¤ βℓооđч ¤ Nico-Kun! の最近のレビュー

Galaga. One of the earliest starfighter games, and one of the most famous. I must admit, however, that in my childhood I was more familiar with its predecessor, Galaxian, which I had for my Family Game (basically, a Famiclone, since neither the NES nor the Famicom were available in my country).

Reviewing such a timeless classic is always hard, as there's not much to say; everyone, or at least almost everyone has at least heard of it, and knows the basic gameplay loop: you play as a starfighter and need to destroy different enemy ships, each one with its own attack pattern and such. You have three lives, and the goal of the game is completing each stage to proceed to the next, which is practically the exact same thing, but enemies might be faster and such. The main goal is simply to get the High Score, because back in the day we didn't need complicated stories and deep lore, all we wanted was that high of getting our name on top of the leaderboard.

Now for the port proper, I think it's pretty decent. I didn't find any noticeable bugs, and getting all the different achievements was fun, maybe a bit challenging at times. Some of the additions this port brings is the possibility of restarting the game at specific stages, if you want to begin with the extra challenge. You can also modify a couple more aspects to adjust difficulty to your liking, like granting extra lives and such.

All in all, a solid port of a classic game. I recommend it.

This soundtrack is perfect for the game it's from. The Patrick's Parabox soundtrack consists of several different tunes with a soothing style that'll put you in the right place for all the brain-twisting puzzles included in the game; think of them as ambient music for your mind; honestly, I could see myself relaxing to this music even outside the game.

I recommend this soundtrack!

Patrick's Parabox is quite a beautiful puzzle game to train your brain with. With a simple, elegant design, this Sokoban-style game takes the task of organizing boxes to new heights, or rather, dimensions.

As a kid, I used to love playing Sokoban-style games, there was something so interesting about figuring out how to place each box in its place. When I learned about Patrick's Parabox, I couldn't help but be intrigued by its concept: a Sokoban game where not only can you move boxes around, but sometimes you can fit those boxes inside smaller boxes, or even fit those boxes inside themselves? Sign me right up! After all, there's something that fills me with wonder when dealing with impossible geometry, recursion, and the like, and this game has it in spades.

Now, I've given a general idea of the main gameplay loop: each level is a box, filled with boxes that you have to fit in specific places. The game starts out simple: the first levels are basically your standard Sokoban puzzle. As you progress through each chapter, however, new concepts get introduced, in a very intuitive way, I'd say. The game seems to follow the principle of teaching the player a new mechanic, getting them used to it by putting some spin on it, before moving on to the next mechanic, while still incorporating those previously used.

The lenght of the game is pretty decent, if I recall correctly, there's something like 200+ different levels, including challenges that really make your brain work. Still, it's pretty manageable, I only had to look up a single puzzle, I'll admit, and when I saw the solution, I was facepalming at how simple it was and I couldn't figure it out. So, my advice to you, future player of this game, is to really try to think outside the box, or inside it, or besides it. You'll figure it out eventually.

Artistically speaking, as I mentioned above, the game has a rather simple, yet elegant design, with colours that really pop, so to speak. The soundtrack is also very soothing, perfect for some mental exercise. All in all, I truly enjoyed this game, and I'm a bit ashamed it took me so long to finally sit down and write a proper review for it, as I think everyone should give it a chance. So, go ahead, get this game, and let your brain start working!

Alien Carnage / Halloween Harry is a game that has definitely not aged well, and I say this as someone who tends to have a lot of nostalgia for these shareware era games. Then again, since I'd never played it before, I guess the nostalgia goggles were off for this one, which made its flaws all the more noticeable.

To start, it's a pretty basic 2D platformer, from an era when games couldn't be extremely complex, although that doesn't mean they couldn't be fun, and in this case, I feel it doesn't deliver. You play as Halloween Harry, who gets tasked with saving Earth from invading aliens who're turning people into zombies. Don't expect a deep story nor anything like that, and I gotta say, I found Harry to be a bit of a doofus. Innocently harmless in its humour, but I feel it doesn't quite stick the landing, or at the very least, it feels dated nowadays.

Now, back onto the game. There's four zones you have to go through: the sewers, an industrial zone, an office building, and finally, the alien ship. Each zone has four levels, and a final boss level. To progress through the levels, you need to rescue all the hostages the aliens have captured; some of the hostages are trapped in place, while others wander around. There's also dispenser machines you can buy weapons and ammo from with the coins you get from enemies you kill. Rather simple gameplay, and honestly I wouldn't complain, if it weren't for the overreliance on hidden paths and levers that you need to hunt down in order to progress.

Another issue with the level design, and related to the game's weird title, is that Zone 3, the office building, feels like it should've been the starting zone. You get a bunch of early game hints in that area, like how to use levers and vending machines, while the sewers have nothing of the sort. While this stuff is also in the instructions menu, it feels really out of place. So, regarding the title, apparently the game had two releases, as Alien Carnage, and as Halloween Harry; these releases had the sewers and the office building swapped.

The graphics... Well, it's a DOS-era game, so they aren't nothing to write home about. I guess they get the job done, as the game isn't necessarily ugly to look that, and the soundtrack; same, honestly. It does what it has to do.

All things considered, I personally can't recommend this game.

Another mini DLC for a Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster, this one is for Final Fantasy IV, and was a pre-order bonus. Hopefully they'll make it available for everyone one of these days, despite not being much, I like the wallpapers it brings, and the mini OST in particular. I love the transition in those tracks from 8-bit to a full orchestra.

Final Fantasy IV, yet another fantastic entry in a fantastic franchise (and just as I'm typing this I realize the unintended pun). By now, if you've been playing these Pixel Remasters, you should be familiar with the basics. Graphics are obviously 2D, and gameplay remains mostly the same, as it's a classic RPG with turn based combat. However, this game introduced the ATB system, or Active Time Battle, which I was already familiar with from playing Final Fantasy VII.

The way ATB works is that each of your characters has a gauge that fills up overtime. When that gauge is filled, you can perform an action, be it attacking, using items, or casting magic. So, it's like turn-based, but not quite so. Enemies most likely use a similar system, although you can't see their gauge. Another interesting gameplay aspect is that now many enemies counterattack certain actions with a special move; some enemies might react against physical attacks, casting spells immediately, or might use powerful attacks whenever you use magic, so there's this whole deal about figuring out the best way to approach a battle.

Another change is the party system. First of all, you can now have up to five members, instead of four. And, like Final Fantasy II, your roster will be changing throughout the course of the game until settling into the final party. The leveling system remains similar to previous games (minus II); after each battle, you get XP that helps you level up, and whenever you level up, stats increase. Something new, though, is that spells aren't bought, your characters learn them either through story events, or leveling up.

Now, getting onto the story, while previous games already have a mix of fantastic elements and some minor science fiction, this is the game where things start getting really weird. Without getting into a lot of spoiler territory, you'll be facing fantastic creatures like dragons, as well as technological monsters like robots. The story itself is also filled with twists and turns, as it begins with Dark Knight Cecil questioning the actions he's performed lately in the service of his king. It's probably a bit silly and overdramatic in parts, but honestly, having played several Final Fantasy games now, I love them for the overdramatic and silly.

The soundtrack is once again great, with remastered tracks, and graphically, well, I already said it above, don't expect many changes from the previous Pixel Remasters, besides some updated sprites for enemies. The charm is in looking retro.

All in all, this is yet another Final Fantasy game I can easily recommend.

What is it with strategy games and having great soundtracks? Because let me tell you, the Age of Empires III soundtrack is fantastic. The definitive edition, among other things, had the original game's soundtrack remastered, and it's very good. It definitely gets you into a conquering mood, and all the different tracks fit the game's Exploration/Revolutionary Age theme, with plenty of military drums and the like, which both inspire a sense of wonder, and of patriotism and revolution.

All in all, a solid soundtrack, with a lot of songs to listen to. I recommend it.

This DLC simply adds a bunch of cosmetic items for Cal and BD-1, based on Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. Nothing spectacular, but I personally liked them, plus I always like having "complete" editions of games or as complete as possible. While I'm giving it a thumbs up, because I don't think it's a bad addition, I'll add this simple caveat: it's not necessary for the game at all, so if you don't care about the cosmetics, there's no reason to get it.

As a big fan of Star Wars in general, and of Jedi: Fallen Order, this game was a long-awaited sequel for me, and one that I must say, technical issues aside, greatly delivers on what I expected from a continuation of Cal Kestis' story.

The plot starts off years after the events of the first game; the Mantis crew has disbanded, with Cal starting the game working for Saw Gerrera. After a mission on Coruscant doesn't go quite as planned, Cal journeys to the Koboh system, where he expects to reunite with Greez in order to get the Mantis repaired. Once there, Cal discovers some ancient treasure going back to the High Republic era, and begins a quest to find a place to call home. Honestly, I greatly enjoyed the story, it has some nice twists and turns, and the tie-in to the High Republic is pretty well done in my opinion, while still keeping the current threat of the Empire very much present.

Gameplay wise, this game is a definite improvement over the first one. Most of the abilities Cal earned during the first game are unlocked here from the get-go, and there's several new abilites to unlock as you progress, both related to movement, Force powers, and even lightsaber combat. The inclusion of stances is excellent, as it allows you to really change up the way you approach combat; there's five different stances, you can have two equipped at the time, and one of them even includes a blaster. Another addition is allies who help you during certain combat sections. All in all, improvements all around.

Graphics wise, I think it looks great, and the planets you visit in this game are all very detailed, from the lower levels of Coruscant, to the wilderness of Koboh and the deserts of Jedha, plus a couple more locations I won't spoil. Soundtrack design is also superb, and I even loved the selection of music for the cantina. Speaking of the cantina, that's another nice addition to this game. Remember how in the first game, there was an achievement for filling up the Mantis? Well, in this game, your "fill in" location is Pyloon's Saloon, located on Koboh. By completing rumours (which would be like side missions), you get more people to visit the cantina, and that can even open up new activities to do. From a DJ playing different tracks you collect, to a full garden on the cantina's rooftop, and even Holotactics, a nice little minigame with some minor strategic elements.

Going onto extra stuff to do, besides the aforementioned rumours, there's plenty of stuff to collect here as well, from databanks, to customization items, seeds and even Force echoes, much like in the first game, plus a few new additions like fishing (you don't do the fishing, but you do get fish), and different currencies that you can use to unlock stuff in a couple of different vendors. There's also bounty hunting missions, which reward you with a special type of currency as well. So yeah, lots of extra content. And just like the first game, this one includes NG+, although, once again, it's a bit underwhelming, as you only get a handful of extra saber colours, and a few new perks. There's not even a special suit, even though there's one that appears briefly during the story.

All in all, a solid game. It suffers from some techincal issues that might diminish some people's perception of its quality, but personally, I loved it, so I recommend it.

Bright Memory feels more like a demo than an actual game (since that's pretty much what it is), but I gotta say, for as short as it was, I kinda enjoyed it, despite some issues here and there.

Described by the dev as a "lightning-fast fusion of the FPS and action genres", I gotta say, that feels pretty appropriate. While it's obvious that this wasn't the work of any AAA studio, the dev still managed to create a game with a decent production level (though I believe there might've been some issues with stolen content, hopefully the dev fixed that mistake). Anyway, the gameplay is pretty fun, while at first it feels like a standard FPS, the special abilities you have (and unlock), plus the style scoring system (reminiscent of certain hack and slash games) make for a solid idea. There are a few quirks to work out (for example, the lightning strike skill may not hit an enemy right in front of you), but overall, it's a nice package.

Now, for the story: there's hints of it here and there, but nothing too solid, just a small glimpse into a world that leaves a lot of questions, but they're mostly "what the hell is going on?". Honestly, while the plot seems pretty vague right now, hopefully the Infinite version of the game sheds more light on it. After all, the premise of a futuristic world mixing up with ancient myth is interesting.

Graphically, it's not the most advanced game out there, but it looks pretty good, and I like the main character's design. Sound design seems nice as well, although dialogues are kinda rough. As for the UI, it's pretty stylish, so it also has that going for it.

Overall, I found this a nice, enjoyable experience, so I can recommend it.