Recent reviews by Tater Thot

Charming, relaxing, and with a good, satisfying grind. If you're into farming sims this game is definitely worth giving a try.

Gameplay-wise it plays more like a 3D Farmville than Stardew Valley. There is no plot, and there are no fictional characters to meet, it's just you and your farm. Crops you plant grow in real-time and continue growing even after you close the game, so you can set your own pace by planting crops that take several hours or days to grow. Unlike in Farmville however crops don't wither if you don't water or harvest them in time, so there are no stressors in that regard. Some plants can only be planted in certain seasons, but they don't die once the next season starts. (Each season lasts about 20 minutes and this too progresses in real-time).

I've had great experiences with the multiplayer aspect of this game as well. Most of the people I've met have been really nice, and visiting other people's farms (besides filling your boost meter) also gives you inspiration for how you want your own farm to look. There's a wide variety of cosmetic items and furniture to change up the look and feel of your farm, and you can own a pet!

The game has a slow start, though, so that's something to take into consideration. It's not until you're able to build the big gas pump that the game really hits its stride. Even driving can feel a bit slow at times, but having to walk is excruciating (and for some reason there are 2 walking speeds: slow and slower). My only other complaint is a very minor one, which is that the default expression of the characters seems to be sad and fearful. And this doesn't matter all that much 'cause I don't see my character's face 99.9% of the time, but it shows up in the banner art, DLC promo art and in-game pictures as well and I wish they'd just look a little happier.

Easy to get the hang of, and incredibly satisfying to play. Has a ton of replay value and enough depth to stay interesting through multiple playthroughs.

Momotype is a short, experimental visual novel where you're tasked with taking care of a real-life virtual pet called Momo. Momo is a cute round little creature whose design is reminiscient of the old Tamagotchis (which this game explicitly refers to), however, while regular Tamagotchis require food, bathing and play and not much else, Momo requires more care; they're sentient, inquisitive, sensitive, and almost dangerously naive - sort of like a (very intelligent but very sheltered) small child.

This could be the set-up to a very cute, light-hearted and wholesome game where you bond with your virtual pet, but this game takes this premise in an entirely different direction. This game calls itself a horror visual novel and that's not without merit, but without going into too much spoilery detail, the kind of horror this game deals with is primarily existential (with some body horror thrown in as well).

It's a very short game, but the story is very effective and wastes very little time. Seeing the full scope of the story takes several playthroughs but each of them is different enough to not feel like you have to rush through content you've already seen to get to the new stuff, and even in repeating old scenarios (like when Momo is watching tv) it builds on top of what happened before. Choices don't really matter, despite having "alternate endings" the story is actually pretty linear, but that's not a bad thing - not every story-based videogame needs branching paths. This game has a single story to tell and it does that well.

Townscaper isn't really a game as much as it's a tech demo, or a toy for placing buildings. These buildings (and the streets, gardens and piers that connect them to the sea and to each other) are beautiful and well-designed, and a lot of thought was put into how the buildings and streets are constructed, which can lead to an entire block suddenly being reconfigured because (for example) a street was blocked off or opened up. Somehow the result always ends up looking lovely and picturesque no matter what you do, whether you have a plan in mind or are just randomly clicking around.

Short, sweet, and surprisingly chaste for a game about gathering a harem of sexy demon girls. The puzzles strike the right balance in difficulty, the music is catchy (the OST only has a few tracks, but all of them are good), and the character designs are cool as hell and rendered in a near-monochrome color palette that works really well.

If there's one criticism to be had, it's that the game's best moments are when you get to know the girls better, or when they exchange banter, and that there wasn't more of that. The "Life Advice" option lets the girls talk to you and each other more, but it's optional and a bit hidden away.

The pancake recipe in the DLC is actually better than the one I had been using up until now. I didn't expect that to happen but it's nice that it did.

I wish there was an option on Steam to give neutral reviews, as I don't like writing negative reviews for games I did personally enjoy playing. But I can't recommend Windward unless you're a player like me, who doesn't mind (and sometimes even enjoys) the grind, because this game gets very grindy.

Windward's gameplay loop is fundamentally very shallow, especially in single player: You visit a town and accept a bunch of quests, which usually involve going from point A to point B. Trade involves the same mechanics but instead of accepting a quest you buy a resource to sell someplace else (resources that share the same very limited storage space as quest items). Battling pirates involves (for the most part) sailing circles around them to fire your cannons at them, and capturing a city involves parking in its harbor until enough time has passed. There are small twists here and there (for instance, smuggling quests turn friendly units hostile until you've completed or abandoned the quest) but once you've played this game for an hour or two, you've pretty much had the full gameplay experience.

This game is incredibly good, one of the best of the open world exploration/survival genre. There's heavy emphasis on exploration, and in just about every aspect of the game you're not barred by invisible barriers but by your own lacking equipment. You need to get into the ocean to find the resources to build gear and equipment that lets you explore other, deeper, more dangerous parts of the ocean. As you do this, the story unfolds itself; primarily through PDA's, data boxes and radio messages you receive, but also the environment, world building and information boxes when you discover certain new species, materials or locations. There's very little handholding, which can be very frustrating at times, but it makes breakthroughs feel extra rewarding. There is no map icon, so you learn to carry around a couple of beacons with you at all times and (at least in my case) use the wreckage of the Aurora as an anchor point to determine where you need to go next, as if it were the north star.

The environments are beautiful; the different biomes are alien and diverse and the music works really well with the visuals to enhance the overall experience. There are moments where you feel genuine dread when you hear the roar of a reaper leviathan in the distance and I think the fact that there are only very limited options in terms of combat adds to that feeling of smallness and vulnerability.

The game is grindy at times, which is one of the main complaints people have against it, but it doesn't really feel like grinding for grinding's sake where the game is basically just wasting your time before you're allowed to progress. You're always building towards something, be it new equipment or an expansion of your base.

Lastly, the time capsule mechanic is lovely. When you're about to wrap up your storyline you can leave a time capsule behind with a picture, a message, and a couple of items, which can then be found by other players. I found two of those so far, they're rare enough that they feel special every time but not so rare that you risk not finding any on a typical playthrough.

I haven't had this much fun in a multiplayer game in years.

One of the best film adaptations of a videogame I've ever seen. This film stays very true to the tone, core concept and soundtrack of the game, and even if you've never played Papers, Please, I would still highly recommend watching this.