Recent reviews by violet

this game slaps

pretty good. definitely worth the money

i think this ending synthesises the goofiness of the club with the wider thriller elements quite well, though i do think akasaka's whole deal can be a bit much. despite that, higurashi as a whole is a 10/10 for me. i did a pretty good job at figuring some of the reveals of the last few chapters out but wow. it all really threw me for a lot of loops. i played the rest of the arcs on my phone using the unofficial android port, but will be buying the physical edition soon. i need this on my shelf.

s tier game

first open world survival RPG with crafting to be good

update: nvm it was kinda just a skill issue this game slaps

okay on further playing of this game on higher stakes i've come to realise that it's a great concept that's mostly executed well but falls flat at the high stakes. this is why:

- boss blinds can kill a run thats scoring 1mil on like ante 3 just by debuffing every card you have. often, especially on higher stakes where you need to commit to a build sooner, if you havent found the reroll voucher or the luchador or whatever you will just instantly lose on an unlucky boss blind roll.

- as far as I can tell, many seeds are completely unwinnable. this is bad. the degree to which the player can affect the result of the game seems to *decrease* the more you play, as you realise that without getting lucky and getting a crazy build by ante 3 on the higher stakes you might as well hold R.

this game is very fun normally. the mechanics are fun to explore and watch interact with each other. i greatly enjoyed playing it until i unlocked the higher difficulties, which i feel rely too much on cheap artificial difficulty. i still recommend it though

better puzzles and more focused on an intricate storyline and worldbuilding than the first game, but misses out on some of the horror from the first game while retaining a similarly oppressive atmosphere. honestly I couldn't tell you which is "better", both are unique experiences that are worth playing through and appreciating on their own terms. 10/10

it has extensive singleplayer content, it works online, and it's fun. hopefully its competitors take this into account when they try to emulate its success

the monetisation is outright extortionate though as it is in all new fighting games. i'll probably buy future season and battle passes but it's pretty egregious lol

also the soundtrack is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ mid except for a handful of songs. like jesus christ my main (juri)'s theme sounds like an ad for a razer gaming headset

this game really pushed the limits of how much i'm willing to contend with a trash, barely functional asset flip just to feel a sense of accomplishment, and my limits are pretty hard to hit: i have over 100 hours in getting over it with a PB of 2:36, if that helps make my point clear. this game is a buggy, poorly optimised waste of time with a grab mechanic that just doesnt work sometimes adn collision/grounded detection I programmed better in Scratch when i was 12. dont bother with it is my advice. i beat it in 124 minutes and now im uninstalling it and never playing it ever again. this ♥♥♥♥ is a masterclass in overstaying your welcome. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ 2 hours of relatively easy platforming over the looming threat of restarting from the beginning

extremely intricate and dense dungeon crawling experience that masterfully blends the typical rpg maker format with elements from immersive sims and survival horror. one of the most unique and interesting games i've ever played with an extremely oppressive atmosphere and an attitude towards the player and game design that expects discovery and progression through repeated trial and error rather than having any real mechanical execution boundaries - however, this means that almost all information about the game, your goal, and how to reach it is found through play and reading books or even talking to a certain enemy after getting lucky with a random drop from a random event in the case of the blank scrolls. i personally think this it's challenging and "unfair", but once you understand how to play by its rules more effectively it feels like you've just cracked the code to the matrix, even though there's thousands of things you probably don't understand or haven't seen yet, with a huge breadth of background lore to be found in books and such. if the content warnings turn you off then that's fine, but this is genuinely one of the most impressive feats of indie solo dev-work I've ever played. the second one is very good too and significantly more polished but I haven't put as much time into it yet. i could talk about this game and the way its narrative and atmosphere and themes blend perfectly with its game design ethos for a few thousand words but im too lazy to do that for a steam review just play it for a few hours and you'll get it.

don't use a guide until you beat it. and im not talking about ending E. get one of the others first unless you're REALLY stuck.