Recent reviews by CodeDanEXE

I wanted to like this but it was pretty disappointing in the end.

Pros:
-The match-3 puzzle game was fun. Kept me engaged and I wouldn't mind an endless mode or more optional challenges.
-The pixel art and character designs were good.

Cons:
-The plot just wasn't that interesting. It definitely feels inspired by VA-11 HALL-A but it got to the point where this game tried really hard to be its inspiration. The main character wasn't that interesting and the world could have been fleshed out some more. It felt like it wanted to hit the emotional depth of its inspiration, but it misses the mark so hard.
-The English translation is really rough. Nothing felt natural, kind of like AI/machine translated. Honestly if the game was properly localized then it probably would have improved my reception of the plot.
-The devs acknowledged that the soundtrack pre-launch was AI generated, and was then replaced by royalty-free/unity asset store music. Unfortunately this does hurt the game's presentation a lot as the soundtrack felt uninspired and didn't add on to the tone and environment. AI music is 100% worse, but I wish they would have hired a composer to make something that suited the game. The tracks also felt like they just pulled whatever sounded like the VA-11 HALL-A soundtrack to continue being "inspired".

I really want to stop making comparisons to VA-11 HALL-A and judge this game on its own merit but its really hard when the game itself really feels like it wants to be VA-11 HALL-A. Yes its free, and its roughly under 3 hours, but honestly I would say pass on this and go play something else.

A very fun and charming exploration platformer! The highlight of the game is the movement with the drill. It feels really good and exploring was a lot more fun than I expected! Combat was a little rough but some bosses were cleverly designed and a blast once you learned their patterns, especially Mizu. I think Zephyra and Alan's fights could be a tad shorter, they feel longer than the other bosses in the game.

There may be a few minor bugs but that never ruined the experience for me! One of the Diamond Trio bosses involved shattering glass and each hit did cause the game to lag/freeze for a bit, making the fight a bit easier than intended I think, so I hope that gets addressed in a future patch.

Otherwise its a great game worth checking out!

Theres so much to love in this game. The characters, storylines, music, all of it is in one really fun and challenging package that I highly recommend to anyone who likes puzzle games, whether they're competitive or just likes to play them to relax!

Using the Valve Index for this. Really fun cooking sim! Tutorial was pretty bugged, no instructions appeared on the green scroll, but the game is very easy to learn if you watch the store video. It took me a while to figure out how to open the refrigerator though, and that always felt buggy no matter how I approached it. But its a great laugh, especially when streaming to friends. Can't wait to try the sequels.

Its rough around the edges. Im running an i5-8600k and a GTX 1060 with Valve Index, and it struggles to keep a stable framerate. If you have a stronger PC go for it, its very promising, but if you're underpowered like me, wishlist it and wait til you upgrade.

During the menus when the framerate was stable and left hand was calibrated, it felt nice. It honestly did bring me back to the plastic guitar days and I feel like it is definitely a game I can lose hours to. They keep putting out updates to improve custom song support and the devs look like they're pouring in a lot of effort to make this a really great game. I'm looking forward to more.