cryber
2022
Despite a story that sometimes stretches the suspension of disbelief near its limits and a somewhat rushed ending that could have used 1-2 more hours to clean things up, Corpse Factory makes for an enthralling Halloween season read.
The main cast's voice actors do wonders with their performances. Loved the story's prose and the look into multiple twisted perspectives.
Also, I want to inject Noriko and Kojiro's characters into my veins.
The main cast's voice actors do wonders with their performances. Loved the story's prose and the look into multiple twisted perspectives.
Also, I want to inject Noriko and Kojiro's characters into my veins.
2023
Definitely some great atmosphere and sound design, but maybe proof that a game can be TOO dark? I feel like at a certain point fumbling in the dark starts to hurt the tension more than help it.
Still really strong short and sweet horror though.
Still really strong short and sweet horror though.
2023
Absolutely stellar game, Neowiz knocked the ball out of the park immediately upon stepping into this genre with a near perfect package.
It is, in fact, Like Dark Souls. However Lies of P not only meets , but surpass' Fromsoft's own efforts in many ways. While never quite reaching the highest highs of something like Elden Ring or Dark Souls 1, LoP instead maintains its high quality throughout the entire surprisingly long experience with maybe only 1 bad boss in its long lineup.
The weapon handle/blade system is amazing, the boss weapons are all extremely fun, and the build variety leaves me wanting to sink multiple playthroughs despite the game being mostly linear. The mix of deflection and parry system with the extremely quality boss roster makes this by far the soulslike where it feels the best to truly master a boss, rivaled mainly by Sekiro in that department.
While the story itself is not mindblowing, what is there is perfectly fine and made downright impressive by how it and the art direction/world still feel natural despite trying to adapt Pinocchio of all stories. Things really should have fallen apart on that end and its a testament to the art design team that they didn't.
It is, in fact, Like Dark Souls. However Lies of P not only meets , but surpass' Fromsoft's own efforts in many ways. While never quite reaching the highest highs of something like Elden Ring or Dark Souls 1, LoP instead maintains its high quality throughout the entire surprisingly long experience with maybe only 1 bad boss in its long lineup.
The weapon handle/blade system is amazing, the boss weapons are all extremely fun, and the build variety leaves me wanting to sink multiple playthroughs despite the game being mostly linear. The mix of deflection and parry system with the extremely quality boss roster makes this by far the soulslike where it feels the best to truly master a boss, rivaled mainly by Sekiro in that department.
While the story itself is not mindblowing, what is there is perfectly fine and made downright impressive by how it and the art direction/world still feel natural despite trying to adapt Pinocchio of all stories. Things really should have fallen apart on that end and its a testament to the art design team that they didn't.
Lovely artstyle paired with a roguelite card collector that removes the randomness of shuffling in favor of cooldown/buff/debuff management and attack orders. Also comes with a story that while not incredibly strong, works as a dripfeed to keep you doing runs. Could be a bit more varied in encounters overall, but otherwise great stuff.
2024
Roguelite deckbuilding boiled down to its essentials in an amazing way. A standard poker deck, 4 systems of cards that interact with it, and an unending need to make the numbers go up.
Put together with hypnotizing art direction+music makes it clear why people call this addicting, and it's not because of gambling.
Put together with hypnotizing art direction+music makes it clear why people call this addicting, and it's not because of gambling.
2023
A stale subgenre made great by injecting The Sauce™ aka an actually cool artstyle, music, and putting real bullet hell in it that makes late game/bosses feel frantic instead of routine.
2022
Jishogi is great game, and one I would consider quite underappreciated compared to its quality. Thankfully it's gotten a bit of a spotlight since I put it in the backlog last year, but since as of writing this it has no reviews on the site I figure it deserves at least some level of write-up.
Jishogi tackles some very dark subjects and features 2 wonderfully fleshed out characters, the player character Mayu and the witch Fifield. Their interplay as well as the consequences of the choices you can make were definitely a highlight of the game as a whole to me. Whether it's diving into memories or deciding whats best for both characters, the story had me hooked pretty much from the start. There's quite a bit of freedom as to how things can play out, from places I'm surprised the dev was willing to go to much more positive resolutions. Worth experiencing and not spoiling here for sure.
The one larger criticism for this game, one it seems the dev is aware of, is that the puzzles can actually be a bit reductive to its goal sometimes. There are multiple between every story beat, meaning getting stuck on even one can very well kill the pacing of the game. Either placing a memory between every puzzle or reducing the number of them would have helped. Though the puzzles themselves are still clever and enjoyable for the most part, even reflecting the personalities of the 2 characters well.
All said a great work for a solo dev, and I hope they continue in the future with more projects on this level!
Jishogi tackles some very dark subjects and features 2 wonderfully fleshed out characters, the player character Mayu and the witch Fifield. Their interplay as well as the consequences of the choices you can make were definitely a highlight of the game as a whole to me. Whether it's diving into memories or deciding whats best for both characters, the story had me hooked pretty much from the start. There's quite a bit of freedom as to how things can play out, from places I'm surprised the dev was willing to go to much more positive resolutions. Worth experiencing and not spoiling here for sure.
The one larger criticism for this game, one it seems the dev is aware of, is that the puzzles can actually be a bit reductive to its goal sometimes. There are multiple between every story beat, meaning getting stuck on even one can very well kill the pacing of the game. Either placing a memory between every puzzle or reducing the number of them would have helped. Though the puzzles themselves are still clever and enjoyable for the most part, even reflecting the personalities of the 2 characters well.
All said a great work for a solo dev, and I hope they continue in the future with more projects on this level!