Recent reviews by Bozu

pros -
- i know that everyone hates pixel graphics now for some reason but this game is honestly beautiful
- solid soundtrack and great sound design all around
- boss battles are satisfying and just difficult enough, and the ability to take them in a different order can kinda change your entire playthrough's experience
- being able to purchase your own upgrades, again, can radically change the way that you play the game in any given playthrough. there's a lot of replay value just off of gameplay alone
- there's also a lot of replay value in achievements and in additional things that you can try to get in the game
- the story is good!!! i didn't expect it to be, but it really is

cons -
- this is sort of minor, but the only issue that i had with the game was that the super minimalist way of storytelling may put a lot of players off? there isn't really any text or anything that explicitly tells you what to do. like i think of myself as a normal human but it still took me a little bit to understand what the money was? i wouldn't recommend this to someone who needs info... for lack of a better word "spoonfed" to them in a game

pros -
- pretty good voice acting, especially in the final two episodes. ashly burch is obviously ashly burch but i wasn't ever taken out of it
- well written & likable characters, pretty well executed plot & twist
- good soundtrack
- i think that most of these games really bs how much choices matter, and although the choices in lis weren't all that pivotal, they're referenced enough and they impact the story enough to where you feel that they do. so while i think you're really tricked into an illusion of choice, the trick is pulled off well enough that i'm not bothered by it
- i cried
- ummmmmmmmmmmmm...........gay

cons -
- everyone says this, but the use of "teen slang" in the first episode is . bad
- lip sync is super off at some points, and maybe it's my set-up but i occassionally had times where dialogue cut off completely but music/sound effects still played
- the pacing feels a little off at certain points, as well as the tone. i feel like a loser for being this nitpicky, but life is strange felt sorta like a movie and i think it should be judged like a movie. the game really stumbles, trying to decide where it should be funny and where it should be serious. the beginning of episode 4 i thought was really strong, but it was weakened later by the fact that...it didn't really ever go anywhere? it felt like filler, which is weird since it was so emotionally charged. that's a really minor issue, but it definitely is prevalent in the whole game

if steam let you leave mixed reviews, this would be one

pros -
- all of the chapters that take place outside are visually stunning. the color scheme really works here
- puzzles are challenging enough, and platforming elements are surprisingly difficult
- excellent sound design. i don't know if it counts as sound design but i love how controller vibrations correspond to movement, too
- minimalist storytelling done....okay
- despite what others have said i think that the length is okay. not worth $9.99 maybe but still okay
- achievements add a little bit of replay value

cons -
- puzzles rely too much on timing and physics. this game doesn't handle like a true platformer so i would have liked for it to be more puzzle-focused. a lot of the time, you can know how to solve a puzzle but you still die 50 times because of timing. (i'm not talking about timing based mechanics either, like the gravity switcher. the momentum-based puzzles all sucked)
- the second half or 2/3s of the game is ugly and boring. although i understand why it happened in the narrative, i felt cheated that the first 8 or so chapters were so pretty and the bulk of the game is spent in a different setting. the story completely disappears for the majority of the game, and you're just solving puzzles in an ugly factory. ("ummm...it's because you're in limbo, sweetie :^)" no kidding but it's still lame and lazy as hell)
- speaking of the narrative, it's bad. it's executed okay enough, but it honestly feels like the most fake deep game i've ever played in my life. "wow, this game shakes me to my core. it's all in black and white and you're a kid and you die gruesome deaths" based on the minimalist storytelling it seems like the creators are proud of this atmosphere that they've created, but it's just...bad. "oh man there's a kid hanging from a noose!!! oh my god!!!! oh my god!!!" limbo doesn't say or do anything interesting in its story or atmosphere. this is one of the few games i've played that feels pretentious without having a line of dialogue
- who is this nathan drake ass lil 3rd grader and how come he can't swim


if you view this game exclusively as a platform/puzzle game then it's decent. i don't know if i can really bring myself to appreciate it outside of that. definitely not the best indie game out there, and definitely not the best "art game" out there. shallow and overrated, but it hides behind its "~minimalism~" to seem deep and complicated. lame

pros -
- puzzles are creative and fun to do, but they could be harder
- the premise/story is interesting and done well
- the final boss scared the ♥♥♥♥ out of me
- good soundtrack
- pretty good length for the price, especially when you consider the additional content. (i think a completionist could get more than $1/hr out of it)
- YOU KILLED JESUS

cons -
- i wish there were more cutscenes or some other mechanic or SOMETHING because toward the end, the platforming and puzzles got very very repetitive and boring.
- as a whole, act 2 is noticeably weaker than act 1 and act 3. by far the most boring and least challenging, so it can be really a pain to get through

pros -
- god tier voice acting
- graphics could be worse for a game this old
- freeflow combat is satisfying, stealth mechanics offer a lot of freedom
- TONS of content
- ivy seductively saying "think you can handle me???????"
- all of the scarecrow content is really creative and cool
- joker at the beginning: haha my men suck! they're terrible! whatever i'm having fun
joker toward the end: Please Try Harder

cons -
- some tools are used too often, some tools aren't used enough. i really hated that so many boss battles required the use of a batarang
- croc's "boss battle" was lame as hell
- the story, in my opinion, isn't that great. i don't see people playing this game for the plot but if you do, i think you might be disappointed.

pros -
- retains elements of older doom games while still introducing new and fun mechanics (glory kills add a whole other strategic element to certain levels)
- difficult, satisfying arcade-style boss battles
- plenty of content for completionists, and a solid length for a standard campaign.
- really nice to look at while still being well optimized
- the last 3-5 hours of the campaign are probably the best 3-5 hours i've ever played in any FPS campaign
- it's fun to do glory kills from really far away and pretend that you're a naruto character

cons -
- in early-mid game, missions are very unimaginative and consist of basically like "go to platform x to access tower y because it contains keycard z that is used to open a door over on tower a, which connects to elevator n..."
- doomguy's early ~3XTR3M3 3DG3~ is embarrassing. i get that the entire series is meant to be over the top but some of his antics felt like they were aimed at 13 yr old boys. characters can be hardcore and cool without being cartoonishly disobedient or obstinant
- doesn't have the same horror elements of doom 3. personally i disliked how doom 3 tried to be a horror game, but i can see why this tonal shift may put off some fans of it

pros -
- fun, novel gameplay
- perfectly suitable for two players, difficulty scales pretty well as you introduce more people than that
- battle mode adds a little bit of replay value to campaign
- campaign is a decent length for a co-op indie game (i beat and perfected in 6 hours)
- frustrating but a well-crafted learning curve makes for satisfying experience

cons -
- i would have maybe liked a little more content coming from a game at this price point. i understand that it's obviously an independent production, but i eventually reached a point with my friend where the game became very easy. since i've perfected achievements, i don't see much reason to go back into the game. sort of shallow, but nothing that detracts too much from the overall game.

pros -
- solid voice talent & compelling enough story
- some of the twists are genuinely impressive
- QTE's used sparingly, well
- likable characters make you want to play all the way through
- fables really deserves its own game
- dialogue options are flexible enough

cons -
- obvious issues in production mean that sometimes trailers for a chapter show things that never happen (in the same vein, achievement names for finishing chapters don't match up with what happens)
- since this is based on a larger comic books, certain characters wear obvious plot armor
- classic telltale stutters and frame drops at some points
- occasionally feels like your choices don't matter that much

pros -
- one of the best & most recognizable soundtracks in video games
- cel-shaded graphics have held up very well to modern standards
- plenty of endgame content, good achievements
- gameplay is really fun and novel once you get a hang of it
- certain mechanics (optional vs. required graffiti areas) make it to where gameplay difficulty can scale pretty easily
- the port itself is pretty good and bug-free, for the most part
- story takes a major turn after chapter 1, in a good way

cons -
- there is an extreme learning curve in terms of controls
- some aspects of the game are poorly balanced. hit box size on rails and buildings vary in a really irrational way and some levels are stupid difficult due to level design. (it is ridiculous how much more difficult the noise tank tag battle is compared to later tag battles. it's the very first one that the player completes but it is by far the dumbest level in the entire game.)

pros -
- gorgeous soundtrack and visuals
- narration > bastion's narration, in my opinion
- emotionally stirring, thought-provoking story with roots in science fiction
- solid length, and the nature of the game's story-telling makes it to where replaying at least once is still enjoyable
- turn-based, strategy-based almost MOBA-esque combat is really fresh and fun, and can be infuriatingly difficult
- seriously one of the beautiful all around games i've ever played

cons -
- the story is not presented in the most cohesive way (deliberately) so i can see why someone may not fully understand the breadth of what is actually happening
- that's literally it