Recent reviews by rigspacito

Fun scene-by-scene dialogue, even some interesting levels of tension at times, but the overall story is frankly an absurd nonsensical mess with very little justification by the end.

Extremely good. Looking forward to more.

Disclaimer: I first played the original itch.io release of the game, which is a far older release -- and I was also an offhand tester internally of this version (the Steam port of the game), though I didn't have the full, retail-level build at time of testing. Having now looked through some of the things added post-testing, I have a pretty comprehensive understanding.
With that out of the way...

Augma is the VN of All Time.

It exudes massively palpable inspiration from other visual novel series such as Shinza Bansho (by way of chuunibyou superfight and terminology overload as well as some of the distinct worldbuilding / characterization), Science Adventure (deep and absurd science-fiction concepts in tandem with conspiracy / violent serial killings), and Type-Moon (specifically Mahoutsukai no Yoru, with how visually dynamic the in-engine visual sequences are).

It's good. I imagine a lot of readers might find it meandering or lost in the sauce with how heavy-handed and grandiose many concepts / interactions are, along with how there are still much slower or more laid back moments interspersed, though I think the glossary system does a fine job of accounting for the sheer breadth of narrative backdrop accompanying the universe of Augma. This system is a new addition to the Steam port, and it is one that I wholly welcome.

The visuals of the original Augma were already something of great appeal for me, and it's pleasing to say that the Steam port here massively improves and actively overhauls the visual presentation. Visual novels are very oftentimes lacking in even average capabilities to engagingly present their narrative, and I have very few issues with Augma in that sense, at least for the ongoing story elements.

The official soundtrack is very nice as well. One of the tracks you can just absolutely tell is directly inspired by one from Dies irae (Shinza Bansho series), if not just a heavily altered personal take on the song. The size of the soundtrack is good for the length of the game, ideally you'd want at least one track for every hour of reading time for most VNs. Augma I would say is around an 8-10 hour experience at least, and it features 24 tracks in its Jukebox that play throughout the span of the story. This is a very fine ratio of hours:tracks that a lot of mismanaged VNs with enough budget behind them simply somehow don't even come close to reaching (like Raging Loop or Root Double).

The choices in this game are not particularly meaningful on a level of altering the story. It's a kinetic visual novel, really. You'll be starting at Point A and ending at Point B without much in the way of changing how you get there. Personally I think this is fine, if not ideal, especially for this specific title. Free will / branching are an often misunderstood and over-marketed gimmick that simply rarely add anything of value, and only exist because that is usually a staple in the marketplace. I am frankly glad that is not an issue here.

Overall, I think the story and its audiovisual presentation are very intriguing and a genuine homage to some incredibly good VN series out there. It's a massive love letter to its medium, and only just the start to an interesting universe of its own.

As for my gripes, those pretty heavily land in the UI. I think Augma eschews practically all the design theory that's cultivated in decades worth of visual novel history as well as general game design practice. The multitudes of menus present in the game come in various different colors, shapes, and fonts, with very little in the way of stylistic consistency. Compare the in-game pause screen with the settings menu, for instance.
There are also confusing elements like there being two pause buttons in the menu, albeit while on opposite sides, still can be parsed as individual parts of the same element. Those being "BACK" and "LOG," which have very often confused me in my search for just opening the Backlog in the pause menu.
Further, while I appreciate the efforts to create two separate UI layouts -- one dependent on Mouse-Keyboard, and the other dependent on Gamepad (which is used simply if you have a Gamepad detected by your system) -- the use case of a Gamepad would be more adjacent to something like a handheld such as a Nintendo Switch or a Steam Deck. I am sure some people would use the Gamepad for their PC playing of the game, but I feel like the most natural setups to be using this, would actually not benefit to a noticeable degree due to how the UI just actually is. For instance, the Quick Menu buttons alongside the screen are simply too small to be of any assistance on a Switch or Deck display, as well as the fact that for Deck, you would ideally use Desktop mode to launch the game in order to make use of the trackpads since the general layout was not at all meant to be navigated with a Gamepad.
An especially egregious example of what I mean by this is the Save menu. There are 23 buttons located on the Save screen, and only 5 of them are for actually saving in a save slot. The other 18 buttons are for changing to other pages of the menu or changing to another menu entirely. This is obviously a Mouse-Keyboard-only design choice, as scrolling through a couple dozen buttons in a save menu is not fun, especially since the highlight on the text you scroll over before selecting it, is just barely visibly different from non-highlighted text, as the design choice assumes your mouse is already hovering over it, and thus you should be already familiar with where your cursor is. This does not carry over to Gamepads, especially in a massively overpopulated screen whose buttons are already challenging to navigate.
The last thing I'd like to point out is the Log's ability to read full chapters at once in its menu. On my 27"/1080p monitor, it's incredibly, ridiculously difficult to read. I would rather the function not exist than exist in this state, because it's just very inconvenient to use given its poor readability. It does not fare any better on handhelds in my experience, either.
As for things I enjoy about the UI, I think it's actually very nice to have the pause screen elucidate what sound effect or BGM is currently playing, as well as there being a global play-time clock in the opposite corner to denote how long you've had the game open in all your sessions combined.

All in all, I would say Augma is a nice indie experience, especially for the price of Free. It could do with a massive overhaul of its user interface for better readability, easier interactivity, and more stylistic cohesion, but the narrative, the music, the main visuals / art, and everything else about the bulk of the game is just very impressive to me. It's cool. Would recommend.

These are very much the Choppiest Goblins.

Fun lil game. Lots of neato small secrets to find.
Every level is uniquely designed and has a distinct identity in its audiovisuals.
Very cool enemy variety and encounters.
Fun gameplay that escalates in intensity rather nicely with the pace of the game.
Sweet functions like a VHS filter and SloMo action.
Also very inexpensive of a game (purchased for 4.49 USD due to a 10% discount around launch, meaning the usual price is 4.99 USD).
Only real downsides are very minor nitpicks and are purely UI-related, such as the inability to access the settings whilst playing a mission, and the settings lacking any form of master volume slider at the very least (meaning volume adjustment must be done from outside the game). That did not terribly impact my enjoyment either way.

I love Chop Goblins. It is clearly very inspired. Thank you for this game, and the nice little night of fun that it gave me.


Update as of January 3rd, 2023: There is now a master volume setting!

Beautiful tribute to the Portal/HL series just brimming with passion

thief with guns but also building towers of barrels and boxes to surpass anything in your way

PEAK KAMIGE about twitch modding for a depressed egirl

I stand by that, and I really do appreciate what the game does with its unfiltered insanity on a gameplay and narrative level.

Happy End World is an absolutely based conclusion and I fully applaud it.

What this game means, in short, is: touch grass, get laid

Spoiler: the true ending is also dope and a pretty great sendoff in its own right too

Disclaimer: All of my experience was logged on a Microsoft Store copy of the game.

I did all the campaign has to offer (my save file is 100%'d) in about a 22-hour span, and having replayed the story mode for a second time in a 3-hour speedrun, I'm pretty familiar with it.

Pros:

• Kinda fun gameplay
  
• Interesting setting
  
• High production value

Cons:

• Barren open world of solely mindless filler content
  
• Even the main story is brimming with filler segments
  
• Cast and world is wasted potential
  
• No co-op (yet)
  
• No mission replay (yet)
  
• No replay means collectibles can be easily missed

All in all, I don't regret my time playing it, and I do look forward to any future additions to the narrative, but I can't say it's because I'm hopeful for the direction of any of it. The game feels like a heavily watered-down version of what it was meant to be, and it actively goes out of its way to be incredibly un-fun at times. Many staples of gameplay and convenience found in most other open world games are simply missing, and you can tell this game struggles to live up to modern standards as it shifts to a genre it never belonged in. I think it could've been an excellent, absolute god-tier game, but instead it sits near the opposite end of the spectrum for me.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Smartest VN that has ever existed and ever will exist honestly

This is probably going to seem like an odd review, especially from me of all people, if you know me personally at least. I came off this game liking it. I actually really do like it. I did not like the original release all that much, to be honest. It's hard to explore in-depth why it is I appreciate Plus so much, without delving into spoilers (no worries, I won't do that), so I'll be quick and concise enough about this.

The original DDLC game existing in this is still pretty "hmmm," since I never cared or enjoyed most of the shock value moments. But I can overlook really most of that thanks to the deeper context Plus provides to the overarching story.

If you liked the original game, chances are you'll freaking love this rerelease. If you didn't like the original, dunno. It's definitely valid not to enjoy even this release until the second half, once you actually get into all the content that Plus adds. Or maybe even Plus won't rectify your issues, and that's fine too.

I don't find this game to be like mindblowing insane gigabrain kino explosion ultimate 100 or whatever, but yeah, I think it's still a pretty deserved and thought-out expansive rerelease. Props to everyone who was aboard the project, it's a fun one.

(Leaving this as a P.S., but frankly I wasn't expecting to cry once, let alone twice. Yet here I am. GJ.)