farawaytimes
2016
Hyper 1CC All-Clear, Mae-Follow-Laser, 57,025,930 Pts
Really really adored Blue Revolver. Had a blast learning all the stages and bosses, and the intensity throughout is just fantastic. Stage 4 is a pristine jewel especially, and stage 5 is great boss rush with a KILLER last fight. Drop-dead gorgeous to look at of course. I loved the alternate soundtracks so I could change things up while learning the 1CC.
I've heard folks say this game's as good as ZeroRanger and I think that's honestly really fair. It doesn't have the big flashy structure or storytelling moments of ZeroRanger, but in exchange for that you get tighter, more intense pacing. It's just a really stellar gorgeously produced action game.
Only rub for me was that Power seemed very underpowered compared to Follow. With Power I felt forced to rely on the special weapon just to get through regular enemies; Follow let me chew through enemies faster and honestly just felt way better to me. Basically the game felt a little off to me for the first few hours while playing with Power, then felt perfect after switching to Follow.
Really really adored Blue Revolver. Had a blast learning all the stages and bosses, and the intensity throughout is just fantastic. Stage 4 is a pristine jewel especially, and stage 5 is great boss rush with a KILLER last fight. Drop-dead gorgeous to look at of course. I loved the alternate soundtracks so I could change things up while learning the 1CC.
I've heard folks say this game's as good as ZeroRanger and I think that's honestly really fair. It doesn't have the big flashy structure or storytelling moments of ZeroRanger, but in exchange for that you get tighter, more intense pacing. It's just a really stellar gorgeously produced action game.
Only rub for me was that Power seemed very underpowered compared to Follow. With Power I felt forced to rely on the special weapon just to get through regular enemies; Follow let me chew through enemies faster and honestly just felt way better to me. Basically the game felt a little off to me for the first few hours while playing with Power, then felt perfect after switching to Follow.
2003
1CC All-Clear, Ageha, 23455360 Pts! Absolutely loved this game to bits, so rewarding and fun to learn. The other Cave shmups I've spent a lot of time with are Mushihimesama and DoDonPachi. Those games are excellent, but very stoic and restrained in terms of storytelling, so this one really surprised me with its extremely hype two part final stage plus three stage epic final boss fight. I didn't think Cave had that kind of storytelling gumption -- I'm extremely excited to dig into ESP Ra.De. down the line.
I love LUCAH a whole lot. It's an extremely fun and intense action game -- the parry system feels amazing, and I had a blast experimenting with builds and learning the timing for enemy attacks. The setting and animation are both gorgeous, and I've frequently put on the soundtrack to relive favorite set-pieces. The game pulls from dozens of influences (Yume Nikki, Bayonetta, Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, Metal Gear Rising, Porpentine twine games, Even the Ocean, David Lynch movies...) in quiet and classy ways; it pulls it all together beautifully and it's 100% more than the sum of its parts.
A few moments in LUCAH hit me really hard, in wonderfully painfully indirect ways that still have me reeling a month later. It's a thoughtful and human story and my life is richer for having experienced it.
A few moments in LUCAH hit me really hard, in wonderfully painfully indirect ways that still have me reeling a month later. It's a thoughtful and human story and my life is richer for having experienced it.
S+ ranks in every main game stage 😎 Extremely excellent. Great action, a nice concise main game, very cool story payoffs. It's the kindest Gunvolt which I love -- the bosses are easier like Gunvolt 1, but with the gentler ranking of Gunvolt 2, plus it's very easy to feel awesome playing as Copen. I like playing on Fearless and taking on stages in three chunks (first half, second half, boss) without taking damage in each chunk, and this game was perfectly balanced for that. I'm choosing to just accept that every modern mega man game is gonna have one actual fortress stage plus a boss rush instead of a proper fortress, if I don't I'll just be grouchy forever.
2021
I've loved Skipmore games since playing Fairune on my phone in 2013. I've been antsy for a big new adventure from them since Fairune II five years ago, and this was worth the wait. Movement feels great, the puzzley bits are fair and smart, and the last area goes hard in a JOYOUS way. I just loved exploring and existing in this world. The FM Synth DLC is extremely worth it!!
2015
Absolutely adored this game, Kath is wifey for lifey.
Played it after playing through a ton of other rpgs last year and honestly getting pretty burnt out on the genre. Evenicle brought me back to life -- the game is just plain joyful to play. It's constantly delighting in new setpieces and cracking cute jokes, both in and out of the smut. I was screenshotting jokes constantly 'cause the game just made me laugh my ass off. It even works in a few genuinely tough cool bosses that made me think closely about the streamlined systems.
I loved Aster and found a lot of the romances genuinely pretty moving. There's a moment near the end during the final dungeon where Aster has a moment alone with each of the wives, and they all have nice conversations pertaining specifically to that one relationship. I realized the game had made me believe in all these relationships, which is pretty impressive when there's so many of them.
This is my favorite Alicesoft game so far, and I'm really excited to dig into the rest of their catalog. I think their games are absolutely comparable to modern indie rpgs like Undertale in how they're full of energy and joy, constantly messing with your expectations in the hopes of putting a smile on your face. (Or turning you on.) I also think it's comparable to very well-written RPGs like Trails in the Sky in how it pays off its storytelling threads in huge ways during the last few chapters. I played Xenoblade X and Tales of Vesperia recently, both beloved RPGs, and I think Evenicle has more storytelling gumption than either of those games by far.
I don't know if I'd necessarily recommend it to someone not interested in the porn (because a LOT of it is porn), but if you're here for that I think you'll have a GREAT time. (Just heed the content warnings, the game gets pretty grisly at times.)
Played it after playing through a ton of other rpgs last year and honestly getting pretty burnt out on the genre. Evenicle brought me back to life -- the game is just plain joyful to play. It's constantly delighting in new setpieces and cracking cute jokes, both in and out of the smut. I was screenshotting jokes constantly 'cause the game just made me laugh my ass off. It even works in a few genuinely tough cool bosses that made me think closely about the streamlined systems.
I loved Aster and found a lot of the romances genuinely pretty moving. There's a moment near the end during the final dungeon where Aster has a moment alone with each of the wives, and they all have nice conversations pertaining specifically to that one relationship. I realized the game had made me believe in all these relationships, which is pretty impressive when there's so many of them.
This is my favorite Alicesoft game so far, and I'm really excited to dig into the rest of their catalog. I think their games are absolutely comparable to modern indie rpgs like Undertale in how they're full of energy and joy, constantly messing with your expectations in the hopes of putting a smile on your face. (Or turning you on.) I also think it's comparable to very well-written RPGs like Trails in the Sky in how it pays off its storytelling threads in huge ways during the last few chapters. I played Xenoblade X and Tales of Vesperia recently, both beloved RPGs, and I think Evenicle has more storytelling gumption than either of those games by far.
I don't know if I'd necessarily recommend it to someone not interested in the porn (because a LOT of it is porn), but if you're here for that I think you'll have a GREAT time. (Just heed the content warnings, the game gets pretty grisly at times.)