Recent reviews by ReverieMotif

taokaka :3

peemis

lebvromn

Spoiler free! There might be small spoilers regarding character names but as long as you don't look said names up you'll be fine.
I actually just finished this game in like a whole week. Wow. All achievements.
It was an overall amazing experience! (Note that I played Co-op with a friend via parsec.)

Combat is very fun. The amount of characters you get as the game progresses allows for a lot of freedom as to how you want the combat to progress. You can take it slow and let every character do their dedicated combo one by one, or be flashy and let them all do stuff if you're up for it. It allows for good player expression! This is the case in co-op as well as any player can control any set amount of characters (except P1, they are always the MC).

Movement is initially somewhat limiting due to your options, but as the game progresses and the more you unlock the more free-form it gets. By the end of the game it gets pretty crazy if you get there. It's really fun and rewarding to go back to old areas and get to places you couldn't get to before to get collectibles or progress the story or side-quests.

For each character you get in the game, later on you can do a side-quest for them that gives them some extra character levels. Some are really simple, but some are extremely tedious and require a lot of backtracking. It's basically "go to this place, then back to this place, then to this" etc etc, sometimes you fight, sometimes you just talk. This isn't that bad IF you know in advance. Certain characters really ask you to go out of your way to go to places that can't be reached quickly and easily. I wanna say about 20-30% of my playthrough was just doing every single quest to fill it out. There's resources or guides out there to help with this process, but it's a bit scarce. I recommend literally having a spreadsheet to make this easy for you, doing each character one by one on their own will make you tired really quick from going to places you've been to before so much.
(And no, you can't just activate every single quest and do them all at once, I tried that and it only did the one I selected latest. You need to clear a part, go to your realm, talk to someone else to activate THEIR quest flag, then you can move on back and forth for example.)

Finally, I did encounter a few technical issues but these were not game breaking, more or less inconvenient.
For one, a certain miniboss fight in the story had a flag where after you beat it you talk to your opponent. No biggie right? Well this flag doesn't go away until you finish the boss after this miniboss. I beat the miniboss, realised I had to do something else, then beat a random monster only to be teleported ALL the way back to the miniboss, get the talk again, etcetera. It was funny but it kinda forced me to beat the boss when I wanted to do something else first.

Second was camera issues. These were not common at all but when they did show up they really strained me. Sometimes the camera fades into the background/floor and then adjusts itself leaving you 'blinded' as you progress to another area for a second or two, or sometimes it freaks out between one and another camera angle causing it to vibrate your view rapidly, making it next to impossible to see what you're doing. This was rare but I can imagine how this can be scary for epileptic people on some levels. It also forced me to platform blind, which isn't really that nice.

In the end I enjoyed the game with my friend a lot. My playtime shows and how much I racked up of it in a week. Some parts of getting full completion were slightly tedious, but I was very satisfied when I was done and didn't feel like I wasted my time (you get a little special thing at the end of the game when you clear all optional quests!)
High recommend if you enjoy platforming and RPG stuff, although this game doesn't really showcase that much JRPG qualities since the combat is so much more interactive which was easily my favorite thing next to the story and platforming.

Got it as a gift from a friend (to which I played the game with immediately after). Spoiler free! I encourage to play through this game blind if you can. It makes the whole story infinitely more rewarding

Despite some of the shortcomings (wonky animations in certain scenes, strange texture popout due to the split screen nature alongside a more simpler gameplay style), this game kept my attention the whole way through and me and my friend finished a 7 hour playthrough in one sitting. Something about the innate gameplay loop and the cooperative aspects were really charming to me, reminding me of a past where you just hop on the couch with a friend and play a game on splitscreen. The minigames and stuff you can do inbetween various areas and scenes are really cute, and its especially fun to see how the two main protagonists interact with characters in different ways. My friend and I would just take turns in some scenarios just to see how things would be different, which is honestly great. Shooting mechanics in the later levels (wouldn't truly call it a spoiler I guess) felt a little bit simplistic but still very much functional. Didn't find any direct problems with it.
If you got a friend who's willing to waste a whole afternoon or something, (i sure did) we had a blast! High recommend

Solid 8/10. Its not exactly 're-playable' aside getting different endings which you can easily access through chapter select, once you've done the whole game its somewhat difficult to justify another play-through, as you can see your pal's perspective all the time so you get both flavors in one sitting. If its cheap like on a sale or something, its imo a must-have (especially with great modern solutions like parsec! GET PARSEC NOW)

HEY!!! I recommend this game, to keep it short. PLAY IT!
This is one of those 'first time experience' typa games. Like most puzzle games, there isn't a lot for you to come back to once you've played the game 1-2 times before, got the endings, or when you know about solutions to problems you'll face in the game.
This review will go through some aspects of the story and characters. There will be no major spoilers, but enough where I don't recommend reading this review until you've either finished the game or have no intent to play any further.


That being said, Smile for Me is a game I got on Humble Bundle and it genuinely was a really fun time. My play time, being 4.4 hours also says that this game has no intent of being particularly long. Which is a good thing, in my opinion.

For starters, the gameplay flow and how you interact with the world is well-done. I enjoy the nodding and shaking your head gimmick quite a lot and its handled in a way that doesn't feel too on the nose. It also allows for plenty of good gags, which the game is aware of and does.
Interacting and using items is relatively straightforward with not much complexity. Aside 'what item to use on this thing', basically. The game also is really accessible-feeling in general, aside for a few optional things you can do that require some more dexterity (like a whack-a-mole style minigame that actually gets surprisingly hard on it's second round).
I also think the game gives the player a general good sense of the direction (most of the time!!) regarding what you should think about and do. Right out of the gate a character already directly states to you that you don't have unlimited time. The tutorial is also in-character and cutesy.
Quests flow nicely and the game has a clear sense of direction and what to do where. Not much to say on this unfortunately but I feel like the game just does a good job of introducing new characters, items, and whatnot to the player without overwhelming the player due to keeping these things mostly tied to specific areas.
I had a few moments where I felt stuck though. But these happen in most puzzle games, and this is the only part of the game that I found awkward. Most hints characters give are good, but some are very unclear or downright misleading, but these cases are very rare. Of course, this is subjective too, I'm sure another player had no troubles with the things I got stuck on. A guide fixes this, but a guide also kind of ruins your experience finding it out for yourself, right?

The aesthetic and general visual theme the game is going for is also really unique and was very cozy to me. It just felt right to look at for some reason. Simplistic, art-like colored characters and realistic objects really flowed well, and the cutscenes in-between days (showcasing a literal real puppet) also did not feel too out of place for me.
I also find the game respects the player a lot. You'd expect the 'psychological horror' user-defined tag to mean a lot more for this title, but it doesn't. I would say there's only as few instances where the game tilts the cozy atmosphere for more uncomfortable things, that being when it becomes nighttime (minor) and when you fail to get in bed in time. When you fail to get in bed in time, you pass out, then you're treated to a oddly quiet cutscene, contrasting all the ones you've seen before, alongside foreboding messages. I only failed to get in bed in time once due to a quest, so I am unable to tell whether the cutscenes or effects of failing to get in bed get worse. The final day also incorporates some minor spooks (such as an uncanny character sprite, dark environment, messaging), and even though I am a very anti-horror type of player I was still able to handle and enjoy all of these moments. They don't feel too forced, and just flow really well to me. It was generally respectful and not in your face, to repeat my point. It felt in-universe and suited the circumstances. Not 'horror cause horror'.

Otherwise, game good. Impressive project by the developers and am interested to see if they have more work planned for the future, as this is very promising and unique by itself.

TL;DR if you don't want my extensive review;
+Presentation is gorgeous
+Gameplay feels right and responsive
+Combos are fun to explore and execute (speaking of non light-spam combos)
+Several playtroughs feel rewarding and I enjoyed beating the game 100%

-Entering an area, light attacks, and picking up an item are all mapped to X. Will be awkward to get used to at first, but didn't feel clunky for me after a while
-Game's story is rather short (this does make repeated playtroughs more bearable and fast-paced however, so it's usually a minus sometimes a plus)
-Inconsistent AI


I had a blast! I have 100%'d the game on hard, and got every single achievement and collectible.
Now I feel like its apt for me to write my personal experience with the game.
DISCLAIMER: I played the majority of this game in co-op with a friend trough parsec (https://parsecgaming.com/) its a free utility that lets other players online connect to your PC and be seen as a separate controller or keyboard and mouse input. I HIGHLY suggest you play this with a friend using Parsec if you give this game a shot, because I loved it that way.


-Great and fun stuff!-

The artstyle and sprites are very well made. Expressions feel lively, and they did a great job with the limitations that pixel art innately has. There's anime-esque transitions to bossfights which also are a treat for a first-time viewer.
There's cutscenes in a manga style on ocassion too (intro and ending are most prevalent) which offer a nice break from the other artstyles, giving everything a nice wholesome blend when put together.

The voice acting is very good too -- I've heard people complain about the voice-acting being cringy or unbearable, but you just need to understand that English is English, and it's hard to make it work in unique and colorful ways (unlike a language like Japanese) due to it being such a universal language. So I am still satisfied with the voice-work. Enemy voices are cute and endearing as well, even if very minor. Corrupt cop enemies are probably my favorites. "Heads up!"

The music has a fine blend. You need to warm up to NOIZE's songs, in my opinion, because the vocal style kind of contrasts a bit with the in-game music. The boss fights have a more old-school 16-bit music style, which work as a nice transition (especially in a special fight...the music fits like a glove there.)
The melodies and tunes are easy to get stuck in your head with and give a good feel of the game-world. That said, it's not like every track is an insane banger, I just enjoy pretty much every song and the soundtrack does it's job well.

Cameos of internet personalities are handled well and are not obnoxious. Godai (being played by JackSepticEye) is an entirely optional character and is only forced in 1 early-game interaction. He can then be ignored with his sidequests if you aren't a fan of the cameo.
There's also a few sprite cameos (obvious ones being, again, in the early-game) such as Egoraptor.
More other cameos appear in the forms of shopkeepers and NPC's, but these all remain rather minor yet very obvious if you know the person / content it's referencing. So it isn't overbearing whatsoever, at least to me personally.

Combos. This game SLAPS at delivering a surprisingly potent combo experience, which I don't really see replicated in many other beat-em-ups. You can tell Arc System Works had some influence here. There's wall bounces, special move launchers, and properties behind each move that feel well-tuned. And if you aren't ready for any of that, just do your autocombo into heavy or something along the lines of that if you don't want to try out more advanced techniques. Easily half of the fun for me was discovering combos and optimizing punishes against enemies / bosses when they are open to attacks. The secret characters emphasize re-discovering your moves and learning new combos and strategies as well, which I adored.

Newgame+ feels rewarding and you keep all the items and equipment you baught, with your levels. You will HAVE to do Newgame+ to unlock all content and get some achievements, and I felt like it's handled quite well.
Crushing all Sabu Statues rewards you with a secret final boss if you enter the final boss room, giving you a new item and a hefty sum of exp and money (for people who want to buy all items / get to the maximum level, that being thirty) so doing the secret boss isn't just a great conclusion but also a gameplay award, which I felt like was a nice touch.

It's fun to punch your friend in friendly fire mode.


-Complaints and icky things-

Attacking, picking up an item, and proceeding into an area are all mapped to X. This has turned some people off, but there's many tricks to throw relief on this control scheme screw-up and potentially fix it manually after getting used to it.

You can buffer your 'entering area' X during anything, even before you get over the popup, so you can hold X as you approach the area and the game keeps tracking your X input, letting you move out with little issue.
You can also block and hold X, so you won't perform an attack and instead block while beginning to transition to the next area, so you won't get kicked in the back by some mean schoolgirl who wants to beat you up or something.
And items, can simply be thrown away if you do not want to use them (even if they're potent.)
This is still in the negatives section despite me having little issue with it because it will probably be a larger issue for other people potentially trying the game. These are just some tips from yours truly.

If you get up, your invul frames will disappear if you perform any offensive action, which includes trying to enter another area or picking up an item (so be sure to get rid of any items near your fight if you don't want to get smacked as you get up). The game does a bad job of telling you this and still displays your character flashing, giving you a false sense of security. Run away instead of immediately retaliating to make use of your invul frames and get into a good position for a counter-attack!

Your 2B (Down-Special) move looks like a strong crowd control move but is fairly open to counter-attacks while starting up. It is still potent, but don't think you're invincible. The game, again, does not tell you this clearly until it is too late, as it comes down to experimentation on your end. Again, can be fixed manually much like other negatives of this game.

AI can be unfortunate. I had a moment whereby a whip-enemy felt like being in a corner and using her large circling attack, which covered all of the angles where I could potentially attack her. She did this about 3-4 times not giving me a chance to attack her, and I just had to wait (and sometimes get smacked.) The game's AI is a little inconsistent and you need to be more on your toes than you'd think, as they look very passive most of the time.

Recruiting is a bit troublesome because, if you want a specific enemy, you need to keep them alive as the final person in the room. This will come back to bite you and they'll smack you while you take care of the others, and this was VERY frequent with my playtroughs. This isn't a big complaint, but it feels counter-intuitive to the recruiting system and testing out what each enemy does when on your side (which I like).

Skipping is treated like a 'hold' much like entering an area, meaning you have to wait for a cutscene to start, then hold X to skip. UNFORTUNATELY you cannot buffer your X and keep it held constantly when you know a cutscene is coming, you actually need to time it. Tiny complaint which I don't mind but can be a bigger issue for others.

-Conclusionerino-

I love the game and a lot of the technicalities can be fixed by manual adjustments (such as most negatives I mentioned). I hate to say this to people but, you have to 'git gud' if you want to get the most out of the game.
Great experience. HIGHLY recommend if you got a friend, and also without one.

TL;DR if you don't like extensive reviews:
+Story and lore are cool
+Gameplay loop and items are fun
+Grinding is somewhat acceptable in most instances, and feels productive
+Teamplay is rewarding but so is solo most of the time

-Leveling equipment (and it's modifications) is, imo, awful
-You kind of need to throw money at this F2P game to get the most out of it (reactors and boosters come to mind)
-Unlocking some content can be exhausting (and taking breaks only makes it so you take more time, so you either have to physically exert yourself or take longer)
-Need some external tools to make some parts of the game ideal (warframe hub, warframe market)

Overall I do recommend if you can bear the downsides, but this is a free game, so it's more about the time investment and not so much the cost of buying the game. I hope you have fun either-way!


DETAILED OPINIONS ARE DOWN HERE, WATCH OUT!


-Good points first!-


The art-style, faction design, and story-line are all great. I love how warframes are designed and enjoy lore behind the Corpus, Grineer, etc etc...

The weapons all feel fun to use despite some being clearly better than others. You can tell the team worked on trying to make the excessive amount of weapons still feel unique, even if you compare 2 similar beam weapons they'll feel very distinct.

This game is a grind game at it's core, and if I wanted to work on something that I cared for I actually felt a little productive (mileage may vary).

Movement is fun to optimize and amount of warframes and equipment synergy is great too. I love bullet jumping and some specific movement tied to equipment/abilities/button combinations allow for very fun effective movement that can feel rewarding once practically put to use. (I like to call it SCHMOVEMENT myself)

Working with your team is fun, and it's enjoyable to get out of your shell and just start a conversation and see if anything pops up.
I also found it rewarding to help others with stuff they needed to grind for.
Solo, while not ideal, is still viable with the right equipment. So you shouldn't feel forced to play with others when you don't have to. (Or perhaps, don't have a consistent connection)


-But now comes the bad stuff, uh oh-


Affinity gain (how you level up) is a complete joke and optimizing it with perks, boosters and specific strategies still make it unbearable. I DO NOT want to farm for levels for ANY equipment unless I got a booster, it's that bad for me personally.
With a booster(!!) I need to do a Hydron defense run to 25-30 waves with a friend to level all my things. It's not good.
Affinity gain extends to your mastery (profile level) as well! You get more 'mastery' points for each equipment level-up, but if it's that slow, getting mastery just turns to a total slog as well once you reach a mastery rank of around 11-13.
Even leveling your allied syndicates is based on your affinity gained (if you wear their emblems that is), so, you know what that means...
I hope affinity gets addressed at some point because it is actively turning me away from getting new equipment and leveling and/or forma-ing it. This is, by far, my biggest complaint about the game's design.

My second-biggest complaint is Endo, and mod leveling overall.
Endo is your resource that you use for leveling up your modifications to your equipment. Endo is awful to get when you're early in the game and only becomes practical once you unlock arbitrations, which is pretty much endgame stuff as you can only do it once you cleared EVERY NODE on every planet. Every enemy there starts at level 80 too, so you unfortunately can't breeze trough all nodes with decent equipment -- you'll get decked when you get to arbitrations. You'll be stuck in a 'endo-limbo' whereby you're forced to do sub-par (thus slower) options to get your equipment to a decent level, THEN you gotta farm again to get the stuff you actually want. (You can also just leech off of a public squad, but I see that as bad manners personally)
So it's farm-farm. Actually, it's farm-farm-farm. You need credits for leveling your mods too...you need 2 million credits to get a primed mod from 0 to max. Primed mods aren't exactly something everyone has, but it's just there as an example.
This ALSO means you need to do the index! A mission on neptune that can give you (potentially) 250K credits for a win.
Yep, you need to do a mission potentially 8 times to get enough credits to max out ONE strong mod.
In conclusion grinding for endo feels like you're smashing your head against your ship navigation.
But...
The Index actually is great when you got a booster, though...but that brings me to my next point.

Even if this game is free to play, I personally feel like you really need to spend money on platinum eventually (ideally when you get a personal sale), because if you don't, you're going to take excessively long to get your equipment to any sort of competent level for mid and late-game (regarding orokin reactors and forma). It's part of marketing for sure, and yes you can get far without spending a dime, but it's honestly better to throw a little bit of money at the game on rare occasion.
You can even just spend a little bit to get upgrades for 1 weapon which is meta / good (and ideally, one you like) and use it exclusively and you'll only be set back about 5 or so bucks.

I was only able to clear all nodes/missions and unlock every planet (+arbitrations) by doing an all-nighter. It set me back about 4-5 hours. Most grinds in this game are alright to be honest and feel rewarding when completed, but this actually required me to prep IRL.

This isn't a true complaint at the game, but you really need external tools to help optimize your experience. I'm reffering to the warframe market (https://warframe.market/) and the warframe hub (https://hub.warframestat.us/#/) for trading and keeping track of time-tied events respectively. Without the hub you can easily miss out on weapon parts from invasions for example, and the market makes getting an item/mod you need EXTREMELY easy. It's a little unfortunate that we must rely on these tools to get the most out of the game (instead of in-game assistance regarding these things) but I'm still happy they exist. This is just a small footnote.

-In conclusion-

These downsides hurt the game a lot for me personally, but I still enjoy it because of it's strong upsides.
I know the negatives have WAY more text than positives, but I feel like the effectiveness of the positives shine trough a lot more. Its just tough to explain the negatives without having to go in-depth, which is why it looks so big.
Even if i did a lot in this game so far I still feel like there's a lot left to do, so yeah, this game is a huge time-sink, and take that either positively or negatively. You just need to be into these kinds of experiences to get down to it.

And by the way, thanks for reading! You look nice today, that shirt looks good on you.

I'm probably the most unlucky person on this planet most of the time, but when I'm not everybody hates me for winning

Truly, the most balanced of games. A perfect circle of hate, you either get hated or you hate it (also the characters are pretty cute)

A very nice and mostly friendly community out there in Team Fortress 2. I love the game's updates that sometimes change entire maps, or sometimes just a simple weapon. The game is free, however theres an ingame shop that supports actual money; in the shop you can buy various cosmetics for a class you like and play the most. I like the shop that it makes your own favorite class special: its not the same, its always different with alot of things to do in game. like a community game mode that has wacky things and mostly challenges to face in the game. thats all but I just put so much time into it, I think alot more people should play it and enjoy it.