Recent reviews by JCPhoenix

Not that it's a competition, but between Satisfactory and Factorio, I choose Satisfactory. Not because the latter is a bad game; it's not, even though I've played very little of it. I think the difference is that Factorio is a more survival, while Satisfactory is more pure building.

In Satisfactory, there are few aliens (or local flora and fauna - I think us Fixit employees are the aliens!). Certainly none trying to attack your factory. Plus, unlike Factorio, Satisfactory's resources are unlimited.

Another difference deals with 3D vs 2D. In 2D Factorio, there's an inherent space constraint. You have to be pretty calculating to get things where you need them when you only have two dimensions. But in 3D Satisfactory, you can create the craziest, most chaotic spaghetti bowl that you want with belts, pipes, power lines, and more! You have so much more space in 3D.

But that's where the "real" challenge of Satisfactory is: building factories that aren't spaghetti. That utilize the 3D space, while still making everything look nice and clean. You can create small, tight factories where you can barely walk, or you can create open, spacious factories where walkability is prime. You can hide belts and pipes to make factories look clean. Then there are the various building accessories, like signs, lighting, window types, wall types, the ability to paint walls, etc. It's all up to you. You decide how to build everything and how it looks, while still having efficient factories.

The building is the real challenge, the real game. You're not forced to build well, but if you don't, the game is pretty easy. So I'd suggest trying to build well. Give it a try; Satisfactory is a lot of fun!

Decent enough little game. Although it's in an investigative game, in the same vein as like "Ace Attorney Investigations," which is a highly interactive game, Makoto Wakaido really trends more towards pure visual novel. It's not a pure visual novel since it's interactive and you control the character, but there aren't any penalties for bad deductions or guesses. As such, like other reviewers have mentioned, you can just click through all the "evidence" or leads until you get the right deduction. Which I did at times.

Yeah that's not as fun as Ace Attorney, where there's an actual challenge. Where you can actually game over if you choose wrongly too many times. But...Makoto Wakaido is, like I've alluded to, more about the story -- or stories -- than the gameplay.

And I think the stories are interesting enough. As you progress through the four cases, they get more complex and convoluted, but there is a thin thread that links them all together. And each has an unexpected twist. I wouldn't say all of them are super strong stories, but again, they're interesting enough to keep me moving forward.

I sometimes wish Steam had a numerical rating system. But it doesn't. So I'll give this game my own score: 6.5/10. OK that seems low, I know. But compared to other game within the mystery/investigation genre -- and I've played a bunch -- it's definitely weaker than its peers. But I'm not disappointed I played Makoto Wakaido. If you're into this genre, it's still worth playing. You should play it! Don't expect Ace Attorney, of course. And if you're a casual fan of the genre or new to it...it's up to you.

Great little mystery game! Going into it, it seems really dark. But by the end, the light reveals all. Still some darkness, but for a different reason.

The controls are simple, but at the same time, a little confusing at the start. But once you get the hang of which types of dialog can unlock and be connected to which other pieces of dialog, then it starts making sense.

To solve the mystery of the missing girl, you really have to pay attention to what each person is saying and see if that make sense that that person is supposedly saying that thing. But even then, you'll need to think outside the box a bit to truly solve it.

Short, quick game, but I was hooked at the start. Wish it was a little longer, but I'm also satisfied with how the mystery was revealed.

The description of the game doesn't really match what it is. It's described as something more akin to "Ace Attorney," but it's really not. It's more like a puzzle game rather than a mystery "whodunit" type game. While I can appreciate what the developer, my understanding is that it's a solo dev or micro team effort, has made, it doesn't really scratch that itch.

Fun little game that I definitely recommend for fans of the "Ace Attorney" games. The characters and stories are a lot more down to earth. They're not anywhere near as outlandish as in AA. But I think that's a good thing. Paper Perjury is trying to be its own game, with its own personality.

Definitely a lot shorter than most Phoenix Wright games. I completed all five base-game cases within ~20hrs (probably a couple hours are AFK time). And it's for sure more story-driven than gameplay-driven. What I mean by that is the game is a lot more forgiving than AA games.

For example, in AA, you have to point and click around environments yourself to find evidence. It can sometimes be easy to miss things to be examined if you're not paying close enough attention. In Paper Perjury, you have a small menu that shows everything in an environment that can be examined. You're told right off the bat what is examinable.

In AA games, presenting the wrong evidence and arguing the wrong points means you get penalties. And too many penalties leads to Game Over. None of that exists in Paper Perjury. Some might say that takes away from suspense and gameplay, but that's OK. Again, the story takes precedence here.

And the story is interesting and the cases are interwoven pretty well. It definitely play easier than AA entries, too. Like connecting evidence to testimony in Paper Perjury was almost always obvious and straightforward. I think I only got stuck twice, both during the final and longest case.

I thought the pixelated art style was done very well. The music was enjoyable, too.

If I had any complaints, it'd be with the controls, especially on controller. On mouse and keyboard, no issues there. But with a controller or on Steam Deck, it could be a little cumbersome. And Idk if it's just me, but even trying to use Steam to override the game's base control settings -- which can't be change via in-game options -- didn't always work.

Overall, I recommend Paper Perjury, especially if you're really into Phoenix Wright and other investigative, court-style mystery games!

I assume if you're looking at this store page, you've played the original trilogy. This is just more of the same: good clean fun and murder!

It's been so long since I've played the original games on DS/3DS, so I can't say what all improvements were made in this Steam release, but it's beside the point. If you enjoyed the original games/trilogy, you'll probably like this, too.

On to Ace Attorney Investigations!

Enjoyable little game. The puzzles are great in that you have to manipulate both time and space in order to solve them. And sometimes the things to be manipulated are quite unexpected. That said, none of the puzzles are super difficult. Lots of trial and error, but nothing that should cause a player to want to tear their hair out.

Control-wise, it's pretty simple: Left/A key to reverse time, Right/D key to progress time. And Spacebar to interact with objects. That's it.

The game is telling a story of two young friends. I won't say much more, since revealing the story is part of the game's mystery, but you could probably guess, pretty early on. While there's joy in the story, there's also a melancholy that weaves in way in and out as the player progresses.

It's not a very long game. Took me about 3.5hrs to complete. As such, my recommendation would be to wait for a sale. I think full price is asking a bit much, but any sale would be good price.

I thought this was going to be more of a traditional TRPG, like Final Fantasy Tactics or even Fire Emblem. Or maybe even more of a puzzle-like TRPG, akin to Wargroove or Advance Wars.

It's definitely in the direction of Wargroove, but even the puzzle aspect seems weak. Most of the time I can just bruteforce the match, with little consideration of consequences. The game really does want you to run and gun. It tells you that in the tutorial!

Additionally, the battles don't have that length that I was expecting. Most of the battles are quick and dirty. A battle might be like 5min. No more than 10min for sure. Also seems like there's little depth to the fights, aside from the synchronizations (combos). And the systems that exist, such as weapon upgrades and ammo management, just serve to complicate without any real benefit.

Metal Slug Tactics reminds me a lot of a game called "Pathway." And I liked "Pathway." I guess when I see the word "Tactics" in the name of a game, I'm expecting something like FFT. My expectations were a bit subverted.

Fun little visual novel. Not terribly long. Like others have said, it's great for when you want to play a game, but don't really want to play a game. Maybe when you want to be told a story, or in the case of Coffee Talk, several little vignettes about your cafe customers.

Sure there's some "challenge" in crafting the coffee drinks for your customers, but it's nothing crazy. I don't even think there are really any downsides in making the wrong drinks. But it does seem that more character backstory will be revealed if you get them right. Besides, no one wants to receive a wrong drink order -- even in real life!

All in all, Coffee Talk is a totally stress free game. The art is very nice and the relaxing soundtrack is even better. It's very "LoFi Hip-hop Beats to Study to."

Barotrauma is a great game to play with friends. We've collectively sunk hundreds of hours (and probably tens of subs) into it.

Every playthrough is completely different. From what we encounter to how we handle those encounters. Sometimes we can be real stupid and silly and rampage a station. Other times, it requires serious coordination among the 4 or 5 of us to ensure we don't lose the sub. There have been times we've had tons of gear and can progress quickly. Other times, it's slim pickins' and we're just scrounging everywhere to find enough fuel rods. We've tried different subs. We've created our own subs. We've done tons, yet I'm not sure we've done it all quite yet.

So yeah, Barotrauma is worth every penny.