I have a bit of a history with magical girl media. Growing up, whether it was due to gender expectations or just a lack of interest, I wasn’t particularly drawn to shows like Sailor Moon, though I do recall watching occasional episodes of Cardcaptor Sakura when they came on TV. In high school, though, a friend introduced me to Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Madoka Magica for short), and everything changed. Seeing a magical girl story that delved into mature subject matter (along with having stunning animation and music) was like a cosmic shift in how I perceived a genre that I had once written off as “just those silly shows about girls in frilly outfits”. I showed it to my girlfriend at the time. Hell, I showed it to my dad. I got low-key obsessed with it for a while, and even now it stands as one of my favourite anime of all time.
Tag: Visual Novel
A Tithe in Blood Review
It’s always challenging to go into a piece of media with preconceived notions. As a reviewer, I strive to approach each game I cover on its own merits, yet I admit it’s next to impossible to go into something truly blind. By the time I’ve looked at enough press material to determine whether or not it seems like a good fit, I’ve inevitably built up some idea in my head of what the experience will be. Plus, the very fact that I’ve determined something appears to be up my alley already means I’m going in with at least a hope – if not an expectation – that it’s something I’ll enjoy. Of course, this doesn’t preclude me from coming down hard when things don’t pan out the way I thought they might or heaping praise when they do, but at the bare minimum, it regularly puts a fear in me that I’m ill-equipped to fairly evaluate whatever game I might be looking at.
Spoiled Milk
Generally speaking, games today try to be smooth, polished experiences. Easing the player in, providing room to learn the ropes and get acquainted with key characters and mechanisms, and avoiding technical hiccups are all important features in making games as enjoyable as possible to the widest audience. Certainly, I’ve been known to rain praise upon games that do these things well and criticism on those that don’t, because whether they succeed or fail, the fact of the matter is that most games are trying to do these things. This makes it all the more jarring when a game seems diametrically opposed to such ideas, not out of incompetence or inexperience, but out of a deliberate desire to make something off-putting. That’s the story with Milk Inside a Bag of Milk Inside a Bag of Milk (henceforth referred to as Milk Inside) and why it’s fascinated me to such an extent since playing it.
Wyrmhall: Brush and Banter Review
I find the popularity of games about work to be a bit odd. As someone with a day job that frequently drains me to the point where even fun extracurricular activities can feel like chores, it baffles me that people would want to spend their free time pretending to work at, say, a restaurant or grocery store. It makes a bit more sense for management sims; pretending to be the boss and run your own business can be an exciting and empowering glimpse into a world few will get to partake in. Yet for those where you’re a menial employee, I struggle to see the appeal of simulating the repetitive grind of a nine-to-five.
Mika and the Witch’s Mountain Review
Mika desperately needs a union rep. Her boss is awful, withholding payment at the slightest slip-up, believing the customer is always right to a harmful degree, and even telling her to smile more. It’s a depressingly toxic relationship for Mika and the Witch’s Mountain, a game that’s generally whimsical and chipper, almost to a fault. What makes it even more overt is that pretty much everyone else on the island is laid-back and supportive of Mika, even when she stumbles. It’s almost as though a more community-focused solution would be an improvement over the corporate structure of big business … I’m getting ahead of myself, though.
Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To Review
Lofi vibes have been a centrepiece of my life recently. Whether it’s booting up Spirit City: Lofi Sessions while writing, throwing on a chill playlist on Tidal while working or playing games, or just curling up on the couch with my phone and a hot beverage, I’ve been all about getting into a cozy, meditative mindset whenever possible. Perhaps it’s stress-related; working full-time as a software engineer and dealing with the current political climate isn’t exactly a recipe for low blood pressure. Or maybe it’s a general desire to feel more centred and mindful for my own well-being. Whatever the case, having Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To around to play these last few days has been a great asset, and it’s slotted itself right into my “good vibes” routine.
Mice Tea Review
Let me get one thing straight: I am not a furry. Hey now, I see you looking at the subject of this review and rolling your eyes dismissively, ready to loudly proclaim, “Thy lady doth protest too much!” It’s true, though, I swear! The presence of anthropomorphism in sex doesn’t entice me to engage with it any more than the average piece of smut. I’m not actively repulsed by it, mind you, but my casual indifference towards the presence of catgirls in my romantic fiction should hopefully speak volumes about how this kink just isn’t really my thing.
Jill O’ Lantern: Final Cut Review
I’ve been playing a decent amount of visual novels recently, and a common throughline with them all has been romance. In some of them it’s been more benign, while in others it’s gotten decidedly … *ahem* … steamy. But generally speaking, the genres of dating simulator and visual novel tend to go hand in hand. That makes Jill O’ Lantern: Final Cut a bit of a standout from the get-go: it’s a murder mystery, plain and simple. There are interpersonal relationships that get built up as the game goes on, but the focus is on getting to the bottom of a spate of killings and finding a way to stop them. Add in a whole lot of queerness, and you’ve got a recipe for quite the entertaining ride.
Monster Prom Review
Dating simulators are a genre of conflicting sensibilities. On the one hand, we’re encouraged to immerse ourselves in the absurdist high school fantasies, ludicrous fan-service, and never-ending conflicts over waifus and husbandos. In other words, there’s a general lack of self-seriousness to the proceedings. However, this immersion is all but lost when you realize that – in many titles in the genre – everyone loves you by default. Even if you “lose”, you’ll still end up with someone, even if they weren’t your first choice. Before you know it, making decisions becomes an automatic process, requiring only a cursory glance at the options to determine which has the best chance of leading to intimacy.
SeaBed Review – There’s Such a Thing as Going Too Deep
While it’s cliché to say that a game is “challenging to review”, I think that it’s fair to apply such a statement to SeaBed, due to one simple fact: it isn’t a game. It’s a visual novel (VN) in the truest sense of the word; there’s text that can be advanced with a click or set to auto-read, and pictures complement said text. Some VNs attempt to shake up the formula by adding dialogue choices or additional gameplay elements, giving the player a break from the ever-advancing walls of text; this isn’t the case with SeaBed.
Olive's Game Garden 