Recent reviews by Hunt's Special Ketchup

I purchased this game off vibes alone. And yowzaaa, the vibes did not lead me astray. This game is a certified banger, dredging up every ounce of my 2000s nostalgia and injecting it with modern flair.

PROS - strong character driven story telling that provides the player with choices that feel consequential. BADASS boss music. Flashy character art-styles that pop from darker, industrial backdrops. Certified terrifying GamerTM moments due to a combination of third-person fixed-camera view, first-person arcade-style combat, and third eye mechanics that change your surroundings. The puzzles are also solid for this reason.

CONS (but not really) - At first, I found the back-and-forth between fixed-camera and stationary first-person combat janky. Five hours in, my opinion hasn't changed. The difference is I wouldn't change anything about the mechanics now. I've enjoyed learning to master it. How much tension it creates when I'm swarmed by three or more enemies at once. Some serious 'oh, s***' moments.

OVERALL - The story and characters are the main attraction here IMO, with strong themes exploring love, toxic relationships, and more. Both on the macro and micro level. Between every delve back into abandoned facilities infested with demons, I found myself retracing my steps in the main HUB just to make sure I didn't miss any interactions. I've also save scummed more than I care to admit. All in an attempt to get Michelle the ending she deserves. For games like this, that's how I know I'm hooked.

Lastly, you might have noticed I didn't mention anything about this game being unabashedly LGBTQ+. While this game is most def for the gays, it's also for my straight-white-male-cisgender ass. Sorry We're closed is for the gamers.

I cried

The writing is not good. Like, seriously, it's almost impressive how disjointed the story is at times. Most all the characters contain less depth than a contact lens. And god, the ending revelation made me want to slam my head through my monitor because of how utterly hamfisted and stupid it was

Still logged back in for more dropkicks, tho