Recent reviews by 2D Trash™

I've recommended Black Book to a number of people at this point and will continue to. I enjoyed the gameplay and story a lot, though the ending feels comparatively abrupt relative to everything else. Once you figure out a play-style you enjoy and build around it the game gets significantly easier. The history and folklore woven into the game make it feel really special and like an intimate experience with the stories being told and legends being shared. The voice acting being in the original language reinforces the game's aesthetics well. I think it'd feel wrong to listen to it in another language, given what Black Book is.

Stacklands is good. Very good.

I received Stacklands as a gift. The gameplay is straightforward. You can gain knowledge and develop insight on how to play without a guide. There's a degree of exploration as you trial-and-error through your runs to figure out what works, how to produce the most food, what weapons to craft and give to your villagers, so on and so forth. I've been genuinely surprised about how much there is to figure out if you're my kind of player, where you forget things a lot and you struggle to perfect a run because you accidentally do one dumb thing and get all your villagers killed.

The highly-rated positive reviews on this game are accurate and more descriptive than I have the brain power to write while I'm in the middle of producing food for my villagers who can and will get destroyed by the REAL final boss for like the third time. Strongly, STRONGLY recommend.

Educational, witty, charming.

I really, thoroughly enjoyed Astrologaster. I played through it in one sitting, no bathroom breaks, and let the first 3/4 passively play out in front of me while I used my brain power to solve the various cases. Last 1/4 I read instead of watched because I wanted to know whether or not I was going to get executed.

I was surprised by how well-woven each character's narratives were--especially how the player garners Simon's feelings through the responses that the stars give him. There's a level of introspection there for him that makes his place in the story feel as necessary as it is. Like, I don't have to think hard about how Simon directly affected the lives of those around him (assuming I chose the correct answers, which I'm pretty sure I did).

I like how easily the player could notice things after the fact, realizing that Simon may have done something we didn't choose to do, and that he may have ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up royally (re: his questionable proclivities off-screen). Or how the relationships between characters were built out by how everyone vented through Simon. It's interesting, and it treats the player as capable of using both deductive and inductive reasoning. It's so nice to be treated as "smart enough to put it together" in a clever game like this.

Disclaimer: I played OZMAFIA!! for the first time in 2017 and just came back to it, because what else am I supposed to do during a literal plague? My review takes both experiences into account and is coming out before the Nintendo Switch port of the game.

I would recommend OZMAFIA!! to others interested in dating sims, otome games, or visual novels. The cast is memorable--unique, even, compared to other games in the genre. Their voices are a treat to listen to throughout the game. The world is fleshed out and fascinating. It's clear from the first run-through of this game that a lot of love was put into the project by the writers. The way the narrative is constructed is clever, teasing the reader with information that makes them stop to think, and inspires them to keep playing. It's an enjoyable otome that I want to 100%. I've put some hours into it, so I obviously enjoy it.

♥♥♥♥ is my least favorite visual novel MC ever. There are odd translations and typos that other users have already recorded. There are an annoying amount of transition screens. When sprites are zoomed in, it's easy to see the "flaws" in the art, and the case could be made that the art hasn't aged well (though I'm a huge fan of the art style). A touch-up on the things reviews and discussions have mentioned over the years would be great.

I would not recommend OZMAFIA!! as Baby's First Visual Novel, at least if Baby wants a straightforward visual novel experience. Compared to other otomes of the same type, OZMAFIA!! is challenging for two main reasons:

- The story expands as you play it; the player can go back to the same scene after passing that scene or playing another route and new information will appear. Some scenes don't appear in the first run at all. Even knowing this, it still surprised me to see how it impacted my view of characters and their relationships. (This has been most significant with my opinion of Kyrie as I replay in 2020, as I've gone from actively disliking him to considering him one of my favorites.)
- Completionism is rewarded and, in a way, encouraged despite the game not having achievements. You won't ever have a full picture of the story unless you read the Epilogue and Grand Finale, which can only be unlocked by achieving 99% completion. Aside from the CG gallery there isn't an efficient way to keep track of your completion, meaning that if the player is going for the gold they're going to do a non-zero amount of suffering to get there.

Both of these could easily be addressed in the Switch port (and in the Steam version) with the minor addition of a tracker of sorts--one that tracks "hidden" interactions the player has seen and one that tracks the endings they've achieved. Not all VNs do this, but in one as complex as OZMAFIA!! I think it would be a worthwhile addition.

Neither of these are to say that someone can't enjoy OZMAFIA!! unless they 100% it--it's totally reasonable to only play through the routes that you want There's still an entirely different story under the main premise of the game, and in this way, OZMAFIA!! is reminiscent of Dandelion and Nameless. That's something I, personally, am into, but not every player is, and that's okay. OZMAFIA!! can still be enjoyed for what it is on the surface. It's a good time with pretty art and music that doesn't annoy your ears.

Secret Word: Order

Probably not fair for The Test's results that I played it immediately after going through Horrorscope. Many questions cross-over between the two games, but there's enough differentiation that I could tell the objective of The Test was different. The Test is more blunt about throwing secret messages at you and you ignoring/missing them, and almost "teases" you about it, in a way.

I don't know what good would come from attempting to take this seriously as a personality examination in the vein of Meyers-Briggs and Enneagram (both of which are pseudo-scientific and unable to produce concrete actual factual evidence of being correct). I can't say I understand why anybody would expect to have their whole lives and innermost secrets laid out for them.

Like I said in my Horrorscope review, if the devs plan on using results and data gathered from these two tests to craft a more specific, detailed one, I'm going to be really interested in seeing the results of that effort. As for this, it's a short time, but a good time. Just enjoy it for what it is, if you can let yourself.

Secret Word: Submerged

I wouldn't say I had "fun," because I was exceedingly uncomfortable for most of this. But the tension did ease eventually as I got into the rhythm of it and got the feel for what was going on. The atmosphere is tense and the questions are nosy. The flow from one question to the next feels deliberate, in that the order the questions appear in is meant to tug you along a certain trail of thought to create a certain sensation. These are compliments for this little game, because the piece does what it's supposed to do, and that makes this an enjoyable (albeit unnerving) experience.

I think if this went on to be inspiration or foundation for a larger project, it'd be hard to get weirdly-specific with the endings, but having varying scenarios for the secret words/endings would be beneficial. I realize that's hard to do, but it feels like these devs are on the track to doing something like that anyway.

I'm unsure if there are multiple scenarios for each secret word, but I wanted to share this. I did answer that I am not afraid of drowning. I'm a former lifeguard and have nearly drowned before, so like, come at me, water. I'm always ready to die. Receiving a drowning-related result surprised me. The context of that drowning-related ending bothered my stomach. I had a loved one purposely watch me drown (didn't bother me) as an unseen force broke my bones and dragged me under (VERY MUCH BOTHERED ME). The idea of my bones being crunched loud enough for me to hear underwater is rather terrifying, so ya got me there.

I got this game along with the Tsunami Games bundle. Really this game exceeded my expectations, because I actually had a great time playing it and I wasn't even expecting that much.

While it's a short main play-through VN, there are quite a few endings. I was surprised by the variety in the character personalities though the main character's best friend can be annoyingly immature at points, but I chalk that up to the character's age and motivations. Art is lovely, and I adored the sprite expressions. Enjoyed the interactive elements that allowed us to snoop around the environment to learn more. Sfx are peachy. Decision tree isn't entirely predictable. Translation was spot-on for the most part. Little-to-no errors or awkward dialogue. Quantity of endings relative to game length is high, and how "justified" those endings feel based on the story content is pretty dang good. The "harem" or "poly" ending in which the MC doesn't have to choose was done better than I thought it would be. (I was surprised to realize it was in there at all, even more so that it was done reasonably well.)

What really "got me" in this game was the way our protag's social anxiety was portrayed and how it affected her decisions, perceptions, and relationships. A protag with anxiety like this is rare for a VN, and rarer still is it that the anxiety is handled tastefully and believably. It impacts things. It matters. Like it's obviously not the greatest portrayal of an anxious character in all of literature ever, but compared to a lot of the genre, I think Typical far surpasses the norm.

Of the three games in the bundle I personally felt Typical was the best.

A short game, but an enjoyable one. Worth its price. Recommend strongly.

I did a thorough review of Pinewood Island on my blog (review available here)[novelelitist.tumblr.com], and don't feel like copying and pasting it. But it's got explanations about each aspect of the game.

The summary of the review would be, "If OELVNs had a tier list, Pinewood Island would be in the top 1/3 of the mid-tier." It's a good game, lots of fun, and worth your time and money.

Writing after completing Damian's route, and will update later if my opinion changes. (Edited after completing Rick and Monty's routes.)

Bought this game at 50% off during the Steam Winter Sale 2018.

In a VN like this, I expect to have my adjustable auto/skip options, scrolling to move backwards and reread content, and branching stories without too much overlapping content. On the technical front, this VN meets my expectations for a game of its full price, and exceeds that of quite a few games that I've played at the same, or even higher. Writing quality is consistent and the minor errors in grammar won't jump out at you unless you're actively looking for them. (In Monty's route I noticed more than in the others, I was likely looking for them.)

As other reviewers have mentioned, there are some common (but harmful) BL/yaoi tropes that appear in this game. That does not mean the writing is bad. I want to give huge credit to the writers. I like that the game is about exploring sexuality, but it's not the only thing the story has to offer. Overall I'm okay with that. It's kind of a thing in BL/yaoi stories. As much as I would've liked to make a couple more decisions in Damian's route or had the opportunity to let Alex reject him more, the heat-of-the-moment actions do build into a genuine relationship if you stand up for Alex.

In Damian's route, he behaves like a prick from start to the 2/3 point. Alex is consciously aware of Damian's terrible attitude and shady behaviors. If Alex plays along with Damian's sexcapades and never rejects him or asserts himself as an individual, Damian never learns. He doesn't realize that he appreciates Alex for more than his body. He doesn't pull himself together to behave. Alex is left dejected and going home to a disappointed family. To achieve Damian's Good End, Alex has to show agency. He has to refuse doing the things that make him uncomfortable, but he also has to be compassionate. And I liked that message a lot. This ended up being my favorite route.

I also want to give a nod to the feelings that Alex expresses during Rick and Monty's routes. In both, Alex verbalizes his discomfort with the predicaments they are in. Alex calls Monty out for being possessive, and shares his insecurities about Rick's engagement. The fact that good endings are achieved by calling out the guys on their BS makes me happy.

Alex is a lovable MC at a weird time in his development that gets tossed into a new environment. He's fun to follow, and I enjoyed how distinct his personality remained throughout the story. It was nice. I liked him a lot more than the MCs of other VNs I've played. He has agency and attitude. His actions have consequences. These are things that I can't praise enough that get brushed off way too often.

Finally, here's my shortlist of gripes because I'm a spoiled long-term veteran to the genre.

• I would've been thrilled by having a couple more variations of the CGs and sprite/expression sheets. I love expressions as much as I do CGs. But as-is, I have no issue with the amount or the quality of CGs this game offers.
  
• Sprite placement bottom-left inconsistent. Not a huge problem.
  
• My precious achievements that I care about way less than literally anything else
  
• Young characters + dangerous tropes = people that aren't me are going to complain, but I'd like to see the exploration of those arcs more which leads into the next couple things.
  
• Want more exploration into not only Alex's growth as a person, but in that of his friends during each route. I would've loved to see more of them all as individuals and then see their roles in the friend group touched upon.
  
• Want more 1910. There was an opportunity to build a little more of the setting. We got it with Alex's fear of being caught committing indecent actions, but I want more of this in the future.
  
• Want a more tactful approach to the twists. Dropping more hints throughout the story, even subtle ones, can be an effective way of not making the reader feel overwhelmed. Damian's Good End had me like wat.