DecidedAsh 最近的评测

Fear the Spotlight is the perfect cozy survival horror game to be played during Spooktober. A relatively short indie title, maybe 4-6 hours depending on how much you explore, Fear the Spotlight dives into a story exploring the past and emotions. Developed by a husband and wife team at Cozy Game Pals, Fear the Spotlight originally released in 2023 with a limited budget and engaged fan base. After being approached by Blumhouse Games, they decided to delist the game and expand on it to create a broader and well-funded game. They would base the development around the feedback of their fan base as well as Blumhouse and would release the more definitive and final version in 2024. This ended up being the right decision for the team and they landed on a game they were proud of making. To me, it provides a lot of hope for current and future indie developers.

Split into two chapters, you play as two high school girls, Vivian and Amy, as they break into their high school to use the spirit board on display. This spirals into a dark and twisted version of their school coming to life and Amy’s abduction.

You play the first chapter as Vivian as she tries to locate Amy and unravel the story of her school’s mysterious tragedy. It’s very typical survival horror mechanics - look for items to use to solve puzzles and progress through each area. The main enemy in this game is relatively scarce but can be pretty scary when encountered. I do wish there were more enemy encounters, but perhaps that’s just not the vibe.

The second chapter revolves around Amy’s point of view and she deals with her past. This seems to be the second edition that Cozy Game Pals worked on after delisting the game. I think it fits pretty well into the first chapter, but does still leave some unanswered questions. The playstyle is the same as the first chapter but the big enemy here is, in my opinion, much more terrifying.

Puzzles were the main highlight of this game - they stood out really well in each area and were not too difficult to solve. It kind of makes me wish there was a difficulty setting a la Silent Hill where obtaining the items was the same but solving the puzzles was trickier. I think that could add an extra challenge and incentivise replays.

The art direction is perfect. Literally perfect. I LOVE the PS1 aesthetic and it runs so buttery smooth. I did choose to play this at 60 FPS but there is an option to lower it to 30 if that’s your vibe. You can also mess with the filters and set them however you like. Nothing feels clunky or weird, interacting with objects is a breeze. I do think the game could benefit from some isometric angles a la the classic Resident Evil games just to add to the tension, but again I’m not sure if that was the vibe they were going for.

⭐8/10⭐
I would say Fear the Spotlight is an excellent introduction to horror titles. There were a few moments were I was like *NOPE* but quickly fell in love with the exploration. Nothing overstayed its welcome and the characters were charming. I think very minor things hold this game back such as length and puzzle difficulty but for a game developed by two people, it’s an outstanding feat. I hope to see more games from Cozy Game Pals. Maybe even a follow-up to Fear the Spotlight.

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As someone who never experienced Final Fantasy games growing up, I had relatively low expectations for the original five in the series (obviously FFVI is a masterpiece and I’ll play it eventually I PROMISE). The first game was pretty standard and had little to no story but fun turn based combat. The second was boring and tried experimenting with a leveling system that didn’t quite meet the mark. The third game was also pretty boring but the class system was cool. It feels like FF4 is where Square finally figured out how they wanted these games to play out and meet the expectations of gamers while solidifying a legacy.

The intro is one of the coolest parts of this game - watching Cecil take to the sky with a banger intro theme. It led me to think I was playing the bad guy at first. Watching Cecil struggle to figure out who he is along with the people he meets is very endearing. The cast of characters and their stories intertwining was very cool and I can imagine this was a breath of fresh air when it originally came out in 1991. Without spoilers, the end game areas were VERY cool and I never expected the story to take us there. It kind of gives The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom vibes… or TOTK maybe took the idea haha.

As far as the pixel remaster goes, it’s great and is identical to the rest of the remasters. I can’t compare it to the original FF4 but I imagine it’s a massive step up. I used a guide for my playthrough and from what I understand, there were many QoL improvements. I was planning to 100% the game but the post-game grinding looked AWFUL soooo I passed on that.

Verdict:
⭐8/10⭐

Final Fantasy 4 is my favorite of the first four games in the series - the characters were all incredible, combat was fun, the final boss & final theme was great as usual. I just didn’t really appreciate the post game stuff. For a game that originally came out in 1991, this was pretty great!

Zero Escape: The Nonary Games is a bundle of Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors & Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward. Both were originally made for the Nintendo DS and 3DS respectively and were later ported to PC as you see here. Both games are pretty niche in terms of game play and story but are incredible visual novels that any fan of mystery would enjoy. I initially started this series because I thought it would be akin to the Saw series in terms of escaping rooms with your life on the line. While that's not 100% accurate, the stakes can be pretty high in some of the climatic story beats. You'll spin your head in circles trying to figure out what's going on and how everything relates to the plot. Both 999 and VLR are worth playing (and in the correct order) but here is a further breakdown of each game:

Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (999) - 9/10

999 has an incredible ensemble of characters who are all unique in their designs and personalities. The stakes seem pretty high in this game as you try to survive the likes of the villain, Zero, and all of the traps he has laid out for you. The escape rooms are fun and pretty straightforward while also following the theme of the game's environment. The plot can get pretty crazy but is relatively digestible. Nothing really overstays its welcome in 999 specifically - you'll be glued to your seat as you watch the events unfold while also wondering where it could possibly go from here...


Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward (VLR) - 7/10

VLR moved to 3D visuals and deeper storytelling. With a new set of characters and personalities, VLR takes a bold step forward and takes everything you thought you understood in 999 to a whole new level. I really enjoyed VLR with a few exceptions being visuals, pacing and some dialogue options being a bit goofy. Oh, and I hope you like loading screens because there are A LOT of them. The flowchart is nearly double the size of 999 with tons of paths to explore and the ability to spend more time with each side character. Not to mention brand new and remixed tracks that sound amazing and really fit the atmosphere. The puzzles are much more complex and, at times, a bit obtuse. I think this is a great entry if you can get past some weird voice acting and pacing issues that plague the first several hours of the game, but I personally enjoyed 999 just a bit more.


As a collection, Zero Escape: The Nonary Games is excellent and fully worth a play through. I did not experience any technical issues on my end thankfully. Just be sure to buckle in for the wild ride!

I was going to write a long, drawn out review for The Last of Us Part II exploring the themes, parallels and overall story, but I think all the praises and woes have already been said over the last five years of this game's existence. This is not only a story of revenge, but one that dives deeper into human nature in its more basic form. Everything that happened in Part 1 comes full circle in Part 2 following the themes of the cycle of violence and our actions having consequences. There are no heroes or villains in this story - just people.

You can view this game however you wish, the big moments will still be there and be canon. But when you really dive deep into the story of Ellie & Abby, you'll realize everything they go through mirrors the events of the first game. Not everything is perfect, there were many moments where I was visibly uncomfortable, but the game wants you to feel that way. Everything is gritty and tense - and you as the player must partake in this journey if you want to see it through. You may not like the narrative, but it's a bold approach that grows alongside Ellie as she defines her own fate. Or at least.. attempts to.

My first time playing Metal Gear Solid and I can honestly say I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would!
For a game that released in 1998 and knowing just how impact Kojima's work is and was, the innovation in MGS is stellar and was likely unmatched during its time. I really loved most of the boss fights (especially psycho mantis, it was everything I had hoped for), while a couple others were pretty difficult for me, specifically fighting Metal Gear Rex. General progression and stealth took me a while to get used to - I think the controls felt slightly outdated for me so I would often get stuck on a wall when trying to evade an enemy or hide from a camera.

I think the characters introduced in this game were incredible along with amazing voice acting! Seriously, I was super impressed by the voice work in this game, it felt very serious whereas I thought MGS would go down a more silly route. The story arcs were pretty solid albeit short lived. I also um... got the bad ending. So I'll be going back soon to get the good one.

Speaking of short, MGS was a lot shorter than I thought which is completely fine with me. Perhaps my perception of this game was just so skewed from the get go, but I had envisioned what I thought this game would be and it was astronomically exceeded. MGS was very ahead of its time and I honestly think it pulls it off better than most games made today could.


I really loved this game, aside from some difficult boss fights and moments that may have been outdated. If I had played this back in the 2000s, I think I would have appreciated it much more.

I've never been a huge fan of metroidvania games - the style of consistently backtracking and all areas basically looking the same just never appealed to me, but with all of the hype built around Silksong, I thought to myself "Is Hollow Knight really THAT good". So I bit the bullet and decided to give it a try and after my 37 hour play through (after having fought bonus bosses, coliseum fights, and grub hunting) I FULLY understand the hype and can't believe my perception of metroidvanias was so skewed for so long.

Don't get me wrong, Hollow Knight certainly has its own plethora of issues - I find it very easy to get lost, and this one might be on me but I refused to remove the compass charm because I couldn't stand not knowing where I was 99% of the time. And while I don't think this is necessarily a fault of Hollow Knight, I just wish the environments within each biome were more unique. But I think one of the biggest issues would be the lack of save points before big boss fights - this IS in fact a souls-like game albeit not that challenging (at least the base game bosses that are required for story progression). I didn't die too often, but when I did it felt like a punch to the gut watching my character re-spawn several corridors away and forcing me to fight random enemies all the way back to the door of the boss. And it's not like this is an issue for one of two bosses, this is an issue for almost EVERY major boss (except the final boss). I don't completely mind the backtracking, but please add better located save points in Silksong.

Those are truly my only complaints. I think Hollow Knight is incredibly quaint and you can really tell how much love was poured into it. The soundtrack perfectly compliments each biome and boss. Overall sound design is top notch. Combat is very fine tuned and feels fluid - essentially making it your fault if you miss a shot or a dodge. Combat can be amplified by the use of your charms.

The charm system is what really sets Hollow Knight apart from others of its kind. I enjoyed mixing and matching them to best suit me for whatever boss I was fighting or area I was traversing. You can buy a good chunk of them but the devs really want you to go that extra mile and find the rest within the world as those usually have better buffs.

The story is pretty short and sweet, and I'm sure there is more to be discovered as the devs really want you to fully explore the game and all of its secrets, but what you get is very good and sets everything up for a sequel quite well. It's the moments where you venture out and discover the game's secrets that really sets this apart as Team Cherry has something really great here and you can tell they haven't finished the story just yet.


I was thoroughly surprised with Hollow Knight and it just goes to show I really shouldn't judge a book by its cover. I never would have guessed I would have enjoyed a metroidvania this much and it makes me want to dive into others of its kind. I really hope Silksong delivers on everyone's expectations but I'm just happy this will be getting a sequel in the first place. I fully understand Hollow Knight isn't for everyone but if you're anything like me, it might surprise you! It goes on sale relatively often so take a chance!

I am notorious for having the opinion that Final Fantasy VII Integrade just wasn't a fun remake. It was boring, dragged on way too long, the anime grunts were EVERYWHERE and it literally felt more fun to be in combat than play through the story. That being said, I wasn't looking forward to Rebirth when it was announced several years ago, but I knew I would eventually play through it so I could experience a few of the original's bigger moments firsthand. When the reviews dropped back in 2024, I was astounded that it was receiving 9s and 10s across the board. I waited very patiently for a PC release and now that I've rolled credits, I can confidently say this is one of my favorite games of all time.

I have no idea how Square Enix pulled this off after Intergrade's mediocrity but it feels like everything was perfectly aligned. The combat was back and better than ever - the addition of synergy moves and ability to summon in regular battles were very welcomed. The visuals.... omg the visuals... truly spectacular. I took way too many screenshots throughout my journey because I could not get over just how gorgeous everything was. The way this game was directed was just incredible. I literally shed a tear during so many moments because I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. Heck, I even enjoyed the Ubisoft style of world exploration - when I saw those towers scattered across the map, I knew what I was getting into and yet I truly felt like I was exploring a vast and beautiful world that is being bled dry by Shinra's greed. Visual storytelling for the win.

Ohhhh and let me tell you about the mini games, specifically Queen's Blood - SE should really consider making a standalone version of this on Steam, much like CD PROJEKT RED's Gwent. It's honestly such a simple concept that I'm surprised a card game like this hadn't been invented yet. I spent a good chunk of my playtime running around, collecting cards and beating anyone that stood in my way. And honestly, the other mini games were great as well. I knew before going into Rebirth that it would be pretty minigame heavy since that's pretty much how the original was in disc two, and I think I'm in the minority when I say the minigames were just way too fun and I couldn't get enough of them. It's a fun way to draw you back from the seriousness of the game and letting you have a little fun.


Rebirth did an amazing job taking the moments you thought you knew and understood from the original and amplified them to make you question if they were even going to happen the same way in the first place. This happened with most if not all of the major story beats and I loved that - it felt like a fresh experience with new possibilities around every corner. It's a game that is meant to be played after you've experienced the original, but it does a fantastic job being friendly to those who have not. Seeing characters such as Cait Sith, Cid and Vincent for the first time was incredible and they look soooo good. I've seen people mention how Rebirth has pacing issues and I honestly don't see it. If you play the main campaign from start to finish, it is literally in line with the original's story beats (with a few of them moved around for part three). Besides that, side quests weren't the absolute best but trust me, I've played much worse. It serves as a good opportunity to get to know your partners more and build your friendships. The story that was told in Rebirth is top tier with insatiable amounts of character development that have you thinking "huh, so that's why they acted that way in Intergrade". Most things find a way of coming full circle for the starting squad, and I love that.


SPOILER TALK
The only reason I am not giving it that 10/10 masterpiece rating is because of the way (imo) it handled the final chapter. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE a good and long boss fight, and I love when all of a game's story and symbolism come to fruition, BUT I truly think I can come up with about five better ways they could have handled *that* moment. Much like the finale of Intergrade, I was left completely confused, lost and unsure of how this could lead into the third and final game in the trilogy. This could be a good or a bad thing depending on how you look at it but I just feel like one of the BIGGEST moments in video game history needed a bit of extra care. The build up to it was great, but the ultimate moment just wasn't for me. It's one of those moments where I know the finale has to be this way to fall in line with the story Rebirth is telling rather than the original, but it still felt off. Besides this, I truly think everything else in Rebirth was perfect.
END SPOILER TALK


I kid you not, I could easily sink another 100+ hours into this game through hard mode and I'm sure I will in preparation for the third act of this trilogy. Cloud's adventure is far from over and I look forward to seeing how they handle a new set of story beats. For now, congrats, Square Enix - you truly achieved a nearly impossible feat with a grandiose scope. Future remakes should aspire to be just like Rebirth.

Alice: Madness Returns is a dark, twisted and beautiful take on the classic Alice in Wonderland story. I never got to play the first game in the series, American McGee's Alice so I was a bit hesitant at first; mainly because I was worried I would be missing out on some context. While that's partially true, Alice: Madness Returns stands well on its own and doesn't feel like it's aged.

The gothic Victorian England setting is STUNNING and feels nostalgic to me. Each area is unique and explores different aspects of Alice's psyche throughout the story. I loved the platforming and traversal such as being able to shrink down and explore small, misable areas or dodging enemies by turning into a swarm of butterflies. Combat overall felt pretty repetitive for me after a while. I enjoyed the different enemy types, but some were less fun to fight than others.

In a way, the gameplay loop felt repetitive as well (until Chapter 5 which is basically the last complete chapter in the game). There wasn't much of a challenge in many areas and they stuck to the same "use your shrink ability to see if there's an invisible platform and find the collectible". Some of the added gameplay mechanics were super fun but pretty short-lived such as the pinball section or when Alice goes on her giant rampage.

The overall story was pretty enjoyable - the game focuses on Alice's family dying in a house fire in which Alice believes she is the cause of this; plummeting into her own madness and belief that this is true aided by psychiatrist, Dr. Bumby. She attempts to traverse Wonderland in an effort to uncover her memories and unmask the true perpetrator of this mystery. The game dives into very heavy and dark forms of imagery - this new take on Alice's story is very well written and conveyed. It will leave you feeling pretty uneasy after certain scenes with its grotesque nature.

The Steam version of this game suffers from a multitude of technical issues. My game crashed about 8-10 times during my 20 hour playthrough. Sometimes the game would freeze between a gameplay segment and a loading screen, forcing me to shut it down via task manager. Audio issues came and went, and the game natively plays in 30 fps (you can adjust this to 60 fps in the game files pretty easily though). I can deal with the occasional crash or restart, but I've never dealt with it this badly before. I can't speak for other versions of this game.

It's a shame we'll likely never see a conclusion to Alice's story as the third game never received the green light from EA. I think this series deserves it but needs a stronger player base. Hopefully American McGee can regain the IP so Asylum can see the light of day, but only time will tell.

Yakuza 3 is 50% yakuza game, 50% dad simulator.

I will say, of the four Yakuza games I've played so far (0, Kiwami, Kiwami 2, and 3 Remastered) Yakuza 3 is my least favorite. I think playing in the older engine took a small toll on me. The combat was VERY unfun, it felt like enemies would block EVERYTHING. My only line of defense was bringing weapons with me or taking 25 minutes to finally beat a boss. The boss fits in previous yakuza games aren't really a straightforward either, but Yakuza 3's combat in particular was horrible.

The overall story wasn't my favorite, but honestly not bad! I loved seeing a different side of Kiryu where he spends his days as a beachfront dad living his best life. He is such a wonderfully written character that I'm thankful carries over between games. The additional characters really grew on me as well. I think this game is shorter compared to previous entries and part of that (I feel) is because it skips a lot of important plot around the halfway point. Without spoilers, you basically end a chapter one year before the events of Yakuza 3, then just randomly fast forward in the next chapter. It just felt weird and they never expanded on relationship building or anything. I would give the story a 6/10.

I did enjoy the substories for the most part! I completed about half of them, some more fun than others. There was even a murder mystery substory that I loved and hope they add to future yakuza games. The hitmen was a fun side objective too, but the last three bosses were not fun to fight because... combat lol.

I also couldn't help but feel like Kamurocho & Okinawa felt fairly empty. Sure there are side quests and restaurants to visit but it felt less alive compared to previous games. This is a small nitpick from me though.

Despite it's downfalls, Yakuza 3 still has a lot of heart and carries the weight of the series just as well. It is a great entry in Kiryu's journey and holds many wholesome moments that make him feel more human and down to earth, because let's face it, no average man just walks away after taking multiple shotgun blasts in the back.

I enjoyed Assassin's Creed Mirage - I've always loved the Ubisoft formula of an open world with things to run around and collect while playing through the story at your liege.

I think the length was pretty good, the story did not overstay its welcome. I love the mystery aspect and how you have to piece together a puzzle in order to solve it. I do think the story itself was pretty boring though - I had ideas as to where I thought the story would go but was ultimately let down, until the finale. I kind of wished there was more to do in the world, there really wasn't anything that helped build Basim as a person or help you to get to know him better outside the main story. I wouldn't have minded better side quests or unique NPCs.

This game is beautiful, HOWEVER, it is buggy. Whenever I would tab out (I played on PC) I would come back to choppy frames and incomplete textures until it would eventually correct itself. Traversal is fun per usual but this was the series at its worst in my opinion. I felt like Basim would get stuck on everything or I would try to climb something that looked climbable but wasn't.

I did enjoy Basim and thought he was a great protagonist. I wasn't a huge fan of the other characters throughout his journey, but that might just be personal preference. Combat was meh, I love stealth kills but I really wasn't feeling actually fighting enemies. It felt easy and unintuitive.


Overall, I had fun playing Mirage. I was really looking forward to playing when it first came out but I wanted to wait for the steam release. I don't think any of my 40 hours was wasted. Definitely many boring moments, but it scratched that assassin's creed itch for me.