Recent reviews by lostleader

Ignis Universia: Eternal Sisters Saga DX is more puzzle than RPG, and the way that it encapsulates that is part of the charm of it all. I don't think the battle system itself is particularly interesting beyond that aspect of solving for it's enemies and recruiting certain characters tho. Like, it's very clear you mostly need to recruit a new character in order to use their new abilities to win the next battle, and there really only being 2 battles near the end that you can actually differ in combat. Even then though, the majority of the game feels entirely taught to you to the point it doesn't feel any battle is really won through your strategy. This isn't a bad thing mind you, but it does make Ignis Universia more like a one trick pony. Like ya, you can go out and get different achievements that require certain luck or prediction, but ultimately the game is solved by brute trial and error. Again, that's the fun of it all, and makes the sauce that keeps this spaghetti hot. It's short enough that the trial and error is more fun then annoying, the writing is witty and charming, and ultimately it's just a silly game. Ignis Universia has a great aesthetic too, so it never really feels dull over the short time you do have with it, as repetitive as it might be. Ultimately this Eternal Sisters Saga DX falls into my neat game that works because of it's premise. Plus it's free!

I'm not a particular fan of Cureocity. Like I can kinda understand what it's trying to do, and it has an interesting take on fighting in RPGs. The main problem is just the battle UI being kinda abysmal to work with. Like nothing in the UI battle system seems to hint at what it can actually do, and the way the majority of my problems with this game were just trying to figure out how to work the battle menu was unpleasant. I understand part of the point of it is the puzzle of working with what you got, but often I stumbled on what I could do rather than the game leading me there. As for the story? It's pretty cutesy and hints at something else entirely going on. I appreciate the game not pulling certain punches, and even giving a few different endings pending on how you do things.

Overall, Cureocity has neat ideas, but the concept of what it's trying to do with the battle system just needs more work. As much as people hate yellow tag lines, there is a reason they are there, so people can spot them. Sadly, I couldn't see the changes so well when I was playing through this game so my playthrough of it was clumsy and annoying over an actual brain teaser.

Missed Messages artfully shows the power of being there for someone. It's a great reminder to check on others, and has some really impactful moments that really help encapsulate that feeling of dread and regret whenever something unexpected happens to someone in your life. The game rocks a fantastic art style that helps cement the vibe throughout the game. The music and voice acting are good beat for beat, and the game doesn't drag on too long to get its point across. Life happens in moments, and Missed Messages really captured that feeling for sure.

Boomeroad is one of those games that you kinda constantly think about in a "I wish it was better" scenario. Like it's clearly working with something here, but it's just not fleshed out. It's really fun to create your own paths, the mechanics introduced later in the 2nd stage work well to help evolve gameplay, and it's fun to explore overall. Part of the problem is just the budget and time allotted here clearly don't do the game any favors. With it being a mess to navigate through, and nearly every place you go looking around, looking exactly like the area before it. This wouldn't be so much a problem if you just play the game to just zip through as fast as you can, but with a few collectables scattered here and there it's clear the game wants you to explore. Again the actual exploration is fun, but it's kinda like looking around an office building with everything so bland and samey really helping confuse the player in what would otherwise be a fun time. Add to the fact the game is not particularly long or challenging in a way that would get a player to come back means you are kinda one and done with it. It may be cheap as free, but it's really hard to argue to spend more time with this game than the bare minimum needed to beat it. Still fun with it's basics though.

I think this is one of Toree's weakest showings in terms of games. As much as I like Toree Genesis with its fun levels and new mechanics it gives to the formula. The rest of the games just doesn't match that energy with a lot of unfair and non-intuitive level design. I understand the other games are suppose to be harder, but sadly they come across as more irritating and annoying than challenging.

Jumbled Jam 2 really beefs it hard with the game not explaining certain mechanics very well on top of a lot of the levels suffering from bad camera angles and genuinely hard to look at coloring. I understand it's supposed to be a harder game, but a lot of the difficulty came down to just not feeling fair over actual struggle.

Missions is probably the worst Toree game I've played however. Thankfully, a lot of the missions act more like a tutorial for playing Toree better, and it really helps fine tune your abilities. Sadly, the big problem is the last batch of missions that are just too difficult to deal with. Often these last missions requiring a lot of precise controlling, fast execution, and near perfect playing. So much so that one of the levels legitimately has to be memorized first before you have any chance to clear it. Sadly, the majority of my time sunk with Toree Missions were trying to clear these last missions, and it soured my opinion of it greatly.

Thankfully, this collection does have one good game in it, and I think that gives Toree's Panic Pack some worth. Toree Genesis is just a good callback to previous mascot 3D adventures while also providing some fun new things along the way. It's often more campy and forgiving compared to the rest of the games in this collection, and it's kind of a testament to what makes Toree work. With a lot of Toree's formula being built more on attitude and vibes over anything expressively challenging. It's a reminder of 3D platformers of yester year while still having it's own identity to work with. Overall, I just can't recommend this collection to anyone, but hardcore Toree fans looking for more challenge.

Top Nep is a game solely entertaining on it's ascetics alone. While I really do want to give it flowers for anything else, Dimension Tripper Neptune: TOP NEP simply isn't challenging or interesting to learn. Understandably for a Space Harrier like game there is only so much you can do with the formula before you stray too far away from it, but Top Nep just played it too safe. While I am grateful that it wasn't too hard, I am sadden that it just doesn't have much else to it. You honestly could beat this game by spending most of your time in the corner, and you are rarely rewarded to do much else. It's a real shame because this game looks absolutely amazing. The sprite work is wonderful, the music is chipper, and the levels look incredible. The game is pretty short though, and there isn't much to do beyond trying to perfect it. If nothing else, you get this game because it's eye candy.

Beeny genuinely feels like some sort of lost clone of Donkey Kong Country finally found unearthed somewhere. Like all the ascetics and core platforming mechanics really feel right at home with those 2D plaformers on the SNES in such a good way. My only real problem with it is that Beeny's level design are all vertical and basically have little differences between levels outside of enemies and palette swaps. Not so much mad at such a thing, but imagine all the same type of levels being in one world in a given game and just doing that. It still has it's fun parts to it, but it can feel a bit wore. Thankfully, Beeny knows when to cut it short, and by the time you start to feel the concept of this game to dip, you're pretty much done with it. On top of that you get a fun teaser for the next game Siactro was making at the time, Super Kiwi 64. Beeny isn't quite on the level of scratching that itch that you may have for old school 2D platformers, but gosh does it hit the spot for a little while. Which is more than a lot of other games can say.

Losing someone is always a painful thing when they mattered to you, and it perhaps hurts most when it's your parents when you're at a young age. A Taste of the Past is reminiscence of such heart ache and love. A bitter sweet feeling of what it feels to never have something again yet always chasing that thing that can help you remember it. It really is a nice short visual novel of such pains that can feel very cathartic and cruel. If you're looking for a melancholy time, A Taste of the past does a good job of showing the lengths someone will go for love, and how generations can effect each other down the line. It's short, sweet, free, and will make you cry in record time.

Doronko Wanko really helped me work out some issues I have with minimalism in the best way it possibly could, by destroying it. Like this game is a carnal need for anyone that has a problem with impulse control, and my goodness did it feel wonderful to release it. Part Katamari, part cute dog, part reverse power washer, and part puzzler. Doronko Wanko really makes me wish we had more levels for such destructive behavior, and we were given more ways to ruin it. Like a snowball effect of having a small mess get exceedingly bigger and more chaotic is just always so interesting, and the way the game could just continue a similar trend with other scenarios yet we only get the one is a missed opportunity for sure. Add to the fact that there really isn't much else to do once you gain all the awards for the destruction, and no real challenged mixed into the game really just kind solidifies this as more of a proof of concept rather than a full game. Still I'm happy I got to play it, and for the base game being free really helps it's case. But as I said before, a missed opportunity for sure.

Genuinely, such a great bite sized adventure of what makes 3D platform collecting so fun. It's not very hard, and a lot of the collectables are hinted at thru their names and often can be gotten just by exploring the world. I really wish we got a boss or something else for 100% completion because it really felt like it was just missing that amount of content to really push it over the edge in terms of a truly small scope 3D platformer. If you're a fan of 3D Mario games or Banjo Kazooie you are going to have a great time with Beach Island Deluxe. It has attitude in all the right places, a nice soundtrack, good physics for platforming, and a great showcase of collectables through actions. Plus the little dude wears sunglasses, SO YOU KNOW THEIR COOL!