...or maybe I'll take it all!

Fun patch, lots of Aventurine content and also introduces storytelling from the perspective of multiple protagonists (something I'd like to see used again in the future). The new twists are nice, but ultimately many things still feel like a setup for the final act, as Act 2 literally ends on two separate cliffhangers, but I enjoyed Aventurine's little sidestory a lot - just wish the writing didn't overuse the "going all-in/betting your life" aspect so much, it felt like doing him a disservice by pushing that trait so much. Either way, I'm stoked to see where the finale is headed!

Alas, people won't make all the right choices in their lifetime... Though luck always seems like it's on your side.

You will keep winning, having never lost before. But why you? Why... must it be you?

If all your luck is built on the pain of someone you love, on the loss of dozens more - if these windfalls, these jackpots aren't a gift from Gaiathra- if all they are is a long string of meaningless deaths...

Katamari has always been on my "want to play this someday" radar, but I never actually delved further into it - all I've known for many years is that it was supposedly about rolling up stuff to roll up even more stuff. But when I saw it for 4€ on sale the other day, I decided to just give it a try.

Surprisingly, Damacy Reroll already managed to set a record within the first 5 minutes in gameplay, where I was ready for nominating the game for the "worst controls of all time" award without even having finished the tutorial levels. Thankfully the award didn't go to Damacy and it didn't take me long to get used to the controls and enjoy the game properly. The twin-stick controls are really unique and simply describable as "easy to learn, hard to master", there's an additional layer of precision when you get the hang of them and it's quite satisfying to see.

The core gameplay is as straightforward as it gets - in the main missions, the Katamari (the ball you're rolling) has to reach a certain size within a certain time limit. Everything you roll over gets glued to the Katamari, so you'll have to start with coins and fruit first and when things get rolling (I'm sorry), you can roll over increasingly bigger things to a point where it's comical. It's so ridiculous, but Damacy Reroll does a great job at creating a sense of scale in each individual level. The side missions are also fun little challenges in the way that their main goal isn't having the biggest Katamari possible, but rather collecting a certain amount of something or having to guess your Katamari's size.

In terms of soundtrack, the dreamy songs fit the fever-dreamish vibe of the game's direction really well and are easy on the ears. Do yourself a favor and listen to Lonely Rolling Star. I think it's rather silly that the music is so cheerful and pleasant when there's a weapon of mass destruction mowing down everything in sight, but that's definitely part of the charm for me.

There's... not much else I have to say, except that I'm looking forward to playing We Love Katamari! Currently pretty engaged with Tekken 8, so my progress in Persona 3 Reload has been paused for the moment, but I'll get back to it soon. As always, thanks for reading my reviews!

It's been about two years now since I last played a Layton game. A friend of mine has been asking me to play the prequel trilogy for quite some time now and eventually I just felt like playing it. I'll start by saying that it was a good idea to have let some time pass between playing Unwound Future and this entry.

Last Specter is chronologically the first adventure of Hershel Layton and takes him to the foggy hometown of an old friend, where he's supposed to investigate the rampage of a supernatural being. Together with his new assistant and the mayor's son, the team encounters eccentric figures like the mysterious hooded Black Raven and a girl who's suspected to be a witch, dooming everyone who comes close to her.

As in the other Layton games, the gameplay consists of point-and-click investigations and puzzle-solving. The puzzle quality in this entry is solid and the difficulty is fine. In case you can't find a solution, Last Specter practically showers you with hint coins. I had about 130 left at the end of the game, so don't feel bad about using them! I'm pretty sure the original trilogy didn't hand out such an abundance, but I might be misremembering here. Either way, why is everyone so obsessed with puzzles in this town in the first place?

The narrative itself is intriguing, although rather compact. Game has a lot of "this is a prequel" moments, where you can find a reference to some characters from the original trilogy and even some direct cameos. However, Last Specter doesn't really go much in depth with those and shifts the focus to new characters instead - like Emmy, the professor's assistant. In my opinion she's a welcome addition to the main cast and I'm looking forward to seeing more of her in the next games. Now, the twists are usually a big part of what I'm looking forward to in Layton games. They're usually a big shocker that's near unpredictable and totally alters your way of perceiving those games, but I can't say I had a moment like this in Last Specter. Without giving anything away, after a certain point in the story it's really easy to find out the twist by yourself, so at the part where the game explicitly tells you, it's not much of a surprise anymore. The reveal itself was alright, I just expected more out of a Layton game, especially after seeing what Level-5 did with Unwound Future.

Despite this, Last Specter is another well-rounded entry in the Layton series and now I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of the prequel trilogy.

Portal 2 feels like the fully realized version of the original Portal. At it's core it feels the same, but the sequel just has so much more going for it, more personality.

In this game, Chell is no longer bound to the test chambers of Aperture Science like in the first Portal. After an incident in the story, she decides to take a little stroll through an abandoned salt mine and the backstage parts within the facility while she's at it. All of this while she is accompanied by three unique companions throughout the game. Speaking of the companions, the dialogue in Portal 2 is a big improvement over the one in Portal. In the first game, GLaDOS' comments happened every now and then, but here you pretty much have a narrator by your side all the time. This alone makes for quite the tonal shift in atmosphere to Portal, which had a pretty isolated and empty feeling to it - I can see how people prefer that, but personally I really enjoyed the extra dialogue and characters, since GLaDOS' remarks in the first game were one of the best parts for me. Back to the atmosphere in general, I think Valve did a really good job with setting an unique vibe for each individual area. My personal favorite is the salt mine, the vintage setting really landed for me!

As for gameplay, Portal 2 introduces a variety of mechanics to make the puzzles more enjoyable than the first game. Energy balls are completely gone this time and are replaced with light bridges, gravity beams, new cube variants and three different sorts of paint. Sounds like overkill at first, but those mechanics don't really overstay their welcome and they are really fun to play around with.

The narrative weaves those puzzles together in a logical way, while also delving into the background story of Chell and Aperture Science; there's some really good worldbuilding in there. The companions aren't one-note personalities and each one adds to the story with a different purpose, which makes them distinctive and memorable in their own ways.

Overall it's an amazing puzzle game, absolutely deserves the praise it's been getting. Had a good time with the main story, but the community maps are a nice treat if you're still in the mood for some more Portal action.

I have never actually finished Portal before, but this game has plagued my Steam library for years, so eventually I gave in this evening to see for myself why it's so universally loved. And now I can see the appeal!

It's a very straightforward puzzle game with the origin of one of the most iconic gimmicks in gaming - the Portal Gun. It's like the coolest thing you can have in a game besides grappling hook mechanics; sometimes I'd just shoot portals and walk through them continuously for fun or freefall for a bit. Portal also wastes no time with cutscenes, it's basically uninterrupted gameplay from start to finish (loading screens obviously excluded). In general, the puzzles are pretty clever and often require you to think out of the box (well, literally). A personal highlight for me were the snarky comments of GLaDOS - an AI assistant that accompanies you throughout the facility. I found the weakest part of the game to be like halfway through, where you have seen a bunch of mechanics a couple time already, but the game does little new to innovate them - before the ending segment, that is. The entire final sequence was a blast to play and felt fresh again after the tedium of some previous puzzles. That's the innovation I like to see.

If you're a puzzle fan or just need something you can beat in one sitting (if you're dedicated), Portal is a great time and I would very definitely recommend it for the low price you can get it on various Steam Sales. Really looking forward to playing Portal 2 soon!

The remake of Super Mario RPG is an easy recommendation for everyone who likes a good traditional RPG. It has a charming artstyle, silly moments, entertaining soundtrack and a simple, straightforward storyline.

The combat is pretty easy, but that's not really a complaint for me, since it's obviously designed for a younger audience. A higher difficulty setting would've been neat, but who actually plays a Mario game to be challenged? First and foremost games are supposed to be fun and this game certainly hits the mark.

Also as this is my first review of 2024, Happy New Year!

Time to mix drinks and change lives.

VA-11 Hall-A was the final game I beat in 2023 and what a great sendoff it was. Huge thanks to @wheatie again for providing me with a copy of this game as a christmas gift - please consider showing her some support!

As a visual novel, VA-11 was quite different from the ones I played before, since I never got around to actually playing a normal slice-of-life VN. Considering I've (nearly) only played murder mysteries in this format, it was a nice change of pace to read a visual novel with a welcoming and cozy atmosphere for once. The cyberpunk aesthetic and soundtrack are a perfect match for the direction of VA-11 and quickly help to immerse you in the setting. I might just talk about the soundtrack a little more while I'm at it. The game allows you to pick 12 different songs from a diverse collection so you can set your own soundtrack. There's an integrated music player so you can listen to your favorite songs on shuffle and repeat or even skip some if you're not feeling them at the moment. Thankfully you can always switch out the jukebox songs each in-game day, so if you happen to really dislike a song, you can just swap it out for something else. So yeah, there's that. However, a good visual novel shouldn't need to rely on the soundtrack alone to be enjoyable, it also needs unique and entertaining characters. VA-11 has quite the quirky cast; seeing the talking Shiba with sunglasses for the first time certainly got a good chuckle out of me. His name being Rad Shiba didn't help.

The actual gameplay itself is really simple and nothing noteworthy. You click some ingredients on the right side of the screen and drag them together to mix a drink. While this mixing mechanic is just a plot device most of the time, sometimes you'd also get different dialogue from the customers, depending on the amount of alcohol they had. Somehow I only realized this when I already was nearing the end of the game, but I don't think it makes a huge difference, just a different topic every now and then.

That wraps pretty much everything up I wanted to say about this game already. It's a solid experience and I'd strongly advise anyone who likes cyberpunk settings or a good visual novel to try VA-11 out. Just please listen to my advice from earlier and don't rush it - take breaks if you're feeling bored. Grab a snack and just enjoy what lies ahead.

Thanks for reading. See you in 2024!

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'd literally rather play Sticker Star. Does this really constitute as a game? 'Cause if it does, we've bridged the argument gap about what a game can and can't be. Visual Novels are not games? Nah, you haven't played Drowning in Problems yet (not that I thought VN's weren't games, they certainly are). You think a certain game is bad? Compare it to this, does the game in question do literally anything more than this game does? If it does, then congratulations, that game is now better all thanks to Drowning in Problems. The only problem I'm drowning in is this being classified as a "game".

There is literally no gameplay outside of clicking, no music, nothing,. Just text that is so arbitrary and trying to convey some semblance of a narrative, or reflection of humanity, or even attempt a self-reflection unto oneself is laughable at best, and an outright insult at worst. What offends me most is how the game wastes your time so brazenly, it doesn't even try to hide it, as if to reinforce whatever this "game" is trying to say. It becomes hilarious then that by doing so, the message is lost on me, and I felt like I lost valuable time of my life I could be doing something else I enjoy. If that's the point of the game, at least make it interesting or endearing in some fashion, this is just pure laziness and utterly soulless, nothing of value to be gained, everything to be lost.

You might make the argument that some games like point and click adventures, as well as visual novels I mentioned earlier, or something like cookie clicker could fall under the same category as this game. With no "real" gameplay as I described it. The main difference to me is that those games have other contributing factors to make the gameplay significant in some manner, such as visual novels allowing you to make choices. Point and click adventure games also have this, player agency, consequences, rewards, branching paths, and branching story. Even Cookie Clicker for just being a "clicking" game has a lot more going on than you expect compared to Drowning in Problems. I want to make my perspective crystal clear when I make a statement like "this shouldn't be considered a game". Because I genuinely believe that, but I'd be more than happy to delve deeper into the topic should someone ask me. Regardless, I do not consider this to be a game.

Thank you all for reading! Next review, something of far more substance and positivity! Until next time.

(7-year-old's review, typed by her dad)

[Dad: What score are you thinking]

[CatTheCutest: A five!]

[Dad: A five?? Are you sure?]

[CatTheCutest: Well, a four. A four-point-five!!]

Okay. So first up, you start off as Gollum, and if you look at him, he's kind of creepy and horrifying. Then you see some... beautiful image. But then Gollum shows up! GRRR! And also it's very dark, so it's kinda hard to find things, especially those VINES. It was just so dark. There was only like teensy bits of fire and that was your only light. And be careful, or else you'll accidentally fall off a cliff! Cuz I did.