nessandco
12 reviews liked by nessandco
This review contains spoilers
A lot of trans media fails to capture what this VN manages to depict so effectively. We tend to focus on what trans bodies are -supposed- to look like, to the point where a lot of trans women and men internalize these ideas as goals they need to strive for. It doesn't matter if it's truly what they want, or if it's realistic, the "privilege" of their identity being respected hinges on these factors. Because some people just plainly suck or don't know any better.
Early into my journey I was enamored by submission, because it was only when I acted like this that I would be treated in the way I wanted to. It resulted in me frequently being taken advantage of and hurt, and being beset with expectations and desires that weren't my own.
It took me years to come to terms with who I wanted to be, finally deciding to start transitioning when what womanhood means to me fully crystalized.
I can see a lot of this process reflected back at me in this story, terrible abuse interspersed with happy moments that make you forget, if only for a day or two.
Being told what to like, how to look, how to behave, what to do; it has a sickening comfort to it that can become addicting. It's dangerous to give your own journey over to someone else, their whims and preferences are anything but yours.
To cap off this "review", it made me think about the voice training I plan to start soon. Despite being on hrt for over 2 years my voice seems to remain a large barrier towards being gendered correctly.
I personally don't mind my voice, never have and probably never will. This will likely be another thing in my transition I'm doing for the sake of others, rather than myself. It's important to reflect on these instances, to weigh the pros and cons, and make sure it's my own choice.
I think I will be doing this voice training regardless, but atleast I'll be confident in the fact that I chose for it, and relish the ability to still whip out my masc voice whenever I deem it to be useful or funny.
Early into my journey I was enamored by submission, because it was only when I acted like this that I would be treated in the way I wanted to. It resulted in me frequently being taken advantage of and hurt, and being beset with expectations and desires that weren't my own.
It took me years to come to terms with who I wanted to be, finally deciding to start transitioning when what womanhood means to me fully crystalized.
I can see a lot of this process reflected back at me in this story, terrible abuse interspersed with happy moments that make you forget, if only for a day or two.
Being told what to like, how to look, how to behave, what to do; it has a sickening comfort to it that can become addicting. It's dangerous to give your own journey over to someone else, their whims and preferences are anything but yours.
To cap off this "review", it made me think about the voice training I plan to start soon. Despite being on hrt for over 2 years my voice seems to remain a large barrier towards being gendered correctly.
I personally don't mind my voice, never have and probably never will. This will likely be another thing in my transition I'm doing for the sake of others, rather than myself. It's important to reflect on these instances, to weigh the pros and cons, and make sure it's my own choice.
I think I will be doing this voice training regardless, but atleast I'll be confident in the fact that I chose for it, and relish the ability to still whip out my masc voice whenever I deem it to be useful or funny.
Face Of The Killer
2024
This review contains spoilers
The 2nd horror game where the protagonist states her opinion on blonde hair at the end.
Face Of The Killer
2024
SWEDISH WOMEN WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT THIS 💯💯
this is that good good killer shit. as the final game in the series, Face Of the Killer is absolutely fantastic.
in its presentation, it's the most advanced, with even more from the game's camera. the prior games do cool things with the camera, yes, but this one kicks so much ass with all the new things it tries. narrative is progressed through the new uses of the camera, moods are set, and yet the classic Of the Killer camera 'jank' is all still wholly present. the use of 3D is increased, effectively, while still maintaining the delightful cartoony art style the series is known for. our main protagonist, BB, is even more expressive than ever, too. there are so many more unique facial expressions for our girlie, and i love her so so much.
everything really comes together in this one. with references to all the past games, it's an excellent send-off, and definitely my new favorite in the series. it's just as surreal as its siblings, if not more so. all of thecatamites' presented themes over the course of the series are present, while still covering new territory that makes his games so damn delightful and so damn meaningful as art. the concept of history is fuckin weird! the way that manmade constructions just kinda stack on top of each other is fuckin weird! figuring out what you're going to do after college sucks! what the fuck even is immersive theater?? yet Of the Killer doesn't stop there at those surface level observations, and makes whole games out of those concepts adorned with juicy social commentary. this one blends all of those fuckers together in a wonderful cacophony and honestly? i don't even feel smart enough to talk about any of it in a way that's constructive. maybe some day when i replay all of these games in the future, i'll take a deeper dive into the politics "of the killer". just know that i fucking love it and i agree so hard with many of the sentiments thecatamites presents in this series.
the game makes fun of many horror tropes, and then flips the script and ropes you in with them. it's a constant back and forth, and it isn't afraid to even make fun of its own construction at times. the humor is incredibly casual and so effortless, yet the more grim moments are still unsettling. he has this way of writing that makes you feel like you forgot how to read while still being coherent, and i love it to death. i'm sad that this is the last one, but damn, it did not disappoint me.
y'know, maybe they're right. history IS a nightmare-- and loving it!
this is that good good killer shit. as the final game in the series, Face Of the Killer is absolutely fantastic.
in its presentation, it's the most advanced, with even more from the game's camera. the prior games do cool things with the camera, yes, but this one kicks so much ass with all the new things it tries. narrative is progressed through the new uses of the camera, moods are set, and yet the classic Of the Killer camera 'jank' is all still wholly present. the use of 3D is increased, effectively, while still maintaining the delightful cartoony art style the series is known for. our main protagonist, BB, is even more expressive than ever, too. there are so many more unique facial expressions for our girlie, and i love her so so much.
everything really comes together in this one. with references to all the past games, it's an excellent send-off, and definitely my new favorite in the series. it's just as surreal as its siblings, if not more so. all of thecatamites' presented themes over the course of the series are present, while still covering new territory that makes his games so damn delightful and so damn meaningful as art. the concept of history is fuckin weird! the way that manmade constructions just kinda stack on top of each other is fuckin weird! figuring out what you're going to do after college sucks! what the fuck even is immersive theater?? yet Of the Killer doesn't stop there at those surface level observations, and makes whole games out of those concepts adorned with juicy social commentary. this one blends all of those fuckers together in a wonderful cacophony and honestly? i don't even feel smart enough to talk about any of it in a way that's constructive. maybe some day when i replay all of these games in the future, i'll take a deeper dive into the politics "of the killer". just know that i fucking love it and i agree so hard with many of the sentiments thecatamites presents in this series.
the game makes fun of many horror tropes, and then flips the script and ropes you in with them. it's a constant back and forth, and it isn't afraid to even make fun of its own construction at times. the humor is incredibly casual and so effortless, yet the more grim moments are still unsettling. he has this way of writing that makes you feel like you forgot how to read while still being coherent, and i love it to death. i'm sad that this is the last one, but damn, it did not disappoint me.
y'know, maybe they're right. history IS a nightmare-- and loving it!
Severed Steel
2021
Admittedly the slow motion mechanic makes this game pretty much trivial to complete, but honestly, I don't really care.
This game is fun. 'Cathartic escapism', the title of its last level, is probably the best way to describe it. Almost nothing can stop you - enemies have no collision, doors can be kicked open, and all walls are destructible by the player's arm cannon.
The moment that encapsulated the game for me was when I double-jumped onto another building, blew open the fucking wall with my fucking gun, slid behind the entire enemy barrage and proceeded to slow-mo headshot every enemy in that room.
Nowadays, I mostly play Severed Steel as a podcast game. Doing these stunts, breaking these walls... it's entrancing. Movement shooters tend to be fairly sweaty (which I appreciate!), but I'm actually glad this game goes a different direction.
This game is fun. 'Cathartic escapism', the title of its last level, is probably the best way to describe it. Almost nothing can stop you - enemies have no collision, doors can be kicked open, and all walls are destructible by the player's arm cannon.
The moment that encapsulated the game for me was when I double-jumped onto another building, blew open the fucking wall with my fucking gun, slid behind the entire enemy barrage and proceeded to slow-mo headshot every enemy in that room.
Nowadays, I mostly play Severed Steel as a podcast game. Doing these stunts, breaking these walls... it's entrancing. Movement shooters tend to be fairly sweaty (which I appreciate!), but I'm actually glad this game goes a different direction.
This is the JRPG of all time. Everything in this game feels so heightened. If something is exciting you're jumping for joy, if something is sad you're bawling your eyes out. And every single asspect of the game is like this, the combat, expolartion, minigames, music and story all come togethor in this beautiful package. I'm aware that this reveiw really dosen't get into the nitty grity details but I think what's more important is communicating the emotions I felt while playing. Because I have never felt this much while playing a game, and I think that's what matters most.
This review contains spoilers
Really incredible. Would love if pan info dumped about gardening to me :) Almost cried when her garden got destroyed :(
As a cissie boy i don't think i can talk much about this games trans stuff but i do find it to be an interesting sheltered child narrative. I related a lot to the scene where pan goes outside for the first time and is thinking about the daily lives of every random person she sees because these are the first unfamiliar faces shes seen in forever.
As a cissie boy i don't think i can talk much about this games trans stuff but i do find it to be an interesting sheltered child narrative. I related a lot to the scene where pan goes outside for the first time and is thinking about the daily lives of every random person she sees because these are the first unfamiliar faces shes seen in forever.
B3313
2021
a translation of yume nikki (and LSDDE to some extent) into the game language of Super Mario 64.
yume nikki uses effects to guide and encourage the player to explore and find new areas, while B3313 in theory uses the stars, but in practice, everyone just wants to jump around and see weird shit.
the stars are usually very boring and easy or not intuitive at all, but i can't really see a version of the game in which they don't exist so i can't really complain.
the areas themselves are perfectly uncanny, resembling the real game so much that the changes feel uncomfortable at times. the biggest highlights to me are the different versions of peach's castle (aka the main hub), like the "demo" version, that looks amazing.
i'll also praise the soundtrack, the original songs are amazing and Dry Town is very beautiful and foreboding.
overall, it's a neat little thing but for it to reach its full potential there needs some work.
note: i have only played 0.7, not 1.0, but i'll watch the vinesauce vid for that -_-
yume nikki uses effects to guide and encourage the player to explore and find new areas, while B3313 in theory uses the stars, but in practice, everyone just wants to jump around and see weird shit.
the stars are usually very boring and easy or not intuitive at all, but i can't really see a version of the game in which they don't exist so i can't really complain.
the areas themselves are perfectly uncanny, resembling the real game so much that the changes feel uncomfortable at times. the biggest highlights to me are the different versions of peach's castle (aka the main hub), like the "demo" version, that looks amazing.
i'll also praise the soundtrack, the original songs are amazing and Dry Town is very beautiful and foreboding.
overall, it's a neat little thing but for it to reach its full potential there needs some work.
note: i have only played 0.7, not 1.0, but i'll watch the vinesauce vid for that -_-
Black Bird
2018
A unique, very charming shmup with a generally great vibe. Clearly designed with scoring in mind, the game’s shorter length facilitates repeat playthroughs in quick succession, allowing for experimentation with the game's various mechanics.
That said, the actual score mechanics are pretty vague and managing the numerous moving parts in each stage means many repeat runs. It’s also pretty easy to get clipped by a stray enemy or enemy bullet (sometimes blending into the busy backgrounds), which can throw off the entire run, but again not particularly a huge deal considering the game's length.
Otherwise the difficulty isn’t bad at all save for the TLB which is a little absurd. I quickly found myself getting hooked despite my initial skepticism. It's sort of a bite-size shmup experience!
That said, the actual score mechanics are pretty vague and managing the numerous moving parts in each stage means many repeat runs. It’s also pretty easy to get clipped by a stray enemy or enemy bullet (sometimes blending into the busy backgrounds), which can throw off the entire run, but again not particularly a huge deal considering the game's length.
Otherwise the difficulty isn’t bad at all save for the TLB which is a little absurd. I quickly found myself getting hooked despite my initial skepticism. It's sort of a bite-size shmup experience!
Magic Wand
2016
It's fatal flaw is just that navigation is kind of the hardest thing in the world, when textures blend into each other so well that depth perception is impossible and you have to keep rotating the camera to tell where you're moving and where you're about to move. It's kind of a mess, both in a loveable Catamites way but also in a "how do I interact with this piece and why am I bothering when it's so difficult" way. Honestly though, I'd love to see them do something like this again, but tidier and maybe with lighting. I can imagine something in this style but with the visual processing of an Octopath Traveler being insanely cool and fun to play around with.
(part of my VNCup review series)
Really visceral and haunting, far more than I expected. The presentation was sublime - I loved the various ambient tracks that would swoop in and out, and without getting into spoilers, the art is the perfect mix of cute and horrifying.
The story itself is a bizarre fever dream of dysphoria, abuse, and loneliness that really got under my skin (pun intended). It takes an almost wish-fulfillment fantasy and tears it open to reveal all the oozing yuckiness lying within. In some ways it's an objection to certain essentialist ideas about bodies, and in others it's a true-to-life depiction of an abusive relationship driven by projection and miscommunication. It feels personal and icky, especially in the way the narrative is framed as a diary.
Overall, a fantastic work of horror yuri. Highly recommended.
Really visceral and haunting, far more than I expected. The presentation was sublime - I loved the various ambient tracks that would swoop in and out, and without getting into spoilers, the art is the perfect mix of cute and horrifying.
The story itself is a bizarre fever dream of dysphoria, abuse, and loneliness that really got under my skin (pun intended). It takes an almost wish-fulfillment fantasy and tears it open to reveal all the oozing yuckiness lying within. In some ways it's an objection to certain essentialist ideas about bodies, and in others it's a true-to-life depiction of an abusive relationship driven by projection and miscommunication. It feels personal and icky, especially in the way the narrative is framed as a diary.
Overall, a fantastic work of horror yuri. Highly recommended.