Recent reviews by Anita Coffee

Oh, what to say about Little Misfortune... I just finished my first playthrough, and I like it. However! The following people should not play this game:
1.) Someone who wants more than a point & click / walking simulator. It may as well be an interactive movie about consequences. I like the way this game handled it though, nothing is pointless or there to just consume time. Cinematics are also gorgeous.
2.) If you're expecting it to be -exactly- like Fran Bow, or any sort of continuation. It's not. It's fairly different but is suppose to take place in the same universe.
3.) If you're the sort who wants your media content to have trigger warnings. Abuse & neglect are STRONG themes here. I was even left a bit disturbed when I took a deep think on a certain character.

I suppose that's a pretty good synopsis right there, without giving too much away. It has a lot of dark humor & macabre would be the best descriptor. The protagonist is a well written caricature of a child, and while I've noticed some find her grating... I think she's adorable.

Also, the bit where she talks about the bear trap killing her teddy bear was so spot on for a child's thinking. They can't always direct their own thoughts, even if it's detrimental & just pretend. That was my favorite part as small as it was.

Releasing it right at the start of Autumn & around Halloween was a perfect move too! Can really get you into the mood. The season is clearly Fall in game & there's generic spooky Halloween things all over the place. If & when I do another playthrough for alternate endings, it'll be at Halloween.

Or you could say Dia de Los Muertos. Maybe that fits it even better, actually, if you know anything about the holiday. First game I've ever played with a latina protagonist, at that.

Oh.... and as much as it pains me to say this... The furries will appreciate the love story, I'm sure.

Update: Nominated it for the Steam awards under visual style & I need that badge. So update, woooooo.

The lo-fi in the title attracted me, & the wonderful community kept me. There isn't much lo-fi (seems to update daily?) but there's so much kindness here. It's great to just leave in the background & tab once in a while. Talk about anything anonymously, as long as it's kind.

It's basically Torchlight with a tiny bit better loot management. Great with friends!

All a girl needs is mushrooms and cats.

Takes about 2 minutes but is adooooorable! \o/

This game is CUTE, colorful, and addictive as fk. If you like Starbound, Terraria, Minecraft, Don't Starve - or any similar game to these! You'll like it. I'd say Stardew but really it feels like you should be working at a fast pace. It's not that you have to, it's just what it -feels- like the game wants you to do. You could also call it a light version of Factorio, as you're pretty much conquering this adorable world through capitalism.

Make no mistake though, this is a game for people who love crafting, gathering, and base building. And/or achievement hunting. Combat is there but I've not even come close to death a single time through out my 22 hour stint, and I'm end game now. Which is sad as well because I wish the game was longer! There are also puzzles but they aren't very complicated, give or take 1 or 2. If I have one more complaint, it's that once you have many machines going and things start to become automated, there's so much going on your screen constantly, it can be a bit overwhelming; a bit messy. I had to turn the game down from my original settings because certain banging noises in the game are also much louder and get more frequent as the game goes on.

The good news is, the developer is still working to improve the game, and has a promising road map. Many of the things I listed in the last paragraph are on said map to be improved upon. There's also mention of multiplayer by Fall. I feel like multiplayer would really shorten how much game play you'd really get out of this, but at the same time, I see many people who are never able to complete a farm on Stardew because it takes so long to do so, and random people just aren't the best team mates. You wouldn't have that problem with this game at least.

Over all, 7/10.

It has never felt more satisfying to beat a route in a game before. I wanted to say "beat the game", but after finally completing one route, a new expanded one based off the previous one with what so far seems to be harder mechanics opened up. And just like the first route, I'm determined to beat it. Even if I pull out fist fulls of hair in the process.

The pleasure in this game is finally figuring things out. The irritation is also figuring those things out. You fail, and you start anew. And then in the very next profession - if you choose another - things have changed. So there's more to figure out. In this it becomes very time consuming. It also brings a ton of replayability along with it as well. You either find it relaxing, or frustrating, or both - just like me.

It's hard for me to compare it to another game I've played. It's a solo-card-table-top-RPG-of-trial-and-error, filled with riddles, and lore that honestly seems like it doesn't make sense half the time. And recipe memorization, only you're cooking up an alien God. Lives up to being Lovecraftian at least. I'd say if you like in depth card games, you'll love it. If you like puzzles in a riddle sense, you might like it. No guarantees there. Story driven games? Also a big maybe. All of these things? Then you'll probably enjoy it, or at the very least appreciate it for what it is.

If I have any words of caution, it's that there is no tutorial. You're on your own. The Wiki and other online searches even after a basic understanding of the game may just serve to confuse you more. I think it took me a good 5-6 hours to get what I consider to be the basics of surviving and manifesting cards down at that. So if you buy this game, be prepared to honestly figure things out for yourself, with the occasional Google, that a quarter of the time may not help anyway. If I was able to figure it out though, so can you.

And one last thing, never purge your save. Just don't do it. To say why is a spoiler, and Cultist Simulator is not about spoilers.

Music DLC's are totally worth it if you prefer listening to the actual music in game, but would like to hear more than the 6 or so original tracks. Plus House is my favorite dance music.

Getting them to actually download and go into the game took me a bit of fiddling, so if you run into the same issue, relog Steam, go to the game's DLC's section in the library or properties, untick and retick the "Install" check boxes until you see them downloading - may take a second to show it's downloading and may not show an installation blue bar.

How have I not reviewed this game?

You don't have to like cars or soccer (hockey? there's a debate) to get into it. An absolute scream fest with friends. Great arcade feel. I recommend not taking it seriously though, or it was nice to know you. o/

8/10, 2 notches off for rage. ♥

Two playthroughs and a little digging around about the game, it's a good freebie. Already purchased "Emily is Away Too" because it's so nostalgic. I wasn't college aged back then, but I remember a lot of this from my teenaged years; from the discussions over music of the time, to talking to the one you really wanted over AIM, and just growing up. It's whimsical and a little sad.

The only people I could see not having this resonate with, is if you were just too young or too old to have expierenced the adolescent / young adult life on AIM. And even then, you might still appreciate it. It's free and rather short, so you lose nothing giving it a go.

It's like playing reading a Lovecraftian meme. It's a kinetic visual novel. That be it, and if you like that sorta thing, you might like this.