A weird mix of visual novel, RPG and match 3 game mechanics that doesn’t feel finished. It’s very short with only a few different scenes, enemy types and dungeons, a lot (if not all) of the pickups don’t actually do anything and most of the conversation choices don’t matter. The twee teen drama, school monster setting and simple plot is ok, but their conversation style gets tiring after a while, as does the combat which is very samey. It also gets annoying when you get stuck for no reason, inputs don’t register and the enemy attacks and UI take up too much screen space. The town looks great with lots of detail and colour, the music is catchy and the mash up of genres is different and somewhat inventive, but I didn’t really enjoy it that much.
Episode 1: A charming but very short interactive story about a musician trying to write a composition. It’s an interesting game design for telling the story and the sepia art style fits the tone and setting, but there aren’t many interactions and the choices in the story don’t really affect the outcome. Episode 2: A painter struggling to find his muse which is mirrored by the player struggling to find the correct answers. The story wasn’t that interesting as you don’t find out much about the subjects, even with their various layers visually represented, as the low resolution graphics don’t give much art to work with. Episode 3: An entertaining and somewhat quirky story with a good balance between mathematics and equal rights. The way it overlaps with the previous episodes is cleverly done, even if it is superficial, adding more atmosphere to the ambience. The graphics are also better with more screen used and more audio cues, although still keeping within the original style. Episode 4: A poignant ending to the series which adds depth to the preceding episodes, but doesn’t do anything with the new character introduced. Good use of music and it is a good way of bring closure to the different stories together, but not having a 4th story was disappointing.
Beautiful to look at and highly informative of the culture and lifestyle, but the game play leaves a lot to be desired. The jumping mechanic is awkward, it’s pretty buggy and most of the ‘traps’ kill with no warning. It’s a great concept and the atmosphere of the game can be amazing, but some bits seem a bit too cartoony and it’s a very short game with no replay value. The ending sequence is a great idea, but as with most of the game, I found myself fighting with the poor controls rather than truly enjoying it.
A bizarre collection of levels and enemies with an over world level / map and quirky references scattered throughout. The jumping is very awkward and stiff, especially to and from vines, but it’s not too challenging thanks to the health bar, infinite lives per level and it saving your key progress (most of the time). The graphics are very basic, the story is minimal and it’s short by today’s standards, but the music is catchy and the game still plays relatively well. Good old fashioned platforming and rather fun with some innovative ideas and enjoyable puzzle rooms, although some of the levels in Jill 2 are very annoying.
It’s a great concept for a point and click adventure game, but unfortunately, it isn’t and as such, it just isn’t very good. It’s too slow and boring to be entertaining with lots of walking back and forth and conversations where the choices really don’t matter. The high level of American slang and culture isn’t always relevant and although the subject matter varies considerably, none of it is truly engrossing. The flow of the conversations and the voice acting is great, but without a solid game or an interesting story to back it up, it all feels a bit pointless and a bit of a waste. The mini-games, graphics and artwork are ok, but I expected the game to look better with less glitches and Hell to feel more alive and intense, especially the bars which are supposed to be having raging parties. It feels as though content was cut and although it encourages multiple playthroughs, it would have been better with a more traditional format and more depth.
Very low-fi in graphics, which makes seeing the details difficult, but is probably a good thing considering how gory and brutal the artwork is. The game play is very violent and challenging due to limited ammunition, health and no saves mid-level, although like the game overall, the levels are very short. There’s no plot or characters, although the presentation is good with its industrial machinery setting and soundtrack which is frequently punctuated by the screams of the dying. It’s fast paced, frantic and tough, but it doesn’t feel rewarding when you win and the game gets repetitive due to the limited range of enemies and weapons. Easy mode is far too easy and there is limited replay value.
A hyper stylised first person shooter with cell shaded comic book style graphics and a plot straight out of a Hollywood spy thriller. There’s plenty of gadgets and game mechanics available, ranging from stealth and hiding bodies to grappling hooks and hostage taking, but it’s all a bit basic and rough round the edges. Add this to the range of weapons, tools and exotic locations and you’ll see there’s plenty of variety available, even if the actual game play is simple first person shooting and sneaking. The graphics and level design are relatively basic and linear, but there’s plenty of them and they are full of action and stylish set pieces. The simple AI, weak stealth sections and archaic save system can make playing difficult and prevents the game from reaching its lofty ambitions, but it’s still great fun.
A survival management game which is far too challenging and has too little depth in its mechanics. Managing the few survivors and tasks is easy and you spend most of your time waiting for the progress bars to fill up. But with constant breakages and no way of recruiting more people, it’s easy to get into a fail state and the biggest choice is whether to keep drawing out your inevitable demise or start from the beginning and go through the exact same motions and plot beats again. The art style is good and the flickering images promise at something more in its plot, but it’s never realised. The plot and music is minimal and suits the overall aesthetic, but since the game play is also minimal, it ends up being too boring.
A solid remaster – the artwork looks a lot better whilst still keeping the same tone and style, the modern conveniences are a nice touch and the ability to swap back and forth at the press of a button is great. That begin said, the game is very choppy, jumping about from one scene / location to the next and the timed / instant death sequences should have been removed. The bike combat and demolition derby controls are pretty poor and the game shows its age with a clunky inventory interface and unclear puzzles. It’s still a classic and definitely worth playing, although is very short and apart from its style, doesn’t have much going for it.
