I’ve only recently started to play the game despite it being out for a LONG while. I remember seeing Anime Man (I believe) and pewdiepie post videos on it originally. But at the time of those videos being posted, I had no interest in the game from what I could see. Fast forward to 2022 when I believe almost everyone has forgotten about it, and now I pick up the game. I get it, I’m late to the party.
Now, my original thoughts on the game were interesting! I like the art style that the anime sequences have and the character designs are intriguing. The gameplay mechanics are fairly simple and straightforward. But it is stressful, even on easy mode. Yes, don’t come for me, I’m playing on easy. Only because I wanted to play the game for the story, not the gameplay. I know I could simply just watch the aforementioned videos to get the story, but as any real player of RPG’s know, playing the game yourself is totally different than watching it. You actually feel the tension and the frustration of the game. Such as when I played Detroit: Become Human. I watched Jacksepticeye play the game and I actually played it myself and it deepened my feelings toward the game. But I digress.
I like the game so far, however, there are some downsides I want to mention that personally affect me. 1.) the stress on top of the overly simple mechanics, is sometimes very annoying. I don’t know if I’m going to move a full block or just turn around. And when you’re trying to move faster and turn around, it’s super annoying and over complicated!
I haven’t even finished the game and I was only about an hour in and had to shut my game down! Why? Because I was trying to finish the second floor and got to the boss fight (I guess that’s what I’d call it? Even though I’m climbing rather than fighting) but the farther I got, the more complex it became. And the problem concluded with the blocks! I have to move them to climb up, right? But when the boss’ reach is four rows away from where I am and she gains another row before I can even get up one, it’s frustrating. There is no way to move faster nor move more in the meantime because EVERYTIME she strikes, there is an animation that pauses me in the middle of my fleeing.
2.) (this is really minuscule) The mouth and body animations that I’ve seen so far, I hate them. I still stand that the art style in the animated sequences are wonderful and drew me in. And the character designs are wonderful. But by god, the mouth movements and the body movements are distasteful. I know this was originally a PS3 game and it’s very old at this point and dated. But my god, even games that were on the same console had better graphics! Even if the game is stylized, this doesn’t excuse poor character model animation! Vicent‘s mouth gaping is just horrifying, and that’s saying something considering the games contents, and the way he runs with his chest out is just, ew? Why? I ALSO DON’T GET WHY MANS IS CARRYING A PILLOW EVERYWHERE IN THE NIGHTMARES. The other character model movements are strange as well, generally the hand flailing as they talk or just stand there idly. It’s weird.
So far, the story and the concept are intriguing. The art style and stylization of the game itself is good too! The mechanics are meh. The idea of the gameplay is also stellar. So if you’re interested, I’d say give it a go. Maybe I’m just not smart enough to keep up with it, or maybe I’m right. I don’t know. I’d say play at your own risk of frustration.