Recent reviews by LividJava

Alabaster Dawn really impressed me. Even in its Early Access state, there is SO MUCH to explore and discover. I got ~8 hours of gameplay from the main story and side quests (of what's available) the rest comes from the Roguelite mode that's available.

I cannot remember the last time i was excited or looking forward to playing a video game.

Alabaster Dawn really feels like a Zelda game with RPG Progression elements to me. You obtain various weapons, elements and abilities. Weapons and Elements help you complete overworld puzzles, revealing various caves, secrets, and treasures. A lot of my time was spent dashing around and seeing something going Oo, how do I get to that? and needing to backtrack a few screens to find the starting point.

Which brings me to the Puzzles. Radical Fish is apparently notorious for their puzzles being difficult (see Crosscode, ps. this is my first experience with Radical Fish). I will say, i was a bit disappointed in some of the puzzles. Nothing was too challenging and felt rather easy for me. My partner however found them to be a step above what she could do. So this is likely a me problem.

Puzzles require you to activate something, Get to a specific place, and/or use your weaponry in a specific manner. The hardest puzzle I found was one that required me to use and manage multiple projectiles at once, but after figuring that out it was solved within less than a minute. None of the puzzles took me more than 2 minutes to solve. The time sink was executing the actions.

That said, they are nice little brain teasers especially when you have puzzles within your combat.

Radical Fish values player skill expression, and damn does it show. The combat is easy to pick up but has what feels like an immense skill ceiling. Between parrying, combos, and mid combat puzzling it can be both a frustrating and rewarding experience. The only thing lost on death is progression, and even then, if its a boss you're going to respawn right outside the arena.

The combat puzzles can be frustrating at times, requiring you to stop your flow and solve a quick puzzle, its nothing too complex but its just enough to break your flow.

Spoilers for the Last Early Access boss in 0.1.0
The frog turtle thing, has a sequence after filling the break bar, where you need to toss an Aether projectile, to break a shield covering its weakpoint, while also avoiding some stage hazards. This particular boss fight had other issues but that was one of the main things i took issue with

Enemy Prioritization can be frustrating as well. You have a ton of projectile launching enemies, charging enemies, and adds all on one screen. So you are kiting or parrying the Projectile enemies, dodging or parrying the charging enemies and the adds are kinda there. There are times where combat feels overwhelming and generally not fun. It feels as though the game is trying to push you to use the various combo abilities you've unlocked which is fine but just the sheer number makes it feel like a Dynasty Warriors game at times, without the fun parts.

My last grievance with combat is a relatively minor one all things considered. Certain Enemies have an Unblockable/Unparryable attack, There is no way to tell which attacks are unblockable/unparryable you only know after your healthbar has been decimated and you're on the backfoot trying to recover.

The story is incomplete as of writing, but I've found myself so invested in the characters, the world, and the history of the setting. The main plot is nothing special, a sort of "Chosen One" character, which isn't a bad thing, just common to see. I've been more intrigued by all the small little things sprinkled throughout the world. So I can't give a complete assessment on the story but I am excited to see where it's going.

The Art direction is absolutely stunning. It's a pixel art game but the animations in some of the cutscenes, the set pieces all of it is just amazing. The cutscenes where you get fully detailed art and animations, it all feels so dynamic and so very stylish. The care that went into these shows so immensely.

Alabaster Dawn's Early Access has had me grinning from ear to ear the entire time, it's made me excited to play video games and made me remember why I started even gaming in the first place. The Early Access while short, is a GREAT game with so much exploration and secrets to discover, some unfinished. The game clearly needs more cooking time but I've been enjoying everything I've seen.

If you're on the fence as to whether or not you'll enjoy it. Play the Demo, it gives you ~3 vertical slices and is roughly 2 hours long. Any progression made in the demo (until a certain point, the demo will let you know) carries over to the full game. Give the game a shot, it'll be worth it.

This game is simplistic enough for anyone to pickup and understand, but complex enough to have immense strategy. I've played both the Playtest and the Demo. If you've played the likes of Balatro, Cloverpit or other similar games where its a "Classic" game with a rogue-like twist, this game will be right up your alley (it's closer to Balatro as it doesn't have a storyline its literally just a coin-pusher machine with goal of make number big).

You discover synergies between various Coins, Chips and Prizes. Using them to your advantage to beat a Round Score. Every so often a Negative modifier is applied giving you incentive to either bypass it or use the synergies you've built up in the past rounds. Creating a very nice and desirable snowballing effect. You have different Characters that will give you different sets of Coins, and thus different methods of play.

robot do silly

Fish

Sky: Children of the Light is an emotional experience of a game that will break you in the best way possible.

This is a game about friendships, socializing, hardships, and triumph. If you're going to play through this game I HIGHLY recommend you wait before entering the last area. It is best experienced with friends, those you made in-game or those you have in real life. The ending of this game just IS NOT the same without friends. It is literally a completely different ending.

This is a game of Emotion, Not progression. If you go in with the intent to blast through the game, you will be severely disappointed. Take it slow, explore, make friends, chat, help others.

The ending of the game made me cry for over 2 hours. I waited over a Month before i finally decided to actually finishing the ending. If that puts you off, its not your game.

Friends and I saw the 1.0 release. I touched this game for about maybe 5 minutes, pre 1.0 had too many issues. But 1.0? oh boy, This is probably one of the best Tac-Sim shooters on the Market. Highly recommend playing with like minded friends that you mesh well with, Communication is everything. The solo isn't any slouch either, you have full, finite control of your AI Team members. All in all, a great experience and highly recommend.

If you're coming over from the first game expecting a continued story, this is not that game. I was severely disappointed in the game's story. Able to finish it in less than 10 hours. The game being open world and having endless collectibles is fine. its mostly just filler to hide the complete lack of content this game has.

Anime Grills, Eurobeat, Meme Charts, what more could you want.

Project Heartbeat is just Project Diva, but with custom content. Very good.

i spent all my time petting the robo dog....

Beautiful game, making people want to cry for ages. One character's arc had me and my girlfriend crying. Rakuen is one of those games that stick with you well after playing it. There aren't many games that stick with me, I can name one other game that wholly changed my entire perspective on life.

This game will make you cry. Sorrow filled with joy, all in the same bag. Laura's composition just makes it all the better. In fact that was one of the biggest purchasing decisions. Laura's music I have found to always sound wonderful, So if you are grabbing the game, Grab the soundtrack if you really enjoy listening to it.

All in all, this still stands as one of my favorite games, and will continue to be one of the games that has touched my life. Thank you Laura, Your music has always been something that has drove me to continue my passion for my own music creation.