Webfishing

New comfort game unlocked. The low price, cute graphics, and fishing mechanics really reeled me in. And I have come to realize that with all of life’s problems, what I really needed was to be a derpy cat that fishes with internet strangers.

The chat room type feature was honestly the biggest hurdle for me. I’m incredibly shy both irl and online, so I was very nervous joining servers at first. But the community has been very welcoming, and all the servers I’ve been in haven’t cared that I’m mute/not talkative. It’s really relaxing just fishing next to other people even if we aren’t saying anything or simply observing the conversations going on. This could just be the times that I’m playing, but the 18+ and non-18+ servers aren’t really that different in my experience. Everyone is just really chill (playing during late nights and early mornings hit different). Also, I highly recommend getting drunk in-game so that you can struggle a bit and flail around. I fell into the ocean like five times in a row once, it was great.

Outside the social aspects, fishing is really addicting and simple. I like feeling a sense of accomplishment from collecting more fish and getting money. It's great for completionists or people who like customizing their little character. There's also other features-- gambling, drawing, or playing guitar. I haven't tried the guitars, but I do know that they're difficult to get the hang of. Oh, and before I forget there's also voidfishing hehehe. I've played solo a fair share of times, and it’s still been nice and cosy. Sometimes I prefer it when I'm feeling more low energy than usual.

The biggest issue with the game is probably bots. They spam chat, take up player slots, and kicking them doesn’t work. It’s annoying but the problem isn’t anywhere near extreme enough to ruin my fun. I was initially a bit hesitant to get this game because I saw some steam reviews complaining about doxxing and/or hackers, but so far I haven’t encountered any. It’s all been smooth sailing (or fishing I should say).

Refind Self: The Personality Test Game

Pop psychology-ish personality tests have been increasingly common to see mentioned on the internet. I have no idea how or when they became so popular, I just know that they appeared one day. That’s all to say, I have no opinion on them lol.

This game, however, rides off that current prevalence by marketing itself as being a personality test game. Less so of your actual personality, more like “what type of gamer are you?” I think it received moderate popularity (a small vtuber I sometimes watch played it okay), likely because it’s a nifty gimmick and the aforementioned popularity of personality tests.

It starts by presenting itself as a game within a game. Don’t think about it too much, instead focus on the soft piano and robot angst™. I won’t delve too much into the story, but the gist of the plot is robot angst + my creator “died” while leaving behind a vague promise. You’ve probably seen variants of this general premise before. Robots tend to be sad in a lot of media I come across, maybe they need a pat on the back or something.

The gameplay itself is quite simple and casual. Mainly you just walk around and interact with things, each action determining your “personality”. I believe there’s around 23 possible personalities, of which 3 end up being calculated (somehow) as your main personalities. You can unlock 2 additional distant personalities once you replay the game. On that note, the game highly encourages replayability, at least 3 playthroughs to be exact (so you can see the true ending). The game itself only takes about an hour, so replaying really isn’t much of a hassle. It’s nice if you want to have a chill afternoon with cute graphics and casual gameplay.

For anyone who's curious, my three main personalities were: clergy, planner, and researcher (my additional 'hidden personality' was traveler, most distant one was runner)

Portal

Some months ago, my best friend got obsessed with this game. So of course, I was now legally obligated to play it (after procrastinating for a while). I already knew a fair bit about Portal before playing, because (1) it’s super popular (2) best friend yapped to me about it. So I was aware of all the characters, the cake is a lie, i’m a potato, companion cube= fwend, also all the GLaDOS songs are a bop. In middle school I had ‘Still Alive’ memorized despite having never played Portal.

My experience playing the first game was basically jumping into portals to launch myself and going ‘wheeeeee’. And, you won’t believe it, but my experience with the second game? ‘WHEEEEEE’ but with the added bonus of being insulted by GLaDOS every five minutes and dealing with Wheatley’s antics. I love it. None of the puzzles reached the point of being super frustrating so it felt rewarding to solve them. Also the way that mechanics are introduced is smooth, and it doesn’t take too long for things to become more intuitive. The first game went by surprisingly quickly, which made me excited to play the second game. The sequel was way longer and I was really satisfied with the way it expanded on a lot of things.

Since I didn’t go into the story blind, that probably affected my perspective. My initial thoughts on meeting Wheatley was just “what a funny little guy, hope he doesn’t do anything too silly (like betray me)”. I also spent half the game patiently waiting for the “I’m a potato” scene. It was all I ever needed in life. I can see why this game is super popular.

LiEat

A cute game told in three parts that follows the adventures of a conman and a lie-eating dragon.

The main duo consists of spunky, young dragon Efi and the grumpy conman “Leo”. To bluntly explain their dynamic: Leo wants to be cool and mysterious soo bad, but this toddler dragon is killing the vibe, so now he’s a disgruntled dad. He’s initially introduced as “Leo”, but his name and identity constantly change as they move town to town. As for his actual name, it’s not that major a spoiler and it’s revealed in Part I anyways, so: lmaoo Theobald Leonhart is his name.

Each part follows a different town, with the duo slowly solving a mystery by uncovering lies. I think the story was well done. The self-contained mysteries were nice and Part III’s delve into Theo’s backstory wrapped up the game nicely. I never got bored going through dialogue since all the characters were pretty charming. Plus, we got dragon lore (yayy). It was also a cool concept that lies could physically overtake someone, ya know ‘losing yourself to lies’.

In terms of game mechanics, I also noticed this mentioned in steam reviews, but this game is crazy easy. Even me, a self-proclaimed unskilled casual gamer, had a very easy time with the combat system. Most of the time I just spammed attack and only really used skills during boss fights. Also in Part II and III, if you go snooping around you can quickly find ‘legendary weapons’ which essentially oneshot every mob except for bosses. And weirdly enough it also awards you gold for defeating lies, but gold is basically useless since you never buy anything. This isn’t really a critique or anything btw, I still had fun so none of that stuff really bothers me.

Ghostpia

A charming little visual novel that takes place in a mysterious ghost town. This story can go from goofy to sad, and sometimes violent and a bit bloody, but at its core it’s filled with sincere and heartfelt emotions. There’s no gameplay to speak of at all, but I think this was an effective use of the medium. While this could’ve just been a novel, I think that the visuals and ost really enhanced the experience.

Something that immediately hit me was the atmosphere of this vn. It’s incredibly melancholic but also strangely calming and pleasant. A winter that never ends, a near constant night sky, and a town full of ghosts that can’t die (heh that rhymes). This is supplemented by a really good ost and a very cutesy art style. The colors are soft, but feel vibrant and cosy when contrasted against the winter landscape. Marketing described this vn as “cruel cuteness and melancholy violence” which is a very apt description.

The story starts with you getting thrust into Sayoko’s monologuing, which you need to get used to because she’s going to do that a lot. Sayoko is a very introspective character who spends a lot of time in her head. She struggles with a great deal of internal conflict, and tends to overthink and beat herself up. I enjoyed having these quiet moments where Sayoko does nothing but reflect on her actions and complicated emotions. Though at times, I felt like the pacing was dragging with her long-winded introspection. But overall I was fine with it since I really liked the writing style. The prose was really good at setting the mood and tone, it flows smoothly and is descriptive when it needs to be. However, it uses metaphors a bit excessively (but that’s just my personal taste).

Anyways, aside from these nitpicks I think this was a really strong first episode. There’s a lot of pull to this story– the mystery aspects, the violence and action, and the characters. Sayoko, Yoru, Pacifica, and Anya are all great characters who compliment each other. Sayoko spends a lot of time being depressed, but it’s through her friends that she gains a feeling of belonging. Throughout her personal journey in the story, she grows as a person and leaves off on a much brighter note. While she might still find death alluring, she really cherishes her friends and the precious times she’s having right now. Yay, power of friendship. So, while this first episode doesn’t answer any main mysteries and the church still hasn’t been dealt with, it does wrap up on a satisfying note.

And now let me ramble about Sayoko and Yoru’s relationship. This game doesn’t have a girl’s love tag on steam and it isn’t marketed as such, so I was really caught off guard by these two. At first I just thought it was some gay subtext, but man these two clearly hold some semblance of special feelings towards each other. Spoilers: One of my favorite moments was when they shared a bath together. It was such a vulnerable moment, both physically and emotionally. They were both so open, comfortable, and sweet. Sayoko who was struggling to express her thoughts, and Yoru who gently comforted her. And this happens again in Ch. 5 where they share another intense moment. Sayoko’s feelings for Yoru slowly developed into her explicitly stating “I’d die for you”, “You’re special to me”, and “She’s my other half”. And my god it’s so sweet and tender how much they both value each other.

Tomorrow Won’t Come For Those Without ██████

Yay! Confusing story and abstract concepts for the win!

After Hello Charlotte, I wanted to check out Etherane’s other works. This is a short game consisting of a few puzzles and also a very confusing story. I’m still not entirely sure what happened, but oh well I liked the aesthetics. There’s some stuff about the death of humanity(?), religion, oh and a bit of a critique of advertisements (I think?). Basically, playing this game while I was sleep deprived and had just finished an essay meant that I stared at pretty pictures for two hours while simultaneously absorbing no information.

Spoilers: For the most part I’m pretty sure this was all taking place in Rem’s mindscape and Ori is a chorister trying to ‘purify’ him because he’s been possessed by a Celestial. However, in the noise ending Ori remembers his sister Mari and for some reason decides to not purify Rem. That’s all I get. The stuff with the alien at the end had me like ‘huh?’.

Anyways, the puzzles were cool. I shan’t talk about the memory puzzle, which I redid three times before I just looked up the answer. Also, a small note– this is entirely a me issue but the droning noise in the background was driving me crazy. I know it was there for important plot reasons, but I just had to mute it or I’d explode. But oh well, that’s not important. This was a nice game :]

Hello Charlotte EP3

Goodbye, Charlotte. *Spoilers Ahead*

This entire series is wonderful, and this game wraps everything up so nicely. I spent the first half in pure confusion and trying to piece together the convoluted ass plot, but I understand now (I think).

Part of this felt like a critique of the entertainment genre, of both producers and consumers. The fourth wall was frequently broken throughout the series, but V19 was just calling me out at the end. And yet, as Charles notes this game doesn’t exist purely for entertainment. It’s interesting to think about how much of Charles' thoughts are what Etherane was thinking while making Hello Charlotte. After reading their afterward, it’s pretty clear that this was a very personal game for them. I’m happy that they’re doing better.

Also, Q84’s public executions seemed like a satire of cancel culture. Particularly, how mob mentality fuels it. Speaking of Q84, she’s a maniac but also my poor little meow meow. Her snark is the best part! Actually, I like literally all of the cast. They all have their charm. Felix and Bennet have a great dynamic. We also got to learn more about Florence. Also, the True Realm characters... so much angst. Charles and Vincent have the "please don't go where I can't follow" dynamic, which just breaks my heart.

The first half has little gameplay, which was intentional given that Q84 doesn’t want to be controlled. There were a bunch of cut scenes and stuff, which gave it a visual novel-esque feel. When we got control of Scarlett, it felt like a return to Ep1 in terms of gameplay. Especially exploring the surreal worlds of the different floors. I also liked the addition of having a Honnikerpedia. I used it once (this is me bragging), to figure out that I was supposed to put the soda in the fridge. After checking steam, I realized I could’ve gotten an achievement if I just hadn’t used it that time. Oopsies.

Anyways, that’s enough of me rambling. Basically, this was a really good game. I’m glad Charles got to move on in the end. Might end up playing Heaven’s Gate in the future if I want to be emotionally wrecked.

Butterfly Soup

Just gay girls playing baseball. This was a really funny game that ultimately had a sweet message about growing up.

This visual novel is pretty short and could probably be played in a single afternoon (it took me like 2 weeks tho bc of school and procrastination). Due to its shortness, it is pretty straight to the point. There’s no relationship drama or some sort of love triangle. It’s all around just a very fun and relaxing time playing. You get to play as all the characters and see their pov and stuff. Min was my favorite, and she had a very cute relationship with Diya. Childhood friends to lovers is one of my favorite romance tropes :3 Spoilers: that scene where Min came up with ‘Diyamin’ was soo cute,, also the future scene where they’re adopting a dog together,,, ahhh so much serotonin.

Anyways, lemme giv my quick thoughts on Min. She’s such a hilarious dumbass (affectionate). With Akarsha, I also thought she was really funny but sometimes she verged too much on ‘hahaha so random’. But Min just had the perfect amount of randomness for me, mostly because it stemmed from true stupidity. Also, her aggravation with not being able to do ‘boy things’ is so real.

The game did broach some more serious topics with the Asian parents and their uhhh… tough love parenting (if you can phrase it like that ig). It’s implied for Akarsha and Diya that their parents suck and with Noelle and Min it’s explicitly shown. As someone whose Asian-American myself (adjusts glasses), yeah it really do be like that sometimes. Honestly, I was left wanting more with this plotline. Like, it’s not really resolved (same with Akarsha and her hating herself). But the overall messaging was quite nice. And I liked that bit at the end where they explained what ‘butterfly soup’ means along with stuff about growing up.

Also, I’m pretty sure a sequel to this vn came out fairly recently… I guess I’ll add that to the ever-growing list of games I plan to play.

Hello Charlotte EP2

Wow! I am emotionally devastated ^_^ *Spoilers Ahead*

This game was great. I am so attached to Charlotte and I just want her to be happy, but my girl can not catch a break. I’m still trying to sort out all of the story in my mind. But I think for the most part almost everything is symbolism or part of Charlotte’s delusions. I’m so sad that Felix and the others aren’t real :( But then again if Charlotte just imagined everything that doesn’t explain the whole God situation. Also, why does the school basically have a sanctioned lobotomy (‘trial’ my ass) Unless that’s symbolism for something. Idk my brain is small.

Also, it was so trippy to learn that Charlotte becomes God and that she is the employer of the Umbrella Man and also maybe the oracle from the previous game? This is like a big time loop situation, sort of but with different parallel realities (i think?). Honestly, I’m not really sure… I’ll probably just watch a video explaining everything later. And as a side note, the thing with the individuality really reminded me of Evangelion with the singularity project.

Gameplay wise, it sort of felt like a visual novel. I know there was technically 'battles' with the socializing and also a few puzzles, but this game was way more dialogue heavy than the first one. I don't mind it though, since the story was interesting. The tone felt way sadder to me, it was less of following Charlotte's adventures and more like watching her life spiral downwards. Despite Felix's minor appearance in this game, he's still my favorite character. Usually I don't care much for tsunderes, but for some reason I really like him. Also, Frei was a really cool character. I mean he was basically a manifestation of Charlotte's destructive impulses or something, but I liked reading his sort of insane monologues.

Oh, and I guess I won't be Seth in the next game. Just one more episode to go. Apparently it's both a prologue and an epilogue, so I don't know what that entails. Really just hope there's at least a sliver of happiness in it.

Hello Charlotte EP1

This was a really solid game. The characters were charming (Charlotte, my child), art was good, concept was interesting, gameplay was good. I can’t think of a way to talk about this game without delving into spoilers, so uhhh *spoilers ahead*. I won’t bother to spoiler tag this bc :}

Okay so, the whole concept of Charlotte being a puppet was really cool. It took me a bit to realize that we were Seth (the puppeteer). Honestly, when Charlotte mentioned how this must seem like a videogame to us and that she hopes we won’t kill her often… I felt so guilty because I’ve already made her die so many times. It doesn’t help that Charlotte is such a sweet character, I just want to give her a hug. Felix was also a really endearing character, but my god can that boy please stop dying. Dying once is already too many times, but twice? Cmon man, you’re making me sad. At least the sad violins were bopping though. Anyways, I really enjoyed Charlotte and Felix’s friendship (those two are trauma bonded for life).

The umbrella man and the other aliens were interesting characters, and I hope to see more of them in the next games. I still don’t completely understand everything, and I want answers. Like, what was the deal with the Teddy Bear girl’s castle, is there just a sleeping (sort of) God in Charlotte now? Is Charlotte schizophrenic? What's the deal with the pills??? I guess I'll just have to find out, really excited to play the next game. I just hope it doesn't emotionally scar me or anything.

Alicemare

Guess which buffoon sat there for 20 minutes trying to get the Tetris achievement and only managed to reach lvl 3? That’s right, me! Anyways, we’re moving on.

As a fan of the whole fairytale aesthetic, I really enjoyed the heavy inspiration from fairytales. With each character you could clearly tell which fairytale they were inspired by, yet Miwashiba (the creator) added little twists to their backstories. Despite delving into darker themes, the game is pretty light on the horror. Which I think worked out nicely for it. It also has a sweet message about the importance of love (not necessarily romantic, just love in general). The story was a bit confusing at first, but after thinking about it you can piece it together.

Gameplay wise, it was mostly just puzzles and riddles. None of them were incredibly difficult but also none of them were super easy either. (well actually, I did have to look up the answer to open Teacher’s diary…)

The music and art were great. I think most of the music pieces were inspired by or were classical music. Cheshire Cat’s theme was a bop. The pixel art (specifically the character sprites) was really cute.

You Will (Not) Remain

A short little game about the end of the world and eldritch gods. With some existentialism for funsies.

This game really resonated with me. I’m pretty sure that this was sort of a metaphor for Covid (with the player being unable to leave and people from the outside not being allowed in), but even outside of Covid it was still really relatable to me.

Doing repetitive acts everyday to the point that all the days have just blended together, feeling exhausted after having done just one thing, and even needing to psych yourself up to go outside are all relatable experiences for me. It’s not all bleak though. There’s a dog! Yes, I’m serious.

The music in this game was great. It’s all variants of this one tune, but I think it really carries the atmosphere. It gave me the same vibes as vivivivivi’s song ‘It Was Futile’.