Recent reviews by Dungeon Master Jo

Okay, so I love this game. It gets HARD though and there's also a nightmare mode.

I reviewed the demo on lunacity7.com/reviews and enjoyed it so much I went and bought it. Later that day, the dev offered me it for free as a thank you but too late - mine now.

If you like late 90's/early 2000's nostalgia, horror and frantic gameplay, give Babette a try.

I did a quick and rough walk-a-round of this on Youtube, so if you're unsure if it's the best option for you, please
check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm-e49NNKn8

Overall, whilst not as good or well updated as the Japanese release, this version of Tyranobuilder is useful for FMV game, point and click game and visual novel game developers. It can create very professional games if you're willing to put the effort in, is cheap (but not free, like Ren'py) and surprisingly robust. The tools are good, it's easier to figure out than most vn makers and the forum community is very helpful. You can export to multiple device types as well as to browser and with a bit of script work you can even use it to open webpages.

Is it the best option for making your visual novel? Depends on what you want, BUT go onto itch.io and play Resident Evil 4 Otome Edition to see what can be done in-engine. Anything Ren'py can do can be replicated in Tyranobuilder and for fast test builds and final product polish, I found it the better option.

Reviewed this for lunacity7.com - if you're a fan of Jacob's Ladder or Silent Hill-esque story telling then you'll likely enjoy this!

Games alright but has some massive issues preventing me recommending it. Video-game testing is my job and I like to believe I am fair. So there's your warning. Full review will be up shortly at lunacity7.com.

The story is interesting enough, although it waivers between being offensive to people with mental health conditions (tbf, for narrative purposes, but a disclaimer would help and is usually standard) and being pretty good at representing different time periods and the mental/emotional stresses for some people at those times. Bit of puzzling scattered throughout, spooky atmosphere, interesting back-drop - nice stuff.

Somewhat less nice is that the game can be buggy, occasionally to the point where it is save-breaking. Controls can't be re-mapped, which is pretty inexcusable for a game built in Unreal Engine (re-mapping is typically standard set-up if working from a basic template) and really makes playing the game a miserable experience, ESPECIALLY for players with physical disabilities, many of whom require key-mapping so games can be played with disability-friendly control systems. And I swear to God, literally ANY GOD, just pick one, the "kid" voice acting is APPALLING. It's meant to be a "pee-your-pants-in-fear" moment, not a "pee-your-pants-laughing-at-Birdemic-level-voice-work" moment. Kind of takes you out of the big, and very obvious to anyone with a single brain-cell, reveal AT THE END. What a place to BADLY drop the ball!

It's a shame but, as the game is now, avoid it unless it is very heavily discounted.

Oh yeah, they rely on jump-scares which mostly feel out of place and ruin the atmosphere. Be good if they were scary.

Looking for a nice little bite of horror? 'Stitched' may be for you. Whilst made in the RPGMaker engine, it's a puzzle game wrapped in the trappings of a horror aesthetic. The art, music and limited voice-overs are all quite good, the puzzles are, as is typical for most puzzles, require some critical thinking and maths. They're not massively difficult, though getting the clues you need in the game can take some wandering around.

There's quite a few spelling and grammatical errors in the English version, but nothing that isn't easy to look past and the controls are fine.

Recently, the developer added 2 new endings, so there are, including the bad ending, around 5 in total.

Okay, I need to point out I'm the functions tester that took on the job of testing Relentless Protagonist. So they've already heard all my feedback (and acted on what they could, real quick too!). I'm reviewing this as a gamer though so...I liked it. It got me coming back to play more of it as the story was intriguing (I'm a sucker for spies and sci-fi).

Some parts are genuinely funny, some very disturbing and the game writers have done something good with their twists - they make you doubt your own idea of what is happening.

Honestly, give it a try if you want a different visual novel experience that isn't focused on romancing hotties like a sexual harassment checklist.

Sent this email to Steam Support for them to ignore:

"Look, I'm not expecting you to refund me - I know it's way past due. But this game is busted and leaving it up on the storefront is disingenuous. The game files are either so broken or simply have not been created so that you cannot unlock more than 2 levels. Looking into the file, it looks like it's broken but the dev doesn't seem to care enough to pull the game, fix it or answer their emails. Please consider removing it so other people don't get duped."

It's a good game. It doesn't have gore or jump scares but it does have atmosphere in spades. The story is interesting and the controls are usable. The game can be a bit glitchy but I haven't come across any that are game-breaking. This is episodic and the second and third episodes are not out yet and may be dependent on a publisher picking it up, they should, but you know what publishing houses can be like. Thankfully the first episode has enough self-contained story and a decent ending even on it's own.

I recommend it, but it may never be completed, so caveat emptor.

It's got some fun fights, cool designs and a sarcastic, unhappy protagonist. Give it a go if you like a good yarn, easy but flexible combat controls and slut-demon moms.

This follows directly on from 'Doorways: Prelude', a not unlikeable game with an interesting premise and short run time. They're cheap games in a series that includes 'Doorways:Unholy Mountains of Flesh' and a lot of what's happening in this second installment/third chapter doesn't require you having played the first installment/chapter one & two.

***There are minor spoilers regarding mechanics this game uses, so do not read further if this matters to you.***

You are stereotypically steampunk-esque-sounding protagonist, who is working for an agency called Doorways - a group that deals with extreme criminal cases via use of psychics. You are one such person and you enter the minds of murderers to try and bring them to justice.

Which sounds awesome except that it's a game and you can't do that. But nevermind, your proxy psychic on screen can do it for you! Badly. Whilst getting crazier with each passing encounter. It's a nice, new take on the detective story, a bright detective with an unknown past facing off against twisted genius but inside of the killers mind, rather than at the Reichanbach Falls.

Game play wise, this has much of the 'Escape Room' vibe. You're in a place and need to solve puzzles in order to move to the next area. You have the combat ability of a dead dried sprat. The puzzles are pretty simple, but finding what you need can be difficult. It's not a graphically impressive game and even on highest settings some items and buttons simply get lost amongst the areas.

One way in which this second part differentiates from the first is that there are now chase sequences involving some messed up monsters, and these are the parts where the game really comes alive. The claustrophobic atmosphere and the excellent sound work really do give a sense of building dread and terror. There are bits of information lying around about these subjects but I didn't feel anything for them, the game skimps over either humanising them as victims or building them up as something to fear, which I personally feel was a mistake.

Unfortunately, towards the end a new mechanic is introduced which is a little glitchy and awkward to control. The controls are about a half second out from the rest of the universe in general, so triggering an item which also triggers a monster spawn in entirely the wrong area is a regular occurance.

That absolutely killed the game for me, taking something creepy and forcing it to be repeatedly re-done ruins the fear effect, and clunky yet floating controls on both mouse & keyboard and controller simply annoy.

I still intend to finish it, but for now 'Doorways:The Underworld' has become dull, implementing some good sections but attempts to build on them fall flat, a passable game for the first two thirds, even interesting and creepy, which it simply cannot sustain in the final act. I recommend this if you can see past the above, for the musical score and atmosphere and the nice premise.

No, I will not give it a numerical score, I'll presume people are bright enough to read through a review without needing a layered opinion boiled down for them like they're a White House embarrassment.