Recent reviews by Egg

At the center of an infinite mass, an eternity away, bares a cruel reality, where the imaginary lay. Through alchemy of wills, through conflict and kills, finality came, end given a name.

...get it? 'Cause these games are mostly one dimensional.

Anyway, idle games have been sort of a guilty pleasure of mine over the years. It's always nice to have something to wind down with and see numbers go up. I've spent an exorbitant amount of time in Cookie Clicker, for one.

Yet, the time I've spent all games combined can't even come close to matching the time I've spent with Antimatter Dimensions (game time).

I originally started playing the mobile version of the game over three years ago. It was engaging and offered some interesting choices, but ultimately I reached a part of the game that read "Coming Soon..." and had to drop it. Little did we all realize just how large that "Coming Soon..." turned out to be, with mechanics, decisions and challenges aplenty. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's take this one at a time.

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The start of Antimatter Dimensions is pretty shallow, with a few "prestige" gimmicks that let you progress faster to the first of your many goals: Infinity. At least, infinite where normal JS is concerned. But eventually you break that wall, and you suddenly realize just what it is you've stepped into.

It turns out this game quickly gets more complicated and interesting the further you dive into the deep end. And with a deep end that's more than infinitely deep, there's always something new to discover and a new way to make numbers go up.

Eventually you'll be chugging along eons in a single second as your optimize your equipment to farm eight different currencies to take on Celestial beings who bend the rules of the game into their favor. You'll be testing out different builds against the many, many challenges the game can offer, and the final phase of the game is nothing BUT an optimization puzzle that's extremely theatrical and extremely satisfying. (Out-of-context spoilers for the mid-to-late game. I recommend not reading this if you plan on playing and haven't encountered "Teresa" yet.)

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Limits are meant to be broken. Softcaps are meant to be shattered. Walls are meant to be demolished.

Antimatter Dimensions is extremely good at giving a sense of progression as it's always extremely easy to look back on where you started, or where you were an hour ago and meaningfully see how much more powerful you are now.

Every prestige layer you climb almost trivializes, yet never makes obsolete, the previous layer. And every time you climb, you'll make it back just a bit faster. Repeat ad nauseum. Break ad infinitum.

Eventually, you'll be so powerful that your exponents will need exponents of their own, so numbers do in fact get HUGE. (1e1e9 is 1, followed by 1 MILLION zeroes. And that's SMALL compared to where you'll end up.)

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Of course, power alone isn't enough to bring satisfaction. You need something to use it on, something to destroy, something to BREAK. Yes, the game provides in the form of many Challenges to overcome, each in different flavors and each requiring (strong word. More like advising?) a correct solution to "solve". And what do you get for your efforts? EVEN BIGGER NUMBERS.

These challenges can actually get pretty interesting at times with conundrums to solve for. Being entirely braindead won't work, you do need an element of logic. But all is possible, even the seemingly impossible.

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You will push yourself to... well, not your limits, but to making interesting decisions along your journey as optimization turns to quality of life, which in turn brings in new optimization decisions. And when you finally broach the end, and push the game to its absolute limits, then completely shatter it in pieces. That's when you can look back and see that indeed, numbers do get big. But that's really about it.

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Gameplay: Great - At least by Idle game standards. Plenty of decisions to make.
Ambience and Aesthetic: Eh - It is a Web game. It doesn't really need sounds, or a better aesthetic, but it does get kind of bland. At least there's secret themes to spruce it up, if you want to.
Story: Great - The only Story here is the story you make as you play. The story of YOUR triumphs, of YOUR powers, and of YOUR ultimate victory.
Competence: Very Competent - The game is very good with telling you how things work and informing your decisions. Although, descriptions can be inconsistent and vague in rare cases.

Overall: Highly Recommended - Take part in the number crunching journey of dreams. If you like idlers, you'll LOVE this.
Moving On: I genuinely do think at this moment that no other idle game can top this one. I think its unfurling prestige layers and myriad challenges are peak idle game design. But I'll still probably go back to other idlers now. This is a journey that I think I'll re-experience at some point down the line, though.

Can't say no to steampunk/conductor outfits.
They're adorable.

Can't wait for TEVI!

Further than the blue sky, at the peak of the world, two girls cheered aloud, and only they heard.

I've played my fair share of roguelikes. I've slain the spires, I've risked the rains - hell, I've even crawled with demons. Despite that, there's no real shortage of roguelikes, especially on Steam. They've all kind of started to melt together into a congealed mass of common mechanics and showy twists that - while admittedly adding depth for the first few runs - quickly become tired and only attract apathy.

And then Yamafuda! came around on my Discovery Queue. It looked refreshingly simple.
Premise? Girls wanna hike. Gameplay? Play cards in whatever order you choose - ending with a Hike. Art? Cute and adorable. Well, it couldn't hurt to try.

Yamafuda!'s main strength lies in its simplicity. It's a very easy game to pick up. You don't have any restrictions in playing cards. Your turn ends when you play a card with Hike, then the sole enemy acts on its intent. Additionally, once per Station, you can swap out your hand, discarding it for a redraw. The decision making here is equally as important as in Slay the Spire (and its contemporaries), but I think the mental power needed to make those in Yamafuda! is significantly less. You don't need to plan several steps ahead. Just take it one step at a time, just like hiking. It makes it very easy to take breaks in between, or to get a quick run out between work or classes.

It also helps that Yamafuda! is incredibly adorable. Koharu and Hiyori's character designs are cute. The trail spirits are strong and bear down on our duo, but they don't feel intimidating. After all, nobody fears a hike. It's a test of willpower to get to the summit. After a few hikes, you'll probably find yourself cheering alongside Koharu as she marches up, victorious, but also feel like a monster if you mess up the climb and force a retreat. It's almost heartbreaking.

Of course, like our contemporaries, there's an "Ascension" system (dubbed Try/Challenge levels) here. They do put up a significant challenge as you rise up the ranks and as the modifiers get ever more deadly. I swear, most of the time, it feels like the RNG is actively against you. Anything that can go wrong, will most likely go wrong. You won't draw that card you need on time. You will be prevented from playing it. It can get pretty rough.

And yet, when you finally summit that final peak, it's an incomprehensibly good feeling. They did it - you did it. Yamafuda! doesn't ask much of you. You aren't going on a grand adventure, or slaying monsters, or entering gungeons. What it does offer you is a friendly hike with some good friends by your side. And if it ever offers another hike again (maybe at a 3rd station?), I'd accept it in a heartbeat. Can anyone truly complain about cute girls doing cool things?

Gameplay: Enjoyable - Not complicated or terribly deep, but still challenging.
Ambience and Aesthetic: Top Notch - Go buy the "Yamamook" if able. This game is adorable. The soundtrack, while not being Original, is still really nice to listen to.
Story: N/A - You climb mountains. Now go.
Competence: Functional - Translation in EN is a bit rough and some card effects aren't very well worded, though that can be subject to change. Plus the odd bug here or there.

Overall: Highly Recommended - You don't always need high stakes. It's nice to take a break once in a while.
Moving On: Yamafuda!, for me, has been an unforgettable experience. After five months of hiking, I think Koharu and Hiyori can finally rest easy. I've thoroughly enjoyed my time with this game, and I'd highly recommend it to you, too. It's available on iOS/Android as well if you feel like hiking while hiking in-game. This is one of my favorite games on Steam.

And now, a one-minute review. Time starts, now.

As a Visual Novel, the lore takes a darker turn as Wilfried and Ria confront new challenges in Kaya and Iris, the attendant of the witch, and the witch of Cologne. Wilfried's moral compass has always been out of wack, but now...?

As a Action Game, which I think is the star of the show in the Re;Lord series, new mechanics have been added, with two new elemental damage types, new equipment and challenge systems, and a shop system rewarding speedy captures. The mechanics will be even more refined in Re;Lord 3 with the Just Attack/Revenge systems then, but what's on offer in Re;Lord 2 is still solid. The post game is also neat.

Would recommend.

while (true) {
Cookie.Click()
if (!Player.Alive) {
break
}
}

Forge. Fight. Repeat.

Let me tell you a story.
A story of vampire hunters, mistresses of fate and eyes of destruction.
...wait, you don't want to hear that?

I see. So you're feeling lost?
Hey, chin up. Let me tell you a different story.
A story by the waves of the sea, an eternal reminder that carries deep.

Sakuya Izayoi Gives You Advice And Dabs is a short little gem by Sigyaad Team, released not even a day ago since this review was written. It is a visual novel game that stars Izayoi Sakuya, the Perfect and Elegant Maid hailing from the Touhou Project.

Story
Izayoi S- Huh? Oh, that probably does sound a bit weird, doesn't it? Surname before given name is an eastern thing, after all. Let me try that again.

Sakuya Izayoi has evidently been acting coldly toward her fellow members of mankind. As such, the Yama lectured Sakuya on this matter. Now, I'd imagine Sakuya would use her time manipulation powers and contract the duration of that lecture to but a fraction of a second so that she can maintain upkeep on the Scarlet Devil Mansion, but that's neither here nor there. To remedy this, Sakuya enlists the help of her "friends", which we can assume to be the SDM crew, notably Patchouli, to create a pocket space, where she can give advice to humans that are feeling lost or down.

Gameplay
Sakuya Izayoi Gives You Advice And Dabs can be broken down into two parts: the advice and the Dangerous Action Behavior.

Sakuya will ask you whatever it is that is bothering you. Do you feel as if you don't fit in? That there's no path ahead of you? She'll give you relevant advice, albeit a bit generic, to press onward with life. Personally, as someone who prides themself as a jack of all trades, I've been procrastinating a lot lately when it comes to learning the next big skill in media: music. Although Sakuya's advice seems ineffective at face value, I'll take it for what its worth and give it a try.

The second half of the game is a very short Spell Card battle. Sakuya takes initiative by immediately activating her Spell Card. You (the player, not your ingame character) can choose to respond with either Cringe Sign: What, Fury Sign: ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Flandre Not Again or Empathy Sign: Grateful Thanks. Depends on who you are as a person.

Conclusion
Sakuya Izayoi Gives You Advice And Dabs is a short but sweet experience that has a novel charm to it. If anime has shown us anything, its that cute anime girls doing things motivates us to do said things, regardless of how extraneous the task is. So, harnessing that concept into a quick pep talk pick me up with maid waifu? Sign me up.

All I'm really here for is the mod support.
Really solid game. Can't really say anything else that hasn't yet already been said.

Over 330 million global deaths and counting...

THere once stood A graNd tower
high up in the clouds
every so often
goes off chiming into the sKy
a Signature oF times gOne by
many faces tuRned
engrossed in THE toll of the bells
waiting in Fiery anticipation
anxiety bUilding
senses sharpeNing
GAping into the void
only we reMain
only Entities roaming through time
decaying corpses enveloping us

but it's only yet a fragment of the painting