Recent reviews by Mich-666

The game where you play tester of.. toilets, 100% recommended, would definitely flush everything down the drain again.

Jokes aside, it's also nearly perfect techdemo for Steam Deck, if only 30+ minutes long.

It's ironic that this game while being a port of old mobile gacha game with several issues (controls or connection) is still pretty much the best SAO game out there at its core. Enjoyable to play from time to time just to relax and achieving sense of progress throughout the floors of Aincrad.
The lore of IF differs a lot from normal SAO universe and many characters being alive or present is just fanservice but if you don't take it too seriously, you can still have some fun.

I really wondered whether to recommend this game or not but in the end, Ellie's route which I had played the last helped me with the decision. Or to be more clear, it is probably the only route worth of truly recommending.

Firstly, the production values are high, and I mean really high. The nostalgy of late eighies really works and from detailed animated backgrounds, countless characters sprites or many CG, this game is surely thing of beauty. I can give even more praise to its music as almost every piece has its own charm and whole soundtrack is really outstanding and memorable.

The first problem comes with its conspiracy plot which has nice exposition at first but the way it drags along the way and resolves in illogical and overdone manner made me feel this game would be much better without it. Or rather, it would be nice if it was only constrained to one route, not three. Surely there could be different mysteries to tell in 80s Japan, right? And the girls alone are interesting enough to for their own plots. Too bad there also isn't any true route where all of them would start a band together as hinted in the promo art.

But the main problem of the game is its unlikeable main character that likes to quarrel with almost anyone in any situation for seemingly no reason. He is basically a hypocritial idiot who constantly blames others for things he doing all the time. And then he finally apologizes and regrets his behavior to make this even worse. I certainly wouldn't mind if those quarrels had their reason but throughout all the game it really only felt like his frequent outburts are the main source of character drama. To add to that he also often acts like 40 year old guy with drinking problems even though he's just eighteen years old orphan of immigrants. What's more he completely disregards japanese societal hierarchy and constantly rising a voice in conversations with his superiors. The fact that he knows the country of origin so well and still considers himself weird alien to local culture, even though he spent most of his life in Japan, is just minor problem in comparison of all that.

Route-wise, it's Ellie > Kagome > Himitsu > Catherine, with Ellie the best written (and where MC was actually a decent human being!) and Catherine being the worst as she only had her secret going for her nothing else. The fact that she already dated MC before kinda hurt her route a lot, maybe because the game used in media res for her, not really trying to build their relationship from the ground up. Himitsu, on the other hand, is constantly bullied by MC's vile moods, disregarded as possible love interest even when player is already dead set on her as a target I would say it took maybe too long before he admitted his feelings. Her ending was nice though (and her bad ending I got first devasted me a lot).

Speaking of Ellie, she really stood out because unlike other routes that all tried to double into not very well-thought conspiracy drama, she had completely different story and themes to tell and while I expected something a bit different, I still enjoyed it a lot. Kagome, on the other hand, while having the best interactions and chemistry with Nikolai (and also quite a few dark topics), had big thematical problem with her own route as the players are forced to betray their initial decision to help those in need (to even enter Kagome's route) and half-way through her story to deny this decision by willingly being a coward.

The game is also partially hurt by its vertical structure where both pairs of girls share half of their respective routes but the main problem (which is mainly apparent in Catherine/Himitsu route) is that MC is constantly split on which girl to trust and follow (by series layered disappointments and contrivances). This wouldn't be actually too bad if not overdone by trying so hard to make the other girl relevant even when the player is already dead set on the other one. Still, unlike other games it was kinda nice the other main characters didn't stop existing once you enter the branch.

Overall, the writing in this game is over the place. Some monologues might be nice but certain dialogues where the author self inserted rather than trying to roleplay young adult liviing in Japan were be abyssmal. Some scenes were downright illogical like what he did to secure Kagome's good ending where he had exactly no bargaining chip. All in all I would say more emphasis on daily life and camaraderie of whole group on backdrop of fading eighties coupled with coming-of-age stories with bit of mystery would probably work well afterall. Subverting the expectations is nice but you need to make sure that the result is better than normal trope.

So in the end this game didn't even come close to impact of Everlasting Summer but it still had its moments here and there. And Ellie. So while I wouldn't exactly recommend LMR as a whole, some of its parts are certaily worth experiencing. Prepare for many facepalms on the way but also for plenty of sad, thrilling or heartwarming moments. It's pretty thorny road.

Pretty good open-world train game which covers big chunk of Europe. Very similiar to Euro Truck Simulator but with actual working industry chains. Very chilling to drive and unlike other train sims it's pretty cheap.

And the best thing is you can switch the junctions from the cab and decide where to go by yourself.

Gameplay-wise it's pretty easy to get into and simulation level is low (unlike Derail Valley or Train Sim World for example) but it's sure is nice looking since it runs on UE4. Driving through countryside can be pretty eye-candy and rain, fog or snow weather effecta are really atmospheric. The actual cities are not so detailed and many smaller stations looks the same but it's still servicable.

There are still few bugs around but devs are slowly fixing most of them. Train physics and sounds still need some adjustments, the same as UI or in-game signalling system but if the devs perseve and don't abandon this game, this could actually become pretty solid title in the future.

Writing this review was tricky. The game had all that should made it successful - nice art, good music and even interesting premise. It can be downloaded for free. And I really tried hard to like it. Bad sadly, it lacks in one area visual novels should never compromise in - in the actual writing.

To elaborate, part of the reason for this is the pacing of the story. That which starts as conclusion of great adventure akin to one of Persona games turns rather quickly into uneventful aftermath where your main goal is to say good-byes to your friends before going to college. Which wouldn't be bad in itself and I certainly like the slice of life but the problem here is that most of those daily conversations are rather inconsequential and needlessly drawn-out. This persists even later on in the game when weird things starts creeping in and your understanding of the situation gets better. Sometimes the author takes too long to get to the point even when dealing with something relatively simple. Sometimes this borders with graphomania and many times the use of Chekov's gun principle would be much appreciated.

To quote the game itself "Hard for me to care about those kids if they don't even talk like real people, you know?"

And while the actual Afterstory and following conclusion is rather nice (in fact, it almost felt like decent visual novel at that point) the core problem is the story only makes sense in retrospective - which means you are constantly questioning your dedication to finish the game as for the most of the time you are still left in the dark. Part of me wonders if it won't be ultimately better to actually open the game with slightly modified college life chapter and regress back to Florida only after that. Sure, that part is meant as reward in a sense but its flow and the structure would probably make for better intro than starting weird right away. Frendship emphasis and subsequent sense of loss of your normal daily life could make for stronger impression and motivation to find the truth.

Another big downside of the story is its unlikeable main character and his issues. I know there are story reasons for this but I still think his depression could be portrayed in different, more intriguing way. This is even more apparent in rather entertaining Finishing Touches stories where he is barely present and it's definitely for the better. Speaking of Finishing Touches, there are still two missing and I think we are off for one last surprise as to what actually happened during the graduation. Hints are everywhere and the story might not be completed just yet. Or I would rather hope that's true. Otherwise, there would be some loose ends in the first part of the game left unused. Turns out I was really getting my hopes too high as the last four side-stories were pretty short and lazy. It didn't really changed overall message of the game, Judy's character was left unchanged, no shocking conclusion either and some loose ends were really left unaccounted-for. Waste of good opportunity I guess.

Game mechanics of Siren's Call doesn't help it either. As it is, you can only progress with bit of repetition and by making the right choices - which is actually all fine with me. In fact, I really had no problem finding correct solutions of those challenges. But the game erases your savegames after each chapter so there goes your attempts to see the whole picture or unlock all gallery entries. Yes, there is Scene Selection menu after finishing the game but I have to wonder if this erasing was really required. Cause unlike DDLC which does some story-tied file manipulations there is nothing of that sort here. What's more - some game events can be random which makes them harder to find and sometimes the fast-forward function skips even unread text which adds to overall frustration. To top all this, quicksaving in certain situations can pretty much break your game as loading such position after flags change leaves you with blackscreen and the need to restart the game (this is the most apparent during Afterstory).

So in the end, I can't really recommend this game. For every bright or clever moment there is at least dozen of boring scenes coupled with some technical problems or randomly unresponsive game UI. And I would rather have fun reading compelling dialogues than being frustrated by constant flow of cringeworthy situations with pathetic, brooding and highly inconsistent main character.

Short little fan epilogue for Everlasting summer. Not too long (about two hours) but still very good and heartwarming conclusion. New Year's atmosphere included.

There are some minor problems (like the text is a bit hard to read and you can't load the game while playing) but it doesn't matter much because you can complete the game rather quickly. No Yulya or Zhenya though, would be nice to have them too.

Interesting visual novel with a lot of choices leading to 7 different routes with 13 possible endings. I enjoyed the reading a lot but the quality of some routes varies. Certainly one of the better of non-japanese VNs though. Even more so, considering the fact it's completely free.

The writing and the mystery is absorbing from the start. In terms of story quality, it goes like this:

Slavya > Ulyana > Yulya > Alisa > Miku > Lena > Semyon

First three listed routes are great as the chemistry between MC and the girl works pretty well and overall message works nicely. Alisa is nice tsundere but her character kinda blends with Ulyana. Miku route was certainly different but not sure about this B-horror movie theme. True end was actually nice, but maybe bit forgettable as I would prefer if all routes meaningfully clicked together, creating bigger picture. Still enjoyable conclusion though.
But I didn't really like Lena - not because her route was depressing but because I found it hard to believe MC would want to voluntarilly spend more time with her after certain point.

In fact, speaking of MC, he surely likes to argue a lot during the course of the story and it gets kinda annoying after a while. He is the definition of drama queen yet at the same the game doesn't really show the reason for it. His childhood is only scratched and just mentioned several times. And it doesn't help the main character stays the same for the most of the game.

I also didn't like the fact that some characters were inconsequential (Zhenya and Nurse mainly - although the first one gets her own route in DLC). Some story elements would also benefit from using Chekhov's gun as they served no real purpose. Namely the mobile phone, the owl, the ghost, the bunker, Slavya dance in the forest or Yulya's provisions.

On the positive side, if you want more, there are lot of other stories to be read on workshop and you can get handful of translated mods here: https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=725863054

What I can't complain about at all is the atmosphere which the game constantly maintains so well. This is also thanks to the best background pictures I have seen in any visual novel up to date - the detail is simply unbelievable. There are also tons of CGs, many different character sprites showing their emotions and simply awesome music - like really, the OST is so great.

All in all, even despite all shortcomings, I definitely don't regret I read this novel (I may even read so modded stories later) and I can't wait for the next game Love, Money, Rock'n'Roll to come out.

The game is fine, even funny at times and I really liked the Christmas atmosphere. I even like russian voice acting, although english translation left me confused sometimes, one more editing pass would be great, A bit shame everything ended rather abruptly since it would be great doing hatsumode with everyone as epilogue. Whole thing kinda left me wanting for more :D There were few scripting bugs but nothing too serious since this is kinetic novel.

I really liked Yume a lot, probably even more than Miyuki. This is probably due to fact that the MC spend the most of time with her having fun while Miyuki got all the drama in comparison. Too bad there were no choices she would be my go to heroine.

In the end the story was extremely simple but I still enjoyed it and liked the characters. Perhaps a sequel set in spring might be nice?

Still the best tycoon game around.

Undying classic completely rewritten and resurrected in its opensource version.

Finally on Steam too.

Really good entry into the franchise revolving around characters and mysteries of secluded village named Hinamizawa located deep in the japanese mountains near Gifu prefecture.

The story about close group of friends is pretty lighthearted and even funny in the beginning which serves as skillfull build up for all main actors but gradually it becomes obvious that you are not seeing whole picture. The dark undertones inevitably creeps in and soon whole thing turns into slowburn psychological horror. The worldbuilding is definitely the main draw of this kinetic novel.

The plot is real emotional rollecoaster and the game constantly makes you doubt about who you can trust and who is the enemy and feeling of uneasiness leaking from unsettled history of the village constantly lingers on.

Technically, the game looks dated but thanks to the brilliant 7th mod all incoveniences can be fixed by simple clicks and I'm really grateful I used it. Not only it adds voice acting and switches the backgrounds which changes immersion a lot, it also brings lipsync for console sprites which makes huge difference and it also adds couple of well-drawn CGs not present in the game otherwise. Not only that, but it also adds 16:9 support, changes the interface and brings better ADV-styled textboxes with nametags and some bonus content. And the best thing? You can customize between old and new look on the fly, you can change music or even language based on your preference which I think is a great thing. Personally, I think the mod is the best way to experience this game.

All in all, and adding the fact that the first chapter is free, I can certainly recommended this series. It can be funny, it can be dark and it's definitely well-written.