Nocturne's Game Reviews- for when he's bored

[Olimar12345]

I mean it was the first account of his existence before the beast form.

[mikey]

Yes but not canonically

[SlowPokemon]

Where is Majora/Skull Kid

[mikey]

If I took out shopkeeper him or shadow link would probably exist on here

[mastersuperfan]

#5

Shopkeeper [link's awakening]

He taught me a valuable lesson as a kid.

[close]

Should be #1

[Dudeman]

Should be #1

seconded

[mikey]

Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
More Rails Than Spirit Tracks

I make this record now, that posterity may know of the great battle between the Hero and the Demon; yet as I am weary with battle already I must rest and regain my strength.  Despite the precarious situation I find myself in, I can't help but enjoy a cruel irony- if I fail, none will be left to witness.  I must defeat Demise, for this land, for Skyloft, and for the people who call it home.  For... Zelda...

Story- 7/7

Zelda games rarely need a well thought out story to be a home run, yet Skyward Sword has one of the best in the series.  From the idyllic school days on skyloft to chasing after a friend to realizing your part to play in the grand scheme of things, the raw story is a classic one.

In a discussion of which Zelda storylines would make the best movies, skyward sword is certainly a contender.  I like how important the character relationships and conflict are to the story, and that's a sign of success.  If there's anything the story did wrong, I'd say there's a bit of tension between the natural urge to explore and the natural urge to further the story, and there's not really a good marker where you can set the story down for a bit to explore each area to the fullest.  That's not much of an issue though as you naturally revisit older areas as part of the story, making backtracking organic and less of a chore.

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Character Development-7/7

I just love the characters in skyward sword.  Groose and his henchmen, link and Zelda themselves, many other less-than-side characters- they all progress throughout the game in a way that leaves you legitimately attached to them and interested in what they're up to.  Pippit and Fledge are good examples of this.

There are also several character dynamics and relationships that change, especially in the realm of characters' interactions with link.  A big part of this may be from the gratitude crystals, a sidequest award that leaves you feeling pretty empty until you see the sweet rewards in exchange for those crystals.  Doesn't helping people feel great?

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Reward Factor-4/7

While the battles themselves are very rewarding to partake in, the puzzles are middling headscratchers that sometimes are too simple and sometimes cause no end of grief because you overlooked a single detail.  A few of the more challenging ones can also be trivialized with a basic reading ability.  Not one of the game's strong points here, but the journey is where the fun's at in this case.

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Art-6/7

So, apparently skyward sword is in 480p, a result of being on the back end of the Wii.  That being said, the art style meshes so well that after about 10 minutes of playing I couldn't even account for the lower resolution anymore.  Very well done here, and I think the art will help make this one of the timeless entries in the series.

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Music-7/7

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Everything is perfect

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Gameplay-7/7

Thank you for the most fun I have ever had wielding a bow.  Seriously.  Maybe I'm just a sucker for wiimote nunchuk controls, but they hit a sweet spot and skyward sword utilized gameplay to the max.  Tons of fun unique items that stayed strangely relevant throughout the game.  Also, skyward sword did something very few games do.  The final battle with ghirahim brought a smile to my face.  It was just plain fun.  Difficulty level a non-factor, skyward sword has the most individual fun battles I've ever seen in a game and I think that goes unsaid a lot.  I battled demise before writing this, but only had like 3 or 4 hearts and didn't make it past the lightning stage.  It was a more fun battle than I remember, but it's ruined by just being worse than the battle immediately preceding it.

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Overall-38/42 (did I count wrong?  That seems high...)

Maybe I didn't play it enough in large bursts to pick up on what others dislike about it, because I enjoyed the ride.  Top 5 Zelda games of all time, and I found myself comparing it to wind waker a lot, which is a good thing.  At some point I'll review the behemoth itself, and I think it deserves a perfect score.

This has been a mobile review.

[SlowPokemon]

I have to say, I definitely agree with you on one thing: this is the best looking Wii game by a long shot. At times I even almost forgot I was playing a Wii game, as I said in my own review.

[mikey]

1. bump

2. I guess this is mikey's reviews now

3. not the right place for this, but the best place

4. I watched stranger things season 2

5. it was good

so, a little backstory.  For some reason, Mormons loved stranger things.  couldn't tell ya why, but they did.  In fact, the guy who plays dustin even spent some time chilling with Studio C while they were working on a stranger things sketch.  I'm sure with enough digging you could find it.
Anyhoo...


WARNING: SPOILERS ARE NOT PRESENT AHEAD

I saw stranger things browsing Netflix and skipped it over, branding it as another lame Netflix original.  Shoutout to my man shadowkirby, who basically convinced me to watch it by posting stupid stranger things memes on facebook... and by telling me to watch it.  I ended up watching the entire first season overnight, and it was soooo good.  And I was watching it basically without volume, using subtitles, and it was still amazing.  I waited for no real reason to watch season 2, but I watched all of it today (>.>) and I'm suitably impressed.  Impressed enough that I have to run here and write a review about it even though it's not a game.

Essentially, season 1 is a constant climb of suspense up until the resolution at the season finale.  It's a thriller in every sense of the word and I got a strong "I am Legend" vibe from it.  And the usual problem with sequels is that they never live up to the original because they have to somehow outdo what the predecessor started it.  I can honestly say that season 2 lives up to the legacy of the original season and quite nearly puts it to shame.  With that out of the way, what made season 2 so good?

I think a big reason it succeeded was the hook they left at the end of season 1.  Somehow this tiny little 15 second clip at the very end of the finale turns into the plot of an entire season, and it's a really good plot, too.  Stranger Things successfully draws from both well-known sci-fi and fantasy tropes to make it seem so familiar.  If you're a big nerd, like most people who use this site are, you'll probably enjoy Stranger Things for one reason or another.

The whole cast from season 1 (more or less) makes a return but season 2 adds a few more characters who are instantly relatable, charming, or otherwise enjoyable.  Relationships between everyone become more defined and you clearly start seeing where some friendships are stronger and some are... not as strong.  Sometimes there are characters in movies and TV shows that I just hate and wish would get killed off, or something.  Stranger Things didn't have a single one.  Everyone did a really good job and there wasn't cringeworthy dialogue like in certain DC superhero TV shows I could mention (ugh... just thinking about it...).

Even getting into the plot of season 2 spoils things from season 1, so if you haven't seen season 1, first, what are you doing with your life?  Second, try to avoid anything related to the show, as it's probably from season 2.  Then go watch season 1, and since you're already on Netflix, follow it up with season 2.

I can think of few reasons why anybody wouldn't enjoy Stranger Things, but if you're really really squeamish or maybe can't handle swearing, smoking, and underage drinking on screen, or think Agents of Shield has impressive cliffhangers, it's probably not your cup of tea.  That being said, it's hard to tell whether you'd like it or not without watching the WHOLE THING.  I know, it's crazy.  But the first episode of season 1 gives so little away as to how the rest of the plot plays out.  I get this feeling when I'm watching it, like somehow two guys went back in time with their HD recording technology, and actually made a TV series in the '80s.

...woah, maybe THAT'S why Mormons like it.

[mikey]

*WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD.  I ADVISE AVOIDING IF YOU INTEND TO PLAY THE GAME BELOW*
*but it's okay to click the spoiler on overall.  That's safe.*

Doki Doki Literature Club
I Swear I'm Not a Weeb

The game that has been echoed throughout the discord chat.  I ask, "Is it free to play?"  And Brainy responds, "Yes."  So I play it, having absolutely no idea what it is or what to expect, other than the fact that it seems really weeaboo-ish.
Story: 5/7

Spoiler

I enjoyed it.  I took away the points because of how convoluted and nonlinear the story is meant to be, so if you don't mind the chore that is keeping multiple save files separate, feel free to put a 7 here.  Myself I'll stick with running through it just the once, no save files.  It's pretty thought-provoking, actually.  The multiple metaphors wrapped in the game are clearly intentional.
Also, I took away the points because
[11:37 PM] Angry Penguin: hot take: monika is actually a psychopath and she killed sayori and is going to kill everyone else
predictable/7

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Character Development: 6/7

Spoiler

Rather than actual development, you learn more about the characters slowly.  I guess that way it's meant to hurt more when Monika talks about them so casually.  Like "I hope you're not hung up about what happened to Sayori!"  Which, not gonna lie, was pretty funny.

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Reward factor: 5/7

Spoiler

Okay, so I got the Monika ending, which is what I was going for.  Cause apparently if you're trying to get a date, you might as well get a date with the best one, right?  So Monika sat there talking intermittently, and I was waiting for it to end.  It didn't end.  But she kept saying stupid stuff hinting towards deleting her character, which I absolutely didn't want to do, but apparently I can't end the game without doing it, so I went ahead and changed her character name into "sayori.chr", which has the same effect as deleting her.  Finally, I got to the blessed credits scene, which made everything worth it.  So even though there were some frustrating parts, it was rewarding to finally get to the actual ending.  Which is actually a very good credits scene.

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Art: 6/7

Spoiler

I can't judge this too heavily since I've got nothing really to compare to, but it looked alright to me.

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Music: 3/7

Spoiler

I liked the credits theme fair enough, but the music was mostly cheery enough or erratic enough to make me keep the volume off.

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Gameplay: 6/7

Spoiler

Sometimes, I felt bored out of my mind, and other times, I felt like I was playing a game of chess that would determine the outcome of the fate of the world.  Obviously the gameplay of a visual novel is atypical of video games, but that doesn't mean it's not there.  There are tons of decision trees that all have possible ramifications.  Personally I was fine with just sticking to my guns and making the single choice, though given the context clues, I think you're supposed to keep a branch of all possible decisions.

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Overall: 33/42

Spoiler

Doki Doki Literature Club is a unique game that deserves a shot regardless of your tastes.  The developers put a lot of work into it, and it shows.  I believe that in order to make a game the best version of itself, you have to cut out extraneous complexity, but DDLC just shovels in metaphors and everything to try and confuse you, er, I think that's what it's trying to do?  It definitely wasn't at all what I expected from Doki Doki Literature Club, mostly because there was a large emphasis on poetry in particular.  And the rhymes weren't even that good!  Just because I'm never playing the game again doesn't mean I didn't like it or I think it's a bad game.  I just don't think replaying it has anywhere near the same thrill that the first time through had.  Maybe that means I'm not playing the game as it's meant to be played, but decisions have consequences and you ought to see those consequences out to the end.

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[mikey]

Night in the Woods
Life: The Video Game


Story: 4/7 (How central was the story to the game?  Was the story unique and riveting?  Did it add to overall enjoyment?)

Spoiler

The story started off as fantastic.  You're immediately introduced to interesting characters during your first night and day back home in Possum Springs.  Little bits and pieces of town history worm their way into your mind as you explore and pick apart the town.  Slight elements of sad history keep you on edge constantly up to the point where something finally happens- at Harfest you see a ghost, you think.  Good friends stay by your side as you gather more information about the town's history, culminating in an eye-opening microfiche page that gives you so many missing pieces of the town's story.  Unfortunately after a few more really creepy scenes the story is dropped down a mine shaft (to use an appropriate metaphor) and the conclusion leaves you... bored.

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Character Development: 6/7 (How well were the main characters exposed?  Did you feel connected to them by the end of the game?  Did they have noticeable quirks that made them unique?)

Spoiler

Mae comes back home to find that everything has changed, whether she likes it or not.  Throughout the course of several days in Possum Springs, your interactions with different townspeople feel authentic and refreshing.  The bonds of friendship are tested in the woods, as broken childhood friends reunite and new friendships are forged through seriously traumatic events.

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Reward Factor: 3/7 (Did getting through a certain part of the game feel rewarding?  Was the game difficult enough to enjoy a challenge?)

Spoiler

Night in the Woods wasn't very difficult.  I missed a few things here and there, but the story does a really good job of propelling you along that you don't want to go over everything with a fine-toothed comb.  To have the story be so gripping yet so unfulfilling is a bit of a tragedy, really.  Fix the conclusion and the reward factor doubles.  I didn't feel any big rush of accomplishment as the game ended.  Some slight confusion mixed with the aforementioned boredom.

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Art: 5/7 (Does the art style do a good job of getting the overall vibes of the game across?  Is the art visually appealing?  Does the art match the particular mood of the game at its current time?)

Spoiler

The art was cute and I think they hit the nail on the head with whatever they were trying to go for.  It all seems so innocent until the fog rolls in, then you're afraid to even walk forward.

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Music: 2/7 (Does the music evoke certain emotions that are being portrayed in game?  Does the music match up well with the art?  Does the music have a tone unique to this particular area?)

Spoiler

I mean, I had the music turned up all the way and the sound effects way down, but nothing outside of the band practice sessions really *stood out* to me.  The music was serviceable for most areas.  I think a special mention for the dream sequences is deserved here, since the whole point of them is to find all the musicians and have them start playing.  Many games have much better music, but what's there isn't terrible or hard to listen to.  It's just there.

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Gameplay: 7/7 (Are the controls easy to learn but capable of multiple processes?  Is the interaction with the environment logical and natural?  Are the different areas of the game well constructed and thought out?)

Spoiler

Exploring the town was so much fun and I would do it again if there was a mystery to be solved.  I can't really say I was expecting a descent into madness, which is more or less what Night in the Woods amounted to, but they pulled that off well.  Possum Springs does a good job of imitating a small town and that comes across in the gameplay, where things happen at a typical pace- construction lasts forever, blocking access to the bridge; a friend of your grandpa's sometimes shows up with stories about him; people genuinely have interesting things to say.  The occasional break to rhythm game was fun too, but Demontower wasn't really my cup of tea.  Reminds me of a steam game though.  Night in the Woods' exploration is different than most types of exploration.  Instead of physically exploring a space you're exploring less corporeal things in the town, if that makes sense.

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Overall: 27/42

actual spoilers

Seriously, what is up with the story?  It was going so well, then you walk and walk some more and surprise it's the conservative bad guys.  No mysteries here.  I was expecting a lot more in that regard.  The microfiche table had so many questions and answers that I wanted to make a conspiracy board.  Having Satanic cultists is totally fine, except for when your reaction to them is "u guise r old ur opinion dosent matter anymore LUL".  The entire game was hyping up these weird goings-on and suddenly, when it's most important, shifts gears to what appears to be some type of schizophrenia.  Relateable.

If you're going to play Night in the Woods, realize that the main storyline means absolutely nothing and spoilers are insignificant.  Nobody dies, Mae doesn't go to jail, doesn't even reap the consequences of her aggressive language.  Overall I'd say the game isn't quite worth the $20, even with the additional 2 "games" that came along with it.  Near the end of the main story Mae and her friends suddenly become obsessed with "Good" and "Bad" labels, calling each other extremely good people, even if they're... kind of not.

If Night in the Woods had focused on the mental confusion and social aspect in the early game it would have done well.  If it had focused on the story and seen it through to the end, it would have done well.  Instead it gets stuck in this half-state where it's trying to do too much and not succeeding at any of it.  So much untapped potential for Night in the Woods, it's really just a shame.  If it ever goes on sale for like 30% off or something it's probably worth picking up at that point.

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[BrainyLucario]

You really wanted a mystery game didn't you?

[mikey]

I don't even know whose arm it was bro
plus all those things aunt mall-cop said

[mikey]

DELTARUNE
Well, Part of it, Anyway


Story: 5/7 (How central was the story to the game?  Was the story unique and riveting?  Did it add to overall enjoyment?)

Spoiler

The story is simple and to the point, and adds a lot of nuance through Susie's character progression (more on that later).  I can only imagine where the story is going from here (or maybe I don't have to because that end of chapter scene was quite something) but if we take Chapter 1 to be its own story (and disregard that cliffhanger cause whew-ee) I think it did fairly well.  I felt some element of being propelled thanks to story suspense, but it may have been because there's only one way to go. :v

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Character Development: 4/7 (How well were the main characters exposed?  Did you feel connected to them by the end of the game?  Did they have noticeable quirks that made them unique?)

Spoiler

Chapter 1 focuses almost fully on Susie and her progression as a person throughout the chapter.  Well, that's not entirely accurate, since it's just a softer side of her that she allows to show after time.  To be honest, I didn't really like Susie much at first.  I think there are better ways to put on a tough guy facade than to eat chalk.  You could also argue Lancer has some character progression, but I don't think he's actually learned anything.  Personally I suspect that an eventual return to the dark world will see Lancer more mature and potentially antagonistic toward Kris, but for now I think from beginning to end he's just a spoiled kid with a bit of a moral compass who also likes to have fun.

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Reward Factor: 5/7 (Did getting through a certain part of the game feel rewarding?  Was the game difficult enough to enjoy a challenge?)

Spoiler

The king was... pretty hard.  I died to him the first time and took a break, but when I came back it was a bit easier for me and I was able to beat him.  I wouldn't say getting through certain parts of the game felt rewarding, but there was definitely a visceral relief as I made it back to the over world.  Exploring the overworld itself was pretty fun, and reminded me much more of EarthBound than Undertale ever did.  In fact, I would enjoy the game much more if it allowed for more over world movement in the future.  In that vein it's similar to Night in the Woods, where exploration is tied to character interaction and there's a bit less physical exploration.

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Art: 1/7 (Does the art style do a good job of getting the overall vibes of the game across?  Is the art visually appealing?  Does the art match the particular mood of the game at its current time?)

Spoiler

No.  Everything looks blended together in MS Paint.  Look, I'm not saying I could do better, cause I can't.  I'm saying that you could definitely make the art in this game look more palatable to the eye.  Sure, he's got this signature style or whatever, but if your signature style is ugly I think you should find a better one.  As far as art promoting environment, I don't think that was very effective either.  Sure you have this games cabinet them going on but it's pretty arbitrary up until the end.  At which point it's just confusing.

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Music: 6/7 (Does the music evoke certain emotions that are being portrayed in game?  Does the music match up well with the art?  Does the music have a tone unique to this particular area?)

Spoiler

OH THANK HEAVENS.  It's SOOOO much better than Undertale.  There were several pieces where I found myself jamming along despite myself.  The pieces that I don't find enjoyable still service their environment- shoutout to Lancer's theme, for really getting the point across that he's a lil dillweed.  The battle theme was... a short battle theme... but fortunately the time spent battling was relatively short, so that's "less of the bad stuff", as far as RPGs go.

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Gameplay: 2/7 (Are the controls easy to learn but capable of multiple processes?  Is the interaction with the environment logical and natural?  Are the different areas of the game well constructed and thought out?)

Spoiler

I would say this is where my major complaints with the game come in.  DELTARUNE carries the "don't kill anyone" schtick over from Undertale, though I'm told it doesn't matter whether or not you kill/spare everyone, which is definitely a mark up from that.  The game takes the time to set up this overly complex battle system (similar to how they made chrono trigger's battle system needlessly complex) and you're constantly told not to use any of it- sparing enemies is simple and repetitive, and while I'm glad they have overworld sprite representations, I really wish they didn't respawn on map change if they aren't going to give you any actual XP.  Deltarune desperately needs a level up system, something to make the harder fights a little bit easier if you're willing to put in the effort.  Leveling up can be (and often is) done wrong, but it can have a purpose to allow people to progress through the game regardless of skill.  Skilled bullet heck players will be able to move through the game faster than someone who needs to sit and grind a few enemies on repeat for an hour or so, but then everyone gets the opportunity to finish the game.

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Overall: 23/42

Overall, Deltarune gets an average score.  It does some things well, but it does some things poorly, and that averages out to a game that can be enjoyed by people looking for one thing and hated by people interested in something else.  It's also full of signature Toby Fox witticism and humor, which is also polarizing in my opinion.  The best thing I can say about it is that it's a much more enjoyable and bearable game than Undertale, and I'm considering purchasing future Chapters on Nintendo Switch.  As a bonus (and totally not a self-plug), here:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/388035206
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/388191843

My full deltarune experience is recorded within these two videos, sandwiched between a terrible Super Mario Odyssey speedrun and some mediocre splatoon gameplay.

[mikey]

I guess this is technically a review of my review

It Has Come To My Attention recently that well gee not all games have stories so I can't exactly give Tetris 99 a fair score knowing full well that a non-story-driven game can still be great  (like vanilla tetris, as opposed to Tetris 99, which is Not Great).

This came about as I shared my undertale review with a few people during a discussion about some of our favorite story moments in video games.  I also learned that my unique 7 point scale is not unique.  In the interest of critical integrity I must find a solution to the clear blind spots my current review system has.  I could simply give a game a default 4/7 in categories that don't exist for it; I could also simply strip the category away from its aggregate score.

Neither of these bandaid solutions are fair or honest.  I haven't fully decided what I'm going to do, but I'm looking towards Wolf's freeform reviews as a blueprint and may end up with a larger dual-natured review system to accomplish multiple goals I have in mind for my reviews.

This was longer than any of my reviews kappa lul pogchamp