Played v1.3.2a EX.

Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald are the epitome of comfort games for me, and I consider them near infinitely replayable with just a handful of caveats (mostly due to later games' mechanical improvements). Imagine my surprise when I found out that there's a full-throated roguelite ROM hack of Emerald version that includes damn near every Pokémon, evolution, and mechanic up through Sword and Shield and puts the gameplay focus on competitive, strategic battling and team building.

Folks, this shit got me feeling like a Junji Ito protagonist: "👉 This game was made for me!!" I'm gonna have to force myself to put it down after my holiday travel is over or else I might not play any thing else ever again.

If you like doing nuzlockes with Pokémon randomizers, this is basically that but with more randomization in a more structured way with permanent progression systems linked to the hub area. Anything you do in the hub (level or evolve your partner, teach your partner new moves, purchase items like Pokéballs or TMs, catch new partners in the Safari Zone, and much more) is maintained after the reset following each adventure, and each adventure sees you heading out with one of your partners and whatever's in your bag at the time into a map field where you pick to explore different types of routes or gamble on varios events that may bestow great rewards. Your goal is to reach the end of each mini map and challenge a gym leader before doing it all again, eventually collecting all 8 badges and challenging the Elite Four. Money is limited, healing your team is expensive, and fainting is unrecoverable.

This is an impressively technical achievement that reworks so much of Pokémon Emerald into a completely new experience that somehow still retains the magical core gameplay loop of the series. It's a genuinely incredible breath of fresh air and I wholeheartedly recommend it to Pokémon fans who are looking for an interesting new challenge wrapped in a nostalgic package.

First adventure clear team: Charizard, Gardevoir, Deoxys, Salamence, and Regirock. RIP to Magneton, Golem, Mew, and the other fallen soldiers along the way. 🫡

Gameplay shortcomings and egregious monetization aside, this Katamari iteration is worth experiencing just for that fuckass 3D model of the King. His hyper-realistic face and individually modeled teeth are the most upsetting thing I've seen in a while. The mo-cap for the King is uncanny as hell too, I don't want to see that creature dancing on my screen ever again thanks!

The cutscenes in this game are also completely bonkers, moreso than ever before - for example, the father in the opening cutscene has simply the fattest dumpy that would put even the King's exaggerated bulge to shame. I don't know what was going on there but it sets a very strange tone for what's to come.

Probably the worst Katamari I've played yet but I still enjoyed my time with it nevertheless. Too bad I'll never play those free DLC levels since they're locked behind currency that seemingly can only be obtained by spending Real Money on the PSN now.

Adastra is such a curious case. A project spearheaded by the writer of Echo, joined by Haps' wonderful art and Anthemics' utterly beautiful musical prowess, that somehow manages to fumble the ball over and over. Adastra is interesting in that it serves a fiery romance and a dramatic plot weaving between complex in-universe politics that are incredible as long as you don't look at it for more than 5 seconds.

I'm sure every furry has dreamed of a large, muscular, protective wolf man (or whatever species you fancy) whisking them away from their exhausting, monotonous life to shower them in unconditional love and care for your every need. Who wouldn't want that LMAO. It's all fun and games, however, until said wolf man is kidnapping you to make you his (sex) slave in an imperial colonial empire. I cannot understate how miserable this premise is to an Indigenous person playing this game, let alone a reasonable human being.

And interestingly enough, I find that this premise actually embodies the core of this visual novel's structural issues which are visible in every facet of its creation: Adastra wants wish fulfillment without actually thinking about the logistics required to create it.

You can easily look at every decision written and find that it was done for arousal first, coherence second. Adastra wants the reader to be surrounded by hot, half-naked furry men, so we're going to have a setting reminiscent of ancient Rome where men wear loincloths, communal nudity is common, and women's societal oppression allows them to be irrelevant in this story. To have this version of Rome, it'll be located in outer space where alien societies resemble human cultures. And to have that work, we'll say that every culture on Earth was actually the result of all these aliens colonizing humans at some point and teaching them how to be civilized. Yup, the aliens taught people how to make the pyramids; surely that's an interesting and not at all racially insensitive trope that's been historically used to diminish Black and Indigenous people's intelligence! The main character being designated as a slave (or, "pet," as it's referred to) is similarly just to indulge in a submissive vs dominant power fantasy.

I must give credit that the Roman-era setting, with all its societal misgivings and issues, makes for a fantastic drama that Howly makes excellent use of to keep you on your toes as you read. The political intrigue and tension throughout this story brought on by the issues in this world, issues that are far too great for any one person or group of people can even hope to stand a chance against, is downright enthralling. The interpersonal politics driving every character's actions are so powerful they would bring telenovelas on their knees. This is part of what made Echo so great and is honestly what makes Adastra memorable moreso than its romantic aspects. This sort of conflict between societal norms and personal desires is what Howly does best in my opinion. If Adastra weren't a romance, and instead solely a political drama around queer men in ancient Rome, then I think this story wouldn't have given me the distaste it did.

Now, to be honest, I think I could look past this story's many... many........... MANY misgivings if the romance was actually good. But it just isn't. I despise Amicus, and I'm not sure how I couldn't given how he's written! He's a selfish, entitled brat who can't think for himself, dodges any sort of responsibility, and is just a whiney baby that you're supposedly head over heels in love with because at the end of the day he's just a big dumb puppy :3. Your heckin' doggo is committing human rights violations and upholding the status quo, Johnathan.

From the start to the end, Amicus is downright unpleasant to be around at best and a literal manipulator at worst. The main character is less of a lover to Amicus and more a mother, having to care for his every need, comfort his every tantrum (and there are a lot of them), and clean up every one of his messes. In the story's biggest climax, it's the protagonist who takes the biggest fall for what is ultimately Amicus's problem and it's the protagonist who has to save himself while Amicus sits there and cries. Zero character development with zero redeeming traits. Genuinely what am I supposed to like about this guy. If Amicus broke into my home in the dead of night I'd have beat him with hammers I can tell you that much.

Shoutout to Neferu, though, he's a real one.

Now, with all that said, i think the background behind Adastra's development offers some explanation for why it is the way it is. I remember being a Patreon supporter back in 2018 and reading that the writer was experiencing difficulties and burnout with writing. Adastra was that oil to the rusting door, a place to let loose and get the rhythm going. In that regard, I'm thankful that Adastra had to take the bullet as Echo just got better and better from this point on. It's unfortunate, then, that Adastra became such a wild hit, dwarfing Echo in attention and becoming what Echo Project would be known for to most people for the next several years. The precedents set by Adastra's success would go on to irreparably change the furry visual novel scene, for better or for worse, and open up the wider furry community into its second big visual novel boom.

i replayed this again and would like to change my review a little bit from someone who experienced this game just now again in its full form (played all stories)
i am taking away 1 star because shadows campaign plays like straight ass and really stretched this game a little because i did not get so many gameovers in the other stories. HOW-fucking-EVER.
my view of this game still has not changed one bit. this would have been the best 3d sonic game up to date if it did get the time it deserved. instead we have all of these cool what ifs i found myself sticking to a lot while playing. WHAT IF this abillity worked the way it should. WHAT IF this stage was designed properly and speed boosts wouldnt be the death of me. WHAT IF they actually had the time to put into soleanna, the overworld, and make it the lively world they obviously wanted it to be. it is a bummer this was so rushed in the end because in its core, this is the best 3d sonic, no doubt. the zones are filled with absolute neat ideas, amazing soundtrack and beautifully designed extras.
crisis city and kingdom valley being some of my favorites to mention here.
storywise i believe this game is one of the strongest of this franchise. compared to the crap we have gotten since colors this shines through even after almost 20 years of abandonment by sega and also the community. mephiles being a badass, characters being characters and not just soulless cameos for underaged fans so they can point at the screen and scream names. its a shame this game gets this poor treatment without looking at the what ifs. this game was not even close to finished but none the less has left an impact on me where this whole sonic universe was not just a joke.
so yeah. i like this game.

No other game like this exists. Up there with Katamari Damacy where the gameplay defies genres. Best way to explain it: It's like a Sonic game, except you can fly, and it's also a racing game?

One of the most charming games ever made. Probably not for everyone, but it's definitely worth a try.
I thank Sonic Adventure for introducing me to this series, hope it returns one day.

Iconic Track: https://youtu.be/Iodeu8VVK2U?si=bI3ol39swuNm5fNy

for all its messy sci-fi tangles and caustic irony and sprawling mythologizing this felt raw and tender in a way that kind of really hurt. doubles down on the eminently alien as a ruse to make its naked human ugliness more potent when the time comes, presenting a scenario where the essence of all stress, tension, and threat is mundanely, terribly, crushingly adolescent at heart

a wealth of increased design hospitality baits a hostility that draws from acrid power dynamics, self-destructive altruism, loss of autonomy, strained health, and the uniquely miserable feeling of being a fucked up teenager. that its concluding act leads with its most insincere, grating posturing only to directly pivot into end times earnestness makes for one of the most convincing tonal portrayals of angst and isolation I can think of

instant teencore classic (deeply affectionate)

I've been chasing an indie game high for a while now, and Inscryption is one of those games that completely validates that whole endeavor. A narrative-driven deck building card game drenched in a horror aesthetic. A love letter to trading card games and tabletop RPGs. Incredible. Haven't stopped thinking about it since I picked it up.

Take the ouroboros.

* Played flawlessly on Linux via Proton 6.3-7

The original Animal Crossing is an interesting case study to me, considering that I've spent plenty of time playing the games after this (Wild World, New Leaf, and New Horizons) before coming back to the source. Right away, I can tell that the sauce is there but it's nowhere as polished as its successors. For example, you can't immediately submit fossils to the museum because Blathers isn't confident enough in his fossil certification; instead, you have to write up a letter, attach the fossil to the letter, and mail it off to the museum to get identified before it gets mailed back, and you also have to wait a day before finding your first fossil before you can mail it off to boot. There's other little things too, like Nook's Cranny being a bit "luck-based" in what tools they'll choose to sell to you first, so you might not get the chance to fish on the first day if it's not being sold, or how the Able Sisters aren't actually selling clothing in the original, just acting as a stand-in for custom designs that are more fully integrated in the sequels. Oh, and there are goddamn mosquitos everywhere that really love to bite me while I'm fishing for coelacanths and harvesting my daily money rock; I swear my budget Ico should have gotten West Nile virus by now considering how many times he's been bit over the past couple of weeks.

And yet, it's in these imperfections and its distinct vibe that the original carves out its niche. Unlike its successors, everyone in the village you move to is at best indifferent and at worst somewhat hostile and cynical of you, the newbie moving in. They don't make any attempts to hide it really; the villagers constantly joke about how they would never forget you when you load up your game again, and some even saw me as this kind of pestilence that existed and wanted nothing to do with whenever I tried chatting them up to see if I could do them any favors. The only guy in town who seems to give a damn about you is a raccoon who is more or less exploiting you for free labor. And yet, there's something oddly comforting about this and the "lack" of things to do in the original Animal Crossing when compared to the games that came after. I never felt like I was being rushed towards some light at the far end of the tunnel or felt disappointed that I didn't make enough progress to hit the next checkpoint, or even a need to make myself presentable and affable to those around me. If they didn't care, why should I? There's a million things to do in New Leaf and New Horizons that kept pushing me forward, and contrary to that, the lack of ambition in the original kept me rooted in the simple daily tasks; I was content just fishing to my heart's desire, having nothing to prove and no one to prove anything to. I may be done with Animal Crossing for now, but I can appreciate how it lets you forget about life for a while. It doesn't need to be something flashy or aspiring: it just is.