banhbos
2023
as of the time i'd written this review i hadn't befriended all the bunnies yet, but my thoughts are still the same.
for the longest time i've been wanting a mobile collecting game that scratches a similar itch which neko atsume did, and i went through quite a few games hoping to satiate that itch (funghi gardening kit, cats are cute, cat game, etc.). unfortunately i couldn't really find a game that clicked with me, and so i gave up on searching for a long while.
on september 3rd, i caught wind of a bunny collecting game that recently released for mobile and i was really endeared by how charming the bunnies looked and made a note to check it out, but never got to it until a few days later. fast forward to more than a week later and i'm still playing this game!
usagi shima (lit. rabbit island) is a casual bunny collecting game where you collect the bunnies by buying toys and buildings from the shop. like neko atsume, usagi shima has special bunnies that will require you to buy certain items to see them on the island. each bunny has a friendship meter that raises through playing very short minigames and they also have three favorite toys and/or buildings, so you'll have to spend lots of time with your bunnies to complete their profiles! when you reach max friendship with a bunny, you get a special item from them to put on your island as well as the option to invite them to permanently stay on your island. you can only invite three bunnies, but there isn't any drawback if you choose to reverse the invite. you also have the option to decorate your island as well as give your bunnies headwear! not all bunnies will like wearing things on their heads though.
so how do you buy things from the shop? by using two forms of currency: carrots and golden carrots. you’ll mainly receive regular carrots through playing minigames with the bunnies to raise their friendship. carrots will also grow in random places on the island (you can also tap on seashells to get carrots too) and some items from the shop will grow more carrots in the area the items are placed in. you can also receive carrots as tips when bunnies leave the island—a mechanic pulled directly from neko atsume. there's also a list of tasks that resets daily which allows you to get carrots, and once you complete all the tasks you can receive one or two golden carrots as a reward. there are quite a few ways to receive golden carrots: there are daily login stamps that you can get golden carrots from, and golden carrots can also grow on the island or be received as tips, but they are much much harder to come by (the more bunnies you have visiting your island, the more likely it is for one or a few of them to leave golden carrots as tips).
there is so much to like about this game! the overall atmosphere is extremely relaxing, probably even more so than neko atsume. the music actually changes based on four set times of day—sunrise, day, sunset, and night—and there’s even a day/night cycle in the game as well (a feature pulled directly from animal crossing, one of two stated inspirations for the game with the other obviously being neko atsume). some items will light up at night! some items even produce unique sounds if you zoom in on the bunny that’s using them! most importantly, the bunnies and all the other assets used in the game are drawn so charmingly, and the bunnies even have several animations based on the items they interact with!
as usagi shima has still only been released, there’s obviously some features that could be fleshed out further. when you have a lot of bunnies on your island, you will be asked to play minigames with them left and right. this is great for if you want to raise the friendship meter of several bunnies quickly, but when most of your bunnies are already at max friendship, it starts to feel really demanding and you’ll probably feel less inclined to play games with them and only want to play with the ones who aren’t at max friendship yet. and because there are only four minigames so far—petting the bunny, brushing them, feeding them, and playing hide and seek—this can start to get repetitive real quick once you get further into the game.
another aspect of the game that i feel needs to be addressed is the overaccumulation of carrots. after you get a lot of bunnies on the island, the amount of regular carrots you get starts to pile up quick. and because there’s not very many items in the shop that you can buy using regular carrots, those carrots just sit on the lower edge of your screen accumulating without any way to spend them. neko atsume did a great job of alleviating this issue by allowing you to exchange a certain amount of regular currency for golden currency, and i hope to see a similar feature implemented in the future! speaking of small amounts of things, i also hope to see more bunnies come to the game in future updates as well!
i should also mention that there are a lot of ads in the game. there's an option to double the amount of friendship and carrots you receive for a few minutes, and if you don't want to spend real money for it, you'll have to watch an ad. want to double the amount of carrots you get for a daily task? you'll have to watch an ad. want a building to be finished immediately? you'll have to watch an ad. i'm personally not too bugged by the prominence of ads in the game, but i know not all people can tolerate seeing so many ads in a single game. for what it's worth though, you can choose not to see the ads. you'll still be able to enjoy the game even if it means you'll get through it a bit slower.
usagi shima has a wonderful game so far, and i can't wait to see how it evolves in the future! it was created by a single person who has been working extremely hard to develop this game by herself! if you liked the game or are interested in playing it, please consider supporting her by donating to her kofi, as she stated that she got sick shortly after the launch from working on the game for 15 hours every single day. if you'd like to see more of the game, there's also an official subreddit where people post their progress on the game.
for the longest time i've been wanting a mobile collecting game that scratches a similar itch which neko atsume did, and i went through quite a few games hoping to satiate that itch (funghi gardening kit, cats are cute, cat game, etc.). unfortunately i couldn't really find a game that clicked with me, and so i gave up on searching for a long while.
on september 3rd, i caught wind of a bunny collecting game that recently released for mobile and i was really endeared by how charming the bunnies looked and made a note to check it out, but never got to it until a few days later. fast forward to more than a week later and i'm still playing this game!
usagi shima (lit. rabbit island) is a casual bunny collecting game where you collect the bunnies by buying toys and buildings from the shop. like neko atsume, usagi shima has special bunnies that will require you to buy certain items to see them on the island. each bunny has a friendship meter that raises through playing very short minigames and they also have three favorite toys and/or buildings, so you'll have to spend lots of time with your bunnies to complete their profiles! when you reach max friendship with a bunny, you get a special item from them to put on your island as well as the option to invite them to permanently stay on your island. you can only invite three bunnies, but there isn't any drawback if you choose to reverse the invite. you also have the option to decorate your island as well as give your bunnies headwear! not all bunnies will like wearing things on their heads though.
so how do you buy things from the shop? by using two forms of currency: carrots and golden carrots. you’ll mainly receive regular carrots through playing minigames with the bunnies to raise their friendship. carrots will also grow in random places on the island (you can also tap on seashells to get carrots too) and some items from the shop will grow more carrots in the area the items are placed in. you can also receive carrots as tips when bunnies leave the island—a mechanic pulled directly from neko atsume. there's also a list of tasks that resets daily which allows you to get carrots, and once you complete all the tasks you can receive one or two golden carrots as a reward. there are quite a few ways to receive golden carrots: there are daily login stamps that you can get golden carrots from, and golden carrots can also grow on the island or be received as tips, but they are much much harder to come by (the more bunnies you have visiting your island, the more likely it is for one or a few of them to leave golden carrots as tips).
there is so much to like about this game! the overall atmosphere is extremely relaxing, probably even more so than neko atsume. the music actually changes based on four set times of day—sunrise, day, sunset, and night—and there’s even a day/night cycle in the game as well (a feature pulled directly from animal crossing, one of two stated inspirations for the game with the other obviously being neko atsume). some items will light up at night! some items even produce unique sounds if you zoom in on the bunny that’s using them! most importantly, the bunnies and all the other assets used in the game are drawn so charmingly, and the bunnies even have several animations based on the items they interact with!
as usagi shima has still only been released, there’s obviously some features that could be fleshed out further. when you have a lot of bunnies on your island, you will be asked to play minigames with them left and right. this is great for if you want to raise the friendship meter of several bunnies quickly, but when most of your bunnies are already at max friendship, it starts to feel really demanding and you’ll probably feel less inclined to play games with them and only want to play with the ones who aren’t at max friendship yet. and because there are only four minigames so far—petting the bunny, brushing them, feeding them, and playing hide and seek—this can start to get repetitive real quick once you get further into the game.
another aspect of the game that i feel needs to be addressed is the overaccumulation of carrots. after you get a lot of bunnies on the island, the amount of regular carrots you get starts to pile up quick. and because there’s not very many items in the shop that you can buy using regular carrots, those carrots just sit on the lower edge of your screen accumulating without any way to spend them. neko atsume did a great job of alleviating this issue by allowing you to exchange a certain amount of regular currency for golden currency, and i hope to see a similar feature implemented in the future! speaking of small amounts of things, i also hope to see more bunnies come to the game in future updates as well!
i should also mention that there are a lot of ads in the game. there's an option to double the amount of friendship and carrots you receive for a few minutes, and if you don't want to spend real money for it, you'll have to watch an ad. want to double the amount of carrots you get for a daily task? you'll have to watch an ad. want a building to be finished immediately? you'll have to watch an ad. i'm personally not too bugged by the prominence of ads in the game, but i know not all people can tolerate seeing so many ads in a single game. for what it's worth though, you can choose not to see the ads. you'll still be able to enjoy the game even if it means you'll get through it a bit slower.
usagi shima has a wonderful game so far, and i can't wait to see how it evolves in the future! it was created by a single person who has been working extremely hard to develop this game by herself! if you liked the game or are interested in playing it, please consider supporting her by donating to her kofi, as she stated that she got sick shortly after the launch from working on the game for 15 hours every single day. if you'd like to see more of the game, there's also an official subreddit where people post their progress on the game.
1999
just realizing that i actually never thought to write a review of this game. honestly most of my memories of this game come from the fact that i watched my cousin play it for over a year. we live in different places within the same country, so they wouldn't boot it up until i would come to visit.
did we like the game? i'd say for about the first half of it or so. the second half takes a page from atlus and left us thinking, "huh. that was a weird turn of events". but even while frequently getting lost and facing difficult or drawn out boss battles, there were still times where we could appreciate the game. the atmosphere of another world's overworld map theme immediately comes to mind; it's quiet and pensive and does a wonderful job of capturing the feelings that come with living in a world post-tragedy.
is chrono cross worth playing? if you're new to rpgs, i would stay away because this is a BEAST of a game to tackle and can put you off rpgs if you're not familiar with the genre. if you're a diehard fan of chrono trigger or long rpgs that demand to be replayed multiple times for 100% completion, go for it! make sure that you've either played chrono trigger and radical dreamers or have knowledge of what happens within both games. how the second half appeals to you can hinge on how much you enjoyed the story of chrono trigger, and chrono cross as a game was meant to build on radical dreamers, which was originally a side story taking place in the chrono trigger universe. after having played through one of the endings (i believe it was the true ending), my cousin and i agreed that we don't have the time to go through this game 11 more times to see the rest of the endings. hopefully you do, though.
did we like the game? i'd say for about the first half of it or so. the second half takes a page from atlus and left us thinking, "huh. that was a weird turn of events". but even while frequently getting lost and facing difficult or drawn out boss battles, there were still times where we could appreciate the game. the atmosphere of another world's overworld map theme immediately comes to mind; it's quiet and pensive and does a wonderful job of capturing the feelings that come with living in a world post-tragedy.
is chrono cross worth playing? if you're new to rpgs, i would stay away because this is a BEAST of a game to tackle and can put you off rpgs if you're not familiar with the genre. if you're a diehard fan of chrono trigger or long rpgs that demand to be replayed multiple times for 100% completion, go for it! make sure that you've either played chrono trigger and radical dreamers or have knowledge of what happens within both games. how the second half appeals to you can hinge on how much you enjoyed the story of chrono trigger, and chrono cross as a game was meant to build on radical dreamers, which was originally a side story taking place in the chrono trigger universe. after having played through one of the endings (i believe it was the true ending), my cousin and i agreed that we don't have the time to go through this game 11 more times to see the rest of the endings. hopefully you do, though.
2021
a really oppressive horror game series that only asks the player to press one button to move (most of the time). i feel they’d be a lot scarier if imcyan didn’t rely on cheap jumpscares so much, most of which really ruin the atmosphere in my opinion. even then, i always had to stop after every game because i felt like i would get cursed if i went through all of them in one go, haha. my personal favorites from this collection are episode 3, a closed future, and the call from showa!
least horny atlus game
pretty decent yugioh game for if you're not good at yugioh but want something to pick up for a few hours or so. i like how snappy duels go in this game compared to others, it's actually one of the only reasons i decided to stick with this game to the end. the difficulty varies strangely with this one; i struggled hard against bandit keith and yami malik but managed to manipulate the rng so the AI would go easy on me (the only reason i even beat them LMAO). compared to other yugioh games i've played, this is definitely the one i would recommend for people who are either beginners to yugioh or play the game casually since it's fairly easy.
i like yugioh but not for the card game, so after beating yugi 7 times i thought "hey why not try dueling ryou". he kicked my ass so hard that i'm too embarrassed to go back to the game
2022
This review contains spoilers
i was really looking forward to this game when i first read an article covering it and then saw the demo, because it's so rare to see a promising vietnamese horror game! now that the full game is out, i was admittedly left a little disappointed with what i saw. however, i feel really hopeful for future vietnamese horror games, because i really liked the ideas this game is based upon!
the main problems thần trùng suffers from are slow pacing and an occasional lack of clues on what the player needs to do next. the game doesn't to be so fast that it feels overwhelming, but it could have been just a little better paced if they cut down some of the exploration time. i personally think that if more protag monologue was added (such as "i wonder if anything has changed..."), it would be a little less frustrating to figure out what the player needs to do next.
thần trùng has a lot of jumpscares, with many of them admittedly coming off as cheesy. however, i read someone's comment saying that none of the ghosts were ever hostile toward the player, that the most they really do is run at you. they went on to say that northern vietnamese people (the team is northern vietnamese iirc) believe that benevolent ghosts don't speak human language, and as a result they're perceived as scary when they're only trying to communicate with us, which admittedly adds a bit more of a somber tone to the game. i thought that was such a unique idea to explore, as when most horror games involve ghosts, the ghosts are presented as actively working against the player.
again, thần trùng came with a lot of interesting ideas and i hope to see this team make even better games in the future. even though the game wasn't anything amazing, being based heavily on vietnamese spiritual beliefs made it really memorable for me compared to other titles. i'm really looking forward to seeing how the horror game scene in vietnam will grow, and i hope to see amazing gems come out of it!
the main problems thần trùng suffers from are slow pacing and an occasional lack of clues on what the player needs to do next. the game doesn't to be so fast that it feels overwhelming, but it could have been just a little better paced if they cut down some of the exploration time. i personally think that if more protag monologue was added (such as "i wonder if anything has changed..."), it would be a little less frustrating to figure out what the player needs to do next.
thần trùng has a lot of jumpscares, with many of them admittedly coming off as cheesy. however, i read someone's comment saying that none of the ghosts were ever hostile toward the player, that the most they really do is run at you. they went on to say that northern vietnamese people (the team is northern vietnamese iirc) believe that benevolent ghosts don't speak human language, and as a result they're perceived as scary when they're only trying to communicate with us, which admittedly adds a bit more of a somber tone to the game. i thought that was such a unique idea to explore, as when most horror games involve ghosts, the ghosts are presented as actively working against the player.
again, thần trùng came with a lot of interesting ideas and i hope to see this team make even better games in the future. even though the game wasn't anything amazing, being based heavily on vietnamese spiritual beliefs made it really memorable for me compared to other titles. i'm really looking forward to seeing how the horror game scene in vietnam will grow, and i hope to see amazing gems come out of it!
2020
this is one of the most godless rpgmaker horror games ever honestly. it has a really suffocating atmosphere and i think it beats out witch's house with how impactful its twists are. there are so many easter eggs in this game that make revisiting the game very worthwhile; it's incredible how the devs paid so much attention to the smallest details in their game! would definitely recommend this game for people who love scary rpgmaker horror games, but make sure you have a friend to support you after you finish it, haha.
2003
this ova was pretty decent even if the twist was predictable. also pretty neat that capcom bundled it with a game even if the game's pretty horseshit. i'm glad they learned from their mistake with maverick hunter x
2000
didn't really enjoy the more involved parts of this visual novel but the romantic tension between the two leads was pretty wild
their gacha: mega man x dive
my gacha: battle network chip trader
my gacha: battle network chip trader
2017
originally started this game on 3ds but as i kept going, the game started to drag on with constant non-plot related chase sequences that i rolled my eyes at so i just gave up and watched a playthrough instead. it’s a decent game to spend a few hours on. the art and sound direction are pretty neat for a budget game, and i quite liked how the character models were handled; they reminded me of how tsugu no hi’s characters have their eyes blurred, and i think it adds to the atmosphere of the game. it’s not really a scary game honestly, though it does a decent job at aiming for a suspenseful atmosphere.
that’s really all i can praise about creeping terror. i’m not really sure why the development team thought giving the game multiple endings would make it more valuable of an experience? if anything it actually deterred me even more from finishing the game myself since the story itself is very standard for a horror game, with several plot holes here and there. but in the end, for what creeping terror is, it’s a decent budget horror game for the 3ds eshop, though not one i’d ever like to think about again. i was actually surprised at how this game was released so late into the 3ds’s lifespan, but i understand that it’s why this game is relatively unknown, and for what it’s worth it should probably stay that way. this game gets compared a lot to the original clock tower, and horror game enthusiasts may find it more worthwhile to check that game out instead. compared to clock tower, creeping terror has less room for exploration and requires you to play the game nearly the exact same way to obtain all the endings. if you like exploring everything a game has to offer, clock tower may be a more suitable game to go with.
that’s really all i can praise about creeping terror. i’m not really sure why the development team thought giving the game multiple endings would make it more valuable of an experience? if anything it actually deterred me even more from finishing the game myself since the story itself is very standard for a horror game, with several plot holes here and there. but in the end, for what creeping terror is, it’s a decent budget horror game for the 3ds eshop, though not one i’d ever like to think about again. i was actually surprised at how this game was released so late into the 3ds’s lifespan, but i understand that it’s why this game is relatively unknown, and for what it’s worth it should probably stay that way. this game gets compared a lot to the original clock tower, and horror game enthusiasts may find it more worthwhile to check that game out instead. compared to clock tower, creeping terror has less room for exploration and requires you to play the game nearly the exact same way to obtain all the endings. if you like exploring everything a game has to offer, clock tower may be a more suitable game to go with.
really enjoyed the art of this game, it was like watching a children's picture book unfold on my screen. a very nice game for if you have an hour to spare
1993
even though i can feel the franchise fatigue emanating from mega man 6 after five consecutive classic mega man games, this is one of the more memorable NES games for me. i’ve always had a soft spot for this game; the tone is surprisingly more mellow than the others and i’ve always felt very comfortable thinking about this game. it’s a bit similar to mega man 8 in that it’s a more laid-back classic game with eye-catching visual elements, though mm8 will always be the prettiest classic game to me. the robot master designs in this game are spectacular, though i wish some of them weren’t so culturally insensitive (looking at you, tomahawk man and flame man). also, the rush adaptor suits were one of the best additions to the series! it’s a shame they don’t return after mm7.
i recommend people who enjoyed the original mega man 6 to try out the rockman complete works version, as it gets rid of the slowdowns and sprite flickering present in the NES version. the soundtrack even got a complete overhaul, featuring different arranges that bring out its mellowness while also giving each robot master their own identities with re-arranged stage themes (tomahawk man’s theme ROCKS).
i recommend people who enjoyed the original mega man 6 to try out the rockman complete works version, as it gets rid of the slowdowns and sprite flickering present in the NES version. the soundtrack even got a complete overhaul, featuring different arranges that bring out its mellowness while also giving each robot master their own identities with re-arranged stage themes (tomahawk man’s theme ROCKS).
1996
for me this is the coziest mega man game, mostly due to the toy-like visuals and generally softer yet varied soundtrack compared to other games in the series. to be honest i have a hard time describing the sound of the soundtrack... it feels like such a product of its time but it's also weirdly timeless? it really makes me feel at home even with the game's flaws (the infamous sled sections). that being said, getting through this game requires memorization, and depending on the player perhaps even some patience. but when do you not need to grit your teeth and memorize when it's a mega man game? that being said, some sections within the stages are really not that great, and i think if they were tweaked a little they would be more tolerable.
the sled sections tend to suffer from a case of way too many things to memorize with very little breaks in between the jumping and sliding sections, and this is especially evident in wily stage 1. i think the sections could be shorter with slightly longer breaks to attack enemies or collect items so that they don't feel as drawn out, with some variety in between to keep the player engaged.
the shoot 'em up stages i didn't have too much issue with, but i definitely was bugged by the steep turns i had to make in wily stage 2. i feel like the level design itself could be tweaked a little bit so that those turns are a bit shorter to compensate for the speed at which mega man travels in the cardinal directions, though i do find it weird that he can move faster diagonally?
all that being said though, i think if i played this game when i was a kid i would have been a mega man liker sooner. there's a lot of atmospheric potential this game has that future games never took advantage of! the soundtrack always plagues my head because of how unique its sound is, and i honestly wish more mega man games made use of those specific instruments. i also loved the art direction for this game; to me, it's the prettiest classic mega man games have ever been. had the franchise not suffered a case of spinoff fatigue, i wonder what the classic series would have looked like after this game?
the sled sections tend to suffer from a case of way too many things to memorize with very little breaks in between the jumping and sliding sections, and this is especially evident in wily stage 1. i think the sections could be shorter with slightly longer breaks to attack enemies or collect items so that they don't feel as drawn out, with some variety in between to keep the player engaged.
the shoot 'em up stages i didn't have too much issue with, but i definitely was bugged by the steep turns i had to make in wily stage 2. i feel like the level design itself could be tweaked a little bit so that those turns are a bit shorter to compensate for the speed at which mega man travels in the cardinal directions, though i do find it weird that he can move faster diagonally?
all that being said though, i think if i played this game when i was a kid i would have been a mega man liker sooner. there's a lot of atmospheric potential this game has that future games never took advantage of! the soundtrack always plagues my head because of how unique its sound is, and i honestly wish more mega man games made use of those specific instruments. i also loved the art direction for this game; to me, it's the prettiest classic mega man games have ever been. had the franchise not suffered a case of spinoff fatigue, i wonder what the classic series would have looked like after this game?