Recent reviews by [UPRPRC] Harlequina

Some people including myself are experiencing ground/wall textures missing in the game (you literally can see through the world). Many things have been tested to try to fix this, some of it works for some people, but there is no one correct solution for this.

As it is, the game is essentially unplayable for anyone with this issue. Maybe they'll fix it one day, maybe they won't, who knows.

There's just nothing quite like La-Mulana, both the first game and this sequel. I'll never play another game like these two. No other metroidvanias have puzzles and mysteries like these, plus the exploration is some of the most intense you'll ever find. It feels like you are an archaeologist yourself, playing it.

The sequel is really more of the same, with some cool additions (like more NPC interactivity), which is what I wanted. I loved La-Mulana 1 for what it is, and this just gave me more of it. Fantastic. Music is top notch too, as expected.

Like the first game, you are required to write down everything you see, notably tablets and what NPCs tell you. And images. Don't forget the images shown on some tablets. Those are hugely important in some cases. If you don't write things down or at least make some short notes, then you can forget about beating this game on your own. It will not happen. You can save things in the TextTrax app, but it has limited storage (good for saving tablets with images on them though).

If I have a complaint, it's that bosses are way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way too easy on normal mode. LM1 was not like that, in comparison. Especially not with the last boss. I'd honestly recommend anyone who have completed LM1 to go with hard mode on their first playthrough. I would've done that myself if I knew the bosses were gonna be that easy.

Regardless it's an easy recommendation to make, even though it's not for everyone. I love it personally. Really you should already have played LM1 before even thinking about the sequel anyway, and if you did, you would know what to expect from this one.

Obviously a must-read for people that already liked the main game, The House in Fata Morgana. But for a fan disc, this still surprised me despite the fact that I loved the main game. It was better than expected.

The writing is just so good. It's so good at making you give a ♥♥♥♥ about the characters. Doesn't even matter who they are. Could be a ditzy girl, a typical main hero character, a monstrous villain, or a hooded stranger. Hanada knows what he's doing. And no it was no different in the main game.

One thing I've noticed while reading this, is the excellent use of dots to indicate silence from a character. "Jacopo: .....", while also switching the sprite to show their facial expression while silent. Very simple right? But it's so effective. Other VNs might do it too, but in Fata Morgana it just works so well, especially if a serious conversation is being had between two characters. Maybe the lack of voice acting helps in this case.

Can you believe this VN is just free? I can't, despite the fact that it's a short experience. Well for OELVNs we had Katawa Shoujo, and now we have the Literature Club as well. As far as short VNs are concerned, this one is quite unique and well worth the time. There's just no good reason not to try it.

Tip for anyone wanting to read it: Headphones, fullscreen. If you have a good chunk of time to play it in one go, I'd recommend that too just for the sake of immersion, but it's not a must.

No way I'm gonna recommend Shadowverse to anyone in its current state after the latest expansion. I've played this game for a long time now and have mostly had fun with it. But Wonderland Dreams? Hell no.

Skill? Hard decisions on what cards to play each turn? Forget it. Just forget it. Uninteractive game ending ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ cards just played on curve, as early as turn 6. Obviously overstatted/"do everything at once" (for no good reason) cards. Depending on what deck you're up against, a game gets decided on mulligan or the first 1-4 turns. Amazing.

It's just frustrating to play 90% of the time. That's not how it should be right? That's not what a good game should be like.

Just wanted to chime in with another positive review for this VN. It's a must-read, simple as that. Get it if you haven't already.

People tend to mention things like Muv-Luv, Steins;Gate, Fate/stay night, Umineko, etc. when talking about top tier VNs (I do too). But The House in Fata Morgana deserves just as much recognition, easily. Fantastic story and characters, superb music (several songs being vocalized), a unique art style that lends itself very well to the serious tone of the story.

A VN tugging at my heartstrings over and over in various ways is what I want. It's exactly what I want out of the medium in general, and Fata Morgana does this beautifully.

Finished Root A, and now I feel okay with giving this a thumbs up.

So far, this VN to me is mainly a very thrilling story about survival in a mysterious place with a bunch of people that you're not always sure if you should trust or not (including yourself). I've spent a lot of time getting a bunch of bad endings - there are many of those in Root Double. You might find gathering them to be enjoyable, just like in Fate/stay night.

Now, something that could be seen as a negative or even a positive depending on what you're looking for: It's kind of... "straightforward". The dialogue and narrative. It doesn't seem like the kind of story where you end up thinking hard about something deep that a character just said/implied. And yea that'll be a negative for some (like me). But that may or may not change with the later routes. Technically I've only seen one part of the VN. Already proven false and I'm still far from done with the VN. So yea this is very promising.

The biggest surprise for me though is how intensely mysterious AND creepy it gets at times. Really did not expect that. Scene transitions, music (some of the unnerving tracks are extremely effective), text effects, graphical effects, etc. All used very well, better than most translated VNs. I mean, to me at least, Root Double might as well have 'Horror' added as a minor tag to it. I'm impressed. Presentation-wise, the mysteries in this are really, really good. There's a sense of dread this VN gives you with its mysteries and I just love that stuff.

As it is, I'd highly recommend Root Double to people who enjoy mystery stories, such as the Infinity series and Zero Escape. I don't know how the story will pan out in the rest of the routes, but at the very least Root A is great.

I'll probably make an update later after I'm done with the whole thing

One of the best Metroidvania (2D platforming + exploration) games I've played. The mashup between that type of gameplay and bullet hell mechanics is amazing, at least when it has this much polish to it. Four chapters in and a lot of hours spent exploring, I still don't have anything major to complain about with Rabi-Ribi. It's consistently challenging, but never feels unfair. Exploring the rather large world, finding new items, secrets and enemies everywhere, keeps being entertaining.

It's perfect for people who like challenging 2D platformers in general. And if you're not already familiar with bullet hell shooter mechanics, chances are that you'll come to like that too from playing Rabi-Ribi.

Pro tip: If you really want to challenge yourself right from the get go and possibly feel more satisfaction from beating each boss, start on the Hard difficulty level.

A must-read for any mystery fans and visual novel fans out there. Higurashi is a top-notch mystery horror visual novel with very memorable characters and a story that keeps you guessing and thinking. Let yourself get immersed as much as possible, and it will be an awesome experience.

Keep in mind that this is only the first chapter out of eight (for the main story). The rest will be released later on. But even just this first chapter is easily enough to get you hooked for now. And for that price? Yea, worth it.

Also, this is a remastered version of the original visual novel, with some new options, a new translation, new sprite art, etc. So even those of us who have already read the original can get plenty of enjoyment out of this one.

Watched the anime? Still worth it, I can assure you. It's a different experience to read it in visual novel format. It provides more details on everything and the creepy/paranoia-inducing atmosphere is much more prevalent in the visual novel compared to the anime. In general, scenes tend to be more effective and powerful in this, and it feels more mysterious. Plus, in my opinion, the characters are better shown in the visual novel as well.