dizzyrobo
2004
its alright
2001
i havent finished this yet but ive had like 3 arihiko moments so far so its 5/5 by default
plague knight is easy mode
2000
adding on to this as i complete routes (2 to go now)
Arcueid Route
I'd actually read this one already around 3 years ago after playing melty and wanting to know more about the characters. Despite that I still felt hooked to it and didn't take any issue with going through it again, and still got the same emotional response as I had before. love arc love shiki love nrvnqsr love roa all cool dudes
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Ciel Route
Felt like this one dragged early on with the amount of rereading involved but once it split off more I found myself really liking it and the increased horror focus with Roa now feeling like a genuinely scary threat whilst attempting to take control of Shiki as well as the constant false hopes Shiki would receive up until the end. As it is now though between her, Arc, and Akiha's routes I think she has my least favorite of them.
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Akiha Route
This is an odd one since as I read it it felt less like a single complete story and more like 2 short stories stapled together, one with Satsuki in the first half and Akiha in the latter. While this may be due to me using a guide for the choices I didn't actually take much issue with it as I still really enjoyed both of these stories and with Akiha's route having what is currently my favorite climax and finale of the 3 I've read. In particular I really appreciate how both endings feel like proper conclusions to the route, while in the previous routes I only especially loved Arc's true ending and felt that the good endings didn't really act as conclusions to the route's, though of course I imagine they weren't meant to be given the distinction of being Good instead of True.
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Hisui Route
dude holy fukcing shit
post kohaku edit:
Honestly, I'm still not sure how to phrase my feelings toward Hisui route, I enjoyed it of course but that ending wiped damn near any higher thoughts from me. I think Shiki's mental decay was done best here and the endings were good conclusions. I'd seen someone say that Kohaku's good ending feels like a cop-out but I think that the complete loss of someone's memories even if it makes them seem happier as a result is still a tragedy on its own as it's close to erasing the original person, leaving something like a shell, only with the opportunity to fill said empty shell. Either way much better than the other good endings as an actual conclusion.
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Kohaku Route:
This is it. This is the end. At the moment of reading I felt that Akiha's position in the climax was resolved a little too quickly but on further thought its alright. Besides that though, around the time of Ciel Route I'd noted a constantly present theme of things being fake vs real, as well as other ideas stemming from this base theme, like attachment to fakes, and fakes becoming real, appearing as early as Shiki thinking about his time with the Arimas and treasuring it despite them not being his real family, and this route works perfectly as the capstone to this theme with it now being what defines an entire character. Also I imagine everyone loves the coffee talk dream and I am no different, one of my favorite scenes in the entire VN.
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Eclipse:
Now I really can't form any proper thoughts on this. Seeing Aoko again felt very warm. I'd read the VN without using the skip scenes feature so I'd seen Shiki curse his failure to thank her 5 times total by now, and seeing him finally get the chance to felt like a perfect bookend to the whole experience. If I'd read this at a more emotional time I have no doubt I would've cried a bit finally reaching it.
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Full VN thoughts:
It's good. It isn't hard at all to see how this got the reputation it did and now it's got me in it's grip too. I'm not the same man I was one month ago.
Arcueid Route
I'd actually read this one already around 3 years ago after playing melty and wanting to know more about the characters. Despite that I still felt hooked to it and didn't take any issue with going through it again, and still got the same emotional response as I had before. love arc love shiki love nrvnqsr love roa all cool dudes
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ciel Route
Felt like this one dragged early on with the amount of rereading involved but once it split off more I found myself really liking it and the increased horror focus with Roa now feeling like a genuinely scary threat whilst attempting to take control of Shiki as well as the constant false hopes Shiki would receive up until the end. As it is now though between her, Arc, and Akiha's routes I think she has my least favorite of them.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Akiha Route
This is an odd one since as I read it it felt less like a single complete story and more like 2 short stories stapled together, one with Satsuki in the first half and Akiha in the latter. While this may be due to me using a guide for the choices I didn't actually take much issue with it as I still really enjoyed both of these stories and with Akiha's route having what is currently my favorite climax and finale of the 3 I've read. In particular I really appreciate how both endings feel like proper conclusions to the route, while in the previous routes I only especially loved Arc's true ending and felt that the good endings didn't really act as conclusions to the route's, though of course I imagine they weren't meant to be given the distinction of being Good instead of True.
-------------------------------------------------
Hisui Route
dude holy fukcing shit
post kohaku edit:
Honestly, I'm still not sure how to phrase my feelings toward Hisui route, I enjoyed it of course but that ending wiped damn near any higher thoughts from me. I think Shiki's mental decay was done best here and the endings were good conclusions. I'd seen someone say that Kohaku's good ending feels like a cop-out but I think that the complete loss of someone's memories even if it makes them seem happier as a result is still a tragedy on its own as it's close to erasing the original person, leaving something like a shell, only with the opportunity to fill said empty shell. Either way much better than the other good endings as an actual conclusion.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kohaku Route:
This is it. This is the end. At the moment of reading I felt that Akiha's position in the climax was resolved a little too quickly but on further thought its alright. Besides that though, around the time of Ciel Route I'd noted a constantly present theme of things being fake vs real, as well as other ideas stemming from this base theme, like attachment to fakes, and fakes becoming real, appearing as early as Shiki thinking about his time with the Arimas and treasuring it despite them not being his real family, and this route works perfectly as the capstone to this theme with it now being what defines an entire character. Also I imagine everyone loves the coffee talk dream and I am no different, one of my favorite scenes in the entire VN.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Eclipse:
Now I really can't form any proper thoughts on this. Seeing Aoko again felt very warm. I'd read the VN without using the skip scenes feature so I'd seen Shiki curse his failure to thank her 5 times total by now, and seeing him finally get the chance to felt like a perfect bookend to the whole experience. If I'd read this at a more emotional time I have no doubt I would've cried a bit finally reaching it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Full VN thoughts:
It's good. It isn't hard at all to see how this got the reputation it did and now it's got me in it's grip too. I'm not the same man I was one month ago.
2009
a short history of colonialism in the polynesian islands
2005
a few aliens short of being a half life game
1994
Was expecting a somewhat boring puzzle game but got a pretty solid one instead, haven't put much time into it as of yet but the amount of options Toad has for moving blocks around gets me thinking of ways to optimize gameplay more in the same way that Puyo chains do, pretty alright.
this port somehow runs worse than the arcade crack but its easier to mod and the base game is still really good and also theres a kasane teto vocals mod for some songs so. it has to be a good game i say
this game looks like ass and the balance is all fucked up but goddamn it does shooting to the beat feel like the coolest shit ever
2018
big fan of the visual design even if it makes my eyes bleed, gameplay is simple but fun and the amount of assets swapped out per song keeps the screen feeling unique most of the time.
only wish the game were a bit harder, usually it takes me several tries to FC or even do well on songs but in this game I find myself often getting FC first try or landing an A or S rank when I don't, even on master. would also like more music variation but there's nothing really wrong with having a theme, and for 3 dollars there's not much to complain about.
only wish the game were a bit harder, usually it takes me several tries to FC or even do well on songs but in this game I find myself often getting FC first try or landing an A or S rank when I don't, even on master. would also like more music variation but there's nothing really wrong with having a theme, and for 3 dollars there's not much to complain about.
2021
once you get a hang of the driving controls its some of the most fun there is, a shocking amount of online/social features that i hope can one day can be used to the fullest. possibly buying the devs next game day one
edit: i did
edit: i did
my review on monolith is half a joke so ill use here to properly praise the game and say that base monolith is potentially one of if not the very best twin stick roguelite with how well put together every aspect of it is, and this dlc improves on every aspect of it with every change it introduces fixing the few minor issues the original had or adding in something completely new that fits perfectly and makes the base game feel incomplete in comparison, just as a proper expansion should.
2006
this game has the best version of jumpin jack flash and its trapped on the ds sound card
2012
I'd tried multiple farming games in the past and of all of them, this one scratches the itch for one best and succeeds where all others failed me.
forte is best girl
forte is best girl
2015
this game is described as a re-envisioning of half-life rather than a remake, and its right to be, rather than replacing half-life, it feels best as an alternate take on half-life, an accompanying piece to the original.
while the effort to fix xen is commendable, i think it went too far into the opposite direction, and ended up dragging on for so long that by the end of the second chapter i was hoping for it to be over soon.
while the effort to fix xen is commendable, i think it went too far into the opposite direction, and ended up dragging on for so long that by the end of the second chapter i was hoping for it to be over soon.