Not sure how exactly to classify this one; Visual Novel doesn't fit, and though it is puzzle-focused, it's not quite a Point-and-Click Adventure, either. In any case, there's a nice balance of puzzles with story, and aside from one that was a little obtuse and another that my brain just isn't wired for, the former were pretty reasonable. The latter will tear your heart out, but if you're up for that, it's very well-written, though told without a single word. Saying much more would give too much away, but what really drew me in was the charming artstyle that's just perfect for a gray autumn morning.
This is another title in the Rusty Lake... I guess you could loosely call it a franchise. Like the others, you have four sides, each with a scene, but in this, the different "cubes" are separated as subway stations. You solve puzzles to get your ticket, find out when the train leaves, change the clock, and hop aboard to the next station. In terms of story and artstyle, you know what to expect, too, and this leans toward some of the darker entries in the genre. Not much else to say that won't spoil it, but they did a REALLY good job of tying all of the Rusty Lake lore together; make sure you've played the other games first!
I started this out just enjoying the exploration of the house, but the story just dragged me in. Saying much of anything about it is heavy spoiler territory, but the way progression and exploration unfolds is pretty neat. There are a few plot threads that kinda don't go anywhere, and it is all over the place at times, but the main story is pretty strong. Full disclosure, though: this one hit pretty close to home; your mileage may vary.
This Point-and-Click Adventure is about life in a town surrounded by forests filled with howling monsters... no, not that one. It's a semi-agrarian society due to its isolation, and the biggest rule is not to make too much noise, lest *they* hear you. Naturally, there is a greater mystery beneath the surface, and just as naturally, you will be the one to dive deeper into it. What follows is an intriguing and poignant tale with a fair amount of depth to it. The world is stunning, and personally, I like the creepy, dead-eyed look that all the townspeople have to them; that was what drew me in in the first place. Puzzles are a little all over the place; the standard inventory puzzles are fine, but there are three types of recurring puzzles that happen when you sing to an object, depending on which song you sing. The first song's puzzles are interesting and engaging. The *goal* of the second song's puzzles is clear, but the actual *mechanics* aren't explained all that well. I had to look up the third song's puzzles because I honestly never figured out what I was even supposed to do with them, and the description didn't help. Still, walkthroughs exist, and what's beneath the surface is absolutely worth experiencing.
This is a pretty solid, if short, Point-and-Click Adventure. This all takes place in a dream, and though it's aimed at a younger audience, it's more whimsical than obnoxious and childish. There's a really interesting build to the story and its themes that's done so well... it makes the ending feel a little anticlimactic, but that's all I'll say about that. The environments are spectacular, as are a lot of the strange denizens you encounter; my personal favorite was the Queen of Clubs. Puzzles are mostly reasonable - a few are poorly explained - but it's never too overwhelming, because you're usually limited to a screen or two; no traversing a huge world with an uncooked chicken breast, a melon baller, and a charred portrait of Queen Elizabeth II wondering what on EARTH any of them will be used for. Overall, a worthy entry in the genre.
This first-person exploration title reminds me of a dream I once had. You're in a huge tiled labyrinth that looks like indoor swimming pools, but their shapes get stranger and stranger. The visual fidelity is incredible, especially for a title like this. There were lots of lovely weird moments that really made this something to behold, and the sound design was just the right amount of unnerving. Not much else to say, but if you're into this sort of thing, you'll probably like this.
This is very similar to its predecessor, and that's not a bad thing. Same kinds of visuals, same kinds of objectives to complete, and same WEIRD tone. You'll find a very small number of obtuse puzzles, the platforming can be a little janky (especially when doing something you're not supposed to be, so that's mostly on me), and it has a little more gross humor than I remember from the first game, but nothing's a dealbreaker; if you liked that, you'll probably like this, too.
While everyone else was infatuated with making retro games based on the NES, this developer jumped up a generation. This is modeled after a classic SNES Platformer, and it shows; the aesthetic, music, and even design are dead on. Visually, it draws influence from titles of what I call medium obscurity, like those old Banpresto Platformers that never left Japan, but also later titles, like Aero the Acrobat 2. The music has vibes from all over the system; not the more obvious games, like your Marios or your Mega Mans. Clearly, this was made by someone who loves the SNES and really did their homework. Great, so how is it? Well, it's solid; the level design presents a challenging and engaging obstacle course, and most of the stages are fairly long. There are no lives to speak of, so dying will take you all the way back to the beginning, but it does so instantaneously to keep you in the action. You can mitigate this by shelling out some of your hard-earned money to unlock checkpoints throughout each stage. Along the way, there are also treasures to be found that unlock your ability to earn upgrades or play bonus stages. Boss fights are clever and engaging, and even the few Scrolling Shooter sections are very reasonable. It's a solid, quality title that will keep you going for several hours; I absolutely got what I signed on for!
I picked this up mostly because I love to cook, and some new recipes sounded enticing, though I'd be lying if I said the artstyle didn't help draw me in, too. It was a little confusing to start, mostly because I was using tools I'd never seen before right out the gate; that might be more of a me problem, since I'm not big on kitchen gadgets and like to just make things work with what I've got. Eventually, I was able to figure things out, and I'm not sure that came with a newfound familiarity so much as better instruction as the story went on. If you don't care that much about cooking, you'll probably do fine, since what you'll be doing isn't completely from scratch; if you do, the full recipes are available right from the main menu. The story itself is short, but emotional, and centering a story about culture around food works fantastically well. It does a good job telling a lot of hard truths, as well. If you're into shorter narrative experiences, I'd definitely recommend checking this out.
I was a bit leery when I'd heard about the combat system for this game when it was still in development, and it is kind of a pain in the ass. This installment of what had up to this point been an excellent open-world Brawler series is a straight-up JRPG, and yet, it's still very much a Yakuza game. The battle system is like Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG, and some kind of reverse Earthbound thrown into a blender; everyone's always moving around, and there are area attacks, but your character attacks when their turn comes up (it's not ATB) and many of the special attacks have timing elements. When you knock an enemy down, there's a mad scramble to have your next character hit them before they get back up in real-time for some extra damage, but if they run too close to another enemy, they'll get kicked and lose their turn altogether. If there are obstacles between you and your target, you'll kick them (sometimes into your own party) or just pick it up and wield it like in the other Yakuza games, and yes, the bicycles are still absolutely broken as secondary armaments. And that brings us to the writing, which is right on par with the rest of the series. You've got all the usual melodrama, but with a brand new character, and he's a dork. No, really; one of the first things you learn about him is that he really likes Dragon Quest, and that's why combat is turn-based: he's pretending to be a legendary hero. Now, I usually hate "the nerd character" in any game, but Kasuga is an example of this archetype done right, by having traits beyond "likes video games and makes sound effects a lot". He's very excitable and emotional, and while he's maybe not all that intelligent, he is very smart; those antagonists you love to hate because they've got you by a technicality and there's nothing you can do about it are verbally eviscerated by the man, and he does it all on the fly. Since this is a JRPG, you have a party of characters, and they're all just as likable.
