Öyle bir fikrim var ki! 🤯 konulu eser.

Başları, yani ilginin yüksek ve oyunun sürekli yeni özellikler eklediği 2B kısım, bakıp da etkilendiğim ve oyunun adına yaraşır kısım. Oyun ne zamanki 3B deniyor, yeni şeyler eklemeyi unutuyor. Bir saat kadar sonra da tüm büyüsünü yitirmiş bir yapım kalıyor geriye.

Kimi yerlerdeki boyutlar arası geçişleri ve araklanmış kart oyunuyla yükselen oyun, aynı biçimde sürekli çalan müzikleri ve dakikada sekiz kere çıkan anlık karşılaşma™larıyla çileden çıkarıyor.

Fikir güm, icra fos.

™bkz. random encounter

Anodyne ilginç bir oyun ve bunu biricik karakterlerine, gerçekdışılıktan uyanıklığa akan müziklerine, oyuncuda anbean aykırı düşünceler uyandıran metnine bile bakmadan ufak bir göz atışla fark etmesi işten bile değil.

Bir büyücü dedenin "Diyarı karanlıktan kurtar, ey kahraman!" nidalarının ardından adına yaraşır karakterimiz Youngın hemencecik ilk ve tek silahı değerli süpürgesini almasıyla oyuncu, ancak merakının karşısında kendini açık eden bu Zeldavari topraklarda bir gezintiye çıkıyor.

Yume Nikkiden açıkça esinlenen geliştiricilerin tek bir amacı var: bu medyumu gerçeküstücü perdelerle çevirerek oyuncuya bir düşdeymiş deneyimini yaşatmak, dahası bunu Young'ın odasında uyandığı bir giz™le de yoruma yer bırakmayacak biçimde destekliyorlar. Dolayısıyla oyundaki hiçbir kişi/yer/olay kendini açıklamakla asla uğraşmıyor. Karşılaşılan herhangi bir durumu anlamlandırmaya çalışmaksa hiç kuşkusuz oyun deneyimini yırtan yegane unsur.

Güldürü, oyunun bir ayağı bu. Para taşımak için gerek duyulan cüzdanı parayla satan bir tüccar da var, akıllara ziyan bir subredditten çıkmışcasına çığıran bir et yığını da, geçimini çalılık keserek sağlayan bir cüce de. Kimi dekor kayalar da üstlerine düşeni yapıyor ve "Ömrüm boyu hep bu köşede kalmaktan korkuyorum." ya da "Hiç arkadaşın olmadığından gelip de taş okuyorsun herhalde." demekte gecikmiyorlar.

Keşif, oyunun bir ayağı bu. Açılan her haritanın girişinde durakalmak, basılan toprak bilinmeden atılan her adım, neye açıldığı belirsiz her sandık, bağlanan her patika apayrı bir kıvanç. Dünya yapı olarak karmaşık ve git gel yapması çok olağan. Bir zaman sonra yolbilmez avare oyuncunun sonu gelmez bir bıkkınlıkla oyunu terk etmesi de pekala anlaşılabilir. Bu noktada tam çözümlerden yardım almak es geçilmemeli.

Oyunun oyun kısmına gelindiğindeyse hem savaş hem hareket mekaniklerindeki hamlık ve toyluk en başından oyuna kapılamamak için büyük bir etken olabilir. Konuşma balonlarının atlanamaması, elebaşları™nın Young'ın canı tükenmeden tek bir noktada durup saldırı tuşuna basarak geçilebilinmesi (sonuncu dışında), oyun herhangi bir cevap getirmeden sonlanıyor oluşu vd. diğer sorunlar olarak karşımıza çıkıyor.

Yardım alınmadan yedi saat kadar süren bu oyun, sonlara doğru sündüğü için bazı bazı sıkıyor olsa da duyum odaklı, çokça farklı bir deneyim. Biraz da "LoZ'ya en yakın deneyim." dendiğinden mutlaka denenmesi ayrıca tavsiyemdir.

™bkz. easter egg
™bkz. boss

Considering the length of each of the episodes I don't wanna delve too deep into it so that others can play it for themselves, but each story gives a refreshing experience with a different type of gameplay still for each episode. The first one being a more linear shooting spree, the next one more of a puzzle solving exploring around one area, and the third being a combo of shooting and puzzle solving. I feel like a lot of people will really enjoy the first and final episodes the most. The one I remember the most fondly and was the most entertaining was definitely Rose's in episode one. She needs her own game made out of her own fanfictions!! Can't wait for the Lakehouse expansion. Think I will go back to this game in the near future and grab that 100% completion.

I'd fuck those lightswitches and I'm not even going to pretend otherwise.

Anyway, OWB doesn't have much to chew on, so this'll be brief.

Humor is the name of the game here and they've unfortunately put it on the same shelf where the other parts of New Vegas put themes and actual writing. I feel like everyone's opinion of OWB is always going to be coloured by how well the humor lands for them, and for me OWB's never has.
There is a token attempt made to add some depth to the story - which is debatably about losing one's humanity through clinging to the future in opposition to Dead Money being the same but with the past - but it gets about as much focus as the Lobotomite NPCs do.
In many ways the 'story' is a microcosm of New Vegas actual; someone took your brain, go get it back, oops more complicated story. Except, since this DLC is about an hour or four long depending on how inquisitive you are, the format results in it feeling like an anticlimax? I have vivid memories of younger Mira being deeply confused that the DLC ended.

At the very least I do somewhat appreciate how tightly the developers cling to the pulp sci-fi influences. The LAER and Sonic Emitter in this DLC are better "b-movie alien weapons" than Mothership Zeta's attempt at such in the last game. Same goes for the Trauma Harnesses, the Stealth Suit, and the other doo-dads hanging around. It's a nice degree of aesthetic coherence that I don't typically expect from Gamebryo games.

That said, as a relatively neutral aside: Some of the asset reuse from Fallout 3 is hilarious. Tranquility Lane is reused for Higgs Village - interiors and all - while an entire cell of Fallout 3's Citadel is reused for a lab. There's an entire cave which is just ripped from somewhere in Little Lamplight and, in general, a lot of this DLC reuses Fallout 3 stuff more than anywhere else in the game. I don't mind, it's just funny.

Really, the only emotions this DLC stokes in me aren't even related to Old World Blues. Instead, I only feel things when I think about how this DLC reflects on the rest of NV.

OWB is an odd prequel to Dead Money. Traces of Christine and Elijah's conflict dot the landscape, telling their story in whatever dysfunctional order you find them in. Admittedly, I don't actually like most of this? NV isn't the most subtle masterwork of CRPGs, but it knew when to leave some things up to interpretation or in subtext. Almost all of the stuff relating to DM in OWB amounts to little more than saying the implicit part out loud. I know it was probably planned - the Big MT is mentioned in NV and Elijah mentions coming here a few times in DM - but it still feels very condescending.

But also... I find the repeated assertions that the Big MT are responsible for so many of the evils that dot the landscape of the Mojave to be kind of annoying. It's an ongoing theme in NV that you can't exactly pin all evil on one person or institution, so having the Big MT pop up and go "Hi! We made Cazadors and Nightstalkers!" is eye-rolling. I'd call it un-needed, and I say that as a person that hates being a prescriptive critic. Not helping matters is that these reveals pretty much exist solely as the butt of jokes involvin Dr Borous and not much else?

Oh, and before I forget: I hate the chat with the brain. People unjustly lambast Lonesome Road for "forcing a backstory on the player" (and they're wrong to do so) but IMO forcing the Courier to be an obnoxious redditor is even worse.

I came into OWB expecting it to be an unremarkable stepping stone until I start Lonesome Road, but I was amazed to realize just how unremarkable it is.

Ah well, time to end it.

If you telling me years ago that there will be a remaster of Mahoutsukai no Yoru with new voice-over and an official English translation that release worldwide, my weeb ass wouldn't believe that shit but here we are the magic happened. For the first time, a Type-Moon visual novel received an official English translation. And finally on December 2023 exactly a year after the worldwide release, it release on PC.

Taking place in the rapidly modernizing Japanese suburb of Misaki in the late 1980s, Mahoutsukai no Yoru also known as Mahoyo centers around Aoko Aozaki, a high school girl in training to be a mage. She lives in the mysterious mansion on the hill with Alice Kuonji, her magic teacher and roomates but sometimes Aoko treated her as her rival. In Type-Moon universe, magic cannot reach the knowledge of ordinary humans so its power does not weaken and remains a mystery. So when an odd young man from the countryside named Soujuurou Shizuki accidentally discovers their occult activities and after trying to kill him, they then force him to live with them until they can wipe his memory. It is primarily a slice of life, coming of age story that explores the three main leads, living their lives, going to school, and arguing, a lot, all while occasionally diving into the world of magecraft. I will say the first four chapters of the VN (around 5-6 hours of playtime) might be a little on the slow slide as it takes a lot of time to set up the plot but once you get to further through, it really starts to pick up.

Mahoyo isn’t just important from a lore perspective, the story features the first introduction of two prominent mages who later appear in important roles in Kara no Kyoukai and Tsukihime. It also introduces and explains much of the lore that Nasu would use to inform his later works, including the much better known Tsukihime and Fate. Nasu’s world-building is intricate, obtuse, and not always easy to understand, so Mahoyo functions as an excellent entry point. Kinoko Nasu wrote the novel which is unpublished even before Kara no Kyoukai novel.

The main characters which is the trio is not only among my favorite Type-Moon's characters but also one of my favorite trio in general. They are the heart of the visual novel and Nasu is able to draw a lot of character out of each of them as individuals and as a team. And out of the trio the one that is the most interesting is Soujuuro. I think the reason why is because Soujuuro really the least interesting and bland looking guy, and that is kind of the point. Being born in the mountains without electricity or running water, his lack of modern knowledge makes him naive yet very earnest. His role in the story is to be the perpetual goody two shoes and to be continually taken advantage or used of by the two main female characters. Despite all of that, he is not an idiot. As he’s further exposed to the modern world he quickly picks up on new concepts and even if he doesn’t completely understand, he learns better how to maneuver around them. With how morally grey Aoko and Alice can be, Soujuurou’s straightforward and down to earth earnestness, makes him a very sweet character and someone you want to see get a happy ending.

Just like other Nasu's work, Mahoyo has some heavy action sequences that is so pleasing to witness. So many stunning CG that get supported by cool and realistic animation, which make it look really like an anime. Like Tsukihime Remake, the character sprites are not placed precisely and fixed in the center but are made large and blend with the background. Its highly expressive with each character giving a good range of emotions and reactions that range from funny, to cute, to heartfelt. Mahoyo also doesn't use dialogue boxes like visual novels in general and the layout is made like we are reading a book by using paragraphs and punctuation. The graphics and sound effects are even more impressive. Mahoyo implements various effects, animations, panning shots, and dynamic camera movement to add a real sense of motion to the story. The pristine flair of the art and animation enhances the experience and makes it feel even more immersive.

Mahoyo is not only a great visual novel but serves as a great introduction to the Type-Moon universe. Not only does it connect to the various themes and factions of the world but gives an overall great impression of Nasu’s writing and characters. I would recommend this to someone who wants to get into Type-Moon universe since it stands alone as a self-contained story and isn’t bogged down by assuming familiarity with previous titles.

haven't gasped at a game this much since i first installed phantasy star online. doom, ripped to shreds, thrown in blender, poured back in a mold of itself, then used to test experimental firearms. grotesque, gorgeous, totally disorienting. absolute mastery of toolset+expectations. m.fisher would still be here if she'd made it long enough to be able to play this.

rip glitchy transgressive transsexual freeware indie game dev 2009-2019, murdered in cold blood by creepypasta wiki brain and 45 minute video essays. gone but never forgotten.

the last two levels kind of blow though

É melhor do que eu esperava, nunca pensei que um jogo "simples" desse fosse tão legal. Se jogar nos portais e ver tudo girando é muito louco! Meu "primeiro contato" com a franquia foi mais por um jogo 2D de stickman de navegador utilizando a Arma de Portais quando eu tinha uns 4/5 anos vendo meu primo e irmão jogarem.
O jogo em si parece mais um teste pra ver como a engine da Valve melhorou e testar a física, tanto que fiquei sabendo que as fases do 2 são mais criativas e complicadas e tem uma história mais complexa. Bom, pelo menos agora entendo pq o povo gosta tanto da GlaDOS kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

Quem aí aceita um bolo?

So I Decided to play through this on a whim since the last time I played it was on an iphone like 7 years ago and I wasn't even sure I'd finished it. I don't think I did, because this was such a bad time I wouldn't have forgotten. It convinced me to play all the Sonic that I can muster so here's the start of something:

It doesn't start off that bad. The visuals are fine enough and the first zone looks pretty nice: Castle ruins beautifully lit during both day and night. Playing through it doesn't feel right, though. The initial speed of jumping, falling, walking and homing attack are all annoyingly slow, and the animation adds to the frustration. Sonic at max velocity looks like he's stationary on top of a wheel that is too smooth. Just about everything is too smooth. These first levels are still okay, sadly all 3 have underwater segments. Famously everyone's favourite parts of these games that also happen to make the pretty backgrounds look bad for a good portion of the zone. It doesn't take too long for the worst offender of the gameplay, the special duo move, to sink in as it breaks up any and all momentum again and again. Going in and out of it plays a cutscene every single time and it gets tiring around the third. It's also very safe and spammable.

The rest of the zones don't look bad but not very good and there are no interesting twists really. The second is just a lot of snow with a one-note carnival detour, the third a desert with annoying tower climbs and the fourth a sky zone with the worst plane segment ever made. Sky Fortress act 1 is mostly an auto scroller with worse controls than back in Sonic 2 and after many repetitive screens you think it's gonna end but you're only halfway through the 6 minute slog. In my case it was about 15 because I died twice, fun times.

Bosses in 2d Sonic have always been pretty meh, but at least they were easy and mostly pretty fast. In most cases you can get in a bunch more hits than the free ones given in the obvious window between attacks. Risking a death for extra hits is rewarding and feels skilful. So let's remove that and make every boss a waiting game. Cool, thanks. Uninspired, boring, worse time wastes than the worst stages.

I rarely get nauseous playing a video game but the final level is almost unplayable. A run through rotating sci-fi bullshit where you can barely see Sonic for the spinning back and forth. I very rarely suffer from motion sickness in games but I was near throwing up going through this. The final boss is surprisingly interactive and somewhat challenging if janky. More luck based if anything when spamming the special fly move which felt most effective.

Sonic 4 Episode 2 is not solely miserable but definitely not worth your time. I don't recall episode 1, or any other (mainline) Sonic game for that matter, being this bad but we'll see.