el_dritchknight 最近的评测

I received Sun Haven as a gift, and I was really excited to play it! At around 55~ hours, it was fun, cozy and addictive. I LOVED the FANTASTIC pixel art of the backgrounds and items (Brinestone my beloved!); WONDERFUL. unique character designs like Karish, Vaan, Catherine; the BEAUTIFUL MUSIC (and each character has their own cool theme song!); the main quest's writing is also interesting when weaved with the game play (I loved Brinestone's plot and Nelvari's themes), and every character having a real and heartfelt moment/backstory written for them is always lovely to see. The lore is also very cool, and it's nice to have combat and fantasy in the usual cozy game genre!!

Unfortunately, there are many reasons why I do not recommend this game, despite its potential and the hard work of the creatives that were put into it.

Firstly, the lack of credits is very telling. It's been an issue for months IIRC, and the company has not been the most forthright, direct or transparent when it comes to this issue, along with the Nintendo Switch bugs, crashes, and other game play issues. I like that their DLC content is purely cosmetic and doesn't affect Sun Haven's plot or game play, but when the company keeps releasing more PAID content over fixing the bugs or addressing concerns? It comes across as negligent at best; callous and capitalistic at worst.

Content-wise, this is connected to the quantity over quality mindset the game seems to have. At first, I liked that there were many things to do and multiple maps unleashed! Many romanceable villagers are also great, but when you HAVE to romance them to get to know their story, it feels like they're marketed to just BE love interests for the player's consumption as opposed to having their own character arcs. Speaking as a professional romance game script writer for years, the romance system does not feel organic, as much as I did enjoy certain characters and their interactions with my farmer. They are also pushing to add more romanceable characters despite not addressing the bugs or the Switch issue? It really just feels like the executives want to milk this cash cow, which blows since it really is a fun game filled with people's amazing creations.

To be clear, I'm not instigating a witch hunt. I only wish for the company to be held accountable, compensate its workers and players, and to be more transparent moving on. It's been already linked, but I'd like to share this video once more and encourage everyone to make their own opinions based on credible research and publicly available information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouSWPM4jfUY.

One of my favorite games of 2024! I could *not* shut up about it after finishing the main story, recommending it to anyone who would listen. I've only invested 200+ hours in games I truly like, and I've already planned out my next 3 playthroughs haha!

Pros: It's very engaging and relaxing in the mini games, resource gathering and building aspect. The writing is super funny, but can be heartfelt and emotional at times. The main story had many twists and turns that I did not expect in *my* cozy game, but I love it so much. For the action-oriented, you'll enjoy the dungeons, fighting, and some parts of the main plot. I found the art to be cute and unique! I'll really miss this Sandrock cartoon-y style. The characters are also so lovable with stellar voice-acting! I wish we saw more of them. The lore slaps too. The My Time series has a lovely Sandbox (heh) of world-building with its post-apocalyptic setting that inspires a lot of amazing OCs and concepts in the fandom!

Cons: The content distribution between the characters (especially the love interests) is very skewed. I wish that they had thought to equalize the amount of content if they were going to make so many characters romanceable, but it seems they're keeping this...peculiar notion of 'core' vs 'non-core' romanceables up based on the fan favorites that they assume will make them more money despite their own lack of consistent lore (see: Logan's mom.) It's frustrating, but also sadly common in many games (hi Baldur's Gate 3 my beloved). Some characters also become scapegoats for others development/shining moments (Arvio for Fang and Justice for Unsuur), and some character development's could be better executed (like Elsie's). Also, the devs could be a bit more polite (the writing contest was rather unfair and the comments could've been more cordially worded.)

Now before anyone comes for me, these nitpicks are a testament to how much I care about the game and wish it could have been better. I love MTAS and the friends I met in this fandom. The game truly was there for me in one of the most stressful periods of my life, and it will always have a special place in my heart. <3

Short and sweet, A Pinch of Magic is a cute game about the MC (whose pronouns you can pick as well as a masc or femme appearance) (trying to) manage their Baba's cafe. The music is nice, the artstyle is cute, and I dig the unique UI. I also like how character-driven the visual novel is, and how the LIs have their own goals and stories that are about familial expectations foisted on them and them finding their own ways.

[spoilers]

I suppose I think it's cute how the nicknames play a part into this with Kia turning into Kiana and Mikhail turning into Misha, symbolizing how MC's relationships with them both change.

Kiana is stunning attractive and has a lovely, kind and somewhat dorky gap moe personality. I restarted my game to see her and the femme!MC on screen together. As cute as they looked, I'm disappointed that Kiana has no explicitly romantic CG of her gazing into the MC's eyes like Mikhail does. The lore in her route is interesting, and I love that she has an alternate mermaid form, though I also wish it wasn't white-washed. It's a pity because childhood friends-to-lovers is one of my favorite tropes, but in comparison to the length, complexity and flirtations in Mikhail's route, Kiana and MC deserve more.

I do like the message of them both not knowing what to do with their futures, but for now they'll find out together. That's something I wish I've seen more of. And the writing is gorgeous in all routes. Some of my gripes are about the weird pacing with so much build-up and talk about the MC's family (which is great! we love a fleshed out MC), but it feels like a storyline that gets dropped at the end? Unless you're with Mikhail and he magically (heh) finds your Baba for some reason?

Mikhail... is an acquired taste. The banter was good, and I like the attempt to give him depth, but as a tsundere brat enjoyer, it gets a bit jarring at times. Like him flirting with you then casually mentioning he was poisoned was very much on the Miraculous Lady Bug-levels of strange dialogue. I do like the idea of enemies-to-lovers, especially when it was revealed that his mom might be a witch, but execution could've been better.

I understand time constraints, but I think a lot of the game would've been improved if there were minigames like potion/drink making or decorating, with input from the LIs, of course.

Overall, a lot could be improved in a possible remake, but I do recommend this for the descriptive magic writing and Kia alone. <3

If you're looking for a 4-hour cozy game where you help villagers with their problems via psychology-- I mean potions, charms, oils and incense, you may like Witchy Life Story!

Pros:
- Amazing adorable and unique artstyle!! I loved being able to customize the MC and change their outfits whenever <3 The crystals, flowers and spells are also really pretty.
- Most of the NPCs were charming with relatable thoughts and feelings. My personal favs are Devin's struggles with anxiety and being the kind of musician they wanna be, Mel learning to let go of control and take care of herself, and Jean learning to get past perfectionism.
- I liked the MC's mischievous, rebellious personality and their cute crow familiar! I found them funny, but if you're looking for a self-insert, it might not be your cup of tea. But I personally enjoyed seeing how MC's personality jived or clashed with the other characters.
- The gardening bit was calming, if a little reptitive by day 4.

Things that can be improved:
- There are bugs such as MC's sprite randomly disappearing and the occassional typo. I think the dialogue was fun, but the narration could also use some spicing up and immersive descriptions.
- The pacing is off. While I do like the theme of community, self-reliance and everyone learning not to use magic for shortcuts, I thought that the conflicts during the Full Moon suddenly blew up and then got resolved fairly quickly? It was just jarring after a slow first week in Flora. The pacing got quite faster in the second week with not much to do after you complete the orders. The Festival itself was nice, but the ending felt too abrupt for me, as much as I liked the message.
- Mechanics-wise, I wish we could've used the Tarot deck more in the main story. Also, the ability to experiment more with MC's spells specially since they kept talking about their experiments. It would've been funny too to give villagers a failed potion/etc.
- I wish there was a save file so I can reload and replay haha.

Overall, I had fun and found it relaxing. Might replay it again to date Jonas, hehe.

Greek myths + beautiful music + top tier vocals + unique art + interesting lore all tied together with in a thematic narrative of deities who've gone lost - AKA stray gods. What's not to love?

First off, the idea of a musical + roleplaying visual novel is, well, /novel/! it was executed in such a fun way with three different branches that could not only change the lyric and story, but the musical genre of the song!! it's so fun and brilliant!! it really increases replayability value along with the choices and different personality traits <3

The voice acting is also so good, not only for the phenomenal singing, but also when they hit those emotional beats aaaaa <333 such an amazing star-studded cast <3

The striking artstyle reminded me of a comic book <3 the blocking/transitions were also unique and fun, lending to the feel of a musical <3 Also, the designs are amazing!! Love Grace's nose ring, Freddie's hat, Pan's EVERYTHING, Hermes' get up (i love u erika iishii), and PERSEPHONE'S EVERYTHING AAA

Speaking of! The characters are just so lovely and endearing!! Grace is relatable with wanting to find her way through the sea of life (thank you for more young adult protags)! Freddie is so sweet, smart and nuanced <3 Pan is cunning and caring <3 Persephone OH M Y GOD BREAK OUT STAR!! I didn't expect to love her so much <3 I love this game's take on her ! Even the side characters have such heartwrenching and compelling storylines.

If anything, I just wish that there was more of a resolution with a certain minor character, as well as equal screen time between the main four Love Interests. Granted, part of the reason some have more screen time that others is because of player choice and agency, but I can't help but feel that I spent less time with Pan compared to the others, especially near the end of Act 2 and onward ;A; still, that did not diminish the joy/kilig I felt with his romance scenes <33 I'm also so excited to see Freddie's route and Persephone's route <3

Also the spin on Greek mythos along with how the gods have lived on through the ears!! It's so cool! I only want more of it (hopefully in a sequel? AHHHH I want to see a certain god!!)

All in all, a fantastic game that I can't recommend enough! <3

I ADORED unpacking!! on the whole, it was a very chill, relaxing puzzle game about - well, unpacking. as a virgo, it was nice to sort things out with very cute graphics. it was also fun to find hidden achievements by tinkering with certain items or putting things in certain ways.

sometimes it's a lil stressful when i don't know what the item is/don't know where the protag wants me to put it, but there is a mode to disable that.

the artstyle is adorable, the music is amazing, and the atmospheric storytelling was so, SO good. the casual queerness of the protag is so lovely, and it helps me have hope to be domestic with my partner one day. . very cute heartfelt game, i highly recommend!

Happy anniversary, Our Life! Though I'd heard of the game before, I only played a few months ago, starting a save file with my girlfriend... then I ended up so addicted to it that I stayed up til 2-3 am after work playing it. Then when I finished the DLC, I stayed up til 3 yet again to write Cove/MC fanfic haha <3

As a VN writer and longtime gamer, Our Life is one of the best visual novels I've ever had the pleasure of playing. It's so fun and never gets old despite how many times you replay. (The variations and callbacks are insane btw, kudos to the GB Patch team for that!)

It's so wholesome and lighthearted. The jokes never failed to make me laugh (I loved teasing Cliff and Cove). And the hurt/comfort moments were handled so excellently. The Reflections DLC moment got me bawling so hard. The realism and depth of these characters are amazing.

Whoever said the perfect man doesn't exist has never met Cove Holden. (And this is where I took a mini break to cry because I miss him so much.) Getting to know him was such a precious, irreplaceable experience. He's a wonderful friend and playing the platonic route was fun, but honestly? He's one of my Top Tier LIs of all time. Sweet, stubborn, and maybe a little bit spoiled (who can say no to him??), Cove is so easy to love. His struggles in dealing with change is so relatable. The way he can be /our constant/ in a life that's ever changing is so beautiful. I can't wait to replay the game and love Cove all over again!!

Derek was fricking amazing too. He's such hardworking thoughtful guy with issues that cut deep (I vibed with having a fam that's very dependent on you and struggling to figure out your career).

I'M SO EXCITED FOR BAXTER WHO I [lowkey sp0iler alert] ACCIDENTALLY GOT AT THE SOIREE IN STEP 2 BY A STROKE OF FATE LMAO!!! [end sp0iler]

Like I said, the supporting cast was so fun and comforting too. Ma and Mom are lovely, and I adore Kyra and Cliff so much. Elizabeth really felt like an older sibling, and I love the Filipino rep <3

All in all, it broke my heart to say goodbye to Sunset Bird, especially since real life changed so drastically, so similarly to the end of step 3. But Cove was always there. Every, "See you tomorrow" came true (especially at the butt crack of dawn, oh Cove). There are no words to accurately describe how returning to Sunset Bird feels so comforting, how being surrounded by all these loving and lovable characters felt like family, and how seeing Cove again feels like home, the way our MC is home to him.

Thank you so much, GB Patch. I genuinely can't wait to see more from the Our Life Cinematic Universe 🥺 💜​

An amazing third installment in the series! The resource management aspect is unique and fun, and I love the hi-jinks on the road! The status effects on the resources are really cool! The tutorials are paced well! I loved the conversational aspects and possibilities of getting dates too <3 Polly and Scott are so fun, Prank Masterz Forever <3

As an avid fan of Monster Prom, I love Monster Camp so much!! The cast is superb as always (love Damien's subtle dev aww), and camping hijinks are just as funny as ever <33 Milo and Aaravi and Dahlia and Joy and Cal my beloveds <3

I've been playing since launch, and I love this series so much! The concept of a multi-player dating sim is so fun, and Monster Prom pulls it off really well! I love how you can be super competitive or wing man for each other. The characters are amazing and hilarious, but with great depth (Damien best red spicy babygirl). Well-written, funny as hell and fun to play!