Recent reviews by Rabbidking

A fantastically frenetic platformer with a nostalgic visual aesthetic, and one of the best soundtracks I've heard in recent memory. Tearing your hair out chasing the P-Ranks isn't fun if you're not motivated enough to do them, but the thrill of getting one after hours of trial and error is very worth it just for the sheer satisfaction. Stop reading these reviews and just grab this game right now, you won't be disappointed.

It took me a little bit of time to understand the appeal of this game, but after a couple of hours and two successful runs in the early game, everything finally clicked. Great soundtrack, lots of secrets & unlockables, and fun weapon synergies that can lead into absolute decimation in late game easily make this one of the most addicting games I've played outside Binding of Isaac.

The Henry Stickmin Collection is mainly a remaster of the older titles in the Flash-based Henry Stickmin games, as well as an additional game to conclude the series. The entire series is basically an interactive movie, where you make choices at specific points and see how they play out. You could always just go for the correct choices, but the real fun is seeing how badly Henry messes up based on what you make him do. He can try to knock out a guard but might end up knocking himself out, failing to attempt a certain bounty hunter's famous move, and anything in between. Each game has multiple routes to proceed in, which can influence available routes in other games (especially in the final game, which you must select two endings from the preceding games to carry over into it), which make for some interesting stories to take place.

Graphically, the game looks very well done for old games reworked for the demise of Flash. Many of the original references had to be changed due to copyright laws, but still leave the spirit intact (one ending path literally turns into a quick trial from the Phoenix Wright series). My only gripe is that the collection seems to stutter a tiny bit on older hardware, and it doesn't play nice with fullscreen mode. In fact, the game actually warns against using it, as it can cause random crashes for no reason. Luckily autosave is abundant, and the games are usually pretty short, so a random crash and reload isn't too much of a hassle.

One other complaint I have is for the time limits in quick-time events. More often than not, there doesn't seem to be nearly enough time to prepare for a quick action. Your options in these moments pop up very fast, and are almost immediately followed with an instant fail. Most of the original games lacked any sort of time indicator (which is mentioned in Fleeing the Complex, but the timers are already added into older games by that point for this collection, so that may be a bit confusing to see if you're unaware) so you would have had to fail a couple of times just to know which options to pick, and where they'd show up on screen.

Despite these nitpicks, this is still a very great collection of games, with plenty to keep you coming back to see everything it has to offer. A lot of multiple endings, hundreds of unique fail animations, and plenty of character bios and references to find make this worth sinking into. Just make sure to mind the teleporter.

==========================================================
PROS:

+ Plenty of endings
+ Hilarious moments galore
+ Lots of things to find for extra replayability
+ Plenty of references (And yes, there is a Jojo reference.)
+ The greatest PLAAAAAAAAAN

CONS:

- A bit laggy for (mostly) old Flash games
- Widescreen is available, but not recommended
- QTEs have unforgiving time limits
- Teleporter

A very in-depth sandbox, allowing for large amounts of experimentation and different playstyles. The writing is also top-notch, with some pretty funny lines and absurd scenarios. Be warned, this game can get difficult very quickly if you aren't prepared. So difficult, I've only ever made it to the second world. I still enjoyed every second I've played, so I'm not too upset over difficulty.

Beneath the surface of Morphopolis's artistic presentation is a frustrating puzzle experience that I cannot recommend to anyone. The art style presented in the game is splendid, with some impressive drawings of the landscapes and creatures you encounter. The music is soothing, giving off a unique sense of ambiance in the world. However, as much as the game's presentation helps to entice players, many will quickly be put off by how it actually plays.

There are very few hints on how to progress, with only an occasional hint system to help locate hidden objects. While the hint system is very helpful, it doesn't alert you to the fact that some of your evolutions have an ability to manipulate certain objects to find some of the hidden items. As for the puzzles themselves, most of them aren't too bad, but there are a few that are particularly frustrating (the randomized beetle lock is the most notorious example) without the use of a guide. And of course, there's absolutely no explanation on how to solve them. Granted, some are fairly obvious, but even a tiny hint on what you're required to do would be appreciated. Worse yet, once you enter a puzzle, there's no way to leave it or even quit the game without forcing it to close manually. And once that happens, you have to start the entire level all over again. Considering the game is fairly short, it's not too much of a problem, but replaying every puzzle again can be a bit much.

On top of all of that, the movement controls are handled a bit poorly. As this games was ported from mobile devices, the transition to mouse controls feels off, with the player having to hold the mouse down and point in the direction you want to travel. However, there were times when my character would either spin in place, stand around doing nothing, or even start walking down the wrong path. Since you character moves at a pretty slow pace, it got annoying to have to adjust my positioning really quickly.

Overall, despite the short length of the game, and its impressive presentation, I cannot recommend this game. The puzzles and object searching are irritating, the movement controls can be irksome to deal with, and the game doesn't exactly have an ending, per se. Once you complete the final puzzle, you end up returning to the title screen. Considering that this happens right after the most difficult puzzle in the game, it's certainly underwhelming.

===================

Pros:

+ Short length, if you want something quick to play
+ Impressive artwork
+ Music and sound are satisfying to listen to
+ Hint system usually helps find objects

-------------------------

Cons:

- Somewhat buggy (lol puns) and slow control scheme
- No real explanation for puzzles or exploration
- Can't exit puzzles once you've started one
- No real payoff for completing the game

A very fun (albeit short) platformer game. It's relatively easy to clear, and I beat it in around an hour. There's some fun ideas, and I'd love to see more of this. A couple of minor colission bugs, like clipping into the ground and dying once or twice, and some levels are a bit too tricky (ice-oriented levels being particularly annoying), but nothing game breaking. Plus, it's free, so what do you lose besides a bit of time?

===================

Pros:

+ Interesting mechanics for tethering and launching
+ Really fun to speedrun through
+ Free!
+ Wilhelm Scream

-------------------------

Cons:

- Ice physics are pretty bad
- Hacked leaderboards
- Minor collision bugs

An amazing updated version of an already awesome game, Rebirth is the definitive way to play The Binding of Isaac. For one, it runs much smoother than the original version, which ran pretty badly due to it being developed with Adobe Flash. It also includes all the updates from the original and its expansion, meaning you'll have plenty of content to unlock, and that's without going into the expansion packs for Rebirth, which add more characters, items, and levels.

Plot-wise, you are Isaac, a little boy trying to escape the clutches of your fanatical Christian mother, who believes that the voice of God has commanded her to kill him. To do so, you escape into the basement and continue through there into dank caves, creepy catacombs, and Hell itself. The plot is admittedly pretty thin, and the endings (20 in all!) all come out of left field, but it's still a fun time seeing them all play out. Overall, plot isn't super important to this game, but its gameplay is where Rebirth truly shines.

Rebirth is a rogue-like, which means that you'll be totally dependent on the RNG to be nice to you, as it randomly spawns items, floors, and enemies. Sometimes an enemy will blindside you with an unexpected movement pattern, sometimes it'll throw you plenty of bad items and get you killed by an enemy you can barely damage. As you might expect, the difficulty can spike unpredictably at times, which can kill a run before you can get going. Rebirth has a bit of a learning curve with its characters, and it forces you to change your playstyle accordingly, from avoiding any and all damage, to getting dangerously close to enemies to be able to hit them, with no easy way to restore your health. But, it's still unique how each character plays, and for a game of this scope, replayability like this greatly helps the game's longevity.

Overall, Rebirth is an amazing rogue-like experience. The game is almost endlessly replayable due to how much stuff is packed in, and the different playstyles of the characters and the challenges help keep this game alive so long after the original release. It can be a bit unfair at times, but the difficulty generally hits the sweet spot in getting you to travel through the cellar one more time without forcing you to rage quit. So go ahead, fling yourself into the dark depths below and see how far you can go. And then do it again and again because you keep dying to spiders.

======================================================================

Pros:

+ Highly addictive gameplay ("just one more run" personified)
+ Runs much better than the original game
+ Wide assortment of items to play around with
+ Dozens of ways to play, plenty of variety
+ Save anywhere, resume later
+ Highly active modding community

Cons:

- RNG can be pretty finicky, especially when you're trying to accomplish certain achievements (looking at you, The Lost)
- Plot is pretty bare bones, and endings are... weird
- Difficulty spikes can and will kill you very quickly
- The Bloat sucks

The best adaptation of a video game I've ever seen. This 10 minute short perfectly captures what Papers, Please is all about. If you have any doubts about playing the game, then I suggest you watch this, and hopefully it will change your mind.

Please ignore my hours on record for this game. I played this game offline, and completed it to my satisfaction. Also, there may be minor spoilers in this review, so if you're adverse to spoilers and are on the fence about getting Undertale, then tl;dr: BUY THIS GAME.

Ah, Undertale. I've been wanting to play the full game since I tried the demo in early 2014, and I'm happy to say that the wait was more than worth it. In fact, this is my definite GOTY (then again, I'm not able to play the fancier new-gen releases, so I'm a bit biased). It's hard to describe what makes this game so great without spoiling a good deal of how it works, but I'll do my best to keep things vague. But, again, if you want the short version, it's this: You owe it to yourself to play this gem.

Undertale starts out simple: you are a child who has fallen into a large cavern system under a mountain where monsters were banished many years ago. To escape, you must work your way to the far end of the caverns. The journey there is filled with plenty of memorable characters and quirky events, but depending on your actions, you might not experience the same things twice.

You see, Undertale is a game about choices. The game is silently keeping track of what you do. If you decide to kill a few monsters, someone will eventually call you out on it. Keep befriending the residents of the underground, and somebody will have some choice words for you. Even doing something as innocuous as reloading a save (or even resetting your game from the beginning) will be taken note of. In some cases, your actions will permanently follow you, even if you don't think they will.

In fact, one of Undertale's strengths is how brilliantly written it is. Nearly every single character is a delight to interact with, from a goofy, overconfident skeleton, to a motherly surrogate, and dozens more. Again, your actions will decide how these characters see you. Some of these characters can actually become more hostile to you if you senselessly murder everyone, or warm up to you if you spare everybody. The game's plot also expands greatly by the ending, providing a massive deconstruction of various mechanics in video games, and video game culture in general. Level grinding, save abusing, obscure puzzles, and even Let's Plays & live streaming are all discussed, parodied, and broken down. The story can also branch off into two completely different experiences: you can play a heartwarming tale of friendship and forgiveness, or you can play a horror game where YOU are the real monster. Each one is enjoyable for their own reasons.

Combat is handled rather uniquely. To dodge enemy attacks, you must move a cartoony heart around a small arena, dodging or collecting their various projectiles. You can also attack your enemies, or you can show mercy to them, but you'll usually have to solve a brief puzzle to do so. This is handled through a menu detailing the various actions you can do to them. You can choose to laugh at an aspiring comedian's jokes, or you can mercilessly heckle them. You can talk some enemies down from trying to harm you, or even ditch some entirely if they're too annoying. Figuring out how to spare each enemy is a fun challenge, but if you think it's too difficult (or boring), you can always flee... or, you can kill them, if you really want to.

Overall, everything in Undertale meshes together wonderfully. The characters and setting make it very easy to immerse yourself in the game, the soundtrack is full of many wonderful songs, and the game's humor shines through in even the darkest of times. Wile I did have a couple of complaints (mainly how combat tends to get tedious the longer you play), there really isn't anything that completely breaks the game. As I said at the beginning, you should definitely play this game, or find some way to experience it for yourself. And you should do so with as little knowledge as possible. Trust me, the less you know going in, the better your time will be. In closing, this is one of the best games of 2015. Period. Even among giants like Halo 5, Witcher 3, and Fallout 4, Undertale manages to stand tall among them.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pros:
+ Brilliantly written characters and plot
+ Beautiful soundtrack
+ Hilarious, terrifying, and heartbreaking, all at once
+ Amazing pixel art (with one exception...)
+ Fourth wall gets obliterated repeatedly
+ Multiple endings

Cons:
- Main character looks pretty bad compared to everything else, graphics-wise
- Combat can get tedious when fighting the same enemies over and over
- Game isn't always clear on how it wants you to spare enemies
- Not enough dogs to pet
- Jerry

A heartbreaking short story about two friends spending the day together. You literally don't need to know anything else before you play this.

While the dialogue is a bit awkward to read at times due to some translation issues, it still comes off as authentic and charming. It's also quite short, and free to boot (with an extra DLC pack of music and artwork, if you want to support the dev), so set aside a few minutes to try this for yourself.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pros:
+ Bittersweet story
+ Both characters are very likable
+ Music is nice
+ FREE

Cons:
- Minor translation issues
- You will question what you're doing in life