just a bum の最近のレビュー

Bloody Spell's... a weird one. A pretty cut and dry hack'n'slash/ARPG, with alright music, decent enough graphics, and a near non existent plot. The translation is... adequate, at best. However, it definitely shines in the gameplay department. The combat is really satisfying, with plenty of (relatively simple) combos to learn, good weapon variety, and good layouts for combat arenas. Bloody Spell feels out of time almost, with when it was released. It very much plays like something you'd rent over the weekend back in the day, with a dated design and horny character skins (ya love to see it) to match. But it's genuinely a ton of fun, the kind of "B" game that doesn't really exist anymore. I would recommend it, but full price (at time of writing, $25) does feel a bit steep to me for what you get. I was able to finish it over the course of two nights on normal difficulty, but I wasn't exactly going for a completionist run either. If this happens to be on sale for $10 or less, I'd say pick it up and see if you dig it! I certainly did.

Awaria is vanripper's second title (the first being Helltaker for those unfamiliar), and while his idiosyncrasies have very much carried over, from the great sense of humor, to the wonderful character designs, distinct visual style, and excellent taste in soundtrack music (Mittsies returns with more absolutely banger work), the game is very different from his first. Helltaker being a sokoban style puzzler I was honestly expecting more of the same in a different aesthetic, what I found instead was a frantic, exhilarating, tough as nails bullet hell-esque action game, where the player must avoid damage while accomplishing their objectives of repairing various machines. This style of game is not usually in my wheelhouse, however it's executed so well here I couldn't help but be hooked. Environments, the player character, and the enemies are all very legible, and it made navigating levels and avoiding projectiles feel fair despite how punishing it is. I played the majority of the game on hard mode, but the last handful of levels were an absolute nightmare, and I respect those who were able to completely get through it. I had to turn it down to easy to finish it, but I'm alright with that. The game's free and is not only worth your time, it's honestly worth the 10 dollar DLC to support vanripper. Awaria is another home run, and I'd highly recommend it.

Oxenfree is a linear, narrative driven adventure/horror game set off the coast of the Pacific Northwest. I'd been meaning to play it for ages and never got around to it, but having finally done so I can say it was absolutely worth the evening getting through it. Painterly backgrounds mixed with lowpoly character models and gorgeous 70's horror inspired ambient music, the grim and tense atmosphere is thick and unrelenting. With well written characters, well placed and paced doses of levity, and a clever and intriguing mystery at the center of the plot, I was hooked from beginning to end, fully immersed the games world. The voice cast deliver fantastic performances, and the sound design especially is a stand out. If a bleak, almost X-Files esque adventure sounds like something worth your time, I'd highly recommend this one. One of the more brilliant adventures I've had in quite a while.

Gave The Upturned a shot despite knowing it likely wasn't for me and... I was right. I enjoy the art style, and the character/monster designs are fun, but the slippery platforming, half baked comedic tone, and repetitive structure burned me out on it fast. I'm likely in the minority here so take that with a grain of salt, it's not a bad game, just definitely not for me.

140 is a bite sized challenging platformer with ultra clean visuals, banging music, and a good variety of "boss" encounters. There's really not much to it, three main levels and a bonus stage, but it's absolutely worth the playthrough. It's cheap, short, and a wonderfully rhythmic time, definitely recommended.

Broken Pieces is... a weird one. This is one of those moments where I wish we had a more granular system of rating as opposed to the binary "yes/no recommend." I do think it's worth playing but you have to understand what you're getting into. I initially thought this would be a survival horror kind of game, and on the surface that's the look and feel the game has going for it. But in reality I'd liken this more to something The Adventure Company may have made or published back a few years ago (think Secret Files: Tunguska, Syberia, Keepsake, etc), which in my eyes isn't a bad thing, since I quite enjoy those games, but if you were coming into this expecting a Resident Evil style challenge, you'll be very disappointed. To be positive, the game looks wonderful, it sounds great, the music is nice (except for the "songs" made by one of the characters, but that's more my taste than the quality itself), and I personally didn't really encounter any bugs aside from my character getting stuck once during my playthrough. I think the exploring and light key hunting/puzzling mechanics were an engaging enough backdrop to the mystery of the story, but I feel the combat is a bit ham-fisted. It never felt challenging, interesting, or diverse enough to justify itself, and only really served to slow the pace down. I think had this game been exclusively an adventure style title it would have been better for it. With that said, I quite like the story and all the mystery everything is surrounded in, but I think the pay off is inadequate at best. I'm no stranger to or detractor of open endings or things that require interpretation, but I don't think the narrative (while engaging in the moment) had enough thematic meat to really make an ending like that satisfying. The game's relatively bite sized though, so if you see it on sale though I'd say it's worth testing out to see if you dig it.

I feel like it was inevitable that I enjoyed Nauticrawl; a bite-sized and tactile play experience, thick atmosphere, a mysterious world and narrative, impeccable sound design, great music. It's genuinely a complete package. A tremendous Sci-Fi adventure that gripped me and didn't let me go until I rolled the credits (in a single sitting I might add). This is one of those titles that's best entered knowing as little as possible, hence the vague summary, but if learning how things work with little handle holding in the midst of something unknown is up your alley, I can't recommend this game enough. Positively outstanding.

In Other Waters was a brilliant little sci-fi game by the man who would later bring us Citizen Sleeper (a game I was enthralled by). Similar to CS, the writing is great, and the concept/story are incredibly well done, with stellar music and beautiful minimalist visuals that create an immersive atmosphere. Though it shows that this is the first game, with the streamlined mechanical side. While there are some puzzle-esque elements involved, the game essentially boils down to a visual novel, with an impeccable framing device. So it may not be for everyone, but if a lot of reading and atmosphere sounds like your kinda thing, I'd highly recommend this one.

Blasphemous 2 is the follow up to one of my favorite games, and with that baggage it was difficult to maintain my expectations for the sequel. Thankfully though, for better or worse, this sequel is essentially a second serving of what made the first game truly excellent. Standard (though well executed) metroidvania style exploration, tough combat encounters, beautiful pixel art, gorgeous music, and big ole boss fights. I think though by virtue of this game being a sequel, the mystique of the setting isn't as potent as it was originally. Not to say it's worse (not by any means), however the first game had much more intrigue going on, and I think it had a deeper well of narrative/lore to pull from, whereas in Blasphemous 2 we're already familiar with the inner workings of this world and are simply making our way through. It also felt as though the boss fights were easier this go around, but again, I could just be a more competent Blasphemous player and that may play a part in that. I do enjoy the new variety in weapon and prayer choices, as well as the addition to the figures and the return of the rosary beads, but I didn't feel myself pushed hard enough to switch any of them out too often. It's not as good as the first game, but in my opinion that's quite the high water mark to reach anyway, and it's still a great game overall. Absolutely recommended!

Shadowgate (2014) is a beautiful and engaging re-imagining of an adventure game classic. I enjoyed the NES version quite a lot although it kicked my teeth in and I was never able to finish it (as I refuse to use walkthroughs, regardless of how much it hurts my brain not to). I don't think this modern interpretation is as obtuse, so it's definitely a way in for those who weren't able to conquer the original games. The art is wonderful, the music is fantastic, the puzzles aren't too tough (at least on the "Normal" difficulty setting), and overall it's a short and very sweet adventuring experience. I'd definitely recommend it!