Chuusotsu! 1st Graduation: Time After Time
Review with accompanying gameplay videos on Sinical Network
I recently received this game for free as a curator connect offer for my group Visual novel, JRPG, Anime. This kinetic visual novel from Studio Beast and Fruitbat Factory features a trio of unemployed teenage girls Arue Marisugawa, Koiro Hachisuka and Arara Fujisaki with Arue as the protagonist in this episode.
Arue, Koiro and Arara were ineligible to wear any authorization seal which renders them unable to hold any permanent stable employment and hence became Chuusotsu. Arue plans to take a re-evaluation exam and become a government official after missing a crucial exam during middle school from being hospitalized. To be able to survive in a foreign city on a stipend without having to work, Arue has to participate in an experimental study where she has to stay in Tabula Rasa apartments with Koiro and Arara, achieve sufficient synchronicity among themselves and give an answer to the philosophy of life.
– Real player with 11.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Dark Comedy Visual Novel Games.
Chuusotsu is a cute sci-fi slice of life medium length (by medium I mean between 8-18hs, anything above is already into the longer side) kinetic visual novel with a lot of layers behind the seemingly simplistic front.
You follow the misadventures of Marisugawa Arue as she tries to reform her life as a shut-in, reach her dreams and obviously make some friends along the way. However, things quickly take a turn into the weird and strange but thankfully with a satisfactory conclusion and lead up to the mini sequel.
– Real player with 11.4 hrs in game
Howdy, Jacob!
This was a visual trip, it’s kinda like Where’s Waldo but with psychedelics. It has a very interesting approach to storytelling which I like and the music is fun and upbeat. It gave me some nostalgic vibes. I was reminded of the video overlays in one of the Police Quest games for the storytelling and the levels have a sort of wondrous mystique to them that you don’t experience much in games these days. There’s a totally dark vibe to the story without being too scary.
If I had to list one criticism it would be that I struggled to find the exit button during a level, but it all worked out of course. Overall it was worth the $10 for sure.
– Real player with 3.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Dark Comedy Hidden Object Games.
Disclosure: I was on the video capture and performance team for the game, but did not have anything to do with gameplay, art, or design.
Howdy, Jacob! shines brightest in its rich world and great writing. The characters are interesting and diverse, and curious players are always rewarded with a little bit of content wherever they look. It is a world that feels much, much bigger than the game, and fascinating!
The other high point is the art! The images are very vivid and unique, and the style sticks with you!
– Real player with 3.1 hrs in game
New Ice York
This game is so much more than I expected it to be. At first, playing it- I was charmed by how weird it was but after playing through it, I found myself feeling connected to this universe and the characters within it. It’s intuitive- familiar, but totally different. Refreshingly fun, and an overall great release by magicdweedo, an artist I’ve really enjoyed since Mealmate™. Make sure to check out the soundtrack, too- it’s really catchy!
– Real player with 8.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best Dark Comedy Psychedelic Games.
New Ice York has deceptively good writing. The first chapter is unfortunately slow, which is a bad problem for a game of this length to have, but that slowness does its job of lulling you into a familiarity with the characters that it uses as a platform to build off of. NIY unfurls in a way similar to Frog Fractions or magicdweedoo’s last major game, Ticket: breaking its own rules and shuffling weird mechanics around. Where the former games engage themselves in a game of zany one-upsmanship, though, New Ice York’s treatment of mechanics is much more narrative and constrained. Detective has an oblique resemblance to Deadly Premonition’s Francis York Morgan / Twin Peak’s Dale Cooper, and similar to those stories New Ice York’s descent into surrealism takes on a personal significance in the quest of the protagonist.
– Real player with 6.3 hrs in game
Not For Broadcast
I never write reviews, however I had quite a few thoughts on this one. I hope the devs can read and maybe respond.
I really recommend this game, even if you don’t think you are interested in the genre. It’s just the right amount of challenge for me, the actors are personable, funny, and similar to real life, and there are many realistic features. I also like the fact that you can replay any past broadcast you’ve done as if you are a viewer, and it’s satisfying to pull off some great shots. I also like the political side of the game, and the amount little details are crazy (e.g. what people say off shot in the ‘rushes’, which are the four camera feeds you can choose from to broadcast)
– Real player with 14.5 hrs in game
I really enjoy this game’s mechanics and pace. However there are some issues with the content that make playing it kind of a bummer.
The narrative’s reliance on hacky, sometimes offensive comedy tropes weakens what could be a really groundbreaking experience. I think these tropes also hinder the game’s message, so far as one can be discerned (as the game tends toward ridiculing whoever it can). In the first three game segments, we have:
1. A group of stereotypical theater kids. Included are a preening, flamboyant young man, a vapid, self-obsessed blonde, an over-eager social justice warrior type, and an intellectually disabled young man whose inability to navigate a sleeve is played for cheap laughs.
– Real player with 12.8 hrs in game
Golf Club Wasteland
A neat little mini-golf game set in the post apocalypse. The vibes are pretty depressing, since you ARE golfing in the wasteland, but it’s easily offset by RADIO NOSTALGIA FROM MARS!!!! (There used to be a mini review here but I’m done with this game for now)
After trying out iron mode for 5-6 hours, I can confidently say that this mode is a gimmick and that the developers did not play-test this mode at all. Want proof? Check out the achievement statistics, you’ll see that the Iron mode achievement has a VERY low % of the players completing it. Clearly, this a cardinal sin of laziness, with the developers thinking that it’s okay to slap a mode like this into the game and market it but not attempt it themselves. This is a ridiculous challenge in of itself, the weakest point of the game, and you bet your ass that I’m going to give some brutally honest feedback for it.
– Real player with 26.6 hrs in game
I’m not recommending this game because the whole package is a bit of a mess, but it does has its merits.
Without talking too much about the story, it’s a bit of a mess in that when you go through and re-read it, things don’t match up or just aren’t very well told. There’s a story here, and then there’s another telling of another tiny story, and those two somewhat contradict each other a bit. The stories told on the radio are also fantastic on their own, but it paints a bit of an incongruent history that might be a bit too scathing for the things it has a bias against; to the point where it sorta ignores how the world works…but I mean, it’s a story; there’s nothing wrong with that besides making it a bit unbelieveable.
– Real player with 6.4 hrs in game
Cubic Currency
A charming indie game with character. Hot take on capitalism
pros:
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excellent worldbuilding
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immersive experience: soundtrack, sound effects, and art are very well done
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fun and nuanced gameplay that keeps you coming back
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balances randomness and skill well
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well planned achievements
cons:
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seems a little too easy (i’ve won each of my first 3 runs without many difficulties) – let capitalism be more brutal! (or, have different difficulty settings–that’s probably a better way to do it)
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as far as i can tell, there isn’t “save game” functionality? either that or it’s not intuitive how to use it. could be a nice thing to add
– Real player with 4.7 hrs in game
Full Disclosure. I bought this game at 90% off. It was less than a dollar, so at that price i really can’t complain for myself.
Now if you buy it at full price, it might be a little short for that price tag as I finished it in just over 3 hours. The game has enough elements to make some days/levels a bit intense, especially with the last character. Which is good because without the juggling of customers and the negative dice types, the game would be waaay too easy. And if you want to achievement hunt the game to 100% then you’ll probably get maybe an extra hour or two of gameplay.
– Real player with 3.1 hrs in game
PrisonShow
The story is set in a dystopic world. Our main character is a journalist that, hate the “President” when he gives a controversial speech. She calls him an idiot and gets arrested. She is then given a chance for a better place if she can complete the contest alive. The contest is made through several stages, each stage has traps and challenges similar to ones in old platformer games. The player must memorize the patterns to complete levels. The game is hard according to testers thus we didn’t add any difficulty settings for now. In the game, some levels have timers and extra challenges. For example, if the player misses all shots, they need to restart the level.
A Chamber of Stars
Each person has a universe inside of them.
A personal universe with characters influenced by the observable reality around them. Your friends, the fans, the local shop clerk, each person you pass without giving pause is another universe. You make up a story about them, they form a story about you. The universes expand.
I always wonder how similar our universes can be. You and I. Will I ever be able to pierce through and present myself, my real self, or will the information be lost in translation? The thing rattling around in our heads can’t be all that different. We both still get choked up over the same melodies, it’s only human to do so, right?
Maybe, if you would like it, I could play something for you. Lord knows your songs are still rattling around in my head.
The singularly named Starr, an enigmatic performer, guitarist and songwriter, has somehow survived the constant shifting tide of the musical landscape. Decade after decade, this artist has remained relevant in culture’s eye. After multiple personas, genre manipulations and controversies, the public is still buzzing. “What will Starr do next?” The rumors say their upcoming album will be the fated magnum opus…
A Chamber of Stars is the sequel to 2018’s The Endless Empty. Through six unique worlds the life of the rock n’ roll hero, Starr, will be pieced together. Exploration, choices and performances will change the course of a life and will alter the songs that are produced. A Chamber of Stars will feature a mix of classic adventure games, puzzle solving and unique rhythm game performances all within a fully realized surrealist universe.
Nothing heavenly or divine; just filthy mortal music here.
Suits: A Business RPG
ENGLISH:
Instead of translating my French review, this will do: Suits is an amazing RPG. From the “lore”, to the battles, to the black-and-white universe, to the humor and the characters. I had a blast playing it, getting the achievements, and I’ll do another playthrough often.
FRANÇAIS:
- voix off *
Un monde en noir et blanc. Où les humains ne sont que de vulgaires engrenages pour la grande machine qu’est le TRAVAIL. Où la justice se règle a coup de pot-de-vin. Où la seule nourriture existante est des sandwichs au goût douteux. (Il y a aussi des hamburgers et des pizzas, mais impossible d’en manger!) Où LE PDJ est le maître suprême. Où être VIRÉ équivaut à la mort.
! (Et devenir un sandwich!) The Guy, un employer dont le numéro est sans intérêt, parviendra-t-il à survivre garder son travail, tout en découvrant les bas secrets de ce monde? VOUS le découvrirez dans Suits : A Business RPG!
– Real player with 16.1 hrs in game
This has been a little game I had under my radar for a while mainly because I like RPG Maker games and the business theme looks pretty interesting. Plus it had a similar art style to OFF and while OFF was okay, it’s art was pretty interesting. So is it good?
Story:
In a world where corporations run rampant, companies can bribe to get what they want. women are treated as mere plants that look pretty and the mere act of refusing a product is enough to land you in jail. In this world, you live as a simple drone until events happen that put you in an adventure that might change the world.
– Real player with 7.5 hrs in game
Bunker Down
Its simple and fun. I think I have found 4 separate endings already, but there seem to be more… Finding the true good ending is HARD. I’m still trying, but i’m enjoying the characters ^^
– Real player with 0.7 hrs in game
It’s a pretty good game for what little there is. You must find the right combination on how to survive. I’m a fan of post apocalyptic games and this fits the criteria. Funny characters and hard to decide who lives and dies.
Review at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcQCLGB4yyg
– Real player with 0.6 hrs in game