Recent reviews by Femmy

Taught me to stop placating men who are only interested in me for my appearance and my quality of social interactions has improved greatly.

This game is perfect if you have ADHD and like puzzles. I got it originally to personalise my account but after playing it I had a lot of fun and wanted more lol. If you like it, you like it. I really don't mind paying a dollar for half an hour of fun.

This game makes my head hurt and I'm a programmer...

Finished
Oxenfree, Night in the Woods

I feel that Firewatch isn’t a game for most people. There’s a lot of people and friends I would not recommend this game to but if you’re already looking to buy it, this review is for you. I’ll prewar that this is almost less of a review and more of a love letter. I think all parts of this game are great and as you play through it fully wraps itself up nice and complete. Every little detail in this game was handcrafted to the story they wanted to tell. From the moment I started the game til the moment I finished it, I viewed myself as Henry the entire time.

There are two main characters: Henry and Delilah. Henry is the main character, you make his decisions and you talk for him. The person you talk to is Delilah. There’s a lot that can be said about Delilah and it’s hard not to say I grew an attachment for her. As a character she was sweet with just enough sass that you could enjoy. She seemed like the kind of woman to take no ♥♥♥♥ but when she was scared it made sense. She was clearly written with a distinct idea in mind and her flaws are probably what made her a good character. I felt that the voice acting only made the characters come out stronger. They had good emotional range and it never felt like I was talking to someone putting on a voice unless of course they were.

The most important aspect of the game and personally the reason why there’s nothing in this game I would change. Every little exchange you have with Delilah adds to the story bit my bit and as you play, you can clearly see the characters feeling for each other. Everything about the interactions is fantastically realistic and I found myself drawn into every moment and every word. From the relaxed banter to the panicked mutters, it was all so real which was only aided by the fantastic voice actors. Each time Henry and Delilah would sass each other I could feel myself giggle and when they were scared I was too. Their emotions easily influenced me and I can honestly say that this is the type of writing one aspires to do. I haven’t really mentioned the story so far and I think it’s better to just play the game with no idea of what’s to come. I honestly could have sat there and talked to Delilah for the entire game but I’m glad they decided to have a story that really drew me in. It’s a bit more on the realistic side and I feel that a lot of gamers won’t really appreciate it but as an avid reader, it was really refreshing for a game’s story.

This is a beautiful game. Living in Australia this isn’t the type of landscape I can see or explore. Being able to walk through the game as Henry and every so often stopping to take photos, I feel was a great experience. It feels like all the little details in the game are really lovely. Even though each area looked distinct enough, I did find myself getting lost and walking the wrong way but I strongly feel that, that’s a me thing. I think that the most spectacular part though was how they used the environment to section off areas for you to unlock later. It was a brilliant use of design and made perfect sense. I feel all in all that the environment, the trees, streams and canyon areas, really tie the game and story together.

I will be listening to this soundtrack for the rest of my life. I think every song is perfectly atmospheric and add to the mystery that slowly amounts through the game. Each song made with the sole intention to truly sink the feelings you’re currently having in. They beautifully reflect what is happening or about to happen. All of the really peaceful songs set in as you walk into an area for the first time and it just makes my heart sing. You could almost say they use silence in this game far more then they use sound but when they do, they do it perfectly. I’d also like to make a little note that the choice of credit song was fantastic. While I’m pretty sure it was picked based on the idea that the people playing this game are on the older side, I still loved it. I grew up with this song and it really, for me, tied the game up perfectly.

There’s not a single thing I would change about this game and sure there’s a lot of you who would disagree but this game was so well written. I loved every moment of it. I craved to play the game when I couldn’t and if I could go through again with fresh eyes it would be a fantastic experience. As I have stated again and again through this review every little thing was handcrafted. Each feature and idea they put their all into. This was a game made with love and while I was playing it, I felt that love. If you do like walking simulator type games, this is a must buy.

Finished

Personally I didn’t realize I even owned this game. I picked it out to play through a randomizer because of the sheer volume of games I own. Despite that, no matter what reasons it fell into my hands to play, I’m glad it did. This is a game that length wise is short and refreshing while offering up some difficult puzzles. All of which is tied to a story that while vague is beautiful.

The puzzles are something I still don’t really know how to feel about. I’ve mulled over it for a while and I thinks while there’s a few negatives, the positives outweigh them. It’s a colour based puzzle, separated into acts with each act introducing a new mechanic. At first this seems like a good idea, the more mechanics they add, the more it seems to simplify the puzzle. Once you figure out the one hard little knot, the puzzle falls into place for you and you’re left feeling a little unsatisfied. Compared to other puzzles games, you don’t get a sense of accomplishment from completing the puzzles. The last puzzle I think is very charming and really finishes the game off well.

This game’s art is charming. It’s reminiscent of a children’s book which is only aided by the story. Each act brings a new environment that matches the pacing and the puzzles quite well. As you journey up through the puzzles you start to understand how each location reflects within the story itself. I feel that the game may have been better off as a phone game but having the art in full resolution and colour works far too fantastically. It’s whimsical yet doesn’t undercut the sad and emotional tone of the game.

I could honestly say that this music was one of the main reasons I cried. The story had already bore a hole in my heart and the music just further opened it up. It was well composed with nothing that would make it harder to think yet still conveyed a certain feeling. They’re shooting themselves in the foot by not making a soundtrack so great purchasable. Each song is perfectly tailored to the environment especially the act. The final act is what I would say a perfect culmination of a game. Everything peaks, the art, the sound, the music and the puzzle at the end is fun and charming.

This is where I want to address the story throughout the game. It was lovely and it did in fact make me shed tears. I fell the only thing that might of made the writing slightly better is if it was voiced as to address some of the confusion over who is talking and to also add another layer of emotions. I do think that everything about this game ties around the story like a neat little package. Overall this game gives a nice but succinct finish. All the ideas are addressed and it doesn’t really give a feeling of longing at the end. You can tell it was made with love and that they knew it had to finish when it did.

Finished
Night in the Woods

So I’ve decided to change up my format style to make the reviews a little less convoluted and address what game creators classify as the features of their game. With that said I got Oxenfree on sale expecting it to be a game right up my alley and I wasn’t wrong. I’m still young enough to enjoy the teen drama without it being overly obnoxious as well as being a huge sucker for mystery. From there I can address the first point and what most would call the gameplay: Dialogue and Conversation.

So from the start we’re introduced to Alex, Jonas and Ren then once on the island we meet Clarissa and Nona. From the start we can tell the relationships of the characters as if they’re all loudly shouting who they are so you can easily categorize them. You’ve got the edgy jaded teen, the well liked but awkward one, the disliked but awkward one, queen ♥♥♥♥♥ and the quiet but pretty one who no one dislikes because she lacks a personality to dislike. Now while what I’m saying does sound quite harsh this is only how I felt at the start, as the characters progressed and I got to know them. I understood their reasoning even if some of the reasons were bad. I did feel like some of the text bubbles didn’t give me enough time to answer and some lingered too long but they did managed to nail how a conversation flows. Conversation is never one person to the next person, it’s a mess of people trying to get their ideas out before they forget them and it’s shown here fantastically. While the specifics of what they say don’t bring me back to a fond state of nostalgia of being a teen it still does remind me of how much it sucked. Which may be good or bad depending from person to person.

One of their listed features is the radio mechanic which I felt was a small part but it did aid the mystery. I’m a pretty jumpy person so the first time the radio went off I won’t lie I screamed. It adds a fun little mechanic to what otherwise would just be a walking and talking game. The radio also aids with the stellar voice acting. I enjoyed them character voice actors and didn’t just feel like it was a bunch of adults pretending to be kids. I say that but I still love teen wolf. Either way I think the mechanic worked well enough but I feel if there was something slightly more engaging I would enjoy it more.

Now the Art was fantastic. The character design is great especially with how hateable of a face Ren had. Besides that slight joke the art was really charming but still lets you fall into the mystery of it. The art is reminiscent of this cartoon series called Detentionaire and I think both are quite similar yet still different enough. Speaking of the mystery, the music really pulled you in. Every time I was playing this game I completely tuned out the world around me and was involved in the story. I feel the music really helps with this as well as a solid mystery. It says within the story it has an inspiration from World War II and I can see that but I feel like it’s forgotten. The teens being written like teens don’t care about the connection and it feels like you shouldn’t either. I don’t think they thought about it too much. I feel like they should of maybe focused a bit more on the character drama between Alex her group of friends and the poltergeists. If they focused on that instead of sprinkling hints of something bigger it might have been slightly more interesting or if they made the cast older by a few years. I think both would have aided me being interested in the WW2 connection but I felt a disconnect between me following the character and me following the story.

Despite what some would say is harsh criticism, I found myself really enjoying this game. I really loved the main character and when she was angry, I was angry. I think the creators really loved making this game and it shows. They portrayed the character emotions well and the story flowed well. I felt like it climaxed fantastically and there was never a point where I was bored or lost. The whole world of the game dragged me in and I loved it. The only point I could add would that the story would probably fit a graphic novel better then a game but regardless of that I still rate it highly.

Never returned to the game.

The first time I played this game was in a group of friends. One of them wanted to try it as a joke and they started to enjoy it. We got to about level 25 with our Digimons getting to around level 40 before getting bored. My first thought was that I wasn’t going to like it purely based on looks and UI. I didn’t want to download it but my friends asked so I did. When I saw the Digimons I was quite excited because I did have an attachment to the series. I’ve played the Pokemon games but somehow I’ve always leaned more towards this series. It probably comes from a combination of the very first Digimon movie and the Digimon world games. Both of which I have a soft spot for in my heart.

The biggest problem I have with the game is the sheer fact that it isn’t fun. I got frustrated by the fact the leveling felt quite slow and my over crowded inventory. Not to mention the cash grab that was the Digimon storage. You get given one space and have to use money to unlock anymore. As much as you could like Digimon you’d have to spend money to get all the ones that you’d want. A small added note as well is you only get three Digimon slots with a fourth being purchasable for real money. Because of the lack of fast travel one of these slots has to go to a mountable Digimon. I found leveling to be too slow towards the middle or rather a lack of exp being a solo player. You’d get on for the free exp boost a day grind and then go play something that was actually fun. They did try to put in a story but I couldn’t quite tell you what it was. I got easily bored of it and the story that I did read was poorly translated which also hampers on the understanding of information. I couldn’t tell if it was a lack of info or that poor of a translation that caused me to use guide videos so much. My final disappointment was the DS/Mana system in this game. You could never keep your powerful Digimon evolutions out because it was drain your DS insanely fast. You’d start to save the form for boss battles which was painful because your Digimon’s base form would always lose health quite quickly.

I stated before that I did play this game with friends and it was probably the only reason I got to level 25. The game really does know that it’s best played in a group especially because I never felt punished with exp. We’d all level quite fast together which was helped by these monster/boss summon cards. After collecting a few while questing we’d all group together and summon one after the other to fight. They dropped good items and exp as well being a good difficulty for a group. The item pick up was awful though. Half the time you didn’t know which items were yours and you’d get stuck trying to pick up your friends items. Playing the game in a group of positive friends but also friends who can laugh at the badness of the game is the best.

To be quite honest, it’s ugly. Really, really, ugly. This game does have a few charming areas and I did like the appeal of seeing all the Digimon roaming around but it doesn’t make up for it. The game has some very questionable design choices. I especially hated the placement of most NPCs and having to interact with them. There’s also these sound effects which are god awful. There’s this dial-up sound they added and I can’t understand their choice for it. Truly a horrible sound but it’s been placed on one of the most common things you do. Some of the animations are bad, just very awkward and confusing. Having zero fast travel on top of an already confusing design was really bad.

Now while I have spent most of my time talking badly about the series and I personally do not recommend it. The game itself is free and a very small download so if you really like Digimon and have a group of friends it can’t hurt to try. There’s not many redeeming qualities but it does have a unique monster leveling system and holds appeal that way. If it wasn’t for that system it’d just fall into the category of another ‘cash grab’ MMO with a lack of love. If the game was made with a little more care and less focused on money making, it could have been a fantastic game.

Finished
All of the Danganronpa series. Especially the manga.

Now I am a big Danganronpa fan. I remember picking up the very first game up on my ps vita with no clue what it was. I’m a weeb, I see anime characters, I buy. I didn’t sleep for the whole night, this game shook me to the core. I was amazed, it was everything I had wanted without knowing it. I beat number one in under two weeks and eagerly waited for number two which I bought on the play station store. When I found out number three was going to be on steam I was ecstatic and preordered it as soon as I could. This is a game that was going to end the series and I was invested. Once it came out, I played it any chance I could and I will be honest I enjoyed myself.

I’m going to preface this section with the fact that I do feel the need to mention the ending because it did affect my rating on the game. So as the usual Danganronpa game goes it loosely ties into the storyline while being a solid story by itself. I found the main characters quite easy to get behind and cheer for. I found the twist on chapter one to be quite captivating and easy dragged me back into this familiar world. Something that is a slight problem with all games of these types, is the constant need for the writer to up the ante. I was pleasantly surprised by the puzzles and problem solving but I can understand the frustration it may cause other returners to the series. The characters really helped to pull the wool over my eyes, which was quite appreciated. There’s nothing worse than playing a detective game and knowing everything from square one. Speaking of the characters I found them quite fresh and a tad more shocking than usual. The amount of times I would stop in awe because a character did in fact just say that. It is time that I mention the elephant in the room: The Ending. I personally adored it. I thought it was truly fantastic and such a good shock to the system. However from the point of view of most fans, I can understand that it’s a letdown. There’s so much that is insulting to the people who have watched the series grow and evolve. From that I do have to lower the score despite my adoration for the ending.

This game like usual follows the same set up of socializing and class trials. Socializing plays out by giving gifts they characters like to them and then getting to follow along a small character arc. There’s not much to be said about it as it’s there to pad out game time and make the small little in between bits a little more bearable. Class trials or what I’d call the main portion of the game plays out the same as the last two games while always adding more features. Let’s talk about debates specifically something new they added to them, Perjuries and Scrum debates. Now I found the perjuries hard to rap my head around them at first. Like how am I meant to know specifically when to lie about it but I felt they foresaw this problem. From what I could tell they tried to place the perjury at the same place in the class trail each time. I found the scrum debates a much more fun addition to the game and it was nice to see which characters would side with or against you. I felt like it also helps break up the non-stop debate section quite well. As always they added little mini-games to break up the debates as well. Which are a driving game, a letter guess game and a block puzzle game. These are easy improvements compared to the past mini-games and I never found myself sitting there frustrated by something stupid. If you’re picking up number three you liked the play style of the first two games which is why I decided to give it full points.

To me Danganronpa has always been stylish. It has a unique charm that’s always reflect fantastically by the character design and the neon pink blood. As usual they did well designing an all-star cast. The designs worked surprisingly well with their personalities and it felt like a fresh but reminiscent world. The school’s design was a bit hectic and over the top and I definitely felt like it was slightly over the top. I also found because it only became much larger after so many people were killed that the space felt empty and some parts never used. Besides that it had the usual look some areas I did find quite snazzy and added a nice little touch of mystery. I did enjoy the character designs as per usual. Especially when the ones I would usually lean more towards turned out to really surprise me when I got to know them.

What does make Danganronpa special? More so what about this game in the series that makes in special. There was just something perfectly shocking about this game. The characters surprised me with what they said. The twists the class trials took which I somehow never managed to guess the murderer until the end and finally the amazing story that just had so many up and downs. At some points my heart couldn’t take it and as much as an ending that felt like betrayal to some fans, I still personally felt that it was amazing. If you get disappointed by the ending I’m sure you will like the journey and if you didn’t like the journey I’m sure you will like the ending. I feel that this game is my favorite out of the entire series. It really gives the feeling that creators wanted to say good bye in a very finite way. Either way if you enjoyed the first two games, this is a must play and I loved every moment in the game.

Finished
Oxenfree

So I picked up Night in the Woods a long time ago and just didn’t touch it. I don’t know if I was afraid it wasn’t going to be good even though I was so very excited to play. Everything about the game seemed so cute and stylish to me yet still I left it to collect dust in my steam library. On another note my steam library is where good games go to die. Anyway I finally forced myself to play and boy was that one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

I went into this game knowing nothing, I’ll be honest I saw a cat as the main character and I was sold. I think this game is best enjoyed when you don’t know anything about it. That being said this is a review so I do need to talk about it. The story starts with Mae Borowski returning home after dropping out of College. I will give you guys some back-story, I am also a drop out so I instantly had empathy for the main character and that definitely skews my opinion. She goes on to have a hard time because most of her friends have their lives and she doesn’t know where to fit. I feel like the feelings of all the characters are expressed well and it reflects my own experiences quite well. I don’t believe this story is for everyone but I do believe that it has got its own charms that I think most will enjoy. The way the characters talk and interact reminds me more of when I was around fifteen to seventeen but it still gives you the feeling of friendship. I think it’s best if I don’t talk about the plot as it’s much better experience then whatever I could write here. I will say I was satisfied by the ending.

This game plays fluidly and there was never a point where I found myself standing still wondering where I go next. It’s a world that allows itself to be explored and almost invites you to. It never feels like the text options trick or deceive you, what Mae says is what you expect her to say. There were times where the jumping did frustrate me but I’m awful at platforming so I do feel if I’m being objective I shouldn’t deduct points. I did appreciate that you could choose who to hang out with on each day and that affected the story. I enjoyed the mini-games but I did think some of them went on a little longer than necessary and there was no way to skip them. Some of the mini-games also felt like they were sprung on you out of nowhere but I feel like it didn’t negatively affect my enjoyment of the game.

This is a game that is beautiful and stylish from the music to the world design. I fell in love with it. The world design truly communicated that feeling of a small town which I’ve never experienced. Each place I chose to explore intrigued me and really gave me the same reminiscent feelings Mae would have felt. I adored the music, it was something that teetered perfectly between whimsical and dirty kids in a grunge band. I feel like each song was lovingly made with the scene in mind and the feelings they we’re trying to communicate. All over this world felt complete as I was exploring I didn’t have any questions and I when I did the game answered them in one way or another.

I can’t tell whether it’s the lovingly crafted world with how it looks and sounds or a story where I felt real empathy for the main character. Everything about this game I love. Every character reminded me of people I met when I was a teen and the stupid shenanigans we would get up to. This game truly deserves to be bought at full price and played with no distractions. If this review can convince one person to buy it I’d be happy.