Lost in Vivo is an ambitious psychological experience that is packed with compelling ideas but lacks the means, and maybe experience, to pull them off. The bright moments were bright but the overall experience feels like a vision lost in youthful game design.

It goes without mentioning that the combat is unsatisfying, in line with the genre but if you're going to give the player means to really confront the horror at least make them hopeless. I died once and it was by accident. In Silent Hill 2, a clear influence, James had a plank and a pistol that hardly worked. Here, I either jetted past or blew threw enemies. The harder boss fights were more tedious explorations for contrived solutions than meaty challenges.

The plot remains solid throughout while the intricacies are a bit unpolished. The theming as a whole is obviously a bit confused. The broad theme is "mental illness" but the overreaching nature of the subject lacks a real personal touch. It feels like the designer wanted to make a game about mental illness and just made one, with no real story to tell. The art design is solid overall and serves the themes well though it's hard to ignore the usual Unity Engine warts.

Overall, a solid yet unsatisfying debut that leaves anyone who plays enticed by Akuma Kira's potential. More experience will no doubt shape them into a promising indie designer.

Bloodstained will not blow you away with breathtaking visuals, it may leave you groaning in contempt with its character design. The story is terrible with uninteresting characters that feel like a child wrote them. Despite this, against my better judgment, Bloodstained is a very well-designed, very fun, game. The boss fights are mostly a good time while the more mundane enemies are diverse and satisfying. The weapon design and abilities system progress well throughout.
Bloodstained won't move the earth in terms of innovation but it's tightly wrapped around a solid framework with only some technical issues and the atrocious writing distracting you on a semi-regular basis. I deduct an entire point for having such an offensively drawn protagonist.