Recent reviews by BedheadJune 𖦹

This is the same studio that made Yakuza 0 and Lost Judgement. What happened here?

When Kiwami 3 was announced, I was cautiously optimistic. Before that, RGG massively changed the way they handle their studio and these games, with them going as far as to delisting older versions of these games, by replacing with "newer" ones, which only add a few new languages, run far worse on the Steam Deck and Linux, and cost far more than the original versions for how little they change or add. And Yakuza 0 Director's Cut not only delisted the original (and superior version) of Y0, but they also added and changed a lot of things that genuinely destroyed and undermined a lot of character writing and impact the story had, and they even went as far as retconning the death of Lee for no reason at all, despite the fact he got blown up inside his car. What? Are the explosions also made of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ rubber now?

Hearing that Y3 was getting the Kiwami treatment made me feel incredibly mixed, because on one hand, I really like both of the previous Kiwami games, and while I don't think they'll ever replace the originals, I still think they're very faithful ways to experience the story from these games for the most part, and specially in the case of K1 with them fleshing out Nishiki and his backstory, it genuinely improved on a story with an already solid foundation, and it's still one of my all time faves because of that. K2 changed a bunch, and some of the things were handled isn't the best, but it's still faithful for the most part, and even with the Dragon Engine's admitedly janky physics, I still have fun with the combat.

But my biggest fear is that since a majority of people seem to dislike Y3, and the fact RGG studios has no problem rewritting history or disrespecting it's story and characters, that they would turn Yakuza 3 into something that wasn't Yakuza 3 just to try and satisfy the people that didn't like it, while neglecting the people that did. And unfortunately, that seems to be the case with this one.

I'll start by saying this; I don't think the combat is awful like some people are saying, and despite the fact I don't think any of the Dragon Engine games ever felt as satisfying or as fun as the old engine/PS3 era games. (Hell, even the original PS2 games felt better for what it's worth.) it's still fun, or at least servicable. The new Ryu Kyu style is pretty fun, having a style centered around weapons like Shinada did, specially in Yakuza 3, the game were the weapons felt the most fun to use, is honestly very cool, and the highlight for the combat in this game. But dear god, they butchered everything else, specially the Dragon Style. The Dragon Style doesn't feel as fun as it did, and the new sound effects and animations compared to the original ones makes them feel a bit too whimpy, but the real crime is locking the Finishing Holds behind Extreme Heat is genuinely stupid.
The combat is servicable, but I still miss the wall bound combos, and how visceral the combat in Yakuza 3 felt.

They also removed Revelations, which was one of the best aspects of Yakuza 3 and the PS3 era games, where you'd be walking around the town, and you'd find something so ridiculous, that it would inspire Kiryu and the other protagonists to come up with a new move at the spot. It felt very charming and funny, and for some reason, it's gone. They said it was too complicated to rework these, but when you're already recycling 90% of your assets, and you have millions of dollars to cast popular actors into your games, this is obviously not a case of "We can't" and more of a case of "We're lazy and we don't respect the original vision".

But this isn't what bothers me the most, it's the fact they're butchering the story and the characters this bad.

They recasted pretty much all of the characters, and changed their faces, and even some of their mannerisms for no reason at all, aside from "we need more popular japanese actors in our game".
The new Rikiya doesn't feel as charming and charismatic as the original one. The Rikiya I know has a very friendly, albeit rather angry face to him, and he was incredibly charming and charismatic, while the new one just feels too angry at all times, and he is not as goofy as the original one used to be.

But the worst part is that they hired a sex offender to replace one of the original actors.

Teruyuki Kagawa was cast as Hamazaki, and if you aren't aware, he harassed a woman in July 2019 by inapproriately kissing and touching her, and all he did was to do a simple apology, and apparently that was enough to keep him in the entertainment industry, despite the fact the original actor for Tanimura in Yakuza 4 got recasted immediately the moment he had a scandal involving drugs, which funnily enough, he was found innocent, unlike Kagawa.

These are the same games where in EVERY game, either it's in the main story, or the substories, there's a scene or plot point where the protagonist stops some guy from harassing women, and they treat and paint them as the scum of earth. (In fact, while writing this, I found out there's a substory where Kiryu does just that.), and now RGG Studios has no trouble casting the exact type of people they demonize on the remake of their old game?
This might seem inconsequential, but I don't know how you can preach morals and how "sexual harassment bad" in every game and not expect others to hold you to those standards.

Not only that, but everyone else feels far less emotive aswell. There's not much goofy expressions, or even Kiryu smiling or emoting as much like he did in the original Y3, like they have some sort of fetish of making him this stone, cold-hearted badass, when Kiryu is much more than just that. What's the point of all of the recasting and redoing everything from top to bottom, if you're not improving, or at least matching and respecting the original vision? If everything else presented in this remake, including the soundtrack and the way the story and characters is being handled is a downgrade that takes away all of the charm of the original game? If you're going through all of this trouble to undermine, and even outright remove all of the things that made the original game unique, why not just fix the original remaster version instead?

RGG Studios has been on decline ever since it's original director left after Lost Judgement, with them having awful practices of delisting original games for pricier versions that barely change or add anything, them casting a sex offender, and overall just disrespecting their own characters and stories by reviving characters out of nowhere like Kashiwagi and Lee, and even Richardson, the same guy Mine killed by throwing him out of a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ building with himself. Was the ground made of rubber aswell? All of this makes me hesitant to keep up with these games any longer, because nothing really matters anymore. They seemingly retire Kiryu and bring a new protagonist, only to bring Kiryu back in the next game. They kill characters after dying in a way they couldn't have possibly survived, AT ALL, and they bring them back later and undermine their whole story for no reason at all besides "fan service".

I was going to give Yakuza Kiwami 3 a chance, but after everything going on with RGG Studio and the Yakuza series in these past few years, it's very clear that this series is going downhill very quickly, and since SEGA and RGG Studios isn't interested in listening to their own fans and the people that supported these games from the very beginning, why stick around? Specially when nothing in these games matter anymore? I say this as a joke, but I don't doubt they'll pull that Rikiya survived in some sort of post-credits scene.

People wanted Yakuza 3 to be anything but Yakuza 3, instead of just respecting that game for what it was.

There you have it.
You asked for it, you got it.

Do yourself the favor and just buy the original Yakuza 3 Remastered before it gets delisted.

bubsy the bobcat is my spirit animal/kinship

I used to play this a lot back in the day on my old XP machine, and I remember losing countless hours on stage mode, playing out battles and recording them so I could edit AMVs for myself on Windows Movie Maker, making custom stages and figuring out all the combos and attacks, so seeing this getting re-released as a remaster with updated graphics and some slight balance changes for modern machines (because the old game was so old it run like complete ♥♥♥♥ on newer systems, specially when attempting to play the game on Linux under Wine or Proton) makes me incredibly happy, and it's probably the best outcome this game could've had. The original game is still out there free for everyone to download and play, but after playing this for free my whole life and influencing me in pretty much every way, I'm genuinely happy to be able to support the creator behind this, specially considering he quit his job to work on this.

Even as of today, this game is STILL ahead of it's time. There is no game like Little Fighter 2.
This game despite having very basic modes (Versus, Stage/Story Mode, Tournament (1v1s or 2v2s) and Battle Mode (which you essentially build your army and fight), the actual game itself has so much depth with the way all the characters play, the amount of characters and chaos on screen, and how every character plays so differently from each other, you can spend HOURS on the same mode and never get bored purely because of how much variation the game has, and depending on how many characters you fight against, and what game mode you're on, you can have a full blown war in the game, and NOT ONCE the game chugs or slows down, which also stands true to the original release, which is insane considering this is a 1999 XP game.

The game has genuinely some of the coolest characters I've seen in any game out there.
They're very clearly inspired on old animes like DBZ, but they all feel so distinct and unique, they never feel derivative or boring (aside from the regular bandits which are the common fodder enemy in stage mode), and some characters even go as far as having cool secrets and transformations, like how Louis (the armored character) can break his armor and start using a spear when he's at low health (there's blood in his mouth) and it completely changes the way he looks and plays, or how Freeze and Firen can outright FUSE TOGETHER, and become one of the most broken characters in the game if they run into each other when at low health and on the same team, becoming Firzen, which is honestly one of the coolest things I've ever seen. You can even split and defuse if you want to.

Not only that, but you can create your own stages and characters if you know how to, which is what kept this game and it's community alive for years. In fact, the language used for the original character logic is pretty much the same, meaning that porting older fan stuff into this newer version is insanely easy, without needing much, if any tinkering at all.

The game is also receiving frequent updates as of me writing this review, with the latest one adding FULL CONTROLLER SUPPORT, and soon, the game will receive proper Steam Matchmaking implementation, cutting the need of having to port forward in order to play online.

This is a single man project, and the creator even left his job in order to work on this, and taking into consideration the original game wasn't paid, and provided me YEARS of enjoyment without asking me for a dime once, I think this project is honestly beautiful, and it makes me more than happy to support this game.

I will say this; I don't like the use of AI on the character portraits or the original art, and despite pretty much every other asset being hand-drawn, such as the characters, effects and items, I still don't think it's a good move. I am willing to overlook this since again; the creator as far as I'm aware made little to no money with the original project, and he outright quit his job in order to work on this by himself, so I don't think this was done in malice or is as egregious as some people make it to be, but I still think this is a bad move that will cause a ton of unecessary outrage. I bet you could find people willing to make some stunning stuff for a low price, or even for free just to have their art featured on your game.

The creator has been incredibly receptive to criticism and the support behind this game, so I have a ton of faith on this project.

I cannot recommend this enough. This game is incredible, and seeing it remastered is something I've been asking for years. It's a dream come true, and I'm more than happy to support this dream, and if you're a fan of the original like I am, you should too.

this game is cool
plus it has sunflowers trees in it and thats because of MEEEEEE so it gets infinity good points in my book

now all the developer needs to do is to remove pngtuber+ from the face of the earth and they(/them?) will be the forever champion of game design

This is honest to god one of the coolest RPGs I've played in my entire life
And it's easily one of my favorite narratives of all time

At every moment in the game, it keeps hitting with you left and right with surprises, funny dialogue, great character interactions, and some genuinely heartwrenching moments that makes you genuinely worried for these characters and their world.

The gameplay is very straightforward, you have a lot of areas to run around and explore, you have different days that change the map and location of items and other characters, and if you ever played LISA: The Joyful, you're probably going to be very familar with the mechanic of timing your hits to get a critical hit, which is very important to the combat of this game, specially during boss fights.

Where the game really shines is the soundtrack, and it's incredible writing
The world you're in, and the areas where you explore are all so interesting to see, and everywhere you go, you either have some secret to find, some funny character to meet, or some moment that catches you by surprise and makes you stare at your screen in silence as you're proccessing what just happened in front of you. And the music that plays in all of the areas of the game are not only fitting, but they're so good and memorable, and they really help to set the tone and vibe of each area and cutscene. There's been points where I've gone back to an area just so I could hear the music again for a little longer, that's how good it is.

All of the main characters are so interesting and lovable
When you start the game, you don't think much of Nicolas, and he doesn't seem very interested in the world around him aswell, with the first few hours of the game just having him being worried about going back home more than anything else. But then he starts breaking out of his shell, he starts meeting new people, and he slowly, but clearly start showing how much he cares, and how he goes out of his way to help these people he never met before, or even sure if he could trust at first

And same goes to the other characters
Isaac seems like the type of generic mobster guy, and at first he only sticks with Nicolas because he's strong. But eventually he starts getting really attached to Nic and his friends, and later down in the story, he's the one showing the most concern and care for Nicolas.

Midori is very cute, and her friendly demeanor genuinely makes you feel save, specially in the beginning of the game where she serves as your save point. And her relationship with the other characters, specially Jack is something that really makes you get attached and feel for her during the game, and there's so much more that I don't want to spoil, because you need to play it and see it for yourself.

I've went into this game not knowing what to expect, and by the end of it, I've found myself staring blankly at my screen, shocked at what happened, and trying to proccess what just happened, and what's next

I've started going through the game unsure if I would end up liking these characters as much as others did
But instead, I ended up falling in love with the way they were written, and everything they went through, not only by themselves, but together.

The endings specially, have left me heartbroken me. (spoilers ahead)
Alex and Nash's relationship, specially what Nash was put through, is sincerely heartbreaking
I was hoping that the game would give them a happy ending, no matter how unlikely it was, just because of how much it broke me to see what Nash had to go through. And seeing Alex finally come to face the consequence of his actions directly, and see how much his actions affected her, even if he didn't mean no harm.

Karbonic's games, arts and worlds are genuinely wonderful
I've found his games and art through Psychopomp, and I've got myself to buy the rest of his games after falling in love with his writing and his art, and I eventually brought myself to complete DashBored, and ever since finding his games, they've been a huge inspiration and drive for me, and it's no wonder why he got a fanbase so passionate over his games

There's a lot of love and a lot of personal things in his creations, and it shows with every step, and the DashBored games and universe are like his children. He went back and redone these games from top to bottom, he updated them, he made a prequel sequel, and he's already working on the next entry for the DashBored universe, and it's very clear he's incredibly passionate about it, and others felt that passion aswell, it's no wonder why others (including myself) have become attached to his creations as much as they did.

If anything you've heard or seen from this game, or this review have interested you in any way, PLEASE, make yourself a favor, buy his games and play them. They're legitimately some of the rawest displays of passion I've seen out there, and you NEED to experience it yourself. They're very cheap, but the value you'll get from them is far more than what these games are demanding from you.

I love the Fading Club Games, the community surrounding it, and I love Karbonic's works and what he puts out, and I hope you all can play these games and come to understand why that's the case.

the person who made this made the vtuber avatar program so this already gets minus infinity points in my book but they(/them) also made a good game and are making sunflower trees in their game and they're kinda chill too i guess so its very good and i think this needs to be nominated for game of the year. also i helped with the translation and im not biased at all ♥♥♥♥ you.

this game is so good that it finally answers the age old question of what if goku was betrayed and trapped in the hyperbolic time chamber for millenia

now all they need to do is to add gohan blanco and el hermano and the game is perfect

the dealer be hella fine bro if they keep staring me like im about to make this go from "buckshoot roulette" to backshot roulette"

This is unironically one of the best puzzle games I've played, to the point it makes going back to the other puzzle/zelda games really difficult just to how greatly designed this game is

There's a secret everywhere, and most, if not all of the optional secrets can be solved with your initial equipment, with any other equipment just making them easier. Same goes with the dungeons, not only you can complete all of them with your basic equipment and the item you find in that dungeon, but you can take tackle the main dungeons in ANY ORDER YOU WANT, with the items on the other dungeons simply allowing for the unlock of shortcuts or to find heart pieces.

I love this idea, so much. One of the things I always hated about a lot of Zelda games was that at times you'd find this cave with a cool item, with a seemingly very easy puzzle that anyone could solve, but since you're lacking that one item (which you'll only find near the end of the game, where you've probably forgotten or don't care about that one item anymore) you can't complete it. Ittle Dew 2 makes so you can clear ANY dungeon or optional cave with your basic equipment, but in compesation, a lot of these puzzles tend to be pretty difficult so you still have some sort challenge, along with the satisfaction of completing the puzzle and getting that item

The dungeons are also so fun, none of them overstay their welcome, all of the main dungeons can be completed relatively quickly if you have the wits, there's no slow dungeons, you're constantly in the move or fighting something, and the items have so many synergies with themselves and each others, that you have so many ways to complete the same dungeon, including ways you were probably not expecting to

The secret dungeons specially make such a good use of rolling and abusing invincibility frames, specially the secret dungeon near the end of the game, where you REALLY need to use every item to it's max potential, at times using multiple of them at the same time just to clear a room

In general, this game (and pretty much every other Ludosity game) is very clearly made with so much love
There's so much charm in the art, the characters, the music, you can clearly tell that everyone worked in the game had so much fun making it, it's hard not to fall in love with it aswell. I've found about Ludosity and first played Slap City and this game around 2018, and even after so many years, these games constantly remind me why I've fallen in love with the Ludosity games, characters and universe

This game is amazing, and if you can, PLEASE, buy it, and if possible, buy their other games aswell
You won't regret it, it's legitimately some of the most fun you can have.

Easily accessible, fair price, mod browser and tools, full lobbies, and not having to fiddle with WADs and GZDoom/Zandronum configs just to play multiplayer with your friends?

We are so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ back, DoomBros.