Recent reviews by Soge

Fun for a while, but got repetitive very fast. Most builds, characters, and weapons end up playing very similarly, and the progression between "Darkness" levels starts feeling grindy after a certain point.

This is a very good entry in this new Roguelite-auto-battle-bullet-hell genre. Most of the skills are very satisfying once upgraded (IMO, only the poison cloud ends up being genuinely useless), there is a nice progression of challenge as you continue through the game, and at no point I felt stuck, or feeling like I had to grind to continue going through new levels or challenges. Only issue is that the game doesn't have a proper ending sequence, and that some skills never seem to quite target where you want them to.

Omori is the very definition of a "mixed" experience. The story itself is fantastic, dealing extremely well with interesting themes, with a compelling narrative (minus one large plothole you simply have to ignore) and interesting characters. The presentation is also very nice, shifting between typical rpg-maker sprite art and a nice, soft drawing style that give extra impact at key moments.

However, this is a game that simply doesn't respect your time. A lot of it is spent walking through endless corridors, repeatedly so if you want to check out the sidequests. The combat is essentially perfunctory, extremely easy while also being too time consuming. The result is a game that seems to want you to replay it, but where simply finishing it once is a chore. It forgets the main lesson of Undertale: Keep it short.

Still, the ending is fantastic, and is worth the price of admission and the hassle of getting there. But skip it if you don't have that much time to play.

I came in expecting it to be something different, but this is just the typical "modern open world collect-a-thon", full of perfunctory systems that don't really interact well, and an over-abundance of simple content in its open world. The lore is interesting, but I found the dialogue, particularly on the side-quests, very weak. The graphics are good, but nothing that stands out against other AAA titles. And I love the enemy design, but the combat is very weak and simplistic.

Ultimately, I was curious to see where the story was going, but I couldn't justify slogging through the gameplay to see it all.

One of these games that makes me wish for a "meh" button on steam. The concept is very neat, and I'd love to see this type of "simulation of a whole solar system" thing be done in more games. But the whole experience feels like it was made to make you waste way too much time.

A bit of streamlining - like being able to jump to certain places after exploring them fully, a shorter time to restart your game, or even some better alternate paths would make the actual exploration feel much less like a chore. Hell, even the logos when booting up the game take too long to fade away. It does add to the "frustration over being stuck in a groundhog day scenario" feeling, but specially towards the end, I couldn't help the feeling of just wanting it all to be over.

The ending is another issue. No spoilers, but I have seen this idea executed often enough, and with more "flair" than here. It also chooses to focus on one kinda tangential aspect of the experience, instead of the things you do the most during the game, which lead to a certain left of disconnect.

All in all, I'd still recommend the game for its clever ideas, but it could have been much better executed.

I feel conflicted. There is quite a bit of railroading, specially towards the end, and some events seem designed to make sure that you don't achieve certain outcomes - essentially, robbing you of much needed stats right before the decision is made. But it's an interesting and well written story, with striking characters and great moments. I ultimately recommend it, but be ready for some jankiness.

Solid game, will appeal to Doki Doki fans. There are some solid mind♥♥♥♥s, and the whole experience is very charming. Could have used a more solid base on its themes, but that doesn't really ruin the experience.

Ghostrunner is nothing short of a dazzling experience. Its combination of fast paced gameplay, pounding soundtrack, and hard, but fair gameplay creates this hypnotic feeling. Coupled with a storyline with all the beats of classic 80's action-sci-fi, and you have a winning formula.

A heavily stylized visual novel, with a creative approach to using 3d, lovely music, and really good (if occasionally spotty) writing. Get a cup´of coffee (or several), set aside an afternoon, and immerse yourself into this world, it's worth it.

It is a fine game on the surface: Lovely art style, a cast of entertaining and likable main characters, and a solid premise. Sadly, the writing is really lackluster, railroading the played into certain decisions while pretending they are the consequence of player choice. By the end, I couldn't wait for it to be over. A near miss, but a miss nonetheless.