Pumpkin's Video Game Diary!

[Pumpkin]

Saints Row: The Third (PlayStation 3)

Note: This game contains a lot of swearing, sexual content, and some blood, gore and of course, large amounts of violence.

Saints Row: The Third is about a gang called the 3rd Street Saints. They now have their own media empire including a clothing brand and energy drink and have a movie in the works. At the beginning of the game, in a bank robbery gone wrong, the Saints have one of their own seemingly killed and end up in the city of Steelport. There, they'll have to contend with a group of gangs organized together under the banner of "The Syndicate", as well as the military itself when Steelport decides to get tough on crime.

Saints Row 3 is a lot like the previous GTA games I've played, but with a lot more of a sense of humour about itself. The dialogue is usually pretty funny and there's just a ton of silly, ridiculous stuff going on. There were zombies at one point, I don't know. It is largely open world, you have Steelport to explore at your leisure. There are the main story missions to do, split in to 3 different acts. The first is linear and serves as a tutorial to the game, and the others are more open, offering more missions to do in the order you want.

Besides story missions there are also activities scattered about and more get unlocked as you progress. These include destroying stuff with tanks, going through a sort of shooting gauntlet for a demented game show, committing insurance fraud by ragdolling yourself in to things, and a few others. You can also take on assassinations and vehicle thefts, as well as just some general challenges like traveling a certain distance, doing stunt jumps, finding collectables, etc. Your custom made character does level up by earning reputation points. You also earn cash which can be used for guns, properties, and upgrades to your characters and gang.

The game does have a decent amount of customization. You get to make your own character, male or female, and there are several clothing stores scattered about ranging from normal to comical. You'll also get to customize your homies, your weapons, and your vehicles. You'll unlock more as the game progresses and as you level up. You'll also get calls when in the city to complete mini-challenges like surviving for a certain period of time or taking out x amount of enemies. And of course you can steal cars, put on some tunes, and run over innocent pedestrians. You will have law enforcement and other gangs to contend with though.

There is also a co-op mode if you aren't a friendless loser like me and a few other modes to explore as well as some DLC levels if you wants some more gameplay. I did not get in to any of that stuff though so I will be unable to comment.

Overall I had fun with this game. It was a bit vulgar for my tastes in some parts, especially the opening, but I did like that it had a sense of humour about how over the top and ridiculous it was. There was some good voice acting and some genuinely funny scenes. I loved getting to make my own character and that I got to make a lady character especially. There was a good variety of clothes, cars, and weapons, and I enjoyed a few of the activities like the Tank Mayhem. There was also some good music. On the down side, the world felt kind of small and I would have liked more buildings to go in to to explore. I also would have liked more gang and crib customization. There were also a few glitchy spots here and there but nothing game breaking. I also ran out of stuff to do by the end and just found myself finishing up the story with no breaks in-between. But I did have a lot of fun, I do plan to replay it in the future, and I would like to try the fourth installment!

Verdict:
LIKED IT A LOT

[Ayen]

I want to play these at some point just for the humor alone.

"Anyone shot need a lawyer?"

[Pumpkin]

Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book (PlayStation 4)

Story:
Atelier Sophie is about a young alchemist named Sophie (shocking, I know), who discovers a mysterious talking book one day. Why does the book talk? It doesn't know, it lost all of its memories. Don't worry though, Sophie is on the case! With the help of her friends and her new talking book, named Plachta, Sophie begins to learn more about alchemy and how to restore Plachta's memories. Plachta also tells of a special alchemy cauldron that allows anyone to use any kind of alchemy, something that might help the developing Sophie to become a great alchemist like her grandmother.

Gameplay:
Atelier Sophie shares a lot of similarities to the two previous Atelier trilogies. The game focuses largely on crafting items, battling RPG style, and gathering ingredients. Unlike most games in the previous two trilogies however, Atelier Sophie does not have any time constraints. Instead the player is free to play at their own pace. There is a date system in place, but it is to indicate monster spawning, ingredient spawning, character events, and other such things. The character will be given goals to complete, which usually involves restoring Plachta's memories by discovering certain alchemy recipes.

Synthesizing is a big part of the game. This time, Sophie learns alchemy recipes by completing certain conditions. These range from fighting certain enemies, or exploring certain areas, to synthesizing specific recipes or completing certain character requests. You will be given a book to view which will indicate how one can obtain an alchemy recipe. More recipe clues unlock the more you do. Once you get the idea for the recipe, you will be able to synthesize the item. To do so, you select the appropriate ingredients and mix them in a pot. This game has a puzzle like aspect to it, where you try to raise certain attributes by the placement of your ingredients. You'll also obtain different cauldrons which grant different bonuses. The game will generally progress to the next level once you've found a specially marked recipe.

Battles take place in turn-based RPG style. Characters get their turns to act and can do things such as use skills, attack, or use items. In this game, everyone can use items, but other than Sophie, there are only certain types of items each character can use. Some can use healing items while others can use attack items. These are synthesized. You can also synthesize weapons, accessories, and equipment. Items will need to be "equipped" on your characters before they can be used, and only 5 can be equipped per character. In battle, you'll be able to switch between defensive and offensive modes, which will allow characters to block attacks or use follow up attacks. There is a gauge that fills up as actions are taken, and high gauges allow for more character supports. Four characters can be brought in battle, although all are available to you after recruitment when adventuring and can be switched outside of battle at any time.

A few others things can be done outside of synthesizing items and battling, you can also explore, gather materials for your synthesis, accept and complete requesys for money, socialize and explore the town, build character relationships and give gifts, do character requests, and customize Plachta once she obtains a new body by deciding her outfit and stats.

World:
There is only one town in this game but it has multiple areas to visit and many shops and characters to talk to. Outside of that, you'll travel the world map via a series of dots from one location to the next, sometimes picking up perks or fighting battles along the way, until you arrive at your selected destination. Then you will be brought to the area where you can gather and fight monsters. Some areas have multiple maps to explore. There is a good variety of locations but the map is not very large.

Characters:
(Ordered from favourite to least favourite)
Corneria: A.K.A. Cory, she can replicate any synthesized item for you. She is trying to find out more about her past. Shrinks when she works too hard.
Sophie:A kind-hearted young alchemist who wants to use alchemy to bring joy to others.
Julio: A traveling swordsman who wants to learn more about alchemy. Has a strong sense of duty.
Plachta: A talking book that forgot most of her past. Sophie helps her to regain her memories and get another body.
Leon: A top class clothier, she is very passionate about what she does.
Fritz: A former mercenary, he is now a doll maker. He loves dolls with an unnatural passion and puts on puppet shows.
Harol: Technically a clock-maker but doesn't have much of a passion for it. Pretty melancholic.
Monika: Sophie's friend, she's a good singer and takes everything she does very seriously.
Oskar: Sophie's friend, he can talk to plants and often skips out on work.

Overall:
I did quite enjoy Atelier Sophie. It had a good story that really kept me invested, and it reinvented the wheel enough to keep things fresh. The battles felt a bit like a step back at first, and they are pretty simple, but they're still pretty fun. There were a lot of nice locations and I liked the new synthesis method as well as the new way to find recipes. I was very pleased with there not being a time limit again as it let me explore more freely and experience the game more without the stress of a deadline looming over me. Pure story was probably one of the most interesting to me personally out of all of the Atelier games I've played. However, it isn't the most story heavy game and a lot of the character stories are entirely optional. The cast was pretty alright, nothing bad but nothing special. The world looked really good but did feel a bit small. I would have liked more towns and a wider area to explore. I was super happy with being able to change outfits, even though it was pretty minor. The biggest complaint I have about the game though is how short it is. If you just focus on the story it is incredibly short but if you're like me and try to do most of what's available... it's still kind of on the short side. Half of my play time was doing completely optional stuff and purposely stretching it out, and I didn't like knowing for most of the time I played that I could have ended the game whenever I wanted. But overall a strong game and I would also recommend to people who've wanted to try a recent Atelier game but aren't sure where to start.

Verdict:
LIKED IT A LOT

[Pumpkin]

Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward (PlayStation Vita)

Note that this game is a sequel to 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors, and as such contains spoilers. This review will also contain minor spoils. Avoid both if you plan to play 999 first and I encourage you to at least get caught up with the story of 999 before playing this game.

Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward (which I will now simply refer to as VLR for convenience sake) is the second game in the Zero Escape trilogy. Nine people have been abducted and are forced to play a nonary game. This game has a specific set of rules which, if broken, will result in the player(s) getting penalized. What does that mean? Death. Each player has a watch stuck to their wrist. It tells them how many BP points (more on that later) they have, how long until important doors open, and, most importantly, will kill them should they break any rules. The game seems to be orchestrated by a mysterious figure known only as 'Zero', who is apparently one of the nine players. Who is it? I guess you'll have to play the game and find out!

The goal of the game is to reach 9 BP points. If someone has 9 BP points, they can open the number 9 door and escape to freedom. However, only people with 9 BP or above may exit and the door will only remain open for 9 seconds. How does one gain 9 BP? By playing the Ambidex Game! There are two groupings of people, solos and pairs, which changes after each round of the ambidex game. These people need to pair up to enter special doors. In these doors awaits some puzzle solving in order to open a safe. Opening the safe allows them to leave the room as well as collect special cards that allow them to play this ambidex game. During the ambidex game, players must choose to either 'betray' or 'ally' with the solo or pair they teamed up with. Depending on the vote, they will either gain or lose points. If they get 9 points they can leave. If their points drop below zero they die. No pressure, right?

The game has two main sections, novel and escape. During the novel sections, you will mostly be reading along with the story, visual novel style, with choices to be made here and there to affect said story. During the escape sections, you will engage in different forms of puzzle solving in order to unlock a safe, get a key to leave the room, and gain ambidex cards to play the ambidex game. If you go above and beyond in your puzzle solving, you can also unlock 'secret' files, which give a bit more insight in to the story. In each escape section will default to 'Hard' difficulty, but can change it to 'Easy' at any time if you need the extra help from your teammates. This will affect which type of secret file you can unlock though.

Not to worry if you can't complete a level on Hard right away, this game provides a handy flow chart of the story. From this flow chart, you can travel back to any previously visited section of the game, try the puzzles again, and make different choices for different outcomes. This can be done at pretty much any time, so when you want more of the story, you won't have to start all over or keep many different save files. You can also view items and files, and the game provides a memo pad for you to keep track of important information if you need to.

Characters:
(Ordered from favourite to least favourite)
Luna: A kind, soft spoken woman who seems to have some experience in the medical field.
Quark: A happy and positive young boy.
Sigma: The player character, Sigma has a weird tic about cats, counts a lot, and hits on women at inconvenient times.
Phi: A mysterious young woman and the first to be paired up with Sigma. Seems to be keeping secrets.
K: A man stuck in some weird suit, he claims to have amnesia and can't remember who he is.
Alice: A woman with superb mathematical skills who has some family issues she needs resolved.
Tenmyouji: An older and somewhat gruff man.
Clover: A rather odd bird who participated in the previous two nonery games.
Dio: An arrogant and loudmouthed man who always seems to look out for number one.

Overall:
I tried 999 twice and both times I didn't get very far. I just didn't like it. I'm terrible at mysteries and puzzle games. But for whatever reason, I decided I would go ahead and give this one a try. And it really surpassed my expectations. The puzzles were much more approachable and the game was presented in a way that made it easy and engaging for me to follow. I really wanted to see what would happen next, to understand what was going on. There's some really well done foreshadowing thrown in there and the story is told in such an excellent way at certain points. It flows extremely well and I enjoyed how they used player input as a story telling device. I liked the visuals and Luna has quickly made her way to one of my favourite video game characters and really gave me something extra to be excited about and care about. Some of the puzzles were still a bit frustrating for me, but overall it wasn't too hard. With that being said, aside from Luna I didn't particularly like most of the characters (although I didn't dislike most of them either) and the very ending sections kind of fell flat for me instead of becoming a big "wow" conclusion as I would have liked. That is just personal opinion though and it may have all held more weight if I'd played 999 rather than reading the gist of it to get caught up. Overall though I would recommend to puzzle, visual novel, and mystery fans if you want to give it a try. It's very approachable and tells a story in a really great way.

Verdict:
LIKED IT A LOT

[Karifean]

Such a good game. I really loved the whole theme of 'ally or betray' and with the technical improvements over 999 it was quite the joy to read. Its only major flaw is the lack of a satisfying conclusion, and it looks like that's about to get rectified in five days =)

I strongly recommend Root Double if you're looking for something similar, by the way. It has a stronger cast of characters though there's no one quite as pure and kind-hearted as Luna =P

[Pumpkin]

Flower (PlayStation 3)

Flower is a short and rather unique gaming experience in which you control the wind and a flower petal. The game has six levels plus a credits level. You start at the "main menu", which is a windowsill looking out over a city. As the game progresses there will be flowers beginning to bloom along the windowsill, and selecting one will bring you to that level. You start with one and more unlock as you finish the previous one. The scenery through the window will also change to reflect your progress.

Once in a level, you control the wind and the starting flower petal by moving your controller. you can turn and increase or decrease your elevation. Simply hold down a button, pretty much any button, in order to speed up. You'll go around collecting petals from other flowers. Doing so will activate little mini-scenes and checkpoints, generally by brightening up the environment and allowing you access further in to the level. Different flowers also generally represent different things or have different effects, such as illumination, an elevation boost, or simply by marking the path towards your destination. They also each have their own distinctive tone when passing through them, which adds to the music of the level.

The levels do follow a narrative as the player slowly approaches a big city. While the game begins already quite bright and cheerful, day soon turns to night, and an open field of grass and flowers becomes a city full of protruding metal contraptions. I don't want to spoil the progression too much as it is best to experience it, but slightly different gameplay is added as you go on, with former impassible barriers becoming one more thing to bring light and beauty to.

While short, I did rather enjoy my time with Flower. It's a game you can easily play in an evening and for me personally it's a great mood booster. At one point it evokes a mood of fear and helplessness for me, but then it's followed up by bringing hope and happiness. It makes me feel like things can be overcome after a rough patch. While it started out a bit "oh this is pretty", it's really in the second half that, for me, it started resonating much more. Because the game only has a loose narrative, no dialogue, and mostly conveys its story through visuals and music, I would say a lot of it is up to interpretation and the experience probably varies from individual to individual. The controls were a bit annoying to me as I'm not a motion control type of person, and it certainly isn't a heavy, action packed, or deeply involved game. But if you're looking for a neat little experience with some great visuals and have a few hours to spare, I would definitely give it a try!

Verdict:
LIKED IT A LOT

[Pumpkin]

Monster Loves You (Steam)

Monster loves you is a short little adventure game in which you play as a... monster. Born from the vat, your little monsterling will grow to a child, an adolescent, an adult, and possibly become an elder. Or maybe he or she will just dissolve back in to the vat, depending on your choices.

This game is mostly a read, make a decision type of deal. In each stage, you'll be given a set number of days until you advance to the next stage. Then you'll pick a little bubble which will lead you to a short text adventure of sorts. You won't really know what it is until after you've decided and you won't get to do them all before moving on to the next stage. You will be given prompts and ways to respond to whatever the event is. Depending on what you decide, you'll gain or lose some points in your stats.

There are a few stats to improve such as kindness, bravery, ferocity, cleverness, and a few others. These influence the kind of monster you have and what will happen to them at the end of their lifespan. In adulthood and beyond you can also gain reputation points, and throughout the game you can also gain another special stat depending on your events and choices. If you achieve Elder status, you'll also be able to influence monster/human relations and will get points for that as well. You'll also get accomplishments for different endings.

This game is rather short and is good to pick up here and there when you want to spend a little bit of time on a more lighthearted game. It's also pretty approachable for children if you have kids that you think might enjoy it. There is some replay value in trying different things and getting different accomplishments. Some of the possible events will also change from playthrough to playthrough.

I enjoyed this game. The only issue I encountered was that I couldn't open this game directly on the Steam library menu and instead had to go through local files. I don't know if it was an installation problem or what, but it did prevent my progress from being updated through Steam, although I still have the save file and everything. Other than that it was cute and fun and worth the short time spent with it, and it's good for just spending a few relaxing minutes with. It is on the short side and rather simplified, so don't get this looking for something deep and complex. In the end I did have fun with it, but it was nothing amazing.

Verdict:
LIKED IT

[Pumpkin]

HuniePop (Steam)

*Note, this game contains a lot of uhh... adult content. Let's leave it at that.

So in my quest to expand my gaming repertoire, I decided to play a full-on dating game. I enjoy playing matchmaker in G rated games because romance is cute, but I've never actually had an interest in the more adult ones. So why not, I said, and gave this game a try!

HuniePop is a dating sim/puzzle game in which you play as a dude or a lady and try to pick up chicks. Your characters is apparently pretty hopeless in the romance department though, but not to worry, the scantily clad love fairy is here to help you!

In this game, there are 8 women initially available for romancing and an additional four are unlockable. The game is split in to four periods of the day: Morning, afternoon, evening, and night. The time will only progress once you move from one girl to the next, making conversation and the like. Different girls have different schedules. As you talk to them, you can get to know them by asking questions like where they work, what their hobbies are, how old they are, etc. They'll also ask the questions back to you occasionally to see if you've been paying attention. They'll also ask you some personal questions, and answering to their liking will earn you more "Hunie", which is used to upgrade your stats for the puzzle aspect of the game.

Aside from talking to them, you can also give them gifts. Ones they'll like are marked with stars and hearts, and giving them gifts can reward you with new hairstyles for them. They have a hunger meter which will deplete the longer you talk to them, and you'll need to feed them to keep their attention. I can't speak for all women, but this is pretty accurate for myself, honestly. Or you can go talk to some other ladies and return later to talk to her some more. You can also give them alcohol at night which makes them more open to affection but I never did that so I can't comment too much.

You can also ask the girls on dates. After each successful date, the girls will gain a heart (up to 5), which will award you more hunie and monie. Depending on the time of day you ask them out, you'll go one one of three different dates, which will give you another outfit for them. After the first few dates they will send you uh... increasingly erotic pictures. After four successful dates, asking the girl out at night will result in an overnight visit, IF YA KNOW WHAT I MEAN!! (I mean sex time). There is some nudity, mostly of the upper region, but you won't actually be watching the deed or anything like that.

The dates are a kind of Candy Crush-esq type mini-game. There are different tokens that represent different stats (romance, talent, etc), and each girl has a specific stat she likes the most and dislikes the most. These can be leveled up with your hunie stuff. There are also three special kinds of tokens that have extra purposes, such as allowing the use of a gift on a date for benefits, or restoring turns. There will also be broken heart icons which are to be avoided at all cost. The date is won if you fill up the point bar before running out of turns. Winning the date also awards you with cash (I wish) for buying more gifts and stuff.

Characters:
(Ordered from favourite to least favourite)
Beli: A yoga instructor, she's a somewhat spiritual person and feels slightly insecure about herself. Very kind.
Kyanna: A single mother and hairdresser, she's not afraid to stand up for herself but wants a bit more stability in her life.
Lola: A flight attendant, she's pretty confident and likes to live life to the fullest. She's also very passionate about sports, especially tennis.
Tiffany: A college student, she's very sweet and open-minded, but she doesn't get along well with her family.
Aiko: A college professor who doesn't take her job too seriously, but instead prefers activities like napping, gambling, and sleeping. Very direct.
Kyu: Your special helper fairy, she's very crude and brass and swears a lot. Not shy in the slightest.
Jessie: A heavy drinking, flirtatious porn actress who isn't shy about the flirting.
Nikki: An antisocial shut-in who works at a cafe, but spends most of her time brooding. Likes video games.
Audrey: Audrey is a uh... loud person who enjoys insulting others, drugs, and feeling superior to you and everyone else.

Overall the game was more fun than I expected. I'm pretty sure you can romance however many of the women you want on one save file without consequence, but Pumpkin don't roll that way so I dunno. The characters definitely fit in to some stereotype cliches, but I was surprised at how natural some of the conversations felt. I was also impressed that the game had a diverse cast of romance options and allowed you to play as a girl. With that being said, some of the text was not changed properly to suit the female character, but overall it was changed appropriately. The dating game was pretty fun. Beli was awesome. So um, I guess if you enjoy this type of game, it might be worth a check out. It does get a bit repetitive, but I had fun with it. It was pretty alright.

Verdict:
IT WAS OKAY

[Pumpkin]

Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright (Nintendo 3DS)

Story:
Fire Emblem Fates splits in to three possible paths depending on who you decide to side with. Your Avatar character (default name of Corrin, male or female), has grown up in the Kingdom of Nohr. However, as it turns out, they are originally from the rival Kingdom of Hoshido. In the Birthright path, Corrin decides to side with the more peaceful nation of Hoshido, their birth family, after seeing some of the dark things Nohr is capable of. The rest of the game centers around trying to defeat King Garon of Nohr in order to bring peace between the two nations.

Gameplay:
This game is a strategy/tactical RPG. It is divided in to chapters, and you'll gain more units as you progress. Each map has a certain amount of these units/characters that can be deployed, and some have mandatory characters that need to be used. In Birthright you can also scout for challenges in order to do some extra grinding on maps you've previously completed. Different maps have different win conditions, such as 'defeat the boss' or 'route the enemy'. Some maps will also give you items, or additional characters if you fulfill the requirements. The game also has several difficulty settings, including Classic or Casual which decides whether characters defeated in battle die or not, and a new Phoenix mode that revives characters in battle on the next turn.

Different unit types have different strengths and weaknesses. Before confirming an engagement between your unit and an enemy, an estimate of how the battle will go down will be displayed for you to make your decision. As your characters gain levels, they can also change classes or 'evolve' in to a higher class with the right items. In battles, you can pair two units together, and they will sometimes completely negate a hit for their ally. Or you can simply have two units next to each other for a support attack. Both will raise compatibility between certain characters. More on that in a bit. The battles are divided in to player and enemy turns, and character units can be used in any order during the player turn. Once they have acted though, they cannot be used again until the next turn, unless you use certain support abilities. Outside of battles, you can also equip upgraded weapons on them once their weapon compatibility increases from use.

Aside from battles, there are a few other things that can be done. You're given a castle and as the game progresses you can add and upgrade buildings and shops. This includes a few fun things like the lottery, battle coliseum, cooking, and a hot spring. As your characters fight together, they will gain affinity and will sometimes unlock support conversations which can be viewed outside of battle. Their support ranks will increase, and some characters can even get married and have kids, which can then be recruited in to your army thanks to time shenanigans. You can also visit other people's castles, and do castle invasions if you want to.

World:
There is a world map but you won't really be exploring it. You'll simply choose or be given a destination and then do battle on the smaller area maps. You do get to freely walk around your castle though and customize it to your liking by rearranging buildings and changing the theme and music. There is good variety in the battle maps to keep things interesting.

Characters:
(I will only be listing some of the important characters, not all of them, and in no particular order).
Corrin: Male version also available, Corrin is the protagonist/customizable player character. Born in Hoshido and raised in Nohr, s/he must decide who to fight with. Very soft-hearted and caring.
Ryoma: Eldest brother of the Hoshido family. Very stern and upfront, but also takes care of others.
Hinoka: Eldest sister of the Hoshido family, she's very open and caring but also takes things rather seriously.
Takumi: Youngest brother of the Hoshido family, he has a strong distrust for Nohrians including the Corrin at first.
Sakura: Youngest of the Hoshido family, she's very shy and introverted, but cares very much about her siblings.
Azura: A somewhat mysterious woman who can sing a very powerful song.

Verdict:
Birthright took a while to get in to. It didn't give me the same excitement as Awakening did. But I very much appreciated the Phoenix mode as I'm terrible at strategy games and difficulty was my chief complaint with Awakening. However, about 2/3 of the way in, I really got in to it and could barely put it down. I'm not sure why it took so long, it might be because Fates is intended to be experienced via all three storylines, so it takes a while to get to know everyone and the whole situation. The ending sections were superb. I also loved the matchmaking, as expected, and enjoyed being able to customize my own castle. The cooking was fun. Some of the characters were blatant expys, which I guess is the point, but I would have liked more unique characters as well. The story was pretty good, I liked having to make such an important decision, and with grinding I put in nearly 60 hours, meaning this is a full game in and of itself. It is a bit bummer I have to pay more to get the other side of the story, but as I mentioned, this game can stand on its own if it needs to.

Verdict:
LIKED IT A LOT

[Pumpkin]

Undertale (Steam)

*Note that it's hard to explain some of this game without spoiling anything, although I'll try my best, so if you prefer to enter games blind, I recommend skipping this review (until after you've played, of course ;p).

(SPOILER)
Also note that I have only completed the pacifist route and have done none of the other routes, so I will be unable to comment on them.

Long ago, humans and monsters lived together. Eventually there was a war, and the humans sealed the monsters underground, where they are now trapped. Our protagonist, having ventured up the mountain of no return, falls in to the underworld and the land of monsters. This is where our tale begins. Controlling the human character, you will venture though the land of monsters, looking for a way to return home. The impression you leave on their world will be determined by your actions.

This game has two major aspects, which is puzzle solving and battles. As you make your way through the underworld, you'll be faced with a large number of puzzles to solve, so brush up on those skills. Outside of battles you'll also be able to talk to NPC's, shop, and take on a few mini quests here and there. Save points restore your health as well and they can be seen as shiny star looking things on the map.

In battles, there are a number of things you can do. You can fight enemies, which will reward you with EXP, levels, and money. The aim when choosing to fight is to click at the exact right time when your "line" hits the center. It'll make more sense if you see it. Depending on your success, you will do damage. The other option is to "act". By doing this you can check info on your opponent and engage in numerous actions depending on the foe, such as talking, hugging, joking, etc. The goal of the act is to get the enemy's name tag highlighted in the colour of your choosing, which will indicate that you can go to the mercy option and 'spare' the enemy. This will usually reward you with money, but you will get no experience. When the enemy attacks you, whether selecting fight or act, it will play out as a sort of bullet-hell mini-game where you usually have to dodge projectiles. There are a few other battle elements, such as special coloured attacks, that will be explained as you go along. You can also use items in battle and try to flee from the mercy option.

As you go along, there will be various location changes, such as 'Ruins' and 'Waterfall', that change up the scenery, opponents, and NPC's. You'll meet some characters along the way who may help you on your journey and even give you their phone number if you feel like calling them up for a chat. There's also some excellent music to be experienced in many of the locations that you find. Backtracking to view more events or go visit previously visited areas also becomes more accessible as you continue with some quicker transportation options.

Overall I would say this game is a slow burn. It was quirky and fun at first but things didn't really pick up for me until towards the end when the story really starts to unravel. The story itself is incredibly creative and touching, and it's told in a very charming and delightful way. I also quite like the sense of humour Undertale displays, and I like quite a few of the characters that you run in to. I appreciate the presence of choice available in the game as well, making it feel like your actions actually mean something and you aren't just walking along a scripted path. It makes you think more about your actions. On the downside, I wasn't a fan of the graphics, although I appreciate it was a small team that did the project. I also had a very hard time with the gameplay because I am not good at bullet hell style games. This led to a relatively short game being stretch out over a long period of time as I kept dying and getting discouraged. Overall though, I would definitely say it was a unique and enjoyable experience and I would recommend it if it seems like your thing.

Verdict:
LIKED IT

[Pumpkin]

Planetarian ~the reverie of a little planet~ (Steam)

Planetarian is a short visual novel about an unnamed Junker living in a post-apocolyptic world after a great war. Toxic Rain continues to fall without end, and all that awaits the few human survivors is struggle against the elements, lack of resources, and the dangerous mechs that lay in wait for anyone who crosses their path. But our protagonist soon finds companionship at the Planetarian in a destroyed city.

The Planetarian is where he meets Hoshino Yumemi, a robot whose job it is to serve the guest at the stargazing establishment. She takes great joy and pleasure in introducing everyone to the starry sky via a projection machine named Miss Jena. As it turns out, Yumemi activates for one week every year, and has been doing so for the past 30 years despite everything that's happened in the outside world. Seemingly oblivious to the real reason why she isn't getting any customers, she and the Junker begin to bond as he helps her fix Miss Jena so she can show him the starry sky that he's never seen.

This is a short visual novel with no choices. You will simply be reading what is presented on the screen and scrolling at your leisure. You can also change the font for better reading, and of course save and load when you want to. The game also gives you a chapter index on the save/load screen so you can quickly return to the beginning of any previously read section. Upon completing the VN, you can also view the CG and music galleries from the title screen menu.

Overall I enjoyed this little VN. It was very short, but I enjoyed the quirkiness of it and I think they told the story of Yumemi the robot in a somewhat fresh way. Instead of making her entirely human as we see in many stories, you are still made aware of the fact that she is a robot and only capable of so much. This doesn't take away from her character at all, but I feel it rather adds to it as you begin to care for her for exactly who she is. The music, while nothing to write home about, did fit the setting a lot. It wasn't the prettiest visually, although that's kind of the point, and certain moments were certainly impactful because of it when they introduced more colour in to the world. It managed to be very touching for such a short story and if you like VN's and have a few hours, I would very much recommend it.

Verdict:
LIKED IT A LOT

[Pumpkin]

Tales of Xillia 2 (PlayStation 3)

Warning: This game and the review both assume you've played the first game and so both the game and the review will be packed full of spoilers for Tales of Xillia. If you haven't played the first Tales of Xillia and don't like spoilers, I'd advise you to play that one before undertaking the second one.

Story:
Following the conclusion of Tales of Xillia, Rieze Maxia and Elympios are in the delicate position of trying to learn to live together. A young Elympion man, named Ludger, is about to begin a job as a cook after failing yet another test to enter the flourishing Spirius company in which his brother works. After meeting a strange little girl by the name of Elle, Ludger ends up in the middle of a terrorist attack, where he finds out that his brother has more going on than he thought.

Thanks to the experience, Ludger is recruited in to Spirius as a special agent. His job? To destroy "fractured dimensions", alternate realities that shouldn't exist. With the help of the original Tales of Xillia cast, Ludger must find out more about his job at Spirius, the fractured dimensions, his brother, and the lost little girl named Elle.

Gameplay:
This game plays very similarly to Tales of Xillia and many of the more recent Tales games. You bring up to 4 characters with you in to battle of which you control one. You attack by pressing X, which charges your TP. TP allows your characters to use artes (this game's version of magic), by pressing the O button along with pointing the analogue stick in a certain direction. As you progress, you'll be able to assign artes to other commands, allowing you to use more abilities in battle. By pressing a directional pad, you can link with another party member, which allows for linked attacks when your link bar fills. You can also use items in battles, defend with Square, and set a variety of skills outside of battle on to your character which grant a variety of benefits in battle and out. Allium Orbs are used to learn new skills and artes as well, and they can easily be equipped and unequipped from any character you choose whenever you want. As you accumulate points by having it equipped, you will be alerted when a character learns something new or upgrades an arte.

Unlike in the first Xillia game, Ludger will be mandatory in your party throughout the whole game and your other characters can only be swapped in towns. Aside from the game being divided in to chapters, the supporting cast also gets their own side stories for you to explore if you wish. During most main and story missions, you'll have mandatory party members to accompany you. Also by linking Ludger with certain people, and choosing certain dialogue options, his relationship with them will increase which grants items and skills. Aside from that, you'll also have a mountain of debt to pay off (yay), be able to accept requests for money and rewards, and find 100 lost cats and dispatch them on item seeking missions.

World:
In Xillia 2, you'll be revisiting the areas present in the first game. You'll explore Rieze Maxia, which has many diverse areas, and Elympios, which looks mostly the same. You'll also gain access to a few new areas, although there aren't very many. So if you liked the world of Xillia, you'll like this one just fine. You'll also be exploring fractured dimensions, which are a one time only deal, but they allow you to view the world in a different way. As usual there are treasures scattered about, giving you something to search for as you explore the areas (not to mention finding kitties).

Characters:
(Ordered from favourite to least favourite):
Elize: Starting to overcome her shyness, Elize is now in school and making friends. She's doing better in her life overall, but still struggles with knowing how to make difficult decisions.
Leia: Leia has since moved on from nursing and is trying to make a name for herself in journalism. Still as spunky as ever, but she has a lot to learn when it comes to how to do her new job.
Rollo: Rollo is a fat cat belonging to Ludger's family. He helps find items and other cats.
Rowan: He now has responsibilities as the Prime Minister of Rieze Maxia and is an integral part of the peace talks between Rieze Maxia and Elympios.
Gaius: Still as serious as ever, Gaius now occupies the position of King of Rieze Maxia. He can't get a hang of the whole technology business though.
Jude: Since the end of the last game, Jude has been hard at work researching how to get humans and spirits to coexist in peace.
Ludger: Our mostly silent protagonist, his first day on the job is wrought with difficulties and he finds his life forever changed.
Milla: Went on to become the new Maxwell, Lord of Spirits. But is this really the Milla we know?
Alvin: Trying to clean up his life, Alvin is attempting to make a name for himself as a salesman.
Elle: A young girl who got lost after her father was attacked. Promised to go to the land of Canaan, which is said to be able to grant any wish.
Muzet: Trying to relinquish her previously evil ways, Muzet still struggles to fit in among the humans.

Overall:
So did you play Tales of Xillia and think, "Man, this would be so much better with millions of dollars of debt and an annoying kid?" No, I'm joking, but seriously, I quite liked Xillia 2. I wasn't as impressed with it as when I first played it, but it was a solid game that held my interest the entire way through. I really liked having the character specific stories, although I wish they had more variety in who accompanies these characters in their stories. The kitty dispatch was adorable and useful, and it was nice to see the cast again after what they'd been through. I liked all of the characters and the game did a good job, as most Tales game do, of allowing each to have their development and turn in the spotlight. On the other hand, having so much focus on Ludger and Elle felt rather odd and out of place, and the way they added details to the original story makes me wonder if they just expanded on the lore, or if they changed too much. The original Xillia is definitely the better game, now that I've had a chance to play both twice, but this one is worth your time if you liked the first one and want to catch up with everyone again.

Verdict:
LIKED IT A LOT

[Pumpkin]

Ar Tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel (PlayStation 3)

Note: I have only received the "Normal" ending of the game, which excludes an entire chapter. As such, I will be unable to comment on the final parts of the game until I go back some time in the future and complete the True Ending.
Double Note: There is a lot of sexual content and foul language. Be warned if that's an issue for you.
Triple Note: Ar Tonelico Qoga is the third game in the Ar Tonelico trilogy. You don't have to have played the first two to play this one, but you will miss some details, so do your research or play the others first.

Story:
The game begins with our protagonist, Aoto, when he stumbles upon a Revytail (magical song girl), named Saki, being chased by the big bad army. A man who had vowed to protect her lays dying as he asks Aoto to protect her, and Aoto, being an RPG hero, agrees immediately. This leads to a whole mess of situations when he and his friends meet a second Revytail named Finnel and somehow manage to get sucked in to the middle of a conflict between what essentially amounts to a human faction and a Revytail faction. How it turns out is up to you.

Gameplay:
Ar Tonelico Qoga is an RPG. You gain up to six characters throughout the game, three of which are used as your primary battle characters, and the other three are kind of backups. While your three main fighters will always be present in battle (unless story events dictate otherwise), you can only control one at a time. You can switch this from the main and battle menus at any time. You can only have one backup Revytail character in your party, however, and who you choose will decide the rhythm, music, and possible support abilities during the fight. It's also your job to protect them from harm in battle. They also have other forms, so to speak, to add some more variety.

In battle you press Square to attack, and the goal is to attack with the rhythm of the music (which will be displayed for you). Doing so will raise your Revytail's Burst gauge, which will allow for added abilities such as raising attack or defense, or increasing the amount of healing your Revytail gives out. These support abilities can be set to your liking. When you attack on beat enough, you'll be able to Purge your Revytail (which involves stripping them, for some reason), by pressing one of the assigned shoulder buttons and shaking your controller. You can unleash a Revytail attack with the X button, which will do more damage depending on their Purge level and Burst gauge. You can also open the battle menu with Triangle and do special attacks when available by pressing Square plus a directional button.

Outside of battle you can craft items, customize your heroines to a limited degree, shop, and go in to your heroine's "soulspace", which is a very intimate system wherein you dive in to their subconscious in order to form a stronger bond with them. This will allow for higher Purge levels, but costs DP (Dive Points), which are obtained in battle. You can also find conversation topics around towns, or by doing certain things in battle, which gives you additional conversations to view.

World:
The Ar Tonelico Qoga world manages to be both big and small. There's not a huge amount of areas or towns to visit and the towns are pretty small overall and offer much of the same stuff. Some of the dungeons, however, stretch on for good chunks of time and have very convoluted pathways and routes to sort yourself through. You'll also be doing a lot of back and forth. While there's a decent amount of variety, you'll be seeing a lot of the same stuff. One the bright side, the game offers you a bar that changes colour depending on how likely you are to get in to a fight, and depletes after each. Meaning that while you're navigating some of the complicated maps, you can rest assured that eventually you won't have to do battle anymore. If you want to restore the bar? Just leave the area and come back!

Characters:
(I will not be listing all characters because of spoilers. No particular order)
Aoto: Our protagonist who has dedicated himself to protecting the maidens he just met five minutes ago.
Saki: A Revytail. Very shy and soft spoken. Also she can turn people in to cakes.
Tatsumi: Aoto's friend who tries to take the more logical approach to situations.
Finnel: A Revytail who has a strong interest in Tatsumi. Very clumsy and quick to upset.
Hikari Gojo: A reliable doctor of Revytology, he has friends in all of the right/wrong places.

Overall:
Ar Tonelico Qoga isn't really... a good game. But it isn't a bad game either. The writing is amateur, some of the voice acting is awful, and the amount of uncomfortably sexual scenes is just cringe worthy (especially when paired with the bad voice acting). The areas get repetitive, the gameplay isn't great, and the characters are all rather cliche. The story is alright. But despite all of these faults, the game is still quirky in a charming way. It's like that puppy who may not be the cutest, but watching him fall over his own paws is still kind of aww worthy. The battle system is interesting and I like how the music and rhythm change depending on the character you use. The crafting system is nifty, as is finding the talk topics. There are some visually very nice looking areas and, while I don't love any of the characters, I didn't dislike them either. I also liked that the story took a "both of these sides kind of suck but some of the people don't" approach to things instead of having a clearly good and clearly evil side. So if you can look past its faults and want to try a quirky, rather average RPG, then it's worth checking out.

Verdict:
IT WAS OKAY

[Vermachtnis]

I got that game because I loved the first two, but it was kinda eh. I never finished it.

[Pumpkin]

Always Sometimes Monsters (Steam)

Note that this game deals with a lot of more adult themes.

This game is sort of a life simulator of sorts. When the game starts, you will choose who to "have a drink with" and offer a book deal to, and the character you choose will be your character for the rest of the game. The girl I picked drank brandy, so I named her Brandy, because I'm clever like that. After you select your character, you will be choosing a romantic interest from a second set of characters. Same sex pairings are also available and some dialogue and things will actually change to reflect your relationship.

Fast forward a year and things aren't going so great for you. That book deal is kind of falling through, you're late on your rent, you don't have much going on, and, worst of all, your lover left you. They left you! And to top it off, they sent you an invitation to their wedding in a month. Now it's up to you to find a way across the country within that month in order to see your lover again and maybe even try to win them back.

That's essentially the story of the game, although it's split up in to smaller chunks of story. Like when you change towns, you'll generally have new, specific objectives that you can approach in a variety of ways. The main underlying objective is generally to get money or a ride to the next city or town. How you do that is generally up to you. Do you get in to some shenanigans or maybe illegal activity to get more money, or do you work at the temp agency jobs for a small salary? Do you pawn precious items, or keep them like you promised? These decisions, and there are a lot of them, shape the narrative of your personal story.

Your character also needs to eat and sleep, eating costs money and sleeping might unless you choose to sleep outside in certain cases. A lot of the jobs you work also serve as long, repetitive mini-games that probably feel as dull as some of these jobs would in real life. Things like planting seeds, making tofu burgers and steaks, etc. There are also some video games within the game (or knock-off versions anyway) that you can play when you want a change of pace.

Overall, it was an okay game, but it fell short in a lot of ways. I like much of the freedom you get in how you approach things, and how some things do genuinely change based on character, romantic interests, and choices, making the game a very different experience from one person to the next. Which is great! However, it's also rather depressing playing a character who struggles every step of the way for a goal that you might not even care about, because there's no option to move on from your ex and build your life back up like a healthy person. So instead you lead your character down a destructive path while dealing with others who have drug addictions, marriage issues, gambling debts, and other such issues that just kind of make it a heavy experience. While it's not a bad thing, the story can sometimes get in to extreme and silly dilemmas that don't make you think but instead just feel depressing and annoying. It's got some cute features like the creators appearing in the game, some funny moments, and some of it does feel very genuine and real. But the mini-games get dull, the story is depressing, and it doesn't feel like there's enough pay off for putting up with all of the flaws. If it sounds interesting, it's pretty cheap so it's worth a try, but in my opinion it fell short of what it could have been.

Verdict:
IT WAS OKAY