mochiras
10 reviews liked by mochiras
theres 2 scenes in this game where the main character fantasizes about killing children he has never met
Dead Plate
2023
This review contains spoilers
had a lot of potential, but as an avid roblox restaurant tycoon player, there was a major pacing and controls issue in that section, though honestly a lot of the other reviews go into this very well from the standpoint of people who dont resturaunt sim and that should be more highlighted than my insanity.
story wise? again potential! a lot of good characterization but with a major lack of plot understanding, pacing issues, and a tonal dissonance between wanting these guys to be like yaoi and it being a horror yaoi. you can feel the creators want of these guys to have a connection, but without the proper implementation. really could have been helped by being longer, with more hints at it actually going down the route that it did.
this is the spoileriest section: i liked the attempt of subverting the trope of the chef wanting to eat people for his own enjoyment, but it really did need more time to explore. it felt like no questions were posited by the narrative until that end sequence where they fought. it also feels like the narrative is really down on rody without him actually ending up with the awareness of his character flaws, especially with the symbolism of him burning down the restaurant. its just a tad confusing on where we as an audience are to assume his character goes.
story wise? again potential! a lot of good characterization but with a major lack of plot understanding, pacing issues, and a tonal dissonance between wanting these guys to be like yaoi and it being a horror yaoi. you can feel the creators want of these guys to have a connection, but without the proper implementation. really could have been helped by being longer, with more hints at it actually going down the route that it did.
this is the spoileriest section: i liked the attempt of subverting the trope of the chef wanting to eat people for his own enjoyment, but it really did need more time to explore. it felt like no questions were posited by the narrative until that end sequence where they fought. it also feels like the narrative is really down on rody without him actually ending up with the awareness of his character flaws, especially with the symbolism of him burning down the restaurant. its just a tad confusing on where we as an audience are to assume his character goes.
Dead Plate
2023
I find myself a bit torn on what exactly to rate this game. Because there are a lot of things I like about it, and I'll start with those first. The general feel an ambience of the game is great, the art style and music come together to make a setting that feels mostly normal but is just a little bit off-putting at all times. It also cannot be ignored that the game IS free, which is a mjor point in its favor no matter what else I may have to say about it. Vince and Rody are both compelling and likably-written characters (if perhaps a bit cliche'd) who catch your interest even in a fairly brief timeframe. So there's a lot of great potential and vibes at play here that pull you in very quickly at the start.
What lets all this potential down a bit, though, is the actual gameplay. I don't so much mind the slightly clumsy controls, I eventually got used to them, but there are some very puzzling design decisions at play which make the restaurant tycoon portion a bit of a pain. First of all, there's the sprint function, the implementation of which is pretty frustrating. There is literally no reason not to sprint. Ever. In fact you basically HAVE to sprint, constantly, to complete the levels on time. I kept expecting the game to introduce some kind of trade-off mechanic, like maybe a depleting stamina bar, or maybe make it so that if you sprint while holding food you run the risk of spilling the food and having to get a new plate. But the game never introduces anything like this, so ultimately the inclusion of a dedicated "sprint" button just means that you spend the entire gameplay section with one finger holding down Shift the entire time.
The gameplay loop itself is quite repetitive since every table always orders the same Appetizer - Main - Side - Dessert sequence and there's only ever one of each on the menu per day. The challenge isn't so much in remembering orders or organizing the sequence of operations as it is just running between the tables and the dispatch window fast enough without getting stuck on something or having the controls mess you up. (With an occasional trip to the back to empty out the trash can which is a welcome break in the pattern even if it feels a bit like an afterthought. The alleyway behind the restaurant where the dumpsters are definitely feels like it could have been used more than it was). And in the middle of all this you have to try and stop to talk with Vince every day, which I believe you have to do to unlock some of the endings (and also because it's the only real sense of plot progression you're gonna get), but which can feel stressful since it's not clear if your gameplay time is running out while you're chatting with him or not.
Another slightly odd choice are the equippable items, of which you can buy six, but of which you can only equip one at a time. This is vexxing because there are quite clearly some items which are WAY better than others (particularly the cologne that increases guest patience, which basically seems like a required item because you WILL have customers walking out in the later levels if you're not wearing it) which makes it so that there are 4 or 5 items which you have no real reason to waste your money on since using them over better alternatives will never be worthwhile. I realize maybe it might be a bit OP if you could buy and equip ALL of the items at once (I do appreciate that your progress on purchased items does carry over from one playthrough to the next, which makes replaying the game to get different endings notably easier), but this feels like something that should have been solved with better balancing rather than just making it impossible altogether. Speaking of balancing, the game never really feels like it's operating at "full potential" so to speak, considering the restaurant has 8 tables and yet you never fill more than 4 at a time on any given day.
There's also quite a lot of things in the game that feel like "dead ends", like they were possibility MEANT to be expanded into something deeper but there just wasn't enough time or budget. For instance, Rody can only carry one plate of food at a time, because his other hand is permanently filled with a tray of wine... that is never used for anything. Nobody ever asks you for drinks, and you never have to serve anyone drinks. I feel like it would have made more sense if Roddy could carry TWO plates at a time, with a potential bonus to tip money if you manage to serve two people seated at the same table at the same time (from a realism point of view, it's VERY weird that you bring two people their food separately, often even with one diner already eating desert by the time their partner gets their appetizer. I'm also not quite sure why a table with four people places all of its orders at the same time, while two people at a table have to be served separately?). There's a ton of other little dead ends like this as well. You can look out the window of Vince's bedroom to see a creepy silhouette staring up at you, and then if you look again it's gone, but it's just... kinda there to be spooky. Nothing in the plot ever explains it. Same thing with Rody's window, where you can see a person in one of the windows opposite on some days, but not other days, and it's just kinda there to be a thing you click on between shifts at the restaurant. You can even steal money from the restaurant cash register one night, which has absolutely no consequence whatseover, despite Vince supposedly being a very strict boss, and seemingly serves no purpose other than to reward those of us wicked enough to do so. (Speaking of Vince the strict boss, the feedback you get from him doesn't change at all based on your performance, even if you're losing customers during the day, though there may be a plot-related reason for this. You only face some unclear consequences if you don't meet the quota for the day, at which point you immediately restart the shift).
As for the plot itself, despite an intriguing and promising start it ultimately goes down a pretty predictable route, which I thought was a shame. There are four endings, of which two are fairly short fail-states, one is a sort of neutral ending you get if you accidentally avoid the main plot for too long, and one is the actual climax. I definitely would have appreciated a more diverse array of possible outcomes, and it would have markedly improved the game's replayability. In particular, while I won't go so far as to say the game NEEDED a romantic element, I do think it was pretty heavily emphasizing that Vince and Rody have some kind of unique, burgeoning connection if you take the time to actually talk to him every day, which ultimately winds up basically not mattering at all in the final outcome of the story, which seems like a shame. The game throws quite a lot of subtle details at you about these two characters, especially if you really explore all the dialogue options and interactable items, but by the end you don't really feel like getting to know Vince and Rody mattered all that much, and I personally didn't wind up with any particularly strong feelings about how either of them ends up in any given ending.
Overall the game is still pleasant enough, and certainly worth the hour or two you'll need for a full playthrough, especially when, again, it's FREE... But ultimately I find myself a little forlorn thinking about what could have been.
What lets all this potential down a bit, though, is the actual gameplay. I don't so much mind the slightly clumsy controls, I eventually got used to them, but there are some very puzzling design decisions at play which make the restaurant tycoon portion a bit of a pain. First of all, there's the sprint function, the implementation of which is pretty frustrating. There is literally no reason not to sprint. Ever. In fact you basically HAVE to sprint, constantly, to complete the levels on time. I kept expecting the game to introduce some kind of trade-off mechanic, like maybe a depleting stamina bar, or maybe make it so that if you sprint while holding food you run the risk of spilling the food and having to get a new plate. But the game never introduces anything like this, so ultimately the inclusion of a dedicated "sprint" button just means that you spend the entire gameplay section with one finger holding down Shift the entire time.
The gameplay loop itself is quite repetitive since every table always orders the same Appetizer - Main - Side - Dessert sequence and there's only ever one of each on the menu per day. The challenge isn't so much in remembering orders or organizing the sequence of operations as it is just running between the tables and the dispatch window fast enough without getting stuck on something or having the controls mess you up. (With an occasional trip to the back to empty out the trash can which is a welcome break in the pattern even if it feels a bit like an afterthought. The alleyway behind the restaurant where the dumpsters are definitely feels like it could have been used more than it was). And in the middle of all this you have to try and stop to talk with Vince every day, which I believe you have to do to unlock some of the endings (and also because it's the only real sense of plot progression you're gonna get), but which can feel stressful since it's not clear if your gameplay time is running out while you're chatting with him or not.
Another slightly odd choice are the equippable items, of which you can buy six, but of which you can only equip one at a time. This is vexxing because there are quite clearly some items which are WAY better than others (particularly the cologne that increases guest patience, which basically seems like a required item because you WILL have customers walking out in the later levels if you're not wearing it) which makes it so that there are 4 or 5 items which you have no real reason to waste your money on since using them over better alternatives will never be worthwhile. I realize maybe it might be a bit OP if you could buy and equip ALL of the items at once (I do appreciate that your progress on purchased items does carry over from one playthrough to the next, which makes replaying the game to get different endings notably easier), but this feels like something that should have been solved with better balancing rather than just making it impossible altogether. Speaking of balancing, the game never really feels like it's operating at "full potential" so to speak, considering the restaurant has 8 tables and yet you never fill more than 4 at a time on any given day.
There's also quite a lot of things in the game that feel like "dead ends", like they were possibility MEANT to be expanded into something deeper but there just wasn't enough time or budget. For instance, Rody can only carry one plate of food at a time, because his other hand is permanently filled with a tray of wine... that is never used for anything. Nobody ever asks you for drinks, and you never have to serve anyone drinks. I feel like it would have made more sense if Roddy could carry TWO plates at a time, with a potential bonus to tip money if you manage to serve two people seated at the same table at the same time (from a realism point of view, it's VERY weird that you bring two people their food separately, often even with one diner already eating desert by the time their partner gets their appetizer. I'm also not quite sure why a table with four people places all of its orders at the same time, while two people at a table have to be served separately?). There's a ton of other little dead ends like this as well. You can look out the window of Vince's bedroom to see a creepy silhouette staring up at you, and then if you look again it's gone, but it's just... kinda there to be spooky. Nothing in the plot ever explains it. Same thing with Rody's window, where you can see a person in one of the windows opposite on some days, but not other days, and it's just kinda there to be a thing you click on between shifts at the restaurant. You can even steal money from the restaurant cash register one night, which has absolutely no consequence whatseover, despite Vince supposedly being a very strict boss, and seemingly serves no purpose other than to reward those of us wicked enough to do so. (Speaking of Vince the strict boss, the feedback you get from him doesn't change at all based on your performance, even if you're losing customers during the day, though there may be a plot-related reason for this. You only face some unclear consequences if you don't meet the quota for the day, at which point you immediately restart the shift).
As for the plot itself, despite an intriguing and promising start it ultimately goes down a pretty predictable route, which I thought was a shame. There are four endings, of which two are fairly short fail-states, one is a sort of neutral ending you get if you accidentally avoid the main plot for too long, and one is the actual climax. I definitely would have appreciated a more diverse array of possible outcomes, and it would have markedly improved the game's replayability. In particular, while I won't go so far as to say the game NEEDED a romantic element, I do think it was pretty heavily emphasizing that Vince and Rody have some kind of unique, burgeoning connection if you take the time to actually talk to him every day, which ultimately winds up basically not mattering at all in the final outcome of the story, which seems like a shame. The game throws quite a lot of subtle details at you about these two characters, especially if you really explore all the dialogue options and interactable items, but by the end you don't really feel like getting to know Vince and Rody mattered all that much, and I personally didn't wind up with any particularly strong feelings about how either of them ends up in any given ending.
Overall the game is still pleasant enough, and certainly worth the hour or two you'll need for a full playthrough, especially when, again, it's FREE... But ultimately I find myself a little forlorn thinking about what could have been.
Dead Plate
2023
This review contains spoilers
I am a fan of RachelDrawsThis and have played her previous games but sadly was not a huge fan of this one, which started off promising but wound up letting me down. The ingredients are there but it just lacked that special spice it needed to bring everything together.
The actual tycoon simulator is kinda fun but very barebones and the pacing is odd- in the first few levels I was stuck waiting for the clock to run down BUT later levels were super hectic and I would get stuck working way past the clock just kind of waiting for the dishes to cook. In a way that actually makes it a really good simulation of working as a server but as, like, gameplay it left something to be desired and made it a slog to replay the levels after I realized I'd missed something.
But my biggest complaint about the gameplay is that it doesn't really impact the story at all. You do have to replay a day if you fail to meet the sales quota but other than that there's no real consequences for losing customers, and your only "reward" for doing well is the tip money you can put towards the upgrades. There are a bunch of references to Vince being a harsh boss with high standards so the fact that your actual work performance is never commented on felt like an oversight.
The other issue is that the game is predicated on peppering in small details that will unsettle you and hint at the darker story lurking beneath the posh exterior, but these details feel a bit... sparse. A little bit of blood here, some weird noises there, an uncanny comment or two, but that's all. There aren't many secrets in the restaurant and there's basically no point to exploring it except during the one night shift the game allows you.
I was also surprised by how little change there was from day to day- since the game was forcing me to play through the restaurant shifts I was hoping that there would be new treats to keep me going every day, but they never materialized. Nothing ever really happens in the back alley or the window of your apartment, despite those being two of the only environments available, and the few hooks that appear (the rat, the peephole, the register) don't actually go anywhere. Not as many cutscenes as I would have hoped either. A lot of cool ideas that lack follow through.
(Also, the game introduces a question/answer mechanic during the tutorial and implies that customers will ask you questions, but none ever do. I thought that was odd.)
The strength of the game is, of course, the ambience, art, and characters. The game looks adorable and the few cutscenes we do get are all sleek, stylish, and appropriately creepy. The writing feels natural coming from the mouths of the characters, but the polish of the writing is let down by the story, which sadly wasn't very interesting. The "twist" was like the most obvious choice for a restaurant setting... like wow, the creepy chef was cooking a PERSON? I think I've heard this one.
I think the creators did a good job of trying to flesh out Vince and Rory's characters, but while I got a strong sense of their personalities I was still a bit confused by their motivations so the endings weren't very satisfying. While the two had chemistry, it didn't really seem like they had any sort of actual connection, so the revelation of Vince's obsession and the subsequent struggle just lacked punch. I didn't really get catharsis out of seeing the restaurant burn, but watching Rory die was equally anticlimactic.
I almost wish that the game had also given you the option to take Vince's side and eat his meal because I think that would have been a much more interesting ending- it would have added a hint of subversion to the unfortunately tired story and dovetailed nicely with the traits we saw the characters displaying (Vince's need for control/barely concealed loneliness and Rory's lack of direction/need for affection). Or something, I don't know.
It's always tough to criticize a project like this because at the end of the day, it's incredibly good for something that someone made and distributed for free and I would still recommend giving it a play, but like... if I did recommend it to someone I'd tell them to read the spoiler free endings guide the creator posted because they aren't gonna wanna have to replay the levels if they miss something.
The actual tycoon simulator is kinda fun but very barebones and the pacing is odd- in the first few levels I was stuck waiting for the clock to run down BUT later levels were super hectic and I would get stuck working way past the clock just kind of waiting for the dishes to cook. In a way that actually makes it a really good simulation of working as a server but as, like, gameplay it left something to be desired and made it a slog to replay the levels after I realized I'd missed something.
But my biggest complaint about the gameplay is that it doesn't really impact the story at all. You do have to replay a day if you fail to meet the sales quota but other than that there's no real consequences for losing customers, and your only "reward" for doing well is the tip money you can put towards the upgrades. There are a bunch of references to Vince being a harsh boss with high standards so the fact that your actual work performance is never commented on felt like an oversight.
The other issue is that the game is predicated on peppering in small details that will unsettle you and hint at the darker story lurking beneath the posh exterior, but these details feel a bit... sparse. A little bit of blood here, some weird noises there, an uncanny comment or two, but that's all. There aren't many secrets in the restaurant and there's basically no point to exploring it except during the one night shift the game allows you.
I was also surprised by how little change there was from day to day- since the game was forcing me to play through the restaurant shifts I was hoping that there would be new treats to keep me going every day, but they never materialized. Nothing ever really happens in the back alley or the window of your apartment, despite those being two of the only environments available, and the few hooks that appear (the rat, the peephole, the register) don't actually go anywhere. Not as many cutscenes as I would have hoped either. A lot of cool ideas that lack follow through.
(Also, the game introduces a question/answer mechanic during the tutorial and implies that customers will ask you questions, but none ever do. I thought that was odd.)
The strength of the game is, of course, the ambience, art, and characters. The game looks adorable and the few cutscenes we do get are all sleek, stylish, and appropriately creepy. The writing feels natural coming from the mouths of the characters, but the polish of the writing is let down by the story, which sadly wasn't very interesting. The "twist" was like the most obvious choice for a restaurant setting... like wow, the creepy chef was cooking a PERSON? I think I've heard this one.
I think the creators did a good job of trying to flesh out Vince and Rory's characters, but while I got a strong sense of their personalities I was still a bit confused by their motivations so the endings weren't very satisfying. While the two had chemistry, it didn't really seem like they had any sort of actual connection, so the revelation of Vince's obsession and the subsequent struggle just lacked punch. I didn't really get catharsis out of seeing the restaurant burn, but watching Rory die was equally anticlimactic.
I almost wish that the game had also given you the option to take Vince's side and eat his meal because I think that would have been a much more interesting ending- it would have added a hint of subversion to the unfortunately tired story and dovetailed nicely with the traits we saw the characters displaying (Vince's need for control/barely concealed loneliness and Rory's lack of direction/need for affection). Or something, I don't know.
It's always tough to criticize a project like this because at the end of the day, it's incredibly good for something that someone made and distributed for free and I would still recommend giving it a play, but like... if I did recommend it to someone I'd tell them to read the spoiler free endings guide the creator posted because they aren't gonna wanna have to replay the levels if they miss something.
me ha encantado mi danganronpa favorito pero el final me provoca sentimientos encontrados
This review contains spoilers
yuma: don't tell me, you put kanai in a rain code...?
makoto: thats right yuma kokohead it was me! i planned this all, right from the train code.
yuma: you're insane code!
makoto: oh i'm perfectly sane code. because i'm... you. i possess your brain code!
yuma: so that stain code...
makoto: that's right! i'm a homunculus! its part of my vein code!
yuma: ...!!!
makoto: now i suggest you give up. you will never get rid of this downpour. you will never find the drain code!!
yuma: no...! you're wrong! your reign code is over!!
makoto: don't you see yuma, this chain code of suffering will not end! now it is time... for you too to feel... the pain code!!
and then they both take of their shirts and start wrestling on top of kanai tower
makoto: thats right yuma kokohead it was me! i planned this all, right from the train code.
yuma: you're insane code!
makoto: oh i'm perfectly sane code. because i'm... you. i possess your brain code!
yuma: so that stain code...
makoto: that's right! i'm a homunculus! its part of my vein code!
yuma: ...!!!
makoto: now i suggest you give up. you will never get rid of this downpour. you will never find the drain code!!
yuma: no...! you're wrong! your reign code is over!!
makoto: don't you see yuma, this chain code of suffering will not end! now it is time... for you too to feel... the pain code!!
and then they both take of their shirts and start wrestling on top of kanai tower
Liar Liar 2
2016
ITS ABOUT LIES 🤞 ITS ABOUT VENTING 🕳 WE STAY SUSSY 😈 WE IMPOSTOR 📮 KILL IN O2 💨 KILL IN REACTOR 🔋 AND SABOTAGE 💥 I GOT IMPOSTOR IN MY VEINS 🩸 I NEED TO KILL THE CREWMATES 🔪 I WON THE GAME 🏆 SO WHATS MY MOTHERSUSSING NAME? 🗣 BAKA 😈📮.
Heaven Will Be Mine
2018
Heaven will be mine:
dirty house
hoe
gold digger
stink pussy
5 kids
cheater
AGP
We know the devil:
pray
educated
a job
clean pussy
loyal
faithful
HSTS
dirty house
hoe
gold digger
stink pussy
5 kids
cheater
AGP
We know the devil:
pray
educated
a job
clean pussy
loyal
faithful
HSTS
uchi's first dive (haha get it? cuz they're underwater) into the people trapped in a location scifi genre. it sucked but paved the way for future good games by him. it's kind of like how jesus needed to die so we could all reach salvation
So you know how the first half of Death Note is some of the sickest anime ever produced, and then the second half falls off incredibly hard and feels like it's a more ridiculous and overall cheaper imitation of what it did before?
Yeah
Yeah