bikenesmith
2001
gameplay/controls are abysmal + the story is nowhere near as esoteric and/or twisty as i'd been led to believe. did not feel attached to any characters outside angela (who i only connected with nearing the end). still a very good piece of art. really hoping i like silent hill 3 more, it seems more up my alley
shelved in 40 mins lmfao. grates on my brain. will check out pathologic 2
proper review coming when i get through more playthroughs but i just have to get this out: this game has some bonafide pure autism flavor CRACK in it.....tell me why i spent AN ENTIRE DAY playing this, literally trapped in tism'd tunnel vision trying to make That Stupid JROTC Twunk go to therapy. the PERILS of good character design the PERILS of promising + relatable early characterization the PERILS of dropping lore as insane as [insert genetic enhancement] right as im starting to get tired of his ass. just pissed me off so bad omggg [character in abusive relationship/Psychological Bondage with twunk] i UNDERSTAND you, we are sisterwives atp
anyway ive given up on that endeavor bc like i have a LIFE and a HOME and a MAN and PHOTOSENSITIVITY and RENT TO PAY i cannot be glued to the SteamDeck® like this! i really just got so irked that I didn't get the outcome i was casually seeking out that i spent hours backtracking and/or save-scumming (if it should be called that in such a game) to resolve the frustration and dissonance. classic erik moment #MentalHealthMatters
unfortunately this mental reset will NOT free me from this game's clutches (ive done three? four?playthroughs, technically) bc every playthrough my blue hair and pronouns femme queen will stumble upon a piece of interesting game-changing lore that i know i can learn more about it if i reincarnate and start EngineerMaxxing from birth 😭 Nigerian Father Mode ON ☝🏿
anyway . shit need to come with a surgeon generals warning.....its 5 am, i have work today......five stars
anyway ive given up on that endeavor bc like i have a LIFE and a HOME and a MAN and PHOTOSENSITIVITY and RENT TO PAY i cannot be glued to the SteamDeck® like this! i really just got so irked that I didn't get the outcome i was casually seeking out that i spent hours backtracking and/or save-scumming (if it should be called that in such a game) to resolve the frustration and dissonance. classic erik moment #MentalHealthMatters
unfortunately this mental reset will NOT free me from this game's clutches (ive done three? four?playthroughs, technically) bc every playthrough my blue hair and pronouns femme queen will stumble upon a piece of interesting game-changing lore that i know i can learn more about it if i reincarnate and start EngineerMaxxing from birth 😭 Nigerian Father Mode ON ☝🏿
anyway . shit need to come with a surgeon generals warning.....its 5 am, i have work today......five stars
2022
This review contains spoilers
has such a deeply unsettling atmosphere that i can only describe as "yucky". the characters don't feel as if they live in real life, or anywhere in particular, just in some stateless featureless formless loop of vaguely urban existence. the visuals, from the 1-bit to the grainy 3D to all those uncanny expressions (and faces, period) all perfectly coalesce to build this aura
one of very few games with multiple endings that ive made the effort to get (almost lol) every ending. this would've extremely tedious if i didn't have the foresight to make multiple saves at multiple junctions that seemed important, and even then i was getting frustrated going through the motions of the last couple ones (especially the one with the expression in the beginning. iykyk). if it didnt have an easy mode id have been so over it. about halfway through the endings it just became untenable to spend time figuring out what to do next without a guide
(getting this to work properly on steam deck was a struggle, but maybe all the troubleshooting added to the experience idk. shoutout to https://steamcommunity.com/app/1697700/discussions/0/3362524231616178866/?tscn=1701468059#c7342617747186893594. why is this game still listed as verified for steam deck???)
idk how i feel about the ending/cumulative story. on one hand, i could see it coming, the hints at what was going on were well placed and spread out over routes. but the detective yu reveal in particular kind of irked me. it's interesting, but underneath the competence i can still identify what feels like a cheap shot/genre cliche — yet another "YOU are part of the game too" twist. but when you think abt the conceit of the game, "playing" by "playing" will, like a puppeteer.... idk what i expected.jpg
but you know what? i did buy this game bc of jacob geller's mention of it in a video essay, and bc i caught wind that there was an 8 hour video essay just on the game (also it was on sale). so, really, as i add that behemoth of a video to my watchlist, i am being tricked by lila, i am yu, i am pursuing endless, futile mystery... we're all feeding lila, an ouroboros of hunger and consumption...
you could even say that lila.....ate. [dragged off stage]
(speaking of yu the reveal for him should've been so cheesy considering the can-hardly-be-called-a-pun but i was genuinely confused because martha had said he was asian ["or something"] and his image did not appear to be [bl]asian so it stuck in my mind. so the yu/you thing genuinely pulled the rug out from under me 😭😭)
really compelled by the stranger and interested in reading more about whatever was going on there. lowkey think that is some kind of "estrogen could have saved her" moment
one of very few games with multiple endings that ive made the effort to get (almost lol) every ending. this would've extremely tedious if i didn't have the foresight to make multiple saves at multiple junctions that seemed important, and even then i was getting frustrated going through the motions of the last couple ones (especially the one with the expression in the beginning. iykyk). if it didnt have an easy mode id have been so over it. about halfway through the endings it just became untenable to spend time figuring out what to do next without a guide
(getting this to work properly on steam deck was a struggle, but maybe all the troubleshooting added to the experience idk. shoutout to https://steamcommunity.com/app/1697700/discussions/0/3362524231616178866/?tscn=1701468059#c7342617747186893594. why is this game still listed as verified for steam deck???)
idk how i feel about the ending/cumulative story. on one hand, i could see it coming, the hints at what was going on were well placed and spread out over routes. but the detective yu reveal in particular kind of irked me. it's interesting, but underneath the competence i can still identify what feels like a cheap shot/genre cliche — yet another "YOU are part of the game too" twist. but when you think abt the conceit of the game, "playing" by "playing" will, like a puppeteer.... idk what i expected.jpg
but you know what? i did buy this game bc of jacob geller's mention of it in a video essay, and bc i caught wind that there was an 8 hour video essay just on the game (also it was on sale). so, really, as i add that behemoth of a video to my watchlist, i am being tricked by lila, i am yu, i am pursuing endless, futile mystery... we're all feeding lila, an ouroboros of hunger and consumption...
you could even say that lila.....ate. [dragged off stage]
(speaking of yu the reveal for him should've been so cheesy considering the can-hardly-be-called-a-pun but i was genuinely confused because martha had said he was asian ["or something"] and his image did not appear to be [bl]asian so it stuck in my mind. so the yu/you thing genuinely pulled the rug out from under me 😭😭)
really compelled by the stranger and interested in reading more about whatever was going on there. lowkey think that is some kind of "estrogen could have saved her" moment
2021
This review contains spoilers
the first father to ever mother
peak
(replay)
(replay)
2021
............thats all?
2023
i havent been able to sustain any interest in pokemon for years even though it was a massive part of my childhood/childhood gaming.... so i was apprehensive about giving this a chance. but im v glad i did! it highlighted + improved upon all the novelties that sucked me into pokemon to begin with 🥺 and it was just, genuinely unique in its framing. i wouldn't really call this a "pokemon clone" — its relationship to pokemon is more akin to the one digimon has with pokemon.
maybe my adult struggle with pokemon was just fatigue with the extreme levels of familiarity and unfamiliarity i have with it. a significant part of my enjoyment of this game was discovering a new world, discovering monsters id never seen before, yet also knowing that the number of them is small enough that i wouldn't get Lost In The Sauce, and that it is entirely possible to "catch em all" (or even just "see em all") without making a whole expedition out of it. in comparison pokemons current umpteens of increasingly similar creatures that i havent kept up with since 2009 both daunts and bores me
anyway i will probably play some of the post-game (though i ended up completing some of it already bc of level grinding/wanting to see everything + completely clear out my quest log before going for the finale, until i realizing that maybe im not supposed to do that). i might pick up the dlc too. thats not something i do for most games! but im really interested in the overarching lore and im very charmed by its aesthetic, the 2d-3d pixel art, the cute monster designs.... and idk in general the gameplay scratches the tism Just Right 🙏🏿
maybe my adult struggle with pokemon was just fatigue with the extreme levels of familiarity and unfamiliarity i have with it. a significant part of my enjoyment of this game was discovering a new world, discovering monsters id never seen before, yet also knowing that the number of them is small enough that i wouldn't get Lost In The Sauce, and that it is entirely possible to "catch em all" (or even just "see em all") without making a whole expedition out of it. in comparison pokemons current umpteens of increasingly similar creatures that i havent kept up with since 2009 both daunts and bores me
anyway i will probably play some of the post-game (though i ended up completing some of it already bc of level grinding/wanting to see everything + completely clear out my quest log before going for the finale, until i realizing that maybe im not supposed to do that). i might pick up the dlc too. thats not something i do for most games! but im really interested in the overarching lore and im very charmed by its aesthetic, the 2d-3d pixel art, the cute monster designs.... and idk in general the gameplay scratches the tism Just Right 🙏🏿
2017
a cyberpunk story that actually feels kind of fresh?? its more likely than you think
ending was turrbs but i had fun! really amazing visual storytelling
ending was turrbs but i had fun! really amazing visual storytelling
2021
bpd simulator 1984
2021
wishing i lived in an apartment as nice as any of these
if it was still 2013 this would've blown my mind
2023
FUCK that heartbeat puzzle. had to get that off my chest first bc it stopped me from personally experiencing the last couple mins of the game + i had to catch it on YT. most of the puzzles were really good but that shit was just impossible. i think it was mentioned in the pc patch notes so hopefully it'll be patched on switch in the next few days
anyway, gorgeous graphics, great animation, gripping story. sometimes tried too hard to be esoteric, resulting in some rather clunky/obvious visual + textual shorthands. could've done w/o the fatphobia of a Certain Section's theme + ESPECIALLY could've done without the ableism surrounding a Certain Character's fate. knocked the game down from 3 to 2 stars for me. it's 2023, grow up
if you're thinking of playing this do yourself a solid + just play flesh, blood, + concrete
anyway, gorgeous graphics, great animation, gripping story. sometimes tried too hard to be esoteric, resulting in some rather clunky/obvious visual + textual shorthands. could've done w/o the fatphobia of a Certain Section's theme + ESPECIALLY could've done without the ableism surrounding a Certain Character's fate. knocked the game down from 3 to 2 stars for me. it's 2023, grow up
if you're thinking of playing this do yourself a solid + just play flesh, blood, + concrete
2023
this game is too good. got me gnawing on the switch n shit
2023
sooo grindy i HATE tartarus + its visually identical big ass rooms. but i love these characters + the art style + femc + the way it takes its time to tell its story...so it's a solid 3.5 from me folks