I’m new enough to Metroid that I don’t really know if I screwed myself over or if I’m just bad at video games or I couldn’t figure something out… that said I did enjoy what I played of this, although I find it baffling that you can’t save your progress and carry it over to the full game. Like why isn’t that a standard feature in demos for games like this?

This game is absolutely going to be good as hell, I cannot wait. The mouthful and copy abilities are a lot of fun and are working out really nicely in the shift to full 3D over 2.5D. I always love my good lad kirb! He’s so cute! So is everything else! One minor quibble is it felt like the boss ran a little long but I wonder if that was just ice not being the best power up for the job. I did want to try it out because it was the first time it showed up, though.

Purchased

Definitely seems promising! The art is very nice, the music slaps, and the puzzles are kinda fun. Kind of feels like Chrono Trigger meets Tales of meets Mario and Luigi. The default fight difficulty does seem tuned a little high, though that might be because it just kind of drops you into the middle of things. I feel like I might’ve preferred being taken through the start of the game proper instead of being tossed around bits in the story, honestly; I get the impression they wanted to show off with the goofy pirates but I don’t think the main party got as much of a chance to shine. Still, it definitely seems like a game to watch!

I keep playing Pikmin demos and every time I have a genuinely excellent time but I keep like. putting off actually buying the games. I really need to actually buy pikmin someday. Anyway this game feels like it's going to whip, I love Oatchi and would absolutely die for him and the squad is pretty fun. I was a little thrown by what was going on with Olimar though, is this like a soft reboot or something or does he just keep crashing? Maybe I will understand if I actually play Pikmin.

So I tried the other Monster Hunter demo that was on the Switch Eshop... Generations, I think? And man, that did not really tell you anything about what to expect and just kinda left you to ram your face into the game until you figured it out. As someone who never touched the series before, it was a real turnoff... but wow, this demo is way better at telling you how to play the game! I still struggled with anything above the Great Izuchi, but that hunt was pretty fun. I feel like if I were to actually buy the game it’d do a better job at easing me through the hunts and figuring out what’s going on. One problem I’ll admit I have is that muscle memory from Hades makes me keep using items when I mean to attack... maybe I oughta try rebinding the buttons for this game. Anyway, the aesthetic is really nice, the music is good as hell, and I love that you can have the ultimate team of the player character, A Good Dog, and A Good Cat. I’ll probably mess around more with the demo on and off to try out more weapons but I might consider actually picking this up at some point. You know, after I’ve finished some other things up.

AH YES A SICK REMAKE OF THAT GAME I WAS GONNA PLAY A ROM OF AT SOME POINT… I guess they had to whip out the HD 2D and the voice acting because everyone who’s interested has already probably pirated and played the fan translation, huh. Thankfully the remake additions make a nice looking game look even nicer, the soundtrack is a banger, and the voice acting is a neat addition! I’m very excited to see the whole thing. I read a let’s play long enough ago that I think it’ll be a pretty fresh experience.

I do kind of feel like I may have screwed myself a little trying to do a pacifist run of the ninja chapter, though, and I kind of wonder if I missed out on the memory card for Cube………… oh well!!
Purchased

I know Octopath isn’t super well regarded among the hardcore JRPG-heads of Backloggd but I personally liked it! It definitely had areas where it could be improved, sure, but I had a lot of fun with it. It had great music and I enjoyed the characters’ storylines, and it was pretty fun to see how they all converged at the end.

Octopath II seems like it’s doing its damnedest to improve on the first game’s flaws and add more spice, which is very cool! The characters having different path actions depending on the time of day is pretty neat, though I am curious to see how they may or may not overlap the way skills in the first game did. I also really like the characters themselves, which was a great part of the first game! Even if the demo doesn’t get to it, it sounds like there will be more of an effort to have characters interact with each other, and that’s already starting to feel like the case with in-battle banter. I also thought it was neat to have guest party members, too. I started out with Temenos, and his dynamic with Crick was deeply enjoyable. He was also very enjoyable in general. I had high hopes for that horrible twink and he completely delivered. Throne’s story has that interesting dark flavor and I’m curious to see how their actual dynamic plays out! And I’m very excited to see the rest of the cast, of course. I wanted to start with Osvalt but it sounded like you were stuck in prison for way too long to get past the demo, so they definitely tried to nerf The Best Character Class Action from being on your team the whole time… but Temenos had a great opener so it helps.
Purchased

Seems neat! I’m not really great at this type of gameplay but it was pretty fun. I was kinda sad they left stuff blocked off so I couldn’t go full metroidvania, but the story and artwork were neat. Honestly the biggest thing that keeps me from wanting to actually buy it is that like. Listen I know this industry is super fucked in every company and they’re all garbage. But Ubisoft sucks shit.

Seems pretty neat! I think I’d definitely like to pick it up at some point. The eerie vibes combined with the chill fishing create a pretty neat atmosphere, and I’m pretty curious to dig in more! Hopefully I don’t experience horrors beyond my comprehension.

Holy hell this demo slaps dude. I’m so excited for the actual game, it’s really fun to play and it’s got the same fun vibe as the original. I do wish they let you have the whole team to see their dynamic, though, because Nagi seems like a riot. I’m kind of sad Minamimoto didn’t really bounce off Rindo and Fret’s stupid banter, but it does make sense for him to be above it all. Maybe he’ll get more involved later? Anyway, the game looks great, the character portraits are really fun and dynamic, and the music rules. I think the way they adapted the gameplay from the chaotic DS original is a lot of fun and honestly way more comprehensible, though it feels like it’ll take some practice to get good! The one problem I have is the overworld can be a little rough to navigate with the fixed camera angles, but it’s not too much of a problem. I’m glad pigs are back too. Purchased.

This was really cute and fun! I liked it a lot, the characters are charming and the gameplay is pretty neat. I’m kind of bad at the diving part to start out but the restaurant part isn’t too bad in terms of being a reasonable pace. I’m sure it ramps up as the game goes on and you get more customers, of course, but it starts out kind of relaxing compared to the more tense diving bits. I really want to see where it goes!

Aw this shit is good as fuck, dude. It looks great, sounds great, and the gameplay is addictive as hell. RTS never quite grabbed me all that much, but I really dig what’s going on here. It’s definitely got the stuff I like from Fire Emblem going on, but it’s very clearly different enough that I’m really digging it.

I didn’t actually complete chapter 1 because I got so distracted by literally every sidequest, but I am pretty curious to see where the story goes and what kinds of characters I get to recruit on my way through. Not sure if this is a Day One thing because I have SO many meaty games to get through, but I do recommend the demo. It’s nice and chunky! Seven hours of free video game. You should try it!

Another entry in the burgeoning “figure out what’s going on based on context clues and enter the answers into a book that helps you figure out what’s going on” genre like Obra Dinn and Case of the Golden Idol, it seems. This one makes me feel kind of dumb because I’m not always sure what it’s asking for… still seems neat, though! I’d be interested in it, I think.

So, if you have a Switch and you have any interest in TRPGs, you should play the demo for this. It’s basically an early access preview that the devs released in order to look for feedback like with the Bravely games and Octopath Traveler, and if you play it Nintendo will send you a survey asking for your input.

Granted, this game is shaping up to look really solid even from this really early demo! The graphics are beautiful, and the gameplay has a lot of neat ideas like manipulating the terrain with spells and even being able to scout things out in exploration segments before the battle themselves, and you can even do sidequests to change parts of the environment in your favor!

As far as the story goes, it doesn’t seem super original for this genre, but the choice mechanics are really cool. I like that you’re leading a democratic army where you have to persuade your allies to vote for your preferred choice. I also really like the mechanic that lets you hit a button during cutscenes to access character’s profiles, which seems super handy in a game with a lot of characters from different factions.

There were only two major things I thought needed improvement. One is that the voice direction needs… a little work… and the other is that I didn’t like how characters recruited in Side Stories were relegated to the Encampment of Plot Irrelevance. I hope in the full version they get to vote or at least provide arguments you can use to persuade the people who do vote! Also the camera feels maybe a little squirrelly.

But even if those things aren’t fixed, I’m still really excited for this to come out! It looks like a great way to fill that Final Fantasy Tactics-shaped hole in my heart.

Purchased.

Extremely cute and stylish! The gameplay seems pretty simple and I imagine people who are better at games will think it's too easy, but I'm curious to see how things turn out in the full game with all the different flavors of gameplay. I do understand that they can't show off everything in the demo, but the trailer at the end was a pretty exciting tease. Peach is very cute and the Theets have incredible Little Guy energy. I also like that you can slide down rails, that's very cute.

This game definitely seems pretty fun! Penny definitely felt like she could get away from me at times, but I imagine mastering the movement is part of the fun. The cutscenes were pretty cute, even if they're kind of limited. I like the art style, it's good.

It’s Mother Fucking Kirby Baby! I never got around to playing the version for the Wii because after a certain point I could never quite get around to playing anything that wasn’t portable on some level, so I’m excited to actually play this one. I did watch a LP and thought it was pretty neat though! I have been missing the more technical copy abilities with, like, actual move lists from Kirby games for a while now, so I’m excited for this one. Also excited for that Magolor epilogue!
Purchased

Ah I liked this demo a lot! The battle system is pretty fun and the story and characters are pretty cute. It does seem a little old school but I do dig it! I’m kind of curious to see where it goes. I also like that you can see the different portraits from the different versions of the game, which like man, the PSP generation sure looked like that, huh. Also seems to have some replay value since you can presumably play through with Claude as the main character as well. But ah, so many games….

Pretty intriguing so far! I remember getting the DS original back in the day but I was a stupid baby so I didn’t get very far. The game looks extremely nice, and I think it’s very cute how they updated the DS lookin’ gadget to a Switch lookin’ gadget. I hope this means the glorious return of CING. Maybe they’ll do a remake of Hotel Dusk so I can play that, too…

An intriguing introduction, to be sure. I like the art a lot, and I’m pretty curious to see where it goes and how the gameplay actually plays out. It seemed like A Dream so is it all going to be dives into the heart? It’s also kind of neat to see stuff from cultures I’m not super familiar with outside of very broad strokes. That music Atma used to distract the civil defense guy was pretty neat honestly I’d listen to more

Holy shit this whips, it’s like if pikmin was a platform puzzler with bugs who formed a cargo cult. I absolutely love it and want to play more. The only real criticism I have is that the timing on the glide jump feels a little funky especially at first, but I feel like it got better once I had a longer glide. Definitely want to get this one for sure.

Purchased

Wahoo : )

Oh I am SO excited for this shit. The gameplay’s pretty fun and seems to put a lot more importance on strategy which is wild for a musou? Like… it feels like people actually accomplish things when you point them in a direction and order them to do something instead of requiring you to take control? I am genuinely unused to this even if I do like taking control. Anyway the gameplay is important but holy shit the story swerves here are wild. I only played the Blue Lions bit and am not sure if I want to play more because I have no idea how ng+ will work, but I cannot wait to get the full game and see what the fuck is going on with Arval and Shez, and the changes to the world state and appearances of a bunch of important background characters who were mentioned in the original game but never appeared in person is good stuff. But really I was hooting and hollering from the opening cutscene! You are definitely going to want to play 3H before playing this if you want to understand literally anything, but it’s good shit. It even carries over what you named Byleth in your 3H save! It’s so rad!!!
Purchased

Seems fun but perhaps a little fiddly. It looks pretty good aesthetically, and I do like the gameplay concepts here, but I don't know if I have the resources for it. When drilling through stuff you are always moving, and that's a little bit of a pain for me? I don't know. I'm not sure if it's for me.

Demo seems a little short to get a good idea of things, but it was pretty fun. I did see a LP of the gameboy Donkey Kong which was this kind of puzzle platformer and it seemed pretty fun, so I'm curious how complex it gets as it goes. I hope the ending of the GBA game is still in this because it was extremely funny. There's a LOT of stuff on the table to buy, though...

This game seems like a really interesting experience! Graphically it looks neat, and having read up on the game I really like the idea of passing through the stories of NPCs as various different player characters. I tried it out on the Switch which may or may not be the best idea; I know in their review Jim Steph Sterling mentioned one of the minigames doesn’t control great and I wonder if it’d be better to give it a shot on Steam. Regardless of where I try it I want to give it a shot though!

God I kind of miss the good old stylus gameplay from the 3DS. If the Switch had a second dedicated touchscreen and stylus it would be too powerful. The field stages’ wavy lines in particular are taking some time to get used to with a joystick versus how intuitive the stylus was. Other than that it whips! I can’t believe I’m actually considering digital deluxe for the extra songs… but like I fuckin love the music across Square’s various franchises so maybe? Augh I prefer physical but To Zanarkand….
Purchased

Oh, this game is going to own. It has that same quirky humor and quick gameplay, but it has a pretty different approach than the ones they put out before. I’m pretty curious to see how all the characters play; I watched someone else play the demo too and so I know how all the ones available in the demo play, but some are still a mystery! I do hope there are boss fights like in the other Wario wares too.

I don’t understand how fighting game inputs work :(

This one seems pretty fun! The art and animation style is very cute, and I like the vibes. I also like the quack button, that's Good. However, there's kind of a weird problem in that it causes my controller to vibrate and I need to tab out of the game to get it to stop? (this is a Switch pro controller, btw.) I don't know if it's a demo issue or what, but it's weird.

This game seems pretty neat, but I’m not sure if I’m Definitely going to get it. The pixel art is pretty nice and the story seems intriguing… but I’m worried the kind of game it is might not gel with me. It looks like it might get haaard… though it does seem fun! I don’t know! I might wait and see what other people say.

I am SO excited for this game and the demo makes me want it even more. I haven’t played DQM past the second one so I’m pretty excited to mess around with the newer systems like talents and seasons and such, and I’m super excited about the story and concept. It’s mother fucking Dragon Quest 4 Babey! I cannot wait to play as my boy Psaro. I hope there is a part where you get to teach the local animals to talk. There probably won’t be and I’ll still have fun if we don’t but I want to teach the cat how to talk with the secret of evolution. Hell yeah.

I also love how much more complicated the synthesis system is even if I miss the old conceit that the monsters got married and left you an egg. Maybe I can still imagine that’s what’s happening???

Also I’m a Sugiyama hater but I very much did go HEY IT’S THAT SONG FROM MY CHILDHOOD. It really was nostalgia all along.

One bad thing is that not being able to directly order your monsters in tournaments still sucks. I told my monster who cures poison to do the tactic that ostensibly cures status effects and that dude absolutely refused to cure anyone in my party of poison. Like everyone was poisoned but it kept attacking. Come on buddy.

Purchased

Well, the final demo did what demos are supposed to do and made me pretty dang excited for the game! I was really turned off by the difficulty of the first demo, but they did a good job of balancing it a bit better so it wasn’t overwhelming. I will say that it feels like the battles do take a while, but I imagine things will feel more manageable in the actual game where you can take your time messing around with jobs instead of trying to accomplish what you can within a five hour time limit. Anyway, the characters are charming, and I’m intrigued to see where the story goes and what wild twists and turns the game has in store. The environments, monsters, and character designs are great... but I have to agree with most people’s take that the way the humans are rendered was a mistake. I think they should’ve tried textures more along the lines of the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon remake or FFT:WoL’s CG cutscenes to make them look a little less stiff and doll-like. They’re not really a dealbreaker! I still wanna buy this bad boy. But it doesn’t look great, and I kind of hope in future Bravely endeavors they make some different stylistic decisions when it comes to the character designs. Purchased.

Hell yeah this rules so far all the characters are weird little failgirls and the concepts are super juicy. I am not especially good at the gameplay which is unfortunate, but I would make a wholehearted attempt to Git Gud in order to figure out what in the hell is going on in this game and with these delightful weirdos. The chemistry between all the characters so far is just amazing, and I really want to know about the spiritual prequel as well. A friend of mine is big into Crystar and I was not quite aware how much the character writing ruled in this particular way??? Definitely want it when it actually comes out.

Definitely has those Sonic vibes, and I really liked the art and music. I’m not as certain on the controls, though… they felt a little floaty and I kind of wish there had been a little more clarity in how the hitboxes work on enemies and a little more speed. There are straightaways that feel like you’re supposed to be able to Go Fast on but the speed doesn’t really increase. It should! I want to go fast!!!

The first level of this one was a fucking blast. It felt like something with a kind of Pizza Tower vibe, though I know Antonball came out a while ago? There's Going Fast, there's fun movement mechanics, the animation and spritework is Real Good. Unfortunately the other level didn't click with me as much because it fell into the trap of Precision Timed Platforming that I don't really fuck with. I wish it hadn't just because it's very fun and chaotic!

This seems like a fun game, but I don’t feel like the demo is particularly good. It does demonstrate the action and some of the mechanics but doesn’t do that great of a job tutorializing and does absolutely nothing to introduce the characters and story! Also one of the levels they showcased was a sewer level? I dunno maybe I should’ve tried another level but I feel like this demo isn’t as representative as I’d like.

Purchased

Purchased

I haven't actually gotten a chance to play a SaGa yet, before this, but man, what a wild ride this demo was. The only available story is a delightfully insane jumble of Concepts, in which a magical girl has her powers stolen by a fuckin space marine or something? And then she has to get them back by wandering around and collecting cats? While pretending to be a normal schoolgirl making friends with boys who keep investigating supernatural phenomena? And then she world hops to somewhere completely wild??? I had a great time, is what I'm saying.

The battle system is equally baffling. I don't think I was ever completely clear on what I was actually doing, but occasionally it would sort of click and I would completely kick ass at a fight that I'd wiped on multiple times. It felt really satisfying when I actually managed to execute combos and interrupts and whatnot. Perhaps I am on my way towards being a SaGa pervert...

Outside of that, it's a little... hm. I don't know if I'd say it looked cheap, necessarily, but it was definitely an unexpected presentation style outside of the battles, which look excellent. I mean, graphics aren't super important to me and I like VNs so the weird maps and the VN cutscenes don't bother me, but I wonder if it might turn other people off....

Much like the first game (which I have played the demo of but never picked up fully), the central conceit of this game is a lot more appealing to me than the mainline MH games because one, I’m better at turn based RPGs, and two, I want to befriend the monsters instead of just killing them! Honestly the true goal is Monster Hunter Snap, but a mons game is close enough to what I want. Especially a game where you hatch adorable weird baby monsters that look like they have zero thoughts in their heads. So between that and the exploration aspect involving the different mounts having different abilities, this game seems really good! The story is a little generic but I feel like the characters are charming beautiful art direction carries it. I also appreciate that I got to make a weird little gremlin girl with a snaggletooth to play as. With all that said… I’m not really feelin’ Navirou here. He’s not objectively bad I guess but I really wish we could have a normal-ass Felyne friend instead of this janky cartoon animal. Especially when the misguided rival Hunter lad has a cool ninja cat! What the hell!

I'm not sure how I feel about this one, honestly. It's got a neat vibe, but I do feel like the fights honestly feel like more of a pain in the ass than its obvious inspiration, Undertale. (It's the fly, man. Fuck the fly.) Obviously I know you can choose violence but come on. I feel like it's got a little more mean-spirited vibe than Undertale, but I'd have to play more to be sure and I'm not 100% I'll be doing that...? I mean, I really do like the art direction here. I like Doggy. I don't wanna fight that damn fly though.

I'm not actually good at this game but I DO think it's neat. You play as a dead cat trying to return to the world of the living and reunite with your beloved human, which involves trying to figure out how to break out of the fucked up hellish afterlife. It's got a neat roguelike vibe where you get powers when you die, but it also puts you closer to losing Yourself. What happens if you beat the game as a fucked up cat furry demon instead of a cute little kitty? I do wonder.

It's neat. I feel kind of bad at it, but it's got a great vibe.

The environments are very pretty and flying around is pretty fun! I’m curious to see where everything goes. There are a few things that I hope get smoothed out between now and release, like a lot of the animals looking worse than everything else, but that’s fine even if they don’t. I am not sure if I like the art style used for the kid’s face for whatever reason, though, and I can’t actually say what bothers me about it.

I liked this demo a lot! Honestly having a whole family as the playable cast is very intriguing, and there’s pretty fun variety in how differently everyone plays. I’m very curious to see where it goes from here. I do hope that you can’t fuck up and fail to heal the good boy wolf pup, though!
Purchased

Purchased

Purchased

This game seems pretty neat! There’s a lot of mystery here, and I’m curious to see where it goes. Though, like, do I need to know the original Blue Reflection to get into this…? Anyway, while the battle system and concept seem interesting, the models seem a little janky. I mean, I’ve dealt with worse, but it’s maybe a little offputting.

This game oozes style and I really love the art direction, and there’s some real cool ideas at play here. It comes off like Baby’s First Death Game and I’m honestly here for that, especially with the twist I’ve heard about.

Unfortunately the platforming feels like ass and nothing makes me nope out of something like a timer on an adventure game or RPG. That’s pretty much why I stuck with watching a playthrough of AI: The Somnium Files. I’m sure the timer is really lenient but nah. It’s definitely a me thing, timers make me anxious. But in any case, I hope someone I enjoy does a LP of it because it seems neat, but I don’t really wanna play it myself.

A charming little point and click with a very cute aesthetic and funny dialogue. I have no idea if the first character outside the main duo stonewalling everyone and looking dramatically disapproving is a demo limitation or if she’s actually like that in the full game. I hope so. But yeah, this seems like a cute, fun murder mystery puzzler, and I’d be interested in playing the full version.

Supergreatfriend tried this out on one of his streams so I was not surprised by the plot being a bunch of furry children bashing fash in a weird tank that, in a desperate situation, can use one of their souls as ammunition to instawin boss fights. I did not, however, know that there is a collectible that is an in universe comic you can read that basically feels like Furry Tintin. This game rules and I definitely want to buy the whole thing at some point.

honestly i just wanted to play some picross for free. mario super picross's ultra stages weren't scratching the itch because they don't have the nice qol features.
Purchased.

Oh this game is cute as heck! It took me a little while to figure out how to properly do the cooking battles, but they’re fun puzzles. I didn’t get that much of a feel for the action parts, but it seemed pretty fun there, too. I also really like the art style and presentation! The characters seem really cute and fun. All in all, this was a great demo and I’d be interested in playing the full game!

I’m not super big on SRPGs and honestly the gameplay segments are taking a bit to get used to, but everything else whips honestly. The artwork is incredible and the characters, story, and world are super compelling! I’m really excited to see where it all ends up going, because the demo really gives you a great taste of what to expect. Also Advocat is SUCH a sexyman holy shit

This seems pretty darn promising! I do feel like the art style is just a bit too pretty for the ingame models, which are kind of boring, but I definitely had fun with my time here. The strategy gameplay is really fun, and I like the world and characters quite a bit! The story itself seems a little breakneck in terms of pacing, which I can’t tell if it’s a good or bad thing. I like the interactions between characters during sidequests and maps, which is pretty good since that’s the sort of thing I’d be worried about being left behind in a fast paced plot. Lady Waltaquin is definitely the MVP here, she seems slightly unhinged and I love to see a girlboss winning.

Very cute! I like the character designs and animation a whole lot. The dialogue lays it on perhaps a little too thick with the puns (and I say this as a dragon quest fan), but it seemed fun enough to be worth going for. I enjoyed the fucked up cyborg rat pirate king and the muscle mommy bartender.

Purchased

Purchased

It's picross baby! Honestly I'm always glad to see themed picross, I think they're neat. When DO we get another nintendo one.

Not sure I’ll ever buy it but I didn’t hate playing it. The humor perhaps skews a little more lol random than shitpost dadaism, but I did smile once or twice. Both the portrait art and the pixel art is charming, though I can’t really say I was sold on any of the actual characters, though, which seems bad for a game about getting to know your classmates. I do like the slavcore vibes though.

This is a pretty cool VN so far! I really like the aesthetic choices, it’s visually very striking. I’m really curious to see where the story is going, as well. The main character is a fun disaster, and his fantasies are really entertaining. The only part I’m torn on is that Kawase sucks and I can’t tell if it’s in a fun way or an awful way yet.

The art is cute and neat and the sound/vibration has some neat stuff to it, but man. Fuckin slenderman right off the bat? Also one of the puzzles had some really janky and unforgiving “shine the flashlight on these things” mechanics that I didn’t feel like messing around with further. No thanks man.

It seems neat! I get what people are saying about the gameplay being kind of ass, but I don’t really think it seems bad enough to make me, like, hate it. It’s definitely kind of budget, but I like how the character portraits look and the characters themselves are neat! The logs are cool! I’m pretty intrigued to see where stuff goes. I would consider picking it up!

Like I'm sure many roguelikes go for, does instill that "one more run" vibe, but I don't think I'm patient enough for this. Yeah I do like my grid based strategy but the directional stuff is a little tough to get used to. I also kind of feel like they're laying the "you're the baddies" on a little thick, and trying a little too hard to be funny? I do like the protagonist alright though.

I really like the majority of things about this. The art is great, the premise is cool, and I’m interested in seeing where things go. But, uh, this is kind of a weird complaint to have about a VN, but at the same time I think they made a weird decision… that being that the D-pad has specific functions, so if you try to use it to select things in menus you accidentally go into an investigation segment and use up one of your limited actions. I also feel like I skipped some dialogue boxes for reasons I cannot imagine outside of idk I pressed the button weird. The game does come out next year, though, so they’ve got time to smooth things out.

It’s Picross baby!!

It's kind of baffling that they didn't change the demo to include the improvements to the time progression that the full version has, because oof, I absolutely understand how much people were complaining about how quickly time passes in this game. With that knowledge going in, though, I actually had a lot of fun and did make it up to the end of Chapter 2. The setting is interesting and very pretty, the farming is fun, and there are a few really neat characters and ideas here. I'm very excited to see what else the game brings! The music is also very good. I hope to pick it up at some point!

Ohhh this was a fun little mystery FMV! I enjoyed forming hypotheses and was delighted when I actually figured out the mystery even if I wasn’t sure if the game was giving me the options for it. It was a fun time, and I’m glad Square Enix is publishing weird little games like this every so often. It’s better than The Quiet Man and NFT shit, anyway…

Purchased

I fuckin love picross dude

The vibes of the animated sequences are absolutely incredible, like god damn. Absolutely love the zany art style and the flow, it’s worth looking those up! The rest of the novel is a lot of fun, too. The cast’s very charming, the world is fun and goofy, and I’m pretty excited to see where things go from here! I would definitely consider getting this.

Eh. I don’t really have much to say about this one, it’s cute enough but not especially compelling. I liked Etrian Odyssey demos but I might just not be a dungeon crawler person

This is a game I kind of wanted to like for the vibes—it’s got that death game thing going on that I dig, and the artwork and the music is pretty great! I also really liked a chunk of the cast, particularly Binko… but man, they really didn’t put their best foot forward with the wrongfully convicted first guy, huh. The setup of the story is interesting, but the twist behind Sengoku and Rina’s shared past is so strongly telegraphed that it crosses the line from dramatic tension to Sengoku feeling like an infinitely dense dumbass. I lost the four part trial to keep Rina from killing him and while I would be horrified at a real innocent man being executed even if he was kind of a dumbass, it felt like a fitting end to a limp dishrag of a character who spent like several puzzle rooms rubbing salt into the emotional wounds of a traumatized teenager because he was too stupid to pick up on the flashing warning lights. Maybe I would’ve stuck it out if the reviews were better but I get the impression it doesn’t improve much.

I can’t really say much about the shmup sections because I only experienced the one, but it seemed okay. I must confess I am not familiar with The Shmups so I can’t judge too much. Also the save checkpointing is really bizarre… I guess it’s to keep you from fucking yourself over on a puzzle, but I had to start several lengthy scenes over because my battery ran out in the middle and man, sometimes a girl wants to read a chunk of VN when her battery’s at 15% you know?

Hey this whips. It’s like if Dangan Ronpa was an adventure game wearing a tactical rpg trenchcoat. I mean perhaps it’s not entirely Dangan Ronpa but it feels a little Dangan Ronpa what with the quirky cast made of mystery solving individuals with Big Specialties, and I’m pretty curious about the cast! They seem like they all have some fun stuff going on, and their quirks don’t seem too overbearing. I’m not sure how much I trust anything that’s going on and I kind of wonder if there will end up being some sort of timeloop… it’s neat!

I'm not coming from a place of familiarity with WoD stuff so I'm just kind of like... this seems okay. I'm not sure if the low rating is warranted purely based on the demo, but I don't want to go to bat for it, either. I like VNs so it's not an issue of the presentation, either. There are some mildly strange writing inconsistencies like PoV shifts where there shouldn't quite be, but I do think the game mechanics are pretty clear and easy to understand. Nothing super exciting happened in the demo outside of Spooky Visions, though I only played it once and wanted to play a character who was chill. Still probably a better game set in Poland than the Medium though.