Recent reviews by Noobie McNoobface | LEX

I have been playing this series since Geopolitical Simulator 3 - Masters of the World, and I've played both the 2019 and the 2021 of this fourth edition. This game was always a one-of-a-kind experience, albeit a very buggy mess of one. The 2023 version is basically a carbon copy of the 2021 version (which itself was almost a carbon copy of the 2019 version), with additional issues that really demonstrate the lack of depth in this game. The way the economy works in this game makes no sense at all.

If you're coming in expecting any type of economics-based gameplay where your policies can cause meaningful change in your country's GDP, currency exchange rate, and overall wealth, then look somewhere else. Also, this game is either super hard or super easy depending on your luck vis-a-vis bugs, and depending on whether you abuse certain broken features (such as running an ever-increasing "Wine Tax" that generates billions and billions of revenue for you without any drawbacks) or not.

This game is skin deep, and this is incredibly obvious if you reach the end-game. In the previous versions, getting to that point was very difficult, and so I had fun, and spent tens of hours per campaign. With this version, I feel like I've accomplished all I want to accomplish in the game after about 7 hours of gameplay. Compare this with newer titles that have come out since the first release of this game's original version like Victoria 3, and you'll realize that this title simply does not hold up.

Edit: And I forgot to say that warfare is a joke, too. All you need to do is get commandos, rush the enemy's capital, drop inside the presidential palace, and they will surrender in a few days. By the time the UN resolution condemning you kicks in, the war will have ended and no one will attack you :)

Tl;dr: while the game might seem like a unique but unpolished gem at first glance, just like its previous iterations, it is in fact just a broken, simple, and outdated game that promises way more than it delivers. Diplomacy in this game is basically a joke, the economic simulation is non-functional, and all the gameplay systems are very unbalanced. Don't waste your money on this game, don't even try it. Get Victoria 3 instead.

A masterpiece of a VN. A lot of seemingly confusing mysteries, but it all comes together by the end. Absolutely stunning art, music, and voice acting. Did not think it could live up to the post-Atri hype, but it did! Play GINKA!!!

Another high-quality release from Visual Arts/Key. A great gateway into visual novels with its fantastic art and music, simple story, and accessible length.

The writing is fantastic and the experience is worth it. Recommended for VN newcomers and veterans alike, especially at that price.

Note: works out of the box on Steam Deck and even the opening video works; not sure why it says unsupported.

I never thought the Key formula could work in a game as short as this,

but I was wrong, so, so wrong (;_;).

The game has only been out for 48 hours and I’ve already spent 21 hours playing it.

There are some issues with the game that will undoubtedly be addressed in a future update, as with all PDX games, but this is the best post-Stellaris launch of a PDX game hands down.

Great core gameplay mechanics. Just the right amount of economic depth. A great version 1.0 unfortunately lacking the historical nation-specific flavor of prior PDX games that nonetheless makes up for the long years of waiting.

Now let’s just hope those DLCs aren’t too expensive!

True to its genre as a work of "chuunibyou" ("Eighth-grader syndrome"), I first thought I would dislike this game as it appeared to be nothing more than a self-insert power fantasy written by an eighth grader. However, as I overcame the cringe-worthy writing of the game's first ten hours, I discovered a highly thoughtful, critical exploration of the human condition and of humanity's myriad attempts at explaining this condition through the various mythologies and legends of old.

This is a visual novel full of action, beautiful music, great acting from a renowned cast of voice actors and actresses, and references to the religions and mythologies of the ancient Semites. Its main issue is its age, which makes running it slightly inconvenient on modern machines: on my 1440p screen, the only way I could run this game without having massive lag spikes was to change my desktop resolution to match the game's 720p resolution.

The most brilliant aspect of this game's story is that it is a Japanese creation, and as such offers an outsider's perspective into the Judeo-Christian mythological tradition and associated folklore. The game even has a handy "lore" section that explains the concepts and characters that we who were born into this tradition take for granted (such as "Heaven," "Hell," "Adam," etc) which the original Japanese readers of this game might have been unaware of.

In short, this is a great literary game if you can get past its first route, but make sure you set your screen resolution to 1280x720 so that the game doesn't make your PC go haywire when you try to run it in full-screen mode.

I believe that this game deserves way more attention than it got, which is why I'm going to go out of my way to offer this brief review:

Little Busters! is a fantastic coming-of-age story centered around friendship. It is a classic work by VisualArts Key, the makers of other naki-ge (games that make you cry) like CLANNAD and Summer Pockets. The art, the music, and the voice acting in this game is phenomenon, and its world and characters feel alive in ways that other visual novels cannot easily achieve. This occurs in no small part due to the unique integration of RNG mechanics through the game's fighting tournament ranking system and optional minigames, which allows each subsequent route or playthrough to always have something new and interesting even in the sections common to all routes (such as when the weakest character defeats the strongest character in combat, the absurdity of which will actually be recognized by the game)!

I love this game, and I love its story, as do the overwhelming majority of those who've played it to completion. If you're reading this review, don't hesitate to buy this game as it will be very much worth it, especially given how long it is (you can easily spend over a hundred hours in this game without exhausting all of its content).

Tl;dr: Another highly recommended work authored by our lord and savior Jun Maeda. It is a visual novel that feels alive and is probably the most game-like traditional visual novel out there.
The Little Busters are eternal!

This game is so good that it burns so much time that I have to uninstall it now </3

A magnum opus on existentialism and my favorite game of all time. Played it first on PS4 in 2019 and played it again on Steam now: still holds up marvelously well after 3 years ;). NieR Automata is a story-rich, deep, literary game. Highly recommended for all individuals who self-identify as "cultured" and "educated."

10/10 Gameplay I love hacking
10/10 Soundtrack
10/10 Story
10/10 Character design 2B<333333

If you're still on the fence, stop reading reviews and just buy this game. It's a masterpiece and you don't want to be spoiled. Pro-tip, however, don't try to play this game without a controller.

Amazing game. I don't usually review games but I feel like Summer Pockets is underrated and deserves more attention. It's a brilliant visual novel with multiple gripping tales and an unforgettable main story. The music in the game is amazing and fits the themes of the game very well. Summer Pockets surpasses other Key titles like CLANNAD and Little Busters! in terms of emotional resonance during its key moments, and is highly recommended for anyone looking for a game with a good story.

The ping-pong minigame is super fun too :).

This game is seriously SUPER GOOD and I'm going to remember it fondly for the rest of my life. Highly recommended. Please buy and play it so Key understands that there is a western market for visual novels and decides to release Reflection Blue already...