Recent reviews by applecinnabun

cinnabunny is a cozy game that's actually cozy. ok, that's a little harsh, i know the genre staples are really working for its fans. but personally, i tend to find these types of games a little stressful, whether it's because of time limits or just because i'm being asked to do too much at once, or the daily routine grows too long.

not so with cinnabunny! it very bravely... doesn't ask you to do much, beyond a quick tutorial. you're free to just engage with its systems in whatever order you like, at whatever pace you naturally settle on. i also really like that you don't play the role of a mayor, or an island terraformer, or a god king bun ruling a dollhouse with an iron paw. i don't really have that kind of power in my cozy fantasies, personally, i just want to be a baker.

lastly, i really appreciate the way the friendly bun villagers will just politely tell you to heck off sometimes, either because you were standing there repeatedly talking to them, or sometimes because they are simply busy. it adds a little bit of realism that makes the conversations with them feel more sincere and less video-gamey.

honestly, the only real thing i would change about it is i would have liked it better with a real world 24 hour day cycle, and real world seasons, but that's just me. if you don't mind a relaxation game that's... actually relaxing, you'll love this.

magnet jack is a solid and DOSerific little puzzle platformer. there's a variety of interesting level mechanics and none of them really overstay their welcome, and a good blend between the "puzzley" and "platformy" extremes to keep things feeling varied and fun. the toon-y and surreal tone leaves you excited to see where the game will go next (no ice level -> lava level -> water level here, exactly) and the difficulty is just enough to be engaging. it's just solid!

my only real criticism is that the "new game" button on the start menu has no "really erase your whole save?" confirm, which combined with the fact that the game doesn't always open in the correct resolution makes the title screen a bit of a nuclear minefield. these sorts of things just happen without AAA QA budgets, but seriously watch out for that if you play!

I've been looking forward to The Unlife of Gorlak ever since I first heard the concept. Far, far too few game devs are offering me chances to play as a cartoon villain, complete with evil laughs, schemes, henchmen, and bickering.

I'm happy to say it's really delivering on the concept! "Raising simulator" as an RPG subgenre is actually such a genius fit for a cartoon villain game. Since you're more concerned about raising your stats in the general sense over time, you can make an RPG where your cartoon villain is never really *defeated* by random monsters or heroes outside, who can only ever offer you setbacks to your dastardly plans. Which is exactly how it should be! Bowser doesn't just get outright defeated by any old schmuck and neither does the mighty Gorlak.

The game's also made me laugh several times already, and the art never stops being delightful. I'm also surprised by how much I enjoy the goofy dungeon crawler soundtrack. Everything's just working together to make The Unlife of Gorlak an absolute cartoon mayhem treat, get in on it!

like some of the other reviews have pointed out (both positively and negatively), everdine plays its story pretty straight. if you know other stories with similar tone to this one, you'll probably find it a bit familiar, front to back.

i think it's really solid though! the artwork in particular has a really lovely atmosphere to it, the emotional cores of danger, possibility, and longing are all competently delivered, and even if you predict where the good ending is headed, it still hits pretty much how you would hope it would.

i think a certain type of person is going to be drawn to this game from the steam page, and that certain type of person is generally going to get what they were looking for here. it's a nice, solid little game!

i'm a long time celery emblem fan and tamarindo's didn't disappoint! these characters are shockingly charming, the murder mansion you're stuck in was fun to explore and build a mental map of, and most of the puzzles are pretty fun! though obviously the real selling point here is the intense, one of a kind aesthetic.

here's the deal with these games: they're a little rough around the edges. dialogue has enough grammar and spelling issues that i think they're intentional at this point, some times things won't work right the first try, sometimes the game's not going to perform very well. what you get in exchange is one of the most unhinged and unique senses of style out of anyone in the business.

i think what makes jacob jazz' style work so well is that there's a willingness to not make sense. celery emblem games are really nostalgia/homage focused (and you can see this in like, the steam descriptions), but they don't worry about being faithful or accurate reproductions of a specific time or thing. tamarindo's says it's a "90s sitcom" but does a 70s sitcom opening parody, has characters named like a much older mystery novel, and is full of like, gamecube references and other 00s stuff, for instance. they're beautiful, chaotic, nonsensical nostalgia stews. which if you think about it, is how the actual emotion of nostalgia actually works. why strive for perfect, reasonable accuracy when the emotion you're trying to evoke isn't accurate?

also shoutout to the splash screen that says "if you find a bug, it's intentional, don't leave a negative steam review." completely unhinged, absolutely love it

i've been looking forward to this game for years and i'm so excited to be finally playing it! starstruck has a passionate, sincere tone that you just don't get out of a lot of art anymore. when it aims for "quirky" like the mother series, it actually gets there rather than just superficially gesturing at "quirkiness". plus, it's a rhythm game rpg, which is just inherently cool.

experienced guitar hero players should note that, even though it supports guitar controllers and works great, there are some frustrating bits about the rhythm minigame: there's no real on-screen indicator for where the beat falls, which makes the charts nearly impossible to sightread, the notes wrap back around to the left side of the screen at musically random points in time (i.e. not at beat one of a bar), and you'll have to press the buttons for each note (for example, for a series of power chords, there's no "strum", you just have to press the chord buttons each time).

so this isn't exactly The Guitar Hero RPG as you might be excited for, if you're a big guitar hero nerd. that said the rhythm minigames are still plenty of fun anyway and the writing and art and story are unmissable.

great addition to the hacker sim genre, likable characters, an excellent tutorial/hint system, and a collection of minigames with so much effort and love put into them that they might better be described as genre hops or subgames. definitely worth the price! it's good!

it's what it looks like it is in the trailer. you will pay $3 to do strafing runs on pirate ships as a dragon. that's a really easy purchase decision

it's a neat little genre mashup! some of the other reviews don't like the RPG elements, which is understandable as they make the score system totally meaningless, which is generally the appeal of a pinball game. if you approach this as just a relaxing thing to do rather than a score chaser, it's nice to just enjoy the realistic pinball physics, practice your shots, and enjoy the atmosphere and number-go-up though.

chico's got every ounce of the gameboy color charm you'd hope for from the trailer/screenshots, but with more modern puzzle design sensibilities and reward systems. be sure to stick around for the post-game bonus levels, which have an extremely satisfying big-puzzle-made-of-smaller-puzzles structure that i wish i could play 15 more hours of!