Quick Review: Rakuen

Hey, I know how to make that hat! It's an easy origami model.

Feels a little colorless, but then again, it's a hospital.

Created by Laura Shigihara and released on May 10th, 2017, Rakuen is a game made using RPG Maker XP. That’s my one for the year! You play as a young boy during a long hospital stay. While waiting on a visit from his mom, he is given permission to leave his room and walk around. He realizes that the book his mom reads to him, Rakuen, is missing from his room. He meets the other patients, has a chat with the personnel and any friendly visitors, and finds his book.

The next day, while exploring the hospital with his mom, the boy finds a portal that leads to the world of the storybook. The two can explore it and talk with the catlike Leebles that inhabit the forest village. Morizora, the guardian of the forest, can grant someone a wish, but he has fallen asleep due to shadowy spirits. Morizora can only be awakened with a song, of which the boy will have to learn the parts if he wants his wish granted. Many humans at the hospital have their equivalent character on the other side. As he explores both sides, the boy will discover the personal stories of the other patients on his floor, and learn the parts of the song.

We're gonna have to earn that wish.

I liked this part of the game, we were playing waiter to get
information on a robber. It was creative and fun.

Although it was designed on software intended for RPGs, this is more like a point-and-click puzzle adventure. You walk around with the arrows, interact with things with Space or Enter, and get prompted to use items from your inventory (from the pause menu, opened with Esc., which includes a save button) onto décor elements to solve puzzles. Though you will be told which item to use when you have it, instead of doing trial and error! This is combined to a complex world you can explore, and you unlock areas as you find new tools and passageways – not to mention more doors leading to the fantasy land.

Interactions you have in one world impact the other; watering a plant in the hospital creates a climbable beanstalk in the village. Vice versa, resolving the issues of a patient’s fantasy land version will have repercussions on said patient. Objects freely travel to and fro. Both halves influence each other far too much for this to be just a dream, but the truth is left ambiguous, like many other elements.

A story of love, not of loss.

Nowhere is that made more obvious than when you investigate the past of other patients on the boy’s floor. Their stories are told through the inhabitants of the forest, with the boy witnessing setting-modified versions of events that get the point across, and yet they are nonetheless brutally clear as to what happened. Stories of racism, estrangement, bullying, or loss of oneself, to name a few.

One example is Tony, the grumpy old man. He and his family are represented by bears in the Leebles’ world, showing through animals the broad strokes of what happened to make him so embittered. Through the magical doors, the boy and his mom access Tony’s old home, which allows them to discover the realistic details… and those don’t leave the player with much doubt. I am staying vague, because it is worth seeing on your own. While you are investigating, flashbacks will put away the boy and switch the playable character to one relevant to the current backstory.

Ohh, I was not looking forward to the moment we play
one of these bears. And I was right to dread. Not spoiling!

Dangit, I'm just coming back for screenshots, re-hearing the first
song... is that tears coming back?? Oh, Laura Shigihara also does
music, by the way!

The music is great (shout-out to the climactic song of every patient’s story). The maps are detailed and beautiful. And the game is programmed to include a ton of puzzles and gameplay twists that make it surpass the average game made with this software. One example is the labyrinthine cave that’s explored early on, with its own mini-puzzles; this “dungeon” provides a handy map. When the boy’s mother is somewhere with him, she can be called with the Q key for a chat or to provide a hint if you’re not sure what to do next. This can be very handy!

Such a lovely space for the child patients on this floor.
We all hope they'll get to enjoy it... No, I'm not sobbing.

My one critique would be that a few side-quests, especially those that involve gathering materials to make new tools for progression, can feel a bit like chores unless you quickly get it into your head to pick up every necessary material as soon as you see it. Another important point is that, the rare times you CAN get a Game Over, you aren’t warned beforehand (since most obstacles instead warp you back to the previous room). Thankfully, the game lets you save almost anywhere, and includes an autosave so that you don’t lose too much progress if you land a Game Over and haven’t saved in a while.

Oh, and if you play this game, keep a box of tissues nearby. This is not a joke; each story will get you teary-eyed. Or, more likely, you’ll bawl your eyes out. This game made me a crying mess, you have no idea. The storytelling is excellent, some of the best I’ve seen in gaming, period. Absolutely. In the realm of incredible RPG Maker games, it’s a little less famous than To The Moon, and yet it’s just as heartbreaking. Need I even say that I recommend this one? Because I do.

Only barely exaggerated.

Rakuen is available on Steam for 14.99$ USD.

Quick Review: Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

The voices – she hears them everywhere…

Before you can enter Hel, you must find the portal to it.

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice was developed by Ninja Theory, published by them and Xbox Game Studios, and released to Steam on August 8th, 2017. We play as the titular Senua, a Pict warrior left traumatized after an invasion of her village by Vikings. Now on a quest to resurrect her fiancé Dillion, who died during the invasion, she lands her crude boat onto a mysterious island. This goal will force her to fight mythological Norse figures on the way to Hel, forcing her to confront her own past on the way to meeting Hela.

Everything is messing with her mind.
Including her mind itself.

When it's not voices, it's flashbacks. Reminding her of why
she is doing all this. Who, around her, actually tried to
help her with her struggles... and who didn't.

But is it even real? Senua suffers from intense psychosis, exhibiting many traits of schizophrenia. She keeps seeing faces, she keeps hearing voices, some mocking, some encouraging, some wondering what she’s doing. The voices color the entire experience. True silence is rare across this adventure. Psychiatrists didn’t exist in the 9th Century, so everyone else calls it “the darkness”, or “the curse”, as if it was something she had to overcome… The game recommends playing with headphones, as the game uses 3D Binaural sound that makes every voice feel like it comes from a specific spot around Senua.

As for seeing faces... Hellblade does something clever,
where it superimposes live-action heads onto stone faces.
It's... unsettling. The face seen this way is Senua's mother,
who encourages her. Other cutscenes use live-action instead,
which gives them an otherworldly feel in the setting.

That's one found. Now to find the other. I sure love an
environment with random sigils existing around!

Calling this game just a walking simulator does it a disservice. Yes, you’ll be walking around with WASD, exploring, looking for lore stones to hear bits and pieces of mythology. You’ll face areas with specific puzzles that require observing something by focusing with E, or interacting with something with F. Closed doors will require you to find sigils in the wild, which you’ll have to focus on from specific standing points. That part is lenient, as you don’t need to be aligned perfectly, and the game further helps by flashing the nearest sigil when you’re approaching it. Other puzzles play with your perception to make things like bridges and staircases appear.

Why yes, this is, in fact, a river of blood, with malformed
bodies making up the banks.

This is also classified as a horror game. First, you have the constant presence of the voices discussing your every move. They disorientate Senua (and, by extension, the player), and yet, the longer the game goes, the more you learn to ignore the defeatist or mocking voices, and focus on the encouraging ones. You’ll need all the determination you can find, while hunting down Surtr in a forest that catches fire every time you solve a puzzle, or encounter any of Valravn’s illusions, to give two examples. Aside from the unnerving places we visit, the game's scariest moments are often in cutscenes. There are jumpscares, but the game more often utilizes atmosphere to unsettle you.

Ugh, the shield guys. Never quite got the hang of
beating them quickly... until the very end, anyway.

Took me until AFTER a long story break without fighting
to find out I could use Focus against any enemy.
Plus, Focus makes your sword shine like a lightsaber.

Then there’s combat. I wished there had been a tutorial since those controls are more complex than the rest of the game. You slash with the left mouse button, or do a stronger slash with the right button. You can block with Crtl, block with the left Crtl, change target with C or Z, or dodge with Space and WASD. I felt unprepared when the first fight was sprung up on me, but I picked up everything else quickly by checking controls in the pause menu. Other features of the game come in handy – the voices warn you when an attack is coming from behind, and mention when an enemy is almost defeated. Although these two features make combat interesting, there aren’t many enemy types, and the repetition becomes obvious early. However, the bosses are memorable, not just where they’re fought, but all the tricks they use against you. Special mention to Garmr/Fenrir, whicks blocks your view of the arena with Senua’s own traumatic memories, forcing you to constantly dodge its attacks.

Using Focus in battle slows down time and creates a really
cool effect around the fight. It won't always save you,
but it IS a lifesaver against bosses and enemy groups.

Senua is said to have limited “lives” (represented by the rot on her arm growing towards her head when she “dies”), but a precise number, like her health, or the enemies’, is never disclosed. The uncertainty is part of the dread.

There's clearly something there. You're just not at the right
angle to focus on it and create the bridge forwards.

Honestly, for a product whose development forced its team
to cut corners, even transforming a meeting room into a
green screen mocap space,  it is still in the end one of the most
visually stunning gaming experiences I've had.

The puzzle gameplay can be a little repetitive (even if we get some interesting twists out of it sometimes); but the story is worth it. The horror ambiance is on point, and the story incorporates Nordic mythology in clever ways (including how Senua envisions those gods and monsters). The music helps the tone tremendously, and the graphics make this game possibly one of the most beautiful I've ever played. The plot has several beats of mental breakdown, with all the freaky visuals they induce, and you can never tell what’s real and what isn’t. Melina Juergens was merely the team’s video editor and had no acting experience when she was selected as a mocap actress stand-in before doing such a great job in the role that she was permanently cast in it. And that performance earned her a BAFTA Award! Impressive! And Ninja Theory went to great lengths to portray schizophrenia and traumas as accurately as possible, with experts helping on that front at every step of the way.

This game is an experience worth playing through. I know I made sure to play it all the way to the end! Oh, and there is a VR edition as well.

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is available on Steam for 29.99$ USD.

Quick Review: Guacamelee! Gold Edition

Luchador life isn't for me. What would my stage name be anyway? El Tabarnaco?

Some great stories start with the hero dying. Wait, what?

A game by Drinkbox Studios published by them and Kepler Ghost and released on August 8th, 2013, Guacamelee! (specifically, the Gold Edition) is a metroidvania set in Mexican culture. Our protagonist, agave farmer Juan, is helping prepare the Dia de los Muertos festivities when tragedy strikes. El Presidente’s daughter, whom Juan had a crush on, is kidnapped by Carlos Calaca, a lich from the World of the Dead and his crew of other assorted superpowered undead. Calaca plans to unite it with the world of the living, which would cause untold chaos. Juan is killed during his rescue attempt and lands in the World of the Dead. There, he finds a magical luchador mask allowing him to return to the living, where he must use his new wrestling abilities to stop the lich’s plan.

No matter how big the monster, the Rooster Uppercut will
take them down! Or any new comes that we get afterwards.

Classic metroidvania formula; Juan starts with the basics. As we progress, however, we’ll unlock new skills allowing him to access new areas, and venture further into the world. The special moves, all color-coded can be used both offensively and for platforming; as an example, the first is a flying uppercut that can let Juan reach platforms otherwise too high for him. The colored moves are associated with colored roadblocks which Juan breaks by using the corresponding attack. These are all triggered with a specific button or key pressed while holding an arrow key or the joystick in one direction (ex. Up for the uppercut). These moves require stamina points to use, however, so you may have to wait if you spend all those points quickly.

You can beat a skeleton by throwing another skeleton into
it! They deserve it, they work for evil!

The combat system emphasizes Juan’s capacity to chain hits and rain damage. Long combos can be comprised of hits on the ground, in midair, special moves, and full-body wrestling throws, and can net you extra money! Cash can be spent at save points to gain new attacks, as well as perks relating to stamina and health. The fights get harder by throwing new ideas and challenges. Some enemies can only be fought in one of the two worlds. Later enemies are protected by color shields that must be destroyed with the corresponding special move before they can be damaged.

Come one come all, I've got exactly what each of you needs!
Two Rooster Uppercuts, and a headbutt, to go!

Quick Review: Distrust

Don’t. Fall. Asleep. Or do; you gotta rest eventually. But beware…

The cold is already biting at my face.
Are you sure we can't stick around the helicopter fire?

Distrust (often completed with the subtitle Polar Survival) is an isometric survival/horror roguelite game developed by Cheerdealers, published by Alawar, and released on August 23rd, 2017. At the start, you choose two characters among several playable options, all but two of which must be unlocked by playing through the story mode. Your two characters are part of a rescue mission sent to an army base on an especially cold Arctic night. However, the helicopter crashes following a strange light appearing in the cabin. Only your survivors remain. The base’s inhabitants are gone; something happened here. Gotta figure out what, and then come out of this alive.

She's freezing, she's exhausted, and she has a cold. Surely it
cannot be wors- Oh great, what's that weird noise outside?

Your characters have three basic needs: Warmth, stamina, and satiety. It’s cold out there, so equip them with the best winter jackets you can find. Buildings are cold, so you better stock up on wood and fill those furnaces to recover some body heat. They contain generators for electricity and lights, and those may need refilling with gas – but you’ve got limited reserves there as well! Satiety simply means that the characters need to eat. Can’t find food? You’ll be in trouble soon enough. Coffee beans and cigarettes don’t count. And rancid pasta might fill the void, but it can make the character sick instead. Then, there’s stamina. The longer they go, the more tired the characters become. You can give them a short energy boost with foods, but eventually they WILL need to sleep.

This all ties together with their base health, which will whittle down by 1HP every few seconds if either of these stats is completely depleted. Hypothermia, exhaustion and hunger are no joke. Characters can still hurt themselves during tasks, or poison themselves with bad food! And they can even suffer from various forms of insanity once their health gets low! A character whose HP hits 0 falls into a coma, leaving the other(s?) to revive them with an adrenaline shooter. And those are rare. 

Pasta past the expiration date? Uncooked veggies? Nah,
I'll have the candy, it's not a headache like the rest.

Do we have anything to deal with that monster?

Let’s say your team is overdue for a rest. Find a bed, sleep in turns, good. But something strange happens. Monsters start popping up around the buildings. Research papers in the area reveal that these things appear when people sleep. While one is sleeping, the other must hold the fort against whichever new threat has arisen. Good thing they share their inventory! Each enemy has different weaknesses and can inflict a different type of harm, though you can find info on these entities before encountering them.

"Help me out a little here! I'm shoveling!"
"No can do one task per person, the game says so."

The fact that your characters must survive with what they find turns this horror/survival game into a unique roguelite. Each member of the playable roster brings their own skill; as an example, the first woman loses satiety more slowly than other characters, so she needs to eat less often. Make use of those skills to survive not just the cold night and the monster encounters. The other roguelite staple is that there are six zones, each new one harder than the previous; and each one has a puzzle to solve. However, the puzzles won’t be in the same order from one run to another; be prepared for anything.

You unlock the third character through playing Challenge
Mode. And finding a secret ending. Your reward is: A
harder time keeping enough resources for everyone!

Ugh, unlocking doors takes FOR-E-VER. And there are so
many damn locked doors. You could pick the lock, or break
the door with a crowbar instead - but you risk wasting
those items' health before you really need them.

Tools are necessary for specific actions – but they break after too many uses, and though some can be repaired, their materials can be hard to find. Besides, you might prefer to keep your wood for warmth. Later zones get harder, with snow blocking doors, windows having to be closed (who opens windows in the ARCTIC WINTER??). And the monsters get stronger and harder to deal with… Some monster-killing mechanics aren’t explained well, like the trap that is said you can just drop to the floor to catch a specific electric monster. In general, it feels like past the second zone, you spend too much time dealing with constantly repeating annoyances, all to further slow your progress. Characters can even start suffering from mental afflictions when their health gets low! The isometric view makes navigating each zone even more confusing. Finally, completing some objectives or rescuing someon can lead to playing a party of three, requiring an even tighter control of resources.

Rebuildsing beds so we can sleep and... Dammit, a window
is open again! Who I repeat, opens windows in the Arctic?
It's not even the Arctic summer right now!

Great concept, the game is good, but super tough. Though that was to be expected from a roguelite, really. You get better as you learn its intricacies, this comes with the territory. It’s not a scary game, even if the theme is horror-ish. Co-op options are included, as well as two difficulty levels (Adventure and Challenge – as if the base game wasn’t tough enough). Perhaps the worst thing I can say about this one is just how often you’re left with not much to do while either character is fiddling with keys to unlock a door, completing a long task, or cooking food. I know the waiting exists to waste stamina, warmth and satiety, but it’s still tedious down the line. And the random nature of a roguelite means a high chance of not finding what you need, when you need it.

Distrust is available on Steam for 12.99$ USD.

Quick Review: Cat Quest

It’s Cat-astrophic! Okay, brace for cat puns, because this game has them all.

The start of a great... uhhh... cat-venture?

Cat Quest, developed by The Gentlebros, published by Kepler Interactive and released to Steam on August 8th, 2017, begins on a tragedy. Two cat siblings are on a boat at sea when it is attacked. A darklord kidnaps the sister and destroy the ship, leaving the brother for dead. However, a helping guardian spirit named Spirry comes to the cat’s rescue and lands him safely on the beach of Felingard. A glowing mark behind the kitty’s head identifies him as a Dragonblood, of a legacy of dragon slayers. Well, that’s good, because our enemy, the nasty Drakoth, seems to be quite fond of summoning dragons. I guess we’ll just deal with those, and then with him, if that’s what it takes to rescue our sister!

Wham! That's no clawing but it will do the trick either way.

This adorable action RPG begins easy enough – on PC, you slash your sword around with the left-click button. Over time, you will obtain magic; up to seven different skills, of which you can have four equipped at a time. You can assign them to number hotkeys or use them with the right-click button (which opens a wheel with the skills at four ends, and you drag towards the skill to use it). The cat can dodge-roll with the Space bar. As you defeat enemies, you gain EXP to level up, and Gold which can be used to upgrade your magic skills or get new equipment.

It's not rare for quests to make you level up pretty much
instantly once you finish them.

Hat, Armor, Weapon. That's all you need.

You can find equipment in dungeons and caves around the map; if you find something you already own, that item gets an upgrade to level and stats instead. Across the map, you can stop at towns for a quick catnap refilling your HP and mana; these also save your game. These towns have bulletin boards with plenty of quests you can take on, solving various townskitten’s problems and learning more about that world. Every quest comes with rewards in XP and Gold, and you can level up fast through those. Still not enough? You can choose to visit any cave across the map, kill everything inside and loot the treasure chests! Quests and caves come with a recommended minimum level – which you can disregard, if you’re feeling brave.

Yes, we're walking on water. Don't question it. It gets better;
we can learn to fly later. As for this ice dragon? Aside from
sword slashes, it can do both ice and thunder attacks.

Whoom! When the sword isn't mighty enough, the
fire, thunder, ice, whatever, spells save the day!

The combat system is simple, simplistic even; enemy attacks are represented by red marks, be they circle or arrows. You can attack, then dodge to safety with the right timing. Your mana remains low, and spells cost from 2 to 5 MP to cast; however, you regain 1 MP each time you slash at an enemy with the basic attack. Thus, many late-game battles follow the pattern of “Use all your MP on spells, play slash-then-flee to refill the gauge, rinse and repeat”. The spells you learn are the same you’ll see enemies use against you.

When you beat the story, you unlock a Mew Game+ (Gosh, the puns in this game) with modifiers to make the game harder. Stronger enemies, keeping the Dragonblood at Level 1, and/or forbidding any equipment. Yes, I said “and”; you can stack these. Good luck.

Lots of bonus bosses, too, if you're willing to fight them.
That one was tough as all Heck.

It’s a good, fun game. The main quest is interesting and takes advantage of every comedic opportunity it can take – such as by slipping a cat pun every other sentence. The plot is mostly lighthearted. It’s not a hard game – Game Overs are a slap on the wrist where you merely respawn where you last saved, and keep all the equipment, experience and money you’ve obtained before dying. The game looks nice and has good music, and though its combat system is simple, it does offer some level of strategic planning (mainly in terms of spell loadout). There’s a lack of variety in gameplay (as most quests get resolved through fighting enemies/bosses or exploring caves), and you are left to level-grind whenever you realize that you’re too weak for the next mission or story beat, but for a game so short, I think that’s excusable.

Cat Quest is available on Steam for 12.99$ USD. It’s got two sequels too, if you try the original and like it!

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy: Warped!

Crash Bandicoot 1 – 2: Cortex Strikes Back – Warped!

4: It’s About Time (Part 1) – (Part 2) – (Part 3)

Finishing the trilogy today!

Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped!

This guy scares the biggest enemy we've had so far. That
usually means nothing good.

The game begins after the good ending of Crash 2 – the one you get by collecting all the Gems and beating Cortex again. The diminutive scientist’s space station explodes and crashes onto the planet, striking an old temple. Out of it comes an evil spirit known as Uka Uka; if you’ve played the rest of the N. Sane Trilogy, you may recognize this mask as the guy who threateningly says “Game Over” when you lose all your lives. Cortex has been working for Uka Uka this entire time, first by making the animals into smart but docile soldiers, and second by making Crash gather magical crystals. The evil mask was the one trying to enslave the entire planet all along. In an attempt to do it right this time, the mask summons a new, blue-skinned scientist with a clock theme…

Sounds important, I should listen to what Aku Aku is sayi-
Oh, the Bandicoots adopted Polar? Awwwwwwww!

And so we begin in the medieval era, with frogs that turn
into people if they kiss Crash, and lab assistants behaving
as if they were at the renaissance fair.

The wind turns on Wumpa Islands. Aku Aku immediately knows what’s up. The guardian mask of the islands (now voiced by Greg Eagles, whom you might know as Grim from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy) tells the Bandicoots about the villainous Uka Uka. He teleports the two to the Time Twister. This floating base owned by Cortex’s new scientist ally will allow the villains to hunt down the Crystals across past eras, since we’ve already found them all in the modern day. It’s up to Crash and Coco to get the Crystals (and the Gems) first, beating out their enemies. Oh, that’s it? We’re doing a Time Heist? Let’s go! I can't wait to see the endgame of that!

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy - 2: Cortex Strikes Back

Crash Bandicoot 1 – 2: Cortex Strikes Back – Warped!

4: It’s About Time (Part 1) – (Part 2) – (Part 3)

Welcome back to this year’s anniversary reviews! Today, we’re moving to the next game in the collection!

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back

Uh oh. He's got a lightbulb moment, and that means
nothing good.

This story begins immediately after Crash 1. Neo Cortex was tossed from his zeppelin and is falling to the islands below. He survives the crash (pun intended) and finds that he has landed in an underground cave where he finds a crystal glowing a faint purple. He gets a new idea…

Turtle armadillo, doesn't matter; you're in my way!

Cut to a year later. Crash Bandicoot and his brainy sister Coco are chilling on their island when Coco’s laptop runs out of juice. Just the usual problem for her, really. And even though she’s playable here, no way she’s going to get a new battery herself! Nah, bro’s gotta do it. Crash thus embarks on this quest. But midway through the first level, he steps on a teleporter and gets abducted. He appears on a space station owned by Cortex and his new assistant, Dr. N. Gin. He is greeted by a giant hologram of Cortex’s face.

"You better not pull out your yo-yo while I am expositing,
Crash! Are you... Hey! I said put that away!"

I see it over there! Yeah. That's the point.
They aren't hard to find. At all!

Cortex says that, although they have been enemies before, he and the Bandicoot need to team up against an even greater threat coming from space – soon the planets will align, and the resulting energy might destroy the Earth. Cortex has found the Master Crystal that can put a stop to this; however, it needs several more “slave” Crystals to have enough power to prevent the catastrophe. the diminutive scientist claims he will need the physically capable mammal to collect 25 Crystals scattered around the world. Cortex will provide the means of teleportation, and occasional commentary on our progress.