turned to passivity? has my fear of passivity overturned my acceptance? have i been remembering that my worth and energy comes not from easily listenable or observable traits but something far more ephemeral built up by individual points of view choosing to spend time with me? echo has been equal parts challenging and comforting, realist and idealist, indulgent and thoughtful, spiraling and perceptive. at least in this stage of my life, its difficult to imagine being "done" with it , or having learned all i can from it. but even if i move on eventually, it, like everything, will remain within me. i could not be happier to have it here

labyrinth of galleria is proof that you can absolutely have too much of a good thing, but i also refuse to think less of it or rate it lowerjust because of that.
by the end of the second half i started to be burnt out to the point where i decided it'd be better if i just stopped playing and watched the rest of the story cutscenes which isn't something i've ever really done for a game i loved this much. not to say that the game is bad at all, quite the opposite actually! i loved every second of gameplay even if it was definitely of lower quality once it shifts to procedural generation for the dungeons in the second half, the music was spectacular, and the story and characters are some of my absolute favorites! on top of dealing with heavy topics in a way that feels natural, galleria in general has some of the most (and probably some of the only, to me at least) natural and human portrayals of lgbt characters in any game i think i've ever seen. the fact that the game is explicit about it in all cases but one without being heavy-handed about it means a lot to me. overall i absolutely love this game to death, it's just that i think i have a hard time with such huge time sinks and get stressed when i start spending so much time on any one singleplayer game, and i didn't want to get burnt out on an experience i loved so much. i'd definitely recommend checking this one out for any fans of drpgs, especially if you don't mind the massive commitment some of its later dungeons expect of you, and even if you aren't a fan of drpgs necessarily the story here is amazing and worth experiencing.

beautiful, amazing, and mesmerizing game. i hardly even feel equipped to talk about it much past surface level comments, but flower sun and rain is maybe the game that embodies "kill the past" the best to me. it's funny, it's thought provoking, and the way it ties into the silver case retroactively makes me like the silver case more. it's one of those games that resonated with me so heavily that i literally have nothing i can say about my time with it without it being a jumbled mess but i love it all the same.
fsr also has great vibes and an amazing soundtrack as well that really elevates everything that much further for me. sadly, the game is only available in english for the nintendo ds, but the presentation is so downgraded in every conceivable way and is how most people are going to play it until the inevitable remaster. i personally played with pcsx2 rendering to a desktop crt with a translation guide on another window and that visual and auditory boost was well worth it, especially with how short the game really is, but i understand how that might not be ideal for everyone. regardless of how you can or can't play fsr, as much as these are all great games i sincerely think that the initial kill the past trilogy of the silver case, flower sun and rain, and killer7 is worth checking out just for it alone, and i hope one day the remaster comes out so more people will play it and i can recommend it to people more readily

The poster child of Kusoge. The game with the world's most punishing implementation of fall damage. The inspiration for the much, MUCH better indie hit, Spelunky. There's not too much to say that hasn't already been said.

What I will say is that this game ain't half bad all things considered. I have no interest in trying to beat the extra challenges past the end - Same cave but with more ghosts and invisible items? Yeah no thanks - What Spelunker does offer is some pretty solid precision platforming for a game of its era. Starting at the very top of the cave honestly isn't a huge deal when you can just reset, hit start and be right back at it.

Is it amazing? A hidden gem? Not really. But you could definitely beat this one over the course of an afternoon, and it would be far from a waste of time.

Sights & Sounds
- As far as remasters go, it seems difficult to work with assets from the blocky early 3D period of the late 90s. Regardless of your skills, you're starting with awkwardly shaped polygons and muddy JPEG backgrounds
- That is to say, this remaster of the LucasArts classic Grim Fandango is visually uneven. The updated textures on the 3D models look pretty nice, but the conversion to 16:9 has stretched the character models a little bit. I probably wouldn't have noticed were I not looking at direct comparisons, but they are noticeably squished. The backgrounds appear to be mostly unchanged, but the lighting and shadows have been heavily revamped. Most indoor parts of the game are far darker than they used to be if there isn't a light source nearby
- The voicework is as spectacular as ever. It was my favorite thing about the game when I played the original way back in the early 2000s, and it's still a collection of standout performances. Manny, Glottis, and Meche are all of course excellently voiced, but even the side characters are great. I still like to parrot the French accent of the roulette table's croupier
- Setting my nostalgia glasses aside, it's evident that the game still looks very dated, and even the remaster doesn't really do much to update it. Thankfully, the strong art direction and setting still look good after all this time. The Land of the Dead and all its Dia de los Muertos inspired populace look great, whether you're milling about your office or trying to hide from monsters at the bottom of the sea
- The jazzy soundtrack is also a highlight, and Year 2's music is particularly great. The less boisterous tracks sound like background music for The Maltese Falcon

Story & Vibes
- The narrative is extremely good; with all the time skips and varied settings you traverse, it actually feels like you're going on an adventure. The plot follows Manuel "Manny" Calavera, a travel agent in the Land of the Dead. In this version of the afterlife, the dead are required to embark on a treacherous journey before their soul can finally move on. The wicked may only get a walking cane to assist them, but the most righteous score a "double-N" ticket for the No. 9, a luxury train that allows them to skip the whole ordeal
- (Skip this bullet if you don't want spoilers for the set-up) Although Manny was formerly a consistent employee-of-the-month, he's recently been outshined by his colleague, Domino Hurley, who seems to be extremely shady and appears to have connections to the realm's seedy criminal underbelly. The plot kicks off after you find that Hector has stolen the ticket of Mercedes "Meche" Colomar, a virtuous soul who spent the majority of her life doing charity work for children. Meche sets off on her journey anyway, forcing Manny to try to track her down on a world-spanning adventure to ensure her path across the land of the dead is safe and successful. Along the way, you'll find yourself in the middle of a huge conspiracy, so you should probably see about tidying that up, too
- One of the highlights of the narrative has to be the variety in the settings you traverse. You'll guide Manny through mundane offices, the tops of tall skyscrapers, spider-infested woods, secret underground tunnels, and beatnick jazz clubs. And that's just the first half of the game
- All the while, you'll be accompanied by the friendly demon, Glottis. In a game full of comic relief, he's the comic relief-iest--a constant source of eye-rolling gags and physical comedy that will probably annoy you at first, but will eventually become endearing. As far as sidekicks go, he's one of the best. I'd place him just a spot below Disco Elysium's Kim Kitsuragi
- There's some great emotional range going on here. In spite of the ubiquity of death and its prominent place in the plot, the humor is constant and often very funny. Corny, but still capable of eliciting some chuckles. In other moments, the game is very contemplative and soulful. As you'd imagine, the fact that there's an afterlife gives you plenty of time to regret your former life's actions

Playability & Replayability
- Although LucasArts point-and-clicks had traditionally been fixed camera, front-on, 2D affairs, Grim Fandango was their first departure from that perspective. Unfortunately, expanding to fill a new dimension came with some growing pains, specifically in terms of how you navigate. Like early Resident Evil games, LucasArts opted for tank controls as your main mode of locomotion. These have always been annoying, and it wasn't any better in Grim Fandango. Luckily, the Remaster only features these as a settings menu option, but note that you'll need to endure them if you want to 100% the game. Turn them on before leaving your office at the beginning if you want to suffer for that unlock
- Due to playing so many point-and-clicks over the years, I have a high tolerance for unintuitive or seemingly random puzzle solutions. That said, Grim Fandango is obtuse enough in this regard to test a saint's patience. I was able to remember many of the more ridiculous solutions from the original, but I still had to consult a guide. The GameFAQs walkthrough I used was published in 1998, and part of me wonders if it's the same one I used back in middle school
- Retreading these puzzles has given me a bit of a new perspective: they're largely bad. The setting, art, and story of Grim Fandango may all be world-class, but the puzzles are nonsensical even by LucasArts standards. If you insist on beating this one blind, be prepared to not know what you're supposed to do roughly 95% of your playthrough
- If you can stomach the gameplay, this is definitely a game worth replaying. Maybe it's the nostalgia talking, but Grim Fandango's narrative, characters, and art design basically guarantee that this will be a game I come back to every now and then

Overall Impressions & Performance
- It's a classic, but not one that I would necessarily call "timeless". Game design has come a long, long, way since 1998
- I wouldn't be opposed to a full remake of this game (but keeping the original voicework) if such a thing were possible. Given Disney's track record of "vaulting" content that didn't sell well at release, I think this is the last official version of Grim Fandango we'll see, unfortunately
- After seeing that the remastered visuals weren't anything that would benefit from a larger screen, I wound up just playing this on the couch on the Steam Deck. It performed well, and the analog sticks made the tank controls a little more bearable

Final Verdict
- 8.5/10. Before playing the remaster, I was totally prepared to give this game something in the 9.5-10 range, but actually revisiting it has given me some pause. The story, art, and voice work are all still incredible and hold up, but I have less tolerance for the unintuitive puzzles than I used to. Some of them are actually pretty bad in retrospect. That said, this is absolutely a must-play for any point-and-click fan

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