Rambles on Yuzupia

Ace Combat 8

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I sat on the fence about buying Ace Combat 8 on launch for a multitude of reasons, one being I’m pretty much an Ace Combat poser (only played 7), it being expensive (haha…), and my backlog… Unfortunately (or fortunately) my FOMO kicked in and when I saw some other people play it I figured “hey maybe I’ll play online with them”.

Well, I probably won’t be playing online with them, but I can safely say I didn’t regret my purchase at least! Which is kind of a crazy thing to say about a big game purchase from a big game company on launch lol.

Still Sick

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I recently finished rereading one of my favourite yuri manga, Still Sick! I can’t remember when I first read it, or if I was reading it while it was still being scanlated, but point is, it’s been a while. As I do in the depths of my worries, I tend to find myself gravitating towards series that bring me comfort/easy to read in some way. Whether it be more light hearted reads, or just a series about characters that I like a lot. Another one of my favourites, Himawari-san falls in this category (I’ve reread that series so many times…) and perhaps on another day I’ll write up a blogpost about it too when I eventually reread it again (I also promise I’m working on my Shinozaki-kun no Mente Jijou post too!).

Sayonara Lara

Mon, 21 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Sayonara Lara was a show that I remembered seeing the trailer for and thinking “woah, this show looks really cool!” I loved the colouring and really liked the animation that was shown. Full disclosure, I’m not an artist by any means so I won’t be able to offer much insight from my own mind other than “I think the show was very pretty!”

But of course shows/stories are much more than just the visuals and presentation! I watched this show with a friend who like me enjoys yuri, and of course it being quite the popular seasonal show we ended up watching it ongoing (which is rare, since I tend to prefer to watch things all at once).

Touhou Koumakyou New Classic

Sat, 12 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I was pretty excited when I saw the Touhou 6 remaster announced because I really liked Touhou 6 even if I was ass at it. It has some of my favourite characters (Meisaku warriors rise up) and some of my favourite songs as well, and of course it was the first mainline Touhou game I tried to play when I was trying to get into Touhou (outside the fighting games).

Platonica Space

Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Looking at my old posts, it’s been over a year since I played GIRLS MADE PUDDING, and I finally got around to playing the developers newest game, PLATONICA SPACE! If you’re asking why I put it in all caps, that’s just how it is in my Steam Library.

Now this was a game that I had been looking forward to since I enjoyed the developer’s other two games. The premise seemed interesting, and the gameplay seemed… like gameplay alright. It in fact reminded me of Blue Prince, and while I wasn’t the biggest fan of Blue Prince (not the style of puzzles I typically enjoy but I respect the game and think it’s a very cool concept), I thought maybe a simpler version of it would be something up my alley.

Cosmic Princess Kaguya

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Chou Kaguya Hime (or Cosmic Princess Kaguya) has been on my watchlist pretty much since it came out, which I don’t think is a surprise because I like yuri things and it was pretty popular on social media. I finally got around to watching it and I enjoyed it a lot!

To me I think the movie did an excellent job at doing exactly what it wanted to do. The presentation is what shines the most about the movie, and while I wouldn’t say 100% that I love all the fight choreography I had a blast watching the entire movie and I thought the visuals, music, and characters combined made for a very entertaining two and a half hours.

Ultra 0

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Ultra0 was a game I really don’t remember how I found or it made its way onto my radar. I assume it was steam calendar but I honestly completely forgot about it until I saw it go on sale recently and on a whim decided to get it. And I will 100% confess that the main reason I did so was because the summary said it had yuri in it. I’m simple ok?

Demon's Timeline

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Logic deduction games are something I enjoy, having played games like Case of the Golden Idol, Obra Dinn, etc. and Demon’s Timeline was a logic game I finished recently and liked! I remember wishlisting this game a while back when I first saw it, but I only decided to buy it because a friend shared a tweet with both the girl (Nyasuteria) and Sherry from Manosaba with something along the lines of “I hope people try both”. I initially thought that this was because the two characters were similar (they’re not), but I’m glad that I got it anyways!

Endroll no Ato ni wa Saikou no Tabi Wo

Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I still remember the first time I saw the manga Endroll no Ato ni wa Saikou no Tabi O (or in English, “Have a Great Trip after the End Credits”), a friend had recommended it to me saying that it was something up my alley and boy were they right!

It contains many of my favourite elements in stories, a fantasy world setting with a story that is more about exploring it than about some great “goal”, tons of food, a comedic tone with a dreadful undertone (in a good way), as well as of course, a loveable duo.

Manosaba The Next page

Sun, 16 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This is the first time I ever actually watched a… stage reading? Not sure how else to describe it. And I enjoyed it a lot! Even with my limited Japanese, I was probably able to understand maybe just over 50%, enough to get the general gist of what was happening at least.

I thought it was a good follow up to the main story, and a good way to help Miria’s character grow as well. I was worried it would feel kind of tacked on but I thought they did a good job with it and liked the quality of it.

Sp(L R)ite

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Sp(L/R)ite was a game (VN?) I bought because I liked the publisher and the concept seemed interesting. Also it looked short. Very important. I’ve been enjoying quite a few short vns these past few days (q.u.q and Mahouteq being some other ones) and this one basically continued the trend.

Unfortunately, I feel that in some ways this one wasn’t exactly benefited from it, but it also wasn’t harmed by it either. Trying to think of a good way to put this…

Mahouteq

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

So after finishing q.u.q I got around to reading Mahouteq, the original game from the author/creator that I wanted to read and man, are these two games extremely different. Yet… also somewhat similar?

Both are absurdist to a degree, just one leans more into surrealism and dark themes where as the other (Mahouteq) leans much more into the absurd humor style.

The games story and setting is also relatively straightforward, and honestly it’s hard to really comment on it other than it’s a game about a girl Luna who tries to make enough money to buy her magical girl figurine. Along the way she meets Aya, Inaka, and some extremely comical villains, and a very long cat.

Big Walk

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

My friend and I finished Big Walk recently, a game that I had seen a while back and thought “hey this looks kinda neat”. I was actually surprised to see it got as big as it was (though I’m basing that purely off the fact that it got a steam banner). I think I stumbled on it with the steam calendar feature…

In any case, much like the game implies, you (big) walk around an island that to my understanding is based off a real life national park and solve various puzzles/challenges. It’s a very, very, relaxed game and honestly quite nice. The scenery is pretty and there’s plenty of nice views along the way too.

q.u.q

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

q.u.q is definitely one of the more surreal visual novels I’ve played. I got it because I was actually interested in reading their other work, Mahouteq but figured hey, I usually like seeing how an author/developer evolves so I’ll pick up their first game. Checking that the publisher is the same as the developer of milk outside a bag of milk outside a bag of milk, it makes more sense.

halfmoon

Sun, 02 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

halfmoon was a VN I picked up because it was both really cheap and also I really liked the art for it. It’s… a strange VN for me to talk about. Both because I felt like there was more to it than meets the eye, but it was so short that it’s hard to exactly say what the author was going for.

The premise is relatively straightforward, it’s a story about a person who in the afterlife is now working a job on various things regarding souls. Some of these tasks involve sorting them into the cycle of reincarnation or sending them into the “hidden” world (which by the description I remember is like merging their soul into a collective). But to be sent to the hidden world, they must not have any attachments or regrets.

Hatori to Furuta no Hinichijou Sahanji

Fri, 31 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I always found it funny that despite my tag line being someone who rambles about games and manga, I really don’t ramble about manga that much huh? Well, part of it is because I read a lot of manga, and a lot of ongoing ones at that too. It’s pretty much my daily ritual to read updates before I sleep every day. I do want to talk about more, and I do have plans for a few series that I dearly dearly love as well, but I’ll need to reread them (for the probably tenth time). I just find it kind of hard to talk about ongoing stuff until they finish, and I realize for manga I tend to be more selective about what I write about, especially when compared to games.

Caligula Effect 2

Mon, 27 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This is a live blog of notes because I can feel things slipping away lol.

At the moment I’ve finished the first three dungeons, so that’s Machina, Pandora, and MU-kun. So far, the gameplay’s definitely a step up but… not that much. I still have a lot of issues with it.

What I’ve been enjoying so far is the new music, new characters, and more importantly, I think the dynamics are a lot nicer in this game compared to 1 lol. As a friend put it, the go-homie club…

Kubinashi Recollection

Mon, 27 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve been juggling a couple of long games lately (Fantasy Maiden Wars NG+ and Caligula Effect 2 at the moment) so I’ve also been playing some short games during breaks, and one of those games was Kubinashi Recollection. I’ve known the artist (paradot) for a while so when I saw the art I thought “hey, that’s familiar!” I read the words puzzle platformer and figured I’m in.

And honestly, this truly is a Touhou puzzle game. It’s fun, has great art, has great music, but perhaps most damningly of all, it’s hard. So, so, hard.

Baby Assassins

Wed, 08 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

If I recall correctly, I think I found Baby Assassins mostly by accident. I remember reading the description and going “wait, that’s exactly the kind of thing I’d like!” I actually funnily enough watched the first episode of the TV show (Baby Assassins Everyday) first, because it was what I saw on streaming services at the time (since I was in Japan at the time). My Japanese at the time wasn’t exactly good enough to understand it well (though I caught bits and pieces) and figured okay, I’ll look into the series more. I saw that it was a franchise of three movies and a TV show and decided I’d watch them all, and I’m really glad I did!

Silent Hill F

Sat, 04 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Bit of a strange year where I finished not just one big horror game, but two! After RE9 I decided to play Silent Hill F (recommended by the same friend) and overall I enjoyed the game, for very different reasons. Resident Evil 9 was a game where I really enjoyed the gameplay, but thought the writing was okay or even comical at times. Silent Hill F I thought on the other hand had quite good writing, but the gameplay really dragged on me by the end. Before I continue, I will say I’m not the biggest Silent Hill fan, I’ve played 1 to 3 and watched a friend play 4. I liked the first three a lot, though I’ll admit I was a scared coward through them. Also spoilers! I don’t think I can really talk about the game without spoiling aspects so that’s your fair warning.

Forbidden Solitaire

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve been playing a few more short games now and then, and Forbidden Solitaire was one of them! This was a game that I thought the aesthetic of and idea looked quite unique so I was pretty excited to pick it up and try. It wasn’t too long of a game, around 4 hours or so, and I enjoyed it a lot!

My favourite part of the game is probably how perfectly they nailed that 90s aesthetic of retro games. Everything from the way the game booted up, the retro esque FMVs, the environments, music, UI, you could easily convince someone this was a real game from that time period. I think they did an absolutely stellar job at nailing it, and I also really liked the real recordings they used too! The story was simple and straightforward but in a good way. I think the actors did a really good job conveying everything, and their deliveries were fantastic!

Resident Evil Requiem

Tue, 16 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I felt like I had to take a break after Fantasy Maiden Wars (going through NG+!) and picked up Resident Evil Requiem since it was on sale a bit ago. Going into this game I was… hesitant? Full disclosure, I wouldn’t call myself the biggest RE fan but I’ve played and finished 1-6 (played both remake and original of 2 and 4), so I know a bit of the series. I didn’t play 7/8 because I’ve seen multiple playthroughs of it and didn’t find myself thaat interested in them. So I’m not a true fan, but I do like some of them (4 and 4 remake being my favourite probably, though I also really like 2 og and remake and 3 og).

Fantasy Maiden Wars

Thu, 21 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I bought Fantasy Maiden Wars without really knowing what I was getting into haha, I liked SRPGs and I liked Touhou so I figured hey, this will be a fun game to pick up right?

Well approximately 120 hours later and 7 months after the fact, I can definitively say yes, it was a fun game to pick up. And I’m only done one route. And I haven’t done the post game epilogue chapters yet.

The Silver Case

Sun, 03 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Silver Case was definitely one of the visual novels (games?) of all time that I’ve read. It’s not my first suda51 game, nor is it my first entry in this connected universe (that I now learned of) as I played and finished Killer7 first. This was definitely an extremely unique experience and I’m glad I got to be able to read through it.

Just from a general perspective, the controls are without a doubt extremely clunky. But I actually found that it added quite a bit to the atmosphere of the game, the way you move through areas and the way the environments are designed give that sort of claustrophobic feeling. This is definitely felt the most in the earlier parts of the game where you’re in the forest and exploring babylon, the limited and stiff controls add a lot. Coming from Killer7, it’s interesting to see how the two sort of compare in this aspect as Killer7 also had extremely awkward controls too (in my opinion).

Skate Story

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

My first impressions when I saw Skate Story was woah, this looks like a really cool game. I recently got the chance to play it and my impression has remained as, woah, that was a really cool game.

I think anyone’s first impression when seeing the game is how stylish and interesting the setting is. You’re a skateboarder in hell, eating moons for your soul. That, is a baller premise and definitely encouraged me to pick up the game. The second impression upon booting up the game is how fantastic the music is. Skating through hell to the OST is great and really adds to the game. Who would’ve thought that a chill soundtrack would fit so well with hell?

Stormlight Archive

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

So I’m writing this down as I just finished book three, Oathbringer this morning. To start with, I want to say that this series was recommended to me by my brother and I will never forgive him for recommending an unfinished series (only part 1 is done as the time of this writing).

Anyways, it’s been a long, long, long time since I read grand fantasy. Definitely not something on this kind of big scale for a loooooong ass time. So there were a lot of things that took me a bit to get used to. The main one, and something I found kind of frustrating, was the constant shifting in perspectives. The interludes and the jump arounds are jarring and while I understand the principle behind it, I found that it made the pacing annoying at times especially during the mid parts of certain books. Book three’s start/middle had it the worst for me (for now).

Card Shark

Sun, 01 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I found Card Shark off a friend’s recommendation, though I later learned that they didn’t actually finish the game or even play it that much. So recommendation is probably a big stretch, rather they just posted it and I saw it and it looked interesting!

The main premise of the game is about cheating with cards, which as a non card player in real life, it seemed pretty novel for a card game. The art style is also pretty unique and the presentation’s really good so I picked it up as I usually do on sales and delayed playing it for a lengthy period of time.

Cairn

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Cairn was a game I actually had discovered through steam’s calendar recommendation which has a been a nifty tool in finding a bunch of nicher games that I otherwise would probably overlook. Though judging from sales and reviews I think Cairn was actually pretty popular, it just went under my radar.

The reason why I got interested in this game is that for some reason I found myself on a climbing game kick? Not that I would even call it that since the only other climbing game I played was Peaks of Yore, but I actually have really liked climbing in games in general. Mostly because I find it fun to reach new heights and looking down from high up (though I’m too scared to climb IRL).

Caligula Effect Overdose

Sat, 31 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Caligula Effect Overdose was a game that a friend generously gifted to me and really liked. I’ll admit that initially I was a little skeptical because I heard the game wasn’t exactly great, but I learned that was mostly in reference to the gameplay itself. Seeing that the publisher was Furyu… well having played Crystar/Crymachina I guess I could say I wasn’t too surprised. But, overall I actually enjoyed my time with the game, though with a few major caveats.

AI Limit

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Recently I had a friend recommend AI Limit, which was a Chinese souls like with a pretty cute girl. It was on sale for pretty cheap so I decided to pick it up.

Now for a bit of background, I’ve played all the souls game including Bloodborne and Sekiro. I wouldn’t exactly call myself a souls veteran, but I have played them all so I’m familiar with them though I haven’t played that many souls likes. One that I did play however was Code Vein, which I thought was very very very average.

Mahou Shoujo no Mahou Saiban

Sat, 17 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

It’s been a while huh? Well, that’s because most of my efforts have been for finishing Mahou Shoujo no Mahou Saiban (魔法少女魔法裁判, or Manosaba for short) and I really, really liked it! It’s currently in JP or CN only at the moment but given its popularity online I would be surprised if it didn’t get an EN localization at some point or the other.

Full disclosure, I read it in Japanese and my Japanese is definitely not the greatest. So I can’t fully comment on prose or anything like that, but mostly just broad strokes lol. Additionally, there’s pretty much no way for me to talk about the game without going into spoilers so that’s your warning!

Peaks of Yore

Fri, 19 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Peaks of Yore is a game that… I have… some feelings with.

To clarify, I really liked this game. Loved it in fact. I picked it up initially because honestly? I liked the idea of climbing. I was actually a bit disappointed with what Peak was because it was too… free form? Peaks of Yore was what I wanted in a climbing game, where you had to climb based on holds and steadily progress through a level.

Majogami

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Feels like it’s been a while since I finished a game lol, but I recently finished Majogami. I don’t exactly remember when I added it to my wishlist, but I added it because the art style was really striking to me. The art reminded me of the Vanillaware game Muramasa, so I said sure why not. I bought it on release because I was currently playing through Fantasy Maiden Wars (fantastic touhou fangame by the way, but it’s long and it’s giving me XCOM ptsd) and wanted something a little more actiony.

Orb

Wed, 26 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Orb (or Chi) was a show that I had seen get quite popular, and the poster honestly drew me in. A friend had recommended it to me so I decided to give it a shot when I felt like I was in an anime mood, and I’m glad I did!

I’ve never had a strong interest in the stars, I’ve had a passing interest in them in the idea of thinking “oh wow how pretty!” but if you asked me to point out even the north star or any constellation, I couldn’t tell you. At most I’d be able to say that looks like a star. So the subject matter wasn’t something I’m necessarily passionate about, or at least, at first glance.

Weapons

Tue, 11 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I don’t think I’ve talked about shows or movies before but today I recently finished Weapons which was a movie I had been interested in but only watched today. Admittedly a big part of that is that I knew the director was involved in WKUK which was a show with skits that I had liked a lot in the past haha. Is there something about comedy skit actors/writers becoming horror film directors?

Pseudoregalia

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

With a trip upcoming for me I’ve been playing through a bunch of shorter games I’ve picked up and one of those was Pseudoregalia! This was a game that’s been on my radar for a while since I’ve heard good things about it, but I didn’t pick it up initially because the art style was a little dreary. Not that’s a bad thing or anything, but I am very much the type of person who likes more bright and cheerful environments.

1f y0u're a gh0st ca11 me here!

Tue, 07 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

So I recently finished (and I have no shame in admitting that I copied this from steam) “1f y0u’re a gh0st ca11 me here!” which is a really short VN with a pretty fun gameplay element. Normally I start these little posts off with how I discovered this small indie game but honestly, I have no idea how I discovered this one. I just remember picking it up on a sale but I don’t remember why I wishlisted it, but regardless I’m glad I did!

Marisa of Liartop Mountain

Sun, 05 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Two games in one weekend (again), this time I finished Marisa of Liartop Mountain! This game caught my eye a few steam fests ago when I tried out the demo and thought that it was a nifty idea. It’s basically roleplaying a tabletop adventure game where Reimu goes on a journey to find Marisa. As a Reimari fan as well, I thought great!

I’m not an avid TTRPG player but having played DND and other tabletop games in the past, I think they did a really good job at capturing the feel in a video game form. I guess it might be more accurate to say its more akin to an old adventure game than a TTRPG but the aspect that really made it feel like a TTRPG was having Remilia, Sakuya, Patchouli, and Flandre comment on events that occur through the game, in addition to having influences.

YumeCore

Sun, 05 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

On Twitter I had seen a clip of this pretty surreal looking boss fight/rhythm game called ADEN, so I wishlisted it on steam. But in the process of doing so, I also saw another game made by the developer called YumeCore which I finished recently!

It’s a super short game, taking me about an hour or so to finish (though I didn’t do the arcade bonus modes). The controls are simple being effectively a three button game (great to map to a steamdeck) and the combat is simple too. You have a three hit combo, an aerial attack, and a throw.

Tunic

Sat, 04 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I finished Tunic recently! This was a really, really, cool game in a lot of ways, though a bit frustrating in others. I had a couple of friends recommend it to me and I managed to get around to it recently (no comment on how long since I bought it).

It had been a loooooooong time since I had played a Zelda-esque game, and this one definitely scratched that itch in a lot of ways. The combat is pretty basic, and actually primarily where I have most of my complaints. Not because the combat is basic, but because some enemies were a bit frustrating to fight and the camera in some boss fights were particularly frustrating.

Parasite Eve

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

It seems that I finish video games in bunches… I recently finished Parasite Eve for the PS1 and I had… a way better time than I thought I would!

Parasite Eve was one of those games that I had heard about for a long time, I always knew it as one of those classic PS1 games that people really liked and now I can confirm it’s for good reason. I had initially avoided playing it because I am terrible with horror games, like need a friend in a call with me terrible. But I decided that I really wanted to try Parasite Eve because of .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND, the new game from the VA-11 Hall-A (I confess I had to google the spelling) devs. The game looks really cool, and when I saw that the gameplay was inspired partly by Parasite Eve I decided I wanted to give it a shot eventually!

Easy Delivery Co

Sat, 20 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Easy Delivery Co was one of those games that I saw a clip of on twitter and went “woah I want to play this”. Unfortunately I’ve lost the link, but there was some crazy/whacky physics involved with driving on the wall paired with eurobeat. I tried the demo out, felt that the core of the game was fun, wishlisted, and waited for it to come out.

Funnily enough it came out along with like… five other games that I wanted to play. What’s with game developers releasing all their games at this time huh?

Kemono Teatime

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Speaking of games that I bought on release and finished recently… I finished Kemono Teatime! This was a game recommended by a friend and the art style was so cute that I had decided to add it to my wishlist (and then buy when it came out). Some of the staff were behind another few games that I had played, namely Crystar and Crymachina which were both games that I had a fun time with… outside the gameplay. So when I heard that this was a VN with minimal gameplay elements I was excited!

Nano Apostle

Sat, 30 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

NanoApostle was also a game I had wishlisted a long time ago, mostly because I thought the pixel art was nice. I was a bit hesitant to pick up the game initially because I saw that it looked to be quite difficult as well as the overall atmosphere seemed to be gloomy (not exactly a bad thing, but sometimes I want a happy game that’s all!)

However upon finishing it, I can say that I’m glad I picked it up! It’s actually a rather short game, depending on what you want to do. (spoilers) The game is 6 boss fights as well as 4 or 6 sort of side challenges. I finished all of that in about 4-5 hours, but I didn’t 100% the boss fights which I think does add a lot of replayability if that’s something you like.

Cry Machina

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This game surprised me a bit more than I expected, in a few ways at least. I played Crystar a while ago and while I liked parts of the game, the gameplay was… quite honestly terrible. It was slow, it was annoyingly long, there was no creativity or flexibility really to it, and it dragged on for a long time too. Crymachina fixed a lot of those things to the point where I could say that while not perfect, I still enjoyed the game a fair amount.

No Case Should Remain Unsolved

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This was a really neat short 2 hour game that I finished in one sitting! I had been eyeing it since the pixel art looked nice and the summary seemed cool too, I was still quite pleasantly surprised with how the game turned out.

First, I think the presentation of the game was fantastic. The way conversations are organised, the way there are images associated with some textboxes, the music, and the colouring all did a great job at setting the right sort of tone. The only problem I’d say was that there were times when scrolling wasn’t exactly smooth, i.e getting from point A to B when they were far was a bit rough, but tbh I don’t know how they would’ve fixed that (maybe have jumping points? Like even just to each character).

Sanabi Thoughts

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

“Getting to the end isn’t the most important part!”

“With every hello comes a goodbye”

“If the end comes for everyone exactly the same.. Getting to the end.. Is not important”

Those are definitely my favourite three quotes from Sanabi. To be honest, when I looked at the game and read the reviews, all I could think was “fuck yeah, let’s go Katana Zero!”

But I was instantly blown away by how the game looked. I loved Katana Zero’s aesthetic, being a huge pixel art and cyberpunk aesthetic fan. But even I had to concede that the pixel art renditions in this game were extremely impressive. The music from the start was great, and the animations for the characters were so expressive that I was immediately impressed. In some aspects, I think it’s better than Katana Zero (being a complete story definitely helped).

The Great Villainess Strategy Of Lily

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

When I first saw “The Great Villainess: Strategy of Lily” with a friend at first I wasn’t sure how to feel about it. That was, at first. When I saw Scarlet and Lily I instantly grew interested and added it to my wishlist. The game had come out recently and when I saw the relatively modest price tag (plus a 10% discount!) I figured I had been looking forward to it enough that I’d pick it up, and honestly I’m glad I did!

Mahoutsukai no Yoru

Fri, 15 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Speaking of things I’ve finished reading, I’ve finished the main scenario for Mahoyo!

Honestly speaking, between this, Fate, and Tsukihime, I think this has my favourite cast of characters. The smaller cast of characters helped a lot, and the linear story helped a lot too. The presentation was also stellar, fight scenes felt very alive, and the use of sprites/cgs was pretty well done too. It made the visual novel feel a lot more alive, and combining that with the pretty colourful descriptions really made the scenes come to life.

Never Let Me Go

Fri, 15 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

When I got back into reading, I collected a few recommendations. One of those recommendations was “Never Let Me Go”, which I had picked up and… taken many pauses while reading (sorry friend!). Not because the book was bad or boring though. More it was just my poor reading habits and wanting to read easier/comfier series instead (so I read a lot of manga instead).

But I did finish it and I really liked it. It’s hard for me to summarize exactly what my favourite aspect of the book is, though I think I’d put it at… the tone of the novel? Maybe there’s a better way to phrase it, it was just the way that the book talked about the world and revealed information in a gradual way without ever feeling extremely blunt about it. (spoilers abound!)

Blade Chimera (and a bit of Deedlit)

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I recently finished Team Ladybug’s newest metroidvania Blade Chimera and I really enjoyed it! I tend to enjoy metroidvanias for their snappy controls, fun exploration, cool enemies, and fun combat, and for the most part Blade Chimera checked off most of those boxes. I’ve actually played I think to this point every Team Ladybug game (including Drainus which wasn’t a metroidvania but still fun), and honestly speaking, I think it’s hard for me to say which one was my favourite.

Cave Story

Sun, 03 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Cave Story was one of those games that as a kid I had watched people play/do challenge runs of and played it myself after getting interested, but because I was a kid who as bad at games, I never finished the “true” end. As an adult, 15 or so (or even longer) years later, I saw the PC version on sale and while I know it’s not the “ideal” way to play I figured being able to play it on steam deck with whatever new stuff could be fun so I picked it up.

Endless Mondays Dreams and Deadlines

Sun, 03 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Make that four games in one weekend haha, I recently finished Endless Mondays Dreams and Deadlines and I have to say, really enjoyable experience. I’m glad I played it with the overtime update as well, since I felt that the overtime update really added a lot to the experience (even if I did take a break before playing it haha).

First off, as is usually the case in the VNs I play (since it’s what attracts me at first!) the visuals and ost are really charming! All the character designs are cute and I’m already a big fan of pixel art so that’s an added benefit for sure. The dialogue is funny and snappy, and the overall length of the game is the right length so that I felt that everything they wanted to convey was conveyed, while not being long enough that it felt like it dragged.

Wheel World

Sun, 03 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Wow three games in one weekend? That’s… pretty rare for me. But I also recently finished Wheel World, and unfortunately unlike the other two games I finished, I feel… much more mixed about this game.

I initially picked it up because I’ve been somewhat getting into cycling lately and thought “hey, it’s been a while since I played a racing game, this game looks pretty neat and the OST seems nice, I’ll give it a spin.” I will say for sure though that the OST is really good and the game DOES look pretty nice too! There’s charm in the setting and the characters, and it has a vibrant world that is fun to traverse and bike around in! Neat!

GIRLS MADE PUDDING

Tue, 22 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

So, the story about GIRLS MADE PUDDING is that I initially picked it up because it was the moonless moon developers (though I hadn’t played moonless moon at the time) and it had two girls on the cover, a bike, a maid(!), and the setting seemed to be travelling through towns. This combined many, MANY, of my favourite things. I picked it up and added it to my steam library.

Himawari-san

Sat, 05 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve recently been rereading Himawari-san which is one of my all time favourite manga series. It’s a gentle yuri series (though not heavily focused on romance) with really cute art, fun characters, and very heart warming moments. This is actually one of the series I’ve probably reread the most, it’s a personal comfort series of mine and whenever I’m feeling down I like picking it up and rereading it. It’s gotten to the point where despite my poor memory I still remember a lot of chapters just based on how they start haha.

Moonless Moon

Sat, 05 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

wow i’m posting a lot more than I usually am, shout outs to short games that I enjoy I guess!

I finished Moonless Moon recently which was a VN I had seen on my steam front page a while back and initially wishlisted it because two cute girls on cover (so hey maybe it’d have yuri! (it didn’t)). It was a relatively short read, I finished the entire thing in under 3 hours.

Touhou Fearless Frogslayer

Fri, 04 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

When I first saw this game on my timeline, I was really captivated by the art. It looked clean and charming and a result I added it to my wishlist. I picked it up on the summer sale and thought hey, it looked like a short game and I’ll give it a shot.

Well, I sat down tonight after a long day out, and played it not only from start to finish, but also 100% the game.

Expedition 33

Wed, 02 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I played this sooner than I would’ve expected because of a nice little discount, and I very recently just finished it! I think it was a good experience, but with a few things impeding my enjoyment a little.

First off, I want to say that I have and will always dislike something’s praise (especially for a game like this) being “this isn’t like other X”, in this case Clair Obscur Expedition 33 (going to shorten it as E33) being referred to as not like other JRPGs. I’ve seen the sentiment float around both online and from other people I speak to and I find it unfair to not only other JRPGs, but to the game itself. Another common example I see of this is relating to VNs, but that’s a whole different discussion.

Reverse Collapse Codename Bakery

Sat, 14 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I finished… what do people call the game actually? Reverse Collapse: Codename Bakery is the full title, but I’ll probably just call it Codename Bakery.

This game is an SRPG but with mechanics that I think made it really fresh. One of the biggest changes being that the player units are expected to attack multiple times per turn while enemy units (outside bosses) only attack once. Coming from other SRPGs where it feels like for the most part units usually get a move action and an attack action. Player units have traits/skills that make them feel unique (along with obviously being different characters) though some may have similar classes. Another good SRPG that does this well with all units feeling very distinct is Triangle Strategy.

The Tatami Galaxy

Fri, 13 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

So as a disclaimer: I had read the Tatami Galaxy a while ago and typed up various thoughts about it. I recently finished the Tatami Time Machine Blues and figured I’d do a writeup of both my thoughts.

The Tatami Galaxy was originally an anime I had watched a long long time ago. I found myself liking it a lot, even to the point where I considered it one of my favourites. I found myself wanting to read the original novel, so when I saw it on sale I figured it was as good a time as any.

Sougou Tovarish

Sun, 01 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This was a series I had reread recently on a trip and was thinking about talking about so I figured eh, why not? Anyways most of these posts are just a way for me to archive my thoughts haha.

Sougou Tovarish is I think one of the earlier yuri manga I read, and one of the ones I really fell in love with. The cast of characters are hilarious and the author does such an incredible job with expressions that I found myself laughing constantly just from the expressions themselves. Some prime examples:

The Citadel

Thu, 29 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I don’t know how I really found these games, but I recently finished The Citadel and Beyond the Citadel. I felt the trailers don’t really do the game justice, but the kinda bizarre setting and gun mechanics made me interested. Normally I’m not really into boomer shooters, but I think the gunplay made it feel pretty unique and I enjoyed it! The guns were satisfying to use, the mechanics of having to cock your guns, having them jam, replacing mags were pretty fun and added to the experience for me.

Revue Starlight El Dorado

Mon, 07 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I finished the Revue Starlight El Dorado VN! Revue Starlight was one of those series where I initially never got into because I kind of filed it under the same umbrella as Bandori and other idol shows (I’M SORRY, I saw bushiroad and the gacha so…). When I ended up watching it with a friend I was impressed, and then when I watched the movie I was blown away, so I was looking forward to reading the VN since it had come out!

Final Fantasy VI

Sat, 05 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

One of those gaming cardinal sins I felt I’ve committed is that the only final fantasy game I’ve ever beaten was FFXV. I’ve tried FFVII, but it didn’t hook me, and honestly I was surprised I even managed to beat FFXV considering I thought a lot of the ending parts were very… unfun to play, and I had a lot of problems with the general flow of both the gameplay and the pacing of side content.

Ender Magnolia

Fri, 04 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I finished Ender Magnolia! A very welcome reprieve from playing a bunch of text heavy games, and much like Ender Lilies, I had a great time with it! I thought quite highly of the first one and I think the second one was a great follow up, at least in the sense that it still felt like the original while also adding new things.

To get some things I didn’t like out of the way first though, I am unsure how much of this was affected by me playing on hard which is more of a me thing than the game thing, the difficulty sliders I thought were a great idea I’m just stubborn and saw hard and thought “I must play on this”. But, it felt like some enemy attacks were brutally punishing, and not in the expected “oh it did a lot of damage”, but in the way of “oh i didn’t get any i-frames on hit and then instantly died”. There were a couple weird instances I felt where it felt like the damage applied twice right away and just killed me outright.

Pillars of Eternity 2

Sun, 30 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I thought I’d take a longer break before I played Pillars 2 but I ended up doing it pretty soon after I finished Pillars 1! A big deal for me considering how many times I had picked up Pillars 1 only to drop it for various life reasons lol

For a sequel, I think Pillars 2 did a really good job at carrying over story things from the first game while also making it feel like you could keep playing the same kind of character. A lot of the callbacks (I especially liked a certain archmage that makes his appearance again) are fun and following the reveal at the end of the first game they did a really good job with that (trying to be vague to avoid spoilers). Mechanically too the combat changes were pretty interesting too. The change to spells and rests made me much more likely to use my abilities which I appreciated.

Touhou Artificial Dream in Arcadia

Wed, 26 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve been getting into Touhou (I’m so bad at shoot em ups) recently and part of this was trying out Artificial Dream in Arcadia which surprised me with how much of a fun experience it was! I’m not really one for dungeon crawlers, in fact I’d go so far as to say they’re usually my least favourite part of RPGs, but I saw it on sale for a dollar so I figured I’d give it a shot and I’m glad I did!

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes

Sun, 26 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I originally made this tumblr because I wanted to talk about both manga and games but ended up mostly only talking about games… I read a lot of manga I swear! (just a lot of them are ongoing, maybe when I do some rereads)

But recently I just finished Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, I had a really good time with it! I was recommended it because I told a friend of mine I liked Obra Dinn and the Golden Idol games (Obra Dinn being one of my favourite games! Case of the Golden Idol is also excellent, the sequel is good too but not as good as the original). I came in expecting a similar sort of game with deduction and mystery though I realized quite quickly that the game wasn’t exactly like the other two lol.

System Shock

Sun, 26 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Surprisingly been on a roll with finishing games that I started last year haha, I just finished System Shock (2023) and also had a really good time with it!

I never had experience with the original or the second game, mostly because I was bad with any amount of horror and System Shock also gave off the vibe of being scary to me (roaming around a mostly dead space station, the creepy writing and blood, etc.) so I never picked it up until recently after working up my courage with other horror games. I was pleasantly surprised that the horror was mostly done atmospherically with the setting and not so much with jump scares (though some enemies spawning got me still).

Pillars of Eternity

Mon, 20 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Finished Pillars of Eternity! This was a game that I had bought so so long ago, played a bit, stopped, started a new character, stopped, started a new character, stopped so many times that I almost forgot about it. Eventually though I decided that this was the time to finish it, and so it was!

I’m glad I did since I had a (mostly) great time with it! I like CRPGs and never remembered why I never got far with this one (turns out it was just life things happened, learned after I checked the dates of my last saves).

Hira Hira Hihiru

Fri, 10 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I haven’t posted in a while but sort of want to get back into posting! I recently read Hira Hira Hihiru for a book club that I’m in with some friends and really enjoyed it! I’m gonna be a bit lazy and copy paste my thoughts here about the VN as a whole.

I’m also thinking of participating in femslash february again this year… Might link my ao3 fics here too :S haha which will expose my writing but it might be fun!

Picayune Dreams

Tue, 22 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Normally I’m not that into vampire survivor type games, usually I play them for a bit and drop them after I clear once or twice. While technically that applies for Picayune Dreams, I really, really liked it. The atmosphere and OST were fantastic, and the bits and pieces of story that dropped every now and then were a great hook to keep me playing. While I don’t know if I’d go back to clear all the overdrives (I did up to the second one which is when I unlocked the true end), I found it more fun than vampire survivor. Would recommend!

Echo Point Nova

Fri, 04 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

It’s pretty rare for me to beat an FPS game, it’s pretty rare for me to beat an open world game, so imagine my surprise when I found myself wanting to 100% Echo Point Nova, which is a FPS open world game.

With FPS and open world games I usually found myself getting bored of either the repetitive nature of the game, level design, or lack of motivation to continue with the story (story/characters are usually large motivating factors for me). Echo Point Nova doesn’t really have much story, but what it does have is a biiiiig fun factor with how it feels to zip through the world and shoot baddies with a varying set of guns, while at the same time unlocking new perks/weapons that help vary the gameplay to feel exciting and fun throughout.

ZeroRanger

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Finished ZeroRanger and wow, that was… not easy LOL. Coming from Void Stranger, I realized how poor my bullet hell skills were (one day I’ll finish a Touhou game, probably when my eyes stop hurting from playing them), but I had a great time! When I saw that there was an arrange album coming out (featuring Raito!) I figured I had to beat it before it came out.

Some spoilers inbound!

Void Stranger

Sun, 15 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This was a game that I really, really did not expect to hit me the way it did. On the surface it is just a sokoban puzzle game, a game where you move in a grid based system and in this case, try to get to an exit point. The artstyle and music were charming, and I picked it up because I thought it would be a nice small puzzle game. I was expecting maybe 6-8 hours of gametime from it, which would be about right for however much I picked it up for.