Recent reviews by inukat

Nostalgic in design, but modern in gameplay. I had an absolute blast playing Atlyss during the Patreon Alpha, and the developer is actively on Discord communicating changes and new features to the game while being receptive to feedback and bug reports.

The character designs are cute, the level and gear progression are satisfying, and the combat feels impactful. However, the one area of the game I really believe the dev truly nailed down and understands is the movement. Much akin to the greats of the platforming genre like SM64 and Banjo Kazooie, your character's base movement in Atlyss is a real joy to control in itself. Between dungeon runs while voice chatting on Discord, I often found myself jumping, dashing and climbing around the main hub with no goal or intended destination in mind. While Atlyss' dungeon and overworld design already integrate vertical design and take advantage of your character's fun base movement, I hope to see more challenging and creative maps in the future that push movement options to the limit.

If I had to give one piece of criticism, while I believe Atlyss has amazing nostalgic sound design and atmospheric ambient music, I hope the soundtrack is expanded upon with a larger variety of memorable tracks without negatively affecting the existing tone of the game.

War Crimes/10

Good game

There's a freaking HMV in this game.

10/10

It is far harder to kill a phantom than a reality.

As someone who is not fond of horror or point & click games, Fran Bow was a pleasant surprise. From its unsettling atmosphere, to the array of intriguing characters, everything in Fran Bow is clearly a labour of love.

The artstyle is the first thing I fell in love with. It immediately reminded me of the intro sequence to Alice: Madness Returns. The animations are well done, and remain consistent through the entire game. The game uses a lot of gore, but it's not just any gore. It's artistic gore. That's right, the gore in this game is artistic gore. Rather than feeling disgusted, the gore in Fran Bow made me want to take a closer look at the screen out of interest, something no other game except for LISA has compelled me to do.

The music in Fran Bow is well done. Nothing much to say about it, other than it is good enough to be worth purchasing the Original Soundtrack DLC.

Now, the thing that really gripped me: the gameplay. Yes, it's your average point & click in terms of control and inventory. However, one mechanic stood out: the pills. Fran can take pills to see and enter an alternate reality. You may take pills and subdue their effect at any time. The images, objects, and beings you see from taking pills, are often quite quite disturbing, but in a good way. You will need to use the pills to solve puzzles, so they provide more than just interesting imagery. For Legend of Zelda fans, think of it as the Magic Mirror from Link to the Past that allows you to travel to the Dark World.

Now, the question most people wonder: Are there jumpscares? The answer is yes and no. There are sudden popups, such as a character popping from behind a door you are about to enter, or heads falling from a staircase into the room. However, Fran Bow does not use the cheap tactics games such as Five Nights at Freddy's utilize. Nothing pops out at the screen at you. Without spoiling too much, I can confidently say that this game is indeed unsettling and in a way, scary, but the "jumpscares" are the lesser of evils this game brings.

In terms of replay value, there is not much. This is a game I most likely will not play again unless I want to head back to hunt achievements. It took me around 8 hours to do a complete runthrough, though it probably will be much shorter for those who use a walkthrough or are generally excellent at noticing small details in point & click games. Despite its lack of replay value, my single playthrough was definitely worth both the money and time spent on this thought-provoking masterpiece.

I must've bought The Elder Scrolls Online: Gamestop Edition by accident because the merchants in this game will buy your weapons for like 10 gold each even if they're selling the same weapon for over 500 gold.

The most realistic and ideal sexual intercourse simulator ever programmed. This is the epitome of modern technology and what human life has been leading up to.

Lit an orphanage of children on fire.

10/10